Chapter 4: And Now, an Explosion

Chapter 4:
And Now, an Explosion

 

IT HAD NOW been two months since Lily and Lafine had arrived in the capital of the Kingdom of Tils. This was more than enough time for even a girl who lived as tumultuous a life as Lily to begin to establish something of a routine.

In the morning, she had a simple breakfast alone, prepared a lunch for Lafine, who slept until noon, and headed out for work. In the evening, she came home to make dinner for the two of them. Her work, of course, depended on the day. Some days Veil would request her aid on his hunting jobs, and some days she just helped make deliveries for the local grocer. However, unlike she had been a month prior, Lily was now working not as Lily Alstea, nor even Lily Lockwood, but as the mysterious hero with the violet butterfly mask—Hello World Mask.

At this particular moment, Lily had just collected her pay after a busy day of seven grocery deliveries.

“Thanks as always, Lily.”

“Lily? Now who could that be? I have nooo idea what you’re talking about,” grinned Hello World Mask, refusing to turn around.

“Oh, right,” the man corrected himself. “Miss Hello World Mask, could I ask for your help again tomorrow? My back’s been strained lately, so honestly you’ve been a huge help.”

Hello World Mask pivoted around. She gave a thumbs-up, just like the main characters of the stories she read, and nodded emphatically.

“Yes, anytime! After all, I’m an ally of justice! Whenever you’re in need, just let me know! Hu-hup!”

She bounced up and took off, her feet pattering away.

“I don’t get this game…”

Lily knew the old man was grumbling behind her back but pretended that she did not hear him. As long as her true identity continued to be protected, that was all that mattered… Though, of course, she was the only one who was convinced that this disguise of hers was effective.

Lily pulled a note from her pocket and gave it a once-over.

“Um, let’s see, the next job is… Oh, nope, that’s all for today.”

Most mornings she did odd jobs around town, and most afternoons she helped Veil. Though she had yet to achieve a particularly cushy life, she was now making enough that she should be able to not only provide for her and Lafine’s living expenses but also purchase one storybook every month as well—even if she had far less time for reading now than she once did. Still, she was having fun every day. She was fulfilled.

The first noon bell rang. Lily ran boldly through town, the butterfly mask still on her face, toward the park located near the city square. She stopped by a cart along the way to purchase a double orc cheeseburger and a drink for her lunch.

She sometimes thought about making her own lunch in order to save some money, but deliveries were not the only thing she did in the morning. Sometimes she helped unload carts, or had to go crawling around searching for lost pets and such, so it helped to be carrying as little as possible when she left the house.

“Ugh. I really wish I could use storage magic…”

WELL, CAN’T YOU?

In a rare turn, the nanomachines were the ones to initiate conversation.

“Huh? What?!”

Lily turned around in shock. An older woman walking down the road called out to her, “Everything all right, Lily dear? You seem surprised.”

“Eh heh, I’m fine!” she said and then gasped, realizing her mistake. “Oh, no! Wait. My name is—”

“Ah, right, right. You’re Hello World Mask, the ally of justice, aren’t you? Thanks again for helping me clean out my gutters.”

Lily put her left hand behind her back, flexing with the nonexistent muscles of her right arm and nodded importantly.

“It was my pleasure! After all, I’m an ally of justice! Whenever you’re in need, just call my name!”

“Ha! How lovely. You’re adorable.”

Incidentally, “Hello World” was a phrase that Lily had taken from one of Miami Satodele’s books. The stories often involved various terms related to “science,” the otherworldly magical system that appeared across all of the author’s publications, and no matter what particular branch of “science” was involved, it seemed that the first, most basic spell invoked was always a set phrase: Hello World.

Ever since she had first read it, Lily had liked the ring of the words. It was a fun phrase, one that she couldn’t help but feeling drawn to. And thus, she had named herself Hello World Mask.

After waving to the elder woman and watching her go, Lily replied to the nanomachines via thought pulse.

But I can’t use storage magic. I could try imitating it, but I wouldn’t even know how. I’ve never even seen it done.

AH, I SEE. MI—ER, THE OTHER MAGE—COMES FROM A STRANGE PLACE, SO SHE WAS ABLE TO PICK UP ON IT RIGHT AWAY. THE CONCEPTS MIGHT BE DIFFICULT FOR SOMEONE BORN INTO A WORLD WITHOUT THE SAME FOUNDATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE. IN REALITY, STORAGE MAGIC IS A RATHER RARE ABILITY.

Lily tilted her head. Who was this “other mage” they were talking about?

THOUGH, TO BE ACCURATE, WHAT SHE USES IS NOT TECHNICALLY STORAGE MAGIC.

I have no idea what you mean. Don’t just sit there talking to yourself, Mr. Nano.

I THINK IF YOU CAN FIND A MAGE WHO USES STORAGE MAGIC AND HAVE THEM TEACH YOU, YOU SHOULD BE FINE. I’M CERTAIN THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REPLICATE IT WITHOUT ISSUE, MISS LILY.

