….
X776
Being a baby was unpleasant.
Of course, it got better over time as I trained myself to walk, handle objects without dropping them, and run. Obviously, I wasn't fantastic at any of the above activities given, well, my babyness, but I was fairly sure that I was above the average two-year old.
Thankfully, I didn't seem to be suffering from any symptoms of malnutrition thanks to the Matron's—or whatever equivalent the other orphans called her—diligent work. As such, I was rather healthy and well given my circumstances.
Even better, I have finally learned how to read this bizarre language! It was only on a rather low level, but I have been making a lot more progress than I thought I would. Truly, I was very grateful to the Matron for taking so much time on humoring my requests. Well, I supposed my begging was quite convincing.
I should do something nice for her. Even though she did change my name to Liliana.
It had taken me a while to understand what they had been calling me. The situation was a bit grating, but it wasn't as if a baby could name herself. At the very least, I suppose I could just think of 'Liliana' as my middle name.
I absentmindedly flipped through the book I was holding. It was some stylized history book on the 'Fiore Kingdom'. If I still wasn't sure whether or not she was in an entirely different world, then this was irrefutable proof.
The Matron and the other children at the orphanage treated the contents of the book as fact—common sense even despite its ridiculous content—and frankly, I felt very out of my element.
Magic? Ethernanos? The Ishgar continent among a whole host of foreign lands I had never even heard of?
I never read much in the way of fantasy, but I suspected that my current situation was very… fantastical.
A whole new world was one thing, but magic of all things…? Did that also mean that the people here weren't the same humans as the one I knew?
I put the book away, still deep in thought. It would be a shame if my medical experience had no use here due to some odd physiological differences, although the fact that I had an entire lifetime to relearn offset that. Hopefully, there wouldn't be that much more in the way of differences.
Now, considering that there was apparently something as bizarre as magic in this world, I felt like it would be sensible to begin learning about it now that I had a good enough grasp on the language.
I frowned. Who amongst a group of orphans would have the ability to use magic? Magic was widely accepted, but strangely enough, only a fairly small minority could use it without tools. Here, magic was some sort of supernatural force that occurred regularly in everyday life. Even the Matron has those odd crystals to heat up the stove and another crystal to cool down a box so that it acted as a fridge.
Most... wizards and witches, from what I heard from the Matron and the kids, either joined or were recruited by guilds.
Actually… wasn't there that white haired kid?
And indeed, I remembered that the white haired kid—Erigor?—had displayed some feats of magic before. I brushed it off as mere sleight of hand, but perhaps I ought to begin taking it more seriously. Magic here did seem to be able to accomplish some rather ridiculous things.
There was also that other teenager, Karen, who came by every so often. I didn't particularly like her all that much as she usually came with weird looking 'friends' that she bullied and harassed in front of the other kids. That being said, the girl always did brag about her 'rare magic', so Elizabeth kept her in mind as an option to learn from.
"Hey, kid!"
Speak of the devil.
Karen and her stupid natural green hair. What was it about this new world and weirdly colored natural hair? White and green, what was next? Pink?
"Ya," I answered with as little emotion as I could muster to Karen.
"There you are," Karen lifted me up without even asking, rude, so I struggled against her uncomfortable hold.
Girl, first of all, I'm older than you. Second of all, learn how to hold a damn baby!
Karen's hand was positioned just on my butt, and her other hand did nothing to support the rest of my flimsy body so I have to hang onto Karen's clothes for dear life.
"You're a weird baby, you know that?" Karen pinched my cheek. "Like you look at stuff all creepily."
I rolled my eyes. Why was this girl even bothering messing with a baby of all people? Did everyone else get tired of her?
"See you just did an unbaby thing!" Karen pointed out and poked my nose.
"Bada DA!" 'Stop that.'
I decided to smack the teen's face for pinching my cute baby cheeks. But I should have known that my clumsy attempt was easily intercepted by Karen who just laughed in response.
"D'awwww. You're weird, but you're still so cute," she put me back on the ground. "As a gift, I'll show you my magic, so prepare yourself for awesomeness. You better be honored!"
I raised my eyebrows. A demonstration was exactly what I had been looking for. I caught Karen looking at me with a smirk and immediately replaced my eagerness with a frown. Wouldn't do any good to feed into the teen's already massive ego.
"Kay," Karen responded and pulled out an intricately crafted golden key with the crest of the horoscope that I was somehow familiar with. "Prepare to be amazed, weird baby!"
She held the golden key in front of her and shouted, "Open! Gate of the White Ram—Aries!"
A large shining magic circle appeared in front of the key, and I immediately scrambled away. It was so sudden and I didn't expect it to be so huge and flashy. I had a few preconceptions of what magic would be like and seeing something so unlike anything I'd ever seen before unsettled me.
Karen smirked, "This is just the beginning, just watch!" Then she inserted the key in the middle of the circle and twisted it to the left as if opening a door.
A bunch of fluffy clouds rushed out of the circle and everything grew brighter and brighter until the light dimmed and someone popped out of fucking nowhere!
"Y-Yes master?" the person—a girl with ram horns on her head—meekly said as she looked at the ground.
I stared at the ram-headed person and Karen in horror. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? DID SHE JUST FUCKING KIDNAP A PERSON? A COSPLAYER?!
Karen looked at my face and mistook it for awe. "Heh. Pretty cool right? Watch this, since I'm her master, I can make her do anything." To prove her point, Karen stared at the trembling girl with a mean smile. "Aries, show her your magic."
"O-Okay..." the girl said as she put her hand out, "W-Wool W-Wall!"
Suddenly, a giant wall made of wool appeared in the place where the cosplayer was pointing at.
I stared with my mouth open.
What. The. Fuck.
H-How did a person appear out of nowhere? Didn't teleportation violate the laws of physics? And wasn't there that debate on how teleportation killed the original person? Did Karen just commit murder?
My eyes landed on the wall of wool.
And just how in the world something just materialized out of nowhere?!
A thought wiggled its way into my head. If Karen, a cocky teenager, could do something like this, then what about actual magicians? Could they materialize a magical nuclear bomb for instance? Would they be able to blow up entire cities? Was the world I was in now more dangerous than my previous world?
