A tear split open in the empty air, and a dark void formed within it.
“Oh. It still opens?”
It was a subspace created by Artia, her longtime friend and the Master of the Magic Tower.
“You don’t need mana.”
“Not even mana?”
“Yeah. You can open it anytime and anywhere you want! Just store your herbs in here. No need to carry them when you go out to treat patients.”
“...Oh.”
“Well? Do you like it?”
“...I do.”
“I’m way more useful than that Kainel guy, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“Hehe!”
She liked the gift so much that she gave him the answer he wanted without hesitation.
More than anything, it had no limit on storage, which made it perfect for Grace. She could store numerous herbs with ease. And with preservation magic layered onto it, it became even more useful.
“So it really is connected to the soul.”
That was what Artia had told her when she first received it. Since the space was tied to its owner’s soul, there was no need for any activation words. A single thought was enough to open it.
As expected, even though her body had changed, the connection remained.
“There should still be a few left.”
Ceres boldly slipped her hand into the dark space. A moment later, she pulled out a rolled sheet of paper tied with string.
This was also one of Artia’s creations, a magic item that would send its user to any location the moment the paper was torn.
It really was a rare item.
She didn’t know how things were now, but back then, the mana required for long distance travel was no small.
Kainel had coveted this teleportation item as well.
“Sell it. I will pay you whatever you want.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because then you will come to see Grace more often. I would rather die than watch that again.”
“Then why not test that? I can help you find out.”
“Try it if you can, you walking ice block.”
“Enough, you two! Kai, put your sword away right now. And Arti, if you use magic here, you are banned for half a year.”
“Half a year? That’s too harsh, Grace!”
“Quiet. Both of you, get out! Stop disturbing the patients!”
“They really did fight every time they met.”
Was it because one was too cold while the other was far too lively? People said opposites attracted, but those two didn’t seem to fit that saying at all.
Anyway, in the end, Kainel never got the chance to use the item once.
“Gur Village... Gur Village...”
After checking the village’s coordinates several times, Ceres immediately tore the paper.
Flash!
Brilliant light poured out. In the blink of an eye, her figure vanished from where she stood.
***
“Aeri, are you done serving the food?”
“Yes, I just finished.”
A woman in her mid-thirties called out to Aeri—a young woman in her early twenties—who was just coming down the stairs.
“Everyone seems happy to finally have meat again. We’ve been serving mostly vegetables until now.”
“Right.”
“But that meat... isn’t it the same as before? The kind that is too low-grade to sell at the market...”
“Aeri, watch your mouth.”
“Ah, yes!”
At Julie’s warning, Aeri quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Our facility uses only the finest ingredients. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
At the edge of Gur Village stood the Arnold Recuperation House. The pristine white building, built in a lavish style, housed a considerable number of residents.
The facility boasted that everything, from food to medicinal herbs, was of the highest quality.
Of course, the truth was nothing like that.
Using expired ingredients was routine, and despite what the invoices claimed, not once had they given patients high-grade medicine.
A facility that looked impressive only on the surface.
Even so, it continued to operate without issue. That’s because most of its residents were elderly with limited mobility and failing cognition.
There was also another shared trait among the patients that allowed the facility to operate freely.
None of them had family who came to visit.
No one questioned the rule asking families to refrain from visiting for the sake of the patients’ stability. If anything, the families were relieved since they could blame the facility’s rules instead of their own guilt for staying away.
“What about the child in the last room?”
“I already brought her food.”
“Did you make sure she was eating?”
“Well...”
“Aeri!”
For the first time, Julie raised her voice sharply.
“N-no, I was really busy too. I handled almost all the serving by myself today.”
Aeri protested, but the harshness in Julie’s gaze didn’t soften.
Among all the patients, there was one the staff paid special attention to.
A seven-year-old girl named Julia.
The problem was that this attention had nothing to do with proper care.
“Tsk. Come with me.”
“Yes.”
As if intending to go check personally whether the patient finished eating, Julie walked ahead. Aeri hurried after her.
“Um, Ms. Julie.”
Aeri couldn’t make sense of the situation at all. In the end, she cautiously voiced a question she had always wondered about.
“Why do we have to watch her every time to see if she finishes her meal? We don’t do that for the other patients.”
Of course, making sure patients eat properly and caring for them was part of their job. But when did they ever care about such things?
And why that kid?
Not only did they always check whether she finished her meals, they also blocked all contact from her family. They never sent the child’s letters either, just kept them stored away.
Why go that far?
They never did this with the other patients.
They did check other patients’ letters too, in case anything bad about the facility was written. But they never went as far as completely cutting them off from their families like they did with Julia.
“Just do as you’re told.”
“Yes.”
Under Julie’s sharp glare, Aeri couldn’t ask any more questions and quietly followed after her.
Then again, what did it matter to her if the child became isolated or distant from her family? She was only here to get paid and do her job.
Click.
Julie and Aeri entered a room in the far corner of the building.
“Julia, did you finish your mea—”
However, they couldn’t finish their words.
“Wh-who are you?”
“.....”
A strange girl standing beside the sleeping child slowly turned her head toward them. In her hand was a bowl of soup the child had left unfinished.
“What do you think you are doing?”
Realizing what was happening, Julie rushed toward her in confusion.
“U-uh!”
Julie reached out to snatch the bowl, but the girl simply stepped back. Her hand grasped at nothing.
When Julie staggered, the girl casually caught her before she could fall. Up close, the girl’s purple eyes shone especially cold.
“This is what you call food made with the finest ingredients and top-grade medicine?”
“—!”
At her words, Julie and Aeri’s faces stiffened. The food looked so poor that the word “top-grade” felt almost laughable.
As if the girl hadn’t expected an answer, her gaze drifted back to the bowl.
“How amusing.”
...She didn’t look amused at all. Why did that faint smile send chills down their spine?
Julie and Aeri swallowed dryly without realizing it.
“...Who are you?”
Only after a while did Julie regain her composure and ask again.
She definitely didn’t work here... Could she know the child? Perhaps a family member?
That couldn’t be.
The director had made it clear that no one would ever come looking for Julia. All they had to do was manage her well.
He even boasted that unless the world turned upside down, nothing they did would ever become a problem.
“.....”
As if to toy with Julie’s growing unease, the girl gave no response for a long moment. She simply stared at the child, who lay there as if dead.
“...Her older sister.”
“...What?”
At her delayed answer, both of their eyes wavered like they didn’t know where to look.
“I said, I’m this child’s older sister.”