It was then that Lily remembered that she had seen something like storage magic once before. When she was left all alone at the Lockwood manor and those four girls arrived, the smallest of them had used it to produce food and water, and saved Lily from starvation.

The spell that that girl used when she saved my life—was that storage magic?

THAT WAS NOT STORAGE MAGIC, AND IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO REPLICATE. IT’S AN INCREDIBLY UNUSUAL TECHNIQUE, MORE AKIN TO “SCIENCE.”

Whoa! What? Mr. Nano, you actually believe in “science”? Come on, that’s just a thing from fairy tales!

Even Lily knew that “science” was a term coined by the novelist Miami Satodele. It was a pseudo-magic from another world, totally fictional.

NO. SCIENCE DOES, IN FACT, EXIST. EVEN MY OWN EXISTENCE IS SOMETHING AKIN TO SCIENCE. ELSEWHERE, THEY SAY THAT ANY SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED SCIENCE IS AKIN TO MAGIC. BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT.

I don’t get it.

YOU CAN THINK OF “SCIENCE” AS AN INCREDIBLY UNUSUAL KIND OF MAGIC.

Unusual?

YES. FOR EXAMPLE, THAT PSEUDO-STORAGE MAGIC UTILIZES A PLANE WHERE THE TIME-SPACE CONTINUUM IS FROZEN, BUT SUCH CONCEPTS ARE UNEXPLAINABLE BY EVEN THE GRIMOIRES OF THIS WORLD.

Wha…? Wait, so the person you keep talking about is the girl that saved me?

I AM RELUCTANT TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I HAVE NOT OBTAINED THE PERMISSION OF THE PERSON IN QUESTION HERSELF. AND SINCE SHE WISHES TO LIVE AS A NORMAL, AVERAGE GIRL, I DOUBT THAT SUCH PERMISSION WOULD BE GRANTED.

I see… Well, that’s a shame. Why would someone so amazing at magic that she was able to heal my ears want to be a normal girl like me?

If Lily were that powerful, she thought, she would definitely become a hero.

UH… MISS LILY, DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WORDS “NORMAL” OR “AVERAGE” MEAN?

Lily still didn’t know for certain if the mage the nanomachines were referring to was the same girl who had rescued her, but she hoped that she could meet that girl again someday and properly thank her. Alas, she did not know her name, and thanks to the darkness, she had not seen her face well. All she’d been able to make out through her hazy vision was that the girl was incredibly adorable.

Speaking of people whom she wished she could see again…she was still worried about her family. She had asked Lafine about them, but the woman insisted that she knew nothing. Were her brother and sister doing okay? Were her mother and father in good health? Just who were the brigands who had attacked the Lockwood manor that night?

Lily felt her chest tighten, but she shook her head, determined to cheer herself back up. There was nothing that worrying could accomplish. So she ran along, chewing on her double orc cheeseburger, until she finally arrived at the plaza in the slums. There, she found Veil.

“Sorry I’m late!”

“No worries. We just got everyone assembled.”

Beside Veil were ten children around the same age as Lily, some perhaps even younger. They all stared at her with wide, innocent eyes.

“Um…?”

“Oh, these are all orphans from the slums. They’re basically my little brothers and sisters. We’re going to take them out to gather some herbs today. They’re all associate hunters.”

“Whoa, that’s awesome! All of you?”

“Don’t look down on us just because we’re G-ranks,” one of the boys beside Veil grumbled indignantly. “You aren’t even a hunter at all, are you? And what’s with that weird mask?”

“Knock it off, Chimley.”

The redheaded boy, Chimley, turned his head with a pout. Veil grimaced and continued, “Anyway, this is Hello World Mask, the mage who’s been causing a stir lately.”

Lily held out a hand proudly and declared, “I’m Lily—er, oh, uh, no. I’m Hello World Mask. Nice to meet you all.”

Unsurprisingly, everyone assembled easily guessed that “Hello World Mask” was actually Lily.

“Our masked friend here isn’t going to be helping with the gathering but with guarding everyone else as they work. We’ll be venturing outside of the capital, where there are all sorts of monsters, like orcs and jackalopes.”

Chimley, the redhead, spat angrily, “Come on, Big Brother! We don’t need a brat like her. You can just guard us on your own, like always. She’s not even a hunter—she’s just gonna slow us down.”

Veil looked at his shoes, scratching his head.

“Sorry, Mask. Please don’t be mad about this.”

Lily giggled. Her name was getting shortened into nothing, but she didn’t really mind.

“It’s fine! I’m not interested in being a hunter anyway!”

What she hoped to be was a hero.

Chimley scoffed. “Well, that’s nice. You keep thinkin’ that. Pretty little thing like you can probably end up the mistress of some rich old dude anyway. Then you’ll be on easy street. Lily, was it? You should thank your parents for birthin’ you with such a pretty face.”

“Chimley!” Veil scolded, but Chimley just averted his gaze, clicking his tongue. Lily smiled back and shrugged.

