Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting

Chapter 1:
A Chance Meeting

 

LILY, the eldest daughter of Margrave Neiham Lockwood, was born deaf. With only nine short years of life under her belt, she could never have guessed what was to become of her, her beloved family, and the mansion that they lived in.

On the evening that it all began, the first thing she became aware of was Lafine, her loyal attendant, rushing into the room and taking her by the hand, dragging Lily into a cramped, dark armoire.

“Wha?”

“——!”

Lafine pressed a hand over Lily’s mouth, a sharp look upon her face as she placed her pointer finger to her own lips, shaking her head from side to side. She did not speak, but had she spoken, Lily would not have heard it.

Nevertheless, Lily could easily understand that this was a signal that meant, “Don’t make a sound.” She was very intelligent, after all, partly because she’d spent most of her life reading. The day it was discovered that she had not been blessed with one of the most treasured of senses, she’d been hidden away from the world, left locked in her room so no one would know of her. As a result, she passed nearly all her waking hours with her nose in a book.

“Mm…”

Though she did not know why it was so important that she stay silent, Lily simply nodded. Lafine leaned the back of her head against the wall of the armoire and breathed a gentle sigh.

Her arms around her knees, Lily looked up at Lafine from the base of the wardrobe. Lily’s father, Neiham, had brought Lafine into the Lockwood household one day, intending her to serve as a maid—but a peculiar kind of maid, who never did any washing or cleaning. Lafine had light brown hair, warm ruby eyes, and a perpetually weary expression. She always seemed placid, even as she was shunned by the other staff, which had led to her becoming the attendant of their deaf little interloper.

Just as these thoughts crossed Lily’s mind, Lafine looked down at her, and their eyes met. Lily smiled. Yet Lafine swiftly averted her gaze, scratching her head and scowling.

She felt no affection for anyone.

Loyal attendant or no, she was always like this. Rarely did she bother to communicate. The only bond Lafine and Lily shared was a written one—an exchange of necessary words, penned at the necessary times. Nothing more, and nothing less. However, as much as she acted as though Lily was a bother, she always fulfilled her requests, no matter what they were.

Lily needed her, yes—but more importantly, she didn’t dislike her. Lafine may not have been particularly chatty, but she was the only person who paid even the slightest attention to the girl.

Still, Lily had no idea why they were hiding in the armoire. She would understand it better if she were the only one who had been shut inside. It would be like the time bullies had locked her inside a storeroom, or comparable to the way she’d been confined to the second floor of the mansion, as though she were a foul smell her family needed to conceal from the rest of the world. And yet, Lafine was right there beside her. Whenever she had been shut away before, she had always been alone.

Lily pondered.

Lafine, did you do something bad, too? Is that why you’ve been locked in here with me? But you got in here yourself. Did you bring me in here with you because you’re lonely? Or are you afraid of the dark?

Lily giggled.

Goodness, Lafine, you’re hopeless! Here you are, even older than me. Don’t worry, though, I’m right here with you. It’s cramped in here, but I don’t mind it. It’s nice and warm with both of us, and there’s some kind of fruity scent in the air.

Lily gave a quick thumbs-up and a forceful nod, her eyes sparkling.

“…?”

Lafine was biting her bottom lip. Her forehead was creased, and her eyes were weary.

Hm! What an interesting expression…

Minutes ticked by, but Lily was never able to decipher either the meaning or motive behind Lafine’s actions. At some point, she fell asleep. When she opened her eyes again, Lafine had vanished from the armoire.

Timidly, she pushed the door open.

“Uh?”

Her room looked strange. There were muddy streaks on the carpet, like it had been trampled upon. Her carefully arranged bookshelf had been toppled, and her beloved books were scattered everywhere. Still, her bed was untouched, and everything else appeared as it normally did. Her parents had never given her much besides those books, after all.

“Uh… Huh?”

The door to her room was ajar. The lock on the door opened only from the outside, per her parents’ decree, and it was unusual to see it unlocked.

No, that wasn’t it. Something had broken the lock, and the metal shards were lying on the carpet.

The hallway was in worse shape than her room. It had practically been destroyed. Her father’s decorative armor had been violently knocked over, and several paintings were missing from her mother’s collection. But that was not all. Even the mansion’s walls were damaged.

Seeing all this, the girl began to feel the queasiness of worry for the first time. Finally, she understood. It was robbers. Robbers had infiltrated their mansion, which was why Lafine had hidden the both of them away.

