Kays Translations

Chapter 74: Mille-feuille and Crying

　Early this morning I made Mille-feuille with custard cream and strawberries in between. I cut it into pieces and then looked at it.

　Illustration (By Mitemin)

　Sophia-chan looks at my hands with great interest.

“I’ve never had that before, Fee-chan.”

“Do you want some?”

“Yeah!　How do you eat it?”

“You can eat it any way you like.”

“Okay!”

　Sophia was eating heartily, but I just looked at the mille-feuille without eating anything.

　I’ve always wondered how far away this world is from my original world. But lately I’ve been thinking that it might not just be a matter of physical distance.

　This is just a baseless theory, but perhaps this world and that world overlap, like this mille-feuille. Or, like grapes, the various worlds may exist in clusters.

　If the two worlds are like mille-feuille or like a cluster of grapes, then ……. No matter how far you send the transformed object using transformation magic, it will never reach the other world. The layers of mille-feuille or the grape skins must be broken before the letter can be delivered.

　I wonder if Grandma has ever tried to send me a letter. She sent me off, so she could probably send me a letter. Maybe she’s too tired from sending me off. Maybe she can’t send one because I left Orb Village and am in the royal capital.

　Sophia is eating the Mille-feuille, stabbing it with her fork and crumbling it as she goes. As I watched, I thought to myself. If I can penetrate the overlapping worlds like sticking a fork into Mille-feuille, I feel like I can deliver a letter to my grandmother.

　But I don’t know what the fork that pierces the world is.

“I don’t understand.”

“Mai-tan, what is it?　What do you mean, you don’t understand?”

“I want to send a letter, but I can’t.”

“Hmm. Fee-chan, let’s dig a hole!”

　After preparing the warding clappers, I let Sophia-chan out into the backyard. Sophia-chan transformed into a dog and happily dug a hole. Near her was the bench I had recently made. There’s a diamond buried about three meters below the bench.

　Mr. Henry came to me at 8:00 in the morning and asked me to wait a bit about the conversation we had on the diamond. Since they are not perishable, I replied, “I’ll wait as long as it takes,” and saw him off on his way to the castle. However, I would not do it if it would be too big a deal and put Henry in trouble.

　Suddenly, Sophia-chan raised her head crisply and began to focus her attention on something.

　Illustration (By Mitemin)

“Crying!”

“Are you crying?　I can’t hear anything, can you tell where you heard crying?”

“I know!　Over here!”

　Sophia moves to the edge of the garden, where there is already a high stone wall.

“The other side of this?”

“Yeah! She’s crying because it hurts.”

“Okay. Sophia, can you please turn back into a human and get dressed?”

　Sophia-chan ran up to the holly tree and quickly transformed into a human toddler and put on her clothes. After putting on a loose-fitting dress over her head, she looked back at me and asked, “Panties too?”

“Panties too!”

“Okay!”

　It’s going to get muddy, but it can’t be helped.

“Sophia-chan, I’m going to use magic now, so don’t be surprised.”

“Don’t tell grandma?”

“You can tell Grandma and Grandpa and Dad.”

“Okay.”

　After making sure that no one was coming into the alleyway, I transformed the firewood from the yard’s woodpile. A slender ladder appears propped up against the stone wall. Sophia said, “Wow!　That’s amazing!” and her eyes widened in surprise.

“I’m going to go look on the other side of the fence, Sophia. so you go inside, lock the door and wait for me. Don’t open the door for anyone.”

“Fee-chan, I’m coming up too!”

“Not right now. I have to help the person who is crying.”

“Fee, I want to go up there too!”

“Later. I can’t do it now. Get in quickly. Lock the door from the inside.”

　I watched as Sophia reluctantly went inside the house, then climbed the ladder. It seemed like there was a farm on the other side of this wall. It was the chamber of commerce guy who sold me the “hideaway” who told me about it.

　The fence is about five meters high. I have never heard any sound or voice. The fence went on and on, and the locals have never talked about the farm, as they take it for granted that the fence exists.

