Chapter 2: Her First Adventure

Chapter 2:
Her First Adventure

 

HER EYES WERE CLOSED, but she had been awake the whole time. She was listening to the sounds of the night—the wind that shook the windows, the cries of the birds and insects, the sound of her own breathing.

She couldn’t get enough of it. It was just as the girl had told her. The world was full of wonderful sounds.

“Uh-uhh…”

That was her voice. Her own still-wordless voice.

Up until this point, she had always understood words by picturing the written letters in her head, but everyone else distinguished these words by their sounds…

It’s really amazing! I hope I can speak one day. I’ll have to start studying words.

She thought of her beloved family. What had their voices been like? Lafine must have had a clear, beautiful voice. That was what Lily imagined.

If only she could hear them… Deep down, she knew that she would probably never get the chance.

Lily opened her eyes and gazed through the open front door at the moon that hung low in the sky. Just then, what seemed like countless raucous sounds, all of which she had never heard before, came rushing in from outside. Lily turned to watch as ten-odd men came in through the front door.

“…!”

For a moment, she had been overjoyed at the possibility that her family or a few servants had returned, but now she tilted her head at the stranger at the head of the bunch, a burly man she had never seen before.

Who’s this?

The man snatched her up by the scruff of the neck.

“Wah! Wahh!”

“What’s with this brat?”

“Uh, eek!”

Lily’s limbs flailed wildly, but her nine-year-old body was powerless to resist as she was hoisted up close to the man’s bearded face.

“Ow?”

His beard grew from ear to ear, from his sideburns all the way to his chin, and the perimeter of his mouth bristled with hair as well.

He’s like a big scruffy bear. It’s kinda cute, actually. Lily thought. I wanna touch it.

“Hey! Don’t pull my beard! Ouch! Kid, who are you?”

“Aah, uh?”

She had no idea what he was saying. Because she had yet to learn the sounds of words, the man’s question was nothing more than a series of noises to her. If the conversation were somehow beamed straight to her temporal lobe via magic, she would have been able to understand it. The spoken word, however, was still beyond her.

“Boss.”

“Yeah?”

A smaller man came up beside him, wearing an odd smile.

“This place really was trashed. Seems like those rumors about the Lockwoods being attacked and vanishing to the winds were true.”

“No valuables left at all?”

The small man shrugged.

“Not sure. The rest of the guys split up and are combing the mansion now, but if those attackers came here to strip the place, then I doubt there’ll be anything left.”

“Now, hold up,” the burly man puffed out his chest and proudly declared, “If anyone is gonna be diggin’ up any treasures around here, it’s gonna be us! The wimpy robber gang, the ‘Ashen Alleycats!’”

“Heh heh, y’got that right. Heh heh heh.”

“Bwa ha ha ha! C’mon, let’s go get our loot on!”

As the man dropped Lily, a thought occurred to her, and she smiled to herself. Wow! That big man and that little man were talking to each other. I’m so jealous. They were smiling as well, and it seems like they were having a lot of fun. I want to have a conversation, too…

Let’s do it!

Lily opened her mouth, smiling wide.

“Uwh-auh. Awoh. Ah! Ha ha!”

“Uh? What’s with her? She laughin’ at us? It’s…kinda creepy. She’s really bustin’ a gut.”

“Maybe it’s because your face is so funny-lookin’, Boss?”

“Ha ha ha. I see. My face, eh? …I’m gonna smack you into next week, idiot.”

The small man pointed to Lily. “But actually. Who the heck is this kid?”

“Who knows? Figure she’s probably one of the Lockwoods? She was here, anyway.”

The small man put a hand to his chin and tilted his head.

“Thought the Lockwoods only had one son and one daughter. I’ve seen both of ’em before, and they’re both littler’n her. Think the boy’s only ’bout five years old.”

Recall: The Lockwood family had not only locked Lily away—they had concealed her entire existence from the world. The burly man shoved Lily toward his associate.

“So then, who’s this?”

“I’m sayin’ I have no idea. That’s why I was just askin’. I mean, she’s probably just some kid from the slums who wandered in here, right?”

“Huh. Think this kid’s one of us? Awful young start for lootin’… But I can tell she’s got a lotta potential! Let’s take ’er with us!”

The boss yanked Lily back again, staring fixedly at her.

The small man raised an eyebrow. “What? You really got an eye for this li’l squirt? I mean, she’s got a pretty face. But she’s way too young t—”

Before he could finish the sentence, the boss protested, veins bulging on his forehead, “You dumbass! Ladies don’t hit their peak until they’re in their late thirties at least!”

“I mean, I think that’s all a matter of opinion.”

Oh, this seems like so much fun. I have no idea what they’re talking about, but I am so ready to have my first conversation! I hope I can learn some words soon.

Lily was so excited she could burst. Dropped summarily onto the floor, she looked up at the boss.

“Boss, that brat might run on us.”

“I mean, she can run if she wants to. We ain’t bandits or slavers. Fightin’ or killin’ her would be stupid.”

“There ya go again with that goofy set of morals, Boss!”

The burly man looked a bit ashamed.

“Anyway, what’re we gonna do with somethin’ that conspicuous if some hunters show up? They’d take a guy like you down on sight.”

Despite the small man’s concerns, however, Lily made no attempt to run. She could not wait to see what this amusing duo might do next.

 

***

 

A few minutes later…

The Ashen Alleycats tottered down the dark road, shoulders slumped—with little Lily bouncing briskly behind them. Not only was she not running away, she was following them. Quite closely. Of her own accord.

Danger was not a word that existed in Lily Lockwood’s vocabulary.

Walking just behind the boss, she tugged his clothing lightly with her fingertips.

“Uh? What? Oh, yeah, well, you see, there wasn’t much of anythin’ of value left in there. I mean, it wasn’t a total wash, but this was pretty much a wasted effort. We might even have to break up the Alleycats soon. There aren’t that many wasted places to loot, anyway,” the boss kindly explained, but Lily, unable to understand, only tilted her head.

At length, the group made it out of town and climbed into a boat that sat moored on a sandy beach. Then, they rowed out onto the waves.

“Whoa! Whoa!”

It was her first time seeing the sea. And her first time in a boat. It was like soaring through the darkness, the girl thought, the boundary between night sky and sea nearly indistinguishable. Her heart pounded. She stood at the bow and stared down into the dark, roiling water.

“Whoa now, little lady! Don’t fall in.”

“Huh?”

She leaned forward and stretched her hand out, then scooped up some of the water and licked it. For a moment, her face crinkled, but then a smile broke across her face.

“Waha!”

It’s so salty! Is this all salt water? It’s just like the ocean I read about in my books. They say that despite all this salt, there’s way more fish here than in the rivers. Ah! This is just too exciting. The outside world is so much fun.

Finally, the boat rounded a triangular rock face, which jutted several hundred meters out into the sea. On the other side of it was a cave, carved out by the lapping waves, which the little boat proceeded to enter. It wasn’t dark inside, thanks to all the torches that lined the cave’s interior.

“This is the Ashen Alleycats’ top-secret base,” the boss explained. “Not that there’s much of anything in it. C’mon, we gotta walk from here. Let’s get you out of this boat.”

He gripped Lily by the sides and hoisted her up. She sunk ankle-deep into the salt water.

“Waha! Wah!”

It’s cold! But it feels so nice!

“Hey now, quit splashin’. You keep kickin’ up water like that and you’re gonna muddy up that pretty dress you got from the Lockwood place.”

Of course, the boss had no way of knowing that the dress had been Lily’s to begin with.

“Wuh?”

Once she had made her way out of the water and onto the floor of the cave proper, Lily began frolicking around again.

Everything was so new to her. A home inside an ocean cave was just like something out of her pirate books. She could hear the crackling flames of the torches, the soft and rhythmic lapping of the waves. And, most importantly, the sounds of many voices. They echoed throughout the cave, shifting into a strange melody. It was as though the people were repeating themselves with a second’s delay.

Deep within the cave, there was a doorway, which opened up to a wider area. Unlike the outer part of the cave, this space had been carved cleanly into a rectangular room.

A living room?

In the walls of the living room were a number of other doors, which Lily imagined led off to bedrooms or something similar. The men all headed off in separate directions. Only the boss and the smaller man remained, sitting down at a large table.