What if my mom was here too? How would she survive with crazy superhumans running all over the place?
Needless to say, my mind was blown, overwhelmed, and overloaded. So I was forced to take the only effective action open to a baby.
I cried.
Karen looked at me in disdain, "What? Why are you crying! You should be giggling and give me the applause I deserve! Hey, stop crying!"
While my body might be weak, my lungs sure weren't, so when she tried to coax me to stop, I just cried even louder.
"Aries, this is your fault! So make her stop crying now! That's an order!"
"E-Eh! O-Okay!" Aries cried and knelt down on the ground before me. "T-There, there, p-please don't c-cry."
She gently rubbed my head with a trembling hand, but then I remembered how this poor girl, just like me, had also been kidnapped from her home.
I cried harder.
"ARIES!" Karen screeched. "YOU'RE SO USELESS!"
"I-I'm s-sorry!" Aries stuttered before disappearing with a poof and some clouds.
In the end, the Matron showed up and Karen was berated for using magic in front of a baby without supervision. Of course, Karen complained that she was just practicing, but the Matron wasn't having it.
Needless to say, Karen got grounded and I tried my best to process what I had seen... After a nap.
Speaking of which, what was that weird air-quake I felt earlier today? Was it some kind of magic, or was it just me?
. . .
I felt much more refreshed after having gotten some rest after the rather harrowing experience Karen would me through. In retrospect, the girl was probably some sort of familiar that Karen made a contract with. Although, I found it baffling that anything or anyone would want to contract with someone as awful as Karen.
Magic was truly frightening. Karen had pulled that girl from god-knows-where and barely seemed tired or bothered after the fact. Teleportation was something relegated to the world of sci-fi and a teenager on a power trip just casually displayed it to me, a baby.
What could other, more competent magicians do? The thought scared me. Chances were, I was a regular person and would be pretty screwed if a magician got angry at me. The worst part was, they looked exactly the same as normal people.
How did the people in this world even live peacefully? How did they sleep at night knowing that someone could annihilate the entire area without a thought?
A knock at the door interrupted my musing. The door opened to reveal a pile of spiky white hair.
It was Erigor! What a cute kid.
He walked over to me and poked me, presumably to check if I was awake or not.
I scowled and slapped his hand away. That was no way to treat a baby.
"Wow, okay. I was just checking if you were up or not," he put his hand away. "You missed lunch, and the Kaa-san left some food for you."
Food! My stomach rumbled at the reminder. I reached out towards him with my arms.
"Up up!" my hands opened and closed. Yes, I could walk, but I was hungry and walking was still pretty tiring for me.
Erigor sighed and picked me up. "You're going to have to learn how to walk by yourself one day."
I clumsily patted his cheek. "No! You up up!"
"What am I? Your slave or somethin'?" Erigor grumbled as he carried me towards the dining room. "Uh, um, I heard you cried today because of Karen."
I gravely nodded and instinctively leaned more into his shoulder. It seemed that Erigor had taken the role of the older brother in the orphanage seeing as how he was so natural at holding a baby.
"Yeah, she's kinda a bitch sometimes," Erigor agreed. "Like all she cares about is being popular."
I stared at Erigor in dismay. "Bad word!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I want you to look here for a second."
Erigor sat down on the floor with me on his lap, and he opened up his palm. I looked back at his palm, then back at him. There was nothing hidden, no toys, no snacks, nothing. It was literally just his empty palm.
Did he want me to touch it or something?
I put my small hand on top of his palm.
He sneered and tousled my hair, "Not that. Look at my palm."
Slowly but surely, small wisps of air started to form atop his palm. I looked at the bizarre sight in wonder.
Erigor could motherfucking airbend?
Wow. Okay, this was insane.
There was a time in my life where I was a die hard ATLA fan. Kid me loved the idea of bending the elements and more often than not, I would imagine being one of the benders or even the Avatar themselves.
Of course, I soon came to terms with the fact that bending was limited to fiction.
But in this world, you could actually bend? Like in ATLA?
"Wa!" I tried to touch the wind but since it was made of, well air, it dissipated around my hand.
"Pretty cool, don't you think?"
"Coo!" I exclaimed excitedly with sparkly eyes.
"Hehehe," Erigor tousled my hair again, "That's why you don't need to fear magic, yeah? No one is here to harm anyone."
He stood up and carried me again in his arms.
Meanwhile, I was astounded.
Did this boy just try to cheer me up? This grumpy looking kid that was snappy most of the time?
I felt ashamed. I was an adult, yet I had judged him from his appearance. Hadn't he been nothing but kind to me and everyone else at the orphanage?
And now he, a child, had to cheer me up. Me, an adult. A grown-up who should be looking after these kids, not being looked after by them.
Erigor pressed me tight against his chest so I wouldn't fall off unlike a certain other teenager. I wrapped my pudgy arms around his neck as he walked towards the cafeteria.
I solidified my goals in the back of my mind. If the people in this world could destroy the world with magic, then wouldn't this world be destroyed already? Yet here I was with all these children living peacefully at an orphanage. Surely the world wasn't as bad as I was thinking.
On the off chance I could use magic… well, that would be pretty incredible. There were even some magicians here who could give me tips.
If most magicians were pretty reasonable, then it definitely couldn't hurt getting more familiar with it.
Erigor plopped me on a chair, rummaged around in the kitchen for a bit, and then came out with a bowl of porridge. "Alright, hurry up and eat. I gotta go do a job in a moment."
"Ob?" A kid as young as him was already working?
"Yeah! I do odd jobs here and there," Erigor rubbed his head bashfully. "I just kinda do some chores 'round town for a quick Jewel.."
"Ya!" I clapped my hands together. Working at such a young age was very admirable, especially considering Erigor's circumstances.
"What are you 'Ya!'-ing for!" He pinched my cheek. "Anyways, I gotta hurry and go clean up someone's chimney now! You better get someone to put the bowl up later, you hear?"
I nodded my head and waved. "Bai Bai!"
Erigor snorted and shouted as he left the room. "Kaa-san! I'm heading off now!"