“I have no idea if I’ll be a mistress, but I am thankful to my mother and father! They helped me be born into a world full of so many wonderful sounds!”

Chimley knitted his brow, as if offended.

“The only people on my side are the folks here in the slums. None of us know anything about our parents. Clearly, you’ve lived a charmed life. Don’t come walkin’ all over us just so you can play around and make a little pocket change. We don’t need you.”

“That’s enough!” Veil shouted.

“…Tch.”

Veil was already aware that Lily’s true surname was not Alstea but Lockwood. He was also aware of the tragedy that had occurred at the Lockwood home some months prior. Though there was no telling whether Lily’s true father, Lord Neiham, was safe, it was a fact that he’d left Lily behind at the manor and not returned to find her. In other words, it was very likely that either both of Lily’s parents were dead or that she had been abandoned. Whatever the truth, Lily was certainly not blessed. She was as good as an orphan.

And yet, Lily Lockwood was still smiling. Grinning, actually, with the corners of her mouth perked up and her pearly whites flashing as her eyes shone.

“That’s so stupid,” Chimley spat. “Who’d ever thank their parents? For what?”

Veil stepped over to Lily and whispered, “Sorry, Lily. Chimley’s not like me or the other kids here in the slums. He was just abandoned here recently, so the wounds are still fresh for him. His parents…” Veil trailed off.

Whether she had been orphaned or abandoned, Lily was carrying a greater burden than Chimley. Veil could not possibly ask her to take pity on him. Yet she seemed to pay no mind to the other boy and his attitude. As far as she was concerned, everything about this world was still “fun.” Even the fact that she was simply able to hear and talk to people meant that her world was much wider than it had ever been when she lived alone in her room in the Lockwood manor. She was moved by everything around her. All that she saw, all that she heard—it made her heart leap.

“It’s okay, Veil. I understand.”

“Let me make it up to you.”

“No need.”

How would Lily feel if Lord Neiham was still alive and had yet to come to find his daughter? She couldn’t be sure. However, right now, she was thankful. This was not a lie. Still, who could say what the future might hold? It was possible to imagine that one day, even she might come to hate her parents as Chimley did—her parents who had taken only her siblings and left her behind, who had locked her away in her room simply because she could not hear. But for now, she could only pray for their safety. That was enough for her. She felt this from the bottom of her heart.

Perhaps having gotten all that he wanted to say off his chest, Chimley was now calmly talking to the rest of the orphans.

“Now then, let’s get it together and get going,” said Veil. “I’ll be going up ahead, so you take the rear, Mask.”

“Okay, got it.”

Veil started walking, with a sword hung from his side, but the other children were equipped only with small gathering knives and baskets on their backs, and canteens on straps around their necks. Chimley also had a wooden sword in hand. By comparison, Lily was carrying nothing at all.

She intended to be back in the capital by evening, so there was no need for food. She was not a swordfighter, so she needed no sword. She did need water, but if she just sent out a thought pulse, Mr. Nano would bring her some.

Lily gently propped up the basket of the girl walking in front of her from the bottom, just enough that she would not be found out. The girl was so small that it looked like it must be difficult for her to carry. The baskets weren’t heavy, but after walking around for a while, it would start to feel heavier, and in fact, the girl already seemed fairly winded. Yet the moment Lily lifted the basket up, the girl immediately looked back.

“Huh? Oh, um, thanks.”

“No problem.”

She had been found out. But that just meant that Lily could help openly, even lifting the basket slightly off the girl’s back.

“U-um…”

“Hm?”

“I’m…Mel,” the girl said, her voice small and faltering.

“I’m Lily.”

“I know.”

“Of course. Oh, but that’s a secret right now. I’m H-H-Hello World Mask.”

Mel put her hand to her mouth, tittering.

Gosh, this girl is adorable, Lily thought. Just then, she sensed a piercing gaze and looked up to see Chimley, who was walking second in the line, glaring at her.

“Uh—I…” she stuttered.

Uh-oh… Lily thought. If I start being friendly with Mel, I wonder if Chimley will pick on her later…

As Lily puzzled over this dilemma, Chimley stopped walking and calmly approached the girls. A drop of sweat fell at the base of Lily’s neck as he glared at her hand holding Mel’s basket.

Lily frantically withdrew her hand.

“Um… This… Well, I… Eh he he…”

In her mask, Lily looked very suspicious.

“Hmph. You okay, Mel? I’ll take that. Gimme your basket.”

Mel’s gaze wandered between Lily and Chimley.

“Um. But…”

“Just give it to me!”

Chimley ignored Lily, snatching the basket away, wearing it on the front of his chest opposite his own basket. And, with that, he scurried back to his spot at the front of the line, immediately behind Veil.

Mel called after him, “Thanks, Chimley!”

Chimley only waved at her, not looking back.

Lily’s cheeks relaxed. Somehow, she got the feeling she had just witnessed something beautiful. It was a good feeling.