“Uuuhhuh——!”

Lily screamed wordlessly, but there was no reply. Normally, Lafine would come running, albeit begrudgingly.

She walked down the long hall. One by one, she opened the doors on both floors of the house.

And yet, she found no one. Her father’s study, her parents’ chambers, and her siblings’ rooms had all been similarly ransacked. There was not a single soul in the servants’ quarters nor in the kitchen where the chefs were normally found.

A cold night wind blew in through the shattered glass windows and the crumbling outer walls. The only thing that moved was the hem of Lily’s dress, which now seemed out of place in the ruined mansion, swaying with the breeze.

Nothing else stirred. Nothing at all.

She was all alone in the vast Lockwood mansion. Lily Lockwood, the little deaf girl, had been left behind.

That was exactly ten days ago.

 

***

 

Lily remained in the abandoned mansion. She managed to subsist on the steadily spoiling food in the storehouse, awaiting the return of her family or servants.

And yet, no one came—not even Lafine, who had saved her life that night. Lily had not seen any sign of her since she had woken up in the armoire.

A few more days passed, by which point Lily had eaten through all the edible stores that remained, and her small body was beginning to grow weak. If she ventured out into town, someone might offer her help. However, in the eight years since her condition had been discovered, she had spent her whole life locked in her room. Her only knowledge of the outside world came from her books.

And so, she waited. She knew of nothing else she could do. She opened all the windows and thrust open the half-destroyed front door. She pulled the blankets from the bed she knew so well and slept in the entrance hall.

She did this in the hope that someone would someday come back to her—in the hope that she could be there, to welcome them with a smile.

Soon, even waking became a struggle. It was not until the very end that she came to feel, deep within her bones, that she was wasting away. Yes, the end—however, not her end. For as it turned out, Lily Lockwood had the good fortune to make this distinction.

As Lily stared outside, her eyes half-lidded with fatigue in a way she recognized from her one-time maid, her consciousness fading, four girls appeared beyond the open front door.

“…”

She had never seen these girls before. Obviously, there was no way she could have known that they were the Crimson Vow, a promising group of rookie hunters from the capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild in the Kingdom of Tils, traveling to make a name for themselves.

All Lily knew was what she could see.

The first of the girls was tall. She had blonde hair and a handsome face, and her hand sat on the hilt of the sword that hung from her hip.

“Don’t let your guards down. The robbers that were targeting the margrave might still be around here somewhere.”

“What’re you talking about? Why would they stick around? The kind of pea-brained idiots who run in bandit circles always beat it the moment they’ve gotten what they came for. It’s pointless to go shuffling around.”

A short but imposing red-haired girl waved the tall girl’s concerns away, tromping ahead with confidence.

“I-I guess so, but if we don’t keep our eyes peeled—”

“Oh?”

The redhead locked eyes with Lily.

“There’s a kid here. She looks pretty thin. Wonder where she came from.”

“She has the same violet eyes as the margrave. Think she’s his daughter?”

As though this were their cue, the remaining two girls stepped in through the front door. There was a girl with brown hair and a gentle air about her, and another who was small and cute—probably the youngest amongst them. For some reason, Lily thought, there was something strangely captivating about this foursome.

The brunette turned to the younger girl beside her and asked, “The margrave’s son and daughter were only supposed to be five and three years old, weren’t they?”

“Yes. At least, that’s what they told us at the guild when we accepted the investigation job. This girl looks like she’s probably eight or nine.”

The redheaded girl’s eyes narrowed.

“So, who’s this kid, then?” she asked, pointing toward Lily.

The four hunters tilted their heads simultaneously.

“It’s probably best if we ask the girl herself…”

The smallest of the girls called out to Lily. “Hello there, young lady. It’s super dangerous for you to be here right now. Where did you come from? And who might you be?”

But rather than answer, Lily just tilted her head—since, of course, she had not heard a single word of the girls’ conversation.

Next, the tall girl spoke up. “She’s probably not feeling well enough to speak. Hey, kid. Are you hungry?”

Lily’s cheeks were sunken, her whole body propped listlessly against the wall like a broken doll. She could do no more than stare up at these four strangers with curiosity. Seeing that they were taking turns speaking to her, she pointed to her own ears. Then, she pointed to her mouth and made a sound.

