Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Festival Wish
Continued conversation and an unexpected dinner extended the warmth of the festival.
Before long, night had fallen.
Darkness blanketed the scenery outside the window,
and faint moonlight mingled with the lanterns hung at every house, illuminating the night.
Row gazed out the window in admiration.
"Wow..., it's really pretty. It's been a long time since I've seen so many lanterns."
"Indeed. Peaceful nights and lanterns alike were swallowed by war and vanished for a while."
Hubert responded with a slightly bitter tone.
He set his empty glass on the table and slowly leaned forward.
"......"
"What? Do you want to see Mer too?"
"......!"
Merthesia, who had been trying to stand on her own, clung back to me.
It seemed she still found it more comfortable to be carried by me than to walk herself.
"Alright. Let's look together."
"......!"
Carrying Merthesia, I approached the window.
As we drew near, Loren, who had been standing in front, smiled and stepped aside.
"Here, Mer. Big sis is making room. Take a good look."
"......"
The street adorned with lanterns reflected in the child's eyes.
A startled breath escaped her.
Her small hand gripped my clothes tightly.
She clearly hadn't expected anything this beautiful.
Merthesia gaped in awe,
and Loren, watching, burst into laughter and pinched the child's cheek.
"Pretty, right?"
"!"
"This is Rakiss's blessing coming down upon the light."
Merthesia nodded and glanced at Rakiss.
My old friend, the person in question,
simply shrugged with a smile.
As we gazed at the lanterns beyond the window, Hubert's voice came.
"I hope Rakiss's blessing descends upon everyone here next year as well."
"Yeah. I hope only good things come to Mer too."
"!"
"...Oh, right!"
Loren clapped her hands.
"We haven't written our wishes yet!"
"Oh, that's true."
"Come to think of it... We said we write wishes on the festival."
As I murmured in recollection, Loren brightly affirmed with a smile.
"Yes! The tradition is to hang the paper with wishes on a tree or burn it in a bonfire!"
"Sometimes people put them in lanterns too. So the prayers can reach the gods with the light, they float them on the sky or rivers."
Merthesia's eyes widened at their explanations.
She tugged at my clothes with her small hand and cautiously looked up at me.
I could tell what her eyes meant just by meeting them.
"...Want to write a wish?"
"!"
Merthesia's eyes sparkled.
Her blushing face as she slowly nodded was adorable.
Were the others thinking the same?
Everyone watching Merthesia wore warm smiles.
Loren stretched and turned from the window.
"Then I should get paper and pens!"
"They're in that room. Meanwhile, I'll light the bonfire."
"I'll help."
"Hoho, even the priest?"
"Yes. I'm confident in my strength."
Hubert chuckled and stood,
and Rakiss rolled his shoulders lightly before following.
While everyone busied themselves, I quietly looked down at Merthesia.
It was well past bedtime.
Merthesia's eyes were half-closed.
She had been nodding off, but suddenly lifted her head.
I smiled faintly and brushed her hair.
"If you're sleepy, go to sleep."
"......"
Merthesia firmly shook her head in my arms.
But her half-lidded eyes and slowing breaths told no lies.
Then Loren approached with paper and pens.
"Oh my, look at those sleepy eyes. She's fighting sleep, huh?"
"Yeah. Seems like it."
Clutching her rabbit doll tightly,
her small hand still gripped my clothes firmly.
As if she didn't want this moment to end.
"It's okay. There's next year."
"......"
"Jeez, our Mer is surprisingly stubborn. No helping it. Let's write ours first."
"Sure."
I returned to the table carrying Merthesia.
Loren quickly handed over paper and pen.
"Here. I prepared bigger paper since Mer can't write yet."
"......!"
"Thanks."
"Hehe, no problem."
I sat Merthesia on my lap and unfolded the paper.
Then, overlapping her drowsy, limp hand, I held the pen together.
"It doesn't have to be writing or drawing. The gods can read the heart in the prayer."
"......"
"So, think of what you wish for in your heart and move slowly."
Did she understand my words?
Her small hand gripped the pen and began moving slowly over the paper.
A bit tilted, a bit crooked,
but her heart was straighter and firmer than anyone's.
"......"
The child drew in her own way, pressing firmly.
I watched it all quietly.
What this small child wished for.
I kept my eyes on her to the end, wondering if I could glimpse it.
Finally, having poured her wish into it,
Merthesia set down the pen with a small gasp.
"All done?"
"......!"
"Good. You did well."
I looked at the finished paper.
Drawn half-asleep, it was messier than even my drawings.
But─.
Crooked curves and circles.
