How to Mend a Broken Heart, and… (2)
Three months had already passed since I began working in Waldenheim. Around that time, the count’s young son came to visit my magic tool shop and workshop, accompanied by his attendant. By then, the shattered pieces of my heart had almost fully mended. I still couldn’t bring myself to lay hands on people and rewind their time, though.
“Hello, Miss Mage!”
“Have you been well, young master?”
I had encountered the boy a few times when the count summoned me to the castle for consultations, so I recognized him immediately and offered a respectful greeting. Still so young, he seemed uncomfortable with my formal manners.
“Yes, I’ve been well. Your shop always smells so delicious, Miss Mage.”
“Hehe, that’s because I’m a baker’s daughter.”
I gave the small child a warm smile and offered the same answer I always gave everyone.
“Please fix this for me.”
As he spoke, the boy pointed to a small box that his attendant was carefully holding.
“This is… a music box.”
“Yes. I want to hear what sound it makes, but Father says it’s broken and can’t be repaired.”
“Understood. I’ll use every spell I know to restore it. How should I return it to you?”
“Father gave me permission to go out again at this same time tomorrow. Would one day be too short?”
To the boy who looked up at me with worried eyes, I answered with a gentle smile.
“I will return it to you without fail tomorrow. Don’t worry.”
That evening, I closed the shop early, took the music box, and shut myself inside my personal research room.
‘There’s no way a rural craftsman who only makes farming tools could repair something as delicate as a music box…’
I slowly rewound the music box’s time. I sent it a little way into the past, let it play, and repeated the process several times, but the device refused to mend.
‘Just how long ago did it break?’
I rewound its time faster and further. Perhaps because I had fixed so many broken plates, manipulating the flow of time on objects no longer required much concentration.
After about a dozen attempts, just as drowsiness began to creep over me, a clear melody flowed from the music box. It was a tune I had never heard before, yet listening to the quiet music fill the empty room brought unexpected peace to my heart. The inside of the music box now gleamed like new.
That night, I forgot to go to bed. I fell fast asleep right there in the workshop, lulled by the soothing melody that melted the tension from my body. Thanks to that, I opened the shop a little late the next day, but I was able to return the music box to the boy as promised.
Dear Mage Kaira,
I cannot thank you enough for repairing the music box. It was a precious keepsake my late mother left me. I could not bear to throw it away, and now, thanks to you, I can remember her with fondness once more. My son has taken quite a liking to it as well. He even brought it to the recent banquet and proudly showed it off to everyone.
— Count Waldenheim
Two more months passed, and I had almost forgotten the small incident when I received a short letter from the count. Its contents were simple. He thanked me for fixing the music box. It had been a cherished item from his mother who passed away long ago, and he was grateful that I had allowed him to recall her memory. His son loved it so much that he had taken it to a recent banquet and bragged about it to everyone.
I smiled comfortably as I read the count’s letter, which carried the thick scent of a decent human being. Yes, this is what living feels like, I thought.
I wrote a reply stripped of unnecessary politeness, simply expressing my gratitude for his constant care, and sent it back with the count’s servant. Only then did the question I had forgotten resurface.
‘But… just when exactly had that music box broken?’
It wasn’t something I considered very important, so the question scattered from my mind as quickly as it had appeared. The answer came the very next day.
It was a slow day for customers. Since I lived half on sales and half on the count’s patronage, I didn’t need to worry about foot traffic. My broken mind had recovered enough to conduct proper research, and I had gradually bought and collected books from merchants who occasionally visited the count’s capital. On quiet days, I simply worked on customizing simple everyday magic in my own way.
After all, the magic needed by the owner of a magic tool shop in a peaceful territory visited only by farmers and hunters—not by monster-infested forests or lands with giant adventurer guilds—was usually just that sort of thing.
‘Hmm… It’s almost finished. I just need to shorten the incantation a little. How should I trim it? Once it’s done, I’ll name it Kaira’s Bucket Adhesive. Since I’m the only one who’ll use it, the name doesn’t really matter. It’s annoying to rewrite the spell itself… Maybe I should just master it and omit the incantation entirely…’
As I pondered, the room suddenly brightened. The low evening sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the inside of the workshop.
‘Has it already gotten this late?’
I picked up a large piece of bread I had cut that morning and ate it. Since the sun had set, I decided to close the shop first before finishing the spell or practicing it.