"Okay!" the Matron's muffled voice responded. "Stay safe!"
The door closed behind him, and now I was left all by my lonesome.
Hm. What should I do now?
I looked towards the place where all the books were kept. Now that I saw and reasoned that the magicians of this world were much more 'safe' than what I once thought, I had more of a drive to study more.
I picked up a book that the Matron had conveniently left on the bottom shelf—perhaps she got it for Karen and Erigor—and found a comfortable position on the floor.
It was time for more study.
…
X777
"What does this one mean?" I asked, pointing my finger at a character I had never seen before.
The Matron and I were sitting in the living room, me on her lap, just as usual while she held a children's book in her hands.
"This one means moon."
"Oh, I see! So if you combine this character and this character, it says, 'the rabbit ran in the moon,' right?"
"The rabbit ran on the moon. Excellent job though Lili," Matron said with a strained smile.
After careful consideration, I decided not to hide how unnaturally I acted. I had no patience spending years pretending I had the mind of a toddler, and I doubted that I could truly hide everything from the others since I was always under supervision. It was better to throw a curveball and let them draw their own conclusions.
What was the worst they could do? Kidnap and do some experiments on me?
"Thank you, ma'am," I awkwardly fidgeted in her lap. There was no doubt that she was offset by my… maturity.
The Matron's smile faltered.
Sometimes I could see how I troubled the Matron. For someone who was experienced in taking care of children, I was probably abnormal in her eyes.
There was one time where I was just sitting and studying written characters for hours without rest. It's not that I wanted to be regarded as a genius. Afterall, what was the point? I had to know the language in order to survive, and the sooner the better.
It was desperation that drove me. Well, not being understood was also pretty frustrating.
After that, the Matron decided that I should be under supervision at all times. To be fair, my study habits were probably not very good for a three-year-old's body.
Because of this, I made some allowances for her sake. I acted childishly, smiled a lot, and even tried to be a bit clingy, making sure to give out plenty of hugs and gummy smiles to dull the edge of my oddness.
The Matron looked outside the window, "I think it's about time to finish. We'll read more later."
"Okay," I said with a smile, hopping off from her lap.
As she stood up, she moved her head away from mine and coughed sideways, making sure to cover it with her handkerchief.
I looked at her with worry. She had been coughing a lot recently, and not small coughs either. They were heavy wet coughs that wracked her entire body with tremors. There were also times where I found her shivering despite it being warm.
The Matron put away her handkerchief and smiled at me. "Go ahead and play with the others while I prepare dinner. Be a good girl okay?"
"Okay!" I followed her with a cheerful grin, hiding away the worries in my heart. The Matron definitely seemed like she was sick with something.
I resolved myself to make an excuse to do a check-up on the Matron later before sneaking my way towards where all the books were kept. I did say I was going to play with the other kids, but honestly, even studying was far less annoying.
I've been eyeing the filled bookshelves that sat in the Matron's room for a while now.
I wondered—how much could I memorize before dinner?
Some time later.
"So everyone has a different capacity for ethernanos, but can increase it through 'exercise'..." I muttered to myself and yawned. I took a glance at the window and noticed that it was already dark. I guess I didn't realize since the lights were now on somehow. Did I turn them on?
Huh, I didn't realize that I've been here for so long. Speaking of which, my stomach was now rumbling. Why didn't anyone come to get me for dinner?
I put the book back up and exited the Matron's room before tip-toeing towards the dining room. The table was empty and no one was there. The orphanage was also suspiciously quiet.
I bit my lip. Perhaps they were already asleep somehow? I peeked in the bedroom and noticed that all the beds were empty.
Did they get taken on a field trip or something? That would be rather out of character for the Matron though…
"Is anyone there?" I called out and waited for a response. Nothing.
"Hello?" I walked around, checking to see if I somehow missed where everybody was hiding. To my dismay, no one was around.
Now I was seriously worried. Was this the work of some sort of magic?
I hesitantly opened the door to the orphanage and peeked my head out. Seeing that no one was on the front lawn, I walked out and closed the door behind me. Perhaps they all went out in town?
The lack of lighting save for that of the moon's made seeing difficult, but I could still see the general position of the gate. I walked down to the gate and opened it. The moment I set foot out of the orphanage's boundaries, I was suddenly grabbed by a burly arm and a cloth was shoved over my mouth.
"MMMMMPH!" What the hell?!
"Careful now, brat," the voice—a man—said. "Wouldn't want the goods to get damaged."
Kidnappers? Had they always been waiting outside the orphanage? God, I felt so stupid. What the fuck was I thinking when I thought 'Oh this world is fine, no one will kidnap me'?
I should have remembered that magic didn't magically make everyone good.
I stopped struggling as it wasn't getting anywhere, and the man's grip on me loosened and the cloth dropped away from my mouth.
"See?" he chuckled. "No need to make it harder than it has to be, brat. The crazy cultists will do enough of that anyways."
Cultists? I really had no desire to be sold to a group of crazies.
I slowly twisted around to see who it was. Even in the dim moonlight, it was no surprise that it was an unknown face. That made my next decision a lot easier to make.
I bit down on his arm. Hard.
"FUCK!" he screamed and let go of me as he clutched his arm and checked it for wounds.
I took that time to scramble away, heading to the nearest alleyway I could find. Thankfully, the orphanage was located in the town, so there was a chance I could hide and wait for the guy to leave.
The moment I entered the alleyway, I was grabbed by another pair of hands. Horrified, I thrashed and screeched as my limbs flailed about.
"Hey, calm down!" a familiar voice hissed. I stopped my thrashing and squinted at the person who had grabbed me. They had conspicuous white hair and sharp eyes.
"Erigor?" I asked in relief. "What are you doing out here?"
"What am I doing out here?" he looked at me with an incredulous expression. "What are you doing here? Don't you know that we've been out all afternoon looking for you?!"
"What?" I startled backwards. "I was in the Matron's room the entire time though?"
"Ugh," he sighed and facepalmed. "Next time, tell someone you're in there alright? You're way too damn quiet."
