Whispers from the North and a Girl's First Heartache
The reports on the Northern Forest Path had been piling up at the Guild Branch since early morning. The Guild Master stared silently at the words on the paper for a long moment.
"Even more?"
"Yes." The staff member standing before him replied with a stiff expression. "Far more than the number confirmed yesterday. We've even received reports that the ones who used to stay deep in the forest path have come down as far as the southern boundary."
"Scale of the damage?"
"Four confirmed cases so far. It'll rise if we include those still missing."
The conference room fell heavy with silence. Monster attacks weren't all that rare, truth be told. Where there were forests and roads and people traveling, monsters appeared. The problem was that these monsters were different from the usual ones.
"The reports that they're not fighting each other—have those been cross-verified?"
"Three reconnaissance reports all match."
"Completely different types gathering in one place, yet not baring their teeth at each other. They're even moving steadily in one direction, like an army."
The Guild Master's brows furrowed deeply. Monsters were beasts ruled by instinct. They showed no mercy even to their own kind. For such creatures to sheath their killing intent, gather together, and move as if controlled—it was ominous enough on its own.
"The adventurers?"
"They're backing off. With so many parties going missing lately..." The staff member hesitated. "Even those who could take on high-rank requests are unavailable right now."
"Who's free among the decent ones around here?"
"Elbirn hasn't returned from the western request. Mahar's cut off contact as usual... and Leona's missing."
"Leona?!"
"Yes. No one's seen her anywhere lately."
The Guild Master swallowed a short curse. This was bad. Their top forces were unavailable. The monsters were increasing. The adventurers were getting scared.
"What about the support request to the Estella family?"
"We got a reply."
The staff member bowed his head awkwardly. "They say they have no spare forces and can't send troops right away."
The Guild Master's hand paused over the report. Even the Estella family, who held the greatest military might in the area, couldn't move.
"And the areas where traces of black magic were recently found?"
"It's hard to say they're completely unrelated in terms of distance. But it's not confirmed."
"We can't wait until it's confirmed." The Guild Master rubbed his face with his palm. The smell of paper and ink clung stuffily to his nose. "Send a dispatch request to the Holy Kingdom."
"The Holy Kingdom?"
"Holy knight, priest, inquisitor—anyone we need."
The staff member swallowed hard. The Guild Master looked back at the report. The abnormal proliferation of monsters. The string of adventurer disappearances. And signs of black magic.
"If we judge too late..." The Guild Master's voice sank. "It won't end with just the Northern Forest Path."
It had been several days since I heard the merchant group was heading to the city where the Estella Mansion stood. I sat in the shadow of the carriage, fiddling with the candy pouch in my hand.
Estella family. Seridia was there. So was Elishia. Seridia probably thought I was dead, right? I needed to let her know I was alive. But what if I just popped up in front of her face? Ta-da! Surprise, I'm alive! She'd probably faint.
The image of Seridia at the mansion floated in my mind. Her hand brushing my hair. Her voice calling me Lucia. Eyes that wouldn't let go, even knowing it wasn't true. And burning letters, saying she wouldn't leave the mansion.
Honestly, she scared me a bit back then. Total classic yandere. If I showed up now, would she kidnap and lock me away or something?
Despite my rational urge to hurry and tell her I was alive, my instincts kept blaring uneasy warnings. Ah, what should I do?
Then I felt a small gaze from beside me. I turned to see Seira staring holes into my hand. More precisely, the colorful candy pouch in it.
"Want some?"
Seira's shoulders twitched.
"N-no. I was just looking."
Saying it so primly, yet her round eyes wouldn't leave the pouch. I rummaged inside and pulled out a strawberry candy with a red gleam.
"Here."
Seira swallowed, hesitating. "Are you really giving it to me?"
"Why would I take it out if not?"
Only then did she accept it with both hands. The moment she peeled off the wrapper and popped it in her mouth, her eyes curved into pretty half-moons. As expected. She loved strawberry the most. Best reaction, I guess. So at some point, I started picking out just strawberry ones without thinking.
One of the porters chuckled watching us. "Ria, on snack duty for the young miss again today?"
Seira's shoulders twitched again. "S-snack duty...?"
"Yeah. With the young miss begging for candy with those eyes, how could you hold out, Ria?"
"I-I didn't beg..."
"Your eyes were."
Seira's face turned red in an instant. "No they weren't...!"
Another porter snickered. "Sure they weren't. You've been staring at that pouch the whole time."
"I wasn't..."
Seira pursed her lips and half-hid behind me. Hiding doesn't make you invisible. I held back a laugh and placed a hand on her head.
"Stop teasing her. She'll choke on the candy."
"Aigoo, look at that. Ria's doting on our young miss something fierce."
"Thicker than blood sisters after just a few days."
Seira's ear tips burned even redder. Yet she didn't run off in embarrassment—instead, her grip on my hem tightened.
