After Story 3

 

“Big Lady Boss okay naow?” The girl said as she kept patting Harbin on the head. 

They have been in this situation for quite some time and Harbin let out all that she could. She was alright now, but a little bit embarrassed at having cried in front of a little girl out of nowhere. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone around to see her.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. Thanks.” Harbin said.

“Shure?” The girl asked again.

Harbin didn’t answer the question. Instead, she brought her two fingers to her lips and curved it upwards into a smile. A clumsy and charming smile.

The girl saw this and jumped around as if she had accomplished something amazing. Crying out in joy and dancing around. Harbin couldn’t help but feel happy seeing her do such a thing. 

Once she’s done jumping around, her eyes snapped at the object that Harbin was clutching within her hands. The girl had so much energy, moving from one topic to another without rest. “Ne ne, Big Lady Boss! What is that?” She asked as she pointed at the Grimoire of the Analyst.

“Hmm? Oh this?” Harbin brought out the book to show the young girl. “It’s a magical book that allows me to cast spells and talk to people from afar.”

“Ohhhhhhhhh!” The girl let out a voice of amazement. “Talk to Bridgetta can?”

“Hmm? Well… I guess you can.”

“Ohhhh!” The girl went over to take a look closer at the book. Things were never boring with the kid, Harbin just let out a small glee as she looked at the girl with excitement.

The girl who then grabbed the book from Harbin’s hands before running off into the distance.

…

“Ngah!?” Harbin immediately stood up before chasing her into the distance.  “Hey, wait!” 

The girl was much faster and more energetic than she first thought. For a girl of no more than seven years of age, the girl was outrunning Harbin, a trained soldier, through a series of corners and feats of parkour over buildings. There were even times where Harbin had to chase her through small tunnels and holes from all over the city. But the most surprising was how the girl knew her way around the city. It was like she had a map of the city on the back of her hand. Places that Harbin didn’t even know existed within Divinatus.

The chase ended when Harbin finally caught up to the girl. At the top of the wall that surrounds Divinatus, very near to the edge. The view of the evening skies and the seas could be seen as the girl played with the book near the edge of the wall.

Harbin was panting and clearly out of breath, but the girl was still playing around like nothing bothered her, like she didn’t just run a marathon across the city. On her face was a carefree look as she played around in place, acting as she was throwing out spells and stuff at baddies. She saw Harbin who arrived at the area and started to ‘throw’ spells at her.

“Shu shu shu, Kabam! Take this!” The girl pointed her hand outwards to Harbin, but nothing came out. She was probably hoping that Harbin would play along with her and act like she was dodging or taking the hit.

Though Harbin was having none of it. If it’s anything that pisses off the Purple-Haired Big Lady Boss, it was taking the Grimoire of the Analyst from her. Harbin walked right up to the girl before bending downwards, giving the girl a glare right into her eyes.

“Bad girl! That thing is not a toy, give it back or Big Lady Boss will get super mad!” Harbin said in a stern tone.

It’s not like she wants to ruin the mood or make the girl sad, but the Grimoire can be a rather dangerous thing to be playing around with. If hypothetically speaking, she does know how to use magic and she just so happened to be holding the Grimoire… The girl would no doubt be blasted by severe magic feedback if she wasn’t a chosen wielder of the Grimoire. 

And there was a big chance that she was not a grimoire holder.

The girl didn’t reply with anything. Only letting out a dissatisfied pout and breaking eye contact from Harbin. With her hands, she held out the grimoire towards Harbin who only accepted it kindly. 

“Big Lady Boss angry?” The girl asked.

“Umm, cause you are such a kind girl, Big Lady Boss is no longer angry. Don’t take other people’s things without their permission alright? Only baddies do that!” Harbin lectured the young girl.

“Ohh? Got it! Hero no take other things! Hooray, Big Lady Boss not angry anymore!” The girl jumped around in place excitedly before spinning around in place in an attempt to celebrate. Spinning right next to the edge.

