The Circle of Magi, in the southern nation, Zaoth.
“Alright everyone, the reintegration will begin shortly! Make sure to stay with your assigned teams and follow the instructions of your team leaders!”
Within the village of Jochen, the largest of the Zaothern villages dispersed amidst its grand forested region, a sizeable congregation of people were gathered around the village square. Among them were hundreds of villagers, as well as a number of Heroes — Licensed and Freelance alike — working to organize them into groups.
From the bench she sat on while waiting for the villagers assigned to her group to arrive, Mare could see several notable individuals while peeking over the top of the thick tome in her hands.
The first were, of course, her and Ellie’s mothers: Alma and Eveline. They had already met up with their teams and were currently helping to direct villagers as some of the more popular Heroes present due to having been attributed with the slaying of [Baphomet], the cause of all of their misery.
Aside from them, she could see a few members of the Brightwind family, easily spotting them due to their signature hereditary trait of blue eyes and red hair. The most striking of which was obviously Achill himself, the current patriarch. Though his hair had long gone grey, he was easy to spot regardless due to the sheer presence of his mana.
For a man like him to come all the way out to the sticks, the Hero Association must have really felt pressured to make up for their failures. He even gave a speech and everything, though in Mare’s personal opinion, his eyes felt too hollow and lifeless for her to believe he actually cared about these people and the tragedy they suffered. Achill Brightwind rarely made such grandiose public appearances in the first place, but it seemed the rumors of him never showing any emotions on his face were true.
Ah, that person was here too. Elaine, granddaughter of Olaf, a world renowned Hero known as the God of War. Though with the last war in Magi having taken place before even Eveline and Alma were alive, the man had long gone into retirement as an active Hero. What was of particular relevance to Mare was the fact that he was the headmaster of the Hero academy in Norith, as that meant that she and Ellie would meet him once they enrolled there next year.
Supposedly his granddaughter was a prodigy who’d already inherited much of his talent, and that explained why she was here. Being a second year student at the academy, she technically wasn’t allowed to take on missions from the Hero Association the same as any Licensed Hero. But the prestige of being her grandfather’s only pupil as well as his personal commendation must have been enough for them to overlook it this one time. That, or they really did just need all the help they could get.
There were many others she recognized either through having seen them or just hearsay, and many more she was seeing for the first time, but it was clear that this was the largest gathering of Heroes that had ever come together for quite a while. The four nations were currently under a peace treaty, but it wasn’t as if public relations were favorable just because of that. Animosity, segregation, and favoritism still existed all over the place, making it a curious sight to see them working together like this.
Well, for those who weren’t affiliated with Zaoth it was probably just in an attempt to look good or to claim the reward promised by the Association for participating, so it was just business as usual, really.
“Team B, over here~! Anyone assigned to Kleinwald Team B, gather up over heeeeere~!” An involuntary sigh escaped her lips as Ellie started shouting again just next to her. After the two of them had been given their team assignment, Ellie took to calling out like this for several minutes now. Eventually she realized that it would be difficult to be heard over the massive crowd, so she took a break to construct a crudely-made sign using some nearby plywood — fitted with childish scribbles and goofy, colorful drawings that gave Mare a headache just looking at it.
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Gather up here ε=ε=ε=┌(;`ー´)┘ Ellie and Mare＼(＾∀＾)メ(ᄑ_ᄑ)ノ → KLEINWALD TEAM B ← the cool team (¬‿¬ ) ↑ |
“Team B, Team B, gather up, Team B~♪” And now she was waving it around like a lunatic while dancing and shouting even louder than before. The secondhand embarrassment alone made Mare want to slink away to avoid being associated with her, and in fact that’s exactly what the other members of their team did as they soon went out to search for the villagers themselves, establishing the two girls as a central meeting point. If only she’d hadn’t been lazy and gone with them…
Anyway, it was admittedly an effective way of garnering attention… But even so, there were things that were okay and things that weren’t in situations like this. “C’mon, knock it off already. No one’s in the mood to party right now.”
“Ehh~? But if not now, then when! We finally got rid of most of the monsters and fixed up the villages, and now it’s time for everyone to go home! That’s a good thing — a great thing, right?”
“Oh sure, if you ignore the lost friends and family members. Not to mention important memorabilia and personal effects that were destroyed and can’t be replaced. Their homes may be repaired, but I doubt they’ll serve as anything but reminders of what happened to them for the rest of their lives. Good luck getting anyone to bust out the confetti knowing that.”
