A Wish Worth a Miracle
You too... your mom disappeared with ours, didn't she.
A little while later.
The cafe hadn't opened its doors yet.
Shalla walked in, holding the hand of a woman.
Her mother. Sarah.
Today, Ragna had specially cleared her schedule before opening hours, so Shalla could show her mother around the cafe.
Sarah's eyes wandered across the spacious interior, and she let out a sigh of wonder.
"Oh my, it's so roomy in here."
Then she tilted her head, gazing out at the empty hall.
"Though it's strange, isn't it? A place this big, and yet it's so quiet?"
Shalla flashed a cheeky grin.
"That's because business is bad~!"
"How dare you say that in front of the ownerrrr~~!!"
Ragna suddenly popped up in front of them.
"Kyaaah!"
When Sarah startled, Ragna immediately straightened her posture and smiled.
"Ah, hello there~!"
"Oh! Hello!"
Sarah smiled and returned the greeting.
"I'm Sarah. Shalla's mother~!"
"Ahh! So you're Shalla's mom!"
Ragna extended her hand warmly.
"I'm Ragna. Shalla works here, you see!"
"I see. Please take good care of my daughter."
"It's me who should be asking that of you~!"
And just like that, the introductions melted into a flurry of noisy chatter.
"So, when Shalla was little—!"
"Oh my! Really?"
"Yes! You wouldn't believe how stubborn she was...."
"Mom!"
Shalla shouted from across the room, but the two women paid her no mind.
"By the way, Ragna, don't you have a little brother too?"
"That's right! I live with Rai. He's that boy standing over there staring blankly into space~!"
"Oh my, the two of you look so much alike~?"
"Hey now~! There's no way I look like that brat who never listens~!"
"Haah... My daughter's problem is that she never listens to me either...."
"Exactly! Kids these days cause so much trouble...."
"Nuna."
Rai called out from a distance, his expression ice cold.
"I can hear every word."
Ragna and Sarah burst out laughing at the same time.
While the chatter carried on, Rai and Shalla stood off in a corner, watching it all unfold.
Rai asked quietly.
"......Why is it that watching your nuna and your mom talk is so exhausting?"
Shalla answered with perfect calm.
"Once my mom gets going, she can go all day."
"......That's terrifying."
Just then, Ragna beckoned to the two of them.
"Hey, you two! Come over here~!"
Rai and Shalla exchanged a glance, then walked over.
Chomp.
Ragna threw her arm around Rai's shoulder.
"Up close, you can really see how tall he's gotten, can't you?"
"Nice to meet you."
Rai offered an awkward greeting.
"It's because this kid saved Shalla that we all ended up connected like this~!"
"......"
A faint blush crept across Shalla's face.
"You don't have to bring that up...."
Rai's face, on the other hand, froze instantly.
"Nuna."
"Hm?"
"We agreed we weren't going to talk about that."
"What's the harm~? You never gave me a proper explanation either!"
Ragna laughed it off without a care in the world.
Sarah's gaze drifted back and forth between the two of them.
"Wait... could Rai actually be an Awakener?"
"No!"
Rai practically shrieked his denial.
"Absolutely not!"
"Huh? Because if he's an Awakener, then Shalla—"
"Mmph!"
The instant Ragna opened her mouth, Shalla lunged forward and clamped a hand over it.
"MMMPH?!"
"Don't say it, unnie...!!!"
"......?"
Sarah looked between the two of them, puzzled.
"What are you talking about?"
"It's nothing...."
Shalla smiled awkwardly.
"It's really... not a big deal...."
"Really?"
Sarah still looked curious, but she didn't press any further.
And so the conversation continued for a while longer.
After some time, Sarah rose from her seat.
Screeeech.
"I really do love it here."
Sarah looked around the cafe's interior one more time.
"To think my daughter works in such a lovely place... it truly makes me happy."
"Ah...."
Shalla lowered her head slightly.
Ragna, too, scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed.
"Well, it's not anything all that grand."
Sarah looked at the two of them and smiled gently.
"You two must have been through so much."
"......"
"You've leaned on each other, haven't you?"
Ragna glanced at Rai for a moment.
Then she broke into a confident grin.
"Of course we have!"
Ragna gripped Rai's shoulder tight.
"We've leaned on each other every step of the way, and we've done just fine!"
"......"
Rai looked at Ragna for a long moment, then gave a quiet nod.
"Yeah...."
Sarah watched the brother and sister with a warm smile.
"......I see."
For a brief moment, a gentle warmth filled the cafe.
A few weeks later.
Sarah's condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.
She had battled lung cancer for so long, but in the end, she couldn't hold on any longer, and she left this world.
It was a rainy day.
Shalla knelt before her mother's gravestone, weeping without end.