“U-um, Miss?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

Mel turned only her head back, hiding her mouth with her hand, and whispered, “Please forgive him… The way he acts, the things he says… That’s just how he is, but he’s not a bad person.”

“No worries! I’m not mad.”

With Lily at the rear, smiling a mysterious smile, the party separated from the main highway, heading into the grasslands. They would have to continue a while farther before they reached the grove where Veil and Lily had confronted the bandits.

Veil pushed through the tall grass, looking all around them. Chimley, with his baskets and his wooden sword, imitated him, surveying the area. Shortly, the two of them returned. Veil stood before the orphans and said, “It doesn’t look like there are any monsters around here. Go ahead and start your gathering, everyone. Me and Mask will be keeping a patrol, so if you see any sign of a monster, you let one of us know right away, okay?”

“Okay!” all the orphans replied.

Well, all except for Chimley.

“Veil, brother, let me in on the patrol team. I could take down a jackalope myself. I can protect the others,” he said.

“No.” Veil shook his head. “There are limits to the sort of quests you can undertake based on your hunter rank. You’re only nine years old, so you’re still a G-rank, a guild associate. You’re only permitted to do chaperoned gathering. In a year, when you’re F-rank, you can start dealing with monsters.”

Chimley pointed at Lily and shouted, “Well then, what about her?!”

“M-me? Huh?”

“How old are you?!”

“I’m nine,” Lily replied.

“She’s the same age! This isn’t fair!”

Veil stepped in. “Stop it, Chimley. Lily already said she isn’t a hunter.”

“That’s right,” Lily declared immediately, “I’m a hero. I’m an ally of justice.”

“Not now, Lily.”

“Er… Sorry.”

She shuffled back.

Turning back to Chimley, Veil continued, “Lily, who is not a hunter, receives no protection from the guild, or any pay. She’s working at her own risk. But it’s not like that for you. You receive regular work from the guild, and you get paid, too. So, if you violate the terms of the guild, they’ll take away your badge, and you can never work as a hunter again.”

“Grrr…”

“Just keep your eyes on the prize and hold out a bit longer, okay?”

Chimley irritably took up his basket and disappeared into the grass. Veil put his hand to his forehead, letting out a long sigh.

“Phew…”

“He seems pretty tough.”

“I swear…” Veil shook his head, but he soon cheered up, clapping his hands and turning to the orphans still standing around them. “Come on, everyone. Let’s start gathering.”

The remaining orphans picked up their baskets and scattered around the area.

“Lily, I want you to guard the perimeter. I can only pay you out of my own guard fee, so it won’t be much, but please look after all of them.”

Lily flexed both her arms and grinned.

“Just leave it to me!”

“Oh, also, if you use any magic, limit it as much as you possibly can. That’s an order.”

“Y-yeah… Of course!”

“What’s with that reply?”

“Nothing! Everything’s fine.”

But as Veil turned away, Lily raised a hand to her chin. How exactly did one go about limiting their magic?

 

***

 

The orphans had fanned out within a radius of a few dozen steps, crouching down to pick out anything that seemed like an herb and shoving it into their baskets. Veil was resting on a rock set at just about the center point of the group, cleaning his sword and occasionally glancing around, while the empty-handed Lily continued circling the outer perimeter. Once finished with his sword maintenance, Veil began to assist the other children in gathering, but even if Lily had wanted to help as well, she had no idea the difference between a weed and an herb, which meant she was in no position to be of assistance.

She threw her arms up, stretching out her spine.

“Mmm!”

The sky above the plains was clear, dotted with rolling clouds, and a pleasant breeze blew. Keeping watch was a bit of a tedious task, but it was not so bad to just take things easy now and then. Whenever Lily closed her eyes, she could sense all sorts of sounds. That alone was enough to stave off the boredom.

The wind blowing in from the direction of the capital rushed through the grass with a soft rustling but seemed to linger in one spot, with a sort of swirling roar. Lily opened her eyes and noticed a boulder in that direction.

“Hmm.”

She closed her eyes again. From somewhere there was the faint sound of running water. Judging from the distant aquatic smell, it was probably upwind of her. She opened her eyes and spied a small stream, far in the distance.

“Heh heh.”

This was getting fun. She was surprised to find how many things she could detect without even opening her eyes. Most likely because she had been born without one of her five senses, Lily Lockwood’s remaining four had grown that much sharper.

Shff, shff, shff. That was probably the footsteps of the orphans, moving from place to place. Flap, flap. That would be the birds, flying out of the grass as they heard those footsteps. The gentlest footsteps were Mel’s. Lily had already memorized the sound as the girl had walked in front of her in the line on the road. She knew Chimley’s thumping step as well, and Veil’s sturdy, steady rhythm.

As Lily stood still, her eyes closed, facing the distant sky, Mel approached her. “What’s up, Mel?” Lily called out, not even blinking open her eyelids.

“What? Huh?”

Now, Lily opened her eyes to find Mel’s surprised face before her. Lily had startled the girl.