“Th-That’s… a good point, yeah… But still, there’s no better time to party than while you’re feeling down,” Ellie grumbled, pouting a bit. Mare figured her cold logic was enough to convince her, but startled when her arm was suddenly yanked on. “C’mon, put that book down and join me, Mare! Maybe if we get things going first, the others’ll start joining in when they see how much fun we’re having!”
“—I’ll pass.”
“Don’t be like thaaaaat~” Rather than letting her go, Ellie shuffled closer and slinked a hand under her arm, snuggling into the side of her black hooded robe while jabbing a finger into her shoulder playfully. “You wanna do it too, right~? You secretly think it’d be fun to dance around with this amazing sign of mine, right~?”
“...Y-You’re too close, back off.” Muttering skittishly, Mare avoided her gaze while bringing the book up to keep their faces separated. Ellie pulled away wordlessly after a few moments, and she wanted to believe the energetic girl had finally given up. But after a few moments…
“AARGGHH!!! How are we supposed to become the flashiest, most popular group if you don’t PARTICIPATE?!”
She suddenly began shaking her arms and screaming with her face all scrunched up. Mare didn’t bother showing a reaction and instead let out a breath to calm herself before returning to her book indifferently.
“—Fuu. Oh, so that was your real goal. Well, even if you throw a tantrum I’m still not gonna do it. Stupid things are stupid no matter how much you whine about it.”
“Buu~! If Keith was here, he’d be all over this, y’know!”
“...Are we thinking of the same guy?”
The Keith she knew would probably have smashed Ellie’s sign to pieces by now, or perhaps shown even more indifference about the whole thing than she herself currently was. The fact of the matter was, the amount of things Keith cared about in this world could be counted on one hand, and appeasing some village people who’d faced a tragedy that had nothing to do with him was not one of them.
She knew it for a fact, but Ellie would just rush to his defense if she tried to say any of this aloud, just like she always did whenever he was badmouthed in any way. The thought of that annoyed her far more than she cared to admit, so she chose to stay quiet and let the girl live out her dumb delusions.
“That guy… I can’t believe he didn’t come when everyone got called here to help out,” Ellie said, now pouting again with her arms crossed. “Just what’s keeping him so busy that we barely get to see him?”
Why do we have to talk about this all of a sudden… Just go back to dancing.
“...He told us himself, the new technology being developed by the Thorncrofts will be going into the prototype phase soon, so he and Rachel were brought on to help test some specialized models, or something like that.”
“Y-Yeah I know, but no matter how many times I hear it, I don’t have a clue what any of that means.” Ellie’s brows furrowed as her head tilted to the side. “Hey, explain it in a way I can understand, Mare.”
“It’s fine. You won’t understand no matter how I explain it, so just forget about it.”
“The heck??? You’re such a meanie! Hmph!”
“Meanie or not, hurry up and hold that sign up again. It’s ugly, but at least it draws attention.”
“Fiiiine…” With a face that showed she was clearly sulking, Ellie raised the sign with both hands again. “Man, I miss Micah… It was fun having a friend who was actually nice to me for a change…”
“...”
“...Sorry. You know I didn’t mean that.”
“I know. I’m not mad. I was just wondering about that person.”
“About Micah? Really?” Ellie’s brows went up, seemingly surprised that Mare would take interest in such a person.
Honestly, Mare was just as surprised herself. At first she’d thought it was better than listening to her gush about Keith, but the truth was that the mysterious “Micah” that Ellie had introduced as her friend had continued to plague her ever since that incident last year.
From what she remembered, she’d arrived at the cave with the others and spotted the two of them together. Alarm bells had immediately gone off in her head, because Ellie had a bad habit of trying to make friends with anyone and everyone she felt like, including suspicious people. And that girl was most certainly suspicious.
She looked to be around their age, maybe slightly younger, and yet she apparently had the ability to take on a legendary monster. Ellie was strong — stupidly strong for someone her age — but there was just no way she could have taken on something like a legendary monster. It made sense then to assume that the other girl’s contributions were what allowed them to win, but that was exactly why Mare found her so suspicious in the first place.
Legendary monsters weren’t the same as demons or contracted servants; they were far more dangerous than what your average, or even above average mage could handle. What’s worse is that even if Ellie did know that there might have been some hidden side to her “friend”, she was likely to overlook it and simply trust in her instincts, all the way to her death if she thought it was worth it.