"Sure," I nodded. "But uh, there was a guy who tried to kidnap me when I left the orphanage."
"Oh," Erigor looked behind me. "That guy?"
I slowly turned around and saw a very large and very pissed man towering over us.
"I'm going to fuckin' kill you, brat," the kidnapper said, his voice filled with rage. "I'll break all your bones and toss you into the dumps. I'll—"
Erigor stepped in front of me and shouted. "Zephyr Strike!"
Heavy winds, not all like the gentle small ones I had seen before, surrounded and condensed themselves around his fist. Erigor lunged forward, landing a clean strike in the middle of the man's gut.
It was almost comical if not for how terrifying it was. The man's eyes bulged out, and he flew—actually flew—into the air before landing with a nasty crack.
"Fuckin' shithead," Erigor spat on the man.
"Bad word," I said in reflex. Erigor just gave me an unimpressed look. "Anyways, what should we do with him?"
"Eh, just leave him here or something," Erigor shrugged and patted my head. "You're pretty calm for a kid who almost got kidnapped."
I opened my mouth to respond before I saw the guy Erigor had beaten up was now standing.
"You, you… YOU FUCKING BRAT!" the man was furious, and he menacingly approached us, "When I get my hands on you, you will regret messing with me—"
"Ho?" The Matron stomped towards us from the other end of the street with eyes that were filled with cold fury, "What did you say you'll do to my children?"
The man turned around to look at who's talking, only to get a mouthful of the Matron's bat. His teeth shattered and blood splattered everywhere. He fell to the ground with a wordless howl as he covered his mouth with his hand.
"You bish!" he glared at the Matron who looked down at him impassively. "Ai'll ge' you—"
The Matron swung the bat across the man's temple with a crack, and the man slumped down, unconscious.
"Don't." smack, "You." smack, "Dare!" She huffed as she continued beating the prone man.
"I think that's enough—" Erigor tried to stop the Matron, but she relentlessly continued.
I tugged on Erigor's shirt to get his attention and silently shook my head. The Matron looked like she needed an outlet for her stress, and I had no qualms with letting her beat a kidnapper.
Erigor took the hint with a nod.
After a few minutes, the bat was now all broken. The Matron threw away the bat with a grumble and smiled tiredly at the two of us, "Come now children."
Erigor grabbed my chubby hand and pulled me towards the Matron. We passed by the bloody mess on the floor that had been the Matron's adversary. His eyes were already swollen over and bloodied spit dribbled out from his slack jaw.
Luckily for him he was still alive, but even if he made it, the scars would be there forever. He'll be lucky to remember his own name considering the amount of damage the Matron had dealt to his head. Or maybe people here were unnaturally sturdy too, and this level of injury wasn't a big deal.
I looked at the Matron. To think such a weary woman could be so brutal.
Erigor too. A punch from him imbued with wind magic had thrown a grown adult into the air.
Scary, these two…
I resisted an urge to shudder when I imagined Karen joining in on the action. The triple combo of death...
No wonder the kids from the orphanage were so obedient.
Erigor nudged me over to the Matron who then picked me up. "Call the guards here for me?" She asked him, and with a silent nod, he dashed away in a blur, probably with the help of his wind magic.
"Now, Lili," the Matron smiled.
I gulped.
"I… I can explain?"
"No," she firmly shut me down. "It may have been our fault for not looking harder, but deciding to wander out here by yourself?" The Matron leveled a stern gaze at me. "Don't you know the world is a dangerous place? Just last month, Rosemary village had been burned down, some of the children were kidnapped and their parents murdered. For someone so smart, you act very foolish Liliana."
She took a deep breath. "I am very disappointed in you."
My heart sank. She was right, what had I been thinking? Why did I expect the outside to be safe when I was just a three year old orphan with nothing? Why did I think it would be a better idea to wander out in a place I knew so little about?
"But I only wandered out because nobody was around..." I muttered. It was a weak defense, but I had been genuinely worried.
"I appreciate your concern, Lili," the Matron's gaze softened. "We should have kept a closer eye on the orphanage, but I panicked and put all the kids in the cellar once we thought you were taken."
"A cellar?" I asked curiously. I hadn't come across any indication that the orphanage had one.
The Matron grimaced. "I suppose it's more of a hiding place. Ever since Rosemary village was burned to the ground, I had it built in case something terrible ever happened. Karen is watching over all of the kids there right now."
I giggled hysterically. God, the stress was catching up with me now that my adrenaline was wearing off. "I can't believe I didn't hear her screaming when I was looking."
"Karen can be patient… occasionally." The corners of the Matron's mouth tilted upwards. "Now, where were you hiding that had us all in a worry?"
"Your room?"
She looked at me incredulously before sighing. "I should have known when I saw you glance at the bookshelves. Don't think I didn't notice, Liliana."
I gave her a small apologetic smile.
"Next time, please tell us, alright?"
"Okay."
Just in time, Erigor came in with two guards who were shocked at the scene of the brutally maimed man. One arrested the man while the other asked the Matron if she had time to come in for questioning.
"It's good that you've caught him, ma'am," the guard nodded as he finished scribbling stuff on his notepad. "A string of kidnappings have been happening recently, so if you ever see anything suspicious please notify us."
The would-be kidnapper groaned in the background as the other guard forced him to his feet. I felt a little sorry for him, but you reaped what you sowed.
"Now, if you want the kids to go somewhere else while we ask you a few questions..." The guard looked down at Erigor and I before looking back at the Matron.
The Matron nodded and handed me to Erigor before telling us to return to the orphanage and get the other kids out.
And so we did.
We returned to the orphanage and the charcoal color of night made way to a canopy of gold and orange.
I yawned. The fatigue of recent events was beginning to catch up with me, and my miniscule body was in the process of shutting down.
Erigor picked me up and placed me on his back. "Try not to fall off, 'kay?"
"'Kay," I muttered, my head lolling against his shoulder as I peacefully drifted off to sleep.
My last thought was of how to avoid making the Matron angry.
. . .
X778
Focus
Currently, I was in the middle of trying to 'sense' my mana. I felt tremendously ridiculous sitting cross-legged whilst trying to feel something as abstract as 'magic'.
