Chapter 162 - Sanctuary and Snake Eyes (2) (1/2)
“You’re Kunpei… right?”
The pure white girl looked straight at me and lowered her hands that were crossed over her chest.
She slowly stood up and squeezed the hem of her white dress.
“U-um. Yes, I’m Kazamachi Kunpei…”
I wondered how she knew my name.
Did I ever meet her before?
No, how could I forget such a pure white, extremely beautiful, and cute girl?
… I haven’t, right?
No matter how much of an idiot I am, I’m not that dumb.
The girl approached one step at a time with sluggish steps and stopped at the edge of the stone stage as if remembering.
“Ah…”
She followed the edge of the stage with her eyes and bit her lip tightly.
You can’t get off?
No, that’s ridiculous. Those steps aren’t even ten centimeters wide, okay?
“A…ah…”
She looked at me and the stage floor with a troubled expression and folded her hands in front of her chest again.
“Oh, um… can’t you get down? Do you need help?”
After asking her, I took one step closer to the stage.
Just as I raised my left foot, about to take my second step.
“No! Don’t come any closer!”
The girl shouted, stopping me.
“Please… stop right there. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay…”
Her voice began to tremble, and I wondered if she was trying to hold back tears.
“O-okay.”
I took my second step backwards and backed up even further just to be sure.
“Oh, why are you here… Alba, what are you doing?”
The girl covered her face with her hands and looked down.
Hmm? Alba?
“Alba? You mean Alba, Alba Germain? That tiny rat?”
If you looked closely at the girl, you could see that she has a tail.
There were two small white horns on her forehead. I didn’t notice them because they were the same color as her hair, but they were definitely horns.
Could she be a dragon?
“Hilda Tama! Hildegarde Tama! What’s going on?”
“Hilda-sama! What’s going on?”
Suddenly, from behind me, towards the forest, I heard the voices of children.
A girl and a boy. It was very young voices.
When I turned around at the sound of the voice, I saw two balls of light about the size of my palm. Two balls of light about the size of the palm of my hand flew at a great speed, whizzing by.
“Hilda Tama! Ammira’s here!”
“Rockhilt’s here too! Woah! Where the hell did you come from!”
The ball of light braked when it saw me.
It flew around me warily and then stopped to stand between the girl and me.
“R-r-r-rock! There’s a creature I don’t know! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“It’s okay, An! I’ll protect you, I promise! I mean, what the hell are you doing here? How did you get into this sanctuary!”
“Ah, what? How…? That’s what I’d like to know. Sanctuary?”
The ball of light on one side bobs up and down energetically.
I just noticed that it’s a little red light.
As I stared at the light, I saw what looked like the silhouette of a person in it.
“Anmira! Rockhilt! It’s okay!”
The girl called out to the two balls of light.
“But, HildaTama! I don’t know this creature! It’s a talking creature I’ve never seen before!”
The other ball of light flew towards the girl with great force and dived into her chest.
It’s a… bluish light.
Is the red one a boy and the blue one a girl…?
No, I don’t know if the balls of light have genders or not.
“This sanctuary is a closed land! How did you get in here when even Lady Hilda, the administrator, can’t get in or out! Did you come here to get her? I won’t let that happen! I’m not going to let that happen! Rockhilt, the Torch Fairy, won’t stand for it!”
“A-Ann too! The Calm Fairy’s protective magic is amazing!”
“No, no! I’m just really lost! I don’t even know where I am! I didn’t even know this was a sanctuary!”
I just found myself here!
“Calm down, Rockhilt! Ammira! Calm down.”
“Y-yes!”
“Got it!”
The two balls of light stopped as the girl known as Hilda shouted.
Gradually, the amount of light diminished and the figures of a small boy and girl with four butterfly-like wings appeared on their backs.
“F-fairies?”
They really are fairies… What a fantasy, I’m sure Mikuma would be delighted.
The red ball of light that was called Rockhilt was a short red-haired boy with a cheeky face.
The blue ball of light known as Anmira was a quiet-looking blue-haired girl who looked at me with trepidation and did not hide her fear. Her hair was lighter in color than Aoi’s, who also had blue hair, but it was almost twice as long as the girl’s height.
Both of them were wearing small clothes. The clothes were small, but they are very finely made and look like something you would find on a high-class doll.
“Good. I know you were surprised, but don’t be too quick to judge, okay? Now, why don’t you apologize to Kunpei?”
Hilda lifted Anmira up in both palms and held out her small body towards me.
This kind of scolding feels nostalgic.
My mother used to scold me in the same way.
She didn’t just get angry, she taught me what was wrong, and at the end, she would always ask me to apologize. It was her way of making me apologize for being stubborn and easily annoyed.
“But, Hilda-sama…”
“I don’t know this creature. Is it called a Kunpei?”
The fairies still didn’t back down.
“Well, I told you before, didn’t I? It’s a race called humans. There are many of them outside the sanctuary, you know?”
“Oh! I’ve heard of them! Demons, beastmen, and humans! Hilda told me about them before! There are also… there are also giants, cryptids, and dragons just like you, Hilda!”
The blue-haired elf, Anmira, proudly proclaimed.
What’s a giant?
“Hey human! Hilda-sama wants me to apologize, so I will! I’m sorry, you bastard!”
I’ll give you credit for your energy and vigor.
But is that how you apologize to people? Why are you looking at me from above?
But, well, I’m not angry. He didn’t do anything terrible to me. There’s no reason for him to apologize.
“Oh, yeah. I’m also sorry for suddenly showing up.”
I should apologize too, right?
It seems that Rock was just trying to protect that girl Hilda.
“Good, Rock and Kunpei are both good kids who can apologize properly. Good, good.”
Hilda smiled proudly.
I feel like I’ve been treated like a child for a while now.
It’s weird.
I have a great sense of déjà vu.
Every move Hilda makes stimulates a memory in me.
The way she praised us just now, the way she scolded just now, why is it that they are so similar?
It’s just like my mother. I could see the image of my mother when she was in good health before she died in Hilda.
They don’t look like each other at all.
Mom had chestnut-colored hair like Shouhei’s, and it was shoulder-length. Hilda’s hair was pure white from tip to root, and was longer than she was tall.
She was about the same height as my father’s chest, which was on the small side for a woman, but not much taller than Hilda in front of me.
Her face was also different.
My mother was a beautiful woman, even without the favoritism of her son, but she had a very Japanese face.
Hilda, on the other hand, was a beautiful woman who was far from Japanese. She has a face like a Russian or Eastern European girl.
Even though they looked nothing alike, their gestures, the way they stood, and the way they spoke were just like each other.
It was just like her.