At night, Esper channeled her mana into the magic stone.
“Noelle?”
“...I'm here.”
“What's wrong? Why haven't you spoken for so long?”
“...The signal is bad. I'm looking into the cause.”
“A bad signal?”
“...Yes. It's probably because we're nearing the end. In any case, the connection between us is growing weaker.”
“I understand...”
“...Hang in there.”
Her voice faded away.
...
On the third day, Esper arrived even earlier than yesterday.
She jumped down from the tree when the sky was barely light.
This time, she didn't wait for the Sister to open the gate.
She went around to the back wall, leaped up, and climbed right over.
Child or not, she was still an extraordinary being, so she could easily manage this much.
The backyard was empty. However, next to the woodpile behind the kitchen, a tiny figure was already there.
Even earlier than yesterday.
Eladia was squatting by the woodpile, picking up scattered woodchips with her hands and placing them one by one into a small bamboo basket.
She looked up and saw Esper, who had just climbed over the wall.
“...”
She didn't speak, but her gaze lingered on Esper longer than it had yesterday.
“Good morning.”
Esper brushed the dust off her skirt and walked over.
“Is this your work for today?”
“Picking up scraps.”
“And after you're done?”
“Sister said we're going to the town today to deliver cloth to the inn. She wants me to help carry it.”
“The town?”
Esper's eyes lit up.
The town was a great place; there were so many interesting things there.
Candied hawthorns, maple leaf hairpins, and all sorts of random storybooks.
“How far is it?”
“It's about a two-hour walk.”
Beyond the village lay wheat fields and rolling hills. A bit further out, they would surely see much more.
“Alright, I'll go with you.”
Esper squatted down and helped her pick up the scraps.
Once they finished carrying everything, the Sister appeared, pushing a worn-out handcart piled with several rolls of coarse cloth.
When she saw Esper, she looked briefly confused, seemingly wondering why the girl was here.
But after a brief pause, she didn't say anything, only telling Eladia to push the cart ahead.
Esper walked beside Eladia, helping her steady the wobbling rolls of cloth on the cart.
Once they left the village, the road became bumpy and full of potholes, and the handcart's wheels kept getting stuck in the mud.
Every time it got stuck, Eladia would stop and strain to push the cart out.
Esper helped push from behind.
The Sister walked at the very front with her back to them, never turning around even once during the entire trip.
“Do you do this often?”
Esper asked, looking at Eladia.
“Mhm.”
“Pushing it all by yourself?”
“Mhm. If I push too slowly and let Sister get too far ahead, I'll get scolded.”
“Then we should be faster today, since there are two of us.”
“Mhm.”
After walking for about an hour, a settlement much larger than Wheat Ear Village appeared on the horizon ahead.
The bustling sounds of a market drifted over from the distance.
The Sister took over the handcart and walked inside without looking back. Leaving behind a brief “Wait here in two hours,” she vanished into the crowd.
Two hours of free time.
“Come on, let's look around.”
Esper tugged on Eladia's sleeve.
The latter hesitated for a moment but followed anyway.
The town's market was much livelier than the village's.
Esper darted between the stalls, occasionally stopping to look at things. Eladia followed behind her, her eyes drifting across the various vendors.
“Look at this.”
Esper stopped in front of a sundry stall and pointed at a row of small wooden carvings.
They were shaped like animals—horses, cats, birds, and rabbits.
“Which one do you like?”
Eladia looked at them for a while.
“...The bird.”
“Why?”
“Because... it can fly.”
“Where to?”
“...Anywhere is fine.”
Esper pulled a few copper coins from her pocket and bought the wooden bird.
“Here.”
“...I don't have money.”
“That's why I bought it for you!”
“...”
Eladia took the little bird, cradling it in her hands and staring at it for a long time.
Her fingers rubbed against the wooden surface, as if to confirm that it was real.
“...Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
The two of them continued walking.
They passed stalls selling ironware, fabrics, and herbs.
At a candy stall, Esper bought two pieces of maltose candy and handed one to Eladia.
“Have you ever eaten this?”
She shook her head.
“Keep it in your mouth. Don't chew.”