I sighed and opened my eyes. I had been trying to sense my magic according to how the books I've read stated—though to be fair, the books were awfully vague—but to no avail. I haven't felt the tiniest bit of what could be considered 'magical'.
I doubt itchiness on my butt counted.
"What are you even doing, weirdo?" Oh, it was Karen. Again. "Like, why are you just sitting there all quiet?"
"I'm trying to figure out how magic works," I answered honestly, deciding to humor her. Who knew? Perhaps she would offer some tips.
Karen laughed. "You? Magic? Listen here twerp, the only people who can do magic are special kinds of people, wizards like me!"
Never mind. She was just here to gloat. "Thank you Karen, that was very helpful."
"Yeah, you should do something else. Like pooping in your pants and playing your dumb kid games with the other kids," Karen continued babbling, the sarcasm flying over her head.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Okay, Karen."
I got up from the ground and decided to leave. It didn't look like Karen would stop anytime soon, seeing as she was now following right behind me.
"Hey! Where are you going? I wasn't finished!"
I turned around and looked at her. "Okay. Finish it then."
"W-Wha?" Karen stuttered. It didn't seem like she had expected that.
"No? That's all?" I turned back around and headed towards the garden. "I'll be heading out then."
"No, wait!" she shouted. "I can show you something cool!"
"Summoning Aries again?" I asked unimpressed. "That's the only thing you do."
"W-Well," Karen hesitantly began.
I sighed again. "Well, since you're here anyways, I have some questions I've been wanting to ask."
"Of course!" Karen beamed haughtily. "You can ask me anything! I'm the best Celestial wizard out there!"
"Okay, first of all, what's a Celestial wizard?"
"Wow, that's it?" Karen flipped her hair. "You don't know what a Celestial wizard is? We're like, the coolest and rarest wizards out there, you know?"
"Cool, but what do you do?"
"You see this key here?" she shoved the golden key in my face. I tried to touch it, but she yanked it away. "Nuh uh! I'm the only one who can touch this since I'm the master, so keep your grubby little hands off it."
"Master?" I decided to ignore her prattling for now. "What does that entail?"
"Stop using big words!" Karen glared at me. "You don't even know what that means."
Stopping myself from rolling my eyes was truly becoming a challenge now. "Okay, how do you go about becoming a 'Master' then?"
"Hmmm, so you see here," she crossed her arms arrogantly. "There's only twelve golden keys in the world—the Zodiac keys. They're the strongest keys out there, but there's also silver keys which aren't on my level," she continued bragging. "When I leave the orphanage, I'm going to collect all the Zodiac keys and become the best wizard ever!"
"That's very nice, Karen," I nodded along absentmindedly, waiting until she got around to answering my question.
"Anyways, each key is tied to a celestial spirit. This key here," she pointed at the one she was holding, "Is tied to the Zodiac spirit Aries. I happen to have the right aptitude for a Celestial wizard, so that's why Aries decided to choose me as their master."
"How did you get Aries's keys in the first place?" I found it baffling that Aries
"Oh," Karen suddenly looked downcast. "I… had this ever since I got dumped here. It's been with me for as long as I can remember."
I fidgeted, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. I hadn't seen her actually sad before, and it reminded me that even though she was still just a kid despite being insufferable. Perhaps I should stop judging her so harshly.
"I see," I lamely responded. "I'm sure you'll do a great job as a Celestial wizard."
"Yeah, no duh!" she was back to her regular self. "I don't need a baby like you telling me that! I already know I'm awesome, thank you very much!"
"Does that mean I can also become a Celestial wizard?" I asked.
"Looky here," she said patronizingly. "There are two things you need before becoming a Celestial wizard. One, you need the key. Without the key, you can't summon its spirit here. And two, you need to make a contract with the spirit! And there's a ton of rules that come with summoning a spirit, and I doubt a baby like you could understand."
My eyes twitched.
"Plus," she continued. "Summoning just one already takes a lot of magical power, you know? And there's no way a baby like you has enough magic capacity!"
Petty insults aside, pursuing the path of a Celestial wizard sounded pretty tough. If Karen was to be trusted, then it took a large amount of magic energy and adherence to a ton of arbitrary rules. Now that I knew, it was impressive how Karen was able to summon Aries so easily even when she was fifteen. She might have been just tooting her own horn, but perhaps she really was talented.
Either way, there were only twelve golden keys in the world—the strongest ones if Karen was to be trusted—which made it seem like the kind of object people fought over.
"What if you lost your keys?" I asked.
"Only stupid Celestial wizards lose their keys!" Karen said indignantly. "Do I look stupid to you?"
I bit back a 'yes'. "Then what about Erigor?"
"Rude! He's older than you, so you should be calling him 'Nii-san'!" Karen ignored my question and scolded me.
Ah, yes. Another odd fact in this world. Despite their language not resembling Asian languages in any way, they seemed to have adopted mannerism from Asian culture. There were a bunch of suffixes tied to gender and age, and just like in Asian culture, not using them properly was considered rude. Yet another thing to consider.
"But I call you just Karen though?" I asked innocently.
"Yeah, because I'm too nice to tell a baby what they're doing wrong," Karen sneered. "But it'll be good if you learned it before you offended the wrong person."
"Okay, so, what about Erigor nii-san?"
"What about him?"
"Is his magic like yours? Does he summon the wind? Did he have to make a contract like you?"
"Ugh, no," Karen huffed. "He's just a Wind wizard. He creates wind by channeling his magic. Meanwhile, I,on the other hand, can use magic through my keys!"
Honestly, hers felt inferior seeing as it relied on a tool, but maybe she had a point. After all, she was the wizard, not me.
"Then," I had one last question to ask. "What happens if someone uses too much magic?"
"Obviously, they'll pass out," Karen began to elaborate. "But if you use too much, you'll die, so you better be careful twerp!"
I grimaced. "So how do I know if I'm using too much?"
"I don't want to answer anymore of your dumb questions," Karen scowled. "Go bore someone else with your silly questions!"
I turned my head sideways and saw a familiar tuft of white hair. "Erigor nii-san~!"
