A Petal Of Memory (5)

“Ah—!”

With the hand not being yanked, Aidoni covered her mouth.

The man drew back his fist, and just as Noi braced for the blow—

“What do you think you’re doing?”

A voice called out from the crowd. It belonged to a tall, willowy older woman.

The man stopped his fist right in front of Noi’s nose, then turned to the woman with a plainly mocking grin.

“What, this brat picked a fight with me, so I was teaching her a lesson.”

“I’ve been watching for a while. The girl whose arm you’re holding—she looks scared, doesn’t she?”

At the old woman’s words, the man raised a brow.

“Back off, granny.”

“I’ll return that line to you.”

With that, the old woman spread both hands and began to twist magic into form.

“A—A mage—!?”

The instant he saw her magic circle, the man tried to bolt. The seasoned mage fired the circle at his shoe; it was a small, low-power spell, but more than enough to glue one shoe to the ground.

The man crashed to the street with a tremendous smack.

Noi quickly yanked Aidoni the other way. Since the stumble had made the man release her, both Noi and Aidoni toppled hard in the opposite direction from him.

Sensing he’d lost, the man scooted backward on his rear, inching away.

“Ah! So—you found your little sister after all. I, uh, heard she was missing, so I was helping you look, that’s all! My bad, granny!”

He babbled excuses to the onlookers, kicked off the shoe stuck to the pavement, and vanished into the crowd.

With the man gone, the passersby lost interest and started walking again.

“Aidoni! Are you unharmed!?”

Aidoni seemed unable to process anything; she just stared, tears spilling. Noi took her by the hand and guided her to the side of the road.

The movement snapped Aidoni to herself; she looked at Noi and shook her head quickly, small and repeated.

“N-Noi-sama, you mustn’t…! You can’t even use magic…!”

“Aidoni, in a moment like that you shout at the top of your lungs! Or you scatter them with magic if you have to!”

“B-but we aren’t supposed to use magic on people…”

“You can use magic without hitting a person!”

Saying so, Noi turned to the one who had just helped them.

“Kind mage, you helped us greatly. Thank you. Let me offer you my heartfelt gratitude.”

Noi laced the fingers of both hands and lifted them, lowering her stance—a mage’s highest sign of respect.

That someone so young, and without mana, offered the gesture made the elder mage lift her brows in brief surprise—but the wrinkles quickly smoothed as she hid it.

“You get meddlesome when you’re old—can’t help it. I’m glad I could help. Be careful from now on, little miss.”

When the elder mage grinned, Aidoni began to tremble as the memory crashed back over her.

“T-that man suddenly grabbed my hand and I—I told him over and over I couldn’t go with him, but… he wouldn’t let go…”

Such a sheltered girl. The elder mage clearly thought so too, regarding Aidoni with concern.

“Where are your guardians?”

“They’re here, but we got separated…”

“In that case, I’ll see you back to them.”

The elder mage stepped behind Aidoni and Noi and laughed cheerfully.

“Just think of me as the draft horse pulling your carriage.”

“We couldn’t… Thank you for what you did. You saved our lives.”

Aidoni bowed meekly, and the elder mage laughed big.

“Ha! Pay me in carrots if you must. My favorite treat.”

“My, you really are like a horse.”

When she laughed, Aidoni was truly beautiful. The tears caught on her lashes glimmered like morning dew, as fresh as a newly opened flower.

Together with the elder mage, Noi and Aidoni retraced their steps.

Back where they had been earlier, they found Kardia leaning against the wagon’s bed. The coachman and Ornis were nowhere in sight—likely combing the area. Kardia must have decided they would return to the wagon and waited there.

Just as the two approached, Ornis came running up to Kardia.

“Did you find them?”

“No… nowhere…”

Ornis answered in a shaken voice, wiping the sweat streaming from his brow with his sleeve.

“Honestly, that idiot…! All she ever does is cause trouble!”

Irritation edged Ornis’s voice. At that moment, Aidoni tugged on Noi’s arm and pulled her into a side alley. The elder mage, looking mildly amused, stepped in behind them.

“Ornis. How about being gentle with Aidoni?”

