Chapter 54 - We, Six Years Later [4]
“When you said you wanted a place to stay, did you mean you needed some change to rent an apartment for a day?” Camellia asked.
“Yep, what about it?” I replied, enjoying the crepe I was freeloaded with.
“What about it, you said…?” She stopped walking and glared daggers at me.
“Uh, is something wrong?” I paused eating because I felt uncomfortable under her intense gaze.
Glancing back and forth between the crepe and Camellia, I reached a conclusion:
“H-Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I was hungry!” I apologized and extended the crepe toward her.
“I didn't know you wanted a bite…” I offered her my half-eaten crepe.
The thought of an indirect kiss didn’t even cross my mind.
“Y-You—!!! Ugh, why do I even try…” She sighed in disappointment, her face flushing red.
“W-What did I do?!” I raised my voice, utterly clueless about why she was so upset.
After leaving Erina's office, I met up with Camellia, and the two of us began wandering around, chatting about various topics.
Like how we were found nine days ago and how she woke up under Orion's supervision.
I also heard about what happened with Vincent.
To recap what happened, Vincent, the man who wanted me dead after my relentless verbal beatdowns, attempted to appeal to the judge again.
He was so persistent that the guards had to take him away in an effort to regain the trust he had worked hard to build, only to be ruined by some scrawny kid.
One significant change of that horrible court session was the idea of wrongfully accusing innocent people, which weighed heavily on everyone's minds.
If it weren't for my intervention, they would have continued this cowardly behaviour, killing or imprisoning people out of impulse.
Surely this will keep Vincent from baring his fangs at me anytime soon.
It was unexpected, but things took a turn for the better from there.
I can’t shake the feeling that this was planned from the beginning, considering Camellia’s perfectly timed arrival and Orion’s interference...
There was only one person who made all of this possible.
“Erina,” I muttered under my breath.
“Hmm? Did you say something? Aria.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just lost in thought…”
…I'll try to thank her later, if that's the case.
“Ah, right. I have something to tell you.” She paused, recalling something important.
“Hmm? What is it?” I replied, tilting my head while wiping the crepe from my cheek.
“The judge… he wants to see you.”
"The judge wants to meet me?"
“Mm, after hearing what you had to say today, he told me to bring you alone.” She emphasized the word “alone.”
For him to personally invite me… did I say something that didn’t add up?
“Mmm…” I pondered deeply, contemplating what I should do and how much I should reveal.
As of now, my strongest weapon isn't the Ichor, but my knowledge.
I know secrets of this world that no one else knows. There’s a reason why I’m confident about the future.
"Anyways, um… Aria?”
“Hmm?”
Snapping me out of my thoughts, Camellia twirled her hair, looking at me nervously.
“Are you just planning to find a place to stay and… y’know, not do anything else?"
Having grown accustomed to seeing her more often, taking a closer look at her in her true form felt different.
Her pretty eyelashes and bright red hair stood out. Instead of the green eyes she had in her disguise, hers looked like golden jewels, honed to perfection.
“What? You want to hang out or something?”
"H-Huh?! Mhm, y-yeah…" She shyly nodded her head.
"Hehe~! Let's go then!" I smiled after finishing my crepe and dragged her along.
"W-Wait!" She nearly stumbled when I suddenly took her hand.
Neither of us realized we were on completely different wavelengths.
One had grown attached to the other beyond a normal relationship… while the other viewed them as a dear sibling.
—It was a situation that seemed stupid to bystanders.
—Chatter, Chatter!
Kleinford, the last bastion of Demiurge.
Since humanity had been culled, leaving only 3% of the population remaining, this city became home to the surviving Demurgians.
Kleinford was chosen to be the final bastion because of its centrepiece:
The Azure Blossom Tree.
Brought from Tide, this sacred tree expels miasma, creating a protective barrier that enveloped Kleinford and transformed it into the sanctuary it is today.
If this sacred tree were to bloom one day, it would undoubtedly lead to the creation of a festival, all thanks to our efforts.
“Oh! Want to go there?” I pointed at a specific booth that caught my eye.
“A-Ah… sure…!” Camellia hesitantly nodded her head.
“Come on, let’s go!” I set everything aside and focused on the present moment.
Today might be the last day I have to relax like this—who knows?