Karen looked shocked. "H-Hey, wait! I'm not done talking!"
"But you said you didn't want to answer more of my dumb questions?" I tilted my head innocently.
"Lili," Erigor approached the two of us and rubbed the top of my head, "And bitch too," He sneered.
"W-Wha! Who are you calling bitch, y-you…?!" I could hear the gears in Karen's brain turning as she tried to think of an insult, "You white monkey!"
Me and Erigor looked at each other before breaking out in laughter.
"Did you hear that? That sucked!" Erigor cackled.
"A-At least t-try to think of something b-better," I said while holding back my laughter.
"Well, I don't spend all of my time coming up with crude stuff to say to other people!" Karen's voice grew shriller and shriller.
"Then try not to get into a situation where you look ridiculous because you can't then," I patted her leg patronizingly. "By the way Erigor, could you show me some stuff about magic? Karen thought some of my questions were too dumb to answer."
Erigor sighed. "This again? I showed you my wind magic hundreds of times at this point."
"I know, but I feel like I'm missing something, you know? Either way, I really appreciate all you've done already."
"Hmph, alright," he relented. "Out in the backyard then?"
"Yeah!" I cheered. It was always a joy to see magic in action when I knew it wouldn't harm me.
Erigor grinned, "You're such a brat."
We went to the backyard, Karen somehow followed us to the backyard despite saying that she didn't want to be involved with 'brats'. I'll just chalk it up to the fact that she was lonely.
Erigor and I faced each other. He called upon his magic and wrapped wind around his arms. "So, what did you want to see this time?"
"How do you channel your magic to different parts of your body?"
"Well," he frowned in thought. "I guess I kinda just imagine the wind going to that part? Here, like this."
The wind around his arms dissipated and reappeared around his legs. His explanation was a bit lacking but it could be the sort of thing that was better taught through experience. The problem was, I didn't know where to start.
"I see. So how do you go about sensing your magic in the first place?" I asked.
"Sensing?" Erigor looked confused. "I don't know… It's just always there."
I sighed, opening the book I had carried with me and lay it on the grass. His explanation wasn't really helpful, and the books that I've read all stated that each human was a vessel for ethernanos, but how to tap into said ethernanos was never elaborated on.
"What're you looking for?" Erigor peeked at the page I'd opened to.
"I want to know how I can use magic, but the book isn't very helpful."
"Maybe you're just not talented," Karen commented. "I said it before, right? Only special people can use magic."
"Yeah...perhaps you're right," I responded sadly. It seemed that I was just another one of the masses unable to access magic. What a shame, to be reborn in a world with such a wonderful resource yet unable to access it fully.
I sighed again and closed my eyes to rethink.
If I couldn't access magic, then what should I do? Continue being a doctor? Well, that was obvious. Why should I waste an entire lifetime of medical studies after all? Perhaps I can seek an apprenticeship with the local medic? The problem was, I doubted the equipment in this world was on par with the modern tools I was familiar with.
Ever since I learned that I had been reborn into a different world, I noticed that their advancement in technology was halted by the use of those ethernano crystals as a sort of technological shortcut. Things that shouldn't have been possible without a generator or engine like rapidly heating up objects were made possible through crystals. As a result, it seemed that people cared more about pushing the capabilities of the crystals rather than studying the more natural sciences.
I scratched my head in frustration. Was I really completely incapable of magic?
"Hey," Karen softened her voice. "It's not that big of a deal. You're only four, and I don't know any other four-year old brat as smart as you."
I stared at her in shock.
"Why are you staring at me?!" She looked uncomfortable.
I looked at Erigor. "Did you hear what I heard?"
"Yeah," he also looked surprised. "I was tryin' to tune her out, but sadly I heard."
"What! What is it?! Why are you two like this?" She smacked the top of our heads.
"Were you trying to make me feel better?" I looked up at her with wide eyes.
Karen turned bright red. "N-No! It was annoying how you were acting all sad, and you better not expect me to be so generous again!"
"So you were trying to make me feel better..." My eyes narrowed mischievously.
"S-Shut up!" The teen turned even brighter.
Erigor and I laughed as Karen continued berating us. Even though they were kids, they were undoubtedly nice kids.
I loved how Karen was so self-absorbed yet was capable of showing kindness when you least expected it. What a cute girl.
Meanwhile, Erigor always took responsibility as the oldest boy in the orphanage. He was kind to everyone and even though he sometimes came off as cold, he always had our best interest at heart, even Karen's.
If it wasn't for the two of them my life is this world would be much bleeker.
Sadly, even this peaceful moment had to come to an end.
"Karen!" the Matron's voice called out. "Someone's here to see you!"
Karen stopped chasing after us and yelled back, "Coming!"
I picked up my book off the grass, "Adoption?"
"Nah," Erigor responded, "She's way too old for that. You're like what? Seventeen this year?"
Karen gasped, "Excuse me? Seventeen is not old! Like, I'm at the peak of my youth!" she glared at Erigor.
"If you're at your peak now, that means it's all downhill from here," I commented.
I got a smack to the back of my head for that comment.
"Meanie!" I clutched my head in mock pain.
"That's what you get, and besides," Karen looked up towards the gate where the Matron was leading a bald woman—man?—wearing a purple spaghetti strapped dress and a cake's worth of makeup, "Erigor is right. It's not adoption, it's enlistment."
Karen walked towards the Matron, and I watched as the Matron introduced Karen to the bald three of them talked for a bit before going back inside, probably to the Matron's office.
"What's enlistment?" I asked absentmindedly.
"When you turn at least seventeen, you'll be released from the orphanage to do whatever you want. But Kaa-san had a different idea. She wanted each and everyone of us to be taken care of by getting adopted by a good family, or making sure that our future as a wizard was ensured by working with the guilds in Fiore," Erigor took a deep breath, "Essentially, if you're talented enough, a guild will take care of you."
I see. It was a system similar to how military enlistment worked back in my previous world. But instead of enlisting yourself, they scouted you.
Basically, he was saying that Karen was talented enough to get scouted.