“Uh…”

With that, the girls understood—the weakened, emaciated girl could not hear them.

“Oh!”

“She—”

“Looks like she’s deaf.”

The tall girl whispered to the gentle-looking one, “Hey, Pauline. Can you heal her with your magic?”

“I can try.”

The girl named Pauline crouched down in front of Lily, put her hands on both sides of her head, over Lily’s ears, and closed her eyes.

What a big chest she’s got, Lily thought to herself. It was right in her face.

“Heal the injuries, regenerate the nerves, repair blood vessels. Mega Heal!” Pauline announced, but even once the spell had been completed, nothing had changed. In truth, this was to be expected—Lily had not lost her sense of hearing to illness or injury; she had been born this way.

“Mile, do you think you could do it?” asked the tall girl.

The smallest girl, the one called Mile, shook her head.

“Hmm, if even Pauline’s Mega Heal had no effect, it’s unlikely this is from injury or sickness. Which means it’ll be hard to handle with regular magic.”

“I see…”

For some moments, silence overtook the hall. Seeing that they had stopped talking, Lily, unable to tell what was going on, smiled broadly.

The tallest hunter lowered her eyes.

“Hey, Reina—”

“Mavis, we can’t,” Reina, the redhead, spoke curtly. “We’ve still got work to do, and we’re going to have to pass through some dangerous places. We can’t bring her with us. Plus, what happens to her after we get back home? She’s not some kind of house pet.”

“Guh… I-I mean, I know that…”

Mile, the smallest one, opened her mouth.

“How about this, then? We can leave her with a few weeks’ worth of preserved food and potable water, and as soon as we’re done with our job, we hurry back to the capital and tell the guild about her. Then, the guild can contact the local orphanage, and they can look after her.”

“Oh, yeah. Good thinking, Mile.”

“You really do always manage to come through at times like this. How are you such an airhead the rest of the time?”

“I’m not an airhead! That’s so rude!”

Clearly a bit disgruntled, Mile began pulling dried meat, cooked vegetables, and loaves of bread out of thin air.

“Hup! Heave ho! Here we go!”

To the pile, she added a great big cask.

Ka-thud…

“?!”

Lily’s jaw dropped at the preposterous scene unfolding in front of her. She knew from her reading that there were people in this world who had access to the convenience that was storage magic, but hearing about something was far different from seeing it with your own two eyes. It was amazing just to watch as so many different things were produced from nothing, right in front of her.

Whoa! Whoa!

Her cheeks pinked with excitement, and she clapped her hands.

“Oh, she seems to be enjoying this,” Mavis observed.

“Well, I mean, what can any of us do but laugh in the face of that unnatural magic Mile’s got?”

“Reinaaa, you don’t have to say it like that!” Mile whined.

“Whatever. Just hurry and finish up.”

“Okay… Hup!”

A ball of water popped into existence above the cask. A second later, the water splashed perfectly inside.

“There we go. That should be enough to keep her from starving for now.”

“It should. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t heal her illness, but hopefully she can hang in there until someone from the guild can come to get her.”

“For sure.”

Mavis picked up some of the bread and dried meat, offering it to Lily, who was still sitting with her back to the wall.

“Here, eat up.”

“Mavis, you dummy. She needs water first.” Reina stepped in, offering the girl a cup full of water.

“N-no fair, Reina! You’re just trying to win her over first because she’s cute.”

“I-I am not!”

Lily looked back and forth between their faces, then weakly bowed her head, taking and emptying the cup before accepting the meat and bread. She took a small nibble, grinned, and bowed her head again. The four girls wordlessly nodded. Mile smiled in satisfaction.

Good. They understood my thanks.

After that, the four girls watched over Lily for a time, before they finally turned to leave. As they walked away, the smallest girl, who was trailing at the back, stopped, and turned back to Lily. She closed one eye, placed her pointer finger in front of her lips, and softly whispered, “Your hearing can’t be healed with magic. At least with normal magic. But wait just a little bit, okay?”

“…?”

What had the girl said? Lily watched, perplexed, as Mile walked away, and then took another nibble of her meat and bread.

 

***

 

It had been roughly half a day since the girls had departed. Lily drew some water from the cask that had been left behind and quenched her thirst.

She hated the nighttime. Without her beloved family and their kind servants, the mansion was like a great beast, the jaws of its immense, pitch-black maw opened wide. Then again, she supposed that she had been biding her time inside of that very mouth, which was rather amusing. As she imagined it, she began to giggle.

