He never questioned the truth of what she said. He teased her and made fun of her, but he knew she never lied. He probably had no idea how happy that made her. And it wasn’t just Yuri. Nival and the other students in her class believed in Brigitte—and in her spirit. They were even grateful.
Because that truth was etched into her memory, Brigitte walked to the shadow of a tree and began undressing without a moment’s hesitation. Fortunately, she wasn’t wearing a dress, so she was able to change without the help of a maid.
Finally, Kira snapped out of her daze and made her way to the shadow of another tree to begin changing. For a few minutes, the only sound was that of rustling clothes.
“…Done!” Brigitte said, squeezing Kira’s left hand. Her thin shoulders flinched.
“Uh, um…?”
“I’m going to run a ways, Kira. Can you follow me?”
“…Yes!”
Brigitte nodded, then took off running, pulling Kira along. It was hard to run with her shoes on the wrong feet…but she didn’t slow down. Kira kept pace so she wouldn’t lose hold of Brigitte’s hand, and Brigitte was relieved to find she had more stamina than her appearance would suggest. Her brownie followed at a slight distance.
The three of them kept running until they finally burst out of the dark, dense woods. Only then did Brigitte stop. She dropped Kira’s hand and glanced back. She was panting, her shoulders heaving.
“Good job. That wasn’t easy,” she said, handing her the water bottle she’d taken from her knapsack. Kira thanked her and took a gulp while her brownie flew around her feet in protest. Brigitte signaled with her eyes, and Kira set the bottle on the ground a slight distance away, then returned without glancing back. Brownies tended to run away if they received direct thanks or payment. The small spirit picked up the water bottle and ran off with it.
“Um, Brigitte? Why did we do that with our clothes and shoes?”
“Because a leshy was after you,” Brigitte answered, reversing her clothes again. Kira stared at her. She must not have heard the name before. But it had been her own comment about turning around with no one there that tipped Brigitte off to the spirit’s identity.
“It’s a kind of fairy that leads people astray in the forest. Most travelers who never return home are said to be the victims of leshies. If you turn your clothes around and put your shoes on the wrong feet, they become confused and can’t follow you.”
“Wow…”
Kira must have realized the danger she had been in because her face went white. If she had gone on screaming and running around at random like that, it could have been hard to rescue her.
I’m glad I got there in time…
Brigitte sighed in relief. Just then, she heard water falling.
“It’s raining…”
She looked up as raindrops spattered her cheeks. They must have been running around in the woods for a long time. The sky had been blue when she had started, but now it was covered in storm clouds. Even as she stood there, rain was drenching her head.
“Uh, hmm…,” Kira said just as Brigitte was thinking they’d better find some shelter.
She was pointing at her brownie, who was hopping cheerfully toward the entrance of a small cave.
Brigitte and Kira stepped into the cave the brownie had found for them—although it was more of a hole in the rocks than a cave. Inside, it was warm and a bit humid but not unpleasant. The entrance led to a space surrounded by rough rock walls. Brigitte gazed at the hazy view outside the cave. The rain was coming down harder, and she could hear thunder in the distance.
If I don’t want to wear myself out, I’d better rest here for a while.
The fact that her clothes were still nearly dry was one bit of good luck in all this.
“The storm’s getting worse. Let’s rest here.”
“All right!” Kira answered, her voice cracking.
They put their bags in a corner of the cave, and Brigitte took a small magic earth stone from the outside pocket of her knapsack.
“Kira, can I give your brownie a present?”
“Yes, of course, but is that magic stone…?”
“Oh, no, I brought this from home.”
She’d set it aside before the hunt, thinking she might be able to use it when negotiating with spirits, but all the spirits she’d met so far had refused to trade a “patterned stone” for an “unpatterned stone”—they could sense the greater power in the former.
The brownie, a cleaning fairy, had produced a broom and was briskly sweeping the cave. Brigitte buried the magic stone in a corner, doing her best not to look at the brownie. Kira watched her curiously.
“Huff, puff…”
The little spirit, no taller than a child, went on intently cleaning the cave, oblivious to Brigitte’s fascination. What an adorable creature. Her shoulders began to shake with suppressed laughter. She used to dislike little spirits like brownies, but she was tickled by the sight of this one happily cleaning.
“You’re such a cute little thing, rolling around like an acorn! Yee!”
