“I’ll slice through these ugly chains, but I need you to endure the pain for just a bit. You mustn’t flail no matter how scary it might get.”
His eyes widened, which Claudia took as assent. She smiled in satisfaction. Gazing at the dark pools of his eyes from this close made them all the more enchanting. She parted her lips slightly, took a short breath, and cast the spell.
“Demolish.”
“Ngggh!!!”
Both their hearts slammed hard in their chests. Claudia’s dagger jutted from the boy’s chest. The curse reversed course, and the blackness of the haze deepened. The magic of the slave contract rampaged wildly. The hilt of the dagger held in her right hand practically boiled.
“Oh my. Will you defy me, then?” She giggled in amusement at the novel sensation. “Alas, I can’t do what must needs be done with my cuwwent body, so I have no choice but to obawite your slave contwact.”
“Overwrite...?” Though his face was twisted in pain, the boy never once broke eye contact.
“Don’t wowwy. I’ll undo the collar wight away.”
“Ngh...!!!”
At that moment came the sound of something breaking with a krak. The wind blew so hard that it whipped her dress around and made it impossible to keep her eyes open. As Claudia held her milk-tea-colored hair in place, she slowly opened her eyes once the wind died down.
“This... How... What...”
The boy surveyed their surroundings, bewildered at what he was seeing. With the black haze now eradicated, a gentle stillness blanketed the forest. Then he looked down at the left side of his chest, which was covered by his shirt. There were neither black snakes slithering out nor any wounds from the dagger. The weapon in her hand faded with a soft whoosh.
“Did you...? Did you end my punishment? Wait... You... You did something to my slave contract too...”
She yawned daintily before replying, “To be clear, it’s still there. I merely weconnected the end of the chain attached to your soul—from your old mastuh to me.”
Claudia did her best to shake off the dirt clinging to her dress, but her tiny hands were ineffective. She never would have picked white had she known how conspicuously stains appeared. Her lips twisted in a moue of displeasure as she stared up at the boy.
“Later, I’ll bweak the contwact, and it will be as simple as that. Tell me, what’s your name?”
“I...don’t have one.”
“I see. Then I shall call you Noah in the meantime.”
The boy she named Noah stared at her warily. Was it really so strange that she didn’t dwell on the fact he had no name?
“What the hell are you? No matter how you look at it, you aren’t a normal child, are you?”
“Mmm... I have no kwams about wevealing the truth to you, especially since I promised to void our contwact anyway. But, first...”
The ground had been shaking gently for a few moments now. Claudia held her hand over Noah and cast a simple spell. “Heal.”
A ball of light winked softly into existence and spun around him.
“You should feel much better now, yes? In exchange, I want you to hug me.”
“H-Huh...? Hey, wait a second!”
When she put out her hands in silent demand, Noah automatically held her away.
“I’ll have you know that I’m vewy, vewy sweepy.”
“You’re...what?”
“I think I used too much magic... My body...can’t endure... At...its limit... Ahhh...”
Claudia finished with a huge yawn then clung to Noah limply.
“Hold on. Don’t tell me you’re actually planning on sleeping? Here of all places?”
“Take...me...home... Mrgh...”
“Hey! Listen to me!”
He felt her abruptly slip into unconsciousness after the last unintelligible mumble. With her head resting against his chest, he heard the quiet breaths of her sleeping. No matter how much she shook her, she showed no signs of waking anytime soon.
As he held the slumbering Claudia in his arms, Noah muttered in a puzzled voice.
“But...I have no idea where your house is...”