4-5 - Sophia's Blessing

We eventually arrived outside Sophia’s bedroom. Standing before the door, Alice sensed the presences inside and confirmed that there was only one small child in the room.

“That must be Sophia. All right, I’ll go in first, so follow me, Alice.”

“Okay. Once we’re inside, I’ll ask the spirits to keep our voices from leaking outside.”

“Thanks. All right, let’s go.”

We slipped into the room. The moment we entered, a startled Sophia sprang up from her chair, lifted the hem of her skirt, and drew a dagger.

“Wait, wait! It’s me, Sophia!”

“…Leon-oniichan?”

Sophia’s eyes widened in surprise when she realized I was the intruder. The instant I saw her reaction, I quickly closed the distance between us.

“Leon-oniichan, what are you—Mmph!”

I covered Sophia’s mouth just as she was about to raise her voice. I wasn’t sure how effectively Alice’s Spirit Magic could block sound, so I figured it was better to be safe.

“Sorry, Sophia. Please don’t shout.”

Normally, having someone suddenly cover your mouth would send you into a panic, but Sophia’s blessing allowed her to read other people’s emotions, so she probably understood that I meant her no harm.

Although she blinked in confusion, she gave a small nod before turning her gaze toward Alice.

“Nice to meet you, Sophia-chan. Don’t worry, we have no intention of hurting you, okay?”

“She’s on our side, so don’t worry. You can tell she’s not a bad person, right, Sophia?”

Sophia nodded repeatedly. Seeing that, I slowly removed my hand.

“…Leon-oniichan, why are you here?”

Sophia lifted the hem of her skirt and put away the dagger she’d drawn earlier. I can see her… Wait, no! Why was she carrying something like that?

…Come to think of it, she’d mentioned receiving a little swordsmanship training from Regis. That explained why her movements had been so smooth when she drew the dagger.

Surely she wasn’t better with a sword than I was… Judging by what I’d just seen, that seemed entirely possible.

“Leon-oniichan?”

“Ah, right… I came to bring Claire-nee back. Do you know where she is?”

“Claire-oneechan is in the room at the very end of the south wing, but… More importantly, are you okay, Leon-oniichan? I heard you went missing when the mansion was attacked, and I was really worried about you!”

“So that’s what they told you…”

In a sense, that wasn’t exactly a lie. That was probably why Sophia had believed it. Which meant she really didn’t know anything.

“…Leon-oniichan? Are you trying to hide something from Sophia?”

“—!”

Realizing my mistake, I immediately tried to think about something else.

However,

“…You’re panicking and trying to cover it up. But it feels like you’re worried about Sophia. Are you hiding something for Sophia’s sake?”

Against Sophia, who could read other people’s emotions, it was already too late. There was nothing I could do about it now. Well, I’d more or less expected something like this might happen.

“…I’ll be honest with you. Yes, I’m hiding something from you, Sophia. But you can tell whose sake I’m doing it for, right? So please don’t ask.”

I met her eyes, focusing on how much I didn’t want to hurt her.

“When you put it that way, it just makes me want to know even more.”

“Yeah, I figured. But I’m sorry. I can’t tell you, Sophia.”

There was no way I could tell her that her father might have murdered my family. So I was certain I’d made the right choice.

However, Sophia puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“…Hmph, fine! If Leon-oniichan won’t tell me, I’ll just read it myself.”

Sophia declared sulkily as she grabbed my hand.

“Huh? Read what?”

“—Leon! Get away from that girl!”

“…Huh?”

“Just hurry!”

Alice grabbed me by the collar and forcibly pulled me away.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“Remember how I told you that people can adjust the strength of their blessings? Sophia-chan probably suppresses the power of hers most of the time!”

“Wait, you don’t mean!?”

I hurriedly turned toward Sophia.

Her eyes were wide with disbelief.

“No… No, that’s a lie! It’s a lie! There’s no way Father would do something like that!”

“Sophia, calm down!”

“No, nooo! NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Damn it, Alice!”

“—Right! Spirits!”

Alice called out to the spirits. A moment later, Sophia fell asleep as though her strings had suddenly been cut.

“Was that… because she saw my memories?”

“I don’t know exactly how powerful her blessing is, but… I don’t think she’d have reacted that badly if she’d merely learned what happened.”

“If she’d merely learned what happened?”

“It’s only a guess, but… I think she actually relived the memories she read from you, Leon.”

“Relived them… You mean she experienced everything I saw and felt that day, all in those few seconds?”

The realization of what had happened to Sophia filled me with horror.

I had the memories and experiences of my previous life, and Alice had been there beside me. Even with those advantages, I’d endured that grief and anger in several separate experiences. Yet Sophia had experienced all of it in just a few seconds.

If that was true, I couldn’t even imagine how devastating the shock must have been for her.

“…I’m sorry. If I’d noticed a little sooner…”

“No, this was my mistake.”

Thinking back on it, Sophia had a habit of taking my hand from time to time.

She’d done the same thing when we talked about making her my stepsister. Back then, I’d assumed it was a sign of anxiety, but she’d probably been reading my mind. I should have realized it sooner.

“Is Sophia going to be okay?”

“…I don’t know. But for now, we should keep an eye on her—No way!”

Alice suddenly snapped her gaze toward the door.

“…Guards?”

“There’s one in the hallway, two… Four altogether. It looks like they’re lying in wait for us.”

“—What!? They know we’re here?”

“Probably. I think they might have been watching this room from the beginning.”

“…Damn it. So the lack of guards was a trap.”

If their goal was to prevent intruders from entering, they’d need plenty of patrols. But if they wanted to capture intruders, letting them venture deeper inside would reduce their chances of escaping.

They’d probably been keeping Sophia’s and Claire-nee’s rooms under surveillance from the very beginning.

“…What about the window?”

We were on the third floor, but with Alice’s Spirit Magic, jumping down wasn’t necessarily impossible. With that thought, I hurried toward the window, only to discover that it was fixed shut.

“No good. The window on this side is sealed. Looks like they anticipated everything. What should we do? Want to rush out all at once? We might be able to catch them off guard, at least a little.”

“I’m not so sure…”

The people outside probably didn’t realize we knew they were waiting for us. But they were already prepared for us to come out eventually.

I doubted we’d be able to surprise them simply by rushing out.

“…Let’s ask what they want. Depending on their answer, we can negotiate.”

“And if that doesn’t work? What if they take Lady Claire hostage?”

“In that case…”

“You’re not going to tell me to escape by myself, are you?”

Alice beat me to the punch, making me let out a sigh.

“If negotiations break down, use Spirit Magic to incapacitate them. Then we’ll force our way through the encirclement and rescue Claire-nee, no matter what it takes. The same goes if they take Claire-nee hostage.”

“Roger that! Let’s save Lady Claire and get everyone out of here together.”

“…Yeah.”

If Claire-nee was taken hostage, things probably wouldn’t go as smoothly as I’d just made them sound. In that situation, I might once again be forced to choose between two terrible options.

I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and checked the sword hanging at my waist.

It wasn’t the sword I’d picked up at the Granches estate, but the short sword Alice’s mother had given me. It wasn’t a magic item or anything, but its size suited my body, making it easy to handle.

My swordsmanship hadn’t improved, but… I’d at least learned to use some basic Spirit Magic. The sword should be enough to buy me time to finish chanting.

I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the doorknob.