Eladia put the candy in her mouth, letting it sit there without moving.
After a moment, a very subtle change appeared in her expression.
The lines of her mouth softened just a fraction. It wasn't a smile, but she looked more relaxed than usual.
“It's sweet.”
“Yes, it's sweet.”
The two children stood in a corner of the market, sucking on their candies and watching the bustling crowd.
“Esper.”
“Yeah?”
“Where is your home?”
“Somewhere very far away.”
“Why are you here?”
“Just passing through.”
“How many days have you been passing through?”
“...”
Counting today, it was already the third day.
“You've been passing through for a long time.”
“Where are the grown-ups in your family?”
“They don't look after me, so I just came out to play by myself.”
“When are you leaving?”
This question made Esper fall silent for a few seconds.
“I don't know.”
Eladia rolled the candy around in her mouth, her cheek puffing out slightly.
“...If you're going to leave, can you tell me in advance?”
“Why?”
“So I can return this to you.”
She raised the wooden bird in her hand.
“That's a gift for you. You don't have to return it.”
“...”
“You really don't have to return it.”
“Don't you think it's a waste? Anything given to me will be taken away by others sooner or later.”
Esper stopped in her tracks, turned around, and her gaze grew a bit colder.
“Who would dare take it?”
“...”
“As long as I'm here, no one is allowed to touch your things.”
She spoke with absolute seriousness, though saying it with her six-or-seven-year-old face and childish voice made it lose a lot of its impact, even looking a bit comical.
But Eladia didn't laugh.
She only tightened her grip on the wooden bird a little more.
After returning from the town, while waiting for the Sister at the village entrance, the two sat on stone blocks by the roadside.
“Were you happy today?”
“...It was alright.”
“Compared to yesterday?”
“Better... than yesterday.”
“Then tomorrow will definitely be even better than today.”
“Will you come again tomorrow?”
“Didn't you already ask me that yesterday?”
“...Mhm.”
The Sister returned, pushing the empty cart. She glanced at Esper, said nothing, and led Eladia away.
They returned to the convent gate. Eladia followed behind the Sister, turning her head back once after taking a few steps.
It was a very brief glance back, one that Esper would have missed if she hadn't been watching her retreating figure the entire time.
She had hidden the wooden bird in her sleeve.
Then she disappeared behind the convent's large gates.
Evening arrived.
As usual, Esper climbed up the tree at the village entrance.
“Noelle.”
There was no response.
“Noelle?”
Still no response.
She frowned and channeled her mana into the magic stone.
The small blue stone flickered in her palm, and a fragmented voice came through.
“Bzzzt... it's the Authority... bzzzt... interfering with communications... bzzzt...”
“What?”
“Bzzzt... Pride... bzzzt... is... bzzzt...”
“Hello?”
“Barring any surprises... bzzzt... this should be a sign of the Flame Demon's... bzzzt... imminent arrival... Fortunately, I previously... bzzzt... set the shield to be constantly active... bzzzt...”
“Is it almost here?”
“...bzzzt... bzzzt...”
Then, the communication cut off completely.
The light on the magic stone faded, turning it back into an ordinary stone.
Esper gripped it tightly and looked up at the distant horizon.
The sun set as usual, and the sky turned red, purple, and dark as usual.
But if one looked closely...
On the eastern horizon, there was an extremely faint orange-red point of light that did not belong to the sunset.
It was not a star.
“It's almost time...”
Esper slipped the magic stone into her pocket, curled up on the tree branch, and hugged her knees.
Tomorrow, or the day after.
That Flame Demon would arrive.
Before that, there was only one thing she could do.
Make Eladia remember her.
Remember that someone named Esper had once stayed by her side.
Remember that someone had bought her flatbread, a wooden bird, and maltose candy.
Remember that someone had helped her push the cart and driven away the people who bullied her.
If so, when the Flame Demon arrived—when the flames devoured everything, when everyone died, and she was the only one who survived...
...Perhaps she wouldn't feel completely alone.
Perhaps, when facing this world, she wouldn't only be able to say things like, “Are you here to beat me up too?”
“...Do your best,” Esper said to herself.
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