Apparently unaware of Noi and Aidoni nearby, Ornis and Kardia kept talking.

“If it were you, maybe—but being gentle coming from me wouldn’t please her one bit.”

“Wouldn’t it?”

Kardia asked with a knowing air.

“…”

“Truly?”

“…”

Ornis fell silent in answer to Kardia’s question.

Noi snuck a glance at Aidoni. Aidoni pressed herself flat to the wall as if holding down a body about to explode.

“…You say the strangest things, sensei.”

“I said it because I hoped you’d understand.”

“Even if—purely hypothetically—you were right, there is nothing I can do.”

After a pause, Ornis spoke in an extremely calm tone, as if pressing his feelings down.

“…I have no intention of returning those feelings.”

At that low, cold note, Aidoni’s knees gave out.

Startled, Noi met Aidoni’s eyes.

“…Aidoni?”

When she asked softly, Aidoni whispered in a voice so faint even a mouse might miss it.

“…I—I loathe him… I really do…”

More large tears spilled from Aidoni’s wide eyes. Noi, looking troubled, brushed them away with her sleeve.

“Because I dislike him, it’s nothing at all… Truly it is…”

Noi found she couldn’t believe those words. If she truly hated him, would she need to cry just because someone said he wouldn’t be kind?

Her tear-streaked face did not look like the face of someone thinking about a person she hated.

Aidoni pressed her hand to her chest, pushing hard. Seeing the gesture, Noi caught her breath.

“…Does it hurt there?”

“Yes. When I say I hate him, it hurts here. You’ll understand someday too, Noi-sama…”

Aidoni kept her hand to her chest, squatted down, and wept a little longer.

“I’ve shown you nothing but embarrassing sides of myself.”

Aidoni bowed quietly to the elder mage. The mage smiled, wrinkles gathering.

“Tears shed while you’re young are worth more than jewels. You’ve just polished your own shine a little.”

Aidoni let the words soak into her chest for a few seconds—then lowered her head again, silently, and deeply.

“Kardia! Ornis!”

Waving, Noi called their names. Both turned toward her at once.

For an instant, Ornis exhaled in relief, a look of ease crossing his face.

“Thank goodness!”

And Kardia, with an almost comically desperate expression, rushed over and scooped Noi up. Instead of his usual cool freshness, he smelled of sweat—he must have been running all over moments ago.

(…So Kardia was running too.)

Afraid they would miss each other, he had probably returned to the wagon in the end.

“Are you all right? Weren’t you scared? Did anyone do anything to you?”

Kardia had already put his usual breezy mask back on, but Noi thought his hands trembled slightly, and she nodded firmly.

“I’m fine. Aidoni is safe too.”

“Thank goodness… Ornis, send a Sigilwing. Tell the Royal Capital Patrol they don’t need to mobilize anymore.”

“Understood.”

Apparently, it had grown into quite a commotion. Breaking into a cold sweat, Noi tugged insistently at Kardia’s clothes.

“That person over there—she saved us.”

Still in Kardia’s arms, Noi pointed to the elder mage. Kardia set Noi on the ground, laced his fingers, raised them, and bowed his head slowly.

“This Hyuetos Magic Count offers heartfelt thanks for protecting them and seeing them safely back.”

The elder mage, who had been smiling amiably, changed expression the instant she heard his name.

“…The Hyuetos Magic Count, you say?”

The furrow that appeared between her brows made it obvious she didn’t associate the name with anything good. Noi hurried to her.

“That’s not it! The one throwing his weight around in town isn’t Kardia! There’s an impostor, and it’s causing us trouble—we’re getting turned away at the door of every shop!”

Hearing Noi’s plea, the mage cocked an eyebrow.

Then she looked at Noi, Aidoni, Ornis, and Kardia in turn, set a hand on her chin, and hmm’d.

“I see. For someone bearing the grand title of Magic Count, that little punk’s mana felt awfully puny.”

She must have seen the Hyuetos Magic Count before. With a grimace—and the same kindness that had led her to call herself “meddlesome”—the mage spoke to them.

“I can put in a word at the shops around here. What is it you’re trying to buy?”