The carriage wheels rattled rhythmically as they slowly advanced along the highway.
The wooden floor creaked in sync with the swaying of the vehicle. It was a simple transport carriage, seemingly a repurposed freight wagon. Though it had a roof, the walls were only waist-high, leaving the surrounding scenery in full view. It was a world away from the luxury of the carriages owned by the Ducal House.
Royal Capital Astrea was already a distant memory.
Low hills and sparse thickets lined the highway, while a dense, emerald-green forest loomed in the distance. The labyrinth, our destination, was supposedly nestled deep within those woods.
(Still...)
I shifted my gaze to Rio, who sat directly across from me.
She was huddled in the corner of the wagon, head bowed, clutching her toolbox tightly against her lap. The vivacity she usually displayed in the dining hall or the classroom was nowhere to be found. Seeing her like this—silently surrendering to the swaying of the carriage—was, frankly, unsettling.
Usually, Rio would be complaining about how boring the travel was and launching into a lecture on magic tools. Clearly, she wasn't in the mood for that now. Her fingers traced the latches of her toolbox over and over again.
“...”
Lene, sitting beside me, must have sensed the heavy atmosphere as well. She glanced toward Rio several times, her mouth twitching as if she wanted to speak, only to swallow her words every time. Her profile was a mask of hesitation, caught between wanting to offer comfort and the fear of intruding.
Only the creaking of the wood filled the silence.
“...Hey.”
After a long while, Rio’s voice finally broke the oppressive quiet. I looked up and met her emerald eyes. They were listless, staring back at me with a hollow intensity.
She let out a faint, weary sigh.
“...Why didn't you stop me?” she murmured.
Before I could answer, she looked away again.
“Gramps asked you to, didn't he?” Her voice was flat, devoid of surprise or curiosity. She sounded like she was simply confirming a fact she had known from the moment we arrived at the guild. “When I left the workshop, I saw you guys... You probably talked to him, and he asked you to bring me back, right?”
She looked back at me, a flicker of genuine confusion in her gaze.
“So why...?”
Rio was sharp. She had likely deduced the entire situation—our conversation with Albert and his underlying feelings. A girl hailed as a genius by a man of his stature didn't need a map to find the truth.
That was precisely why she was so conflicted. Normally, we should have tried to stop her. Most people would have tried to drag her back by force. Yet here we were, sitting in the same carriage, heading straight for the labyrinth. She couldn't understand why we were going along with it.
“I’m not so cold-hearted that I’d let a friend walk into a deathtrap without a word,” I said, shrugging.
Rio’s eyes widened for an instant. She looked as if she wanted to ask, Is that really it? but the tension seemed to drain out of her, replaced by a weak, tired smile.
“...Rai, you know... you look like a cold person, but you actually care a lot about your friends,” she whispered, still hugging her toolbox. Her tone was teasing, but I could hear a note of relief hidden beneath it.
“Is that how I come across?”
“Yeah. You seem like a total rationalist. You have the face of someone who only moves if there's a profit in it.”
“That's quite the assessment.”
I shrugged again, and this time Rio actually let out a small, genuine chuckle.
“Sorry, sorry. I’ve updated my assessment, so don't be mad, okay?”
“...That depends on you, Rio.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Geez, what’s that supposed to mean?”
She was complaining, but her voice was significantly softer than it had been. Her weak smile faded into a contemplative look as she tightened her grip on her toolbox.
Another long silence passed.
“...Rai. Lene.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. She bit her lip and looked down, her bangs shadowing her face.
“You know... Gramps never praised my work. Not once.”
She looked up at us again and smiled, a expression that was both nostalgic and deeply lonely.
“Gramps was always kind. He bought me whatever I wanted. He let me into the workshop and let me tinker with whatever I liked... But he never once said a kind word about the things I actually built.”
The sadness in her voice was the result of years of accumulated hurt.
“So... I always believed he was just spoiling me because I was his granddaughter. I thought he didn't have a single shred of expectation for me as a magic engineer...”
Rio looked down again, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared at her toolbox. Seeing her like that, I let out a long sigh and shook my head.
“‘That girl is a genius.’ That’s what Lord Krausel called you.”
“...Eh?”
A stunned sound escaped her lips. She looked up, her emerald eyes shimmering with unshed tears. It seemed she couldn't process the words.