I settled on refining the structure to shorten the incantation rather than practicing it. It wasn’t a spell I would use often anyway. As I polished the logical structure of the spell, the sunlight slipping through the window frame finally disappeared.
Thus, the spell that would help the women drawing water from the well was completed. Like Kaira’s Secret Diary, it was a magic only I would use. I liked this leisurely place where I could live by creating such trivial spells little by little. It was a quiet count’s territory where problems related to magic rarely arose—a place where I could research minor magic and live at ease.
‘Yes. Living like this… spending my whole life alone as the owner of a rural magic tool shop doesn’t sound so bad.’
I leaned back comfortably in the wooden chair and closed my eyes slightly.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t left my shop even once since coming here. I should ask the count for permission tomorrow. I want to visit the capital to see my parents. I send letters often, but they must miss seeing my face. If I go home, I should bring that clock back with me too.’
While I was lost in those thoughts, someone knocked on the shop door. The sun had completely set, and even the last traces of daylight had vanished.
‘It’s well past closing time.’
It didn’t mean much. The people here saw each other’s faces every day in the same village, so such things had never bothered me. Even if it was a traveler who didn’t know when the shop closed and had knocked by mistake, there was no harm in treating travelers kindly…
Thinking such things, I unlatched the door and opened it.
“Eh…?”
Standing in the doorway was a beautifully dressed, noble-looking young woman with golden hair.
“F-first time meeting you. Um, who…?”
Before the person with the faint smile could answer, I recognized who she was and hurriedly covered my mouth. A memory from my student days flashed through my mind like lightning—an unpleasant one.
I took a step back, gathered the hem of my robe and skirt together, and bowed deeply.
“M-Mage Kaira dares to greet the esteemed daughter of the House of Mittenburg.”
The noblewoman—Zophy of Mittenburg—the former top graduate of the Magic Academy who had been revived by my hand not long after shedding her freshman status—looked at me as I stammered and trembled, then smiled sweetly.
“It’s been a long time, Hero Kaira. You look well. Though we meet after so long, you still smell as fragrant as before. But you’re being far too stiff. There’s no need for such formality between old friends, is there?”
As far as I remembered, Zophy had never once thought of me as a friend.
“I was on my way to pay a short visit to Count Waldenheim to return the courtesy for attending the last banquet. But I heard an old friend had opened a small shop here, so I came to see your face.”
“Y-yes, of course. I am deeply honored, My Lady.”
Zophy let out a bright, amused laugh. Seeing a face so different from the cold one in my memories, my own heart eased a little.
Zophy looked around my shop with curious eyes, taking in the shelves filled only with magic-infused farming tools.
“This may sound rude, but I remember you were excellent in theory yet lacked much talent in actually manifesting magic… I never imagined you would run a tool shop. You must have honed your skills considerably during this time. Well, you are the hero, after all.”
“I am most grateful for your generous praise.”
Zophy approached me slowly, accompanied by two women who appeared to be her maids.
“Actually, I have one more matter to discuss.”
“If it is something I can do, I will gladly take it on.”
“Is that so? How fortunate. The truth is, I recommended a certain mage as a close aide to Count Waldenheim.”
I stared at Zophy with wide eyes. I couldn’t understand what she meant at all.
“The House of Waldenheim and ours are not bound by any contractual obligation. If we were to commit the outrage of stealing a mage from the count’s territory without compensation, it would greatly damage the honor of both families.”
Zophy tilted her head slightly and pointed toward the door. A carriage stood just outside, as if waiting for someone.
“Hero Kaira. I have come to escort you. You will serve as a mage directly under our ducal house… offering various advice.”
I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. I stammered as I tried to organize the situation.
“U-um… Are you… offering me employment…?”
“That is one way to put it. The mage I introduced to the count is someone who can assist him just as well as you—perhaps even better—so please feel at ease and come with me.”
Zophy added one more thing, as if something had just occurred to her.
“Ah, of course that mage won’t be able to do that particular task.”
I felt an instinctive sense of dread behind Zophy’s smile.
“The act of rewinding time to repair something. The same thing you did to me.”
I drew in a sharp breath and stumbled backward.
How did she know? Even if she knew, why would Zophy come for me now, like this?
Zophy chuckled at the wariness that must have shown on my face.
“Don’t look so frightened. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Zophy’s voice remained perfectly casual.
“At the last banquet, the little young master of House Waldenheim proudly showed off a little music box. The count said it had been broken for thirty years. He mentioned that a skilled mage in his territory had repaired it.”