What I do know is that I have to savour this moment so I won’t regret my decisions in the future.
As I ran with Camellia, hand in hand, we both smiled.
Camellia felt embarrassed, as if she couldn’t believe she wasn’t dreaming.
But as she grasped my hand, her face melted into a smile… truly happy.
“Hehe, you're like a child excited for a festival,” Camellia chuckled.
“Call me a child again, and I won't let you touch my cheeks for a week.”
“—I'm sorry.”
Remembering that I was actually an adult inside, I pouted, and together we noticed a crowd from somewhere.
The commotion caught our attention.
“Bahahaha! Try as hard as you want; it’s useless!” a booth owner laughed loudly, mocking the child.
“Why… why is it so hard to knock it down? I’ve already spent so much money!” the little boy cried, his eyes welling with tears.
”Maybe you should try harder! Bahaha!”
“Ugh… sniffle!”
Despite the booth owner's attitude, the kid didn’t give up on trying to win the prize.
“How petty,” Camellia commented, placing her hand on her waist with a disapproving look.
...
...
“Hmm…” I observed them from a distance.
—Tak! Tak!
Although the boy had decent aim, he struggled to knock down the prizes because of the game's difficulty and ultimately failed.
…This makes me want to try it myself.
“Let me try,” I said, stepping in and giving the young boy a reassuring pat on the back.
“Huh…?” The boy turned around and looked at me.
“Aria?” Camellia called my name, surprised that I had intruded.
“Hoho… a new challenger, I see? A beautiful young girl, too,” the owner said, caressing his beard.
He was a gruffy old man, holding a jar of money on his left arm.
Judging by the crowd and the boy's attempts, it was clear he wasn't the first victim.
As others were watching the kid, their gazes turned to me when I interrupted, murmurs spreading around as if they recognized who I was.
It seemed my appearance and attitude during the trial must have been imprinted in their minds, even if they hadn’t seen me before.
—Not sure about the booth owner, though.
“Just so you know, this isn't as easy as you think,” he said with a grin, clearly confident that I would embarrass myself.
“Hmm.” I ignored him and focused on the shooting range, assessing how far the target was.
At first glance, this seemed pretty challenging.
With moving objects and obstacles blocking a clear shot at the target, it felt almost impossible.
But the kid was good enough to hit one of them; however, due to some strange circumstances, it didn’t fall to the ground.
Feeling a bit excited, I grinned and patted the kid on the shoulder.
“Wait for me, kid; I’ll get you that prize... uh, Camellia, do you have any more money?” I turned around and extended my palm.
I tried to appear cool for a moment, but I forget that I'm basically a jobless bum right now.
“You… sigh, fine.” Camellia gave me some spare change without batting an eye.
—Thud!!!
...Ah, that's a lot of money. Scary.
“I'll… just get a bit." I tried to act normal, only to stutter when she handed me a pouch full of money, in cash.
“Bahaha! How pathetic you are, borrowing money from your friend like that!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just give me the bullets.” I went straight to the point.
“…Tch, hasty aren’t you?”
—Plonk Plonk Plonk!
He dropped five rubber bullets and a toy rifle on the table, rolling his eyes in dissatisfaction.
—Fssh...
I examined the bullets and tested their durability by touch.
‘Too soft.’ I thought.
If I were lucky, maybe I could knock one down.
But that wasn’t the only trick he had up his sleeve. Ever wonder why the plushies didn’t budge when the kid hit one?
This game of his was rigged from the start.
The prizes were nailed from the bottom, making it impossible to win in the first place.
Yet, firmly believing in my resolve, the boy pumped his fists, anticipation in his eyes.
“Y-You can do it…! Big sister…!” He nodded eagerly, hoping I would win.
It made me smile a little.
“Fufu~! Just leave it to me!” I said as I began to take aim, deciding which target to go for.
Without hesitation... I activated <Heightened Senses> and entered an ultra-focused state.
My pupils sharpened, and my breathing steadied.
I entered a world of silence.
Overkill in this rigged game, for sure—but I don't care.
I came here to win.
The obstacles moved at a constant pace; I had to time my shots perfectly and aim a little higher to maintain their speed.
The target was also far away, but that didn't matter when I had hit things much farther in the past.
“If this were a normal game, this would be over in an instant.” I thought as I closed my eyes and glanced at Camellia.
