Return (2)

When Lost and Linea went to the Mystic King’s castle, Claire, Lilia, and Titan waited for their return at the inn. It wasn’t good for Lilia to catch the Mystic King’s attention.

Even while Lost was unconscious, they had to endure boring hours remembering this fact.

“Mmmh…”

Claire thought Lilia might be dissatisfied with such dull time, but Lilia seemed unbothered.

If anything, she looked happy just lying down and enjoying the sunbath.

“…Am I the strange one here?”

Next to such a Lilia was Titan.

Though he had been regularly attending the arena until recently, he now showed a relaxed appearance as if tired of it.

Lilia and Titan.

Watching these two monsters sunbathing on the roof, Claire felt her breath catch.

Lilia was one thing, but Titan’s build alone was extraordinary.

It was amazing that he could just lie there while passersby gathered to watch, creating quite a crowd.

“Ah, it’s teacher! Hello, teacher!”

As Lilia, who had been lying down watching the sky, rolled over to look at the gathered crowd.

She smiled brightly upon seeing Revenna mixed among the people.

“My, Lilia. Sunbathing today? How nice. Just looking at you makes me feel peaceful.”

“Where are you going, teacher?”

“Ah, I’m about to leave now.”

“Already?! Stay and play a bit longer.”

“It seems I have some business to attend to. Please tell Lost for me.”

“Okay!”

Lilia waved both arms enthusiastically in greeting with a bright smile. And when Claire looked outside at the commotion from Lilia’s voice.

“Ah, Claire. Do you still have the dream fragment?”

“…Yes.”

Claire took out the <Morpheus’s Dream Fragment> she had kept in her pocket and held it out for Revenna to see.

Looking at it, Revenna spoke with a somewhat serious expression.

“Use it carefully. Of course, resolving things without using it would be best but… if you really feel it’s necessary, using that would be the best option.”

“Yes.”

“And hmm… I’m saying this just in case, but if Lost gets angry and demands it, just give it to him.”

“I absolutely won’t let him take it.”

“Ah…”

Revenna could now fully understand Claire’s personality.

Though she had lived a tragic life, it seems her personality was a bit twisted from the start.

“Well then, I’ll see you next time.”

“…Take care.”

*     *     *

After finishing my conversations with the Mystic King and Ilina Crowley, I could calmly accept that fact when I returned rather late.

“Well, that’s how it would be.”

I hadn’t really expected to find her in the first place.

If anything, I would have been surprised if I had met her.

Teacher Revenna isn’t the type to appear before me so readily after leaving such suspicions unresolved.

“Claire. Just asking in case, but do you still have the dream fragment?”

In response to my question, Claire backed away hesitantly.

“…I’m not trying to take it, so stop glaring at me like that.”

“Really?”

“I was just curious if you still had it. So how is it?”

“I have it.”

Claire immediately took out the <Morpheus’s Dream Fragment> from her pocket to show me. Looking at its faint glow, nothing had changed from before.

Now I have to acknowledge it.

I had wondered if perhaps the <Morpheus’s Dream Fragment> was a cursed item that had summoned the <Dreamer>, but…

It seems they’re separate things.

Then the hypothesis that teacher has some connection to the <Dreamer> gains credibility.

Though I don’t know how that’s possible… somehow I feel like it would be possible for teacher.

She’s an extraordinary person in many ways after all.

“Glaring at me won’t make me give it to you.”

“I said I’m not trying to take it.”

Just what do you think of me?

I sigh at Claire’s appearance as she backs away cautiously like a cat.

I don’t remember this kid being this stupid…

It seems the idiots around her have had a bad influence.

“So did things go well there? What happened?”

Claire asked while closing the distance she had maintained with her cautious posture.

This one is getting more and more shameless.

“It was resolved well. Ilina Crowley became a 7th circle mage and agreed to help with my request.”

“Then everything worked out well. Except for Lost’s rotten expression.”

“…”

“Ah, I’m not particularly curious about that, so you don’t need to explain separately. How’s that for consideration?”

“I’m touched to tears.”

But your way of speaking is something else.

You have a talent for making even gratitude feel ungrateful.

I really don’t get along with Claire. We just don’t match as people.

