The Hand That Reached Out (2)

“So. When and where will the Demon King appear?”

The Starseer must have seen that far. When Noi asked, Fengalow answered with clear reluctance.

“Right there.”

Noi blinked and looked to where he pointed. It was the front door.

“…Huh?”

“I brought it here.”

“What?!”

Noi’s eyes flew wide. She rushed to the door and flung it open.

—There, under guard and in restraints, stood a single child.

A starved body. Simple hemp clothes, filthy and frayed. Hair hung so long from the bowed neck that one could not even tell whether the child was a boy or a girl.

Both hands and feet were bound in thick shackles that an axe might not cut through, and like a feral beast, the child was shut inside a heavy iron cage.

“Fengalow!”

Noi barked, her voice low.

“How could you do this—to a child!”

But when Fengalow came up behind her, the pitiful softness from moments ago vanished; his voice turned cold.

“That’s wrong. It is no longer human.”

“It is human!”

“No. It will one day bring forth the Demon King—and if slain, it will become the Demon King. A vessel bearing the king of demons—in other words, an egg of the Demon King.”

“That doesn’t justify this! Don’t think I’ll allow it.”

Noi spread her hands and moved her fingers in fine, quick motions. The instant those lightning-fast fingers wove a magic circle, the restraints and the cage around the child shattered with a sharp crack.

It was a staggering spell. The guards murmured in shock as Noi casually destroyed iron so thick that mortal blades would not bite.

Yet Fengalow, unsurprised by her prowess, spoke icily.

“You will obey me. This is a royal order.”

“Don’t be absurd. If I’ve accepted it, I’ll handle it my way.”

“Noi!”

Noi ran to the child. Freed, the child still did not move an inch. Their spirit had been broken.

The vacant red eyes did not reflect Noi or Fengalow speaking right before them; they only stared at the floor. A fragile, flickering magic—so weak a breath might blow it away—flowed within the child, a far cry from a Demon King.

The fact hurts to see. Noi pulled the small child into a tight hug.

Fengalow, pained by the sight of her expression, could not help but shout.

“That is the Demon King!”

“No! A human! —And… from now on, my apprentice!”

Holding the child close, Noi glared hard at Fengalow. He stumbled back a step and gave a small shake of his head.

“What I ordered was extermination! And you call it an apprentice? Will you give it the love our master gave to us? Is that not far too reckless?!”

Raising his voice, Fengalow pressed a hand to his brow and drooped.

“I cannot call this sane.”

Noi tightened her arms around the child.

“…If this child is not human, then I, too—am a monster.”

Fengalow sucked in a sharp breath.

Once—before Noi was ever called the kingdom’s greatest mage—she had been an outcast.

Even as a very young girl, one reason she came to be feared as the greatest mage was that she could not control her vast power.

Uncontrolled magic had, at times, endangered fields, homes—people.

So in her childhood, the only allies she had were her master and her senior disciple, Fengalow.

“…Noi.”

Having been at her side since they were young, Fengalow realized at once what she meant. But Noi had no room in her heart to answer his softened tone with gentleness.

“Fengalow, go back for today.”

“…”

“It’s all right. I’ll see the charge fulfilled.”

Fengalow lowered his eyes in pain, a self-mocking smile crossing his face.

“…Of course. I trust you more than anyone.”

Turning his back to Noi, Fengalow left the house with his guards.

—And thus, the child bearing the Demon King became Noi’s apprentice.

Having slipped from Noi’s arms, the apprentice holed up beneath the table. Pressing her cheek to the floor and crawling, Noi spoke to the child with patient persistence.

“What shall we have for supper? Ah, right. A traveling peddler gave me some salted fish the other day. I hear it’s delicious over steamed potatoes. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It would go well with a drink, too.”

Saying it out loud only made it harder for her to endure.

She clutched her truly growling stomach when a thin, whispery voice came from under the table.

“…Truly?”

“Hm?”

Even stretching her neck as far as she could, the voice was so small—like an insect’s chirp—that Noi could not catch it and asked back.

Without so much as a twitch, the child spoke again.

“Truly… am I—human?”

The voice was so faint one had to focus every nerve to hear it, and it trembled pitifully.

That single question told her everything about how the child had been treated before coming here.

Noi bit her lip hard, then put on her brightest smile.

“Of course!”

Cheerfully, she spoke under the table.

“Do you know who I am? They call me the greatest mage in the kingdom. If a mage like that says so, you can be sure it’s true!”

A pair of red eyes peered out from the black hair, glimmering faintly in the dark.

Noi watched the small apprentice’s face, waiting for the child to speak.

At length, the child asked timidly:

“—Then…”

“Mm.”

“Then… you won’t die?”

“Huh?”

“Even if I’m beside you… even if the Demon King is here—you won’t die?”

Noi’s eyes flew open, and a shiver ran through her body.

(This child…!)

This small child had been told that, with the Demon King inside them, their presence would hurt someone. And they were terrified of that. They feared more for others than for themself.

Touched to the core—and ashamed of the adults who had driven the child to such despair—Noi nearly wept.

“I am an incredibly strong mage!”

Noi forced her voice bright.

“The Demon King only lodging inside you? I’ll yank it out, give it a quick one-two, thrash it to bits, and kick it right out!”

She flapped both hands, miming a rout of the Demon King. Then she scrunched her face and narrowed her peppermint eyes into what looked as much like a smile as she could manage—something to let the child feel safe from the heart.

“So… stay by my side.”

No sooner had she finished than the child burst from beneath the table with a great clatter.

The small body trembled in little jolts. From the hitching breaths, she knew the child was crying.

(…So small. So utterly helpless.)

Even if the Demon King dwelt within, a mere child could not be made to shoulder everything.

Noi hugged the clinging child with all her strength, then took the child’s cheeks in both hands and looked into those eyes.

“Your name?”

Above the twin moles, the red eyes dulled over.

When the child’s gaze started to fall, Noi cupped their cheeks more firmly and tipped the face back up.

“—Then I shall grant you one. For my dear apprentice, at least this much fortune is natural.”

Keeping his face gently lifted in her supple hands, Noi thought aloud with a soft hum.

“What would suit… Ryule, Siete, Renaud, Ortus…”

She tried a few on her tongue, but none felt right.

She peered into the boy’s eyes. The gloom had lifted; they now sparkled as if searching for hope.

Staring into those red eyes, Noi spoke solemnly.

“—Kardia.”

Astonishingly, it fit. As though she had traced a memory etched into his soul.

“Kardia. From now on, you are Kardia.”

Noi knew she would never forget Kardia’s face at that moment.

—Even an angel could not smile so beautifully.

It was a soft smile, filled with joy from head to toe.