Budding Emotions
Budding Emotions
A familiar, cozy sensation pressed against my back and the back of my head.
My heavy eyelids lifted easily.
Snow-white hair and skin came into view, and blue eyes.
"Th-this time it should be fine...."
Muttering something to herself, a small hand reached toward my face.
She probably hadn't noticed I was awake, thanks to my glasses.
Gulp—
She was so tense that I could hear her swallow.
It was so absurdly cute that I wanted to watch quietly, but unfortunately, I couldn't.
"Baek Ha-na."
"Eek—?!"
The little culprit who'd been about to remove my glasses shrieked in shock and toppled straight backward.
A heavy thud followed.
I didn't need to look to know she'd rolled off the bed.
The child who'd been perched on top of me, still acting like a little kid, vanished. I sat up slowly.
My body had been in decent shape before I fell asleep, so my physical condition was fairly good.
But the lethargy I hadn't felt since last year had returned, meaning the accumulated fatigue on my soul hadn't fully dissipated yet.
Having finished a quick status check, I called out to the one who showed no sign of climbing back up.
"Baek Ha-na."
"Y-yes?!"
Baek Ha-na shot up from the floor, her voice stiff to an unnatural degree.
"Did you cause some kind of trouble while I was asleep?"
"N-no...?"
"...."
Her blue eyes couldn't stay still, darting around in every direction.
Baek Ha-na had always been like that.
Whenever she did something she knew she'd get scolded for, or felt guilty about anything, she'd avoid eye contact and start using formal speech she never used otherwise.
'...She seems fine, at least.'
I wasn't particularly curious about what trouble Baek Ha-na had caused.
Any mess she could make inside the house was limited in scope.
Checking her physical condition was more important.
"Come here."
"Huh? O-oh, um...."
As Baek Ha-na circled the bed to approach me, she kept rolling her eyes and sneaking glances at my face.
With small, quick steps, Baek Ha-na drew near.
I patted the spot beside me on the bed.
"Sit."
"...'Kay."
She answered bashfully and carefully perched on the edge of the bed.
Her long, thin fingers fidgeted where they rested on her lap.
"Any fever or pain?"
"Huh? N-no. Nothing...."
"...Whatever you broke, I won't get angry, so act normal."
"N-no!! I... didn't break anything...."
She started to shout back, indignant, but one glance up at my face made her flinch and shrink back down into herself.
"Hand."
"Wh-why my hand...?"
"Quiet. Just give me your hand."
"...Jeez."
Baek Ha-na's snow-white hand settled softly onto my palm.
'Temperature... seems slightly elevated.'
Her pulse was also far too fast.
'So she was acting strange because she'd been hiding this.'
Holding her hand, I asked.
"Can you feel mana inside your body?"
"Huh? Oh... a little? Something weird near my chest... Is that mana...?"
"Yes."
"Ah... Then, did I awaken?!"
She caught on remarkably fast.
The girl who'd been shyly hanging her head suddenly shouted and crawled up onto the bed. She planted her behind right on my stretched-out thigh, looked up at me, and asked again.
"I awakened?! Th-then, then I can go to the academy with Maria and Idni—glubbb—!!"
"Get down."
That overly soft cheek of hers stretched for a second before she tipped sideways and toppled off.
She'd naturally slipped off my knee, so I let go of the cheek I'd been pinching.
Her cheek liberated, she rubbed the spot I'd pulled with her palm and whipped around to glare up at me.
Those eyes were deeply impertinent, and the way her lower lip poked out made me seriously consider giving it a good smack.
"...So."
After glaring at me for a moment, she squirmed back up and laid her head on my thigh, asking,
"I can enroll in the academy?"
"Yes. You'll have to take an exam—"
"Waaah!!"
She cut me off with a yell and shot upright. Then she hopped straight off the bed and bolted out of the bedroom.
Judging by the direction her presence moved—toward her own room—she'd gone to share the news with those friends of hers.
I gazed at the bright, sunlit scenery outside and pulled my smartphone from my pocket.
The first thing I checked was the date and time.
It was the day of the festival. In other words, thirteen hours had passed since Baek Ha-na collapsed.
'She didn't complain about being hungry, so she must have eaten on her own.'
I moved my finger and opened my inbox.
[Claire Vin Asen]
Aside from Baek Ha-na, she was the only woman I exchanged messages with.
I sent her an email saying I'd visit the temple shortly and climbed off the bed.
**
The academy's five-day summer festival drew to a close with a bright white moon and the fireworks display that followed.
The priests had been busy without a moment's rest throughout the festival, as had the holy knights mobilized to keep order.
And the young apprentice priests who'd sneaked out to enjoy the festivities.
The clergy were human too, and they needed sufficient rest. For that reason, precisely today—the day after the festival ended—the clergy dispatched to the academy branch were enjoying a rare holiday.