“Hey sweety, come back here alright. It’s quite dangerous to spin around so close to the edge. You might fall down...” Harbin tried to warn the girl, moving closer to her in case something bad happened. 

The girl followed her advice and stopped spinning, giving her a good response. However, due to her spinning around, she must have lost her sense of balance. She soon found herself slipping all of sudden, and she soon fell off the walls of Divinatus.

In a panicked state, Harbin Immediately went over to catch the girl. But the girl was heavier than she originally thought and she soon fell over as well.

“Ehhh?!” Harbin screamed out of her lungs as she was falling down to the ocean below.

She had to second-guess herself if she really was falling. Once confirmed about the situation, her mind went into overdrive, thinking of ways that she could get the girl to safety. It was only a matter of seconds before they reached the ocean below. Wasting no time, she immediately got to casting a spell before yelling out.

“Unseen Hand!”

Out of nowhere, a sort of aura permeated out of Harbin’s body and formed a large right hand which acted as a platform that cushioned their fall. Confirming that the two were within the palm of the unseen hand, she then ordered it to bring them upwards before placing them softly on the wall.

Confirming that the two were safe, Harbin let out a sigh of relief. The girl however showed a different attitude, instead jumping around in joy and glee, asking for Harbin to do whatever she just did again. 

“Again, again!”

Seeing this, Harbin let out another sigh.

‘This girl changes mood every five seconds.’ Harbin thought to herself as she looked downwards with a tired look.

Slapping her cheeks hard to get back into mood, she gave out the best smile she could. “I’ll do even better, watch this!”

And so Harbin spent the rest of the day playing with the hyperactive girl to the best of her abilities.

 

* * * * *

 

The sun had set and Harbin was once again sitting at the castle cafeteria, staring at an empty plate in front of her. Unlike the morning, her face was full of smiles as she stared at the sleeping child resting on her lap. The girl had finally run out of energy and dozed off during dinner.

Harbin was rather shocked at how much energy the girl had, it was hard to even keep up with her. Even near the end, they stopped playing not because she got tired, but rather she got hungry. Not knowing where the girl lived, she just decided to bring her back to the castle to have their dinner. Harbin would be lying if she said that she wasn’t tired as well, but being an adult has their perks. 

It was definitely a tiring day, but Harbin felt happy somewhat as she rubbed the girl on the head. It was like some giant burden was lifted off her shoulders. She felt so relaxed, combing her hair while she snored without a care in the world on her lap. How funny it is that back then Harbin never really liked getting patted on the head. It always felt embarrassing to her. Now? She could understand why people do it. It felt really good. 

‘Could perhaps Lord Klauna felt the same when she patted me as a young girl?’ Harbin thought to herself.

It was at this moment that Harbin remembered something that Klauna said to her before she died. That she wanted Harbin to live a fulfilling life. It was no promise, but she intends to keep to those words. 

“Dammit… What am I even doing right now? Sulking around like this,” Harbin muttered.

‘I need to be a wise person that everyone looks up to. Just like Lord Klauna.’

Harbin then looked downwards to the young girl. ‘My job isn’t over. I still need to protect the future.’ Harbin thought to herself as she let out a soft smile.

“Ahh, that’s where you are, Harbin! We’ve been searching around for you.” Yuuko’s voice pulled Harbin out of her thoughts, causing her to look towards the source of the voice.

It was Yuuko, her two brothers Yuuki and Yuuka alongside Yuupiecca, Kazakiel, Natahiniel, and Blackmask.

“Everyone…”

“I’m glad you are fine, Harbin. We were just about to gather around to discuss your disappearance. Thank god you are fine. I thought you were finally going to do it...” Yuuko came closer and inspected Harbin for any injuries.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Harbin asked, pushing Yuuko away to show that she was fine.

“What’s going on? Communications suddenly cut off. Some people could have gotten injured you know? We were in the middle of something. We thought you may have kille—” Yuupiecca said halfway only to get his shoulders hit by the others.

He let out a cry of pain and was met with a look of distaste. A man who could not read the mood deserved to get hit in such a way.