“We talked for a while before we left the workshop. He talked about you.”
“...You’re lying.”
“I have no reason to lie.”
My immediate response made her throat hitch. She looked like she desperately wanted to believe me but was too afraid to let herself.
“But... but Gramps has never complimented me! Even today! He said it to my face—that I have no talent...!”
“He did,” I agreed simply. “And when we heard his reason, we actually had to hold back a laugh.”
“...What?” Rio froze, her expression blank.
Beside me, Lene gave a slightly pained, sympathetic smile. “Lord Krausel is a very... clumsy person when it comes to his feelings, isn't he?”
“He said that if he praised you, it would go straight to your head,” I explained.
“............Huh?”
“He said you get overconfident far too easily. He admitted your skills are the real deal, but that you lack caution. So, he intentionally withheld praise regarding your technical abilities to keep you grounded.”
Rio’s expression went completely still.
The carriage continued to sway. Amidst the sound of the wooden wheels rattling against the road, Rio sat in a vacuum of silence, as if the world had stopped turning.
“...What kind of logic is that?” she finally managed to choke out. Her voice was incredibly fragile. “So... you mean... Gramps actually...”
“He recognizes your worth more than anyone else,” I said firmly. “Magic Tool Theory, Mana Handling, your intuition and creativity—he said you're more brilliant than anyone he’s ever seen.”
“Then... why did he say that?! Why would he tell me I have no talent?!” Rio’s lips trembled as she stared at me, bewildered.
“As your grandfather, he didn't want you doing anything that would put you in danger,” I said, turning my gaze to the passing scenery. “He knew your invention, the Teleportation Device, could save countless lives. He understood that better than anyone.”
I paused, then looked back into her eyes—emerald eyes so similar to the old man’s, now overflowing with tears.
“But he couldn't bear the thought of you gambling your life to finish it.”
Rio’s shoulders gave a small, violent shudder. She knew exactly what I was referring to.
“He said those things to stop you. He said the one thing that would hurt the most, even though it was a lie.”
“...A lie...”
“Yes,” I said, looking her straight in the eye. “‘You don't have the talent’—he only said that to keep you safe. He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.”
In an instant, the tears Rio had been holding back finally broke. They spilled over, tracing paths down her cheeks and dripping onto the metal latches of her toolbox with tiny, clicking sounds.
“...!”
She tried to wipe them away, but they wouldn't stop. She bit her lip and bowed her head, her entire body shaking.
“So... I was... the whole time...”
“You were having a massive misunderstanding,” I finished for her.
Rio made a face that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “...What is wrong with him?! Not praising me because I’ll get cocky?! That’s so mean! He didn't have to be so cruel!”
The fact that she was complaining through her tears told me her spirit was returning. I gave a small, dry smile.
“Then tell him that when we get back. Give him a piece of your mind.”
“...?” Rio looked at me through wet lashes.
“You were angry, weren't you? You were hurt. So go back and throw all of that at Lord Krausel. Tell him everything.”
The carriage floor creaked. I let my words sink in.
“Tell him how mad you were, how lonely you felt, how much you just wanted him to say ‘well done.’ Tell him every single thing you’ve been holding inside. And once you’ve done that—”
I paused, meeting her gaze with absolute seriousness.
“Then it’s your turn to actually listen to what he has to say.”
Rio’s eyes wavered. Another heavy tear fell.
“...I said such horrible things to him,” she whispered, her voice cracking. She hugged the toolbox as if it were a lifeline. “I told him I hated him...”
Saying it aloud seemed to make the guilt hit her all at once. She crumpled inward, looking pained.
“...I didn't mean it. Not at all.”
Her voice was small and shaking, but she didn't hide. She forced the words out.
“I... I’m going to apologize.”
That sentence was the most resolute thing she had said all day.
“I’m going to tell him I’m sorry. I’ll tell him I was hurt and angry, but that it was wrong to say those things... I’ll make it right.”
Rio sniffled, her face a mess of tears and red blotches, but she lifted her chin as if looking toward the future.
“And then... I’m going to talk to him. Really talk to him. I’ll tell him what I was thinking, and I’ll listen to what he was thinking...”
Her eyes were still red and her face was stained with tears, but as she spoke, Rio’s expression was clearer and brighter than it had been since we left the capital.