111 - Side Story: Hermine's Perspective New Student 2
Tina seemed to have a weakness for Saik, but when I switched to a study method of having her arrange game records, she began to understand the patterns little by little. It was hard to believe she was only nine years old. A child of this age would normally just barely manage to remember the piece movements and rules, making the game presentable as a form of play. But Tina said she did not know how to win, and that was where she was stumbling. She had already learned the complex piece movements and rules, and that was not the problem. I had heard that Alfred-sama and Mr. Dupre had taught her a little, but I did not think she had properly understood.
...Occasionally there are children who are exceptionally gifted beyond their years, and it seems Tina-san was one of them.
This was indeed a talented child who made one want to instill every possible bit of knowledge while she was still young. I look forward to seeing what kind of wise person she will become. I could also understand why Alfred-sama had called me here, saying he wanted me as Tina's tutor.
...Well, it seems her guardian has not noticed Tina-san's brilliance at all.
Lately she had finally begun to enjoy Saik, but Tina was still absorbed in embroidery. She must enjoy it immensely, as she was always embroidering whenever she had time. Thanks to that, the embroidery on the shirt cuffs that was supposed to take all winter to sew was finished astonishingly quickly. She said she enjoyed it, but the work was too fast. If one thought that meant the work was sloppy, that was not the case either. She was adorning complicated patterns with truly exquisite embroidery for a beginner.
...Small hands alone cannot produce embroidery this exquisite.
One could almost see the blessings of Yupins, god of craftsmanship, and Ashantee, goddess of art. Tina must be loved by the gods. I wondered if there was somewhere this talent could be put to use. It was a talent too precious to keep confined to a single household.
One day as the Divine King's Holy Birth Festival approached, I invited Tina to go see the night festival, and she was surprised. It seemed my strictness had made her think I would refuse such a thing as the night festival outright.
...I am not the sort of adult who would deprive a child of festival pleasures.
And since I was participating, I intended to enjoy myself within the bounds permitted for adult behavior. Mainly in terms of Divine King Festival costumes. The agreement was that I would tutor at least through the winter, so I had been preparing my costume since this arrangement was decided. I had anticipated that a child might develop an aversion to me due to the strictness of my instruction, so I put great care into every detail of my costume to win her over. Since her guardian had proudly told me in advance about the costume Tina would be wearing, I knew it was a black cat. Therefore, as Tina's guardian for the occasion, I made my own costume a black cat as well. Simply attaching ears would be too ordinary, so I made the cat's head into a hat, and I myself became the cat's body. This way, a slightly tall black cat was complete.
When my preparations were finished and I promptly knocked on Tina's door, Tina emerged with her blue eyes wide in surprise. She was so startled she froze for a few moments, so I took the opportunity to insert a small lecture. Those of noble status have money to spend on their costumes. Therefore, many of them wear outlandish outfits on a regular basis. The most famous example is probably the current Sixth Princess. She apparently prefers designs that cover only a small portion of her alluring body with well-tanned, glossy leather, boldly declaring that hiding this beauty granted by the gods would be an insult to them. The Sixth Princess shares the same mother as Prince Alfred, known for his pure and upright character, but she is truly a stark contrast to her younger brother.
Tina, whom I took out into the night town, was truly like a kitten. The black cat ears protruding from the hood of her coat turned in whatever direction her face moved as she looked around, and it was adorable. Though she was curious, she never wandered off on her own, so watching over Tina was easy. Even when she wanted to peek into a shop, she always sought my permission first. There was no comparison to the boy I had tutored before Tina.
"Tina-san, is there any shop or place you would like to go?"
"On festival days, I want to go to the Three Crows tavern!"
I listed the various events held during the Divine King's Holy Birth Festival, and first we went to see the bonfire, which was the most conspicuous and held in the square, so we would inevitably pass by it anyway. The bonfire had started as a ritual to purge problems and misfortunes one did not want to carry into the new year, but now it had become just an event for burning unwanted items. I had asked in advance if there were any unwanted items, but since everything Tina owned had been bought new by Mr. Dupre this year, she answered that she had neither old things nor unnecessary things.
...Personally, I would like to burn that ugly cat pillow and make her a new one with good fabric.