"And that person was a representative from a guild?" There really were all sorts of people I suppose. For Karen's sake, I hoped that she-he was kind.
"Probably," Erigor shrugged. "We can just ask her later."
"Yeah… I guess we could," I was already beginning to feel a bit down. The brash teenager meant more to me than I realized. "What happens if you get enlisted?"
"You become a member of the guild, and they provide work plus a place for you to live."
I feel like a stone was lodged inside my gut. Was I going to get left behind by my first friends in this world?
"Then," I stared at Erigor before continuing, "Are you going to be enlisted too?"
He shrugged, "Probably."
"Do you want to?"
"Of course. It's the best option for orphans like us."
"Oh…" I hadn't considered that. It would have been selfish of me to expect them to stay instead of climbing out of this pit they were in.
It was odd when I thought about it. I obviously knew what it felt like to have a tight-knit family, parents who loved and cherished me, and friends who genuinely liked me.
But they didn't.
For them, 'family' was a broken bond that never existed in the first place.
No unconditional love. No place that they could truly call their own.
With nothing more to ask, I stayed silent and waited with Erigor until Karen returned.
After about half an hour, Karen finally exited the office. Erigor and her looked at each other silently. I stood up and approached Karen, but Erigor just stayed seated where he was.
I paid no heed to Erigor and asked Karen. "So what were you guys talking about?"
Karen didn't respond. Instead, she just silently packed her things.
"Erigor said you were being enlisted. Did everything go well?"
"..."
"How did the enlistment go?"
"..."
"Was the person who enlisted you a man or a woman? I couldn't tell," I tried to joke. Why was she not saying anything?
"Karen?" I asked softly, tugging at the end of her dress.
Then she looked at me and bit her lips, as if trying to say something but failing to find the words. Instead, she hastened packing up her stuff and quickly walked towards the gate where the bald woman-man was waiting.
I rushed in front of her. "What's wrong, Karen? You're not even saying good-bye. What happened?"
To my surprise, Karen shoved me to the side, causing me to land painfully on my butt. I looked up at her in disbelief as she quickened her pace towards the gate.
She didn't even look back or say good-bye.
Erigor who saw everything helped me up, "Forget her. She's a bitch anyways."
I could see Karen's shoulders flinch and her pace falter at the familiar insult.
But she didn't respond to Erigor at all. Instead she continued walking, shook hands with the Matron and left the orphanage, just like that.
"C'mon," Erigor tugged me away, "I'll tell you all about my wind magic secrets."
"B-But, I want to say goodbye first!" I tried to wiggle out of Erigor's grip on my hand.
Knowing Karen's personality, she was probably attached to this orphanage and just didn't want us to see her crying.
Right?
I tearfully smiled to myself.
Erigor sighed and kneeled, so he could look me in the eye, "It's better like this anyways. If she talked to you, she probably would have cried. Let's not make it harder for the bitch, 'kay?" He tried to comfort me.
"Y-Yeah," I wiped my eyes. "Maybe it's for the best."
"Alright," Erigor slackened his grip on my hand. "Let's get going then."
Ignoring him, I took this chance to wrench my hand out of his and sprinted as hard as I could to the gate where the Matron was standing.
I slammed into the gate at full speed, my hands tightly gripping the bars. I could still see Karen's stupid green hair at the end of the street.
Since I can't exit the gates, I decided to shout instead, "KAREN! YOU BETTER BECOME THE BEST CELESTIAL WIZARD OUT THERE, OKAY?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "LET'S SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN SOMEDAY!"
I watched as the green silhouette stop for a moment before the bald woman-man seemed to urge her to continue walking.
But that was enough for me.
This wasn't the end. Erigor and I would definitely get another chance to tease her in the future.
"Damn, brat," Erigor had caught up to me and was patting my head, "Never heard you that loud before."
"Erigor, language," The Matron chided.
Erigor stiffened, "Yes, ma'am."
The Matron picked me up and gently patted my back, "Let's make your promise a reality, hm?"
I quietly nodded against the Matron's shoulder, and before I even noticed, I was already sobbing.
I blamed everything on my current body. Past me hardly cried like this.
Or perhaps I knew that deep down, the orphanage would be quieter and lonelier without Karen around.
…
Interlude
…
Bob's POV
"My goodness~! Is this the right place?" Bob talked to himself as he arrived in front of the orphanage. He had received a letter from the owner of the orphanage stating that she wanted to recommend someone to his guild.
He looked around him and saw nobody else. It was odd since he was sure the owner had sent similar letters to other guildmasters. Makarov had mentioned it during the last guild meeting after all.
Everyone else probably thought it was either a trap or a waste of time. People could actually go to the guild house themselves to sign up, so a request for a representative to come to a small village to check for talent was suspicious.
Bob himself had some spare time on hand, so he decided 'Why not?'. Makarov had to deal with his rowdy guild, Jose had scoffed, but personally? He was very very very curious! And even if it was a trap, it was nothing he couldn't handle, fufufu!
He rang the bell at the gate. A few moments passed before he saw a woman dressed in a habit rush out the building and towards the gate.
"Good morning dear~" Bob happily greeted.
"Ah, yes. Good morning….?" the Matron asked.
"Yes, yes, yes~! I'm Bob, the guildmaster of Blue Pegasus, and I received your letter the other day."
"Oh, yes!" The Matron hurriedly opened the gates. "Come in, come in! I'll call Karen over right now."
"Take your time, dear~" Bob followed the Matron to her office, taking note of his surroundings as he did. He saw kids peeking at him cutely and waved back, giggling to himself as they hid themselves.
The Matron led him down a hallway. Bob looked out and saw a green-haired girl, a white-haired young man, and a brown-haired little girl talking with each other by a tree. He heard the Matron shout, "Karen, someone is here to see you!"
He saw the green-haired react and shout back, "Coming!" Hmmm~, she was quite the beauty indeed, so she seemed like she would fit quite well in Blue Pegasus.
The white-haired one looked too grumpy, and the brown-haired child was too plain. Blue Pegasus also served as a host bar, so he needed people who were attractive and charismatic. Like Ichiya! The lad wasn't the handsomest, but he had charisma in spades, fufun~
Bob smiled happily. This trip was pretty productive after all.