Zophy continued speaking, still wearing that benevolent smile.
“But isn’t that strange? As you know, I am something of a mage myself, yet I know of no such magic. I asked the mages I know, and they all said no such dreamlike magic exists. Not unless it was a grand spell that rewinds time. And even if such grand magic existed, there would be no reason to use it on a music box.”
Watching the smile in Zophy’s eyes, I instinctively knew something terrible was about to happen. Zophy made a strange gesture in front of me. That hand movement… it looked familiar, like the casting method of a spell I had seen somewhere before…
“After thinking about it for a long time, I suddenly realized. That you were not some witch who steals memories.”
“I-I… … …?”
My voice…
It was as if the air needed to carry sound had vanished. No voice came out.
“Please listen quietly. Hero Kaira, there are many people in this world whose remaining time is short. Wealthy commoners, or those who have spent their entire lives climbing to high positions. Poor souls who only realized too late that they had used up all the time given to them chasing wealth or honor. If only they could live the time that has already flowed away, they would do anything. All of them need your help.”
The two maids approached me. They gave me no chance to resist.
Before I could realize what was happening, one of them forced me to my knees, and the other twisted my arm at an angle that prevented me from using any strength. Their movements were practiced. Even though I still carried the precious sword Mervin had given me beneath my robe, I didn’t even have time to reach for the hilt.
While doing so, they wrapped my hands in a cloth with a strange texture, carefully covering each finger one by one.
“That cloth is woven from a special fiber made thread by thread by renowned mages and artisans. It can seal not only magic but most abilities that interfere with the structure of the world.”
Even as Zophy prattled on, sturdy ropes tightly bound my wrists, knees, and ankles. Though they were women like me, two maids trained in subduing techniques were more than a match for a mage who had spent her life avoiding physical exertion.
“When you raised me from where I had collapsed, and when you worked at the hospital treating emergency patients, you always touched people with your hands, didn’t you? That must be how you rewind time. With those hands that are now useless, wrapped in that cloth.”
No matter how I looked at it, Zophy had no intention of doing me any good. I had to resist. But bound by ropes, I could neither run nor fight. I couldn’t use magic or rewind time either.
Then the only thing left was my voice. I had to scream. There were still many people in the village who hadn’t gone to sleep yet. I had to call for help… But just a moment ago, my voice had…
“……! ……? ……!!”
I opened and closed my mouth desperately, but no sound came out, as if I had been thrown into a vacuum.
“You probably know the spell, but right now your throat is under the effect of Yorlick’s Silence. It doesn’t last very long, so it’s about time for a gag. Even someone as untalented in magic as you must have trained by now to activate a few spells with only incantations, without hand gestures.”
One of the maids forcibly pried open my mouth as I struggled on the floor, wrists and ankles, elbows and knees all bound. No matter how hard I shook my head, it was useless. A rough cloth was stuffed all the way to the back of my throat, and a thick rope was tied tightly from my mouth to the back of my head, securing the cloth in place.
“Ugh, mmmph… ngh…”
The spell Zophy had cast soon wore off, but with my mouth already stuffed, I couldn’t utter a single word, let alone an incantation or a scream. I had to fight back the nausea rising from the foreign object blocking my throat. Zophy slowly approached me with arrogant steps as I knelt miserably on the floor.
“How beautiful you are, Kaira. Even back then, for a mere baker’s daughter, I thought your face was quite lovely. But now that you’ve become this perfectly wretched figure, you look even prettier.”
I heard Zophy take a light breath above the crown of my head.
“Is this scent because you’re a baker’s daughter? That delicious, filling, yet cheap and vulgar smell…”
While mocking me like that, the duke’s daughter extended a beautiful hand wearing a silk glove. In it was a thick, soft-looking black cloth.
“Mmph, ngh…!!”
“Sleep well, my fragrant old friend. Thank you for that time. For saving my life. Now, don’t be nervous. The work you’ll be doing from now on will surely be enjoyable.”
Zophy whispered as she personally covered my eyes with the black cloth. The moment the duchess’s lips left my ear, an overwhelming drowsiness I couldn’t shake off washed over me.
“Mmmph… ugh… …”
‘This blindfold… has Nemeros’s Deep Sleep cast on it…?’
Even if I realized it, it was already too late. My consciousness flickered out like a candle blown away by someone’s breath.