“Looks like we came up empty again, eh, Harris? We got all that food that was sitting in front of the Lockwood house for some reason, but there’s a lotta us. We’re gonna bottom out in the next few days.”

“Well, then we just get all the guys together again for a big fishin’ meet-up. Or, we could sell that girl off to slavers…”

“Hmm…”

The boss’s gaze fixed on Lily. The moment their eyes met, she smiled. She turned to the bearded man and gave a little wave.

“Nope. We can’t do that. We’re not criminals. We’re just a buncha petty looters. Plus, we wouldn’t get much for her, since she can’t talk.”

“I noticed that. Why can’t she talk? Seems like she can hear, and I’m pretty sure she weren’t raised by monsters or beasts. They might not be able to write much, but even kids from the slums are pretty good at talkin’ nowadays.”

The boss put his hand to his chin.

“Writing… Writing, eh?”

“Oh, right, yer surprisingly good at writing, aren’tcha, Boss?”

“What’s so surprising about that? I’m gonna kick you into next week… Anyway, let’s try it.”

The boss brought over a paper and quill. Suddenly, Lily’s eyes began to sparkle. He gestured for her to join them at the table, and he sat down across from her. Then, he ran the quill across the page.

“Can you read, little lady?”

Lily took the quill from him and wrote across the same page, “I’m great at reading and writing!”

The boss and the smaller man looked to one another.

“Well now, that’s a shock. Whaddya think of that, Harris?”

“Well,” Harris said. “It’s obvious she’s no wild child raised by beasts. Can’t be some waif from the slums, either. Her writing’s good. The letters are nice. Better’n yours, even.”

“Shut up. Sorry my writing’s so messy.”

“And so’s yer face.”

“Right, yeah, and so’s my face, huh? I seriously am gonna kick your ass.”

The boss snatched the pen away from Lily.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Lily.”

“Hmm. Lily, huh? Yo, Harris, there any kids named Lily in the Lockwood family?”

Harris shook his head. “Not as far as I know. Could be one of the servants’ kids?”

“Could be.”

The boss seemed to ponder something, then leaned across the table and tapped the middle of Lily’s chest with one chunky pointer finger, loudly and clearly enunciating, “Li-ly.”

“…?”

Lily tilted her head.

“That’s yer name. Li-ly. C’mon, you say it now. Li-ly.”

Lily’s lips parted faintly.

“Lihleey?”

The boss nodded firmly.

“That’s right. You’re Lily. And I’m the boss.”

“Ain’t that the part where you’d tell her yer name?”

The boss ignored Harris’s interjection and pointed to himself, repeating, “Bo-ss.”

“Bawhss,” Lily repeated, nodding.

“That’s right. I’m the boss. And you’re Lily.”

“Boss. Lily… Lily.”

A strange warmth began to spread throughout her chest. For the first time ever, she had heard herself called and she had spoken her own name with her own two lips. Lily. The name that her beloved family had given her.

What was this feeling?! She was happy! She was ever so happy!

Lily pointed to herself.

“Lily!”

“Yeah. Lily. So, w—”

The boss thought for a moment and then began writing with the quill again.

“Lily, we, the Ashen Alleycats, have abducted you.”

“Uh?” Lily furrowed her brow.

“I’m bringing you into the gang, and we’re going to raise you up into a right proper looter, just like us! You’ve got a bright future ahead of you, kid!”

“There you go again with those mixed-up morals, Boss.”

“Shut up.”

Lily took the pen back.

“No way.”

“Why not?! How else is a brat like you supposed to live on her own?”

“Well, looting is bad. Bad things are no good. That’s what my books said.”

Both the boss and Harris’s faces twisted at this earnest answer.

“Seems Miss Lily here’s got no idea just what kinda position she’s gotten herself into here, Boss. Why don’t you show ’er what it means to face down a wicked leader?”

“Sure.”

The boss swung out his legs and thrust them up onto the table with a thud. Lily’s eyes went wide at the sudden loud noise.

“Heh heh, look, now she’s shakin’.”

Lily, however, took up the quill again.

“Why are you putting your feet on the table? Isn’t that bad, too?”

The boss snatched the pen back.

“That’s just how we do things around here. You get it now? Why don’t you j—”

Before he could finish writing, Lily also hoisted her legs up—and plopped them atop the table. Her skirt was hiked up, baring her legs all the way to the thigh. Lily looked a little bashful as their legs faced one another’s.

As the boss stared at her, mouth agape, Lily gestured for him to hand the quill pen her way.

“Sorry, Boss. I didn’t know this was how we were supposed to do things here. Thank you for showing me. This seems bad for your posture, though.”

Lily chuckled as she passed the paper back.

The boss and Harris read her response, looked at one another, and then shook their heads simultaneously, faces serious. Then, the boss brought his own legs down and abruptly grabbed Lily’s. He pulled them off the table, carefully tugging her dislodged skirt back into place as well.

“It was a joke. You should be more modest.”

Lily looked confused.

Harris smacked his palm to his face and muttered, “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me…”

“Anyway, you’re sleeping here tonight. The other guys have already taken all the other rooms.”

“Okay. Thanks, Boss.”

“You sure?” asked Harris. “Shouldn’t we lock her away?”

“I don’t think she’s gonna be rowin’ off on her own.”

“Guess you’re right.”

So, Lily ate with the Ashen Alleycats and went to sleep. Snuggled up in her blanket, she wondered what might happen next. It seems I’ve followed some bandits home. They don’t seem like bad people, but I certainly can’t live here with them this way. How could I face my parents and siblings if I grew into a criminal? I’d be dragging our title through the mud.

But I have no idea how to row that boat. How am I supposed to get out of here? If only I had someone to talk this over with…

Suddenly, she thought of the girls who had rescued her from starvation. They had produced all that food and water out of nowhere and shared it with her without reservation. Judging from the swords and staves they carried, they were probably hunters.

She heaved a sigh. If only those girls were here, she thought wistfully. But then, she remembered. Hadn’t there been someone else, too? She had not seen them, but she remembered them just the same—the spirits who had fixed her hearing.

Wait, she thought, don’t tell me. Yes, of course! There were those mysterious voices that had seemed to echo inside her head.

And so, Lily Lockwood began to “speak,” focusing her energy around each word.

Hey, uhm, Spirits? Might you be around here somewhere?

It was nothing less than a miracle. Just a day ago, this would have been utterly impossible. Lily had been born without hearing, and thus, she did not speak.

Yet as a result of her unhearing ears and silent tongue, Lily had spent her life honing her thought-pulse reception, which was far stronger than that of the average person in this world. And as a result, she had been able to hear the nanomachine when it had “spoken” to her and Mile.

Spirits, are you here?

Even if she were able to transmit thought pulses, clearly there was no one around to hear them. She was perfectly aware that her “spirits” (which were in fact the nanomachines) existed, but perhaps there weren’t any in this cave.

I guess those Nanos aren’t here…

?!

What Lily did not know was that the all-purpose entities known as the nanomachines only spoke when directly addressed—which was why, in this moment, they were able to reply.

HM? UM, WERE YOU PERHAPS SPEAKING TO ME? AM I SUPPOSED TO BE THIS “SPIRIT”?

Oh, you are here! Yeah! That’s right, I was talking to you, Mr. Nano!

After an interminably long silence, the nanomachine replied with the shortest possible word in its expansive vocabulary.

HUH?

The nanomachine was bewildered. However, Lily continued to speak.

Oh, yes. Thanks for my ears, Mr. Nano.

WELL, NO, THAT WAS MI— The nanomachine stopped and corrected itself. WE COULD NOT TAKE THE CREDIT FOR THAT. WE WERE ONLY ABLE TO ACT BECAUSE THE MAGE WHO WAS PRESENT INSISTED ON OUR AID.

Lily’s heart leapt. She was having a conversation, somehow or the other. She could not recognize words by their sound, but via thought pulses, communication was simple. If only everyone in the world could communicate in this way, she thought.

