"I will bring Harben and Layla. Your Highness, please return to the manor and wait."
"Hm? There's no particular need for that."
"It would be better than going to see them in person."
There was a strange heaviness in Graive's voice.
I didn't know why he was so tense, but I decided to go along quietly.
It was because yesterday's fatigue on top of the Germain problem had left my whole body sluggish.
I meant to catch some sleep until Graive brought the two of them.
"Your Highness! I cannot accept this!"
That is, if a familiar old woman hadn't suddenly shown up brandishing a ladle.
"Hi, Pwince!"
Holding on to the old woman's skirt, Anna waved cheerfully.
"Hi, Anna."
At that smile, I shook off my fatigue for a moment.
I turned my gaze and looked at the old woman.
"Your name is Greta, was it?"
"Hm? How did you know?"
"I have a pretty good eye."
"......I do not think seeing through someone's name from their face alone is merely having a good eye, though."
I chuckled.
Naturally, I had checked Greta's name on the Resident Roster.
And I had assigned her to the [Frontline Mess Hall (E)].
Greta had C-Grade aptitude as a cook.
"Anyway! I cannot accept this!"
When we went through the goblin raid in Graive's village, the one who fought best after Graive had been Greta.
Certainly, despite her old age, I could feel the vigor of youth in her.
Normally, I would have good-naturedly accepted all that energy.
But.
"Sorry, Greta. I don't like repeating the same routine."
Having just come from persuading the Lev-Rai brothers, I was...... to be honest, tired of it.
I'm exhausted.
"Pardon?"
So I'll use a cheat code.
"Gwanny! I want to eat Gwanny'th cooking!"
"Ngh......!"
Easy.
That's how fearsome a child's charm is.
Now, as long as the Lev-Rai brothers harvested their crops, we could truly say goodbye to tree-bark soup.
Let's wait eagerly for that day to come.
"Then...... I will go back. Hmph, I have never cooked before......."
Greta went back, grumbling.
But Anna didn't follow her.
I wondered if she had stayed behind because she had something to say to me, but she only kept twisting her body and was busy avoiding my gaze.
Come to think of it, she'd had her hands behind her back this whole time.
It seemed she was hiding something behind her.
'It'd be a bit much to pry, right?'
I waited for Anna to bring it up herself.
How much time had passed?
"Ah, Pwince!"
Anna handed over what she had been hiding.
"This is...... a bracelet?"
To be precise, it was a bracelet woven from grass.
There was none of the green you'd think of with a grass bracelet.
A dull gray bracelet.
She must have used grass that had been buried under the snow.
That didn't mean it wasn't pretty, though.
At the center of the bracelet was a knot tied in the shape of a flower.
"I-I made it. Earlier...... Pwince....... Ugh."
Unlike usual, Anna hesitated to speak.
Her lips moved only for a moment.
Anna let out a squeal.
"L-Later! I'll make you a pwettier one! When Pwince—"
"When I keep my promise to make flowers bloom in the North. Right?"
Unable to answer, Anna nodded over and over.
"Thank you."
"Eep!"
Soon, her face turned as red as a carrot, and she ran after her grandmother.
By the way, that's amazing.
She's running full tilt like that, but her footsteps don't make a sound.
If she lived in Korea, she wouldn't have to worry about noise complaints from the neighbors downstairs.
'......What am I even saying?'
It seemed fatigue was starting to swallow my reason.
"Ngggh......."
Stretching, I settled back into the chair.
Ah, but still.
"It'd only be polite to try it on before I sleep."
I carefully slipped the grass bracelet onto my left wrist.
I often used magic with my right hand, so this side would be better.
"Hm."
A clumsy grass bracelet that someone might laugh at if they saw it.
But to my eyes, it looked truly lovely.
Above all, wasn't it the first gift I'd received since coming to the North?
'......Well, I've never received gifts from anyone besides Mother and Allen anyway.'
I chuckled and stroked the bracelet.
A scratchy feeling touched my fingers.
"I like it."
Savoring a reward more precious than anything else could compare to, I closed my eyes.
***
Anna disliked Germain.
It was the day she arrived at the Northern front, following the village people.
Anna was an energetic child.
And Greta was a grandmother who thought it was good for a child to run around to her heart's content.
So Anna ran around wherever her feet took her.
