After finishing the griddle cakes, the two of them just stood there by the roadside.
Esper leaned against the wooden railing, while Eladia stood about a pace away from her, wearing her shoes, standing in silence.
“...Shoes?”
She focused her gaze on them.
They were even the exact same style as the ones she had bought for her.
“Ela, did you buy those shoes yourself?”
“I don't know. They just appeared one day. Maybe I picked them up on the road?”
“Ahem...”
Esper coughed twice.
“Could it be that I bought them for you?”
“...?”
Eladia tilted her head, her large eyes completely empty.
“...Never mind.”
She sighed and began to focus on the matter at hand.
She still remembered what was supposed to happen after some time had passed.
Balor the Flame Demon. A scion of the Flame Demon Court in Abyss City, he had left the Royal Court after reaching adulthood to launch indiscriminate attacks on human settlements along the border.
And then, he was killed by the six-year-old Eladia.
She had only wanted to walk over and ask him why he was killing everyone, and then that Flame Demon had simply been flattened.
After that, two Holy Spirit Knights appeared and brought her before the Pope.
That moment would likely serve as the anchor point, marking the conclusion of this memory.
But right now, it was still early. The sun was moving slowly across the sky.
So before that event took place, she could still do other things.
“Let's go.”
Esper hopped down from the railing and headed toward the other end of the village.
Eladia didn't move.
“Keep up.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just walking around.”
Eladia stared at her for two seconds, then took a step forward and followed.
Her strides were small, and she made almost no sound as she walked, as if she were accustomed to avoiding anyone's notice.
The village wasn't large. A single main road ran from east to west, flanked by farmhouses and barns. At the end of the road lay a pond, with a few withered leaves floating on its surface.
Esper walked over to the edge of the pond, squatted down, and picked up a flat pebble.
“Have you ever skipped stones?”
“What?”
“You throw a stone and make it bounce across the surface of the water.”
Esper hadn't skipped stones when she was a child either, but she had practiced it for a bit after becoming an adventurer.
Mostly out of boredom.
Eladia squatted beside her, looking at the pebble in her hand.
Esper turned sideways and flicked her wrist. The pebble flew close to the water's surface, bouncing three times before sinking to the bottom.
“Uh, my hands are too small and I don't have enough strength. Normally, I can make it bounce five or six times.”
Eladia didn't say anything, merely shifting her gaze from the water back to Esper's face.
“Do you want to try?”
“I don't know how.”
“It's very easy.”
Esper picked up another pebble and handed it over.
Eladia hesitated for a moment before taking it.
Those little hands were even thinner than Esper's, and her fingers were ice-cold. But they felt incredibly soft to the touch...
Esper shook her head.
What am I thinking...
Eladia wasn't looking at her now.
She mimicked the movement she had just seen and threw the pebble.
The pebble plunged straight into the water, kicking up a small splash.
“...”
“It's always like this the first time. It's fine. Try again.”
Esper handed her another one.
This time was slightly better. The pebble grazed the surface of the water once before sinking anyway.
“Almost. Keep your wrist flat when you throw, and keep the angle a bit lower.”
The third pebble.
It bounced once.
“See that? It bounced!”
Esper's tone carried a hint of exaggerated excitement.
Eladia looked down at the expanding ripples on the water.
“Mhm. It bounced.”
Her voice was still very quiet, but it was slightly louder than before.
The way this child expressed herself was completely different from how she would be when she grew up. The adult Eladia always spoke hesitantly, faltering as if she had to chew on every word three times before letting it out.
But at six years old, her speech was simply a statement of facts.
They threw several more after that, with the best attempt bouncing twice.
The sun began to dip toward the west.
The two of them sat on the grass by the pond. Esper sat cross-legged, while Eladia hugged her knees.
“What do you usually do?”
“...Go out to beg for money. Or do chores around the convent.”
“And after you're done?”
“...There is no after. When I'm done, it's over.”
“You don't go out to play?”
“No one plays with me.”
Esper plucked a blade of grass and put it in her mouth, chewing on it. It tasted very bitter, so she spat it out.
“Well, starting from today, you do.”
Eladia's fingers tightened again, clutching the fabric of her skirt.
“Will you come back tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
This answer was given almost without a second thought.