　I stood at the top of the ladder. On the other side of the fence was a beautiful farm. Fruit trees with white flowers bloomed here and there. There was also a well. I wondered if it was a nobleman’s farm.

“Where is the crying person?”

　I looked over the fence at the farm, which was about the size of an elementary school yard, and there she was. A girl of about ten years old, wearing a gingham-check one-piece dress. She was lying face down on the footpath beside the field, with what appeared to be a woven wooden basket lying nearby.

“What’s wrong?”

　I called out to her, but she didn’t seem to move. She was crying and saying “It hurts” just a moment ago, right? Is this an emergency?

　I straddle the wall and use transformation magic to make the ladder leaning against the south side of the wall appear on the north side of the wall. My feet reach the ground of the farm, and I run over to the girl.

 “Are you okay?　Where does it hurt?”

“My ankle. When I fell down, I heard a cracking sound, and it hurt so much I couldn’t stand up anymore.”

　Oh, thank God. She was conscious.

　She is a beautiful girl with reddish-gold hair and blue-gray eyes. I looked and saw that her right ankle was swollen and dark purple. I was hoping it would just be a sprain. If it was worse, it might be a fracture. “Get on my back. I’ll carry you on my back,” I said, and the girl got on my back sobbing, “It hurts. It hurts.” I told her to hold on tight to my shoulders as we walked.

“Where’s the doorway?”

“That way.”

　The girl pointed to a place quite far ahead. By the time I reached the wooden fence at the edge of the farm, I was sweating profusely. When I opened the solid wooden door, an elderly farmer came running out in a panic.

“My Lady! What’s the matter?”

“I fell.”

“Oh, I told you I’d accompany you.”

“She hurt her right ankle. Please see to it.”

　The man looked at me suspiciously but took the girl in his arms.

“You must come with us. I want to ask you something.”

“I have a small child at home, so that would be a problem. I’ll be leaving right away.”

“You understand that you can’t just walk into the Marquis’s farm and leave, right? Now, come here.”

　I wonder how serious a crime it is to trespass on a noble’s land. I’m sorry, Henry-san, I know you’re at work, but this is an emergency.  I released a whispered message spell to Mr. Henry as I walked behind the man.

“Mr. Henry, I climbed over the back fence of our house to get in, and now I’m being taken away. What should I do, little Sophia is home alone.”

“I’ll take care of it right away.”

　The conversation was cut short after the bare minimum was said. After that, I heard Henry say to someone, “I’m going out on urgent business. My destination is the Marquis Halford farm. Geno! Please run an errand for me. Go to the Guards and call on Mr. Victor. Just tell him that Sophia is alone in the Hideaway.” That’s reassuring. And the instructions were perfect.

　

　The man in front of me didn’t seem to notice my voice. After all, the young lady was still crying. As soon as the girl felt relieved, she seemed to relax and started to cry, and she is still crying now.

　We arrived at a small house at the entrance to the farm and were told to go inside. A woman who appeared to be the man’s wife came running up to us. The man instructed her to “call a doctor.”

　I sit quietly in my chair and keep my mouth shut.

　A short time later, a man in an elegant suit arrives and begins to tend to the girl.

“My lady, it’s a pretty severe sprain, but no fractures.”

　After telling the girl that much, he turned to face the man in charge of the farm.

“You, don’t let the young lady walk for a few days. I’ve applied a compress, so change it when it dries.”

　With that order, the doctor left. The man in charge of the farm carried the girl in his arms and took her somewhere. The woman who seemed to be his wife looked at me reproachfully.

“Young lady, you know that this is the plantation of Marquis Halford, don’t you?　We grow the vegetables that are consumed by the members of the Marquis family. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to notify the guards.”

“I didn’t know that the area inside the walls was the Marquis’s farm.”

“You don’t know about the Marquis’ farm? That excuse won’t hold. This is troubling.”

“I’ve only been in the capital for a few months now.”

“Even if you give me that excuse, I can’t help you. It’s the rules.”

　Well, was it common knowledge among the people of the Royal Capital that this is the Marquise’s plantation? Was it like the Spring Waiting Festival?

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