A Strange Ceiling and a Promise of Reunion
The ceiling was unfamiliar. 'I survived.' Staring up at the strange ceiling, I let out a sigh of relief at the realization that I had somehow made it through. The chances of a rescue team arriving before the light of my life flickered out were slim, so it seemed Marinne must have conquered the ruins on her own. I'd thought it would be fortunate enough if she simply survived, but she'd gone and cleared the entire ruin. A wave of genuine gratitude toward Marinne washed over me.
I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn't cooperate—apparently I still hadn't recovered. At least I could move my neck if I endured the pain. “Ugh.” Gritting my teeth against the discomfort, I turned my head to check on my limbs. Thankfully, everything looked normal from the outside. Next, I decided to examine my mana circuits. I'd assumed they would be damaged, but I still tried to move my mana, just in case.
Woooong.
The mana stored in my body was still there, but unfortunately my circuits seemed completely broken. The mana refused to move according to my will.
'Sigh...' It was definitely a relief to be alive, but losing the powerful force known as mana left me feeling utterly empty. 'How many years will it take to recover this?'
According to the average for adult mages, restoring damaged mana circuits took about ten years. Even after recovery, handling the same output as before would be difficult. Since this body was still young, the recovery period would be shorter than for an adult mage, but I would still need at least five years.
“Haa…”
Creak.
While I was letting out a deep sigh, the door to the hospital room opened. I forced my stiff neck muscles to move and checked the face of the person who entered. It was Marinne and her father—the Northern Archduke and Sword Master.
The moment I saw the Northern Archduke, cold sweat trickled down my back. I had survived, but his daughter had nearly lost her life because of me. His anger was bound to be immense. I was still trying to figure out how to explain myself when the Archduke gently took my hand.
“I heard from my daughter. Our little rascal caused an accident and got you tangled up in that ruin.”
“Pardon?”
It was an unexpected answer. I had assumed he would explode with rage over his daughter facing a life-threatening crisis. But the Northern Archduke maintained a gentle demeanor without a trace of anger.
“I also heard what happened inside the ruin. When death is staring you in the face, it's only natural for a person to lose their reason. You handled it well.”
“Th-thank you.”
His reaction was far more friendly than I could have imagined. It seemed Marinne had put in a good word for me with her father. I was grateful.
“I heard your mana circuits are damaged. That's truly unfortunate. Still, you're young. I'm sure you'll be able to recover them fully.”
“Yes…”
“Our family will actively assist with your mana circuit restoration in any way we can. However… unfortunately, Marinne must return with us to our territory.”
“Ah…”
It made sense. No matter whose fault it had been, the fact remained that Marinne had felt her life was in danger. Regardless of the Archduke's personal feelings, from the perspective of the DeRifos family, it was only right to call her back. My head understood, but after spending so much time together, I couldn't help feeling a pang of disappointment.
“We'll depart tomorrow. I'll step out so the two of you can make some good memories with the time you have left.”
After the Northern Archduke left the room, Marinne approached hesitantly. Thankfully, she looked perfectly healthy, without any serious injuries.
“I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… Hendel got hurt because of me…”
Marinne hugged me tightly, tears streaming down her face. I gently stroked her hair as she cried.
“Hey, it's thanks to you, my lady, that I'm even alive. I don't know exactly what happened in the ruin, but I'm truly grateful to you.”
“Hwaaaang…”
I silently comforted Marinne as she shed big, fat tears like chicken droppings.
“And then there was a dinosaur on the other side of the wall!”
“Whoa.”
After our tear-filled session ended, I asked Marinne about everything that had happened while I was unconscious. She excitedly launched into bragging about her heroic exploits. Surprisingly, her story was quite fascinating.
“So what happened next?”
“At first I wrapped mana around a stick and swung it at the thing! It was a total stalemate!”
No matter how much of my mana she'd used, the idea of an eight-year-old girl matching a dinosaur in raw strength was hard to believe. But looking into Marinne's eyes, she didn't seem to be exaggerating at all.
“Can you show me your aura blade?”
Marinne grinned and raised her index finger. Wiiiiing.
Pure white mana wrapped around her hand.
“Wow…”
“Hehe, cool, right?”
When I expressed my admiration, an excited Marinne began showing off all kinds of tricks using her aura. She made a ball with it, then shaped it into a flower.
“That's… incredible!”
I'd never had much interest in swordsmanship, so I lacked knowledge in that area, but aura was ultimately a form of mana. Knowing how difficult it was to handle mana with such precision, I couldn't help but be amazed.