I looked down at her and teased playfully. "Seira, wanna be my real little sister?"
Seira froze. One cheek puffed out rounder, from the candy or surprise, I couldn't tell.
"S-sister?"
"Yeah. I'll give you candy, play when you're bored. Pretty good big sis material, right?"
"..."
Seira just stared up at me wordlessly, ears bright red. The porter burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Aigoo, our young miss is totally smitten. The guild master's gonna cry bloody tears over losing his daughter!"
"I-I'm not smitten...!"
Seira said that, but she didn't let go of my hem. Rest time came, and the carriage halted. People drank water or checked cargo. I sat resting my legs in the carriage shadow, Seira stuck to my side as usual.
Then her gaze drifted one way. At the end was Noah. The brown-haired boy with faint freckles was sorting ropes behind the carriage. Seira's ear tips flushed right away.
"By the way."
"Yes?"
"What's so great about Noah?"
Seira's shoulders stiffened. "W-what?"
"Too late to deny it when you're so obvious."
Seira covered her ears with both hands, grabbed my sleeve again, then finally hung her head. Only after a long pause did she whisper in my ear, tiny as could be.
"...You have to keep it a secret. Promise."
"Yeah."
"For real."
"Promise."
Seira glanced around. Confirming no one was listening, she brought her lips close to my ear. Her breath tickled.
"A while back."
"Yeah."
"I was helping Dad with work... sorting shipping manifests."
"Shipping manifests?"
"Yeah. Little papers saying which box goes to which village."
Seira pressed her skirt hem with her fingertips. "At first, I really tried hard to help Dad. But... so many adults were watching, I got nervous and my hands shook. Then I dropped the whole stack on the floor."
She paused, lips pressed tight. "Everyone stared, even Dad. I had to pick them up fast, but my hands were sweaty, papers slipping... I couldn't tell which was which."
"And then?"
"It got worse." Seira's voice grew smaller. "I'd pick one up, another would fall. The ones I grabbed in a hurry were for the wrong villages. Everyone went quiet, and I froze up completely..."
She hung her head lower, the scene still vivid. "That's when Noah deliberately dropped the tags he was holding."
"Deliberately?"
"Yeah." Seira's ear tips pinked. "And he said, 'Ah, I messed up too.'"
"..."
"So it wasn't just me messing up. We were both confused... and we picked them up together."
Seira fidgeted with her fingers. "When I grabbed the wrong one, he didn't yell—just quietly said, 'That one's for this box, I think.'"
"And then?"
Seira took a long time to answer. Then she nodded faintly. "After that... I kept noticing him."
She finished and buried her face. "He keeps popping into my head, and I keep looking..."
I couldn't say anything for a while. It wasn't some grand reason. No princely rescue or profound words. Just sitting beside her when she felt embarrassed alone. That must've stuck with Seira.
"Cute."
"D-don't laugh...!"
"I'm not."
"You are."
Seira hid her face with both hands. I watched her, then glanced at Noah behind the carriage.
"Then you should talk to him properly, right?"
Seira peeked through her fingers. "Huh?"
"To Noah."
"N-now?"
"When else?"
"N-no, I mean... I'm not ready..."
Seira panicked visibly, looking like she wanted to bolt, but her eyes weren't entirely against it. Deep down, there was excitement. Her fingertips clutched my sleeve tight.
I waved toward the back of the carriage. "Noah."
Noah looked up. Seira froze beside me. I pried open her stiff hand and placed a strawberry candy in it.
"Here."
"This is..."
"Magic courage candy."
Seira's eyes went wide. "Magic?"
"Yeah. You got this."
Seira stared at the candy in her palm. Tiny strawberry-scented thing. No real magic, obviously. Still, she held it carefully.
Noah set down the ropes and walked over, steps a bit awkward. His eyes flicked to Seira, then settled on me.
"What's up?"
"Seira has something to say to you."
"To me?"
Seira swallowed. I held back a grin and stepped aside a bit.
"You two talk. I have stuff to do over there."
"Ri-Ria sis...!"
Seira called desperately, but I pretended not to hear and waved. She was left clutching the candy in front of Noah.
Noah didn't speak for a while. Neither did Seira. Wind passed, the carriage tarp fluttered softly.
Seira clutched the candy tight in her hand. It was from Ria sis. Magic courage candy. You got this. The words thumped like a heartbeat in her palm.
So she had to say it.
"N-Noah."
Noah looked up. "Yeah?"
Seira's lips moved. Next break... can I sit next to you? The words just spun in her throat. Too weird? Wanna go see puppies together next time? Her mind kept changing them. But none came out.
In the end, face beet red, she hung her head. "...N-nothing."
Noah blinked, then smiled faintly. "What is it?"
Not teasing—just puzzled amusement. Still, Seira's ears burned. She fiddled with the candy again. Magic courage, Ria sis said. This time. Really this time.
"Um..."