“Did you just say ‘Yee’?”
Oops!
She’d completely forgotten about Kira. Practically fainting from embarrassment, she desperately tried to cover up her slip.
“You must have imagined it! Ah-ha-ha, maybe it was the sound of thunder…”
It’s painful to hear myself!
But Kira just nodded solemnly and said, “Yes, you’re probably right.”
Brigitte turned her back on the brownie and sat down facing the rock wall. Kira sat next to her, leaving a few feet of space between them. For a while, the only sound was that of the brownie walking around the cave, sweeping.
“I was wondering, Miss Brigitte. How do you know my name?” Kira finally asked.
“We’ve been in the same class since last year!” Brigitte smiled with chagrin. How rude would she have to be to still not know it?
“…Um, you must have…heard about me, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn’t…”
He?
Brigitte remembered that Kira had said something strange when they had first encountered each other in the woods. She glanced over. Kira was staring at the floor, her long bangs covering her eyes almost completely. She wondered what to say, then decided to be honest.
“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“…Oh yes, of course…” Kira was hugging her knees and rocking back and forth. Brigitte did not prod her. Finally, in a shaky voice, she said, “I’m so sorry…I never told you. I…”
Brigitte listened as she continued, making the appropriate sounds now and then. When she was finished, Brigitte asked, to be sure she understood, “…So you were the one who stole my pens?”
“…Yes. I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“I deeply regret what I— Huh?” Kira stopped shaking and looked fearfully up at Brigitte. “…That’s a-all? You’re not angry…?”
“What’s the use in that? That test’s over.”
And Yuri even admitted that I tied him for first place…
Anyway, before that test, she’d always scored near the bottom of her class. Compared to that, scoring in the top third was still impressive.
“You could turn me in to the teachers or something…! They might revise your score if you did!”
I’m not so sure…
Although Otoleanna Academy had a liberal atmosphere, tests were handled strictly. She couldn’t imagine a score that had been posted on the bulletin board being revised. But something else bothered her more. She rested her hand gently on Kira’s shoulder and said, as calmly as possible, “I don’t know about that—but, Kira, did someone make you do it?”
“What?”
“If something is still bothering you, you can tell me.”
She doesn’t seem like the type to do something so underhanded.
Plus, despite her terror, she didn’t appear to have anything against Brigitte. Brigitte’s guess was that Kira had been used by someone who did hate Brigitte. In which case, Brigitte was part of the reason this happened. And she couldn’t very well leave such a timid girl to her own devices.
At the very least, I have to make sure this person doesn’t use Kira again…
Kira twined her hands together, as if she was trying to pretend she didn’t know.
“You’re very kind, Miss Brigitte.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, something bad happened to you because of me…but you’re still worried about me.”
“But…”
“And then you came to my rescue when I was in trouble in the woods…just like a knight in shining armor!”
“But—but…”
Kira went on tearfully, but Brigitte could no longer hear her.
Me, ‘kind?’ No one has ever called me that before…!
She felt as if her face was on fire from bashfulness. Kind, really? Not Brigitte!
She had completely forgotten that Nival had said the same thing to her two weeks earlier. She had assumed he was just delusional.
She coughed and glanced at Kira. “You really think I’m kind?”
“You are kind! As kind and beautiful as a goddess. You have a very loving heart!”
“That’s going a bit far.”
“No, it’s true!!” she shouted so loudly, Brigitte wondered if her quiet voice earlier was just an act. Kira’s zeal was getting overwhelming.
“Anyway,” Brigitte said, going back to their earlier conversation. “Are you sure everything is all right with the person who made you do it?”
“It’s fine. I’ll convince her.” Her pretty black eyes peered out from between her black bangs. “I’ll tell her that we can apologize to you together. So please…can you just wait a little longer?”
Brigitte looked at her in surprise…then smiled.
She’s not timid at all!
She had her own ideas. Brigitte didn’t need to worry so much about it.
“…All right, I’ll wait.”
“Thank you! I promise I won’t ever do anything like that again! I swear my loyalty to you for life! Please don’t abandon me!”
“What? Of course I w-won’t. I would never abandon you.”
“Oh, Miss Brigitte…!”
Kira’s eyes grew moist with emotion.
At the same moment, Brigitte thought she heard a deep voice calling her name from far away.