But that cat pillow was Tina's favorite. It did not seem likely she would part with it anytime soon, so even if it could be burned, it would have to be next year.
"Hermine-sensei, read this for me, pleash."
When we arrived at the only restaurant Tina had requested herself, she pounced on the items displayed at its front. It seemed that this Three Crows tavern, which had come from across the sea, offered different menus each festival, and Tina looked forward to it every time.
"Can you not read this by now, Tina-san?"
"The menu at Three Crows has a lot of Napaji ingredients, so I cannot read it yet."
When Tina said that, I looked at the menu, and indeed, it seemed to use a lot of ingredients and seasonings from Napaji. Tina had reached the point where she could read simple sentences without assistance, but there was no way she could read the names of Napaji's unique ingredients.
"It reads 'sweet-glazed Omiamtasu.' It seems to be a Napaji-grown potato called Omiamtasu, fried and coated in a sweet sauce."
Napaji cuisine was so unique that many dishes were hard to imagine just from their names. That was probably why many customers asked for explanations of what the dishes were like. Descriptions were written on the menu from the start.
"...Shall we buy some?"
Reading the description, it was just potatoes coated in sweet sauce. It sounded sweet, but I had never heard of the potato's name, so I could not imagine what it would taste like. I found myself hesitating, but Tina seemed to have no room for deliberation. She pulled out the black cat purse hanging from a strap around her neck from under her coat, her blue eyes sparkling.
"Two sweet-glazed Omiamtasu, pleash!"
"Tina-san, for money, I can..."
"Hermine-sensei is always taking care of me, so pleash let me pay!"
She declared this with a beaming childlike smile I rarely saw from her. She was such a sharp child that she might have seen through my thought that since I did not know the taste, I would buy just one to test it. She did not want half. She wanted to eat one whole.
The shopkeeper seemed to already know Tina's face, and he gave her an extra one, which delighted Tina greatly. She was so happy that she drew the attention of everyone around. It must have been good advertising for the shop. After that, as Tina ate the sweet-glazed Omiamtasu at the shop front, she kept exclaiming how delicious it was with such ecstasy that people began to stop hesitantly at the Three Crows.
"You must wear your costume properly for the Divine King Festival."
"...Thank you very much."
As Tina brought the sweet-sauce-coated potato to her mouth, the cat-ear hood slipped off her head. Under the hood, Tina's head had no cat ears or anything attached. Without the hood, she was just an ordinary human child.
On the night of the Divine King Festival, children are stolen by spirits. There was such a superstition, though I did not particularly believe it. But still, it bothered me, so I fixed Tina's hood.
...Oh my? Again?
The hood slid smoothly off Tina's head, exposing her black hair to the night air. This time Tina noticed immediately and began fixing her hood herself. Since she was holding a plate of potatoes in one hand, she seemed to be having a bit of trouble, and the gesture was adorable.
...Not being able to see such an adorable little sister... Mr. Dupre, my condolences.
Just as I thought I should help her, Tina's hands suddenly stopped. She stared intently across the street, then ran off clutching the plate of potatoes.
"Tina-san?"
Tina had been so well-behaved until now, showing no sign of running off on her own. But she was still a nine-year-old child after all. She had found something that caught her attention and had dashed off, forgetting she was in the middle of eating. However, I did catch her saying 'Leonardo-san' in a small voice. She must have spotted a figure across the street that resembled her guardian from behind.
"You will get lost, Tina-san!"
The moment I called out for her to stop, a large man crossed in front of me. Tina vanished from my sight for just that instant. It was only an instant, but after the man passed, Tina's small figure was nowhere to be seen.
"Tina-san?"
Alarmed by Tina's sudden disappearance, I hurried after her. The distance between Tina and me was less than ten paces, but Tina was nowhere to be seen. It was absolutely impossible for her to have moved beyond my sight in the mere instant it took a large man to cross in front of me.
"Tina-san! Answer me! Tina-san!"
I stood at the spot where Tina had disappeared, calling her name and looking around. Tina was a clever child. If we were playing hide-and-seek in the residence, that would be one thing, but it was hard to imagine her deliberately not responding to a guardian calling her name after losing sight of her on the street. I carefully observed the surroundings, calling her name, checking if there was anyone suspicious or any place a child could hide. Before long, the people around and the Three Crows shopkeeper, realizing something was wrong, gathered.
