Gift

What should I say first?

What should I tell her first?

“Um, Rea. Why don’t you pick a bouquet first and then worry about what to say? It’s been an hour already.”

Adrian was asking the clerk about the various flower meanings in the bouquets.

Iris followed, carefully examining each newly bloomed flower one by one.

Only after exactly 20 more minutes could they choose a bouquet to give as a hospital gift.

Technically, this wasn’t the first time visiting the hospital.

But it was the first time seeing the child awake.

I wished I could give other gifts besides just a bouquet.

For example, my own unique magic that I had painfully developed during the time the child was lying down.

However, the child was still a patient who needed to rest, so I rejected the idea myself.

But well, we had permission to talk until late at night.

And I also needed to ask the child about the President’s request-but-not-really-a-request that we’d heard just before leaving the Academy.

We left the flower shop near the Lunatic Guild headquarters and hurried to a large building nearby.

Passing through people maintaining strict security from the first floor of the building we finally reached.

Receiving various trivial questions about the child from those who accompanied us to the elevator — apparently they already knew we were the child’s companions.

Only after being briefed about the precautions by people who appeared to be the child’s dedicated medical staff could we reach the door to the room where the child was.

“Sigh. Why am I so nervous about this…”

Until we headed to the Tower, there was more I didn’t know about the child than what I did know.

Where she came from, where she lived now, what kind of people her family members were, and so on.

All I knew about the child’s relationships was that she was an acquaintance of the President.

As time passed, I finally learned that she was a child treasured by the Lunatic Guild Master.

When I discovered that the entire massive world called Lunatic was protecting everything about the child, I was literally dumbfounded.

It felt like finding out that a childhood friend I used to play with in the dirt was actually from a wealthy family.

“…That’s a weird comparison.”

“It’s not wrong though.”

The fact that the child herself refrained from speaking about herself because no one was supposed to find out about her journey wasn’t entirely irrelevant.

If we had known she was a child of Lunatic, we might have been able to contact Lunatic.

Looking back now, I wondered if we should have contacted Lunatic earlier to keep the child safe.

But either way, that time had already passed.

‘Thank you… for everything. …Goodbye.’

Since revisiting memories only brought back painful moments of farewell, I decided to focus on catching up on all our delayed conversations for now.

So, forcing myself to calm my restless heart.

After checking one more time to make sure the bouquet wasn’t disheveled, I finally opened the door.

What I encountered was the child sitting halfway on the bed.

And across from her, an elegant desk with the Lunatic Guild Master sitting there reading what looked like documents.

The hospital room’s appearance had changed significantly in just a few days.

For a moment, I was speechless at the strange scene that no one questioned.

Regardless, perhaps because I was seeing the conscious child with my own eyes, emotions welled up from deep within my heart…

But I couldn’t help being cautious in front of the Guild Master of one of the Three Major Guilds.

The groundless rumors about Asha floating around the Academy weren’t entirely unrelated to my caution.

Although I had become somewhat familiar with her through occasional encounters over the past half year, how should I put it?

I still felt something like an intimidating pressure.

“It’s okay, it’s okay~. Don’t mind me and talk comfortably.”

Asha’s voice telling us to treat her like she was invisible, having noticed our gazes alternating wordlessly between her and the child.

And almost simultaneously.

“How can we not mind you? Stop interfering and come out.”

The Lunatic Vice Guild Master, who had appeared at some point, half-forcibly pulled Asha from her chair.

Thus, the spectacular scene of the Guild Master being dragged away by the Vice Guild Master, her wrist in his grip, unfolded.

Only after the hospital room door closed with a sliding sound could I finally open my mouth.

“…It’s been a while.”

I uttered those five syllables mixed with regret, longing, sadness, and relief.

What came back was a noticeably awkward young voice asking how we had been doing.

More precisely, it was a timid voice born from apology for causing us to worry.

-Squeeze.

The person who gradually approached and finally embraced the child tightly prevented even that small voice from being easily uttered.

What filled the young voice’s vacancy was Rea’s own voice, trembling and full of moisture.

“Do you know how worried I was… how worried we all were…?”

I wanted to say I was glad she was awake.

I wanted to tell her she had fought well alone, and thanks to her, everyone was safe.

Nevertheless, all that flowed from my trembling lips were harsh words.

Finally, I scolded the child while spilling out all the guilt and self-blame I had been swallowing for so long.

However, not missing a single emotion or word directed at her.

Because she patted my slightly heaving back from her side and offered a sincere apology to all three of us.

“I’m sorry. And I… missed you.”

Not a single person was angry.

There wasn’t anyone who wasn’t forgiven.

After pouring out all our feelings for the child in the form of voices or tears, we tried to tell her about everything that had happened.

We tried to share stories about the welcome party that couldn’t be held because the main character was missing, and various rumors.

However, Adrian, who had been standing silently at the farthest distance, was the first.

Iris, who was between Adrian and me with slightly reddened eyes, was next.

And I, who was closest to the child, was the last.

-Clink.

“…What is this?”

Because we discovered the pure white chains attached to the child’s ankle.

As the child’s attempt to dismiss everything with a simple “that’s how it turned out” while smiling awkwardly was immediately foiled.

“Explain.”

“W-Well, you see… What happened was…”

Because my expression changed from tearful to instantly frozen cold, the child had to confess everything she had been hiding from beginning to end.

Without omitting any minor reason or trigger, everything.

All of it. She had to spill it all out.

Coincidentally, after the child’s story ended, we came to somewhat understand the current situation — which would probably cause an uproar throughout the entire city of Erda if it made the news.

“Just think of it as similar to how mental hospitals keep patients from escaping.”

“Isn’t the Lunatic Guild Master going too far? How can you imprison a normal person…”

“To be honest, she’s not normal. How is it normal for a kid to try to kill herself?”

At Adrian’s casually thrown words, drip.

Cold sweat ran down the child’s forehead as she unintentionally remembered the painful memories of the past.

That was because Rea in front of her started scolding her with a different face and voice than before.

The child’s arms and legs had already reflexively positioned themselves in a kneeling, punishment stance.

“The Guild Master thought well, thought very well. A child who doesn’t know the value of her own life should be confined and scolded until she changes her mind.”

“…I never actually intended to die. The situation just ended up that way…”

“Anyone can make excuses. The very fact that death was among your options is the problem, Lua!”

Finally, after making the child do deep penance for quite a long time, I began the conversations I had wanted to have.

The stories I had wanted to tell her if the time ever came when everything ended and we could chat comfortably with the child.

However, coincidentally.

“I have something I want to tell you all. No, something I want to give you. May I speak first?”

Because we weren’t the only ones with stories to tell.

We wondered with varying degrees of curiosity what the child had to say.

What came first was not the child’s voice but the sound of something being taken out.

Not long after that, we heard a request to hold out all three of our hands.

-Tap.

“It’s a gift.”

We just blinked silently for a moment at the bracelet-shaped devices placed in each of our hands.

Right after that, we heard that it wasn’t meant to be forceful.

“But I would like it if you all joined the guild. I’ve already discussed everything with Sister Asha.”

Only then did we realize that we were receiving another recruitment offer.

And as official employees of one of the Three Major Guilds, no less.

“…This is a bit excessive for a gift.”