Episode 11: “Job Complete”
“Fiine-san. I’m about to disappear now, aren’t I.”
Once they reached the spot where Christa had been created, her expression went blank, and she sat down on the ground.
“Yeah. This is the end.”
“…Thank you.”
She traced a magic circle in the air. Dazzling light wrapped around Christa, and in the next instant, a massive flower of light appeared.
The same seven-petaled flower as when Christa had first been made.
“Goodbye, Christa.”
The flower shone beautifully, then withered away in an instant.
Plip — a pendant dropped from the center of the flower. It had already started to decay.
Magic dolls were made using a keepsake as their core. Objects retained a faint trace of the deceased’s soul; that trace was expanded and woven together with knowledge about the person, giving rise to something nearly indistinguishable from a living human being.
She took the pendant, now emitting a black light, into her palm. A faint trace of Christa’s soul still remained here.
But the soul had worn thin — the original personality no longer remained within it.
If she tried to make another magic doll using this pendant as a core again, what emerged would only be a monster.
(So I have to make sure to give this a proper end.)
She wrapped the pendant carefully in both hands. Enveloped in white light, the pendant vanished completely.
“Rest peacefully, Christa.”
She put away her wand and lay flat on her back on the ground, arms and legs spread wide. It occurred to her that she’d gone without sleep the night before, and the drowsiness hit her all at once.
Still, the job wasn’t over until she made it home.
Fiine mustered what strength she had left, sat up, and started down the mountain.
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Back at the estate, the Marquess and Marchioness Haydn were waiting for her in the garden, along with Yuria. Both their eyes were swollen from crying, but their expressions were bright and clear.
(Good.)
The moment they spotted Fiine, the two of them began walking toward her, supporting each other. Before they could reach her, Yuria came sprinting over at full speed.
“Fiine, are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. Just a bit tired.”
“That’s not just ‘a bit’! You’ve had every attribute of magic running non-stop for twenty-four hours straight!”
“…I’m fine, really, it’s nothing.”
“Don’t push yourself. I’ll carry you.”
With that, Yuria moved to scoop her up. Fiine hastily stopped her, and Yuria stared back with an unsatisfied pout.
“More importantly, could you go find us a carriage home?”
“…Fine.”
At her nod, Yuria took off running again at full speed. By the time Fiine could even say take care, Yuria’s back had already disappeared from view.
The Haydn couple stood there, mouths open in astonishment.
“…With this, the commission is now complete.”
“Thank you so much.”
Their voices overlapped perfectly, and hearing it, Fiine felt certain the two of them would be all right. Surely, the two of them together would be able to move past their daughter’s death and go on.
“For Christa’s sake too, we can’t afford to keep sinking any further. It’s thanks to you that we’ve finally been able to put our hearts in order.”
As he said this, Heinz drew a leather pouch from inside his coat. She took it and checked inside — it was packed full, roughly half gold coins and half silver.
“Um, but I already received payment in advance…?”
“This is a token of gratitude. Please, take it.”
“…I—in that case, I’ll gratefully accept it.”
She wasn’t well-off enough to casually turn down that much money, and refusing his goodwill outright would have been tactless besides. As she carefully tucked the pouch away, Yuria came running back from the direction of the front gate.
“Fiine! I found us a carriage.”
They’d ridden together with Heinz on the way there, but it felt like an imposition to keep relying on the Haydn family’s hospitality all the way back as well. Yuria was surely thinking the same thing.
“You’re leaving already? You could stay and rest a little longer, you know.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Claudia-sama. But we do have another job waiting.”
A bright red lie. No next commission had come in yet.
Her body was exhausted, and if she was honest, she’d have liked to rest at the estate for another day at least. But it wouldn’t do the two of them any good for Fiine and Yuria to overstay any further.
“Then, if you’ll excuse us. Both of you — no, all three of you — please take care.”
Her smile, unpracticed as it was, might have come out a little stiff — but the two of them smiled back at her all the same. She didn’t say let’s meet again.
Because it was surely better, from now on, if they never needed Fiine again.
She turned her back on them and started walking. For some reason, Yuria suddenly took her hand.
“Yuria, what’s wrong?”
“No reason in particular.”
Yuria’s palm was just a little warmer than her own. That was why, whenever her hand was held, she always felt herself relax.
“Good work, Fiine. You really did well.”
“…Yeah.”
“You’re the one who saved them. Fiine really does have the power to save people.”
As ever, Yuria spoke of her with pride.
“…Those two just had the strength to move past it themselves, that’s all.”
“I don’t think that’s true. Even someone with the strength, sometimes needs something to set it off.”
Right? Yuria said with a smile, looping her arm through Fiine’s. When Fiine fell silent, Yuria laughed brightly, sounding genuinely delighted.
“Looks like we got a generous tip too — let’s go all out and spend it. We should really think about what you want on the ride home.”
They climbed into the carriage Yuria had called for. Unlike the fine carriage owned by the Haydn family, the seats were considerably hard.
Even so, with the tension finally easing out of her, sitting down made her drowsy almost at once.
“Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you if anything comes up.”
“…Thanks, Yuria.”
She closed her eyes and rested her head against Yuria’s shoulder. Within less than a minute, Fiine had let go of consciousness entirely.