Misunderstanding
She had used magic.
And not just any magic — attack magic.
After launching that black sphere, Tiable wore the look of someone who never imagined it would turn out this way, her face crumpling into tears. That alone was enough to convince him she hadn't meant to attack. From the very start, the moment the black sphere formed in her palm, she had thrust her hand skyward. She'd raised it that way to keep the damage as small as possible.
How was he supposed to look at her now?
He wondered what expression he was wearing. Almost certainly a thoroughly flustered one, staring at Tiable. The situation was that absurd.
Stay calm. Don't panic. She's just a child. I can't afford to look rattled in front of her.
Watching Tiable stare at the hand that had cast the spell, on the verge of tears and at a complete loss, he felt pity far more than fear. A child who couldn't even speak the language had barely begun to grasp words, and with a clumsy sentence she had confessed what she had done. The confession had come with a vicious attack flying through the air, yes — but given how hard she had tried not to hit anyone, the use of attack magic clearly hadn't been intentional.
Could he really blame her for that?
There were several reasons Redrago managed to recover his composure so quickly. Tiable's cuteness played its part, of course — but the decisive factor was confirming that the detection magic hadn't come from the kingdom of Horn.
What do I do?
I couldn't lift my face. All I could do was stare at the hand that had used the magic.
That spell just now… if it had hit someone, they would have died instantly — no, they would have been annihilated. Magic I had never seen or heard of even in my previous life. And I had almost landed it on a person.
Tears welled up before I could stop them. I needed to calm down, but I couldn't. My hands were shaking. I was trapped in the horrible thought of what would have happened if I'd raised my hand even a second later — when Redrago's large hand settled gently on my head.
Wasn't he afraid of me?
I slowly lifted my face and looked up at him. It was the first time I had ever seen such a warm, kind expression on him.
"It's all right."
He brushed away my tears with his thumb as he spoke. Looking into eyes that glowed as warm as a campfire, I found myself burying my face against him and crying. It had been a long time since I had truly, openly wept.
Thankfully, for once, the voice in my head stayed silent — and no magic was cast.
Tiable clung to Redrago's pant leg with both hands and sobbed.
I was stunned. I had never seen her cry without holding anything back. Even when her wounds were being disinfected — which must have hurt — she had clamped her mouth shut and endured it in silence. Now she was crying out loud. At home she always wore that soft little smile, and seeing her weep so heartbreakingly left me with nothing I could do for her.
I had been crying for quite a while when soldiers burst in, combat-ready — drawn, no doubt, by the black sphere that had punched a hole straight through the ceiling. Redrago soothed me as I cried and sent them away, telling them it was fine to return to their posts.
Once the tears settled, embarrassment hit. I wasn't a little kid. I hadn't expected to break down like that. In this world I knew nothing about, everything new had seemed exciting — but somewhere deep down, I must have been more fragile than I realized.
Just the words it's all right had been enough to make me cry.
I still had so much I wanted to tell Redrago. Watching the way he acted, I could tell that for all his intimidating exterior, he wasn't a bad man.
To say it in writing, I gestured for something to write with. Speaking again was still too frightening. If I talked a little more I might start to get a handle on it, but the conditions weren't right for that. Quick on the uptake as always, Hugo hurried over with paper and a quill.
I pressed the words I had been holding in onto the page, stroke by firm stroke. That I had woken up in a forest for reasons I didn't know. That the only thing I remembered was my name. That not understanding the language had been terrifying. That I couldn't properly control my magic, and speaking made spells cast themselves. That the detection magic had been mine as well.
I left out the part about reincarnation — but nothing I wrote was a lie.
Hugo took Tiable home. Redrago read through the paper she had so carefully pressed her writing onto. Most of the sentences were childlike, but there was no trouble understanding them.
So she really had cast the detection magic entirely on her own.
Tiable clearly possessed the mana of at least three high-ranking mages — maybe more. Nothing else could explain a detection spell of that scale. A simple personal detection spell would never register as a grand-scale scan. Sweeping an entire city required an enormous amount of mana.
And that attack magic just now… it had the feel of something demonic. He remembered seeing similar magic in battles against the demonkin. Tiable might be one of them — no, the odds were high that she was. That would explain the language barrier, the absurd mana capacity, and the fact that she could already cast magic like that.