Lily was a cheerful girl by nature, and now, she felt a flood of optimism. She stood, drew another cup of water from the cask, and drank. Now that she had food in her, her tired body was suddenly able to move again. She truly had to thank those girls.

“Phew…”

Once more, she considered her situation. The mansion had most likely been attacked by bandits. Their lands bordered the Albarn Empire, and though her father, Margrave Neiham Lockwood, had a substantial personal guard stationed outside the estate, it seemed something awful had happened to them. After all, if any of those guards were still safe and sound, they would have come to her rescue long ago.

Indeed, it was clear that something terrible had happened to both her family and their personal guard, as well as their servants. If she waited here forever, she would probably begin to waste away once more.

She clutched her hands to her chest.

Yes. Okay. Tomorrow morning, I’ll have to set out.

Just as the thought crossed Lily’s mind, a small figure walked in through the open front door. Her heart leapt at the irrational thought that this might be her brother or sister.

“Uh…wh—?”

Lily’s eyes opened wide as she looked up at the figure in front of her. It was one of the girls from earlier that day, the smallest one of the bunch with the adorable face.

It was Mile—though, of course, Lily did not know her name.

“Ha! I thought I would slip out after everyone had fallen asleep, but that took a lot longer than I thought. They started getting suspicious, and in the end, I had to use a bit of magic to force them to drift off.”

“…?”

Lily tilted her head. All she knew was that Mile was standing there, her lips moving. She could surmise that she was saying something, but she had no idea what.

“Oh, right. You can’t hear me, can you? Just a second!”

Mile suddenly produced paper, a quill, and an ink pot out of thin air. Using a pillar as a writing board, she swiftly wrote across the page.

“Hopefully you can read.”

She then handed the paper to Lily.

“I’m going to heal your ears so that you can hear,” was written on it.

“?!”

Lily held her hands out in a grabbing motion. Mile handed her the quill and paper.

“But the mages all said that my ears can’t be healed with magic,” Lily wrote.

“Don’t worry. I have a special kind of magic. Before I heal you, though, you have to promise me one thing. You can never tell anyone about what is about to happen here. Not anyone. You can’t even let anyone know that you were healed. If anyone asks you, please tell them that your ears just healed on their own.”

Lily tilted her head.

“Um. Here. Just pretend that this is all a dream. We’re both in your dream right now, actually. This isn’t reality.”

This girl is pretty weird, thought Lily. It’s actually a little spooky…

“Anyway! You won’t tell anyone you were healed! Forget I ever existed! Got it?!”

There was no way this girl could heal her. Her parents had brought dozens of famous healing mages in to examine her. However, the result had always been the same. Nothing had changed.

However… Yes, however.

This girl was maybe three or four years older than her. Looking at her now, with her rapid and desperately changing expressions, her mouth flapping, Lily smiled comfortably and nodded. Clearly, the girl’s intentions were good. Lily might as well let her try, so that this girl could feel she had made her best effort.

Lily moved the quill across the page.

“Yes. I promise.”

“Then, let’s begin the treatment. Please relax.”

Putting down the pen, Mile looked not at Lily but off into the distance. Lily reflexively followed her gaze upward into the air but saw nothing but the dark ceiling above her.

“Nanos, you here?”

Huh?

Lily had no idea who or what Mile was talking to. She appeared to be staring at nothing at all.

I MEAN, WE’RE EVERYWHERE…

“I don’t think there’s something wrong with her ears but maybe with her brain? Her temporal lobe or something?”

YES, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

Mile’s pointer finger shot up.

“In that case, could we just alter her temporal lobe to be the same as a normal person’s?”

WE COULD DO THAT. THAT IS, WE CAN DO THAT, BUT…

“What is it?”

WE SHOULDN’T. WE OBVIOUSLY SHOULDN’T.

Mile’s expression twisted as she spoke.

“Why not?”

ALTERING THE BRAIN VIA SURGICAL METHODS IS A TECHNIQUE THAT DOES NOT YET EXIST IN THIS WORLD. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM BRINGING TOO MANY MEDDLESOME EARTH ARTS INTO THIS REALITY.

“Come on, Nanos! That doesn’t matter. There’s a cute little girl in trouble! Look! Look how squishy her little cheeks are! Look at her!”

Mile pinched Lily’s cheeks, pushing and pulling and squishing them all around.

