1-2 With the sound of wings

　In the distance, a sound like the dragging of something heavy comes crawling towards me. I wondered if it was the sound of water, that mixed in occasionally.

　The sound is like the rumbling of the earth, gradually consuming my hearing. I couldn’t feel my limbs, and my eyelids, which were opening and closing, couldn’t catch a speck of light. The only sound was the roar that kept on coming.

–Oh, it’s this dream again.

　I wondered how many times I had lamented this.

　Eventually, the sound, which was close enough to make my eardrums scream, covered my body and disappeared. Instantly, my vision, which had been filled with dark grey, turned bright as if it were a lie, and a clear, cloudless sky spread out.

　As I stood there, I suddenly felt something in my right hand and looked down at it. It was a knight’s sword, just like the one Princess Chris had in her hand the other day in the royal capital.

　I couldn’t find anyone to wield it against. Just as I was about to put the sword away, I felt a heavy pressure burning my long hair and lifted my gaze.

　At that moment, the pleasant breeze that had been blowing across the grasslands to the horizon suddenly stopped. As I walked aimlessly through the landscape that seemed to have stopped in time, the lush vegetation began to wither in patches, and cracked earth took its place.

　The wind, which had stopped, began to move again. From a tailwind to a headwind, from a cool breeze to a hot one. And then it transformed itself into a frightening purple miasma that clung to my body.

　My joints creaked, the pressure tightened around my neck, and my body slumped forward. I abandoned my feet and legs, which were sticking to the ground, and clawed at the scrawny ground.

　I don’t know what is driving me to do this.

　Only the dull will that I should do so kept circling in my heavy thoughts.

　The miasma that covered my body finally engulfed even my fingertips. In the depths of my closed eyelids and consciousness, I felt as if I could hear someone’s voice.

　After that voice, my eyes suddenly went dark. At the same time, a different voice tickled my ears, and I finally woke up.

“Sage ……!”

“…………”

After making sure that I could feel my limbs, I slowly opened my eyes. A girl with shining silver hair reflecting the light and red eyes that seemed to swallow you up was looking at me with concern as I woke up.

“Are you okay?　You’ve been having a lot of nightmares today……”

“… No, it’s okay. It was the usual dream.”

“After all, crossing seems to leave a burden on the body.”

　I  slurp down the water that Marie offered me and sigh as if I were spitting out the toxins that have lodged in the back of my throat

　It’s been a long time since I started dreaming that strangely realistic dream, but I’m still not used to it.

　Even if I stretch my arms lightly, my heavy body does not awaken. When I dream that dream, I always have a lazy morning, cause I’m already depressed before I wake up.

　Gathering my strength, I jumped up and down as hard as I could. I pulled on a pile of clothes and threw them on.

“What are you going to do? Would you like to have breakfast right away?”

　When I appeared in the living room with a moderate amount of yawning, a robe with the opposite color was spread on the milky white table. Threads and needles are scattered all over the place, so she was probably in the middle of work. However…….

“I want to, but aren’t you tired? You didn’t sleep again …”

　　Marie, who walked past me with a clatter of her shoes, turned around and extended her index finger.

“I’ll be fine, okay?”

　She holds my lips while bringing her flushed face closer. The power of her irises, with their melted deep scarlet color, always gives her the upper hand. But I don’t feel bad because the smile on her face after she meekly nods her head is not a lie. I nodded and decided to let her behave as she wished today.

“ You don’t seem to be in top form yet, so I went a little light.”

　With that said, Marie quickly prepared a light meal for two people. The scent of herbal tea that sways in the space after the meal refreshes my body along with a moderately filled stomach.

“Thank you for the food.”

“Yes. Thanks for the food.

　I patted Marie on the head as she took my plate, and leaned in close to the window. The sky was dark with thick clouds, and it didn’t look like it was going to be very sunny, but this was just what I needed for a day of leisure. Marie was right, my senses hadn’t fully recovered yet, so I couldn’t be too active.

　I propped my elbows on the window sill and stared out the window, not really looking at anything. It seems that when people think it’s okay to relax, they do so to the utmost of their ability. The light shining dimly and the transparent wind caressing my hair made my consciousness slowly fade away.

　In the midst of my reverie, something hard touched my fingertips and my body reacted with a twitch.

“Sage. Hey, wake up.”

   It called my name.

　The voice sounded familiar, but please consider the time and place when waking people up.

“Please, I’m still tired, so let me sleep …”

“If you don’t wake up, I’ll hollow out your eyeballs?”

