Episode 27
What was that strange rambling, only to collapse like this?
“Hey, come on, wake up…”
I tapped his back lightly, speaking to him again and again.
“Friend? Hey, friend?”
“……”
“Hey!”
But the boy still didn’t move, his face resting limply against my shoulder.
Then I gasped as I felt the heat radiating into my skin.
His body’s burning up…
Was that nonsense earlier just fever talk?
People do spout delirious things when they’re burning with fever.
“What do I do…?”
I couldn’t just leave a sick person lying in the grass like this.
But taking him to a doctor was out of the question—I didn’t have the strength to carry him, and even if I did, it wasn’t as though he could actually be examined.
Should I at least get some fever medicine?
I’m sorry, Mom, Dad.
You always said stealing is wrong, but just this once, I’ll be a righteous thief…
“Mm, just stay here for a while, okay? I’ll bring some medicine.”
Not that he could hear me, but in this state he couldn’t move anyway.
I carefully slid his body to the side and started to rise—
“…Don’t go.”
His hand weakly caught my wrist again, his voice barely a whisper.
So he came to his senses again?
I clicked my tongue inwardly and let out a deep sigh.
“You’re really not doing well. If this keeps up, you might… turn cold soon.”
“…What a strange way to say ‘die.’”
He caught on immediately.
When I first heard that joke from Dad Kyle, I didn’t even get it.
“Something like that… it’s useless anyway.”
His strength ebbed, and the hand gripping my wrist slid down, settling over the back of my hand.
His palm was so fever-hot that I felt warmth creeping up my cheeks as well.
“…Sing.”
His eyes fluttered half-open as he murmured.
“Sing to me.”
“…Huh?”
He wanted me to sing? Out of nowhere?
“Now… if it’s you…”
He muttered a few more broken words before drifting back into unconsciousness.
I replayed his strange words and actions in my head.
Eyes that seemed to read a hidden screen like mine, a voice that spoke as though he knew everything about me.
So maybe he’d asked for a song because…
He thinks I have Mom’s ability?
But how would he even know about that?
Who in the world was this kid?
Besides, Mom’s power can’t heal something like a fever.
That’s why I wanted to take him to the doctor in the first place.
“…Ugh, fine.”
There was nothing else I could do, so I might as well try.
I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
But how exactly am I supposed to do this…?
In the story, all it said was “singing,” with no hint at what kind of song.
I had already forgotten the humming Mom had used earlier.
“Well, whatever.”
I’d just sing something I knew.
I cleared my throat and timidly began.
“Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o~”
“……?”
The boy’s eyes cracked open again, staring at me as if to say my song choice was ridiculous.
If you’re going to pass out, then stay passed out!
Why peek at me and make this more embarrassing?
But this was the only song I could think of right now, so he’d have to live with it.
“And on that farm he had some chickens, e-i-e-i-o~”
I covered his eyes with my palm and kept singing.
“With a cluck cluck here, and a cluck cluck there—”
Was this really going to work?
Or was I just some fool singing nursery rhymes into the night?
“—Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o~”
Even with my doubts, I kept going.
“With a quack quack here, and a quack quack there—”
From chickens to ducks, ducks to goats, goats to pigs…
“With a meow meow here, and a meow meow there—”
I even made it into parts I’d never sung before.
“Anywhere you go, a meow meow—”
And slowly, I began to feel the wind stir around me with my voice.
Encouraged, I pressed on.
“With a neigh neigh here, and a neigh neigh there—”
What began as a faint breeze soon danced around me, brushing my cheek gently.
Like playful ponies, like noisy geese—
The wind circled, weaving through my hair before wrapping warmly around the boy’s body.
And then tiny flickers of light, like fireflies, began to gather near the shimmering air.
I’d never seen that happen around Mom. Maybe it was only because the night was so dark?
“Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o…”
I kept singing until, finally, his breathing evened out.
“Cough, cough!”
I stopped, hacking with a dry throat.
Water! I need water!
I’d never sung this long before.
Now I understand why Mom is drenched in sweat whenever she uses her power.
All the strength had drained out of me.
Wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead, I gave a small shrug.
So I really did have Mom’s ability after all.
Not as immediate as hers, but still.
Guess it’s lucky I’m her daughter.
And maybe—maybe I had the talent to become an even greater healer than Mom.
She couldn’t cure fevers, after all!
Either way, I’d managed to save someone.
Pleased with myself, I turned to the boy—
“…?”
Only to find empty space.
My jaw dropped.
What? What?!
He’d been right here just a moment ago!
Could he have vanished in the split second I looked away?
Or had I been hallucinating the whole thing?
“What on earth—”
I was still reeling when the silent night suddenly filled with sound again.
The chirp of insects, the shuffle of footsteps… and—
“Where did she suddenly run off to?”
—Bertholt’s voice, clear and close.
Ah!
I shot to my feet and hurried out of the thicket.
“I’m right here!”
“Strange… just a moment ago, you were standing right in front of me.”
Bertholt narrowed his eyes, muttering under his breath.
I clamped my mouth shut, unsure how to explain.
He didn’t realize it, but time had frozen around him—
and I had lived through quite a lot in that pause.
Whether dream or reality, I still wasn’t sure myself.
“…Perhaps you really do have a talent for magic.”
Bertholt mused aloud, interpreting my silence however he wished.
“This reminds me of Harzen. That boy would surprise me like this now and then too.”
There it was again—back to talking about Father.
“Is it so important that I take after my father?”
I finally gave in to my curiosity and asked.
Bertolt’s eyes softened with a faint smile.
“Of course it’s important.”
“Why?”
“Because if you are truly Harzen’s child, then I have a duty to treat you well.”
Wait… was that really the look of someone who wanted to be kind?
It didn’t feel that way at all.
“Then what if I’m not Father’s daughter?”
