Chapter 21
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Raphaella asked back in confusion.
“I should be the one asking. Who are you?”
“Th-this is my hideout… H-how did you g-get in?”
“I walked in. So—who are you?”
“Th-then who a-are you, miss?”
“I’m me.”
“Y-yes?”
While Raphaella and Rosalie exchanged meaningless words, Ferry tilted her head in puzzlement. Then she fluttered over to Rosalie.
“Eek! F-father!”
Startled by Ferry approaching with her blue wings flapping, Rosalie screamed and collapsed to the ground. Covering her face with both hands, she crouched down small as Ferry circled her, inspecting her, before shouting toward Raphaella.
“Huh? Master, this kid smells kind of like you!”
“Huh?”
At Ferry’s words, Raphaella hurried over. As both Ferry and Raphaella drew closer, Rosalie crawled further into the rock crevice, curling up even tighter.
“P-please spare me. I-I’ll give you as much money as you want.”
Raphaella examined Rosalie carefully. Then she felt a faint, subtle aura emanating from her body.
Raphaella’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Oh? You’ve received a god’s blessing.”
“W-what? M-me?”
Surprised, Rosalie lifted her head just a little and asked,
“Wh-what does that…?”
“You’re blessed by the ‘God of Purity and Strength.’ That guy rarely gives blessings to women—strange enough as it is. And to give one to a kid like you, too.”
“I-I’m n-not a kid!”
“Twelve or thirteen is plenty young.”
“I-I’ll be a-an adult next year!”
“Huh? You? Then why are you so small? Didn’t you get enough to eat growing up?”
“N-no, I eat a lot. I-it’s just that I n-never seem to grow…”
At the word small, Rosalie lowered her head again, trying to squeeze herself deeper into the rock crevice, pushing with her hips despite there being nowhere left to go.
Raphaella concluded that Rosalie wasn’t someone collecting mirror fragments.
First, she’d been smashing rocks instead of searching for fragments. Second, she hadn’t recognized Raphaella upon seeing her. Above all, there was no malice at all in the pure eyes of a young human.
“Man, what a letdown. I ran all the way here for nothing.”
Feeling deflated, Raphaella plopped down in front of Rosalie. Ferry flew around the cave, checking the surroundings.
Raphaella asked the trembling, nervous Rosalie,
“Hey, little miss. Have you seen anything strange around here? Something that looks like a fragment—like it’s broken off.”
Rosalie, who had been crouching, jolted so hard her body shook.
“W-why do you ask…?”
At her reaction, Raphaella tilted her head slightly. Even if Rosalie wasn’t collecting fragments, she might have seen or picked one up.
Raphaella narrowed her eyes and stared at Rosalie.
“I came here looking for it.”
Rosalie quickly averted her gaze and answered,
“I-I don’t know.”
“Yeah? Really?”
“I-I said I don’t know.”
“Hmmm. That’s a shame.”
Raphaella muttered regretfully—just loud enough for Rosalie to hear. She dangled bait perfectly suited to scare someone her age.
“With that thing, you can even teleport.”
“W-what? R-really?”
The innocent Rosalie took the bait without realizing it. Raphaella replied even more casually on purpose.
“It has that kind of function. If you know how to use it, it’s an incredible treasure that can take you anywhere.”
“R-really?”
“I’m a treasure hunter, you see. I know all kinds of treasures in the world and travel everywhere—east, west, south, north.”
“W-wow… Th-then do you travel all over the world?”
“Of course. And I’ll keep doing it. It’s my karma.”
“I-I dream of traveling someday… I’m j-jealous.”
Rosalie had unknowingly crept a full handspan out of the rock crevice. Raphaella smirked and continued.
“I thought I might find it here, but looks like it’s a bust. What a pity.”
“B-but how does s-such a small mirror fragment let you teleport?”
The moment Rosalie asked—
Grab—!
Raphaella suddenly seized Rosalie’s wrist as she crept closer, locking eyes with her sharply.
“Little miss. How did you know it was a mirror fragment?”
“Ah!”