It was one of her most loveable — and frustrating qualities, and also the reason Mare felt that she would always have to look out for the girl. That was ultimately why she had hurried to separate them right away.
But things only became more complicated as time went on. A strange woman had appeared and swatted her and Ellie away like they were flies. She introduced herself as a necromancer and revived [Baphomet] to attack them with, and that Micah girl had used the ensuing chaos to escape. For their mothers and the two other Heroes that were present at the time, that was as far as their knowledge went concerning what happened.
And yet, while everyone else was focused on the monster, Mare was still keeping an eye on that scarf-wearing enigma. That’s why she heard it.
“Go on. I’ll handle the rest here.”
The rest of their conversation was obscured by the cacophony of the battle, but she clearly heard those words leave the necromancer’s mouth shortly before the girl fled. She was fairly certain Ellie had heard them too, but her childhood friend never brought it up in front of anyone but her. In fact, she went on to beg Mare to keep quiet about it, which she reluctantly agreed to.
That didn’t stop her from parsing the information into a theory, one that attempted to explain the many mysteries surrounding the person that Ellie refused to doubt in any capacity. Based on what the necromancer said, as well as her sudden arrival and the girl’s convenient disappearance…
…they knew each other. No, that woman had arrived specifically to help her escape.
There was just no other way to look at it. When you considered that the two of them were working together from the start, several things fell into place too.
First, the girl’s flimsy cover story. After the necromancer had fled with [Baphomet], Ellie went on to explain that “Micah” was “probably” from one of the local villages, and that they’d randomly met on the road while she was tracking [Baphomet].
She was injured — wounded from having been attacked by hornbears — and while looking after her Ellie had ended up explaining her circumstances and about her quest to defeat the legendary monster. After hearing about the cause of the attacks, Micah soon revealed her talent for magic and offered to join her on her journey.
But that was just too fishy. In the first place, Ellie’s responses to their attempts to get more details like which village she was from, or how a girl from the sticks could have trained in magic to the point that she can help fight off a contracted servant, hordes of monsters, and even a legendary monster itself, were always that she hadn’t ever asked.
What had caught Mare’s attention though was the fact that as far as Ellie had explained, the girl hadn’t made any attempt to convince her to go help whichever village she’d come from. It didn’t seem like she’d brought up the subject of her village even once actually, based on the lack of details from Ellie. Knowing that, the idea that she was born and raised in the area wasn’t necessarily impossible, but still extremely hard to believe.
If anything, it made far more sense to assume that she wasn’t from one of the villages — perhaps not even native to Zaoth in the first place. It was a wild theory that Mare had kept to herself all this time, but what if that girl had been some sort of spy or agent sent here with the same goal that Ellie had: To find [Baphomet] and kill it?
Then after it’s dead, her partner, teammate, boss or whatever comes in and revives it, creating a ruckus for the two of them to escape and take the legendary monster along with them. That would explain the girl’s unclear past, her proficiency with magic, and it would also explain why she joined Ellie on that journey in the first place instead of trying to get help for her village.
Really, the only thing her theory didn’t explain was the presence of the woman in white. That person was apparently the one who’d actually undone the seal on [Baphomet] in the first place, so it was hard to deduce how she fit into the overall picture. Regardless, what seemed probabilistically clear was the fact that someone — perhaps even multiple parties — had made a play to acquire a legendary monster’s power, and succeeded.
But why would they need that power in the first place? And who would even know about the existence of legendary monsters aside from those affiliated with the Hero Association? Mare’s musings usually stalled there, as anything more than that would only be groundless speculation that even she couldn’t deny was rooted in her inherent bias against Ellie’s “friend”.
Truth be told, most of it was little more than speculation already. But with Ellie being so tight-lipped about the whole thing, it was all she could do to keep from forgetting the matter entirely. She was sure her and Ellie’s moms were thinking similarly, as they hesitated just as much as she did back when Ellie practically begged them to ignore Micah’s presence in their report.
It was as small a change as saying the members of their team were the ones who’d taken down [Baphomet] instead of the two girls, but she had essentially asked them all to lie to the Hero Association and the world at large about what actually happened, and Mare could only assume that it had something to do with their relationship. It was clearly something the person in question had requested herself, at the very least.
Loathe as she was to admit it, but Ellie seemed completely spellbound by the girl. Regardless of what her true intentions may have been, her circumstances — or at least whatever story she made up regarding them — must have been extremely complex if Ellie was willing to go as far as to cover for her despite how many unanswered questions there were.