As I watched Claire smirking like that, she soon asked with a bitter expression.

“Ah, then now…”

“Yes, it’s farewell.”

Claire looked at Lilia sprawled asleep on the floor.

She probably spent the most time with Lilia.

Though their actual ages differed, they were most similar mentally after all.

Though she acts somewhat mature, Claire is still a child.

She got along so well with Lilia.

Even here in Arcanum, the two were always together.

She’ll probably miss her the most.

“…That’s right. It’s only natural. We came here for that after all.”

“Indeed.”

She’s more mature than others her age, so she won’t show it.

She knows better than anyone that she shouldn’t force such things.

After all, she’s the one who had to acknowledge her family’s death and that crime.

“So let’s at least make memories.”

“…?”

“You’ll need something to talk about when you go back, right?”

Not just for Claire, but for Lilia too.

Honestly, the time spent with Lilia wasn’t long. However, its density was clearly extraordinary.

Claire who had practically been imprisoned in the mansion her whole life, and Lilia who had lived feeling lonely her whole life.

The relationship between those two must have been more special than expected. Though they weren’t actually the same age, it was probably their first experience having a friend around their age.

So the regret must be great too.

“That would make it a bit less lonely, right?”

“…Why are you looking at me while saying that?”

Claire recoils when I don’t specify a clear subject.

Right, just as I am, so is she. We’re just incompatible people.

So conversely, we also know each other well.

This really…

“That’s unpleasant…”

“That’s quite unpleasant…”

Especially points like this.

*     *     *

Arcanum feels like a festival every day. Actually, it’s not like that most of the time, but these madmen gather and hold festivals at the slightest excuse.

Just look at how we were dragged to the arena on our first day for saying one wrong word.

These people are so starved for entertainment because they use their heads so much.

That’s why they would gather audiences and open the arena every day just for one person like Titan.

“Heeheeheehee!”

So when given one excuse, Arcanum became festive as usual.

It was to commemorate the monumental moment of the Mystic King’s granddaughter Ilina Crowley becoming a 7th circle grand mage.

A festival purely for celebration.

While previous festivals were for demonstration or debate, this one was truly just a pure celebration.

Parades were held throughout the streets and stalls lined up.

The inventions of each school were used not for demonstration but only as means to heighten the atmosphere.

The magicians displayed their magic created specially for the festival, blooming colorful flowers all across the sky.

“Wooooow!!”

Lilia enjoyed all of it while hopping around excitedly.

The magicians wandering the streets even raised the atmosphere further seeing such pure joy from Lilia.

What better memories could there be?

“Can I really eat everything? Not just limited to three like usual?”

“Yes, today I’ll let you eat whatever you want. We don’t know when we’ll come again, so we shouldn’t leave any regrets.”

“Woohooooow!”

Lilia ran around the streets with sparkling eyes. She tightly held the hand of Claire, her self-proclaimed unnie.

Claire who was already physically weak was panting from such energetic dashing, but she didn’t show it.

She knows that she should enjoy this moment with all her might even if it means being bedridden later.

“Look, eating it like this makes it delicious.”

“Really?”

Titan grins after devouring a street skewer in one bite. Lilia asks with stuffed cheeks as she tries to copy him.

“Lilia, you’ll need basic education. Later…”

“Lost.”

“…Right, on a day like this we should just enjoy without other thoughts.”

I was stopped by Linea before I could gift the book ‘Basics of Geometry’ I had planned to.

“Heehee! I should make this my little sibling!”

In the end, the only gift given to Lilia was a lion doll similar to the teddy bear she already treasured.

It was a doll chosen thinking of how the <Corruptor> Eremus took the form of a black lion, and Lilia was overjoyed with it beyond expectations.

It was a monumental moment of Eremus gaining another child.

The festival continued for three days and nights.

The little ones would go out to play when they woke in the morning and return exhausted to sleep at night.

Even Claire did that.

Though it was obvious she was pushing herself too hard, I didn’t stop her.

Building memories applied to her too after all.

She had lived practically imprisoned at home and ended up joining this harsh journey.

So building memories like this was important for her too.

She probably never had happy moments like this with Burke who died.

“Heeheeheehee! I’m satisfied!”

On the morning of the fourth day like that.

