As soon as dawn broke, Esper slid down from the tree branch.
The consequence of sleeping in a tree all night in a child's body was that her entire body was sore. She rolled her neck, her joints cracking.
The iron gate of the convent was still closed.
So she squatted by the entrance and waited.
About an hour passed before the door was pushed open from the inside.
The one pushing the door open was an old woman in a black robe. Unsurprisingly, it was the Sister.
She glanced at Esper squatting by the entrance and frowned.
“Whose child are you? What are you doing squatting here so early in the morning?”
“I came to play with my friend.”
The Sister's gaze swept over Esper's clothes.
“...Who are you looking for?”
“The one with blue hair.”
The Sister's expression shifted, taking on a cautious look.
“What do you want with her?”
“To play.”
The Sister sized her up once more before finally stepping aside.
“Go on in. She's in the backyard.”
The backyard was a weed-choked clearing, with a few broken wooden barrels and a pile of firewood stacked in the corner.
Eladia was squatting next to the firewood pile, carrying logs.
Carrying them one by one.
Her hands were very small; she could only hug one log at a time, shakily shuffling over to the other side.
“Good morning.”
Esper walked over and squatted beside her.
Eladia paused her movements and glanced over at her.
“...You came.”
“I said I would. Ca—cough, anyway, I keep my word.”
“Mhm.”
Then she went back to carrying logs.
Esper watched for a moment.
“By the way, what are you doing?”
“Sister told me to move these to the kitchen door.”
“By yourself?”
“Mhm.”
“Where is everyone else?”
“The others are eating breakfast.”
“You're not eating?”
“I don't need to eat. So Sister told me to finish carrying these first.”
Esper didn't ask any more questions. She turned around, picked up a log, and followed behind Eladia, carrying the wood to the kitchen door one piece at a time.
The two of them carried the wood in silence for about fifteen minutes.
During this time, a few children coming out of the dining hall passed by. They froze upon seeing Esper, then walked a wide circle around her.
Word traveled fast. The black-haired kid who had beaten up the fat boy and made him cry yesterday was back today.
Several groups of brats came to steal a glance. Watching her help Eladia carry logs was like watching a killer whale perform ballet.
With Esper's help, the pile of logs was quickly cleared.
“All done.”
Eladia wiped her hands on her clothes and stood in place, seemingly unsure of what to do next.
“Are you free now?”
“Sister said I could go out once I finished carrying them.”
“Then let's go.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Esper clasped her hands behind her head and walked toward the convent's front gate.
“Where do you usually go?”
“...Nowhere.”
“Do you stay in the convent all day?”
“Sister makes me go to the streets to beg for money from passing travelers.”
“...”
“But I don't have to go today. Today is a rest day.”
“Then let's wander around.”
Eladia nodded, and Esper prepared to lead her out of the convent.
—A hesitant voice rang out from behind them.
“Um... can you wait a moment...”
The two of them turned around to see a boy covered in freckles, wringing his hands together, his face flushed bright red.
Behind him, several other children watched. Some looked like they were enjoying the show, while others looked just as hesitant as he was.
“...What?”
“...I-I'm sorry!”
He suddenly bowed deeply and shouted at the two of them.
“What I did... what I did before was wrong... Ela, can you... can you forgive me?”
“Who gave you permission to call her Ela?”
Esper's tone was slightly displeased.
“She... she's been muttering that name for the past few days! I thought calling her by her name would be more respectful, that's why I said it!!!”
The boy looked on the verge of tears, speaking so fast he practically tripped over his own tongue.
“...”
Esper glanced at Ela beside her, but there was still no expression on the young girl's face.
“Ela, is there anything you want to say?”
“No. If he wants me to forgive him, then I'll just forgive him. I never cared about him in the first place anyway.”
Eladia spoke softly, completely indifferent to the way the boy's face flushed even redder.
“...Well, whatever. How things actually go depends on your actions. Just talking isn't going to do much.”
The boy nodded like a woodpecker as the two of them stepped out of the convent.