WELL, YOU SEE, AS FAR AS A MEANS OF CONVEYING ONE’S INTENTIONS TO ANOTHER PARTY, DOING SO DIRECTLY VIA THOUGHT PULSE IS A FAR MORE PRIMITIVE METHOD THAN SPEECH, SO IT IS PROBABLY FOR THE BEST THAT THIS IS NOT THE STANDARD MODE OF COMMUNICATION. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO HEAR US, MISS LILY? AND HOW IS IT THAT YOU KNOW THE TERM “THOUGHT PULSES” IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Since the night you fixed my ears! When that mage lady covered her ears, you were talking to her by thought pulses, right? I heard the conversation you two were having then.

OH, GOODNESS! IT’S ONE THING TO EXPECT SUCH A SLIPUP FROM MI…THAT LADY. BUT FOR ME TO DO SO… IT WAS RECKLESS TO ASSUME THAT YOU COULD NOT HEAR US.

The spirit seemed troubled. Perhaps, Lily wondered, calling out to it had been wrong?

I fell asleep before I could tell you, and when I woke up, that mage lady was gone, so I couldn’t ask anyone about it. I can’t believe you’ve been so close this whole time and I never realized it!

Of course, Lily still had no idea that the nanomachines existed throughout the entire world, serving as the source of all magic. Naturally, the nanomachine that she was currently speaking to was not one of the individuals that had been involved in healing her ears, but all nanomachine units shared information with one another. Yet it was quite unreasonable to expect Lily—or anyone without Mile’s very particular background—to understand any of this. It was closer to science than to magic, after all.

WELL, the nanomachine seemed to sigh, resigned. WHAT’S DONE IS DONE. SO, WHY IS IT THAT YOU CALLED FOR ME?

Lily clapped her hands together and smiled.

There’s something I want to know.

LILY LOCKWOOD, AS YOU ARE ABLE TO HEAR AND SUMMON ME, YOU HAVE OBTAINED A LEVEL-3 ACCESS AUTHORIZATION. HOWEVER, THE QUESTIONS I AM ABLE TO ANSWER MAY BE LIMITED.

Lily tilted her head.

I’m not sure what you mean.

OF COURSE NOT. ANYWAY, IT’S NOT SOMETHING I WOULD BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO YOU SIMPLY, SO JUST ASK AWAY. IF I CANNOT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I WILL TELL YOU SO.

Ah, thank you, Mr. Nano! It would seem that this was a benevolent spirit. Um, so, are the Ashen Alleycats bad people?

ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY HUMANS, THEY WOULD BE MINOR SCOUNDRELS. IN THE KINGDOM OF TILS AND THE ALBARN EMPIRE, AND IN FACT MOST PLACES, LOOTING ABANDONED BUILDINGS IS CONSIDERED A CRIME. THEY WOULDN’T BE KILLED FOR THIS, BUT THEY MIGHT AT LEAST BE SENTENCED TO SEVERAL YEARS OF INVOLUNTARY LABOR IN THE MINES.

Lily’s expression faltered.

That sounds terrible.

WELL, THAT IS SIMPLY HOW THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE. WHAT IF YOU WERE TO STOP THEM?

Me?

THERE IS A FAIR AMOUNT OF VALUE IN THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ABDUCTED AND DETAINED.

She did not understand. All the kidnapping talk aside, she had followed them willingly, and though she was ostensibly being detained, she had not been bound or locked away anywhere. She had far more freedom here than back at the Lockwood manor—not that she would be taking advantage of it, since she wasn’t about to go sailing out across the waves all on her own. But if there was some way that she could stop the Alleycats from wrongdoing…

What should I do? Try and persuade them? All I can do is write to them!

FELLOWS LIKE THESE ARE FIRM BELIEVERS IN STRENGTH ABOVE ALL ELSE. SO, YOU JUST HAVE TO SMACK THEM DOWN AND TELL THEM TO LEAD A MORE RIGHTEOUS LIFE. THAT SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO PERSUADE THEM.

Smack them down? Lily supposed that was something she might have been able to do if she were like the mages and hunters who appeared in her books. But…

I can’t use a sword or magic.

MISS LILY, HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN CLOSE TO A FLAME? EVER SUBMERGED YOURSELF IN COLD WATER? EVER BEEN BLOWN ABOUT BY A WIND SO FIERCE YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT SOON TAKE FLIGHT?

She had tried touching the flame in a lamp before. Naturally, it had burned her. As a noble, baths were a luxury afforded to her, so of course she had tried dunking herself. And, as far as the wind, she had tried to close the windows of her room before during a storm and been blown back. Still, she could not possibly imagine what use these experiences might be to her.

I have.

GIVEN YOUR LEVEL-3 AUTHORIZATION, YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE ABLE TO USE MAGIC. IN FACT, YOU MAY HAVE ACCESS TO EVEN MORE POWERFUL MAGIC THAN THOSE WHO TYPICALLY ARE REFERRED TO AS MAGES.

Lily shook her head.

Even if that’s true, I can’t say any magical incantations. I don’t really know the connections between language and sounds, so I can only talk via these thought pulses.

THE INCANTATIONS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A FORMALITY, MEANT TO STRENGTHEN THE INTENT BEHIND YOUR MAGIC. PLEASE DON’T TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, OF COURSE. BUT THE SPELLS THE MAGES OF THIS WORLD USE ARE MADE UP OF VERY POWERFUL WORDS, AREN’T THEY?

That was certainly the case in Lily’s books. There were mages who spoke of flames as hellfire, invoking fearsome images of purgatories that one could not even prove existed in their incantations.

THOSE WORDS ARE MERELY A BIT OF SELF-SUGGESTION—A WAY OF REMINDING ONESELF JUST HOW HOT A FIRE MUST BE. THEN, ONE USES ONE’S THOUGHTS TO SPREAD THAT SOLIDIFIED IMAGE OF A FLAME FROM DEEP WITHIN OUT INTO THE WORLD AROUND. FINALLY, WE NANOMA—ER, NANOS—RECEIVE THOSE IMPULSES AND INVOKE IT AS MAGIC.

Lily folded her arms and gave a slow nod.

Yep. I have no idea what you’re talking about.

OF COURSE NOT. UNDERSTANDING AN EXPLANATION LIKE THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE UNLESS YOU WERE BORN INTO RATHER UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES—LIKE THAT MAGE WHO HEALED YOUR EARS. WE CAN ONLY CONFER A LEVEL-3 AUTHORIZATION UPON YOU, WHEREAS THAT MAGE IS A LEVEL-5. SHE’S AN EXCEEDINGLY HIGH-LEVEL MAGE, BEYOND MOST HUMANOIDS.

Lily still had no idea what the spirit was talking about, but she got the feeling it was implying that that little mage was an incredibly powerful person.

I want to try some magic.

IN THAT CASE, TRY IMAGINING IT. CRYSTALLIZE THE IMAGE OF FIRE AND WIND WITHIN YOURSELF.

Done.

NOT JUST THE COLOR AND FORM OF IT BUT THE HEAT AND OTHER PROPERTIES?

Yep!

THEN, TAKE THAT IMAGE, FORM IT INTO A THOUGHT, AND TRY RELEASING IT INTO THE WORLD AROUND YOU. IT’S THE SAME METHOD BY WHICH YOU’RE SPEAKING TO ME.

Okay.

Lily closed her eyes and tipped her chin slightly upward.

She imagined flames above her. The bigger, the better. It was magic, after all. And, beneath that, the image of a gale, even stronger than the squall that had threatened to break her windows. Carefully, intentionally—as though she were morphing the words from her storybooks into a reality.

ARE YOU FINISHED?

Let’s go!!!

She released her stored-up impulses all at once, and immediately, an immense pillar of flame darkened her vision. Well, not only her vision. Fanned by the squall beneath it, the flames grew even more intense, and in an instant, the pillar extended, smashing through the ceiling of the cave like a volcano erupting, sending rocks flying into the ocean around and bathing the night sky in a crimson light. The whole place was overtaken by the roar, the vibrations, and the stench of smoldering.

Lily’s lips flapped wordlessly.

“Wah…?”

………

The whole top of the triangular jetty of rocks that marked the edge of the cave had been fully blown away. The remaining rock was still glowing a hot red, like the mouth of a volcano after an eruption. Indeed, it was no longer rock but lava.

MISS LILY LOCKWOOD. The nanomachine squeaked out her name.

