Episode 8: “If I Could Turn Back Time”
By the time she got out of the bath, Christa looked thoroughly sleepy.
“I’ll read her a picture book and lie down with her.”
“Understood. I’ll wait outside the bedroom.”
She moved to the bedroom along with the two of them. Heinz soon joined as well, and the three of them went inside together, looking every bit the happy family.
Fiine leaned back against the bedroom door and waited for time to pass. Going a whole night without sleep wasn’t a problem for her, but it was undeniably boring.
From inside the room, she could hear Claudia’s voice reading aloud. It brought back a sudden memory of her own childhood.
(Mom used to read me picture books a lot too, come to think of it.)
They’d never had much money, so they couldn’t buy new picture books often — her mother had read her the same ones over and over instead.
Thanks to that, Fiine had ended up able to recite the text from memory without even looking. And yet she remembered still begging her mother to read to her anyway.
Caught up in that wave of nostalgia, Yuria came over to join her.
“Good work, Fiine.”
“Thanks. Though you really didn’t have to come — you could’ve kept resting.”
“Well, you’d be bored otherwise, wouldn’t you?”
So I came to keep you company, Yuria said, smiling.
“Hey, Fiine. Let’s talk about something fun. What are you going to do with the payment from this job?”
“Isn’t it going toward the house loan?”
They’d paid a large sum as a down payment, but some of the loan still remained. Fiine had simply assumed the reward, minus living expenses, would go straight toward paying it down.
“That’s fine too, but this is our first-ever commission, you know? Don’t you want to splurge on something?”
“Splurge…”
“Isn’t there anything you want?”
“Hmm… a magic bag, maybe.”
A magic bag was a special bag enchanted with storage magic.
From the outside it looked like an ordinary bag, but the interior held a considerably vast space, letting you carry all sorts of things with ease.
A high-end item, prized both in everyday life and on the battlefield alike.
“Knew it.”
Yuria poked her cheek with a smirking grin, and Fiine hurriedly shook her head.
“That’s not it, I swear. It’s not like that. I just thought it’d be a convenient item for everyday use, and figured maybe it’d be nice to have one, that’s all…”
“What did you think ‘like that’ meant, exactly?”
“…You’re being mean, Yuria.”
“I just want you to shine somewhere worthy of you, that’s all.”
Words she’d heard so many times her ears had practically gone numb to them.
“Fiine. Your talent should be used to save far more people than this.”
Those blue eyes, carrying the same proud, noble light they’d had since the day they’d met. Pushed forward by that gaze, Fiine had, at some point, come to share the same dream.
“Do you really intend to keep living like this forever? Isn’t it boring?”
“…I’m just naturally suited to a slow, quiet life.”
Lazing in bed all day, throwing whatever food was on hand into her stomach when hungry, sleeping. That was supposed to be enough for her.
It had simply been an accident — coincidence, fate, and necessity overlapping — that had led to those busy days before. There was no reason she should feel bored now.
“Hey, Fiine. Won’t you try again, after all?”
“No.”
Her own voice came out sharper than she’d intended, and Fiine hurriedly grabbed Yuria’s hand.
“…Sorry. But I’m already at my limit with the work I’m doing now.”
“Fiine…”
“Sorry I can’t live up to what you’re hoping for.”
“…No, I’m the one who should apologize.”
“No. There’s not a single reason for you to apologize.”
(Because it’s all my fault, anyway.)
Unable to meet her eyes, Fiine turned her gaze out the window instead. A half-waned moon hung faintly glowing in the night sky.
That day, too, the moon had looked just like this.
(It would have been fine even if I couldn’t save that many people. If only I could have protected the one person who mattered — that alone would have been enough.)
If she could turn back time, she would never go to that battlefield again. Not on that day. Not ever.