"Have you seen a girl? Black hair, blue eyes, wearing a coat with cat ears!"
I explained that the moment my view was blocked, she had vanished, and asked for the help of those around me. Searching alone would be less effective than asking others for assistance, even if it inconvenienced them.
Hearing the commotion, a Black Knight rushed over, and I explained the situation from the beginning again. Tina had been eating potatoes at the Three Crows shop front, then called out Leonardo's name and dashed into the street. At that moment, a large man crossed in front of her, blocking her from view for an instant. After the man passed, Tina had vanished from where she should have been. After I explained that kind passersby were helping in the search but she still had not been found, the Black Knight acted quickly. He conveyed the situation to the Black Knights and soldiers stationed at the street corners, and they split into security and search parties to begin looking for Tina. Most of the Black Knights knew Tina's face. We had passersby spreading descriptions of Tina to aid the search, but the Black Knights' cooperation was even more reassuring.
By the time the search had spread to distances a child's feet could never have covered in an instant, dawn broke pale and white. Around that time, Alfred-sama, who should have been performing the rites for the War God Herkeiles at Grenore Fortress in place of the Commander from midnight onward, also joined the search. With the Black Knights' cooperation, we had searched not only the area where she was lost but the entire city, yet Tina's figure was nowhere to be found. Checkpoints had even been set up at the city's entrances in case of kidnapping, but still Tina was not found. Perhaps it was fatigue that made me entertain the absurd thought that she had truly been stolen by spirits.
"...What is that dog?"
"It is the dog that was chasing Tina in autumn for some reason. I thought it might help find Tina, so I brought it."
The black dog that Alfred-sama had brought from the fortress upon hearing the news of Tina's disappearance was clearly a trained dog. Despite the commotion of people all around, it was not agitated by it. It pricked up its ears intently as if understanding what we were saying. The black dog, which had been captured by the Black Knights, seemed trained to obey only its master, but it must have understood that the person being searched for was Tina, the one it had been so fixated on. After barking once, it made a gesture of sniffing its surroundings and began moving, heedless of its leash.
"...Is this the place?"
"It is where I lost sight of Tina-san."
The black dog raised its head and sat down right where I had lost sight of Tina. The Three Crows sign was visible nearby, so there was no mistake.
"So we are back to square one."
Had relying on the dog been a mistake? The black dog sat in the middle of the alley, and after that, no matter how much the leash was pulled or how much people spoke to it, it would not listen to them. It kept sitting there as if waiting for something.
"...For now, Ms. Hartmann, please return to the residence once. You have been searching all night. Are you not tired?"
"But my student, a still-small girl, is missing. I cannot rest..."
"I understand how you feel, but please return to the residence and rest. I think it would be best to change clothes and take a nap."
Admonished by Alfred-sama that fatigue and anxiety could cloud one's searching eyes, I had no choice but to back down. Indeed, when I thought calmly, Alfred-sama's argument was correct. It was sound reasoning that taking appropriate breaks was better than searching haphazardly.
"...I understand. I will rest for a while. But please inform the residence immediately if you learn anything."
When I returned to the Fortress Lord's Residence, Bart passed me on his way out, wearing a thick coat. They had been worried about Tina too and had wanted to go search, but since I had not returned, they must not have been able to leave.
...It seems my perspective has narrowed a bit.
My worry for Tina was genuine, but it was in times like these that one must remain calm. Rest, including naps and meals, was absolutely necessary to keep going.
I changed clothes, took a nap for about two hours, and had a meal to settle myself. It seemed no word of Tina being found had arrived even while I was napping. As I headed to the entrance to go search for Tina in the city again, I found a puppy scratching at the living room door.
"Kokumaro, you must not scratch the door."
I knew a dog would not understand, but I found myself speaking to it as if it were human. I really must be tired. The puppy, addressed by me, looked up and let out a plaintive whine, then began scratching at the door again. Telling it off verbally would not make the puppy understand human speech, so it could not be helped that it kept scratching. However, the puppy's behavior bothered me, so I opened the living room door just a crack.
A chill air brushed against my cheek. Since we had decided not to light the fireplace today for Tina's sake, the living room was enveloped in winter temperatures.