“Miss, how’d you know it was me?”

Lily smiled broadly.

“Heh heh, I wonder.”

“Magic!”

“Nope. I could tell by your footsteps and your smell.”

“Huh?” Mel began sniffing her own clothing. “D-d-do I stink? But we all just had our regularly scheduled baths, and I’ve been taking good care of my hygiene…”

Lily shook her head.

“Oh, no, it’s not a bad smell. You smell sweet, like fruit. It actually smells pretty tasty.”

“Wh-wha…?”

Mel took several steps back, looking alarmed. Lily frantically redirected the conversation.

“How, um—how often do you have baths scheduled?”

“Um, well, someone taught us that staying clean would help us get jobs through the guild and from merchants, instead of through the slums. She’s someone that big brother Veil really looks up to. Veil said that he’s working his hardest as a hunter so that he can be a suitable match for her one day. He wants to be an A-rank.”

“Wow, really?”

Of course, Lily had no idea that said person was, in fact, also her own benefactor. She turned her gaze to Veil to see him picking herbs and tossing them into the orphans’ baskets. So as to keep things fair, he seemed to be favoring the baskets of the children who were falling behind the others.

Everyone here was part of the same party, and they would be paid by the guild as such. In other words, each child would receive the same reward, even though some children picked more.

“I should keep picking,” Mel said, “so I don’t slow everyone else down.”

“Oh, let me help you then. Mel, can you show me which of these plants are herbs?”

“Sure! I’m looking for ones that would be useful for making medicine for noo-trishenell suppelmints, so that’s these ones. When you eat these, it gives you lots of energy. It might even keep you up all night.” Mel pulled an herb from her basket. Lily stared at it, memorizing the leaves. “Oh, but only ones about this size, Miss Mask. When they grow too big they get too fighburr-us and they get hard to process. So, leave those ones alone,” Mel explained, pointing to some tall grasses.

Apparently, the grasses were all nutritional herbs that were overgrown. In front of them, Chimley was busy with his own gathering.

“Got it. Thanks, I’ll go have a look.”

“Okay!”

Yet as she turned, Lily felt someone’s gaze on her back and turned to see Chimley glaring at her again. She had only been looking at the grasses beyond him, but apparently, he had interpreted this as Lily staring at him. Now, he was giving her the stink eye.

“Uh… Nope, okay, just smile, just smile. Okay.”

Lily smiled back at Chimley, waving. The boy averted his gaze, unamused, and vanished into the tall grass.

“Gosh…”

She had thought that smiling could alleviate some of the tension between them, but apparently it had had the opposite effect. Human relations were a tricky thing.

Not realizing that Chimley had moved away from the group, Veil continued helping the other children with their gathering. Lily wondered if she should call for him, but given that his departure was clearly her own doing, she thought better of it and followed after the boy instead.

“Sorry, Mel. Can I give you a hand in a little bit?”

“Sure. What’s the matter, Miss Mask?”

Lily pointed to the grass into which Chimley had disappeared.

“Looks like Chimley’s wandered away. I’m going to go find him.”

“Oh. But no fighting, okay?”

Lily certainly had no plans to do any fighting, but in truth, it would be up to her opponent. Still, she could not possibly say no to the adorable child looking up at her.

“Fine. I’ll do what I can. Could you go and tell Veil, though? And in case I end up going in the wrong direction, just yell for me if Chimley comes back.”

“Okay, I can do that. Will you be okay by yourself? We’re far away from the highway, and there’s sometimes monsters out here.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got magic. Plus, I am a hero of justice, after all.”

“Gotcha. Be careful, okay?”

If anything, the main difficulty would be not unleashing an excessive amount of magic. Lily couldn’t risk burning any of the herbs they were here to collect. But she didn’t need to worry about that anyway—not unless any monsters actually showed up.

Mel set down her backpack and ran over to Veil, but it wasn’t as though he could go after Chimley. The other children were still here, after all. Leaving them alone would be failing in his duty as a guard. Lily would have to bring Chimley back on her own.

“See you in a bit!” She waved to Mel and rushed into the tall grass.

After a minute, Lily peeked back behind her, but everyone was already out of sight. The grass that she pushed through had leaves of the same type as the herbs Mel had shown her. Apparently, these were all overgrown specimens. Lily separated the grasses with her hands. They were strong and fibrous, and even if she trampled the shoots down, they popped right back up. This was proof enough of how effective they must be as an energy supplement.

“Ugh…”

Still, the fact that they were so tall meant that it was impossible to see Chimley. The field was practically a labyrinth. Thanks to the grasses growing up from the ground, she could not track his footprints. Plus, due to Veil’s suggestion that the orphans maintain their hygiene, she could not track him by his bodily odor either.

Lily closed her eyes.

She listened for the boy, but the happy, productive sounds from the others back in the clearing overwhelmed all other noises.

“No use. I’m not getting anywhere.”