Lilia spoke with her usual bright smile.

She knew too that farewell was near now. After all, hadn’t we made plans for her to return home through here?

She knows well that farewell is approaching.

So she made happy memories with all her might, leaving no regrets.

“Thank you all so so so much!”

Lilia expressed her feelings while spreading her arms as wide as possible.

It was the kind of sight that naturally brought smiles. It’s amazing to think our first meeting with this little one was stained with blood.

“So now I want to go back to dad.”

“As you should.”

She chose the right timing to cut off lingering attachments. Though traveling with us must have been enjoyable, the time she can spend with Eremus decreases moment by moment.

Isn’t it natural to watch over a parent’s final moments rather than us whom she can meet again later?

She no longer fears Eremus’s death.

She’s ready to watch over that end.

These three days of memories are stories to tell Eremus.

“Claire-unnie! I’ll give you this.”

“…Why are you giving this to me?”

Lilia gave Claire the teddy bear among the dolls she had received as gifts.

Claire received it with trembling hands. Her efforts not to be sad about the farewell showed through her fingertips.

Though she didn’t shed tears, everyone must have thought Claire was crying.

“I’ll leave it with you until we meet again!”

“…”

Claire who had hesitated to accept the doll finally had to hug it after those words.

We have to acknowledge it.

That just for now, Lilia was more mature than her.

Lilia left that token promising to meet again. For Claire who was regretting the farewell.

A token she could give from all she had received.

“Shall we go then?”

“Yeah! I mean, yes!”

Lilia still tried to speak politely to me.

Though it didn’t matter anymore whether she used casual or polite speech, I said nothing since her effort was admirable.

After giving the doll to Claire, Lilia followed behind me like that, appearing to have no lingering attachments.

“Sniff…”

Of course, she must really have some regrets.

There’s a reason I call her a little one after all. In the end, she could only tear up as she regretted the farewell.

But she already had the mindset to accept the farewell long ago.

That’s why she could pretend to be resolute and turn her back on her companions.

“…”

I said nothing.

Because I had nothing to say.

I could only give a bitter smile at the sight of me and Lilia walking ahead, and our companions following at a distance behind.

“Ah, so it was Lilia? The one who needed to go home. I thought the atmosphere was a bit strange… hmm.”

Ilina Crowley who had been waiting at the promised place was surprised to see Lilia but closed her mouth.

She must have grasped the situation seeing Lilia’s face that was a mess with tears and snot.

“Um… is it okay to start?”

Ilina Crowley carefully asked my permission while looking back and forth between Lilia’s face and Claire who was hanging her head in the distance.

“Please.”

There’s no point in dragging this out any longer anyway. They’ve already exchanged farewells once after all.

There won’t be any special conversations even if we wait longer.

“Sniff!”

As the magic neared completion, Lilia seemed to steel herself as she blew her nose.

Though her teary eyes were cute, her expression was resolute.

“You just need to cross through here.”

Finally when the teleport magic was complete and a door that transcended space appeared before us.

“Lilia.”

Claire who had been keeping her distance gathered her courage and approached.

Lilia didn’t turn around, keeping her gaze on the teleport gate.

“I’ll give you this.”

But Claire paid no mind and put something around the neck of the motionless Lilia. It was a necklace engraved with the Ryan barony’s seal.

Among her extremely few possessions, she probably had nothing else besides that which held memories with Burke.

“This teddy bear, I bought it for you in the first place after all. So it’s not enough as a promise to meet again.”

“…”

Lilia looked down at the necklace around her neck before her body started trembling bit by bit.

“Uuu…”

Lilia who had been trying not to show her face finally turns around.

“Uwaaaaah!”

And then she hugged Claire tightly and began wailing.

Claire soothed and comforted such a Lilia like an adult as usual, but… her face visible over Lilia’s shoulder was also full of tears.

“…Should I recast it after a while?”

“Yes, please.”

“You’re getting more and more shameless too.”

“Well, what does it matter?”

No need to act mature.

No need for a resolute appearance either.

If you regret the farewell, then you should regret it.

It’s fine to fully regret and feel sad. Because that process will make the moment of reunion even more joyous.

“People need to be a bit shameless to be humane after all.”