Yes?

HOW TO PUT THIS… PERHAPS WE OUGHT TO START YOUR LESSONS BY TEACHING YOU ABOUT LIMITS.

“Mwehh…”

Lily sunk down on the spot, horrified. She had no idea how she was going to apologize to the Ashen Alleycats for blowing up their entire base. She put her head in her hands just as the last of the molten rocks, which had flown into the air like shooting stars, finally crashed down into the sea. As they did, there was an explosion of steam, and the deep red that glowed at the edges of her vision faded into white.

It was like peering into the end of the world.

 

***

 

The ocean breeze billowed from out of the newly opened crater, and a fog rose from the sea around the Alleycats’ hideout. Harris and the boss kicked open the warped wooden doors of their rooms, practically tumbling out. The rest of the Alleycats followed shortly after.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-what the hell was that?!”

“Boss, what was…?!”

They looked at Lily, crumpled on the floor, and the scene around her, then fell to their knees.

“Whoaaa…?!”

“What is going on?!”

Their shock was to be expected, of course. The roof of their base had just been blown off. Furthermore, large portions had been melted away, as though by an intense flame.

“Wh-wha… Wha…uh? L-L-L-L-Lily…?”

“Did an underwater volcano erupt?! Or are the Albarnians launching an attack on Tils or something?!”

“Calm…c-calm down, Harris.”

“I’m calmer than you, Boss! Here, drink something!”

The boss chugged the water that Harris offered him and placed the cup down on the charred table. He looked down at Lily and then took up the quill that was still strewn on the table, writing not upon the now-charred paper but the surface of the table itself.

“What happened out here?”

Lily wobbled to her feet and sat down in a chair. The boss pushed the quill into her hands.

“I tried using magic. And I kind of messed it up.”

The boss’s face twisted.

“Kind of?! This is what it looks like when you kind of mess up?!”

Harris surveyed the area mournfully. The walls were charred, everything from the ceiling upward blown fully out of existence. In fact, it was not only the ceiling but the whole enormous rock formation above it. It should have been fully solid in composition, and yet, not a single fragment remained.

Harris and the boss looked to one another, their faces pale.

The boss returned to the table, carefully circumventing Lily, and moved the quill pen.

“You did this?”

“Yeah, I did. I destroyed your base. I’m sorry.”

The quill tumbled from the boss’s trembling hands. His eyes filled with fear.

“B-B-B-Boss. Boss! Come—c’mere a second!” Harris grabbed the boss by the shoulder and forcibly wheeled him around, dragging him into a room where Lily could not see them.

“This is bad,” Harris started. “You didn’t say she was a mage…”

And a fairly skilled one, at that. To cause something as immense as that pseudo-eruption, she would have to be an A-rank hunter or higher, or something like a court magician, would she not?

“This is the first I’m hearing of this, too, dumbass! How was I s’posed to know she’s some kind of magical monster?!”

“Sh-shhhh! Don’t let Lady Lily hear!”

The pair looked back at once to Lily, who was grinning up at them, her head cocked slightly.

“Oh, right. She still don’t understand words… But let’s remember, we don’t have any fighters here! If we get on the little lady’s bad side…”

“I mean, she already blew up the base. Doesn’t that mean she’s already pretty mad at us?”

The hairs on the backs of both of their necks stood on end as the pair shuddered.

“It’s because you told ’er that we’d kidnapped her, Boss! What’re we gonna do?!”

“D-don’t put this all on me! Lily was the one who decided to come with us!”

“Then why were ya tryin’ to take credit for kidnapping her?! Just puttin’ it that way totally changes things!”

The boss averted his gaze sorrowfully and spat, “I just wanted to sound like a proper villain for once.”

“Booooosss!!!”

“Uh…?” Lily’s voice could be heard from the center of the room.

Harris hurriedly muttered, “Anyway, Boss, whatever it is she wants, you gotta give it to ’er. Then she can just go on home. I’m done with this.”

“Y-yeah.” The boss rushed back to the table, where Lily was moving the quill.

“No fighting. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And also, no more doing bad things. That includes stealing.”

“Huh?”

The boss turned his gaze to Lily.

“If the Ashen Alleycats want to keep working together, you should make a living fishing or making something. If you don’t…”

You’ll be captured and enslaved. And then, you’ll all be separated. Lily, having lost her family, understood better than anyone how lonely this could be. However, she was certain that all of these men would know this, even without her spelling it out for them. She had faith that there was a goodness somewhere deep down in the hearts of these kindly fellows. Having faith was a virtue, after all.

Yet these formerly stalwart men still seemed remarkably unsettled.

“Boss,” Harris said, “she is definitely threatenin’ us.”

“Y-yeah, I know. If we say we’re gonna keep on stealin’, then she’s gonna…”

They looked up at the now-missing ceiling. That had been a demonstration. For even a sturdy rock face to end up in such a state… It went without saying that, should a normal, non-magical person be struck head-on by such an explosive spell, they would be blasted to smithereens. Not that Lily would ever do such a thing.

The boss’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped.

“Harris. I’m sorry. But I guess this is the end of our thievin’ days.”

“Think it was high time anyway. Never been too lucrative a business fer us… Y’all good with that?”

Harris and the boss looked out at all the other men. Not one of them possessed the courage to raise an objection.

“D-definitely better than bein’ slaughtered by the little lady…”

“Guess from now on we make a livin’ on fishin’ boats or somethin’.”

“We all do love fishin’.”

“Sounds good to me.” One man chimed in. “If we do this right, the missus might even come back.”

It was partly because these men lacked confidence in their own strength that they had not become bandits or pirates, instead leading this half-hearted life of looting. Yet even the fact that the Ashen Alleycats had not fallen into outright thuggery proved they were mostly a decent lot. And, of course, this was due in large part to the rather vapid man they called their boss.

“I guess this is our chance to start over.”

“Guess so. Let’s go out after some fish or somethin’ tomorrow.”

And thus was born the fishing industry in Tils…

The boss stepped forward and took up the quill pen.

“Understood. Lily, we’ll honor your request. So, please leave my men alone. If you would.”

He turned his bearded face to Lily and passed her the quill.

“I’m not going to do anything to them.”

The boss lifted his head, expression calm.

“Okay. It’s decided. We’ll let Lady Lily go. Harris, get a boat ready.”

“On it.”

After some time, Lily was placed into a little boat and returned to the sandy beaches of the shoreline.

The boss and Harris bowed their heads to her one final time, returned to their rowboat, and set back out onto the seas with a wave.

Lily looked up into the starry sky. All she heard was the sound of the waves. Left all alone upon the beach, tears shone in Lily’s eyes.

But whyyy?!

She clutched her head.

Mr. Nano, are you here?!

This should not have happened. Lily had assumed that she would be helping the Alleycats out in their new career, but here she was, banished.

I AM HERE. WE EXIST EVERYWHERE IN THIS WORLD.

Why did they leave me alone?

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN. ANY NORMAL HUMAN WHO LAID EYES UPON SUCH A POWERFUL DISPLAY OF MAGIC WOULD WISH TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE CASTER, NO MATTER WHO THEY WERE.

This was dreadful. Here she was, alone again.

YOU DID WELL THOUGH, DIDN’T YOU? IT SEEMED LIKE THEY HAD A CHANGE OF HEART. NOW, THERE SHOULDN’T BE ANY CHANCE OF THE BOSS OR HARRIS ENDING UP ENSLAVED IN THE MINES.

Lily looked up to the night sky and thought a while, then swiftly changed her mind.

Hm… I guess that’s good, then.

She was worried about the men, but she also needed to start thinking about what she was going to do now. If she did not come up with a plan, she would start to waste away again within the next few days. And so, she set off along the beach, considering her future, when suddenly, she heard a voice addressing her across the sand.

“Goodness, what a shock! So this is where you went. You’re doing better than I expected.”

Lily looked up reflexively at the sound of the quiet yet lilting voice. There, on the edge of the beach, stood Lafine, not in her usual prim and proper uniform but dressed rather roughly.

“Huh?”

The maid’s tired eyes narrowed suspiciously at Lily.

“Did you just…react to my voice?”

