On the fourth day, before dawn, Esper tumbled down from the tree branch.
She bent her knees to cushion the impact as she landed, though her legs still trembled slightly. Sleeping on a tree branch for three consecutive nights was definitely not an easy task, let alone for a child.
Squatting at the base of the tree, she cradled the magic stone in her palms and channeled her mana into it.
A faint, weak light flickered on the stone's surface, like a dying flame struggling to stay alive.
“Noelle.”
Static.
“Noelle, can you hear me?”
“Bzzzt... bzzzt...”
Then, her voice suddenly became clear for a brief moment.
“I can... hear you. But... I can't maintain this... for much longer...”
“Is the shield still active?”
“Yes... automatic mode... won't cut off. But... I won't be able to... help you with anything else from now on.”
“What do you mean?”
“It's 『Pride』... the Authority from the Abyss... is within Eladia...”
The moment the word "Pride" was spoken, the voice's fluctuations became even more violent.
Esper's fingers tightened around the magic stone.
“Pride?”
“Scorn... arrogance... ego...”
Noelle's voice grew increasingly illusory.
“That which... rules... over all...”
“Just tell me what it does.”
“...It is...”
A long burst of static.
“Tch.”
Only after the static subsided and Esper heard Noelle cough twice did she speak again.
“So I'm on my own from here on out?”
“I left... something for you.”
“What?”
“Look at your left palm...”
Esper turned over her left hand.
A circle of extremely fine, pale blue lines appeared on the skin of her palm, spiraling into a fist-sized magic circle. The lines pulsed as if they had a heartbeat of their own.
“Annihilation Sphere... a high-level gravity spell... the trigger word is ‘shatter’... it will activate once spoken...”
“How powerful is it?”
“...Not very... the connection is too thin... and only so much mana could be transferred... Probably... enough to severely wound a Rank Four Flame Demon... I suppose it's better than nothing?”
“Better than nothing, huh?”
The corner of Esper's mouth twitched.
“Mhm... better than nothing... Also, once you use it... your mana will be completely depleted... and you'll enter a weakened state... Choose your moment carefully...”
Another burst of static.
Then, the light died out completely.
The magic stone seemed to turn into an ordinary pebble—cold and devoid of any magical response.
Esper slipped it into her pocket and looked down at her left palm.
The pale blue lines slowly sank beneath her skin, becoming almost invisible from the outside. Only when she focused her attention could she feel it pulsing.
One shot.
Only one shot.
That was enough.
She stood up, brushed the dust off her skirt, and walked toward the convent.
She arrived a bit later than usual this morning. When she scaled the back wall and dropped into the yard, she found no one by the woodpile.
She looked around.
Then, she saw her.
Just inside the iron gates of the convent, a tiny figure stood there. Her hands gripped the gaps between the iron bars, and her face was pressed between them as she peered outside.
She was looking toward the large tree at the village entrance.
Esper paused, startled.
Then, she walked over quickly.
“Ela.”
Eladia turned her head.
Something flickered in her sky-blue eyes, only to sink away just as quickly.
“You're here.”
“Mhm... Were you waiting for me?”
There was no answer.
Her fingers let go of the iron bars, and she took a step back.
“Sister didn't give me any work today because some people came to the convent to see the children. Sister doesn't let me out when visitors are here.”
“Why?”
“She said I'm too scary and that I'll frighten the visitors.”
Esper's mouth twitched.
“So you're just hiding here by yourself?”
“I'm not hiding. Sister just won't let me go out.”
Her tone was just as flat as it had been on the first day, but Esper noticed a small detail.
Her right hand was tightly clutching her sleeve, which had a small bulge in it.
The wooden bird was still there.
“So you're free for the whole day today?”
“Mhm.”
“Let's go.”
“Where to?”
“Somewhere we've never been.”
The two of them climbed over the back wall.
Esper climbed over first, then reached back to pull Eladia up.
Today, Esper led her toward the west.
To the west of the village was a small forest, and deeper inside lay a clearing blanketed with fallen leaves.
“Have you ever been here before?”
“No. Sister doesn't let me go far.”
“Sister forbids a lot of things. Do you listen to everything she says?”
“If I don't...”
“What if you don't?”
“...She'll beat me.”
“Then I'll beat her back for you.”
Eladia didn't respond.
The two of them sat down on the leaves.
“Esper.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have other friends?”
“Yes.”
Eladia pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.
“...What number friend am I to you?”
Esper thought about it for a moment.
“If we're going by the standard of the first one, you're the second.”
“The second?”
“Mhm.”
A long silence followed.
Wind blew through the treetops, rustling the leaves.
“...I've never been anyone's friend before.”
“You have one now.”
“...Speaking of which, what is a friend?”
“It's someone you want to see, and when you see them, you feel happy.”
Eladia buried her face in her knees.
“When you were waiting for me, did you wish in your heart that you'd see me sooner?”
“Mhm.”
“Then that proves I'm your friend.”
“...You're my first friend.”
A long pause.
“...I don't want to be the second.”
“Huh?”
The forest fell quiet for a moment. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the two children.
Eladia spoke again.
“What is your first friend like?”
“She's very smart and very amazing. We used to play together all the time when we were little.”
“And now?”
“We're not together anymore.”
“Why?”
Esper lowered her head slightly.
“Because things happened. Someone said things they shouldn't have, and someone did things they shouldn't have. And then... we drifted apart.”
“Do you want to see her?”
“...Yes.”
“Then why don't you go find her?”
“I can't see her right now, and besides, she doesn't want to see me.”
“How do you know?”
“She said so.”
“Just because she said it, does that make it true?”
Esper's movements froze for a split second.
“You've gotten quite talkative.”
Eladia buried her face back in her knees.
“Sorry.”
“I'm not mad.”
“Mhm.”
In the afternoon, the two of them wandered all around the forest. Esper taught her how to tell which mushrooms were edible and which were not.
Eladia listened quietly, nodding occasionally or asking a few very brief questions.
By evening, the two returned to the village entrance.
Esper looked up toward the east.
The orange-red light was larger than it had been yesterday. It was no longer a single point, but had grown into a small, blurry halo.
Tomorrow.
Or the day after.
“Esper.”
She looked down.
Eladia stood before her, her sky-blue hair swaying gently in the evening breeze.
“Will you come again tomorrow?”
“I'll come.”
“When are you leaving?”
“I don't know.”
“Can you not leave?”
Esper looked into those sky-blue eyes. Something was slowly rising to their surface.
“I'll try to stay as long as I can.”
“...Mhm.”
Eladia turned and walked toward the convent.
After a few steps, she stopped.
“Goodnight.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. The moment she said it, she ran off.
Esper stood where she was, watching the tiny figure disappear behind the iron gates.
The rune in her left palm pulsed beneath her skin.
“Tomorrow, then.”
Rate on N.U.