She parted the stalks with her hands, stepping forward with her high, laced boots as she proceeded alone into the field. She could not see a thing. It was nearly as bad as moving through a deep, dark forest. After proceeding some distance, Lily stopped, strained her ears, and listened.

Her vision was obscured by the grasses, so even if she had happened to pass by Chimley, she might have no idea.

“Maybe I should head back?”

Just then, faintly…

She closed her eyes and held her breath, straining her ears even further. There, beyond the rustling of the vegetation and the cries of insects was the harsh, distinct sound of something running wildly through the grass.

She confirmed the direction and took off running. About fifty paces ahead, she tumbled right over something.

“Eep!”

There was a red liquid splattered over the roots of the grass. Blood. Surrounding the corpse of a single-horned rabbit. This was apparently what she had tripped over.

“A jackalope…?”

She may have had little sense of danger, but this was clearly a monster. And though it was dead, there were no cuts anywhere on the animal. Instead, there was a large dent in one part of its body, as though it had been beaten to death. Its pelt would probably be worth a great deal in this condition.

Chimley had a wooden sword. There was a good chance that this was his doing.

“What? Huh?!”

Shfshf-shfshfshff!

Lily heard the sound of something running through grass. No, more than one thing. Somethings were running all around the area in an erratic manner, front to back and side to side.

“Chimley?” she called. Just then, something suddenly came flying at Lily from behind, bowling her over onto the ground.

“Gah! Ow!”

Before she had time to resist, her face was pushed down into the dirt after the rest of her. A large figure blustered over Lily with terrifying force.

“What’re you doing?! Get up!”

“Huh?”

Someone wrenched her up by the hand, and she began running, legs scrambling.

It was Chimley. He was pulling her by the hand and running.

“Chim—?”

“Quiet! Damn it! Damn it! There shouldn’t have been anything…”

At a distance of several paces, the grass on both sides was rustling, as though something was chasing after them. Even Lily could tell that they were being pursued by a horde of some kind of creature. Large monsters were hiding behind the grasses. As they ran, she caught glimpses of them. They were immense, with heads like wild boars and large, sturdy hooves for hands.

“Whoa—pig-heads! Are those orcs?! Wow! I’ve never seen an orc before!”

One orc leapt forward, as if to gobble Lily up, even as she shouted in carefree excitement. Chimley yanked Lily by the arm, swiftly changing directions.

“This way!”

“Whoa!”

The orc’s large hooves struck the ground with a terrifying series of thuds. It tore into the earth, sending rubble flying. Even the sturdy grasses were wrenched up, roots and all, collapsing upon the ground.

“Erm…”

If something like that were to come down on her head, it would definitely splatter her brains across the ground. Apparently, Chimley had rescued her just in the nick of time.

He ran desperately ahead with Lily in tow. There was no direction now that was safe. They ran forward and back, left and right—any way that would take them away from the orc’s approaching hoof-steps. At this point, even Lily had no idea what direction they had gone from their original location. Chimley, pale-faced, had likely lost sight of their return route as well. Still, Lily thought gratefully, he was not letting go of her hand. That had to mean he wasn’t a bad person.

“Damn it! If I just had a real sword…”

His wooden sword was probably what had taken out the jackalope, but now it was splintered and bent, as though it had already faced off with the orc’s special weapons. At this point, it wasn’t obvious whether it could still ward off an attack, and Lily thought she’d rather not find out.

Lily ran on through the grass, Chimley dragging her by the arm. Her breath was ragged. Her feet were beginning to hurt.

“Hff, hff…ugh…”

“Hey, no slowing down! We gotta run!”

Lily was a young girl, who had spent eight years of her life locked up in her room. While the nanomachines had unlocked phenomenal magical powers for her, she was almost totally devoid of physical strength.

“Chim…ley…” she huffed.

“What?!”

As Chimley turned his head back, Lily looked at him pitifully and murmured, “I’m…gonna puke…”

“Could you hold out for two freakin’ seconds?! Puke if you need to—just do it while you’re running! Don’t stop moving! Also, if you get any of that on me, I’m seriously gonna kill ya!”

If setting the whole area ablaze was an option, warding off the orcs would have been simple. However, both Lafine and Veil had told Lily again and again that she had to avoid using overly powerful spells. If she altered the terrain around the capital any more than she already had, this might escalate into a military incident.

Even so…

The orcs were not easing up, continuing to mow down the herbs with their clublike hooves. At this rate, those same hooves were going to come down upon their heads before long. No one had yet taught Lily how to use healing spells, and if she were the one whose head was smashed in first, then there would be no chance of doing so anyway.

“Crap! Where’d Veil and the rest of them go?!” Chimley muttered.

It was then that Lily suddenly recalled—she had never seen anyone use healing magic, but she had seen the magic that Veil had used against the bandits. That Air Shot spell or whatever it was. She had asked him about it later, and he had explained it as a simple physical spell, in which he summoned the image of compressing air and then fired it.