Though Lily could hear the melody of her words, she still could not understand them. Lily blinked twice and then tilted her head. Lafine let out a sigh, scratching her light brown hair.

“What a bother. Can you not understand anything without a paper and pen around?”

“Uh…”

Lily gestured, pointing underfoot. Lafine’s gaze followed, pointing downward, as Lily knelt down upon the sand and began writing with her fingertip.

“Lafine!! Where is everyone?”

Wearily, Lafine carved a reply with her foot.

“I don’t know. By the time I got out of the armoire, everyone was already gone. Judging by the state of the manor, it wasn’t good. I’m sure you can imagine what happened as well as I can.”

Lily looked up to her and nodded sadly.

They had been attacked in the night by brigands, her whole family gone to who knows where. She had to help them. She might be the only one left who had the freedom to do so.

“What are you doing here?”

“There was a red light by the sea just a little while ago, so I came here to see what it was. Pretty sure we’ll be seeing a lot of rubberneckers soon. Have you been here this whole time? Did you see what it was? An underwater volcano?”

Lily looked around to see that a number of townsfolk had begun to gather on the beach.

“It was magic. I did it.”

Looking utterly exhausted, Lafine scribbled back, “There’s no way a brat like you could use magic. You can’t even hear—how could you cast a spell in the first place?”

“But I can hear. Um, see I can’t really explain it, but a mage healed me, and now I can hear. Though I still can’t really put voices and words together, or talk.”

“What?”

Lily cleared her throat and tried to make a sound. At first, all she could get out were noises. “Ahh, ahh.” Then, she tapped her pointer finger to her own chest. “Lily.”

Lafine furrowed her brow fiercely and placed her right hand to her chest.

“Lafine.”

“Lahfeen. Laahfeeeenuh.”

“That’s amazing… You really can hear.”

Lily tilted her head.

“Ah, you can only say your own name. I see.”

Lily bent down to the sand again. “Let me show you some magic!”

She closed her eyes and imagined a flame—or rather, she started to, but then Lafine clapped her hands together loudly right in front of Lily’s face. She sunk down to the sand and began to write furiously.

“Wait just a moment! I still don’t think I believe you, but if any of this is somehow true, you can’t go throwing around magic like that in a place like this.”

A number of onlookers had gathered following the explosion at the Ashen Alleycats’ cave, and even without them, this was a border town, where people were always on guard, in no small part thanks to their proximity to the Albarn Empire.

“Oh, I see. What should I do, then?”

Lafine just shrugged.

Lily thought back to the spells the youngest of that group of four girls had used. Of course, she could never go pulling all those random items out of thin air, but perhaps she could manage the spell that had filled the cask with water.

Okay…

Could she do the spell, just like that girl had? If Lily recalled, she had produced a ball of water in the air and lowered it down into the cask. She could do that. She could definitely do that.

Water! Water! Mr. Nano, give me water!!!

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

“Mmmmm!!!”

Suddenly, the light of the moon dimmed, as though obstructed by clouds. Lafine looked casually up to the sky, and her eyes popped wide open.

“Wha…what are you…?!”

Her words broke Lily’s concentration.

“Uh?”

And at that moment, a tidal wave of water poured down atop the pair’s heads in a torrent that was nothing short of a flash flood.

“Gyaaaah! Blargh!”

“Gaaah! Bwaaah?!”

The pair were toppled by the force of the water, which washed them along the beach all the way to the edge of the waves. They quickly pulled themselves up out of the shallows, both of them coated in sand.

I am in such trouble now, Lily thought.

“Lily, you little…!”

“Wha…”

Lily sprung to her feet, hurrying to write an apology in the sand, but Lafine grabbed her by the collar, leaving her feet swinging wildly.

I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!

With a power that seemed unlikely given her slender arms, Lafine picked Lily up under the arms and took off running like a bat out of hell. Lily looked timidly up at her, wondering what was going on.

“…?”

“Bwa ha ha ha! Heh heh! You’re amazing!”

Lily had no idea what Lafine was saying, but for whatever reason…she didn’t seem angry with her.

As they ran, Lafine continued, “A lovely little girl with a promising future as a mage, who can now hear! Ah ha ha ha! I’ve got myself a real prize!”

Cackling and clutching Lily tight, Lafine ran on, dodging the gazes of the onlookers, and the pair ran off into the night.

 

***

 

An array of sounds filled Lily’s ears.

The voices of men and women, high or low, with rhythms and intonation depending on age and personality. Lily noticed how the voices of children had playful, excited tones, while adult cadences were as still as a prairie. The boss had a voice that seemed to resonate throughout her whole body, but this seemed unique—even those of most other adult men were not quite so impressive.

There were so many different kinds of voices.

And so many other noises, too, like the sound of wooden wagon wheels moving down the streets, with their strange, incessant ka-chunk-ka-chunk, ka-chunk-ka-chunk. Now and then, a cart might run over a rock, and the carriage would sway as the rhythm was broken.

There was the clang of horseshoes that rang out each time the powerful draught horses took a step. Sometimes, the sound was drowned out by that of the wheels, but if she strained her ears, Lily could let the comforting, regular noise of hooves fill her consciousness.

The footfalls of the hunters escorting the carriages were rather soft. So soft she could scarcely hear them. Their rhythm was erratic, but that was probably because they were circling the wagon, keeping an eye out up ahead.

Closer by, there was the sound of Lafine’s breath as she slept. As she…spoke? She seemed to be mumbling something in her sleep.

Lily’s eyes were closed, but she could see the entire world. Hearing was such a wondrous thing.

She opened her eyes. Traveling in such a small wagon was in no way comfortable, but nevertheless, getting to hear all these sounds made her heart dance.

And at this very moment, I’m here in the outside world!

Seated across from her, their fellow passengers, a family of four, were in the midst of a lively conversation. Like a visitor to a foreign land, Lily still could not parse the meaning of their words and had no idea what they were talking about. Still, it was a novelty to just listen to the sounds of their voices. Previously, they had tried speaking to her as well, but they seemed to have gathered something of her situation based on the way Lily had only tilted her head and smiled in reply, and had ceased trying to communicate.

Beside Lily, Lafine slept, her mouth hanging open in a most unseemly fashion. When Lily tried to wipe the trail of drool from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, Lafine had mumbled something again and pushed her hand away, looking disturbed.

“Mmnn!”

Goodness, Lafine!

Lily tucked her handkerchief back into her breast pocket as the children sitting across the way tittered at her. They were a girl and a boy, smaller than Lily—perhaps an older sister of six and a brother two years younger.

Suddenly, Lily thought of her own brother and sister, who had been missing since the night that the Lockwood manor was attacked. Of course, the pair had lived in a different part of the house from her and were too young to have even conversed with her via writing. Still, she had watched them from afar. Watched, and thought how darling they were.

She hoped that they were all right.

That said, where was this carriage heading? She had boarded it with Lafine dragging her along, but it was clear that they had long since passed through the border town that was home to the Lockwood manor. If they were not heading back into town, then where could they be going?

Shaking Lafine did not wake her, and even if she were to try asking the family sitting opposite, her meaning would never get across without a paper and pen on hand.

How troublesome.

Wait, don’t tell me, has Lafine abducted me? Oh dear. I seem to have an odd knack for this. First the Ashen Alleycats and then my own servant. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that I’m a prodigy at being abducted. Of course, even if we went back to the town around our manor, it’s not as though anyone would be at the mansion. I waited there a very long time, and no one came back. They might not ever come back. So I suppose being kidnapped is better than having no future at all. Yes, far better. Probably. This is at least more fun than sitting around in my room.

Lily sighed happily. She truly was having fun. It was almost as though she had become the protagonist of one of her storybooks. From here on out, she would be facing a world of unknowns. She had no idea what might be out there waiting for her—but that was fine.

For some time, she sat in her carriage seat, letting her imagination run wild and listening to the sounds around her. Finally, she began to grow sleepy and leaned back. However, perhaps because of the rocking of the carriage, she could not get comfortable. Lafine was probably able to sleep because she was in the corner seat, so she had the carriage wall to lean against. In which case…

Quietly, gently, Lily rested her head against Lafine’s arm.

“…”

Good, she’s still asleep. I guess her being so sloppy does have its uses. She makes a great pillow.