No matter what the rules of this memory space were, and no matter what would happen next, she would be here until that pivotal moment arrived.
The sound of the convent's bell drifted over from the distance.
The deep, metallic ring echoed over the village, signaling that the evening's work was over.
Eladia stood up.
“I have to go back.”
“So early? Can't you go back a bit later? Will Sister scold you?”
“Yes. And if I don't go back, I won't have a place to sleep tonight.”
“A bed in the convent?”
“The floor.”
Esper stood up as well.
“Then I'll walk you back.”
“No need.”
“I'm walking you back.”
Eladia looked at her.
There was still nothing particularly special in those sky-blue eyes.
“Are you really not coming back tomorrow?”
Esper was taken aback for a moment.
“No, I will definitely come back tomorrow.”
“...”
She didn't say anything more, but she didn't refuse again either.
The two of them walked back along the path they had come. The setting sun stretched their shadows long, casting one large and one small dark figure overlapping crookedly on the dirt road.
The convent was a grey stone building, with most of the paint on the door already peeled off. Firewood and washbasins were piled in the yard.
A few children were squatting by the entrance playing with something. They all stopped what they were doing when they saw Eladia approaching. Their eyes swept over Esper's clothes before they quickly looked away.
“We're here.”
Eladia stopped at the entrance and turned around.
“Thank you.”
Her voice was so soft that Esper almost didn't catch it.
“See you tomorrow.”
Eladia turned and walked inside.
“...Wait, can I come in?”
Esper took a step forward, asking somewhat hesitantly.
“No.”
Eladia's refusal was very blunt.
“Sister said we can't let other children inside at night. I let someone in once before, and Sister beat me with a broom for a long time.”
The door closed behind her without making much noise.
“I'm sorry.”
At the very end, she whispered to Esper in that calm tone.
Esper stood at the entrance and watched for a while.
The setting sun was sinking, and the color of the horizon shifted from orange-red to deep purple. The air began to grow cold.
“Noelle.”
“Yeah?”
“How much longer?”
“I'm not sure. It could be tonight, or it could be tomorrow.”
“Do you have any advice?”
“Stay with her. Then, when that pivotal moment arrives, try to change it.”
“Change it?”
“Change how she feels about that memory. If she is no longer alone at that moment, perhaps the memory will begin to loosen.
Since she forgot your past memories, then you should go and create new ones.”
Esper shoved her hands into her pockets.
“I understand.”
She didn't leave the village. In fact, she didn't quite dare to wander too far from the location of the memories within someone else's memory space.
She found a large tree at the entrance of the village, climbed up, and sat on a branch.
From this angle, she could see right into the convent's yard.
“Aren't you going to get a room at the tavern?”
“It's close to the convent here. Besides, the money should be used for more meaningful things, and I don't need to sleep anyway.”
Esper answered, then focused her gaze on Ela in the yard.
Eladia was squatting on the ground, staring at something.
“They're moving ants, you know.”
“...Who asked you?”
It wasn't until it was completely dark and someone called out from inside that she stood up and went into the building.
“...Noelle.”
“Who asked me?”
“...She said that when she was six, the other children in the convent liked to prick her with things, just to watch her heal.”
“Yeah.”
“Because she wouldn't die and wouldn't leave any scars, no one thought they were hurting her.”
“You're angry.”
“...Obviously.”
Esper hugged her knees, curling up on the tree branch.
The night wind blew by, carrying the crisp scent of wheat fields.
“Those bastards will definitely do it again when I'm not around. They might even be bullying Ela inside right now.”
“You really do worry about others. Oh, by the way, I'm praising you.”
“...Mhm.”
“Well, just come back every day anyway.”
Noelle yawned, her voice beginning to grow slurred.
“I'm going to sleep first. I've set the barrier to auto-maintenance mode. Call me if anything happens.”
“Hey, don't actually fall asleep.”
There was no response.
Esper sighed, burying her face in her arms.
This child's body really was inconvenient. The rough bark was making her backside sore.
But she didn't climb down.
She just sat there, watching the window of the convent that glowed with a faint candlelight, until that light was extinguished too.
The sky grew darker and darker.
The faint sounds of children playing drifted from the convent. None of those voices belonged to Eladia.
And then, everything went quiet.
Rate on N.U.