Their mothers seemed to understand this, as it wasn’t long before they both agreed to do as she asked, convincing the other members of their team shortly after (that one bigoted Zaothern Hero protested as expected, but capitulated to the majority again — especially after aunt Eveline brought up the idea that Ellie and this mysterious girl were the ones who slayed the [Baphomet] that he feared so much for him).
But more importantly, just who was that girl? What sorts of things had she and Ellie talked about during those weeks they spent together? What was it about her that made Ellie trust her so unconditionally?
And… why couldn’t she share that same trust with her own family? Her mother, Mare’s mother, not even her best friend in the whole world. Did they really not mean as much to her as that person?
Did… Did Mare not mean as much to her?
That… was…
“Mare?”
“Huh?” Ellie’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she realized she was gripping the sides of her book tight enough that her fingers ached, as well as the fact that she’d left the conversation open by mulling over this troublesome matter once again.
“What is it? About Micah.”
“...No, it’s nothing,” she answered dismissively, forcing her shoulders to relax and her rigid posture to slacken.
“Ehh…?”
“In any case, it looks like that stupid sign of yours is actually working.” Thankful for the opportunity to change the subject once again, Mare lowered her book a bit to point out the figures breaking away from the shuffling bodies in the crowd to approach them with the other two members of Team B in tow.
Bearing haggard faces with dark circles under their eyes, the villagers making up a portion of Kleinwald’s population wore expressions of exhaustion and despair that spoke volumes of what they’d had to endure. Some of them held their children close against their bodies as they approached, while most others — some even younger than she and Ellie — wandered their way alone.
In terms of the overall age group, it was mostly a mixture of younger women, older men, and kids, with a few elders mixed in. All of them wore basic clothes that were issued by the Hero Association, and several carried food items and bags full of supplies that had also been imported and rationed out.
Man… this is rough.
Seeing their empty eyes that seemed to be guiding them almost automatically, Mare couldn’t help but let out a sigh. It was extremely hard not to feel pity towards their situation. Her own life hadn’t exactly been sunshine and rainbows either, but she had never lost someone she cared about before. Ellie, Alma, and Eveline were all still there for her, and it’s because she had their support that she was even pursuing the path of a Hero in the first place.
As such, she couldn’t relate to these people much at all. All she could do was pity them, and that made it difficult to look any of them in the eye and act as if she could just boss them around.
And yet, predictably, Ellie didn’t let such concerns daunt her and spoke up with a loud voice as soon as everyone gathered. “All right! Thirty people exactly! Just let me confirm your ID cards and team assignment slips to make sure no one got lost and ended up in the wrong group, and we’ll be right on our way okay?”
Speaking with her usual gusto and broad smile, she did as she said and went around with a sheet of paper asking each person for the ID cards that had also been issued by the Association to help organize and manage the gathered villagers. As Mare recalled, the information on the card included their name, some basic measurements and identifying features, a list of relatives also catalogued through this system, and also the village they hailed from.
They were also given a separate slip of paper that marked what team they had been assigned to for the reintegration, and Ellie also confirmed that every single one of them had ‘Team B’ written on it alongside checking that the names on their cards matched those on her list. Once all of that had been finished, she returned with the other members to her spot next to where Mare sat and crossed her arms.
“Okie-dokie, all done! Everyone is present and accounted for! We’ll get going in just a moment, but first let’s make quick introductions,” she explained. She thumped a fist against her chest proudly. “I’m Ellie! I’m only a Hero trainee at the moment, but I’m working really hard to become a full-fledged Hero one day. If any of you guys have heard of Eveline of the [Bisecting Slash], you’ll be happy to know that she’s my mom! I learned everything I know from her, so rest assured that you’re in good hands while I’m around!”
After concluding her introduction, sent a glance to Mare and the others. Mare of course didn’t bother speaking up, so eventually the pressure to do so shifted to the remaining two — a pair of guys who were Heroes-in-training just like them.
They were in the same program as she and Ellie but came from a different camp, which explained why the two boys didn’t show any animosity or scorn towards either of them. That was all Mare bothered to remember about them though, so she ended up learning their names for a second time through their brief introductions.
Some small murmurs passed through the crowd, but rather than any interest in Ellie or the male trainees, Mare felt as though it was more a collective impatience at the idea that they had to bother listening to these introductions in the first place. Still, as the three turned to her expectantly, she felt around thirty eyes follow suit and an extreme discomfort welled up within her. She ended up turning her body away slightly and raising the book up a bit higher, then mumbled out her own introduction a bit bitterly.
