She Has Grown
The outing, in the end, rendered all the plans I had prepared largely useless. It was all because Lana was delighted by everything she saw and everywhere we went. Of course, Ardendis was indeed a rather peculiar city. As a planned metropolis built upon advanced magical engineering, its very scenery stood in stark contrast to other cities. Streetcars that one might doubt existed elsewhere ran as if it were the most natural thing in the world, streetlights and other illuminations were installed everywhere one looked, and the buildings themselves boasted unique and immaculate designs. The landscape was undeniably exotic and fascinating.
Even taking all that into account, however, Lana’s reactions were quite extreme. She was marveling with the pure wonder of a child seeing a city for the very first time. Still, it wasn’t a bad thing. No—in fact, it was something I welcomed. Whatever the circumstances, the simple fact that Lana was happy was more than enough for me.
Anyway. We wandered through the streets of Ardendis like that.
“What’s that?”
Whenever Lana spotted something unfamiliar, her eyes would sparkle as she approached it.
“I want to try that!”
She showed great interest in the food sold at street stalls. It was nothing extravagant—just an ordinary outing. Yet for both Lana and me, it was an entirely satisfying one.
That said, it wasn’t without its concerns. Both Lana and I kept our faces hidden beneath hoods, but I couldn’t help worrying that our faces might somehow be exposed for one reason or another. Fortunately, my fears never materialized. No one recognized Lana, nor did they notice how extraordinary her appearance was beneath the hood.
While we were peacefully enjoying our outing like this, we sat down on a bench at the edge of a plaza for a short rest.
“I’m sorry. I got too excited and only thought about myself.”
Suddenly, Lana turned to me with an apologetic tone.
“Not at all. There’s no need to worry about that. I enjoyed it too.”
I answered immediately. It was the plain truth. Seeing Ardendis with my own eyes was quite fascinating to me as well, and above all, there was no way spending time with Lana could ever feel boring. If this had been back when my body was still hovering on the edge of critical condition, it might have been a little difficult. But thanks to Lana’s treatment, my physical state had improved dramatically, so there were no issues with my stamina either.
“That’s a relief.”
Lana smiled. Yet in her voice, I could faintly sense her concern for me. And between the two of us, silence settled in.
It wasn’t an awkward silence. In fact, it wasn’t complete silence at all. Since we were in the middle of the city, all sorts of sounds drifted around us. The silence didn’t feel uncomfortable, but I decided to speak up anyway. Opportunities to talk with Lana like this, just the two of us, weren’t exactly common.
“Do you enjoy looking around the city?”
It was a simple enough question to open the conversation. Appropriate, even.
But.
“…I’m not sure.”
The answer that came back deviated from my expectations. My head immediately turned toward Lana. Through the gap in her hood, I caught a glimpse of her face. The smile that always graced her features had vanished. In its place was an expression that looked as if she were deep in thought about something. It was an expression I had never seen on Lana before—not now, and not even in the past.
“What do you…?”
My mouth moved on its own. What did that mean? Why was Lana making that face? It bothered me. I wanted to know. I couldn’t help it.
“…….”
But Lana’s words did not continue. I wanted to ask. What did that answer mean? I wanted to know why she was making that expression. But I couldn’t.
“Well, shall we look around some more?”
Before I could ask anything, Lana stood up from the bench. By then, her usual smile had returned to her face.
“…….”
I couldn’t bring myself to stop her and ask for the reason. Though she didn’t say it aloud, Lana’s demeanor was clearly rejecting any questions. In the end, I had no choice but to stand up and follow behind her, swallowing the questions that surged within me.
Time passed. The sun that had hung overhead was now preparing to disappear beyond the horizon.
“We should head back soon.”
Lana said.
“Indeed.”
I nodded calmly in agreement. Ever since that conversation in the plaza during the day, I hadn’t been able to fully focus on the outing. Lana’s words and that expression kept bothering me, leaving me in no mood to look around. But since I couldn’t express that, and given the situation, I kept it hidden. I did my best to fulfill my role and ensure Lana’s outing wouldn’t become boring. Though deep inside, my heart remained unsettled.