“Humweh, pwah, mwuh…”

“And just listen to her! It’s too cute—it’s just too cute, I can’t stand it!”

As the assault on her face continued, Lily’s gaze roved around the hall. But sure enough, there was no one in sight. However, the girl before her was definitely talking. Not only that, she appeared quite animated.

Are there spirits here or something? she wondered.

YOU KNOW, THE ODDS ARE FAIRLY GREAT THAT THAT FIELD OF STUDY WILL PROGRESS BEYOND OUR RESTRICTIONS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW HUNDRED YEARS…

“Shut up, shut up, shut uuuup!!! It doesn’t matter if they haven’t gotten there yet! If it seems like it’s going to get there eventually then I or one of my descendants will probably manage it sooner or later!”

YOU’RE BEING ABSURD. BUT…

“I don’t need your lectures! I’m not listening anymore! Just stop quibbling and do it! This is over! This conversation is over!”

Mile clasped her hands over her ears. That will probably keep her from hearing, Lily thought to herself.

AH, WAIT. PLEASE DON’T CANCEL OUT THE VIBRATIONS OF YOUR TYMPANIC MEMBRANES WITH MAGIC. WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO IF EVEN YOU CAN’T HEAR US? COME ON. BESIDES, YOU KNOW IT’S POINTLESS ANYWAY. EVEN IF YOU CANCEL OUT THE VIBRATIONS, WE CAN JUST SPEAK DIRECTLY INTO YOUR TEMPORAL LOBE… CAN YOU HEAR US? LADY MILE…?

Mile removed her hands from her ears, eyes opening wide. She clamped her mouth shut and returned a thought pulse.

Shut up! Don’t speak directly to my brain like that! It’s creepy!

CREEPY? THAT’S NOT VERY NICE. WE ONLY HAD TO ADDRESS YOU THIS WAY BECAUSE YOU WERE USING THAT VIBRATION CANCELING MAGIC TO TRY TO IGNORE US. OKAY, FINE. WE GET IT, WE GET IT. WE’LL DO IT. WE MAY AS WELL. BUT WE HOPE YOU’LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY ARISE AS A RESULT OF THIS. NOW, LET’S HAVE THIS GIRL GO TO SLEEP.

Why didn’t you just say so from the beginning? Thanks, Nanos. I can always count on you.

WELL, OF COURSE. AND NEXT TIME YOU USE THAT CANCELING MAGIC, MAKE SURE YOU DO IT PROPERLY. IF YOU DON’T, YOU MIGHT END UP LOSING THE ABILITY TO HEAR ANYONE ELSE AROUND YOU.

I knew that! Thank you, Nanos.

Knowing that she had won, Mile grinned devilishly.

However, she had no idea exactly what was about to occur. Even the nanomachines she had been conversing with did not know the full extent of what it was they were bringing about.

“…!”

Lily gasped, her eyes opening impossibly wide.

Ba-dump…

Her heart fluttered at a brand-new sensation, something she was feeling for the first time in her life. In that moment, Lily Lockwood heard. She heard an impossible voice and a high, girlish one—not via the vibration of her eardrums but via thought pulses. Directly into her temporal lobe.

Then, Lily knew: There were spirits in this world known as Nanos. (Though, in truth, they were not spirits but nanomachines, the minuscule scientific beings that were the true source of the power that the people of this world referred to as “magic.” But Lily, who knew only what was written in her books, firmly believed that these were spirits.)

NOW THEN, LET’S BEGIN.

Not in the least bit aware of Lily’s dawning awareness, the nanomachines began their treatment.

“If you would, Nanos. Now, as for you,” Mile turned to Lily again. “Time to take a nap… Hang in there. Hang in there and keep on living. There are so many wonderful sounds in this world waiting for you…”

Before Lily could ask Mile about the spirits’ voices, she was overtaken by a powerful spell and sunk into a deep slumber.

 

***

 

When she awoke to the sounds of birds chirping, Lily was so struck by the beauty of their song that she wept. Her heart swelled as the gentle, wonderful resonance filled her head.

At last, she knew how many joyous sounds flowed throughout this world—the wind, the rustling of the leaves in the trees, the birds and insects, the calls of animals, and even the sounds of her own humming.

Her world was expanding.

At the age of nine, Lily Lockwood, born without one of her senses, finally heard.

Or, so she thought in that moment.