Seira opened her mouth again. But Noah spoke first.
"Seira."
"Yeah?"
"You're close with Ria sis, right?"
Seira paused. "...Yeah."
Noah's gaze drifted to Ria sis in the distance. "Ria sis... she's kinda sparkly, y'know."
Seira looked up. "Sparkly?"
"Yeah. You just keep watching her without meaning to."
Noah scuffed the dirt with his toe. "Doesn't get scared in front of adults, all confident."
"..."
"And... she's pretty."
Noah's ear tips reddened. "Sometimes like an angel from the sky."
Seira stared at Noah. Face red to his ears. Eyes fleeing shyly mid-sentence. Yet always drifting back to Ria sis.
A face she'd seen before. In her hand mirror—her own.
Seira wasn't stupid. She knew what face Noah was making. Where his eyes went.
Still, she asked. Just in case. Really just in case.
"Do you..." Her voice came out tiny. "Like Ria sis?"
Noah didn't answer right away. He scuffed the dirt again, fidgeted his fingers. Ears redder than before.
Seira swallowed in that brief silence. Say no. Say you just think she's pretty. Just curious, that's all.
She bit her lip. Please. She wanted him to shake his head.
If he laughed and said, Ah, no! Everything would be okay.
But after a long moment, Noah nodded shyly.
"...Yeah."
A small voice fell. "I think I like her."
Poke. Her chest stung right in the center.
Poke, poke. More frequently now.
Poke, poke, poke.
Seira pressed her chest with a small hand without thinking.
Ria sis was pretty, cool—someone anyone would like. It wasn't weird for Noah to like her.
She should smile and say it was natural. But the candy wrapper crumpled in her hand.
Seira couldn't say a word in the end. Head down, holding back tears ready to burst, she brushed past Noah.
"Se-Seira?"
Noah called in confusion, but she didn't look back. If she opened her mouth, it'd all spill out like a fool.
She wandered aimlessly, ending up behind the carriage. Seeking a hiding spot, she neared it when a familiar voice came from inside the curtain.
"That girl Ria."
Seira's feet stopped. Dad's voice.
"She's got grit. Didn't flinch at all in front of those rough strangers. Knows how to claim her share."
"Yes. Seira seems a bit brighter being around her."
Mom's voice followed. Seira's hand paused at the entrance. She wanted to go in, bury herself in Mom's arms and sob. But her feet wouldn't move.
"True enough."
Silence fell briefly. Dad sighed low.
"I wish our Seira had even half of that."
That cold word made Seira's heart plummet.
"Dear."
Mom's voice sharpened a bit.
"What? It's not wrong."
"Still, how can you compare her like that? And you're her parent."
"Not comparing. Just worried."
Dad's tone was calm. "She's the heir to the merchant group. She can't stay that fragile forever."
"Seira's still young."
"Ria's young too."
Seira held her breath. Light filtering through the curtain gap trembled on her hand.
"But that girl spoke her mind even to adults. Seira could learn some of that nerve."
Poke. It hurt again.
Noah's "sparkly" echoed in her head. Ria sis is sparkly.
Seira slowly pulled her hand from the door. She didn't go in. Felt like she couldn't.
Mom said softly from inside. "Don't push her too hard, though. Seira's been trying hard lately to meet expectations."
"I know."
Dad's reply was dry. "That's why it's more disappointing."
A disappointing child.
Seira backed away quietly. No footsteps. So no one would know she'd heard.
She slipped away from the carriage.
"Seira?"
Ria sis's voice called. Seira's shoulders jumped. Turning, Ria sis was walking over.
"There you are."
Ria sis looked clueless. "Searched for you after you ran off suddenly."
Seira couldn't reply.
"Talk go well with Noah?"
Her chest poked again. Noah's red ears. Eyes always turning to Ria sis. That tiny voice. I think I like her.
Seira bit her lip.
Ria sis tilted her head. "Couldn't say it?"
"..."
"That's okay. Hard to bring up suddenly."
Ria sis smiled softly. Seira bit her lip harder. Ria sis tilted her head.
"Something hurt again?"
Ria sis's fingertips neared. Normally, she'd stay still. Hands that gave candy. That poked cheeks. That pushed her forward casually when she froze. All good.
She wanted to stay by her side because she liked it. Hearing "like sisters" made her chest tickle happily. When Ria sis said "Be my sister?" she couldn't speak from joy.
But Noah liked Ria sis too. Dad said be like Ria sis.
The more she liked Ria sis, the more it strangely hurt.
Her fingertips were about to touch her cheek.
Slap.
Seira's hand moved first. Ria sis's hand was pushed aside.
"..."
Short silence fell. Ria sis blinked, eyes wide. Seira looked at her own hand. Realizing what she'd done a beat late.
"Ah..."
Ria sis's hand lowered slowly. Seira hung her head.
And ran past Ria sis like fleeing.
"Seira?"