"Mom...."
Her face was so soaked, it was impossible to tell the rain from her tears.
Beside her, Rai, Ragna, and La Place stood in silence.
None of them dared offer hasty words of comfort.
They simply stayed quietly at her side, so she could cry.
Even after the funeral, there was still so much to do.
Ragna handled the property matters and endless administrative tasks that Shalla couldn't bear to face alone.
"I'll take care of all this, so don't worry about it."
At first, Shalla tried to refuse, but in the end, she accepted Ragna's help.
And time went by.
The ache of loss didn't fade easily.
But slowly, Shalla began to steady her heart.
Live a life Mom wouldn't be ashamed of.
That was the conclusion she had reached.
Chomp.
One day, Ragna spoke up.
"Shalla. If you're okay with it, why don't you come live with us?"
"Un...nie...?"
"I talked it over with Rai and La La. Your room's already ready, so you can move in whenever you want."
"But... how could I..."
At first, Shalla thought she would only be a burden.
But then, at Ragna's next words, she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
"Hm? Oh, come to think of it, we already took a family photo, didn't we? Get over to our house right this inst—!!"
"Hkk... uuuAAAAAAHHH...!!!!"
And just like that, Shalla became truly one of their family.
More time passed...
Rai and Shalla, having finished their duties as Awakeners, were walking side by side through the city streets.
"Nothing much happened today."
Rai, clad in the Akra's armor, stretched lazily.
"Yeah, you're right."
Shalla answered quietly.
Then, it happened.
The massive display screen set up in the middle of the street flickered to life.
Rai and Shalla stopped in their tracks.
"......"
Rai's expression hardened.
Shalla stared at the screen as well.
"Rafia... Curtlay?"
The anchor's voice continued.
"If no additional participants come forward, the sole person eligible to win this Tournament of the Strongest and make a wish of Lord Curse, the Demon King, will be none other than Rafia Curtlay!"
The screen shifted to a sweeping panorama of Marbas, followed by a flashy promotional video for the tournament.
"Hurry and submit your registration, everyone!"
And with that, the video cut off.
The display returned to its usual advertisements.
"......"
Rai stared at the screen for a moment, then tilted his head.
"What on earth is that thing supposed to be?"
But Shalla beside him gave no answer at all.
"Shalla?"
Rai turned to look at her.
Slowly, Shalla dragged her eyes away from the screen and toward Rai.
Then she declared, with quiet resolve:
"Rai."
"Yeah?"
"Let's enter that thing. Right now."
"....What?"
Shalla's eyes were more serious than he had ever seen them.
"Let's go to Marbas."
"Why all of a sudden?"
Shalla fell silent for a moment.
Then she looked back up at the name floating on the screen.
The Demon King.
"I have a wish to make."
Shalla said, low and quiet.
At Rai's question, Shalla gazed up at the screen once more.
"To the Demon King?"
Rai asked, puzzled.
"You're not a genie in a lamp—can you even do that?"
"Yeah. I don't know the details either."
Shalla answered slowly.
"But if they call him the Demon King, he has to be an incredible being. That much is certain."
Rai rested his chin on his hand, thinking.
"Still, it's strange that you can actually make a wish to someone like that."
"......"
"What kind of wish are you even planning to make?"
Shalla's expression darkened.
"A wish to bring back the dead... obviously won't be allowed."
At those words, Rai's face stiffened.
"......"
A brief silence settled between them.
Shalla clenched her fists.
"Even so...."
Shalla said quietly.
"There's a wish I have to make."
Rai looked at her.
Her eyes burned with unwavering resolve.
But what came out of Rai's mouth was something else entirely.
"More importantly."
"......Yeah?"
Rai tilted his head.
"You're not S-Rank, though."
"......"
Shalla's face froze solid.
"......What?"
"I mean."
Rai said, perfectly matter-of-fact.
"Don't you have to be S-Rank to enter the Tournament of the Strongest?"
"......"
For a long moment, Shalla couldn't say a single word.
Then, slowly, she looked down at her own hands.
"......You're right."
"So what now?"
"......"
"......"
Shalla just stood there, dumbfounded.
The incredibly serious atmosphere from mere seconds ago had vanished in an instant.
"...Why are you telling me this now?"
"Well, you're the one who suddenly said we should enter."
Rai said, exasperated.
"I figured I could just tag along. Great, so what do we do now."
Shalla bit her lip hard.
"......I have to find a way."
"Huh?"
Shalla raised her head.
"I just have to become S-Rank somehow. That's all."
Rai stared at her in disbelief.
"You really think that's as easy as it sounds?"
"Doesn't matter."
Shalla kept her eyes fixed on the name Rafia Curtlay glowing on the screen.
"If there's a way...... I will find it. No matter what."