Chimley was still holding her right hand, so Lily imagined the sensation of grabbing the air with her left, while she sent out her thoughts toward the nanomachines. In her tightly squeezed fist, she could feel the sensation of holding something solid and powerful.

This…this could work.

Just then, the grass parted right before their eyes, and a single orc came pelting toward the pair.

Its weapon-like hooves were already reared up high above their heads, ready to strike down upon them when the moment was right.

“Bring it!”

Chimley at once brought up his wooden sword. It caught the blow, but the wood splintered apart at the center, leaving him just barely enough time to avoid being struck by the orc’s powerful hooves. Now, the sword was gone. The creature’s goggling, furious gaze landed upon the pair. Chimley held his breath.

“Ee…”

Lily let go of his hand, aiming for the moment when the orc once more reared its hooves, aiming the bullet of air that was in her left hand straight into its shoulder.

“Take that!”

In an instant, the air exploded.

Firing the bullet in a certain direction and actually having it pierce the enemy were two separate things. In this case, the air in question had exploded on impact. However, it ruptured only for the orc, not Lily.

For a moment, Chimley could not believe his eyes or ears.

There was an ear-burning bursting sound, and then a hot wind suddenly blew down the sturdy grasses all around them as the orc vanished right before their eyes.

“………”

Of course, the orc had not actually vanished. Its huge frame had just been blown aside by an invisible force. Its body plowed through the grasses, striking into the ground and bouncing away somewhere into the brush.

Bits of meat and orc limbs rained down from the air all around them.

“………”

“………”

Finally, from behind Lily, who stood speechless, drenched in blood, Chimley timidly asked, “Was that…uh…some kind of…special…technique?”

In truth, what Lily had done didn’t look much like magic. No matter how compressed, air is invisible. The more compressed the air, the higher the temperature grows, but naturally, heat isn’t visible, either. In fact, all Chimley saw was Lily stepping forward and striking the orc in the shoulder with her left palm. Then, the orc had exploded, its body sent flying.

Lily, despite being soaked in the monster’s blood, smiled—though the blood dripping down her mask made her smile a bit more eerie than usual.

“I can’t do anything like that. I did tell you I was a mage, though.”

“Um…”

Chimley withdrew his hand from Lily’s outstretched hand.

“………”

“…Ee…”

As a somewhat tense moment passed between the two, the grass behind Chimley parted, and another orc appeared.

“Watch out!”

“Eek!”

Chimley put his arms up to cover his head as the orc’s hooves came down. Lily, however, was already in motion, planting her boot in the space between Chimley’s feet and thrusting her arms out on either side of him, plunging compressed air into the orc’s guts.

“Hi-yah!”

Once again, a terrifying wind erupted, blood and spittle and innards spewing out from the pierced orc as it was blown backwards. Still caught in her stance, Lily muttered to herself, “Whoa, that’s super useful.”

This magic seemed to have become something entirely separate from the spell that Veil had thought up, but being able to blow an opponent away with a touch, practically without a thought, was far more convenient. Of course, Lily still lacked the means to control her power levels. As such, this was probably not something that she could use on a human opponent, she thought, even as she blew her third orc away with her bare hands.

Chimley, on the other hand, was utterly dead inside. He had just watched this girl, the same age as him, blow three orcs into husks bare-handed, sending them flying as though it was nothing at all.

“Ha ha ha! That was a cinch!”

Furthermore, she was wearing a blood-soaked mask upon her face and laughing…

Then and there, Chimley determined that what he truly feared were not the orcs that had just threatened their lives but the incredibly unsettling girl who went by the name of Hello World Mask, standing before him cackling, bathed in the blood of her enemies…

 

***

 

A set of knuckles came down twice: first, atop Chimley’s head and then, atop Lily’s.

“Ow!”

“Ouch!”

The pair looked up, annoyed, to see Veil glaring down at them, teeth bared. Needless to say, he had not been thrilled when they returned to the field where the others were gathering.

“B-big Brother, I’m sorry…”

“Why are you hitting meee?”

Veil folded his arms in front of his lightly armored chest and scowled. “Because you made me worry.” He was flushed.

“Aw ha ha! You really are a sweet big brother, Veil.”

“Well, obviously.” Veil sighed in irritation and knelt down before them. “Chimley, why’d you go off on your own like that? Spit it out!”

“I-I… I wanted to prove to you that we didn’t need to rely on this commoner girl who’s not even from the slums. I was going to show you that I could at least take down a monster by myself…”

Veil’s knuckles cracked down upon Chimley’s head once more.

“Stop being such a brat. I always say that it doesn’t matter where any of us come from, but you would be wise to remember that Lily isn’t the family that abandoned you!”

“…”

“Instead of such ugly behavior as taking your anger out on other people, you should be thinking about everyone’s continued survival. Grow up, Chimley.”

Chimley hung his head, cheeks burning with shame.

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to.”

Still looking at the ground, Chimley mumbled an apology to Lily, who was sitting beside him, “I’m sorry, Big Sister. Thanks for saving me. You might be a little shrimp, but you’re really strong.”