"Kokumaro?"
The puppy slipped through the slightly opened door as if impatient for it to open. It went straight to the front of the fireplace and began sniffing the area intensely.
...Can even a puppy sense that something has happened to Tina-san?
Or perhaps it wanted to warm itself in front of the fireplace with Tina as usual. After plopping down right in front of the hearth, it lay down, even though no one was there. It seemed intent on staying there for a long time.
...Something is strange.
Lying still, the puppy stared fixedly at the fireplace. Seeing this, I suddenly recalled a superstition associated with the Divine King Festival. It said that children stolen by spirits during the Divine King Festival would return through the hearth of their home.
...How ridiculous. I must be losing my mind. It is just a superstition.
I knew intellectually that it was just a superstition, but I could not help being bothered by the fireplace and the puppy, so I decided to take turns with the others watching over the hearth.
The sun rose fully, morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon turned to evening, but Tina's whereabouts remained unknown. Even with all the Black Knights mobilized and even the city's residents involved in the search, not a trace of Tina was found, not even a shoe. By this point, everyone was starting to think it was truly strange. If she had fallen into a river due to some accident, her body should have been found by now. If it was the work of some vile criminal for malicious purposes, her corpse would have been discarded somewhere by now to silence her. But there was neither such tragic news nor the good news that Tina had been found safe.
...The fact that no body has been found is still something to be thankful for, I suppose.
Either way, it was enough to make one feel faint. If kidnappers had taken her outside the city, the Black Knights watching the entrances should have spotted them, so I was not worried about that. The black dog, I was told, still had not moved from the spot near the Three Crows. As for a dog that would not move, the puppy in front of the fireplace was the same. It had been stationed in front of the hearth since morning, lying quietly.
"...Has Tina-san returned?"
In the living room of the residence, where I had returned for a break, I spoke to the puppy, still lying there. Somehow, a system had formed where one person stayed with the puppy in the living room, another rested in the residence, and the last went out to search for Tina in the city. Currently, Bart had just returned and was resting, and Tabitha had gone out to look for Tina.
...Talking to a dog... I must be quite worn down.
I gave a wry smile at my own pitiful state, when the puppy, who had been lying still staring at the fireplace, changed its posture. It barked once, then stood up with its tail straight, and began wagging it vigorously. I realized the puppy had sensed something amiss, and I looked toward the fireplace, the direction of its gaze.
"Wh...at?"
On the ashes that Tina had proudly shown me yesterday, saying she had pressed her handprints into them, there were footprints besides the small handprints. These had not been there this morning.
"Bart! Bart, come here!"
This was hardly behavior befitting a model for a young lady like Tina, but this was an emergency, so I set that aside. I roused Bart, who was napping on a chair in the entrance hall, and called him into the living room to confirm the footprints in the ashes.
"No mistake, this shoe size is the young lady's!"
Bart said, holding his hand over the footprints to compare sizes. So she really had been stolen by spirits.
"...But if there are footprints in the hearth, does that not mean she has come back this close?"
Saying this, Bart leaned halfway into the fireplace to peer inside. Being careful not to accidentally erase the handprints by touching the ashes, he began calling Tina's name into the hearth. I did not think Tina would return just because the two of us called into the fireplace, so I asked the gatekeeper to deliver a message, and I myself decided to hole up in the study. Even the gatekeeper could inform Tabitha and Alfred-sama about the anomaly in the hearth. In that case, I should do what I could do. I had thought that children being stolen by spirits was just a superstition. If it was actually happening, there must be some way to resolve it. With that thought, I first moved to the study. I would search the books in the study for a way to retrieve a child stolen by spirits.
Upon hearing of the anomaly in the hearth, Alfred-sama and Tabitha returned to the residence. Tabitha seemed to have decided to take turns with Bart calling into the fireplace. When Alfred-sama heard that I was researching superstitions about children stolen by spirits, he headed to the Menhishumi Church.
The Menhishumi Church in this city of Grenore had a spirit child. He would be asking for that person's cooperation.
[Author's Note]
The other side of Tina getting lost. There was a great commotion over her sudden disappearance.
Typos and errors to be fixed another day.
Fixed the typos and errors I found. Added the last two lines for the feel of it.