That being said, he found it odd that two teens—Karen and the white-haired boy—were spending time with the brown-haired girl who couldn't have been older than five while the other little children seemed to be playing among themselves.
Interesting.
Karen came in and nodded her head respectfully towards him. The Matron let them into her office, and offered the two of them a seat before her desk.
Bob took in his surroundings, "Ooooh~ I really love the energy here~!"
"Ah, thank you," the Matron coughed into her fist while Karen looked at him oddly. "Before we begin, could you let me get a closer look at your guild mark?"
"Of course, dear~" Bob shifted so his upper left shoulder was more visible. "Look all you'd like~"
"Blue Pegasus, hm?" The Matron smiled. "I've mostly heard good things about your guild."
"Mmm~ My cute children are the best after all~!" Bob nodded proudly.
"First of all, I would like to thank you for accepting my invitation," The Matron gestured towards Karen who had been staring at Bob the entire time. "This is Karen, the wizard I wanted to recommend to your guild, Master Bob."
"..." Karen opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, the Matron gave her a hard gaze and mouthed 'Be nice.'
"...Nice to meet you," Oooooh~! Bob was liking her already! So much youthful teenage sass~
"Nice to meet you too, Karen~" Bob put his hand against his chin. "So gorgeous~ And I love what you've done to your hair~! Is that natural~?"
"U-Uh, um, yes," Karen nodded slowly. "It's natural. And… thanks I guess?"
"So what is it that you do, Karen?" Bob asked seriously. "What kind of wizard are you?"
"I'm a Celestial wizard," Karen sat up straighter. "I only have one spirit at the moment."
"Oh no~!" Bob hummed. "You know that Celestial wizards are strong because of their units, right? Having just one key could be a problem~" he sighed as he put his hand on his cheek.
Karen clenched and unclenched her fists. "I wasn't finished talking. It might just be one key, but it's a golden key."
Bob's eyes widened. "M-My~ That changes things indeed~"
Golden keys were extremely rare. It was said that there were only twelve in the world—after the twelve Zodiac symbols—and to find one was incredible already.
"Do you have a contract with it~?" he asked curiously.
"Yes," Karen pulled out a golden key. "Open! Gate of the White Ram—Aries!"
Bob blinked as a flash of golden light flooded the room. The light gradually faded and revealed a nervous looking girl with ram horns.
"Incredible~" Bob applauded and took note of Karen's complexion. The teen seemed to be fine, which Bob silently approved of. It appeared her magical capacity was more than enough to keep one spirit active.
"Do you need a demonstration?" Karen asked.
"No~ I think that's enough~" Bob clapped his hands together.
Karen de-summoned Aries who poofed out of existence. "So…?"
"I think~" Bob paused for dramatic effect. "You would be a perfect fit for our guild~!"
The Matron beamed. "Karen, you did it! I am so proud of you!"
Karen let out a deep sigh of relief and slumped against her chair with a smile. "Thank you. I won't let either of you down. By the way, when can I start?"
"If you want to, you could start today~" Bob responded.
"What about living expenses and whatnot?" The Matron worriedly asked.
"Oh, don't worry dear~!" Bob waved his hand. "We have a dormitory for our guild wizards in Blue Pegasus~ We can just charge her later once she's doing jobs~"
"Plus~" Bob continued and winked. "We have side jobs available when you're not doing quests, m'kay~? We're a host club too, so you can entertain guests while they drink~"
The Matron frowned at that. Bob quickly corrected his statement. "Not that kind of entertainment, dear~ It's just a bit of friendly talking with the customers~ Only if Karen consents to it of course~"
His eyes sharpened. "I would never force my guild wizards to do something they don't want to."
The Matron smiled in relief. "I understand. Would you like to go today, Karen?"
Karen hesitated for a split second. "Okay."
"Excellent~! I will be waiting at the front gate, m'kay darling~?"
"Yes," Karen nodded. "I'll just go… and pack up my stuff."
Bob nodded. "Well~ This was quite the trip, dear~ Thank you ever so much for sending that letter~".
"No, thank you, Master Bob. I truly appreciate your generosity," The Matron lowered her head and led them out of the office and towards the front gate where they made idle talk as they waited for Karen to pack.
Out of nowhere, they heard a ruckus, and their conversation had to be put on a halt. Bob saw that the young plain haired girl was standing in front of Karen trying to ask her questions, but his newest guild wizard just shoved the kid to the floor and walked past them without looking back.
'My, my, it seems that one of my guild members has a temper~' Nothing major. Afterall, many others in Blue Pegasus had a temper, and Bob also noted that Karen was just a teenager right now. She had time to mature.
"Are you ready?" Bob asked when she arrived at the gate.
"Yes," the green haired girl steeled herself, and Bob could see that she was on the verge of tears.
Bob knew that look. Perhaps instead of having a temper, he could say that this one was more like a porcupine or an onion. Someone who forced themselves to be strong when they should rely on others.
The Matron said some goodbyes, and they walked away from the orphanage.
"You sure you don't want to say goodbye~? It seemed that the little one was attached~" he asked.
Karen shook her head, "You're absolutely wrong."
Bob smiled to himself. It seemed that Karen was the one attached in this case.
Suddenly they heard a loud yell, "KAREN! YOU BETTER BECOME THE BEST CELESTIAL WIZARD OUT THERE, OKAY?! LET'S SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN SOMEDAY!"
Karen halted, and the dam suddenly broke.
She bit back her lips to hold in her tears, but Bob patted her on the back, "There, there. There's no need to hold back."
And so she didn't.
She cried until they reached Bob's carriage where he silently offered her a handkerchief.
"You can always come and visit if you'd like, dear~" he offered.
But contrary to his expectation, Karen disagreed.
"Didn't you hear her? I have to become the best Celestial Wizard around first," She promised herself with a determined look in her eyes.
Bob smiled in satisfaction. He truly had fetched himself a really nice addition to his guild. Perhaps she would be the next Master of the Golden Key of the Lion in his possession?
Only time would tell.