She herself didn't seem to know. For now, treating her as human was the wiser course. Information on the demonkin was scarce enough that he couldn't push the speculation any further.
For whatever reason, she had been forcibly transferred into that forest — cast out under circumstances he couldn't guess. The cause of the forced transfer was unknown, but any reason to treat Tiable as an enemy had vanished. The scan hadn't come from Horn, and she wasn't a spy planted by someone else's hand. If anything, her being demonkin was an advantage: a girl who had lost her memories and was already growing attached to Hugo, if she stayed on their side, would be a considerable asset in a fight.
Two days after the black-sphere incident.
"Tiable, you cried on purpose back then, didn't you?"
Back then… he probably meant when I'd cried to dodge answering. He'd caught me.
I avoided Hugo's eyes. When I snuck a sideways glance at him, he was wearing a faint smile. Even after I'd used that terrifying magic, he still treated me the same as always. If anything, he seemed to think I'd thrown open the door to my heart without holding anything back, and he was even warmer with me than before.
For reasons I still didn't understand, Redrago seemed content to just let me keep living at Hugo's house. At least one heavy weight had lifted off my chest, and I felt easier.
So… I'm allowed to live here now, right?
It hadn't been long since I'd cast that unknown attack magic, and the thought of speaking still made me flinch. I couldn't even manage a greeting. I still had no idea how to control it. If I could at least practice a lot, I'd throw myself into figuring it out on my own, but—
Wait. I didn't need to hide the fact that I could use magic anymore, did I?
The moment Hugo came back, I unfolded a sheet of paper covered in large, bold letters and held it up for him to see.
Me. Outside. Go out. Please.
Hugo let out a soft laugh.
"All right. We'll go when it gets light tomorrow. It's my day off anyway."
Something had clearly been lost in translation.
Hugo and Hwia each took one of my hands and led me out into the bustling district. That wasn't what I'd meant by going out…! But they both looked so excited that I figured I should play along.
Wait…! That smell…!
Those skewers!
I pointed and tugged Hugo toward them. Hwia made a face of pure disgust while Hugo scratched the back of his head. Huh? What was wrong?
I stood in front of the skewer stall and read the menu board.
Giant Frog Skewer — 2 Sepi
Giant Frog…? So this was monster frog meat…?
Hwia stared at me in horror as I happily ate the skewer.
"T-Tiable, you actually like that…?"
Hugo, having already seen me eat them a few times, didn't bat an eye. Was it really that bad? It only tasted good to me.
Hwia suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me off — and we ended up at a clothing shop.
"Tiable needs some pretty clothes too!"
Until Hugo finally put a stop to it, I was dressed and redressed like a doll more times than I could count.
Several days after the hole appeared in the ceiling…
Hugo reported that he and Tiable were getting along very well. There was no harm in them growing closer. If it hadn't been for that damned Horn, he never would have pushed the girl this far in the first place. Under normal circumstances, the moment a gray Information Plate glowed white, she should have been released at once.
Horn.
For years they had been wiping out the smaller villages of neighboring kingdoms one by one, and recently they had gone so far as to issue a formal declaration of war. Why start a war that should never have happened — a war without cause? Horn was acting as if the crown itself had changed hands overnight. As far as he knew, there had been no coup. Horn had never been an aggressive nation. If anything, they leaned defensive.
Either way, Tiable's magic would be a tremendous help in a war against Horn. If he built enough trust to ask for her aid…
No. Was using Tiable in a war even the right thing to do?
His desire to protect the kingdom and the truth of what he actually felt toward her clashed inside him, and he sank into troubled thought.
Redrago sat at his desk with a hand pressed to his forehead, head bowed. He was so deep in concentration he didn't even notice someone enter.
"Lord Redrago — Tiable wanted to see you, so…"
Only when Hugo spoke did he lift his face.
"Hmm. Tiable?"
I walked up to Redrago's desk and set the paper I had brought down on top of it. His eyes flared as he read it, the reaction he couldn't quite hide — but thankfully the fire died almost as quickly as it rose.
"Hugo. Step outside for a moment."
"Y-yes?"
"Out. Now. Don't linger. This is a conversation for the two of us."
Hugo scrambled out in a fluster. Once Redrago confirmed he was gone, he rose to his feet and spoke.
"How did you know?"
That voice. The same tone he'd used during the interrogation.
Wait — I thought we'd gotten a little closer than that?