“...I’m Mare.”
Silence followed as they waited for her to continue. But eventually it became clear that that was all she had to say, and Ellie quickly picked up from there. “Mare’s my absolute best friend in the whole wide Circle, plus she’s really smart! She knows a lot about magic theory and stuff, and her spells are super strong, oh— and her mom’s Alma of the Skies! If you need anything or have any questions about magic, definitely rely on her, okay?”
Please don’t.
Crap, she barely avoided saying that out loud. Ellie getting carried away and boasting about her was one thing, but she really didn’t want to have to play counselor for any of these walking corpses if she could help it.
So before Ellie could say more stupid stuff, she hurriedly moved things along. “We’re the leaders of Team B. You might think we’re just kids who are still in training, but some of us participated in the subjugation of [Baphomet], a legendary monster, and have earned a number of other commendations in the past. Our credentials qualified us for the responsibility of managing our own group, so just do what we say and we’ll get you back home safely. Is everyone ready? It’ll be our turn to head out soon.”
She could only really speak about her and Ellie’s accomplishments as she had no clue what the others may have done to earn their position in Team B, but there was no point in making that distinction clear. On top of that, [Baphomet] wasn’t technically subjugated at all as it was ultimately stolen by an unknown party, and most of those “commendations” came from her and Ellie’s mothers, but it was enough to wipe the doubt off of some of the villagers’ faces as she came to a stand.
After inserting a bookmark (people who dog-eared deserved to die for desecrating the poor book… is what she wanted to say, but Ellie was one such person too — not that the girl read much in the first place) and shutting her book closed for later, she put it away in her bag and grabbed her trident from where it leaned against the bench just next to her.
With only four of them there to manage thirty people, they decided to borrow some of the resources provided by the Hero Association for this operation. Wagons were necessary to transport those who couldn’t walk long distances, and each of them would be driven by a member of that village’s local militia, allowing them some additional manpower in case something were to happen along the way.
Still, there were just too many villagers to supply a wagon for everyone without heavily delaying the operation, so each team was allowed to request no more than five each. Priority had to go to women, children and the elderly, as well as those with injuries that made walking difficult, while the rest were forced to trek it on foot alongside the caravan. That, unfortunately, included the team leaders too, much to Mare’s disgruntlement.
With nothing to be done about it though, they borrowed all five of their allotted wagons. Each one could hold about four people, five if you counted children, so the plan was to organize the villagers accordingly, with the two boys up front leading the way, and Ellie and Mare near the back to protect the rear using standard two-man cell formations.
They took up quite a lot of space this way, but the main road was wide enough to let multiple carriages through, so there was little risk of them blocking the way for someone else — especially since the Association had barred non-commercial travel through Zaoth’s forest region until the reintegration was completed.
Honestly, with decisions like that it was easy to see just how badly they wanted this whole thing dealt with and forgotten. But that wasn’t important right now.
Because what currently had her attention was an altercation taking place near the rear of the group that was just about to leave the village through the front entrance. Sighing, Mare pointed it out to Ellie, and after sharing a brief look, the two girls signaled their teammates up front to wait for a bit and headed over.
“You damn brat!” The aggressor was a middle-aged bald guy who seemed to be missing an arm if his empty sleeve was any indication. With his remaining one, he jabbed an accusatory finger towards a pair that were lingering at the very back of the group.
Normally, identifying the aggressor in an altercation like this wasn’t as easy as blaming the one who was yelling, but the people he was menacing were clearly just a woman and child any way you looked at it.
“Why the hell do you have that much food?! Normal meal tickets shouldn’t even get you half that amount! You stole it, didn’t you?!”
“I-I… I didn’t…”
“The hell you didn’t!!! The rest of us can barely get by with the scraps they give us, so why does a demon brat like you get to have so much?! Your shithead of a father’s already dead and your traitorous bitch of a mother’s just a vegetable anyway!”
“...”
“God fucking damn it, you were enough of an eyesore back when that bastard Talahanan was alive, so stop being a nuisance you damn demon spawn!”
…Man, he was really pissed off. Without the proper context it was hard to know exactly what he was so upset about, but she more or less understood the situation just from what little she heard.
What surprised her the most was that the man seemed to have no interest in the woman — or rather, that the woman wasn’t involving herself in the argument at all. She was just sitting completely motionless off to the side in what looked like a crudely-made wooden chair with flimsy, uneven wheels adorned on it.