Big Sister? Weren’t they the same age? And wait—had he called her a little shrimp?

She was not entirely certain which part of his words she should be focusing on, but either way, Lily felt a weight lift from her chest. It was tough to be hated by someone. Even if the only result of today was that she and Chimley could get along, that felt like a victory.

Then, Veil pointed at her.

“Now, Li—er, Mask!”

“Y-yes?”

She paled in the face of Veil’s glare.

“You ran off after Chimley and didn’t tell me. What were you thinking?”

“Um, I thought that if I didn’t hurry after him, Chimley might get into trouble… And I mean, either way, everyone else was still back here, so one of us would’ve had to stay, right? Plus, I was the one that Chimley hated, so I thought I should take responsibility…”

The moment she said the word “hated,” Chimley’s shoulders began to tremble. His cheeks flushed even more deeply with guilt.

“Chimley didn’t hate you,” Veil sighed. “He was just lashing out. He doesn’t know where to direct his anger, and you ended up being the target because you seemed so happy. Isn’t that right, Chimley?”

“I mean… Y-yeah. I’m really sorry. I just feel angry all the time.”

“I know.”

Veil moved in front of Lily, who was hanging her head, as even she couldn’t muster a smile. Again, he raised his hand. Lily bowed her head and closed her eyes.

But it was not his knuckles that came down upon her but his palm.

“Huh?”

Veil moved his hand atop her head, ruffling her hair.

“You really were a big help. Thanks for saving my little brother. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a hero to all us poor orphans here.”

Her cheeks flushed warm with happiness. It was the first time she had ever experienced this joy—of receiving not just payment for her services but a true thank you. A confirmation that she was needed. In all her days locked away in her room at the mansion, she could have never imagined this. This world was exciting, and joyful, and fun.

Plus, she had witnessed something wonderful. Though the orphans of the slums were not bound by blood, they were brothers and sisters who truly cared for one another, and even had a big brother who would earnestly scold them. She now knew what a beautiful thing that could be. Raised in confinement, Lily had never been praised or even scolded. In fact, she only ever saw her family a few times a year. The only person she ever shared a meal with was Lafine.

And so, she realized: This is what it’s like to have a family.

Which made her wonder: What had been her idea of a family until now? People who left her behind in a dangerous place and never came to find her? Even in the books of Miami Satodele, she had never read about a family like that.

Her smile faded slightly. “Eh he heh.”

“Still,” Veil continued. “I don’t need to have you making me worry. If anything like this ever happens again, you’re going to tell me right away. As your employer, I’m going to demand that in the future.”

Lily, who had kept her head bowed through all of this, now lifted her face.

“Thanks for worrying about me, Veil.”

Until this moment, she had assumed he was only worried about Chimley.

“Well, of course. But now that you get it, don’t ever do that again. Promise me.”

He was almost more like her real family, Lily thought, than her true parents. If she had an older brother, he would probably scold her like this. So, she nodded, heartfelt and sincere.

“Yeah. Next time I’ll tell you right away.”

Veil smiled, satisfied, and put his hands on his hips. “Good. Now that we’re done here, let’s get you all over to the stream.”

“Huh?”

Veil pointed at Chimley’s backpack, which was bulging with the orc parts that they had been able to salvage.

“We’re gonna process that. We have to finish letting the blood and divide it into edible and nonedible sections. If you’d killed them a little more cleanly, we could’ve sold them in town, but in this state all we can really do is eat ’em. Still, it would be a waste just to throw it all away.”

Blood dripped from between the weave of the basket and onto the ground.

“Rejoice, kids! We’re having an orc feast tonight, courtesy of Mask here! We can’t just leave all this, so everybody eat your fill!”

Mel raised her hands and shouted, “Whoa! Yay! Thank you, Miss Mask!”

That started a chorus of voices, all shouting their thanks at Lily. Veil held up a hand, interrupting them. The clamor silenced at once.

“All right, now, let’s divvy up the tasks. I’m in charge of the butchering team. Report and cooking team, you head back to the capital with Mask! Report team will head to the guild and turn in these herbs, and cooking team will go back to the slums and start the dinner preparations! Everyone, roll out!”

The children seemed to have been assigned these roles beforehand. They all sorted themselves neatly into their teams and began moving. Chimley followed after Veil. Mel took Lily’s hand.

“Let’s head back, Miss Mask! I’m on the cooking team, so I hope you’ll be joining us for dinner!”

“Oh, I would love to. But Lafine…”

She would be waiting for Lily at home, hungry. She might even cry.

As Lily fretted, another orphan took her by the other hand, tugging.

“C’mon, Miss Mask, hurry up! The sun’s gonna set, and we’ll end up cooking in the dark.”

“O-okay. Sure thing.”

Lily walked forward, the two pulling her ahead and more children shoving her from behind. Her troubled expression turned into a happy one, and she smiled again.

If she brought Lafine back a souvenir of orc meat, surely she couldn’t complain about Lily staying for supper.