Evening slipped into night. In a room in an inn located on the outskirts of the forest, an older Claudia wore a loose nightgown and questioned Noah, who sat on the bed opposite hers.
“Do you know of the witch from five hundred years ago named Adelheid?”
“You mean...the legendary magician, right?”
Noah looked very tidy now, dressed in old clothes belonging to the innkeeper’s children, after having washed off the dirt and blood in the inn’s bathtub. His wet black hair had already dried as well, the ends curling softly. Seeing him like this, Claudia was once again struck by his harmonious exterior. Dress him up in finery and it would be easy to lead others to believe he came from nobility or royalty. Aside from the beastly glare in his black eyes and the dagger he gripped tightly, of course.
“They call her by different names: ‘the Witch Who Changed the World’ and ‘the Origin of Modern Magic.’ Everyone knows at least that much.”
“Tee hee. Yes, thank you.”
“I have bigger things on my mind, though.” With the tip of the dagger pointed at her, he scowled ferociously up at her. “Who the hell are you?”
She tilted her head curiously in response. “How rude of you, Noah, to forget your savior so soon.”
“I met a runt in the forest who was five years old, if that.” Despite the exasperation on his face, he remained on guard. “It sure wasn’t a grown-up like you.”
“Hmmm...”
Claudia leaned out a bit from her bed and looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror on the wall. A beautiful young girl around sixteen stared back at her. She possessed long, slender, well-proportioned limbs and mature features. Her breasts were supple and ample, and her waist slim. However, her creamy beige-colored hair remained unchanged from her six-year-old form.
“The truth is, I actually wanted to fashion an appearance closer to twenty years old.”
“What do you mean?”
“After sleeping long enough for my magic to recover a bit, I temporarily took on an adult form. You must have seen the transformation with your own eyes.”
She had transformed a short while ago, right before they arrived in the village they now stayed in.
“No inn would rent rooms to two children, don’t you think? And I certainly didn’t expect you to carry me so far out of the woods either.”
“What was I supposed to do? You fell asleep without telling me where exactly your ‘home’ is. That’s your problem, you know. You never explain anything.”
“Well, aren’t I explaining things to you now?”
The bed creaked under her as she readjusted herself to sit on the edge of the bed. Opposite her, Noah lowered the dagger point the slightest bit.
“Wait. Don’t tell me you’re gonna say you’re Adelheid?”
“Strictly speaking, I’m her reincarnation. My standing in this life is as a princess in this country, Claudia Nathalie Breitkreuz. I am six years old.”
His refusal to believe her was written all over his face. When she smiled cheerfully at him, he set aside the dagger, though his sullen expression didn’t change.
“Oh my. Are you absolutely certain you want to do that, despite your face making it clear you don’t want to believe me?”
“Not wanting to believe something and being unable to believe something are two completely different things. And I definitely don’t wanna believe you, but...”
At that moment, he heard a small pop come from the vicinity of Claudia’s chest.
Smoke puffed out around her, and when it cleared, she had reverted to her six-year-old body. She sat there on her bed looking as tiny and quiet as a mouse. Her feet didn’t even reach the floor. The sight aggravated Noah, and he didn’t conceal the sentiment.
“It’s such a waste of magic to use it for stupid reasons like this,” he said.
“I knew it. You have some understanding of magic, don’t you?”
Claudia observed Noah thoughtfully. Extremely pure magical energy flowed inside him. The color of a person’s eyes indicated the nature of their magic; even she had never before seen a remarkable jet black like his.
“If you’re really the reincarnation...of the witch Adelheid...” Noah muttered quietly. His tone remained less hostile even after she returned to her child form, perhaps because he accepted that she was older than him, at least on the inside.
“Then that means you’re actually an adult on the inside, right? Like the body you were just in?”
“Tee hee, cowwect. You can think of me as an older sister or something awong those lines.”
“No way.” He looked genuinely revolted by the thought. A beat later, he continued. “I wanna ask you another thing... Is there a new slave contract between you and me?”
“Not quite. The magic is that of an acowyte contract and it’s much stronger.”
“Acolyte...” the boy murmured as if he was reflecting on the meaning of the word. “For a while now, I’ve felt some kind of huge, powerful magic swirling inside me... Here.”
Noah pressed his hand against the left side of his chest covered by the white shirt. “This is your magic, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. Any acowyte of mine can use my magic.”
When he did not reply, she continued.
“It might be unpleasant, but I want you to bear with it for a little longer. I’ll undo it once I’m well again.”
He affixed her with a serious gaze. “I’m fine like this.”
Taken aback, Claudia stared blankly at him. “Why?”
“Being able to use your magic works out in my favor.”
Her eyes narrowed. In light of what happened earlier that day, it was plain to see that Noah had his own circumstances to deal with. After all, why else would a child not even ten years old throw away his own life to escape such an outdated slave contract?
I do so hope his circumstances are interesting enough to warrant all this...
“If there’s a price to pay, I’ll pay it,” Noah stated firmly, as if he had guessed the direction in which her thoughts traveled.
“Can you, though? Tell me...do you think you can afford my pwice?”
“I know I have some kind of value to you. That’s why you let me live, right?”
“Well, well! Tee hee!”
Claudia tittered merrily, pleased by the entertaining turn of events. She sprung off her bed, took a few steps to stand in front of him, and stared raptly up at him from her diminutive height.