The scarlet rays of sunset shone upon the clock tower as it stood tall over the capital. Ordinarily no human could hope to scale its height, and yet someone was standing at the very top: an ancient and beautiful Sorceress.
Humming to herself, Laplace gazed down at the city below, her long dark hair dancing in the breeze.
“‘To all the little girls out there who dream of adventure...’”
Although Tanya’s victory speech had been the subject of mockery for a handful of men, it spread among the female adventurers like wildfire, and everyone was talking about it.
“Eh... Those assholes need to get with the times anyway,” Laplace mused to herself.
She floated up into the air. She was a bubble, and the sunset was her ocean.
“It’s all ancient history now... but maybe I should have fought it, like Tanya did...”
She increased her altitude, shooting through the clouds and up into her own little world—just her and the stars.
“Oh, Tanya...”
Back in the Western Wasteland, when Tanya first destroyed the mountain that had kept the Great Sorceress imprisoned—along with the high-level force field that surrounded it—all with a single Explosion spell, Laplace had found herself wondering, who IS this woman? For the first time in 300 years, she breathed fresh air and flew through the skies. And when she sought an answer to her query, what she found was anger. Anger at the injustices she had suffered. Tanya symbolized that resentment and grief... and she was beautiful.
But more than anything, Tanya’s anger was emotionally moving. It felt like a sign from the heavens, telling Laplace: it’s okay to be sad about what happened. It’s okay to mourn. And it’s okay to get upset.
“If only...”
She thought back to the misunderstanding. To the “crime” she had never committed. To her wrongful imprisonment. Though she was hailed as the Great Sorceress, she had never truly been free.
“If only I’d stood up for myself, like Tanya did... maybe things would’ve been different...”
On a whim, she halted her levitation magic. As she descended through the dusky sky, she took a deep breath. And then, in a loving, singsong voice, she whispered the name of the detestable man who had chained her down... the man who had been her entire world, once upon a time.
“Maxwell...”
✦ ✦ ✦
Later, after her stroll through the sky, Laplace was float-walking through the plaza when a familiar voice called her name. Turning, she spotted a glimpse of lavender hair through the crowd.
“Laplace! I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“Bonsoir, Nadine.”
“Tanya’s been worried sick about you! Come on—the victory banquet’s about to start!” Nadine explained, tugging urgently on her sleeve.
“Oups! That won’t do at all! It won’t be much of a banquet if yours truly isn’t there to liven things up!”
And so they headed to their favorite haunt, the Little Vixen. Tonight there would be two parties: one to celebrate Lilium’s victory, and another to celebrate Tanya’s favorite disciple passing her entrance exams.
✦ ✦ ✦
Right as they opened the door—
“Yay! It’s Laplaaaace!” shouted Tanya as she ran over to hug her. Her face was already flushed bright red.
“Well now! Smashed already, are we?”
“It’s not my fault, you took so long to show up!” she whined.
“Oh, THERE you are! Took you long enough!” called a voice. Laplace looked over at the counter to find Katherine pouting her lips. “I mean, Grandma’s cool with people hanging out in her restaurant, but we were starting to think you people would be here all night!”
After the Sparring Tournament, Katherine had resigned from Ryan’s party. Now she worked freelance while helping out at her grandmother’s tavern in her spare time, and she had helped arrange the celebration “in exchange for opening my eyes about a lot of stuff.”
“Hee hee! Oh, Katherine, don’t be so huffy,” Nadine laughed.
“Rrgh... Fine, but only for you,” Katherine grumbled.
It was unclear where the two women currently stood with each other, but suffice it to say, they didn’t seem to dislike each other’s company.
Just then, two of Alisa’s siblings dashed over excitedly.
“Miss Laplace!”
“Look, look! There’s so much food! Come have some, Miss Laplace!”
“Hey there, kids.” As she waved down at them, they squealed in delight.
“Sorry about the ruckus. I know my brothers and sisters are a noisy bunch,” Alisa explained apologetically. A shiny new Imperial Magic Academy badge was pinned to the front of her shirt.
