[V6C10] The Future in Sight
Translated by Jodas 6: Secrets of the Wedge TowerIn the morning, Tia woke up before sunrise and, careful to avoid waking Sevil, stepped out of their room.
She wasn’t thinking of doing anything naughty. It’s just that so much happened yesterday and her mind still isn’t fully clear, so she wanted to go on a walk.
Considering that it was early in the morning, Tia restrained her urge to sing, simply humming as she wandered around the outer edge of the Tower.
(Yesterday we did the magic battle, I found that man, then we decided to go after that man’s weakness…)
That man— Headmaster Möbius. The man who stole Tia’s flight feathers.
The moment she saw him, an urge to kill washed over her. But, she held it in. She didn’t kill that man.
She still wasn’t sure why she’d held back, but as she walked around on her walk, she finally started to understand.
(Because, if I killed him, then I wouldn’t be able to be with Wren and Sevil any more.)
Wren and Sevil were more important to her than killing that man.
She felt like something was changing inside of her. She didn’t know what that something was, though.
As she groped around for what that something could be, a voice called from overhead.
“Good morning, my rival.”
“Ah, Frederik!”
She looked to the sky, where a spear-wielding young man with light brown hair soundlessly drifted down towards her — Mister Smiley himself, Frederik Lange.
“Are you on a walk?”
“Yep. You on a sky walk too, Frederik?”
“I am.” Frederik nodded, smiling bashfully.
“I find myself enjoying flying all of a sudden.”
“Pefufu, that’s because it’s fun!”
“Before, I never used to fly because I enjoyed it, you know.”
“Really?”
Even though flying was so fun!
Tia’s amber eyes opened wide, to which Frederik gave a warm smile. He looked as if a demon possessing him had finally been removed.
“I’m enjoying it a little bit now. Would you like to have another competition?”
“Piuo! Yeah! That was my first time having fun competing too! When I thought ‘I don’t want to lose to Frederik,’ I had so much fun! I wanna do that again!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Then that makes two of us. I don’t want to lose to you either, Tia.”
Frederik had never thought of flying as something to be enjoyed.
Tia had never held any interest in competing against anyone else.
Both of them were now rivals who enjoyed both competing and flying.
(When we feel the same way like this, it makes me a little happy.)
She thinks I really want to go flying again. However, the Magical Flying Device is currently undergoing repairs.
She found it frustrating that she still couldn’t fly whenever and wherever she wanted.
As the two chatted idly, they walked along the side of the Tower.
“Thanks! For pitching in to the party yesterday!”
“You’re very welcome. I caused you guys a lot of trouble, so it was the least I could do.”
Yesterday afternoon, they carried light snacks and sweets into the classroom and had a little ‘afterparty.’
Sevil called it a ‘banquet’ for a ‘job well done,’ so it seemed like there were a lot of words to describe it, but either way, it felt like a ‘we won the magic battle, so let’s celebrate!’ kinda party.
As it was going on, the three from the Extermination Office — Frederik, Rikard, and Helena showed up carrying gifts.
All three of them pitched in money, and Frederik used flight magic to fly to the nearest town and buy some snacks.
“Gerald and Sophie love eating, so they were super happy! Roswitha also loves sweet things, and she even tried to hide some snacks in her cloak!”
“You mean the long bangs boy, the Shaman girl, and… Roswitha is the girl with the pointy hat, right? I’m glad they liked it.”
“The ones with nuts inside were super tasty!”
“Tia, I didn’t see you eating all that much. Are you feeling okay?”
“Piyo? If I ate a lot, it would be harder to fly, right?”
“…Haha, I guess so. I’m the same way.”
Tia doesn’t know the correct answer for a human-like conversation.
But, she has a lot of fun when she’s talking with Frederik, and she can keep up with his tempo.
His little brother, Oliver, has a tendency to simply speak his thoughts without a filter, but unlike Oliver’s stern and collected voice, Frederik’s voice is a lot softer. She found that difference intriguing.
“That said, I’ll see you later, my rival.”
“Yep, later Frederik!”
After walking for only a little bit, she parted ways with Frederik, this time aimlessly heading for the gardens.
These were the same gardens where she had that conversation with Wren and Sevil yesterday.
Along her way, Tia spotted some familiar fuzzy and black-haired heads in front of her.
“Rose! Gerald!”
It looked like the two of them were pulling weeds. They stopped working when they heard Tia’s voice and turned around to face her.
“Hey, Tia! Good work yesterday!”
“…Good morning.”
In contrast to Rose’s merriment, Gerald lowered his head and said his greetings in a hushed whisper.
By the way, Rose had always been doing yard work in his spare time, but this was her first time seeing Gerald helping out.
“Gerald, are you helping Rose?”
“…Yes.”
Gerald brushed off the sweat that ran down his face. The force of his hand swept up his long bangs, offering her a glimpse of his eyes.
He had sharp, wolf-like grey eyes. As Tia stared into them, Gerald awkwardly set his bangs back in place and grumbled.
“I don’t have anything I like to do, but… During the afterparty yesterday, I realized that I do actually like to eat.”
“You did eat a lot!”
When Tia offered her honest reaction, Gerald mumbled in embarrassment “…It’s not honorable.”
— Gerald was always quiet, hiding behind his long bangs. He was Wren’s roommate and, ostensibly, a sword-wielder. He was the most physically capable of the Apprentices and a huge eater.
Following the magic battle, the Apprentices came to interact with each other more and more, and they had more chances to learn about each other.
…And through that, she started to want not just to know them, but to know a little more about them.
Thus, Tia asked Gerald.
“Do you want to become a person who makes food, Gerald?”
“Yes. Rose told me he’s doing research on growing plants even in bad soil. I was thinking it would be nice if we had more plants like that.”
“Food is really important, so I think that’s amazing!”
When she voiced her honest thoughts, Gerald showed a relieved smile.
Having watched this exchange, Rose casually interjected.
“You know, I can only stay at the Wedge Tower for a year.”
“Pefu?” Tia gasped and her eyes widened.
It came as a surprise although, when she thought about it, Tia herself didn’t plan to stay at the Wedge Tower forever either.
(I just thought that Humans would stay at the Wedge Tower forever, though.)
To the surprised Tia, Rose spoke, his fuzzy beard swaying with each word.
“I made a promise with my family. So I won’t be here next year. That’s why I was thinking of planting as many tasty things as possible. Would you do me a favor and think of me when it comes time to harvest them?”
Forgetting how to even make a noise, Tia’s jaw hung open as she looked up at Rose.
He would leave something for the people who lived in the future. He wanted them to remember him.
— Thinking of it made her heart pound.
“I’d be thrilled if you inherited my garden, Gerald!”
“I’m not sure if I’ll do a good job, though…”
Both Rose and Gerald were thinking of a future ahead of them.
That future was probably something far, far ahead of what Tia, as a Harpy, could envision.
Tia wanted a future where she once again took to the sky. She had given no thoughts towards a future any further beyond that. The most she could think of was that she’d like to see her sister and the others again.
(Once I can fly again, in the future after that… I wonder if Wren and Sevil are still going to be there? I want to hear more of Mr. Hütter’s funny stories. I want to compete with Frederik more…)
For the first time, the differences between humans and Harpies felt painful to her.