She wasn’t even looking their way, instead staring straight ahead with the blankest expression Mare had ever seen on a human being. You could barely even tell she was alive, save for the slight rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blink of her hollow eyes. She’d seen other villagers with similar expressions too, but this woman had a completely different feel that Mare couldn’t quite place from a cursory inspection.
Still… “demon spawn” huh.
Curious, she spared a glance towards the kid. She looked quite a bit younger than them, but that might have just been due to her timid demeanor. Either way, they were hard to see beneath her bangs as her head hung low, but she spotted a pair of bright red orbs flickering between being locked on the ground in front of her and hesitantly meeting the gaze of the screaming man.
Ahhh. I get it now.
“H-Hey c’mon, let’s not fight okay?” Ellie spoke once they arrived, forcing herself between the two with hands raised placatingly. “We’re all going home real soon, so why not get along? You’re from the same village, right?”
“Hah? Mind your own business,” the man suddenly snapped at Ellie, who flinched a bit, but kept up her awkward smile even as a drop of sweat ran down her cheek. “And don’t lump me in with this demon! If it wasn’t for her kind, none of those damn monsters would’ve showed up and ruined all our lives in the first place. And now she’s stealing our damn food! My… My whole family was slaughtered by those things… My three-year-old son was devoured right before my eyes, while all I could do was watch it happen!!! I lost my fucking arm, and yet, you—!”
As he spoke, his voice which was full of regret and sorrow soon warped with rage once again, and he suddenly turned his gaze back towards the girl while snapping his hand out towards her. In response, Ellie, whose expression was struggling to hide her own rising irritation since a while ago, finally broke, and her own fist raced up to punch the guy first.
…I guess I shouldn’t be surprised she lost her cool. In any other situation she would have just taken the hit for whoever she was protecting, but demon discrimination in particular always gets her riled up. It’s been that way ever since we were kids.
Still, this wasn’t the same as beating up some bullies on a playground. Attacking a civilian for any reason while acting as professional Heroes was a colossal mistake that even Eveline was likely to disagree with. Concluding that leaving things alone would end in a disaster no matter what, Mare pointed her trident forward in one quick motion, causing a surge of clear blue liquid to quickly materialize between the two of them. The water which had been extracted from the air with extreme precision instantly changed shape, forming a barrier that effortlessly caught both of their hands at the same time.
Both parties looked startled, and the poor kid had braced completely as if fully-expecting to be hit, but thankfully no one was hurt. Mare stepped forward as the water wall collapsed and took the brief moment of calm to speak up.
“—Excuse me. It seems like there’s been a misunderstanding,” she said, drawing the attention of everyone save the woman who remained just as eerily still and lifeless as before. “In the first place, sir, it’s entirely possible for someone to have that much food without resorting to stealing. There are several methods.”
“Th-The hell’re you on about?”
“For example, donations. Someone could have offered their food to this woman and child.”
“What?! That’s bullshit! Who the hell would give away their food to a damn—”
“Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. I’m simply listing methods through which they could have acquired more food without resorting to stealing. The second is that they aren’t big eaters, and thus their rations stockpiled over the course of several days.”
“Listen you—”
“The last,” she said sharply, cutting him off again, “and most likely scenario is that they received priority rations due to a difficult family situation, such as a mental health issue leaving the only household adult nonfunctional.”
His face twisted in confusion, so she pointed him back to the woman in the wheelchair, who still remained unresponsive to everything that was going on.
He seemed to have nothing to say to that, so she continued. “As such, the responsibility of caretaking would then go to the oldest able-bodied family member. If that person happens to be younger than fifteen years old, they become eligible for priority rations, provided they properly register for it in advance. Were you not aware of this?”
“That— I—... N-No, I wasn’t.”
Idiot. They explained it on the first day, for crying out loud.
“I see. In that case, I hope the misunderstanding has been cleared up. There is no evidence to suggest the food was stolen, so I implore you to drop the matter and proceed with the reintegration.” She lowered her head for good measure, while inwardly wishing he would just go away already.
To his credit, he actually seemed somewhat reasonable. Assuming he was actually unaware of the priority rations, his complaints made sense, though his bias led him to attribute the cause to something unrelated and use it to attack the pair. Still, she understood that he was upset and likely traumatized, and took the first chance to vent his frustrations on someone else. That was why she’d maintained her respectful attitude to calm him down.
