I didn’t run away from the orphanage because there was anything bad about the place. In fact, I didn’t want for anything in life, and I could have lived out the rest of my days there without giving it any thought.
But I just wasn’t satisfied.
I had been told often and from a young age that I mustn’t take it upon myself to go outside the orphanage alone, but as I walked through the outside world on my own, it felt free, and wide, and pleasant.
“Leaving the country?”
As soon as I left the orphanage, I headed for the border.
I had a feeling that if I stayed in the country, my teachers would come and take me back to the orphanage.
“Leaving the country.”
I nodded, and the guard who was standing in front of the gate put his hand on his chin and made a sour face.
It was exactly the same expression the adults, who often came to the orphanage to talk to the teachers, made whenever they looked at me from afar.
I never knew what kind of conversations those adults were having about me, but even at that time, I could tell such expressions were not the product of good feelings.
And, so as not to let me know what they were feeling, the moment they made eye contact with me, the adults always put on fake smiles.
The gate guard crouched down and asked me, “Young lady, is your papa or your mama nearby?”
When I shook my head, he made an even more exaggerated sour face than before.
“Hmm, I see… Then I’m sorry about this, Little Lady. At your age, without consent from your papa or mama, you can’t go out of this gate. Go on home for now, and come back again after you talk to them.”
“……”
I answered him with silence.
“Did you understand me?”
“……”
I took out my broom, set it gently floating in the air, and sat down firmly on top of it. After my position was stable and I took a deep breath, I kicked off the ground lightly. My body floated up off the ground.
“…Hmm? What are you doing, Little Lady? Were you listening to what I said?”
“……”
I directed magical energy into my broom.
“…Little lady?”
“Leaving the country.”
Immediately after I said that, I flew off on my broom, leaving no room for argument.
“H-hey! Wait a second! Come on! You can’t do that! Heeeeeeyyy!”
The guard’s voice echoed behind my back.
When I turned around, I could see the guard running after me.
His voice rang out in the distance, but I kept on flying on my broom until I couldn’t hear him any longer.
I sucked in deep, deep breaths and kept on flying on my broom.
Flying through a world full of freedom.
✦ ✦ ✦
My journey began because of my selfish curiosity, which would not allow me to stay in that narrow world.
The first place I visited was a tiny little village.
“Oh my, what a cute traveler you are.”
The people of the village, living a humble life in the forest, greeted me, a rare visitor, warmly. It wasn’t normal to see a child of only ten traveling alone. It was obvious there was something going on.
But they said nothing and accepted me in.
There were no lodging establishments in the settlement, so one of the old women in the village let me stay with her. It was obvious to see that I had no proper luggage or clothing with me, and the old woman gave me a bag with several changes of clothes in it, saying, “These may be a little old-fashioned for a young girl today, but…”
“…Are you sure I can have these?”
I didn’t have a single thing I could give her in return.
“Yes, it’s fine. Anyway, they’re not doing old folks like us any good.”
Along with the clothes, she also gave me a very mage-like robe to be part of my outfit. It was a gorgeous white robe. When I put my arms through the sleeves, it smelled of wood. It seemed like it had been lying unused in a wardrobe for a very long time. It wasn’t the right size, so it was baggy on me, but the old woman adjusted it for me so that it fit perfectly.
Gazing at me nostalgically after I got changed, the old woman told me the story of the people who lived in that settlement.
Those people living in their village in the woods all had various reasons for leaving their hometowns. All of them had found regular life stifling.
People who were wandering the outside world for similar reasons naturally gathered together, and in finding one another, they had formed a village.
“That’s why even though you arrived here alone, no one will ask you anything.”
The old woman prepared dinner for me.
She said that the local cuisine out there in the forest was based on mushrooms. We ate mushroom pasta and mushroom soup. It was a simple meal, but to these self-sufficient people, it was a feast.
After dinner, the old woman told me that if I wanted to, I was welcome to live in the village.
And that the other villagers were hoping I would stay.
They were such kind people.
“Thank you very much. But I can’t stay here.”
The following day, I left the village at sunrise.
As a parting gift, they gave me plenty of food and money.
They were the kindest people in the world.
But I knew I was not normal.
There was no way I could continue to rely on the goodwill of those kind people, who had never once pointed out that I was not normal. And so, after bowing deeply to the villagers, I once again flew off on my broom.
I definitely didn’t leave because I couldn’t stomach the mushrooms.