Anyway. With that, the outing came to an end. As Lana said, it was time to return to the academy before it got any later. We began walking back toward the academy once more.
How long had we walked without any particular conversation? Just as we entered a quiet, sparsely populated alleyway—
Tap tap tap!
“Ahh!”
A child running beside us dramatically tumbled to the ground. She looked about seven years old. It was a little girl who appeared quite young even at first glance. A quick look revealed that her chin and knees were badly scraped. Blood was beading up on the wounds. For a child, it was an injury that couldn’t possibly not hurt.
And sure enough—
“Waaaaah…!”
The child immediately burst into tears. But no one approached her. In fact, there wasn’t a single person around. It seemed her parents weren’t nearby. As I was wondering what I should do, Lana quietly moved toward the child.
“Are you okay?”
Her voice was gentle. But the child didn’t answer. Instead, perhaps frightened by Lana wearing a hood, the girl looked up at her with eyes filled with faint fear and deep wariness even as she cried. As if noticing that gaze, Lana slowly removed her hood with her own hands.
“Whoa…!”
The child’s eyes widened as far as they possibly could. She was so startled that she even stopped crying for a moment. Seeing that reaction, Lana wore a soft smile on her face.
“Big sister will make it stop hurting.”
Saying that, she reached out toward the child’s wounds.
Whoosh!
A gentle light flowed from Lana’s hand. Compared to the light she used when treating me, it was noticeably weaker, but the warmth it carried was exactly the same. Soon the light touched the child’s injuries, and in an instant—just a single instant—the wounds vanished as if they had never been there.
“All better now. It doesn’t hurt anymore, right?”
Lana, having healed the wounds, asked while looking at the child.
“Uh… um…?”
The child looked utterly bewildered. She blinked her round eyes, then stared at Lana.
“D-did big sister fix it?”
“Yes.”
At the child’s question, Lana’s smile grew even softer.
“Big sister is amazing! Thank you!”
Saying that, the child clung to Lana’s leg. Without showing any sign of surprise, Lana gently stroked the head of the child who had latched onto her. Then—
“If you fall again, it might hurt, so you have to be careful when you walk, okay?”
She gently admonished the child.
“Okay!”
The child nodded with a bright smile.
“Oh! I have to go now!”
Soon realizing that it was getting late, the child pulled away from Lana.
“Bye then! Super pretty big sister!”
As the child waved and ran off, Lana waved back. She kept waving until the child was completely out of sight.
I stared blankly at Lana as she did so. Honestly, it was a sight that left me with complicated feelings. It was so different from the Lana in my memories. From the first time I met her, Lana had been a timid and fragile child. Because of that, she always tended to be dragged along by the strong-willed Alice. She rarely ever asserted her own opinions. She cried easily and often burst into tears. It wasn’t that she completely lacked maturity, though. Compared to her age, she had a rather composed side, and she was the one who helped me the most with housework. She would practice cooking and make things for me, and she would proactively help with cleaning too.
Even so, to me, Lana had always carried the strong image of a ‘child.’ As I said before, she was easily frightened and cried a lot. Yet that crybaby Lana was now showing such a mature side. The child who used to only cry and hide behind the others had grown enough to comfort a crying child and offer her solace.
She’s all grown up now.
Only then did I truly feel Lana’s growth. Of course I had known she had grown. Her appearance alone was completely different. Her behavior and speech had changed from before as well. I definitely knew she had become an adult. But it was only after seeing this scene that I truly felt she had really become an adult.
Eight years had passed. That fragile child had now become a composed adult. It felt bittersweet, yet at the same time, I was so proud and impressed. Emotions swirled wildly in my chest. So much that I couldn’t contain them.
Perhaps that was why.
“…Huh?”
When I came to my senses, I realized I was unconsciously stroking Lana’s head.