by Akira Kareno
She spotted several things that looked interesting, but the child ignored them all and just pulled her farther and farther into the ruins.
She might be looking for something, the girl thought.
When she asked, the child nodded vigorously.
“Jay! Ebo!”
She didn’t quite understand, but she seemed delighted and joyful, so what she mentioned must be some of her favorite things.
When she asked if they were somewhere in these ruins, the child cocked her head.
Maybe the question was too difficult for her. When that thought came to mind, she asked something else. Indeed, maybe it was what she should have asked in the first place.
What’s your name?
“Elq!”
I see. Nice to meet you, Elq. That’s a cute name.
She said with the slightest bit of flattery, and this time, the child pointed at the girl and tilted her head.
Are you asking for my name?
The child nodded, her head bobbing up and down.
What Elq said was right. She should give her own name after asking for the child’s. This was a very reasonable line of thought.
My name.
My name is—
What’s wrong? The girl was perplexed. She couldn’t remember. It wasn’t just her name. What was she? Why was she here? Where was here in the first place?
Elq tilted her head.
I— Right, that’s right, I had something I needed to do. I had someone I needed to see. It’s not the time for me to be wandering around here, at least.
So…so…
“…?”
Elq tilted her head again.
I have to go home, the girl announced. There are people waiting for me, so I have to go where I need to be.
“Do you have to?”
I have to.
“But there are so many bad things.”
I know. But that doesn’t matter.
There’s someone I want to see. There’s a reason I have to live on.
“Oh.”
Elq looked down sadly, and after a short, contemplative silence, she let go of the girl’s hand.
“Okay. See you, Chtholly.”
—What?
“—Huh?”
Chtholly woke up.
She slowly sat up. Fatigue from sleeping for too long enveloped her entire body.
She had a light headache, and she pressed against her temples.
She felt like she’d had a long dream. She couldn’t remember it very well, but it was very…no, enormously nostalgic—and terrifying. That kind of dream.
No, there was something more important she needed to check first.
She patted herself. This body that she, with a few more curves, could call one of an adult. It was, without a doubt, Chtholly Nota Seniorious’s own.
“I’m…alive—?”
Her mind was oddly clear, and there was even no trace of the torrent of those strange images. She panicked slightly—what did this mean?
There came a grotesque rumble.
She realized she was starving.
She should go to the kitchen and grab something.
When the idea crossed her mind and she exited to the hallway, she noticed that it was now nighttime, and it was raining outside. So the entire warehouse was wrapped in a quiet darkness—
She saw a faint light pouring from one room.
It was Nygglatho’s room.
“…”
She unconsciously quieted her footsteps and neared the door.
“I wanted to make Chtholly happy.”
Wha—?!
She heard something she couldn’t glaze over, and her heart almost pounded out of her chest.
“Even if I couldn’t, Seniorious is surrounded by tragedy and sadness. There was a time long ago when I wanted to do something about that. But I couldn’t. My power was never enough, and it didn’t change anything. I tried so hard and somehow managed to gain the strength to fight, but I had nothing more to show for that. I should have known. But in the end, I just couldn’t let her go.”
What? What? What?
What were they talking about here?
“And you’re saying she likes something about this loser guy?”
There was Willem’s voice, honestly puzzled.
What, you don’t know such a simple thing? Chtholly felt a little mischievous.
You showed me so many firsts.
You first saved me in Tin Stalls Street. You first took me to a tower with such a beautiful view. You showed me so many expressions I’d never seen before. You drew out so many emotions I’d never felt before. You let me depend on you like no one else had, and you were the first to try and help me. You were the first to save me, the first to win against me, and—oh, I could never count them all.
So of course.
It’s only natural that you’re the first I fell in love with.
“—Notice that much, stupid.”
Just as the quiet murmur escaped her lips—
“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
There was a sudden, loud voice.
Her head snapped up, and there was Tiat, pointing straight at her with fear on her face.
“M-M-M-Miss Chtholly’s gh-ghost?!”
Tiat’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and her eyes were glazed over.