“Hmph.”
Marinne's shoulders rose with pride. That day, the two of us stayed up all night talking about everything and anything, creating our final memories together.
When dawn broke, the Northern Archduke arrived with my parents. I learned that my parents had thoughtfully given us the previous day alone, knowing that Marinne and I would soon have to part ways.
“Oh my, look at our son's face—it's so thin.”
“Haha, actually I think he's gained some weight from eating well…”
My mother, still possessing breathtaking beauty, burst into tears the moment she saw my face.
“Thank you for coming back alive. Truly, thank you.”
My father held back his tears with visible effort as he hugged me tightly.
“Hwaaaang.”
Marinne, whom I'd only just managed to calm down yesterday, took one look at me embracing my parents and started crying again. She threw herself straight into my arms.
“Hic… I don't want to go… I want to keep playing with Hendel…”
I stroked her cheek. “My lady. You'll come to the academy later too, right?”
“The academy?”
“Yes, that academy where all noble children must attend for three years.”
Marinne's mouth fell open in realization. The empire's nobles were obligated to receive three years of education at the academy once they turned sixteen. It was called compulsory education, but in reality it was a way to keep provincial nobles from getting any dangerous ideas by holding their children hostage.
I skillfully tidied Marinne's hair. “So we'll meet again then. After we've both grown up enough.”
“Sniffle, really?”
“Of course. It's the law, so we have no choice but to meet.”
“Promise with a pinky that we'll meet again after we grow up.”
“Of course.”
When we hooked our fingers in a promise, Marinne beamed. I looked at her and teased, “My lady, if you grow up to be incredibly beautiful and pretend not to know me, that's not allowed, okay?”
Marinne shook her head vigorously. “Never. That would never happen.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
Marinne covered my mouth with her small hand. “No more calling me 'my lady.' From now on, call me Marinne.”
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at her own words. It was such a small thing, but seeing her get so shy made me feel embarrassed too.
“Ahem… Marinne…?”
Having called her “my lady” for an entire year, it felt incredibly awkward to use her name. Marinne smiled brightly, clearly overjoyed that I'd called her by name.
“Yeah!”
“Hwaaang. No, no, I want to stay with Hendel~!”
“…”
Despite having prepared for a beautiful farewell, the moment of actual separation arrived and Marinne burst into tears, activating her skill [Sitting Down on the Spot]. Even the world's greatest Sword Master seemed to be seeing this technique for the first time; his hands fluttered in confusion, unable to find purchase.
“Marinne, if you do this, it'll make things harder for Hendel. Okay?”
“Hwaaaang.”
“Let's visit Count Edgar's estate together once a year, alright?”
The Northern Archduke, at a complete loss, began negotiating. From the way my father's expression hardened beside him, it didn't seem like this had been pre-discussed.
“Hic, hic, huu…”
Marinne continued shedding fat tears, completely ignoring the Archduke's bait.
“Fine, every six months!”
“Sniffle, for how many days?”
“Um… one week?”
“Hwaaaang…”
“Marinne, anything more than that is really difficult.”
Even as she cried, Marinne kept stealing glances at the Northern Archduke, clearly calculating how much more she could squeeze out of him.
'This should be enough.' I'd realized from the very beginning that she was acting—her expression had given it away. But since I also wanted to see her often, I'd pretended not to notice. Still, demanding any more would be unfair to both my father and the Archduke. So I decided to cut it off here and called out to her.
“Marinne.”
“Y-yes!”
The girl who had been dripping with tears vanished in an instant. The moment I called her name, Marinne's face lit up with a bright smile. The Northern Archduke's expression filled with subtle resentment at the sight.
“We definitely promised with a pinky that even though we're parting now, we'd meet again after growing up, right?”
“Y-yeah, we did.”
“I wouldn't like a Marinne who breaks her promises…”
At the word “wouldn't like,” Marinne jumped in surprise.
“I'm sorry… Please don't dislike me. I won't throw any more tantrums.”
The Northern Archduke gave a small bow of gratitude. To think I'd live to receive thanks from the Northern Archduke himself. I looked at Marinne gently.
“Then shall we say our goodbyes now?”
Though she still looked reluctant, Marinne spoke in a small voice.
“Hendel, thank you so much for everything until now.”
“Yeah.”
“I will never, ever forget the memories I made with you!”
Marinne threw herself into my arms.
“You… won't forget either, right?”
I grinned. “Of course not.”