…
…
…
‘What I really wanted was to show off for once, dammit!’ I screamed internally.
With the sole desire to show off, I started to do the same thing as the booth owner— cheating without giving a shit.
In Arcadia, they teach their students magic—magic used for good.
To reinforce this principle, they decided to ban all use of magic except for lifestyle magic unless authorized with a permit and proper validation.
Here? Probably the same… but as long as you don’t get caught, who cares?
—Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop!
I fired the gun five times in a row without modifying either the gun or the bullets.
Since I was in a focused state, what felt like only a few seconds to me was actually less than a second in reality, allowing me to determine where to aim at the target.
With this overzealous use of magic, I deactivated <Heightened Senses> and returned to normal.
…
…
“Hah... I told you that no matter how hard you try, you’ll always—huh?”
—Flop!
Mincing his own words, all five plushies fell to the floor without any resistance.
Although the owner had embedded locks under the prizes, I used the Ichor in secrecy, removing the nail.
My proficiency in Ichor improved so much over time that I can do something like this.
“W-Wow…” The boy admired my accuracy.
“Nice!” Camellia clapped her hands, proud of my achievement.
"Fufu~ I told you I’d win," I said with a smirk, glancing at the crowd that started clapping along with Camellia.
However, there was one person who was confused.
‘W-What... what did you just do?! Y-You must be cheating—”
"Me...? Cheating~?"
I hadn’t intended to use this voice again, but the booth owner had irritated me.
“Then tell me, old man, what are those nails that secured the plush toys underneath?" I pointed at the plushies.
I used the Ichor to remove the nails and even created new ones as evidence.
“T-That’s…!” He fumbled over his words, unable to defend himself after being caught red-handed.
“Just give me the prize before you embarrass yourself,” I said, mocking him in return.
“You little…!” Because of my overbearing voice, the booth owner lost composure, ready to punch me in the face.
"..."
But then he noticed who was behind me and stopped in his tracks.
‘Wait, that woman... a Historia?!’ He stared at Camellia, her unique eyes filled with discontent.
No one else in the world had those same golden eyes, and he had heard the news that a member of the Historia who had recently gone missing had returned.
Messing with them would mean a world of pain.
“Dammit… h-here you go.” He clenched his fists and picked up one plushie that had fallen to the ground.
“Give me all of them,” I demanded.
"...What?"
“I said, give me all of them. Didn’t I hit all the targets myself?”
"..."
He clenched his fists, wanting to throw them at my face, but he thought better of it to avoid further trouble.
“Cool…” The kid looked at me with bright eyes, not doubting me for a second.
“Here you go, kid.” I handed him the plush he wanted.
“This… this is for me?” He looked surprised that I was giving him one.
“Yeah, take care of them for me, alright?” I patted his head.
“...Mhmm.” He shyly glanced away, unable to meet my gaze.
The plush was a fluffy dog, charmingly designed. It reminded me of a show I used to watch back in the day.
Their name was… Fu… moco…? I don’t know; it’s irrelevant since they don’t exist in this world, unfortunately.
“…Aria."
"Hmm?"
"What are you doing."
...Hmm?
Why is she mad? Does she really think I'm not going to give her any?
"Here, I got all of this for you, Camellia."
—Clomp!
“W-Woah…!” She barely managed to hold all four of them.
It was the same prize I got for the kid, but the other two plushies were slightly different colours.
“This is for me…? I’m a grown woman, you know—”
“So? Anything wrong with liking cute stuff?”
"...True."
Camellia nodded in agreement, completely on board with me.
She looked at me with a little smile and successfully defused the situation.
“T-Thank you… I’ll make sure to treasure this for life…” She embraced the giant stuffed toys, hugging them and burying her face in their fluff.
“Uh, you don’t have to treasure that for the rest of your life, but you're welcome!” I gave her a thumbs up.
It was a wonderful sibling bonding moment—something I had wanted to experience for a long time.
We continued exploring all the festival attractions after that, having fun until dawn.
What happened to the booth owner who rigged the game?
When we left, the booth owner was caught by the guards right after, giving back the money he scammed.
Serves him right.
There was no real purpose in going out of my way to ruin an asshole's day, but it was satisfying to do this, that's for sure.
..My intrusive thoughts do find that being a devious little prick was fun in its own way.