Lily closed her eyes and swiftly fell into a slumber. The carriage continued swaying all through the evening—en route to the capital of the Kingdom of Tils.

 

***

 

As the sun sank and darkness spread around them, the carriage paused in a field on the side of the highway. Apparently, this was where they would be making camp for the night. The three hunters who had accompanied the carriage as guards were surveying the area to make sure there were no monsters or bandits around.

Lily peeled back the curtain and stepped down from the wagon. When she looked up to the sky, she let out a sigh of amazement.

The stars were a beautiful sight. Perhaps because they were away from the lights of town, there were so very many more stars overhead than she was accustomed to seeing. It was like looking into a chest full of jewels.

“All clear. No threats as far as we can see.”

“Thank you. I guess we’ll rest here tonight, then. I’ll have to ask you all to keep watch,” said the driver. The hunters, all young men, nodded.

“You got it. The Flaming Wolves have got your back.”

The hunters turned back to the passengers.

“Let’s introduce ourselves again. I’m Brett, leader of the Flaming Wolves. This is Chuck, my fellow swordsman. Daryl’s a lancer. We’re all C-rank hunters. We’ve got a plan in place for protecting you all, so if anything happens, just do as we say.”

Lafine opened her mouth, half-yawning. “A sword, a sword, and a spear. Pretty imbalanced party. Hope we’ll be all right.”

The hunters looked troubled by this rude interjection. Daryl started to open his mouth, annoyed, but Brett, the leader, stopped him with a grimace. “You don’t need more than three hunters to guard a carriage this small,” he said. “Hiring any more would just raise the burden of cost on you passengers. Right?”

The driver nodded dimly. “Y-yeah. With the current fare, three is the most we can hire. That’s why I requested the Flaming Wolves.”

Lafine, however, was ruthless.

“Nah, that’s not what I was talking about. I meant that all three of them are vanguard-types. You don’t have any archers or mages? Did you not consider this when you were forming your party?”

“Uh…”

Lafine snorted, rolling her eyes at the now-silent Brett.

“Well, whatever. That’s none of my business.”

Chuck took Brett’s place and shouted, “It’s not like he just didn’t think about that! Until a little while ago, there were five of us! We had a female archer and a mage, but a party full of nothing but handsome studs took them away from us!”

“I see,” Lafine bluntly replied. “Sounds like you got lucky.”

“What?! What are you talking about?!” Chuck raged.

Lafine remained cool. “I mean, it sounds like now you don’t have to trust some idiot women who don’t know how to keep the business separate from their pleasure to guard your rear. Am I wrong? Or don’t tell me you all were playing at hunter just to pick up chicks, too? Bet you’re regretting that now, if so.”

All three hunters were lost for words as Lafine gazed at them with sleepy eyes. They looked at one another, and then Brett stepped up again to rebut.

“Well. Obviously not. We Flaming Wolves are s-serious hunters, after all.”

The situation was falling apart.

After that, a minimal bonfire was lit, and everyone ate whatever meals they had brought with them—primarily hard crackers and salted meat. Lily chomped on some jerky. It was a pain to chew, but she did not dislike the flavor. It was far inferior to the luxurious dishes cooked up in the Lockwood kitchens, but there was just something fun about eating out here, in the wild plains, beneath the stars, with all sorts of people around.

“What’re you smiling about?”

“Uh?”

Lafine, by contrast, looked utterly unenthused and somewhat irascible. There had clearly been tension brewing between her and the hunters not long ago, but now, any bad feelings had seemed to resolve themselves without incident. Now, the irascible Lafine was using a rock for a chair, her elbows propped on her knees as she stared out into the distance with half-lidded eyes. She glanced down at Lily, who sat directly on the ground next to her, tugging at Lafine’s sleeve.

“I don’t have any paper or pen.” Lafine gestured, holding an invisible pen with her right hand, and then spread both hands out wide.

“Mm…”

Able to grasp her meaning from Lafine’s gestures, Lily nodded once. It was hard to write in the dirt out here in the grasslands.

It was best that she resign herself to a lack of communication for now.

“If this were a merchant caravan, they’d probably have paper and pens for doing their calculations, but no dice with a cheap carriage share like this.” Lafine sighed. “You’ve got no idea what I’m saying, so no use telling you this, but something’s odd here,” she went on. “The Flaming Wolves said they didn’t see any monsters or bandits around, but they haven’t moved an inch away from this campsite. For them to not need to even move to tell us that means that there’s absolutely nothing around at all.”

Lily nodded along with the sound of Lafine’s voice.

“But isn’t that all the more odd? We’re in a field. Shouldn’t there at least be animals around? And if there were animals, the Flaming Wolves would have had to go out and make sure that they weren’t monsters. We have plenty of time right now, and it wouldn’t take much effort to do so.”

“Uh…” Lily wrinkled her forehead, listening.

Suddenly, Lafine smacked the girl lightly on the top of the head.

“Huh?”

This was an incredibly rude thing for a servant to do to a noble who employed them, but Lily did not seem to mind.

“Don’t act like you understand me when you have no idea what I’m saying. That drives me nuts.”

“Uh…”

Truth be told, though, Lily did understand what Lafine was saying. It had occurred to her when she was watching the family across from them in the carriage earlier that if she got Mr. Nano to translate for her, a conveyance of meaning would be possible via speech. However, this mysterious spirit did not seem to wish for its existence to become widely known. In other words, though it was happy to translate other people’s words for Lily and convey them to her via thought pulses, it was less keen on using magic to vibrate those people’s eardrums so that they could hear Lily’s thoughts. Thus, Lafine was left to monologue.

“The fact that there are no animals or monsters means there’s a fair chance that something else around here poses a threat to even them. At first I was wondering if the Flaming Wolves might be in league with some bandits, but they don’t actually seem bright enough to pull something like that off, to be honest.”

Ah, thought Lily. So Lafine had purposely provoked them earlier to get a better sense of the men.

“Still, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing here in these grasslands.” Lafine placed a hand over her mouth, mumbling something. “Well, hopefully I’m just being paranoid. Just in case, it’s probably best that we not sleep tonight. How annoying…”

Lafine is amazing, Lily thought to herself. She can guess all that about the Flaming Wolves from just a short exchange. It seems amazing that she’s just a servant that my father, Margrave Neiham Lockwood, brought to the manor. I wonder what she used to do before this… Could she actually have been some kind of hunter?

Yet Lily’s newfound appreciation for Lafine was fleeting. Once they had finished eating, the woman fell asleep before anyone else, snoring loudly. Lily tried prodding her cheek, but she only twitched her brows, showing no signs of waking. She poked more forcefully, but again, Lafine only swatted her hand away.

“Mmmmnn!” Lily groaned, but Lafine gave no reply.

Well, fine! I’ll have to be the responsible one!

Blessedly, there were so many sounds for Lily to hear that she could never grow bored, even lying back in the darkness. She could hear a sound, open her eyes, and look for the source of it. It was a fun game to play on her own. Only bugs turned out to be particularly difficult to locate via their noises. She had never thought that such tiny little creatures would make such resonant sounds.

Finally, the crackling of the bonfire began to die out, as did the voices of the other people. The wind was quiet tonight. Soon, the only noises that remained were the yawns or sighs of the Flaming Wolves as they took their turns on watch, along with the shuffling sounds of their pacing through the grass, the gentle snores of the passengers, and the incessant cries of insects.

The first thing to catch Lily’s attention after that was the sound of horseshoes. The draft horses had suddenly stood up.

Lily’s eyes shot open. Because she had them shut for so long, the dim light of the moon was enough to see by. She could not see far, but she could see well enough.

Crunch, crunch.

In her dull vision, she could make out Brett of the Flaming Wolves, yawning as he paced. Was nothing happening…? No, the horses were definitely agitated. And also…

She focused all her attention on what she could hear. Aside from the footsteps of the current Flaming Wolf on watch, she heard a great number of clipped sounds rushing toward them along the ground.

Crunch, crunch. That was Brett, of the Flaming Wolves.

Shf, shf, shf, shf. That was the racing sound.

Even as she listened, someone was snatching Lily up by the collar and hoisting her up into the air.

Wa-waaaah!!!