He looked a bit taken aback, and opened and closed his mouth a few times as if trying to formulate a response. But there wasn’t any, and soon he just gave up and stormed off to take his place in the caravan.
“Hmph. My mom lost her arm too, and you don’t see her being all poopy about it,” Ellie muttered once he was gone, then stuck her tongue out brattily at the guy’s retreating back. “Mleeeehh~”
“Just let it go. He’s suffering too. Everyone here is.”
“I-I know, but… Using your trauma as an excuse to attack someone else is just wrong. Why should people have to get singled out for no other reason than who their parents are? I mean, she’s just a kid, man!”
The heat in Ellie’s words came from a very personal place. Mare knew that, and so instead of scolding her she waited for the girl to calm down on her own. “I dunno, I just… wish people would share their pain and get along instead of taking it out on each other all the time. We all come from the same place, bleed the same color, do our best to live well and achieve our hopes and dreams, and we all have families that we care about too. Aren’t those things enough?”
How surprisingly precocious.
Though truthfully, Ellie had always been rather mature for her age, the same as her. It was a byproduct of the environment and experiences they grew up with, and of their mutual pursuit to imitate their parents. That didn’t change the fact that it made Mare’s chest fill with warmth hearing her say such things… nor did it change the bleak reality they were faced with, which she was quick to bring up.
“Sadly, the world just isn’t so simple. People are afraid of what they don’t understand, and that fear can very easily lead to hate,” she replied, quoting something Alma had said to her a long time ago. “And since demons share similarities to the monsters that ruined these people’s lives, it’s easier for them to lump them all together and blame any demon they see. That makes their pain and grief easier to deal with.”
“Y-Yeah, but… it still sucks,” Ellie grumbled, bitter but placated with the harsh truth. After a few despondent moments, she quickly shook her head back and forth, then slapped her palms against her cheeks, turning them a bit red as her usual smile returned. “Welp, no use whining about it I guess! That just means it’s up to us to keep the peace until the day comes when we won’t have to anymore, right?”
“Sure, but we’ll probably be dead by the time that day comes. If it ever does, that is.”
“Oh, don’t be such a party pooper! C’mere, you!”
“—! H-Hey, don’t just—! Hands off…!”
*Wham*
“Ulgh—!!”
“U—... Um…”
After jabbing Ellie with her elbow to force her away, Mare exhaled sharply through her nose before turning her attention to the mother and child left behind, the latter of whom was struggling to form words as she addressed the two of them.
“Tha—… Thank you… Um…”
She still refused to raise her head and meet their eyes even as she spoke in a soft voice; little more than a murmur that made some of her words hard to hear. Mare shared another look with Ellie, before the latter leaned down to meet the girl’s gaze at eye level.
“Are you okay? He didn’t try to hurt you before we got here, did he?”
A few moments passed, before her head silently shook left and right, carrying the tips of her short blonde hair a bit.
Ellie obviously found the sight endearing, as she smiled brightly and reached out to pat the girl’s head. “Good, good. You were very brave back there, you know that? I think you’d make a great Hero!”
“Re… Really…?” Her red eyes turned upwards almost fearfully, but there was a small measure of hope in her expression as if she found the idea appealing.
“Absolutely! Maybe when you get a little older, you can even apprentice under me! I’ll probably be a big name Licensed Hero by then, so I’ll make sure to train you up to be super strong! How old are you? Eight? Nine?”
“I’m— um… T… Twelve…”
“.........Eh?”
Mare watched Ellie freeze mid smile, turning to stone in the face of the startling realization that she was only two years younger than they were. Deciding to leave the comedy duo behind for a bit, she walked over to the woman in the wheelchair and cleared her throat.
“Excuse me miss. Are you alright?”
“...”
“Can you understand me? I’m a Hero trainee. Can I help you in any way?”
“...”
“It’s useless, huh…”
“My… My mom, she—” The girl started, her small, trembling hands reaching down to grip the front of her beige pants tightly. “Ever since… Ever since Dad died, she— she’s… been like this… Sh-She won’t… talk to me, or look at me… a-and her legs stopped working…”
“They stopped working?” Mare raised a brow at that. Even as she glanced back to the woman, there were no obvious wounds on her body that would render her legs immobile. They could’ve been hidden under her blouse and long skirt, she supposed. Or maybe the issue was psychological, and related to her unresponsiveness?
“Th-The doctors, and the support mages all said… she was fine, that— that she should be able to move them… but… she won’t, and I don’t know why…!”
