Episode 58: “Yuria’s Wish”
“I’m really glad we were able to take this commission.”
Once they were in the carriage back to the royal capital, Yuria said this with obvious satisfaction.
Fiine, for her part, couldn’t bring herself to agree.
There hadn’t been anything as unreasonable as last time, and the client had been polite with them from start to finish. All told, it had been a fairly easy commission.
And yet, thinking about what came after, her heart felt heavy.
That village might be attacked by the king rat before long.
Shouldn’t they have urged them to move away after all?
(I know it’s not my decision to make, but…)
Even so, she couldn’t shake the unease.
“You’re kind, Fiine.”
“…Why do you say that?”
“You’re thinking, ‘we might have been able to save them,’ aren’t you?”
“…That’s not it.”
Even as she denied it aloud, she wasn’t entirely sure what she actually felt.
“But you know, Fiine, I think it’ll be all right. Watching that family, somehow I could believe that.”
“…Even though they don’t have magic, or any way to fight monsters at all?”
Yuria let out a deliberately exaggerated sigh and took Fiine’s hand.
“Hey, Fiine.”
She rested her head gently on Fiine’s shoulder. When their eyes met, Yuria smiled softly.
“There are things you can believe in besides strength.”
Isn’t that right? — to those words, Fiine could neither nod nor shake her head.
Not knowing how she was supposed to respond, Fiine simply closed her eyes.
◆
“I’m home, Fiine. Here, today’s souvenir!!”
Thunk! — the basket she set down on the table was packed full of vegetables.
Every one of them freshly picked from the fields that same day.
“I’ll make you a soup loaded with vegetables for dinner tonight.”
We just had that not long ago — that wasn’t something she was allowed to say.
Someone on the receiving end of a home-cooked meal had no business commenting on the menu.
Lately, Yuria had started going to Epfel Village often.
According to her, she spent her time there helping with farm work and playing with the children.
(It’s not exactly strange, given she already visits the orphanage on her days off, but…)
Still, it made Fiine a little uneasy — it looked like Yuria was playing favorites with one particular client.
That said, it wasn’t Fiine’s place to tell her to stop, either.
She reached for a cucumber in the basket. If she remembered right, this one had come from Adam’s family’s field.
“Oh, right. Adam and Serena both said they wanted to see you too. Want to come along with me sometime?”
“There’s nothing I could even do if I went.”
She’d never done farm work in her life, and she had no idea how to deal with children.
Even if they welcomed her, she couldn’t be simply, straightforwardly happy about it the way Yuria could.
“It’s fine if you can’t do anything.”
Do you not want to? Yuria crouched down and peered up into her face.
Being looked at with those anxious eyes, there was no way Fiine could refuse her.
She had no idea why, but Yuria clearly wanted her to go to Epfel Village.
“…All right. I’ll go.”
This might be the first time since leaving Burkhardt’s side that she’d meet other people for a reason that had nothing to do with the magic doll shop’s work.
They were people she’d met through work, technically, but thinking about it, it was still a fairly big change.
(Does Yuria want me to change?)
It had been about four years since she died.
Maybe Yuria was worried about her — about Fiine never widening her circle of acquaintances, spending all her time only with her.
Every one of the magic doll shop’s clients had, by the time the commission ended, been able to properly redo their goodbyes.
And yet Fiine alone still hadn’t managed to do the same.
(I don’t want to redo it. Because I don’t want it to end.)
A magic doll can only hold its form for a single day.
But Yuria alone existed outside the bounds of that rule.
And that was precisely why Fiine couldn’t sustain any other magic doll beyond a single day — maintaining Yuria demanded an enormous amount of magical power.
Yuria moved to the kitchen to start on dinner.
Fiine could hear her humming, and it left her with a feeling she couldn’t quite name.
Yuria had originally pushed hard for her to join the Magic Corps.
When Fiine had stubbornly refused, it was Yuria who’d suggested opening the magic doll shop instead.
And now, today, she’d been the one urging Fiine to go to Epfel Village.
(It’s almost like she’s trying to make me build connections with other people.)
To Fiine, it couldn’t help but feel like preparation for a parting.
Bringing the dead back to life, even for a moment, went against nature itself — against the gods themselves.
So there was no way Fiine could go to heaven. After she died, she wouldn’t be able to see Yuria there.
(…No — I still can’t say goodbye. I don’t want to.)
Even if it was Yuria herself who wished for it.