Where her feet stopped was near a manor full of icicles.
-Hmmm, where ith thith?
At the time, Anna's front tooth was already wobbly.
But she was diligently mumbling her words so the tooth wouldn't fall out.
It was because of the 'tooth fairy' story she'd heard from her grandmother.
The fairy who took old teeth and gave new teeth as a gift.
She'd heard that the tooth fairy loved children's teeth very much.
So much so that it would even give a wish coupon to a child who handed over an especially pretty tooth?
Anna was confident.
After all, her front tooth was cool and pretty, as anyone could see.
So she meant to give her tooth to the fairy and make her wish come true.
-......This was not originally a place to be wasted like this.
Just then, Anna saw a snake.
It was a snake chewing its lips as it looked at the big manor.
-Who is there?
Sensing a presence, the snake turned around.
A man with striking slit eyes.
It was Germain Ulandur.
-......What is this little bastard doing here?
So-called knight that he was.
He was displeased that someone had caught him from behind.
He also didn't like that some snot-nosed kid had trespassed on the manor garden that should have been his.
-Hey.
Even to a child's eyes, there was something off about Germain.
Anna tried to run away.
But a child's steps couldn't shake off an adult.
Germain blocked Anna's path.
Thump!
Anna crashed straight into Germain's legs.
It was because she had been running forward too hard.
Pop!
The impact knocked out the front tooth she had treasured so much.
Anna hurriedly tried to pick up the tooth.
-......What is this? You were keeping your mouth shut over something this worthless?
The corners of Germain's lips curled despicably.
He moved his foot.
Crunch.
The front tooth, struck by his military boot, went flying and vanished into a pile of snow.
-M-My tooth!
Anna hurriedly dug through the snowfield.
-You think you will find it digging with your bare hands like that? Idiot.
Having thrown out those mocking words, Germain left the garden.
Anna searched the garden, holding back her tears, but in the end she couldn't find the tooth.
-Even so, what were you thinking, going into Her Grace the Grand Duke's manor?!
She even got scolded by her grandmother.
She was told she must never set foot in it, because a person called the prince was staying there.
-My tooth...... I have to find it.......
She didn't know whether the fairy would like a tooth that had rolled around in the snow and gotten dirty.
But Anna wanted to find her tooth.
That was the child's hope.
But she couldn't go into the manor, so she could only stamp her feet.
It wasn't long before the situation changed.
-Right, with Anna here too, it would be better to rest somewhere decent.
The village chief came to see them.
Along with the news that they could go into the manor where the person called the prince was staying!
-Give thanks to His Highness the Prince. He is the one who suggested it.
Anna liked the 'prince' from then on.
She thought he was a good person.
But there was still a small problem left.
The prince had taken over the garden where her tooth must be buried.
Anna pouted and glared at the prince.
She was grateful, but she couldn't help being dissatisfied.
-Gaaack! Aaaaaagh!!!
But as time went on, her dissatisfaction soon began to turn into curiosity.
What wish on earth was that person making that he exercised so hard?
Anna quietly peeked at the prince's training.
Then, suddenly, a good idea came to her.
The next day, Anna immediately put it into action.
-Village chief!
-Anna? What is it? I am about to bring His Highness his meal.......
-I'll bwing that to him!
The plan was to naturally get into the garden under the pretext of being in charge of meals.
She could look for her tooth and see the prince up close too.
To borrow her grandmother's words, it was a sweet deal.
Anna threw a tantrum and got the tree-bark soup.
-Hi, Anna.
The prince was a curious person.
He wore much nicer clothes than the snake that had kicked away her front tooth, yet he never said a single harsh word.
Even while gasping for breath from exhaustion, he talked with her at her eye level.
Before she knew it, Anna's interest began to shift from her tooth to the prince.
-It'll take some time, but I promise. In return, there's something you have to promise me too, Anna.
He wasn't simply a cool person.
He put into words Anna's wish of making flowers bloom in the North.
Just like the tooth fairy....... No.
'Like a prince in a fairy tale.'
Anna carefully changed the way she said it, from something closer to 'Imperial Pwince' to just 'Pwince,' like the one in fairy tales.
The prince himself didn't notice a thing.
-I'm a prince, you bastard.
And the prince even burned up the snake that had bullied her!