The village was still quiet in the early morning, save for the occasional crow of a rooster and the distant barking of a dog. Dew clung to the grass by the roadside, and the sunlight had just crept over the eastern hills.
Esper walked ahead, with Eladia following behind.
They were about a foot apart.
“Ela.”
The footsteps paused for a fraction of a second.
“Do you really not care about what they did?”
“...”
She didn't answer; she was thinking.
Thinking about a question she couldn't find the answer to right now.
“...Never mind. What do you like?”
“What?”
“Just things you like. What you like to eat, what you like to play, what you like to look at, anything at all.”
A long silence ensued.
The two of them walked along a ridge between the fields. The soil was soft, and Esper's small leather shoes left clear prints as she stepped.
“I don't know.”
“You don't like anything?”
“I don't know what 'like' means.”
Esper's pace slowed.
“Let me ask it another way, then. Is there anything that makes you feel quite nice when you see it?”
“Quite nice...”
Eladia walked with her head down.
They walked a long way.
They walked past the ridges, past a vegetable garden enclosed by a low hedge, and reached a small stream at the edge of the village.
“Water.”
“Water?”
“When water flows, it makes a sound. Sounds don't hit people.”
Esper sat down by the stream.
The water was indeed flowing, its gurgling sound exceptionally clear in the crisp morning air.
“Then let's sit here for a bit.”
Eladia didn't sit down immediately. She stood beside her.
“Sit down.”
Only then did she sit.
She sat half a step away from Esper, her shoes resting on the wet mud by the stream.
The two of them sat side by side by the stream.
The sound of flowing water filled the space between them.
“Ela.”
“Mhm.”
“Why do you never cry?”
“...”
“Even when they beat you like that yesterday, you didn't cry.”
“What's the use of crying?”
“There is no use. But don't you feel like crying when it hurts?”
“It doesn't hurt.”
Esper turned to look at her.
Eladia's gaze rested on the stream. The surface reflected the color of the sky, looking very much like her hair.
“Does it really not hurt?”
“...My body heals.”
“I'm not asking about your body.”
No answer.
The wind blew, pressing the grass by the stream a little lower.
Esper stopped pressing. She stretched her legs out, resting her feet against a rock by the stream.
“Ela, you don't have to do things only because they're useful.”
“What?”
“How do you feel right now?”
“I don't know.”
“Compared to usual? Do you feel a bit more at peace, more grounded?”
“A little.”
“Then you like this, don't you?”
Eladia was silent for a moment.
“...I like it.”
“Then do you think there's any use to this?”
“No.”
“But you like it, right?”
Esper smiled and tossed a small pebble into the stream.
“If you want, I can come here and sit with you all day.”
“But that's not useful.”
“But you like it.”
The splash kicked up by the pebble sprayed out, a few drops landing on Eladia's shoes.
She didn't dodge.
She just looked down at the drops of water, her gaze lingering on her shoes for a long time.
Then she looked up.
“Why did you come to find me?”
“Didn't I tell you yesterday? Because I wanted to.”
“Isn't it because you pity me?”
Esper blanked for a moment.
“Who told you that?”
“Sister said before that if someone is nice to me, it's because they pity me. They're just using me as a tool to comfort themselves.”
“Does that Sister of yours have a poisonous tongue or what?”
Esper frowned.
“I don't pity you. You're amazing. Much more amazing than all those people who bully you combined.”
“...I'm not amazing.”
“You don't even cry. How is that not amazing?”
Eladia seemed to freeze for a moment.
“Not crying doesn't mean I'm amazing...”
“Well, to me, it is! I cry all the time!”
Eladia pulled her knees up, curling herself into a small ball.
“You're weird.”
“I know. That's why I didn't really have many friends when I was little. It wasn't until later that... never mind, let's not talk about that now.”
“...”
They fell silent for a while.
The stream continued to gurgle and flow.
“Esper.”
“Yeah?”
“Will you come back tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“...Mhm.”
Eladia buried her face in her knees, hiding her expression.
...
Esper hadn't noticed yet, but Noelle hadn't replied in a very long time.
Rate on N.U.
