The Hand That Reached Out (3)

“Alright, time to eat!”

Still hugging Kardia, Noi shouted in a bright voice.

Humming “food, food,” she rubbed her thumb and middle finger together. A magic circle blossomed in the fireplace. Though no ember had been set, flames sprang to life and crackled.

She took about twenty fist-sized potatoes from a box, skewered them onto a long iron rod hung beside the hearth, then tossed the rod down roughly over the logs.

Kardia only stared, dumbfounded. He seemed surprised that Noi had suddenly started preparing a meal, but she bustled on without concern.

With magic, she poured water from the jar into two cups. Seeing the pillar of water appear out of nowhere, Kardia cried out in delight.

“A-a-amazing…! The water moved.”

Perhaps he had never seen such a “wasteful” spell—for the sole purpose of filling cups—because his eyes sparkled.

Pleased, Noi decided to play a little. For the kingdom’s greatest mage, this was child’s play. She shaped rings of water and sent fish-shaped water gliding through them—street-performer showmanship that made Kardia’s eyes shine more and more.

“So amazing—!”

Cheeks flushed like any child’s, Kardia looked at Noi.

“That’s right. I am very amazing.”

After a proud little puff of her chest, Noi finished setting the table, lifted the rod from the hearth, and checked the potatoes. Soot-black and ash-white mottling marked them from lying on the logs, but they smelled good; surely they were done.

“Sit. You control magic with your body. First, you care for it properly.”

The small Kardia sat in a chair meant for adults. From the roasting rod, Noi plop-plop-plopped a generous heap of potatoes onto his plate.

Kardia’s eyes went wide. He spoke timidly.

“I-I can’t… eat this much.”

“Then eat what you can. Your master will take care of the rest.”

Noi chuckled. “Master.” What a lovely ring it had.

She opened the jar and set salted fish over the potatoes. Since she did not know whether Kardia liked fish, she placed only a little near the edge of his plate—two heaping teaspoons… no, three, in case two weren’t enough.

When he saw the mounded fish, Kardia’s eyes went wide again. But when Noi pressed her hands together to her brow and said, “Let’s eat,” he hastily mimicked her with his small hands and did the same.

Brushing off the soot and ash clinging to the potatoes, Noi ate briskly. The centers were still a bit firm, but the crisp bite was pleasant. Satisfied, she kept munching away.

Across the table, Kardia only gaped. His small mouth hung open; he had yet to take a single bite.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you truly can’t eat at all?”

Worried, she asked. Kardia shook his head in a rush.

Then, imitating Noi, he brushed off the ash with his thin fingers and, seeming to steel himself, took a bite.

Huffing little breaths, he chewed and chewed, working hard to eat.

One bite awakened his hunger. Forgetting even that Noi sat right in front of him, he devoured the potato single-mindedly.

(After dinner, a bath.)

His sticky hair clumped and hung over his face. When Noi noticed it might get into his mouth, she extended her arm toward him with a light motion.

“—!?”

Kardia jolted back with a flinch. Fear flickered in the eyes he raised to her.

Noi regretted approaching so thoughtlessly.

“Sorry. I only thought your hair might get in the way while you ate.”

Enunciating each word, she made sure he understood she had no intention of taking his food or hurting him.

The tension slowly drained from Kardia’s body.

“I’m sorry.”

The small apology crushed Noi’s heart.

“You did nothing wrong. Kardia, I was at fault. Will you forgive me?”

“O-of course!”

His quick answer softened her face. Filled with joy, she offered him one of her potatoes—but when his portion grew, Kardia looked stricken and bit into the potato he already held.

A hammock hung from two stout posts brimmed with water. The water neither soaked through the cloth nor spilled; it simply floated there.

Before this hammock, a child trembled.

“I-I can bathe by myself.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll respect your future adolescence; just give up on it for tonight.”

Kardia was dirty enough to shame a mountain dog. She also meant to check carefully for any injuries hidden under his clothes.

“But I’m filthy…”

“Sadly, for mages, a master’s word is absolute.”

Mercilessly, Noi stripped off his clothes and popped him—plop—into the water.

“W-wah—hii! Ah—huh?”

“Hmm? What surprises you?”

“The water… it’s warm…? And it doesn’t spill…”

Kardia peered at the hammock in deep wonder.

“Of course. It’s a Yunofune.”

“Yu… no… fune… so that’s why…”

Kardia could only parrot her words. Noi blinked.

A bath using a hammock—a Yunofune—was a magical tool.

Magical tools were crafted by mages to make life easier.

They came in many uses—lighting the dark, heating pots, washing soiled clothes—but all were expensive. Though a Yunofune required complex interwoven spells, it took little space and needed no cleaning—an excellent device. Yet judging by his reaction, this might have been the first magical tool he had ever seen.

—Every living thing in this land possessed mana.

Humans who twisted mana into magic circles, the Hydrical, and the Zephyrai were no exceptions.

But possessing mana did not mean every lifeform could wield it at will. Humans were no different.