They contained everything the child wanted in the world.
Me,
the rabbit,
the cabin,
and herself.
I stroked her head with a smile.
"Yeah. Let's be together next year too."
"!"
"Oh my, she drew the rabbit but not big sis."
"?!"
"Hehe, kidding."
Loren teased with a playful laugh as Merthesia fidgeted anxiously.
Then, sudden explosive booms rang out repeatedly.
The scenery beyond the window flashed, suggesting fireworks.
"...Fireworks?"
"Ah, yeah. The festival must be reaching its finale."
A sudden tremor.
I nodded slowly and turned my gaze.
Merthesia had buried her face in my chest, trembling.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
Her small shoulders shook visibly,
and her grip on the rabbit doll was tense.
'Explosions....'
The war had apparently left deep scars on this small child's heart too.
I slowly stroked her back and whispered.
"It's okay. Not a scary sound."
"......"
"Even if it is scary... I'm here. I can block barrages from reaching you."
Her trembling gradually subsided.
Clutching the rabbit doll tightly, Merthesia cautiously nodded.
Good.
Loren, seeing it, let out a relieved sigh and smiled.
"Right, Mer. That's fireworks. Super pretty. Wanna go see?"
"......"
Merthesia hesitated a moment,
then slowly lifted her head from where it was buried.
Tears still lingered at her eyes,
but a bit of courage dwelt in her gaze.
I gently wiped her eyes and asked carefully.
"Shall we go see?"
"......"
Her small hand gripped mine tightly.
As if saying to go together.
Thus, with fireworks in the sky
and bonfire on the ground, we closed out the festival night.
"Pretty, huh?"
"......!"
"Hehe, Mer's wide awake now? You were nodding off earlier."
"!"
Merthesia smiled shyly.
Big and small fireworks bloomed one by one in the night sky,
and the warm bonfire softly lit everyone's faces.
Some exclaimed in awe,
some clasped hands in prayer,
some gazed leisurely at the sky.
Ways differed, but surely we shared the same night.
"Nice."
"......!"
A satisfying festival.
One I'd want to cherish for a long time.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It was dawn by the time we returned to the cabin.
Merthesia had been asleep for ages.
But my time with Rakiss wasn't over yet.
The wish written and burned in the bonfire had paid off.
Thanks to it, the festival wish came true very quickly.
"Here?"
"Yeah. Looks good."
Rakiss gently set down the space.
Hubert's kitchen, bathroom, and living room too.
After expanding the cabin's size,
he'd replicated everything I liked exactly as was.
I smiled leisurely at the vastly expanded space.
"This enough?"
"Yeah. Nice. Thanks."
"Miss Mer will be surprised when she wakes."
"She'll like it."
Rakiss slowly shook his head with a laugh.
"But is this okay? I could bring a better house."
"Nah. Familiar's better. New stuff's tiring."
"I see. ...That hasn't changed."
I chuckled at my old friend's somewhat regretful words.
A glance.
I looked down at the sleeping child.
Today, instead of my robe, she clutched the rabbit doll tight in sleep.
'Cute.'
A faint memory surfaced.
I pulled out the ID from the leather pouch.
"It's possible. The process is much more complicated, though."
Hubert said it was complicated,
but with this, I could be recognized as the child's guardian.
Rakiss might know.
About the adoption process on the Dianos Continent
for existences like us.
I asked my old friend.
But the response wasn't very positive.
"Maybe... reconsider a bit, Row."
"Why?"
The reason was clear.
Because I was the Evil Dragon, and the day of calamity was near.
Listening calmly, my old friend was right.
I didn't have much time left.
I'd be with her for a few years even after she becomes an adult... but
I was too unstable to be a guardian fence.
My identity,
my remaining time,
even myself tainted by evil.
Rakiss murmured lowly.
"...If your identity's exposed, it could harm the child too."
"......Yeah."
Rakiss's words trailed off, but I nodded slowly in agreement.
The meaning was clear.
Even his guilt.
I smiled leisurely as always.
"It's fine. Hubert said people's perception is enough for now."
"...Is that so."
"Yeah. So while I'm here, I'll protect her properly. Even without papers."
Rakiss nodded.
The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"That's you."
"Still..."
"Hm?"
"Just in case, find a good guardian. I don't want her going back to her aunt."
Rakiss's eyes changed.
He seemed to grasp my intent from that one line.
My old friend accepted my will as always.
"I'll ask the Dragon of Divinity. She has influence here too."
"...Yeah, thanks."
Rakiss left after those words.
But I stood blankly at the window for a while.