The Promise
A high-tier wind spell — a Grand Magic that cages its prey inside a raging storm and tears them to shreds.
Greater magics existed, of course, but those demanded dozens of elite mages working in concert, so they hardly counted. Being able to cast Grand Magic alone was already enough to earn a mage genuine recognition.
And Kino, who had inherited our mother's talent in a straight, undiluted line, had made it possible through desperate, thoroughly self-serving effort.
...Yeah. She really was the formidable rival from the original novel — and my little sister.
"Kieeeeeek!!"
"Gyaaaaaaah!!"
"Uwaaaagh!!"
"Everyone, run!!"
"Bwahahaha! Weep! Wail!!"
Monsters screamed as the storm shredded them and flung their bodies through the air. Behind them, soldiers fled with faces drained of all color, terrified by the dreadful magic roaring at their backs. And standing before it all, striking a pose, utterly intoxicated with herself — one girl.
Right. What even was this pandemonium.
When the Grand Magic that had torn the area apart finally subsided, the remnants of the horde came into view, a considerable number of them already ground to pieces. Even creatures that lived by instinct seemed to have had their will to fight blunted by the aftermath of that dreadful spell; they were no longer charging in the same frenzied rush as before.
"Forward, men! Finish off the monsters!"
With that voice, some hundred soldiers appeared near where Kino had been standing and set about cutting down what remained.
"Astar..."
"Brother, you're safe!!"
My little brother, Astar, had brought reinforcements.
"I could only gather this many on such short notice, but... fortunately, it looks like we'll manage."
Whether cowed by the magic or simply unable to move properly in the northern cold, the monsters were no match for the soldiers. A few had survived the spell, but none of them were whole; they either lay where they had fallen to be finished off, or froze to death where they stood.
"Good. That was an excellent spell, Kino. Well done."
"Kuh-kuh-kuh... My beloved blood, offer still greater praise unto Blood Wind's Alukinon!"
"Sure. That aside, though...!"
Whack!!
"Ow!!"
"I told you to warn me before you cast anything!!"
"Th-that doesn't mean you have to hit me!!"
"...Just recover your mana for now. I'll give you a proper lecture once we're back at the fortress."
Kino, knocked out of character by the knuckle to the skull, clutched her head with tears in her eyes. I turned to look at Astar. He was nodding along as he watched her get scolded.
...Had I missed something?
"Anyway — you must be exhausted. Thanks for coming to help, Astar!"
I gave his shoulder a companionable punch.
"Ghhk!!"
"Huh...?"
Astar crumpled on the spot, clutching his shoulder.
"B-Brother... I still haven't recovered from the muscle soreness..."
"...Sorry."
Right. He had mentioned that.
Once the soldiers and I had finished off the last of the monsters, we set about the cleanup. Kino was resting to restore her mana; Astar, whose soreness still hadn't faded, was resting too. In the end, the soldiers they had brought and the ones who had fought beside me handled the entire aftermath.
The aftermath, of course, meant dismantling the corpses. If you didn't harvest the Magic Stones from fallen monsters, other monsters would devour them and grow stronger. Pulling the Magic Stone from every kill was an ironclad rule.
Once the work had found its rhythm, the soldiers all but ordered me to go rest, so I went to join Astar and Kino. Kino was catching a nap in an enchanted sleeping bag; Astar was sitting in whatever posture hurt the least.
"Come to rest too, Brother?"
"Yeah. The soldiers ganged up on me and told me to take a break."
"...I heard the monsters were targeting you specifically."
"They were. Honestly, I'd never experienced anything like it."
The monsters' behavior had been strange from the start, though that much you did occasionally see when something happened in their habitat. ...Not on this scale, admittedly. I'd never even heard of monsters focusing their attacks on one particular person. Even goblins — cunning, as monsters went — still operated on something close to instinct. Ordinary monsters singling out a specific target was a story so unlikely it bordered on impossible.
The mysteries just kept piling up.
"Anyway, it's a good thing the request for aid arrived so quickly."
"That Silver Wolf Beastfolk girl, right?"
"Yeah. She's actually a classmate of mine at the academy. Is she all right?"
"She's fine. Lady Riel is treating her — they're resting together."
Thank goodness. I'd felt uneasy about sending a civilian — neither soldier nor warrior — to play messenger. Knowing she was safe was a genuine relief.
Wait a second, though.
Astar knew Emilia was Silver Wolf Beastfolk, and Riel was with her right now...