So she went to multiple doctors and support mages, and they all said the same thing… In that case, it probably is a psychological issue. That must be why that guy called her a vegetable too. Man… these people really don’t have it easy, do they?
Ellie’s expression made it clear she understood too, as she soon leaned back down to hold the girl’s shoulders. “D-Don’t worry! I’m sure your mom’ll snap out of it soon! And when she does, I bet the first thing she’ll do is give you a biiiiig hug and thank you for looking after her all this time! I can tell how hard you’re working for her sake, so keep it up!”
“...M-Mhm…”
“A-And the monsters! I promise, Mare and I’ll pay back every single one of those mean ol’ hornbears for taking your dad away! So chin up, okay? You’ve gotta be even braver from here on so you and your mom can greet each other safely.”
“...”
“Heeeey!! What’s the holdup?” One of the two boys up front called back to them in a loud voice. Any last-minute preparations to leave were long finished by now, so it was time to go. Any longer and they’d mess up the schedule for the next team.
“Sorry!! We’re ready now, let’s get going!!” Ellie shouted back, then went to take hold of the wheelchair’s handles. “I’ll handle this, so can you take care of her Mare?”
She replied with a nod, then started walking alongside Ellie as they went to rejoin the group. That is, until she noticed that the girl hadn’t moved from her original spot. She paused, turning back around. “...What is it? C’mon, we can’t wait any longer.”
“You… You’re wrong… It wasn’t… the monsters that…” She was clenching her fists even tighter now. Her head had lowered back down again too, but her voice was clearer than before even as she muttered seemingly to herself.
No, not just clearer. It was becoming… more powerful? “It… It was… that person…”
…Eh? Don’t tell me, she’s about to—
“That… That person, they— they killed him… It’s because of them… that we have to suffer like this… No matter how bad things got, I was fine as long as I had Mom and Dad… If it wasn’t for that person… If it wasn’t for them, then Mom… Mom wouldn’t be like this… And Dad… Dad would still be…!”
A dark aura began to surround the girl’s body, and Mare sighed a bit as her suspicions were confirmed. She couldn’t quite see her eyes, but with her teeth gritted so hard it seemed they would break and tears streaming down her round cheeks, she was certain she didn’t need to.
“I— I won’t forgive them… I’ll never forgive them for killing Dad and breaking Mom… I’ll never, EVER— fua—!”
Just before she raised her head, Mare shoved it back down, suppressing her aura at the same time until it vanished completely. She quickly scanned the area, relaxing only after confirming that no one had seen, then addressed the girl.
“Calm down. You won’t help anything by losing control here and making people fear you even more.”
“B-But… But Mom, she—!”
“There’s nothing you can do about that right now. Instead of fretting over things you can’t change, focus on what you can. Your mom needs you right now. Everything else can and should come after that. Right?”
The girl went quiet. Mare waited patiently, as the line of wagons that had started moving hadn’t quite reached them yet. Eventually, the girl slowly dipped her head down twice in a gentle nod, and Mare pulled her hand away. The girl lifted her head, revealing that her eyes, still shimmering with wetness, were back to their normal white sclera and red circular pupils.
Mare leaned down to wipe away the last dregs of tears with her finger, then started walking off ahead again. “Come on. It’s time to go now.”
“You… You’re not scared of me…?” The girl’s tiny voice asked. Seeing as she still wouldn’t move, Mare also stopped in her tracks.
“Of course not. Why would I be?”
“Be— Because I’m a… a demon… Everyone else in my village… is afraid of me because of it…”
“Oh please, you’re only half. Anyone who gets scared of a cute kid like you is a real piece of work themselves. Besides, demons aren't evil or scary in and of themselves — it’s the miasma inside of them that is. Learning to control it and not give into the emotions that fuel it is exactly what separates demons from monsters like the ones that attacked your village. And anyway, it’s impossible for me to be afraid of you. After all…”
Deeming it alright to show just this once, Mare took a deep breath and turned back. Immediately the girl gasped, hands racing up to cover her mouth and her eyes widening as, instead of the crystal blue they had been moments ago, another pair of blood red orbs were reflected in them.
“I’m the same way. It's a secret, okay?”
Mare sent a wink to the girl and showed a light smile while holding her index finger over her mouth in a shushing motion. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the red vanished, fading back into blue as she turned to walk off once more like the exchange hadn’t even happened.
“Now I won’t stop again, so hurry up, or you’ll be left behind.”