No! I’m alive! I’m not a ghost! So please be quiet! Willem will hear! She couldn’t exactly yell that back, so instead she just waved her hands around but wasn’t able to stop Tiat.
“Chthollyyyyyyyyy!”
She hugged her.
“You, you’re a gh-ghost, but you’re still Miss—Miss Chtholly!”
She clung her arms tightly around Chtholly’s waist as a jumble of words tumbled from her mouth. It didn’t look like she could get away. Well, it wasn’t that she wanted to get away from the girl, but since she really didn’t want the two in the room behind her to notice, she just wanted Tiat to be quiet—
As that was happening…
“—Chtholly…?”
She heard a hazy voice from behind her.
Slowly, guiltily, she turned around.
And of course, there he was.
“Uh, ummm…”
Willem was at a loss for words as he stood there completely still.
Was he sad? Was he happy? Was he angry? Was he none of the above? It was an expression she’d never seen before, a mix of all different emotions. Knowing that she was the cause of it, Chtholly, too, stood there silently.
“…I swear.”
Of all the four who stood there in confusion, the first to make a move was Nygglatho. She lightly poked Willem’s side with her elbow.
“Come now. You don’t need to say anything heartfelt just yet. But don’t you have something else to say first?”
“Uh… Oh, right.”
Willem finally snapped out of it and took one step toward Chtholly.
“Welcome home, Chtholly.”
That moment, Chtholly’s entire body stopped working.
Her vision blurred, and she could no longer see; her chest tightened, and her breathing caught in her chest; her feet were rooted to the ground, and she couldn’t walk; her mind went white, and she couldn’t think; her throat wavered, and she couldn’t speak.
“Ah…uh…”
—I’m back. I’m home.
It was simply those words that would not become sound.
She wanted so badly to say them. She had been ready to say them.
She’d made up her mind to appeal to him with kindness the best she could if she saw him again. But when she stood in front of the man himself, she could do nothing.
Her feet tangled themselves…or so she thought.
Her jumbled senses aside, it was only her balance that seemed to be working. A moment’s sensation of floating. The second she thought she would fall over, her whole body was enveloped in a feeling of warmth.
“Really, welcome home.”
From the warmth that wrapped arou
nd her came, of all things, words that warmed her soul.
They completely broke her.
She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t walk, couldn’t think, couldn’t talk.
She simply surrendered to the impulse that welled up from deep within her heart—
—and, with a loud voice, began to cry.
One after the other, the little faeries came from their rooms, sleepily rubbing their eyes in curiosity, and gathered in the hallway.
The many young gazes showered Chtholly as she cried like a baby.
“…The miracle of love?” Nephren tilted her head.
“Love or not, it’s obviously a miracle. We’ll probably need to pay back big time for this one. Knowing that girl, she’s probably paid for it already without a thought for the future…,” Ithea murmured, tears pooling behind her smile.
Chtholly’s voice, tired from crying, quieted at last and became a hushed sob.
Her stomach growled loudly.
Afterword
An Actual Afterword
Sorry to keep you waiting. I am a not-so-new author, Kareno.
Here is the second volume of What (the rest omitted), a laid-back, relaxing slice-of-life tale about a retired old hero living among a large group of girls in the countryside. I’m not lying.
To give the worst spoilers for those who like to read the afterword first, Chtholly never says, “I’m home.” I’m not lying.
Now, book three will take place in the faerie warehouse again. I am thinking of making it a triple feature of Chtholly’s Medical Treatment Diary, Happy Beastie Paradise, and Farewell Brave ~Another Loss at Dawn~… But in reality, the sales of Volume 1 just after it was released were apparently not very good, so as of now I cannot promise a third volume. To put it bluntly, all merchandise, not just novels, may not exist if they don’t sell. So on the contrary, with the support and help of those who want to read the rest of the girls’ story, then our path will be opened. No, I’m serious.
I pray that we meet again on the opened path, at the faerie warehouse of tomorrow.
Fall 2014
AKIRA KARENO
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