“I only said it was a fragment. I never said it was a mirror.”
“Th-that’s just what I thought it might be… P-please let go.”
Rosalie panicked and tried to pull her wrist free, but Raphaella’s grip was stronger than expected. Rosalie could have escaped if she used her strength—but she was too scared to do so.
Afraid she might kill her.
Then Raphaella chuckled softly.
“What? Afraid that if you use your strength, I’ll die?”
“!”
When Raphaella nailed her thoughts in one go, Rosalie’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.
Seeing her reaction, Raphaella was convinced. This kid had never used her abnormal strength against a person—and had zero combat experience.
“Still this innocent in a situation like this? You really are a kid. Cute.”
Raphaella released Rosalie’s wrist. Clutching it, Rosalie retreated back into the rock crevice, trembling violently.
Looking straight at her, Raphaella said,
“Little miss. That thing isn’t something a human should have.”
“……”
“It’s dangerous.”
Rosalie lowered her head in silence.
Raphaella remembered Rosalie shouting “father” when she’d been startled by Ferry earlier.
“Is your father dead?”
Rosalie weakly shook her head. Raphaella clicked her tongue.
“Tsk. Then your mother.”
“……”
Rosalie didn’t answer. Raphaella, bad at offering gentle comfort, scratched the back of her head awkwardly and forced out some consolation.
“Ahem. Well… humans die eventually anyway. You’ll die, other humans will die—everyone does. That’s just how it is. The souls of the dead enter the cycle of reincarnation, leaving behind only a pure core. And that’s the end.”
Rosalie’s shoulders trembled as she kept her head down. Hearing her muffled sobs, Raphaella panicked and hurried on.
“So what I’m saying is! What you see in that mirror is just an illusion you made—it’s not real. Your real mother already… tsk! Anyway. If you stay bound to that thing, you’ll end up living as a real child forever.”
At that, Rosalie burst into loud, wailing sobs. Tears splattered onto her pajamas, leaving dark stains. Seeing that, Raphaella irritably scratched the back of her head harder.
“Geez. Why are you crying? Seriously—kids are exhausting.”
“Sniff… I-I’m n-not a kid! Waaah!”
Even while sobbing uncontrollably, Rosalie snapped back at being called a child.
Hearing that, Ferry—who had been flying around the cave—shot over like an arrow.
“Huh? You made her cry? Master, you made her cry?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Then did you hit her?”
“I didn’t hit her!”
Already irritated by Rosalie’s crying, Raphaella snapped back at Ferry.
Ferry slowly floated toward the crying Rosalie and gently scraped off some elemental dust she’d gathered on her wings.
“Hey, little one. Ferry will show you something nice. Look!”
As Ferry fluttered her blue wings, rainbow-colored dust drifted up over Rosalie’s head. Ferry stretched out her hand and shouted, “Yap!” creating a small breeze. The sparkling dust glowed and danced in a circle above Rosalie.
“W-wow…”
“Pretty, right?”
“It l-looks like the Milky Way.”
“I showed you this, so stop crying, okay?”
Rosalie lifted her head, tears gone, staring blankly at the dance of light—until Ferry, exhausted, finally stopped, panting.
“I can usually do it longer, you know. But Ferry used up a lot of strength helping Master today. Really!”
“A-amazing…”
“Right? Ferry’s amazing!”
“I-I’ve seen it in picture books… Th-the Spirit Dance…”
“Wow! You know that? You’re really smart! What’s your name? I’m Ferry!”
“I-I’m Rosalie.”
“That’s a pretty name! It suits you~”
Watching the two chatter away as if nothing had happened, Raphaella felt all the tension drain out of her and sighed. Birds of a feather—what a pair.
“Ahem.”
At her pointed cough, Rosalie hid behind Ferry. No matter how small Rosalie was, hiding behind a palm-sized spirit was utterly pointless.
Raphaella spoke with clear annoyance.
“Alright. It’s late. Let’s finish this—hand over what you’re holding. You should go home, too.”
Despite her frightened face, Rosalie replied boldly,
“W-what if I d-don’t give it to you?”