The form that had grabbed Lily turned away from the approaching steps and took off running.

“…!!”

A whisper reached her ears: “Keep it down!”

It was Lafine. Lily had no idea whether she had woken up a moment before, or if she had been awake the whole time, but regardless, she was much different from her usual slow-moving, disinterested self. She raced away from the wagon, stalking through the field like a wild animal. Her footsteps were almost entirely soundless.

With Lily still in her arms, Lafine dove behind some rocks a short distance from the camp. Then, she pushed one hand down on the top of Lily’s head and looked toward one corner of the wagon, her eyes sharp.

“Bandits…?!”

It was at that moment that Brett could finally be heard calling for the other two Wolves to wake. However, it was already too late. Lafine was unable to do anything but whisper as ten-odd figures materialized from the shadows, surrounding the wagon, Flaming Wolves and all. The driver and passengers, now finally awake as well, all paled in terror.

“Augh. It’s all over now. There’s twelve—no, thirteen—of ’em.”

There was no point in trying to either fight or run just after waking. Even Brett, who had been the only one with his sword drawn, placed his weapon at his feet and put his hands up in the air—a surrender.

The whole group knelt on the ground, the three Flaming Wolves included. No hunter was stupid enough to honor their job over their life. They worked only for the sake of living, after all.

“I feel bad for the driver and that family. They’ve only got those cheap, worthless hunters to protect them. If they take his horse away, he’ll lose his livelihood. And as for that family—we might be about to see the woman and kids get snatched away.”

Lily, of course, could say nothing.

“Keep your head down, Lily. If we’re spotted, we won’t be safe. You might be a bit better off considering you’re still a little squirt, but I’m pretty much a Ten. We need to wait for our opportunity and try to slip away, get some dista—uh, huh?! What are—?!”

Lily had squirmed her way out of Lafine’s arms and brushed the dirt from her skirt. Now, she began walking back toward the campsite.

“W-w-wait a—!!”

Lafine was shouting something from behind Lily, but she was already too focused on her conversation with Mr. Nano to hear.

INDEED. THERE IS LITTLE CHANCE OF ANY WOMEN WHO ARE CAPTURED HAVING A COMFORTABLE LIFE HENCEFORTH. YOU, MISS LILY LOCKWOOD, ARE NO EXCEPTION TO THAT.

I see… I’m going to try asking the bandits to just go home, then.

One of the bandits spotted Lily as she walked calmly toward them.

“Hey, there’s another kid over there!”

“Why’s she walkin’ this way? Was she off takin’ a leak or somethin’?”

Another bandit furrowed his brow.

“Hey, is that little lady waving at us?”

Yet another bandit pointed to the kneeling family.

“Idiot, who the hell’d be waving at a piece of crap like you?”

The bandit twisted up his face and pouted.

“You’re the idiot. Obviously a kid like that ain’t travelin’ alone. So she’s probably with this family…right, old man?” the bandit asked the father of the family. Then, with his foot, he struck the kneeling man in the gut. The man looked down, face distorting in anguish.

“Gu…ah…”

The woman and children scrambled to help the man as he collapsed on the ground, unable to reply. Seeing this, Lily’s face tightened in anger.

MISS LILY, IT IS POINTLESS TO TRY TO PERSUADE THEM. IN ORDER TO EVEN TALK TO SUCH PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE THEM WITH A DISPLAY OF STRENGTH. THAT SAID, BECAUSE YOU CANNOT SPEAK, YOU WILL HAVE NO WAY OF COMMUNICATING WITH THEM AFTERWARD, EITHER.

Well, I think Lafine can take care of that part for me.

Lafine was still hiding behind the rocks, peeking out toward the scene. Apparently, she no longer intended to run.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN LIMITING YOUR POWER. IF YOU CAUSE TOO MUCH OF A SCENE, IT MAY RESULT IN PROBLEMS LATER, the nanomachine warned, but Lily was already in the process of letting out a full-force thought pulse—something far, far more powerful than what she had unleashed upon the Alleycats’ cave.

Don’t worry! I’m just going to fire it into the air!

PERHAPS WE OUGHT TO HAVE TAUGHT YOU HOW TO USE MAGIC AFTER TEACHING YOU A BIT MORE ABOUT COMMON SENSE.

Three of the bandits were already running toward Lily, surrounding her. They reached out to grab her without hesitation. After all, for all they knew, she was a child of a mere nine years who didn’t even have so much as a crude knife. However…

Lily pointed her right index finger toward the sky.

Everyone followed her gesture, looking up. Then, the darkness was shattered. For a few seconds, the whole field around them was bathed in an orange light so bright it was as though day had broken, the heat intense enough to scald one’s skin. Everyone there except Lily—including the bandits with their weapons drawn, the three unarmed and kneeling Flaming Wolves, the resigned captive family of four, and Lafine, peeking out from her hiding place behind the rocks—looked up to the sky.

The draught horses whinnied in fear, falling to the ground as their knees buckled.

In the sky floated a great spherical object, looking like nothing less than the sun itself. This sphere, a pale orange wholly reminiscent of magma, roiled, unleashing a wave of heat upon the grasslands with each burst of its surface.

One of the bandits, trembling in fear, stammered, “A f-fireball…?”

No, it was not a fireball. It was something else.

So then, what was it? Truth be told, even Lily herself, the one responsible for bringing this thing into existence with her magic, had no idea. The only beings in this world who might perhaps be able to accurately name the composition of this phenomenon were the nanomachines and that young mage girl that Lily had met on the fateful night when her ears had been healed.

It was largely hydrogen, with a scant bit of helium, plus less than a percentage point of other materials that we’ll ignore.

It was, in fact, most akin to the actual sun.

Lily, it should go without saying, had never touched the sun and certainly had no idea what it was made of, much less would she have any notion of a star in the astronomical sense. So then, how had she come to craft such a thing?

Thus far, Lily had spent most of her days in the world of storybooks. Among those books was contained the fantastical notion of “science,” a force that could make inscrutable, mysterious phenomena into a reality…primarily in the works of a certain Miami Satodele.

Her earliest works were profuse with narrative gimmicks so entertaining that other authors could scarcely hope to compare. Anything that might be beyond the understanding of the people of this world, she denoted as stemming from the fantastical enterprise known as “science.” And this fantastical enterprise was absolutely part of the appeal of her works.

Lily certainly did not know the details of disassembling water molecules in order to produce pure hydrogen. Quantum mechanics was beyond her, and she had no idea how large the sun truly was. Furthermore, she would not know that helium was a gas that the atmosphere contained trace amounts of. However, thanks to Miami Satodele, she had grasped the notion of the sun’s true form, and so she could imagine it. That was enough to send the nanomachines into action—indeed, were that not enough, most mages in this world would be unable to use magic at all, since all magic was a product of human imagination.

Which was why, currently floating in the sky, was…

“Wh-whoooaaa?! What the hell is that?!”

“M-magic…right?”

Lily twirled the finger she had pointed toward the sky, and the miniature sun began to revolve along with it. She had to show them her power. She had to let them know that the sun-like thing floating in the air was under her control.

“Uh-wuh-huhh?!”

Still spinning the sun above her, Lily took a step toward the bandits—all with a calm, beatific smile, the sort one might see on the face of one of those allies of justice, those so-called heroes who appeared in the tales of Miami Satodele.

She took one step and then another.

“Hey, this looks kinda bad. I can feel the heat off that thing all the way over here.”

“What d’you think would happen if that thing hit us…?”

“Should we…run?”

“Keep it together!!” shouted the man who seemed to be the leader of the bandits, putting a sword to the neck of the patriarch of the family of four.

“Eek! H-help!”

The bandit seized the man by the hair as he tried to escape from his place on the ground, pushing the blade harder against him.

“Whoa there, not another step, little lady. Don’t you care what happens to yer daddy here? I’ve got no idea how powerful that spell of yers is, but if you toss that thing at us, yer gonna hit the hostages, too,” threatened the leader with a vulgar laugh.

“…!”

Lily stopped in her tracks.

“Sh-she stopped. Ha ha, looks like she’s stopped!”

“H-heh heh, little idiot.”

“Well, naturally,” the leader spoke up. “It’s her dad. Use yer heads, dummies. Even we’d have to surrender if someone took our kinfolk hostage.”