“We were worried that something might have happened to you, so we looked around. Everyone is busy searching for you throughout the whole city. To think that you were here all along,” Natahiniel replied with a smile on his face. Tiny bits of relief in it.

“Ngah? Could it be that I didn’t turn on communications again? I’m so sorry!” Harbin bowed her head down, before quickly opening the Grimoire and casting a quick spell. The grimoire glowed red and soon the other replica grimoires glowed red as well.

“It’s alright really. As long as you are fine.” Yuuka said as the other two triplets nodded.

“You should have seen Medica and Cera. They were both worried sick about you.” Blackmask, Arakash, added.

“Lina and Sami are travelling across the skies in case you fell down into the ocean. Saladis was searching for you in the sea as well.”

Harbin didn’t know how to respond. She just held her head while groaning in a strained voice. “Ahhh… I didn’t mean to worry you guys. It’s just that the book went out of my, arghhhh. I’m sorry!”

Everyone in the area gave out a wry smile at the young girl when suddenly...

“HARBIN!” Medica came out of nowhere and buried Harbin within her chest. Rubbing her head affectionately. “Gosh! Do you know how much you made me worried today!”

Cera who arrived in the area let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t say anything but her face was all smiles. Alongside her were the other leaders of the army. Samiyadare, Parash, Aberanis, Lina and Poi. All of them let out a sigh of relief.

After a few moments, Medica finally let go of the suffocating Harbin, “Muuu, what do you have to say for yourself, Harbin.”

Harbin didn’t know how to respond, only scratching the back of her head. “E-he-he… Sorry about that guys.”

“Hoh?” This time it was Lina who let out a surprised voice.

“Hmm, what’s wrong, ‘elder sister?’” Poi asked in a teasing tone.

Lina ignored the rogue before standing over to Harbin and looking into her eyes. “You seem chirpier. And who is the kid?”

It was then that everyone took notice of the girl who was on top of Harbin’s lap. A young girl who was sleeping peacefully despite the ruckus. Everyone there each took turns to take a look at her and asked Harbin where she found the child. Some of the more curious people poke at her soft chubby cheeks.

The noise and the constant touching must have disturbed the girl, as she groggily stood up in place. She took a look around her to see all the generals and officers of the Kingdom staring at her. Rubbing her eyes, she then turned to look at Harbin before staring into the window behind her. The skies were dark and the sun had set quite a while ago.

“Koompa!” The girl got out of her seat like a bolt of lighting. 

“Big Lady Boss, me gotta go!” The girl said before running off.

“Ah, wait! It’s not safe to go out in the dark like that alone!”

“Dangerhoush..?” The girl stopped her tracks before turning around.

Harbin took this chance to catch right up to the girl. “Let Big Lady Boss bring you home okay, Sweetie?”

The girl let out a cute and innocent smile. “No wanna. Bridgetta told me not to bring strangers home!”

Harbin wanted to roll her eyes at the answer but held herself back. Giving out an awkward smile. The others around her only kept quiet and gave out small chuckles at the girl’s attitude with Harbin. “But we are not strangers now, aren’t we? Big Lady Boss and you. We are friends!”

The girl shook her head. “Big Lady Boss, don’t know my name! Strangers!”

“Ngah…” Harbin couldn’t really find a retort for her answer.

“Ask her what’s her name, Harbin,” Medica whispered to Harbin’s ears.

Nodding to her suggestion, Harbin asked the girl, in a soft and nice tone, her name. 

“Enriyes Slayer!”

Her answer caused everyone in the area to give out a look of shock.

“Yup! Enriyes Slayer! Guardian and Hero!” The girl repeated once more. This time complete with an energetic and heroic pose. She posed for a few more seconds as everyone stared at her with an incredulous look before waving her hand. “Bah Bai!”

Enriyes ran off before anybody could respond. Everybody except Harbin who chased after the girl to keep her safe.

The future may be uncertain for the Ak’hims, but Harbin will never forget Klauna’s lessons to her. 

To never be stagnant. To always be improving. 

And to live a fulfilling life.