Emilia. Had Riel found out?
Emilia sat in a knot of anxiety as Riel quietly tended her wounds.
Unlike the young lord, who was northern-born, Riel was not. What if she found out Emilia was beastfolk and despised her for it?
The thought burned a hole in Emilia's chest.
She had gone with her father to Ariandrod Fortress to sell the spoils of a hunt, and the unfamiliar spectacle had so thoroughly stolen her attention that she lost him.
The market was confusing enough on its own. A child who had also lost her father, Emilia wandered, hopelessly lost. That was when a group of rough-looking men spotted her.
"Whoa, would you look at that? Beast cubs crawling around in the open here?"
They surrounded her, shoving her, tugging on her ears, treating it all as a game. The market-goers tried to stop them, but the men had no intention of listening — and soon the "game" turned to hitting and kicking.
"You there! Discrimination against other races is strictly forbidden!"
Guards, summoned by the villagers' reports, hauled the men away. But Emilia could do nothing but tremble until her father, gasping from the sprint, scooped her into his arms.
She later learned they had been mercenaries up from another region. That day, her father explained that people from other provinces often did such things.
And so, in this moment, Emilia was terrified that Riel — the first friend she had ever made — might treat her the same way.
"I've treated all the visible wounds, I think... Does anything still hurt?"
"......"
"Emi?"
"H-Huh?! Um...! I-I'm... fine...?"
"Huh? Why are you asking me?"
Riel studied Emilia for a moment, her eyes full of questions. Emilia, for her part, kept her head bowed in sheer awkwardness.
A few minutes passed like that. In the end, Emilia was the one who spoke first.
"Um... Miss Riel...?"
"Hm? We said you'd just call me Riel, remember?"
"R-Right... Um... Riel, how do you... feel about me being beastfolk?"
Oh no. Had that been too blunt? The thought flickered through Emilia's mind.
"Well... I was really surprised."
I knew it... Emilia's heart felt like it was tearing in two. But Riel wasn't finished.
"So, um... could I maybe touch your ears?"
"......What?"
"Ah! If that's embarrassing or anything, you can say no..."
"No, I don't mind, but..."
Emilia's eyes asked what on earth this conversation even was. Riel, apparently, only cared that she'd been given permission.
"Wow! Then I'll just—"
"Wah—!"
Riel's hands went straight to Emilia's wolf ears, kneading them with delighted curiosity.
"Wow... so fluffy... and warm..."
"W-Wait...? Riel...?"
"And they twitch like this... whoa..."
Emilia sat frozen, too startled to move, while Riel remained utterly absorbed in what her hands were doing. Several minutes later, Riel recovered her composure and pulled away first. Emilia caught her breath, her face faintly flushed, and tried again.
"Um... that's not what I meant. I was worried you might have started disliking me because I'm beastfolk..."
"Hm? Why would I dislike you?"
"I mean... because... I'm beastfolk...?"
The anxiety hadn't left her face entirely, but some of it had eased. Riel stared at her, looking genuinely blank.
"What does being beastfolk have to do with anything?"
"Well... beastfolk are discriminated against in a lot of places across the continent, I guess..."
"...That happens?"
Riel had known of beastfolk as a matter of knowledge, but she had never heard of anything like that. And the world's opinions, naturally, had nothing whatsoever to do with her own.
"I was surprised when I found out you were beastfolk, but I didn't start disliking you or anything."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. If anything, I thought you were cute."
"Th-Then... we're still friends, right...?"
A thread of anxiety still clung to the question. Perhaps Riel felt it, because she pulled Emilia into a firm hug.
"Of course we are. You and I are friends."
"Ah..."
In that warm embrace, the fear sitting in Emilia's chest seemed to melt away.
"Um... I'm really sorry."
A moment later, Emilia slipped free of Riel's arms and bowed her head in apology.
"Huh? Sorry for what, all of a sudden?"
"It's just... you wanted to go help the young lord too. And because of me..."
"Ah, that?"
It was true. Riel had wanted to join the reinforcements the moment she heard Kyou was in danger. But Astar had stopped her and asked her to treat Emilia instead.
"If anything happens to the young lady, my brother will kill me!!"
Astar had been desperately insistent, for some reason, and Riel hadn't been able to leave an injured Emilia behind. There had been another reason, too.
"It's all right. I'd rather wait here for now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Kyou said he'd come back safe."
Riel looked at Emilia and smiled, bright and sure.