Anna wanted to show her thanks.
-Hm, hmmm.......
The grass bracelets she often made for her grandmother.
But never had making one been this hard.
The most carefully thought-out gift of Anna's life.
-Thank you.
He smiled brightly as he accepted the gift.
Even to a little child's eyes, she could see the prince was truly happy.
When she came to her senses, she found herself running.
Her face was burning.
"Phew!"
As she ran like mad, before she knew it she was in the back garden.
"Come to think of it...... I haven't bwought Pwince his food latewy."
It was because Abel's growth had sped up his training.
He could now finish his daily routine in a mere hour and a half.
"It'th a widdle thad."
It was while she was grumbling at random to cool her hot cheeks.
"Huh?"
Something caught at Anna's feet.
A tiny hand carefully picked it up.
"Waaah!"
It was her tooth.
A front tooth that hadn't lost its milky white color.
Anna bounced up and down and ran across the garden.
Today was a truly lucky day.
The prince had defeated the villain, and her lost treasure had come back to her.
It was truly like a fairy tale.
***
There was a spirit who had watched it all.
"Good thing I found it for her, kyu."
It was Ignis, who had spotted Anna's front tooth while gleefully beating Germain.
While he was at it, he had even polished the tooth clean with mana.
"A kid ought to smile, after all."
Ignis watched Anna contentedly.
"By the way...... I thought it was just my imagination."
The Spirit Eye.
An eye that could perceive the world through pure mana alone.
In Ignis's vision, he could see a line connecting Anna to another person.
That other person meant his own contractor.
"Guess it wasn't, kyu. The people around him are being affected. A power that strengthens people's talents......?"
The more he looked, the more astonishing the guy was.
In the Ancient era, there had been quite a lot of Irregulars.
But none had displayed such alien and diverse abilities at the same time.
"It seems neither he nor the people around him have noticed at all, though."
Before long, the results would show themselves visibly.
"The condition is...... when he fulfills people's earnest wishes?"
It was a truly puzzling standard.
But it wouldn't be bad.
After all, his contractor was someone who would meet the eyes of every territory resident and grant all their wishes with room to spare.
"Contractor, what you said about making the North strong. It might come true sooner than you think."
Ignis looked up at the sky.
The thick dark clouds had lifted, and sunlight quite refreshing for the North was pouring down.
-As I thought...... humans cannot be trusted.
Words that crossed his mind, entirely unsuited to the sunny weather.
"No, Spirit King. There are still humans worth trusting."
Ignis smirked and rose into the sky.
The whole North could be seen below at a glance.
Smiles were blooming everywhere.
Though it was still poor, there were people regaining hope.
"I'll....... No, Abel will prove it."
It was bound to be so.
This was by no means an overestimation.
"......Ahem, ahem, that's embarrassing."
Perhaps embarrassed at having murmured even his contractor's name, Ignis kept flapping his ears.
"Is he still asleep?"
To shake off his embarrassment, a mischievous urge stirred in him for no reason.
Right, let's wake up my contractor, who must be fast asleep!
"Kyu kyu, this'll be fun, kyu."
Ignis flew toward Abel's room, giggling.
But he wasn't there.
His presence was close, though.
"Kyu kyu, you're already up—"
Just as Ignis, puffed up for no reason, was about to appear in front of Abel.
"—Kyu?"
Ignis saw it.
A brawny back.
'You're here?'
He heard Abel's monologue.
Ignis carefully stuck to his side.
Then he could see the owner of that brawny back head-on.
A woman with a short side-cut hairstyle.
She had only roughly covered the important parts with leather. Her exposed muscles had veins bulging all over, as if they would burst at any moment.
A sight embarrassing to look at.
If only that were all.
"Hup, the Prince...... hup! ......That's what they said. I heard you called for me, hup!"
The woman kept striking strange poses, as if showing off her body.
Her pectorals dancing along with each grunt were a bonus.
"Haah......."
In the end, Abel let out a sigh.
"Is this how Justitia felt before she sat down to negotiate?"
Abel felt dizzy.
And Harben had called her a meek little lamb.
She looked like someone who could tear a lamb apart with her bare hands.
"Hnnnngh!!!"
......Does she really have the aptitude for exploration?
It was the first and last day Abel didn't trust the fortuitous encounter.