　I felt a strong sense of pressure on my forehead and opened my eyes. The lord of the voice, who was looking into the face that was napping, was not even a person.

“Good morning. Requested by the assistant chieftain. It’s urgent, it’s bad.”

　

　Fluent words came out of the beak that opened and closed one after another. It’s clear, black, circular eyes, claws that grab your fingertips and don’t let go, and ability to fly silently such that I couldn’t detect even though I was only lightly asleep.

“Was there ever a time you came when it wasn’t urgent, Lise?”

　When she finally got a response that seemed like a response, Lise leaned back on her wings and let out a meek cry.

　The intruder, a pet of an acquaintance, looked like a larger version of a falcon, the hunter of the skies. It looks like a bird of prey itself, but I haven’t heard whether it’s because it’s a species skilled in such things or whether it’s under the influence of magic power that it can control human language.

From time to time, I could see Marie looking at me as she ran around the house. As she didn’t call out to me, I guessed she knew what was going on.

“Aren’t you going to help?”

Lise, perched on my shoulder, peers into my profile.

“I’ll only get in the way.”

“Yeah”

　I didn’t like being at home and often tried to help with household chores.

　But after realizing that I was only holding Marie back from beginning to end, I decided to hide in a corner of the room and wait quietly.

“So what’s your request? I don’t think I can meet your flashy expectations.”

“It’s not such a heavy request.”

　　Tilting her head, “Maybe,” Lise jumped into my arms. She poked her head out and urged me to scratch it. It had been a while, so I gently stretched out my fingers and scratched her.

“There was a visitor, a humanoid creature. It was asking all kinds of questions, so the young people said, ‘If you fight and win, we’ll tell you. ……”

“Sorry to interrupt. If you’re in a hurry, we can discuss the details on the way.”

　I lifted my face with Lise, who stopped speaking at the voice that jumped in.

　Marie, who had gotten dressed before I knew it, stood at the entrance of the room. She turned around, half leaned herself against the wall, and gave me a quiet stare.

“If you don’t hurry, I’m going to leave you.”

　Marie turned on her heels. One man and one bird looked at each other, and with a bouncing motion, they followed her and took off in their clothes. After quickly locking the door, Marie offered me a dagger and a freshly mended robe.

“…… So, you’ve accepted the request?

“Unfortunately.”

　　Marie must have heard what I said, even though it was choppy. I looked across at Lise, who had jumped over to the disappointed Marie, and took in a lungful of tepid air through my nostrils under the unrefreshing sky. As expected, I couldn’t get even a fraction of exhilaration.

　As a beginner, it is not uncommon for a spell to fail due to drowsiness or fatigue. I’d like to think that it’s impossible for me to fail, but physical condition does affect accuracy and sharpness to some extent, and no amount of study can change that. When I think of going and not doing a great job, I can’t help but feel depressed.

　There was one more thing that was going to happen.

“Here, Sage?”

　Marie’s palm was extended in front of me as I stared blankly at the ground.

In Marie’s right hand, Lise was squeezed against her chest. After a slight hesitation, she pulled her hand back and brought her body closer.

　Without any time to say anything, she put her hands around my waist. The feeling and body warmth of a close contact around the waist stimulates my sense of shame no matter how many times I experience it.

“Can’t we stay a bit further apart? It’s uncomfortable.

“That’s fine, but the further away you are from me, the less effective it will be, so the further away from my body you are, the more it will disperse.

“…………”

“You won’t be bothered by it for long.”

　Putting more strength into her pulling hands, Marie looked up at the sky. The chanted words spun by her small lips created an invisible wall of wind around her.

“Wings!”

　The whirlwind that rose from the surface of the earth became vaguely visible with a pale light. The wind, which had been swirling around us as if searching for a place to go, was momentarily silenced and released with tremendous force straight up.

　For a few seconds after I stopped feeling my weight, an intense floating sensation swept through my body. From then on, Marie was right.

　Not only could I not distinguish the color of the sky, I could not even distinguish heaven and earth. While ruminating on the fact that I was probably being carried by the wind that was whizzing around my field of vision, I concentrated on not being aware of the distance between me and Marie, the only thing I could feel clearly.

　As a result, he became more aware of it, and Sage stopped thinking.

“Wind that rises from the depths of the earth, from the ends of the heavens, lead us to “the land of the dead”, blow!”

The chanting that was strung together increased the strength of the wind, and it erupted as the words were spoken. The three of them disappeared into the distant sky, leaving only a thin trail of clouds like a white thread, along with their consciousness.

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