Most people in the Esria Kingdom lived by enjoying convenient magic given to them by others.

They could use magical tools mages had made, but knew neither the mechanisms nor how to craft them. Such people were the majority.

Mages were far fewer than ordinary folk, and to become one, you had to apprentice to a mage. Beyond talent, it demanded financial means; most children became extra hands for labor, and for commoners outside the privileged few, the option of making a child a mage scarcely existed at all.

Watching Kardia blinking in the water, Noi pressed her lips together.

(…I’ve acted thoughtlessly again…)

As a mage from the illustrious Galenée family—renowned for producing many famous mages—the idea that someone might never have seen a magical tool simply had not occurred to her until this moment.

(…I thought I could at least teach my apprentice to twist mana and weave a spell… that it would be simple for me…)

But raising an apprentice seemed far harder than that.

Chiding herself not to slump, Noi took the hand towel she had prepared.

“That’s right, Kardia! Look—if I do this, I won’t see anything, right?”

For modest Kardia’s sake, she wrapped the towel around her own eyes. That way, she could tend to him without glimpsing his nakedness, she thought—just then—

“Whoops—whoa!”

“Ah—ahh—!”

—Thud.

Noi smacked the floor face-first.

She had tripped over the rope suspending the hammock. The hammock itself was warded against shaking and remained fine, but Kardia’s anxious gaze peered down from the tub.

(Darn it… I meant to look like a cool master and help him feel safe!)

Sadly, little had gone well. To be precise, nothing had gone well.

“A-are you alright…?”

“I’m fine… I’m a very strong mage, you see…”

Even very strong mages found that slamming one’s face into the floor hurt very much—but to keep Kardia from worrying, Noi put on her bravest front.

“Um, I’m alright… If it’s okay, could you give me that towel?”

Worse, she was making her tiny apprentice worry for her.

She sat up and handed him the towel. Kardia gently wrapped it around himself. With the apprentice covering for his master so perfectly, dignity was already a lost cause.

Half in tears, Noi took off her outer garments. She unbelted her waist sash, shrugged off the layered outer robe, and was down to her undergarment. In Esria, both men and women wore one-piece underclothes, knee-length or a bit longer.

Climbing into the hammock with practiced ease, Noi slid in behind Kardia.

“Let’s wash your hair and body. Your hair is terribly tangled, so I’ll do it. Alright?”

When she checked, Kardia, flustered, gave a small nod.

He had curled up tight, but as Noi gently poured warm water through his hair, he gradually relaxed.

Fortunately, there were no major injuries—likely because he hadn’t resisted violently. She felt relieved both that Kardia was unharmed and that the kingdom had not brutalized a defenseless child.

She did not know how long the army had held him, but the hair at the ends was matted into clumps. As it was, she could neither wash nor even comb it.

Even so, by the time she managed to wash his hair, Kardia was hugging his knees, chin resting atop them, his eyes drooping drowsily.

His chin sat lower than the water’s surface. Noi watched anxiously lest he slip under, when Kardia spoke softly.

“What… should I call you?”

“Hm?”

“…You.”

Perhaps sleepy, he asked in a hazy voice. The question made Noi still her hands.

(…I’ve never thought about it.)

She had been calling herself “master” on her own, but she had no particular wish for Kardia to use that.

Even so, he wanted to know—Noi’s answer.

It was the first question from her apprentice. As a master, she considered it seriously.

Perhaps too seriously—time slipped by.

At some point, Kardia began nodding off in the warm water.

“Hey, Kardia. Don’t sleep in the bath. Hold on a little longer.”

“Y-yesh…”

She supported the perpetually dozing Kardia, quickly washed him, and lifted him out.

With a brisk rub of the towel, she wiped him down and dressed him in her own clothes. She owned no children’s clothing; she would have to procure some soon.

Folding the hems so the swaying child wouldn’t trip, she guided his wobbly steps to the bed.

Once there, Kardia lay down like a good boy.

“You did well.”

She pressed a kiss to his small forehead.

He must have been bracing himself ever since learning he bore the Demon King. Today, he had been bound, hauled deep into the mountains, and taken in as a mage’s apprentice—one shocking event after another for a small body to bear.

Softened to mush by fatigue, he seemed about to drop off at once, yet Kardia looked up at her in surprise.

“What is it?”

“…What was that just now?”

“Just now? The goodnight kiss?”

Kardia rubbed his forehead with a small hand. Startled by his solemn face, Noi hurried to explain.

“It’s a charm so the night won’t steal away a beloved child when they sleep. If you don’t like it, I won’t do it from tomorrow.”

“Beloved… child…”

Kardia gave a hazy smile and looked up at Noi sitting on the bed.

“I don’t… dislike it…”

“Then I’ll keep doing it. Sleep well. A gentle tomorrow will surely come to meet you.”

He could no longer manage a reply. He gave a tiny nod, closed his eyes, and drifted into sleep—she could hear it in his breathing.

“Good night, Kardia.”

Noi slipped in beside him.

In the home where she had lived alone until now, their first night together began.