The Weight of Trust

"...I'll wait here."

Those words made my chest ache with emotion.

"Got it."

I closed my eyes for a moment, suppressing the lingering resonance in my heart. After steadying my breath quietly, I turned back to her.

"My name's Teresa. What's yours? Dooli's not your real name, right? Can you tell me your real one?"

Dooli hesitated, bowing her head, then cautiously opened her mouth.

"Sillandria..."

I glanced at the notifications, then shifted my gaze back.

A unicorn, huh...

As I looked at Sillandria standing before me, a faintly glowing horn atop her forehead grew clearer, and for a moment, a pure white silhouette like a forest spirit shimmered into view.

"Teresa."

"Yeah?"

Sillandria gazed up at me with innocent eyes, calling my name. The faint echo in her young voice lingered in my ears for a while.

"Is Teresa a bad person? Or a good person?"

"Out of nowhere?"

"Daddy said... there are bad humans and good humans."

I pressed my lips together, unable to avoid pondering deeply.

"That's a tough question..."

"Is the question hard?"

"Usually, good people don't go around proclaiming ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they're good, and bad people don't admit they're bad."

I paused for a beat, then continued slowly.

"But I can promise you one thing."

"...?"

"At least to you, I won't be a bad person. I won't hurt you."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Teresa..."

"Yeah?"

Her voice was as cautious as a breeze brushing past.

"You said you'd help me earlier, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then... um, could you... maybe... find my daddy?"

Her eyes trembled like tiny starlight, mixed with hope and fear.

A quest had popped up.

I stared at the quest window for a while, then let out a deep sigh.

"Haa..."

Honestly, I had no clue where to even start...

"Got it."

But looking into her desperate eyes, I couldn't refuse.

"Thank you, Teresa! Please... find Daddy."

"...I'll do my best."

Sillandria approached with tears welling in her eyes and buried her face ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my chest.

For some reason, my heart felt incredibly heavy.

......

I'd accepted the quest, but...

A stifling frustration settled in one corner of my mind, and my steps felt leaden in this hopeless situation. I had no idea where to begin or who to ask.

For starters, I wandered the monastery, asking everyone I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠met if they'd seen or heard anything about a unicorn lately, but it yielded nothing.

The next day, I headed to the garden, but Vanessa was nowhere to be seen again.

"Hmm..."

I felt worried, and her absence when I needed her left me disappointed and a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bit miffed.

"...Should I head to the city?"

It seemed impossible to get unicorn info within the monastery.

Guess that's my only option.

I steeled myself and headed to the childcare office for permission.

......

The door to the childcare office was open. I knocked just in case and peeked through the gap.

Inside, a nun wearing glasses sat reverently at her desk, reading something.

When I knocked again to announce myself, she replied without turning her head.

"It's fine, come in."

"..."

I approached cautiously and sat quietly before her. She was Sister Ena, one of the childcare nuns like Sister Vanessa.

She hadn't taken her eyes off her book yet, so out of curiosity, I sneaked a peek at what she was reading. Unfortunately, it was just the scriptures.

What was I hoping for?

A moment later, she closed the scriptures and looked at me.

"So... what is it, Teresa?"

This was my first one-on-one talk with her, and my shoulders tensed up a bit.

"...Sister, have you... seen a unicorn lately?"

"A unicorn? Suddenly?"

Her eyes widened slightly, a hint of surprise on her face.

"Yes, or any related news would be fine."

"Hmm... I don't think so. But why ask about unicorns out of the blue?"

I hadn't expected much, but disappointment still flickered through me.

"...Oh, nothing. I just got interested in unicorns lately."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Haa... You're such a strange child."

"Hehe..."

I couldn't argue and could only muster a wry smile.

"You came to see me during lunch just to ask that?"

"Ah, no."

"Then?"

"...How do I go about getting permission to go out?"

"Go out? It's not hard. Just fill out and submit an outing permission form."

"A form?"

She pulled a sheet from her desk drawer and handed it to me. It required basic info like name and age... outing date and time, expected return time... purpose of outing... destination... etc.

Filling it out wasn't tough, but the purpose was the problem.

If I write 'looking for a unicorn,' she'll definitely deny it.

No good excuse came to mind either.

"Hmm..."

I glanced up cautiously, and Sister Ena spoke.

"As long as the purpose is reasonable, it won't be rejected."

I racked my brain again for something acceptable, but nothing surfaced.

"What counts as a reasonable purpose...?"

"For example... meeting someone you promised to see, buying necessary items, handling important business... things like that."

None applied to me... and they weren't easy to lie about.

"Hmm..."

Come to think of it... even with permission, outings weren't that free for me.

...Damn this curse...

Finding the unicorn seemed impossible when even leaving the monastery was hard for me.

What do I do...?

In the end, I left without submitting the form.

......

Time passed without progress, and another day arrived.

I woke at dawn, finished my training, and returned to find Marie asleep on my bed, snoring softly, oblivious to my heavy heart.

I plopped down beside her and sighed deeply.

"Sigh..."

Marie rubbed her eyes and woke up just then.

"...Ugh, training's already... done for today?"

"Yeah..."

"Getting... faster. Impressive..."

"Yeah..."

"But... Resa, something wrong?"

She playfully hugged me, her voice still sleepy as she asked.

"Nothing. Don't worry."

But then, her finger poked my cheek sneakily.

"Liar."

I looked at her in surprise.

"Marie?"

"That sigh just now... it was definitely the deep, troubled kind."

"Was it?"

"Yeah... I don't know what it is, but can't you tell me? I might be able to help."

Her face wore a playful smile, but I could feel her genuine worry beneath it.

"...Can't?"

Marie asked again.

"Alright."

I wasn't sure if she'd believe me, but I decided to spill the situation anyway.