Some slept late, while others went out shopping beyond the academy grounds for the first time in a while.
"Hmm...."
That naturally included Claire as well.
However, she had been sleeping in and was just about to have a late lunch, but a single sudden email sent her rushing about.
[Professor.]
-I'll see you soon.
An unplanned visit from Baek Woo-jin.
The moment she checked that message, Claire crunched down her dry cereal, still without milk, and hurried into the shower to tidy up.
'Outdoor business... I'd assume.'
As she put on her formal outerwear, she tried to deduce why Baek Woo-jin might be coming to see her, and concluded it must be for an external schedule.
Going out with Baek Woo-jin.
"...."
They'd acted together countless times before, but ever since yesterday's contact, she'd started to become oddly conscious of the man named Baek Woo-jin.
Claire looked into the mirror, let down the hair she'd tied up for no reason, smoothed her sleek blonde hair that flowed to her waist, and meticulously checked that nothing was out of place.
"Ahem."
The man who'd felt comfortable just yesterday now felt difficult in a different sense.
Claire finished clearing her throat and stepped out of her room to greet Baek Woo-jin, only to spot two girls running down the hallway.
"M-Miss Executor!!"
"Ha-na, it's Ha-na!!"
The two girls who spent time with Baek Ha-na.
Maria and Idni.
Those two girls came running, exclaiming Baek Ha-na's name.
"Hah, ha...!!"
"Ha-na, she aw-awakened...."
"...Miss Ha-na has awakened?"
"Yes!!"
"Mm-hmm!!"
At Claire's question, the two girls nodded their heads up and down like maniacs.
'It was due to Miss Ha-na's awakening.'
Baek Woo-jin was coming to see her not for an external schedule, it seemed, but because of Baek Ha-na's awakening.
"Ah, but... are you going somewhere?"
"Yes."
Claire passed by the panting girls and descended to the first floor.
'Miss Ha-na has awakened....'
She had thought there must be something to the child, given that Baek Woo-jin kept her by his side. But as time passed, she saw only a bright, pure, and adorable kid with nothing special about her, so a few years back she'd stopped thinking about it.
And then she suddenly heard the news of Baek Ha-na's awakening.
Normally, when someone awakens an ability, they also realize what kind of ability they've acquired, and the knowledge of how to manifest it typically dawns on them as well.
Some, however, do not receive that knowledge, and such awakened individuals can have their ability appraised through a simple prayer at a temple of their choice.
The appraisal itself is free of charge, but from another angle, it effectively reveals your entire ability—which should not be known to others—so it would be accurate to say it is free but not without cost.
And Baek Ha-na would belong to the latter category.
'Will he... tell me, I wonder.'
If nothing else, Baek Woo-jin was more serious about Baek Ha-na than anyone.
More than anything, he was a being capable of directly conversing and negotiating with the god she served, even though he was not a believer.
If he was coming here in person instead of just sending Baek Ha-na...
Claire's train of thought didn't reach its destination.
Clack—
Because with the sound of the doorknob turning, the firmly shut temple door swung open.
"Ah, big sis is here."
Claire rose from her seat and dipped her head slightly toward Baek Ha-na, who was glued to Baek Woo-jin's side and waving her hand.
It wasn't exactly a show of courtesy to Baek Ha-na; she was greeting Baek Woo-jin beside her while acknowledging Baek Ha-na's wave at the same time.
"Sorry to come on your day off."
"...It's no trouble."
Those few brief words made the corners of Claire's lips twitch.
"Maria, Idni. Are those two upstairs?"
"Yes. The news of Miss Ha-na's awakening was also delivered to me by those two children."
"I see. Baek Ha-na."
"Hm?"
At Baek Woo-jin's call, Baek Ha-na, who'd been right next to him, blinked and raised her head.
"I'll call you later, so go play."
"...Is it something I shouldn't hear?"
'...?'
Claire tilted her head at Baek Ha-na's unexpected reaction.
Normally, she would've beamed like a flower blooming in spring and bounded right upstairs.
"Part of it."
"...Then can I just cover my ears in the middle...?"
"Go on up."
"...."
At Baek Woo-jin's firm answer, a complicated expression crossed Baek Ha-na's face. She subtly rolled her eyes, a shade close to sky blue, and glanced sidelong at Claire.
"Baek Ha-na."
"...'Kay."
Only when Baek Woo-jin called her name once more did Baek Ha-na peel herself away from his side and head up the stairs. No—she only hid her body behind the stairway wall.
"Let's sit for now."
"Ah, yes."
Baek Ha-na was still hiding herself on the stairs, but Baek Woo-jin didn't mention it further, so Claire didn't bring it up either and took her seat. But then.
Staaarrreee—
An intense gaze bored into her from over Baek Woo-jin's shoulder.
Baek Ha-na, hiding behind the stairway wall, had poked her head out and was openly glaring at her.
Very, very oppressively, at that.