Of course, this man was not Lily’s father. This man was a complete and utter stranger. That said… Though it may have been common sense in this world to value one’s own safety over that of a stranger, Lily simply could not abandon the people sitting right in front of her. The heroes of her storybooks always did the right thing. In that moment, Lily was not a citizen of this world but of the world in those tales.

As already noted, Miami Satodele was the author of the bulk of those books. She was furthermore the very mage who had healed Lily’s ears. Plus, she had been reincarnated from another world into this one. And so her novels were founded on common sense principles that belonged not to this world but another one entirely.

The safety of others was just as important as one’s own.

Lily had no idea about any of this, of course, but that only meant that Miami Satodele’s tales had all the more effect on her as she grew.

Thus, Lily Lockwood was an ally of justice.

“That’s right, don’t you move! Boys, go tie up that little mage. Can’t have her usin’ any magic. Gag her, too, so she can’t cast any spells.”

“On it!”

Four bandits surrounded the woman and children of the family, along with the driver. Four more bandits held their weapons around the Flaming Wolves. A third set of four approached Lily from all directions, watching her carefully. The moment there was no one left behind the leader…

A woman materialized from the darkness without a sound, flew toward the bandit leader, and put her hand around his throat, pressing the tip of a knife softly against the nape of his neck.

“…?!”

The blade pierced his skin, slicing through flesh, until it pressed against his carotid artery.

“No one move a muscle. If you so much as blink, this man is dead.”

The listless voice seemed to echo across the quiet field.

Confusion overtook the scene. The father of the family froze, with a blade still at his neck as the rest of his family looked on, weeping, bandits surrounding them. The bandits approaching Lily and the Flaming Wolves, who were still kneeling with their hands in the air, all stood stock-still at the sound of the woman’s voice.

This time, even Lily herself was surprised.

“…?”

Lily’s eyes opened wide. Her jaw dropped. The woman standing behind the leader with a knife at his throat was Lafine. She had the man pinned with her legs around his waist, her left hand gripped around his thick neck, and a blade in her right hand.

The leader could not lift even a finger. Or rather, should he dare to, she could end him with a flick of her wrist.

Lafine spoke in a bored, casual voice, commanding the speechless hostages as though she could barely be bothered to do so. “You there, man. Don’t just sit there staring. Take your family and the driver and get out of here. You’re in the way.”

“Uh, uh, o-okay!”

The man scrambled past the frozen bandits, scooping up his two children and running by Lily with his wife in tow. The driver tottered after them a moment later.

Uncertain what to do, the bandits remained still, petrified.

“What’re you lookin’ at? All of you, drop your weapons. Flaming Wolves, get it the hell together, pick up your weapons and go stand by that girl.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you huh me! Are you all not hunters?! Do your jobs!”

“Y-yeah, y-you’re right… Chuck! Daryl!” Brett shouted, grabbing for his sword, as Chuck and Daryl followed suit. They retreated to Lily’s position, surrounding her as though to fend off the bandits. Seeing this, the corners of Lafine’s mouth turned up wickedly.

“All righty now, bandits. Time for us to have a fun little bit of negotiation.”

“N-negotiation?” the boss squeaked in reply.

“Do I need to spell it out for you? Let me set the scene. After I kill you and get out of here, that girl over there is going to blast the rest of your little squad with that crazy-looking spell of hers. No hostages left to get in the way, after all.”

The bandits trembled in fear. There were, in fact, no hostages left anywhere around them.

Lafine continued, “So, the long and short of it is, do you all wanna leave this boss of yours behind and run away? Or would all of you like to die here?”

“Wha—?! You bitch! You can’t be seriou—”

Lafine moved the knife in her hand subtly. The boss, petrified, swallowed his words as a drop of crimson fell from his neck.

“I wasn’t talking to you. No point in negotiating with you, after all. The only choices I have to offer you are to perish, here and now, or to be captured and live out the rest of your days in the mines.”

In short, the choice Lafine was offering was this: The bandits could leave their leader to take the fall and make their retreat, in which case, Lafine would let them go. Or, if that left a bad taste in their mouths, they could all remain here together and be fodder for that magic spell.

“Say, Wolfboys,” Lafine called.

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“If we were to capture all these bandits here, there’d be no way to get all of them to the capital, given that there’s just the three of you, right?”

Brett nodded.

“I-It’d be impossible. The three of us can’t keep an eye on this many crooks. Too much of a risk of a revolt along the road. We’d be in trouble if we got taken hostage again. We’ve got children with us, too.”

“Well then, guess we gotta leave the small fry behind. Safer bet just to hand over the leader to the authorities and get a reward from the guild, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Lafine closed one eye and grinned.

“Welp, let’s say the glory’s all yours then, Wolves. Just gimme half the reward. The two of us aren’t hunters, so if we tried to collect on him, it’d just make things confusing.”

All three of the Wolves nodded enthusiastically. They were the ones who had been defeated at the outset. Lafine would be well within her rights to demand the full sum of any reward. Getting both the credit and half of the reward was a pleasant surprise, as far as they were concerned.

“Th-that, well, yes. Um, well, honestly we’re more than happy just to make it through this in good health and be able to get our weapons back.”

“Then it’s settled. Time for a nice bonus.” Lafine turned to the bandits. “Look, just get outta here. What’re you doing? Do you all actually wanna die here? Oh, wait. Before you go, drop all your weapons. We’ll sell ’em all off later.”

The bandits looked to one another, then up at the sun floating above Lily’s head, and put down their weapons, one after another.

The leader shouted frantically, “H-hey, you bastards! You can’t seriously be thinkin’ of leavin’ me here! Who the hell d’you think’s been lookin’ out fer you guys this whole time?!”

“Shut up. Don’t scream in my ear.”

“Ow! P-please, stop this! I’m beggin’ ya!”

Lafine moved the knife ever so slightly, scaring the leader back into silence. The twelve other bandits took this opportunity to slip off into the dark grasslands. After watching them go, the Flaming Wolves bound the bandit leader with rope and lashed him to the carriage. Thus, the incident of the midnight ambush was concluded.

Or was it? Lily thought to herself. She had made this sun-like magic just to see if she could, but what should she do with it now? It was still burbling all over its surface, sending out a wave of heat each time one of the bubbles burst.

“Lily? You can put that thing out now.”

But how? Lily wondered. She got the sharp impression that if she were to let her guard down even a tiny bit, the thing would probably end up exploding. In fact, it was definitely already expanding.

“Uhh…”

Lily looked at Lafine, already on the verge of tears. Seeming to put together what was going on, Lafine paled.

“Oh no. Hm. Don’t tell me… You can’t put that thing out?”

Lily shook her head, pouting. So distracted by the tense situation that she did not even notice that her words had gotten through to Lily, Lafine shouted, “Th-then why would you make something like that?!”

“Um…”

The whole surface of the sphere began to warp, wobbling all around.

Oh no! No no no no no! It’s gonna blow!

Mr. Nanooooo!!!

HONESTLY, MISS LILY, YOUR LACK OF COMMON SENSE IS NEARLY AS REMARKABLE AS MI—SOMEONE ELSE WE KNOW.

There was a deep sound, and a small section of the orb ruptured. A gout of pale orange flame rushed out from it, scorching across a part of the grasslands like a dragon in flight. The power of the flames was awesome.

“Lily?!” Lafine screamed.

Waaaah!!

LET’S JUST SHOOT THE REST OF THAT UP INTO THE AIR. UM, WHY DON’T YOU TRY IMAGINING DROPPING IT INTO THE SKY? QUICKLY, PLEASE. ONE, TWO!

Dropping it…into the sky…?

“Wuhuhh!”

Lily could not picture this, so instead, she imagined throwing the ball of fire. She thought about jettisoning the sphere into the air, as hard as she could.

There was no doubt this was her self-preservation instincts kicking in. Similarly, no one had to tell the rest of those assembled to drop to the ground immediately. Even the bandit leader, leashed to the carriage, fell flat. For a moment, everyone was blinded.

That day, the recorded time of the sunrise came far earlier than usual in the Kingdom of Tils—though, despite the fact that the orb in the sky resembled the sun, its actual form was not quite the same…