“Heh heh heh! It’s fiiiine! Now let’s chow down, Alisa!” a rather intoxicated Tanya declared. “Oh, that reminds me! Laplace, get a load of this!”
“Mmm? What is it, Tanya?”
Tanya grinned impishly. “Alisa told me that nearly half of this year’s new students are girls!”
“Oho.” The two shared a conspiratorial smile.
Evidently those old men had stopped “adjusting” the girls’ test results. They must have taken Tanya’s... “lecture”... very seriously. And without those artificial point reductions, what do you know? Half of the successful applicants turned out to be female.
“It’s kind of strange, don’t you think? I mean, everyone always says girls aren’t supposed to be Mages because it’s too dangerous,” Alisa mused, her cheeks flushed, her eyes twinkling with pride.
Tanya cupped the younger girl’s cheek in her hand. “It’s not strange at all. They had a dream, so they put the effort in, and now all that hard work has paid off. There’s nothing in this world that a girl can’t do.”
“Oh, Sensei, you’re such an inspiration!” Alisa beamed at Tanya.
Tonight we celebrate the women, young and old, who work hard every day to make their dreams come true.
Tanya raised her hand. “Excuse me, but... we’d like to order one of everything on the menu!”
✦ ✦ ✦
That same night, atop the tallest spire in Ode Castle, at the very center of the city... a young girl sighed quietly as she gazed out at the small fragment of the night sky visible through her window.
She had pretty features, with sparkling silver hair, rosy cheeks, and deep violet eyes.
“Oh, how lovely,” she swooned to herself as her mind replayed the events of the Adventurers’ Sparring Tournament she’d witnessed just the other day. With her chin in her hands, she sighed dreamily.
Behind her, someone cleared her throat in annoyance. “I do believe it’s past your bedtime.”
“Oh, Vis. I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Vis” was a woman dressed head to toe in modest white robes. Her skirt trailed behind her and her hair was carefully concealed under a habit—this was the traditional garb of a pious woman. Her voice was so flat, it could register as eerie depending on the listener.
“Are you thinking about the tournament again?”
“No, I’m thinking about Lilium, thank you very much!”
“Same difference. You ought to be ashamed, Your Highness.”
The words Your Highness put a frown on the young girl’s face. “Aren’t I entitled to flights of fancy in my own bedroom, at least?” she muttered before she could stop herself.
Observing the Adventurers’ Sparring Tournament was but one of Arianora’s many royal obligations. She’d always thought of it as an event where brutish men tore each other apart in the name of glory and reward money. But this year’s winning party was a bird of a different feather, because all the members were women.
Instantly Arianora was captivated. They were strong and graceful, with kind hearts, and as she watched them succeed, why, she felt as though she were on cloud nine.
All her life she’d been raised as a proper lady, window dressing to diplomatic events, with a political marriage all too inevitable once she came of age. Born female into the imperial royal family, this was the most she could ever hope for.
She was only thirteen, a late bloomer with still-budding curves—a child in every sense. But despite her age, her position as a princess and the duties required therein were more than enough to mature her mentally.
“Oh, Vis, if only you’d seen Lady Tanya, Lady Nadine, and Lady Stone Cold Stunner in action, I’m sure you’d understand! They were so very impressive!”
“I understand why you might admire women adventurers and all their lack of feminine trappings, but you are the Crown Princess of Pajan, and you must exercise some self-restraint!”
“Grrrr... I hate you, Vis,” Arianora grumbled, biting back a yawn. She climbed into her large, luxurious, perfectly made bed. “‘To all the little girls out there who dream of adventure...’” she whispered under her breath as she slowly drifted off to slumberland. She was quoting Tanya, the leader of Lilium—specifically, her victory speech at the tournament.
We can be anything we want—Healers, or Mages, or even Knights. And it’s up to us to forge that path for the next generation of little girls who will follow in our footsteps.
The pink-haired Magi-Knight had received thunderous applause from the women in the audience that day. Truly the sight warmed Arianora’s little heart. Maybe someday... maybe in my next life, I could be one of those strong, graceful women, too.
“Oh, I hope I can meet the ladies of Lilium... someday...”
And so the little girl drifted off to sleep... to dream of adventure.