Chapter Eighty-Nine: Flashback to Screams of Pain That Went Unheard
SAI shivered. She recalled the nightmares that had haunted her ever since the awakening of her powers at age nine. In the dreams, she was grown-up and all alone. Everyone around her hated her. Her precious home was ablaze, and she was hung on a rope. She was terrified, and she cried and screamed, yet no one would save her.
As the nightmares continued to torment her, Sai gradually began to believe that they were her future. “If I become a bad girl… If I become a bad Wagtail Priestess, my home will burn down. I can’t let that happen. I’ll be careful and be a good girl.”
Her self-sacrificial tendencies and dedication to other people had already been significant to begin with since she was the Wagtail Priestess, and due to the dreams, her will to be “a good girl” escalated into an unhealthy obsession.
She was walking toward the main street when a small black cat nimbly jumped out in front of her. “Ah, kitty.” The cat seemed to be limping. Sai crouched down and tried to pat it, and the cat backed away, watching her warily.
“It’s okay,” she coaxed. “I’m not scary. Come over…”
The cat approached tentatively, then gently licked her fingertips. On its collar was what appeared to be a name in foreign script.
“Um… Those’re Oriental characters, right…?” She squinted. “Uh… Yoru…iro? Is that right?” Sai reached out and positioned her palm over the cat’s body. “Yoruiro. Cute black kitty. Let your leg pain fly, fly away.”
“Meow…?” Yoruiro looked blissful for a moment before its body tensed. It started to scamper about joyfully. “Meooow!”
Sai giggled. “Feeling better? I’m glad!”
Yoruiro darted off on tiny paws before stopping and turning around. It meowed as if demanding that Sai follow.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Yoruiro?” Sai picked up the cat and hugged it, glancing in the direction it indicated.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much… Someone help me, it hurts, it’s so painful…!”
Sai’s body seized up in shock.
The moment she’d turned her head, she had heard a faint “scream” of magic so quiet that normal people wouldn’t have noticed it. The screamer was likely contained somewhere secluded so the magic didn’t leak out. Sai stared into Yoruiro’s eyes, and the cat stared back.
“Can you hear that voice, Yoruiro?”
“Meow.”
She nodded. “You can, huh…”
Still holding the cat, Sai ran to the source of the noise, her feet tapping erratically on the ground. The fierce wails, which sounded as if the owner of the voice was being torn apart, were issuing from the depths of a certain building.
Sai had never seen any building like it before—it was an extravagant structure with grayish-blue plaster walls. The shape of the roof, the color of the walls, and even the knight standing guard were completely novel to her. The maids walking out wore long dresses with many layers, their clothes also foreign to her.
“It’s…coming from inside here…”
“Meooow.”
Nervously, Sai walked up to the scary-faced military officer standing at attention. “It is nice to meet you. Um…I am Sai Cutrettola.”
The officer looked down. He crouched to meet Sai’s eyes and answered with an intonation different from what she was used to hearing in Centoria. “Hmm, may I help you?” He gave her a surprisingly friendly and toothy grin. When he caught sight of the cat, his smile widened and he rubbed the bottom of the cat’s chin. “Ah, you helped Yoruiro find the way back?”
Yoruiro began to purr happily. Ah. This kitty belongs to this mansion, she thought. “U-Um…”
“Hm? Can I help you in any way, young miss?”
“Um, inside there…”
“Inside the embassy building?”
“Yes, inside the emba…ssy,” Sai faltered. “Um… Is there someone shouting…‘It hurts, it hurts’?”
The officer appeared dumbfounded. He turned to face the building. “Sorry, I can’t hear a thing.”
“Ah, I see. Hmm…”
“What’s wrong? Hey, where are your parents? Are you alone?”
“U-Uh… The Order called for my parents and they are doing adult talk.”
“Wait, are you a young noble from a prestigious household? Oops, sorry about before—please forgive my rudeness.”
“House…hold…” At that word, Sai remembered with a start what her mother had said: “If you ever come across trouble, it might help if you tell them that you’re the Wagtail Priestess.”
Hurriedly, she introduced herself once again. “I-I am, Sai, the Wagtail Priestess!”
“Wagtail Priestess? Why does that sound vaguely familiar…?”
“Um, the priestess of the Cutrettola lands! A priestess with old blood! My mom is that priestess!” Sai’s face flushed crimson red as she repeated the word in an attempt to explain.
The officer tilted his head and wracked his brain. Finally, realization dawned on his face. “Ah, I know. You’re the daughter of the governor of Sekirei Prefecture.”
“Seki… No, we are the Cutrettola lands.”
“In the Oriental tongue, we call it Sekirei Prefecture. A long time ago, the Cutrettola lands were a part of Orient, and Centoria took them away from us. I see, so that’s why you have black hair, young miss.” His grin broadened. “Well, well! Looks like I’ve found a friend! Centoria’s filled with blonds everywhere, so it’s a relief to finally see a familiar color!”
“O-Oh…”
The officer patted her head. While he was at it, he patted the cat’s head too, seemingly a cat person. “Okay then, I know who you are now, but what are you doing in a place like this, young miss? Are you going to come back to our empire along with your domain?” The man snickered.
From behind him, once again, a shout pierced Sai’s ears like the ambulance sirens in her memories of another world.
“He…lp me. Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it’s tearing me apart, I’m so alone… Someone, please!”
Sai gasped and the color drained from her face at the excruciating scream. “Um! Mister! Uh… Inside there! There’s someone! They sound like they’re in a lot of pain! The voice is…a boy! A boy is in a lot of pain! I can hear it! It’s so loud!” Unable to bear it any longer, she tried to dash in.
The officer frantically grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. “Hey, no can do. You might be our young lady from Sekirei, but you can’t go inside without permission.”
The desperation of the voice was spreading to Sai, and her eyes were moist as she insisted, “Someone’s screaming inside there!”
The officer, however, could only scratch his head in confusion. “That’s what you say, but…I can’t hear a thing.”
“It’s someone with magic! Isn’t there someone with magic inside who’s saying they’re in pain?!”
“We don’t have mages in Orient.”
“…Huh?” All emotion washed from Sai’s face. She stared up at the officer in a stupor as he gently placed her back on the ground. “But…”
“Look, I really wanna believe you, but the thing is… Centoria snatched away nearly all our mages a while back, so we barely have any. Only the Department of Divinities does. None of them are paying a visit today, so there shouldn’t be any mages around.”
“That can’t be…”
“I guess a while ago, a fox with powerful magic snuck into the imperial court, but—” He broke off. “Oops, you’re still a little young to hear about stuff like that, ha ha.”
Sai turned to gaze at the embassy. She could still hear the wretched cries inside. “I’m sure of it, there should be…”
“A boy can’t be in a place like this. You won’t fool me with your little joke.”
“I’m not joking!”
“Okay, I’m sorry. Then let’s put it this way: In any case, there isn’t a mage boy who’s in trouble and crying inside. Maybe you heard wrong, or…maybe you’re hearing a child who’s crying elsewhere. It’s one of those.”
“Is…that so…?”
Sai studied the officer, who leaned down to ruffle her hair, and she suddenly realized that he looked very troubled. As the Wagtail Priestess, I want to save people. But if I cause him trouble because I keep talking to him here…I’ll be a very bad child.