Inside the dimly-lit parish hall, its pristine oaken pews were as empty as its grandiose podium. High stained glass windows depicted many tales, all centered around a woman giving to desperate beggars, soothing the sickly, and fending off horrid demons in divine light. The red, blue, and orange glass glowed from the early morning's rise to wash over a trio of men's features, casting half their faces in conspiratorial shadows. Their voices carried in the still air.

“...And that concludes the message I was told to deliver.” spoke a dark-skinned man clad in an ashen-grey hood. He dipped into a polite bow to the other two standing opposite of him, who returned the gesture with equal grace. “Altheon, Barnabel, this task was assigned to you with the utmost confidence that you would succeed without issue. Please, do not circumvent such expectations.”

“Understood. We shall carry out the orders as described. Expect success within the day.” The taller of the two responded amiably, and the other murmured their agreements. Satisfied with their confidence, the dark-skinned man nodded and wished them luck as he took his leave.

After seeing the messenger off, the two remaining men convened around the folded sheet that had been handed to them at the start of the conversation.

“I see… A rather trifling task for ones such as we, wouldn’t you say brother?” The shorter, stouter of the pair, evidently Barnabel, nearly snorted as his eyes passed over the detailed instructions they were meant to follow.

“Certainly so,” Altheon agreed. “Frankly, I’m baffled that such a thing was not taken care of long ago. It’s almost as if we are being made to clean up Her loose ends.”

Barnabel put on an arrogant smile as he strutted a few steps away. “Better late than never, I would say. And besides, I see no better honor than to carry out Her will, even in the most minute of duties.”

“Yes, and to that end, what’s say we begin our preparations? It would seem the messenger was sent ahead of Her carriage so that he would arrive on this particular day. Our window of opportunity draws nearer as we speak.”

“Of course, brother. Leave any financial arrangements to me. Summon me once you’ve laid eyes on the target.”

“With pleasure.” Bearing malicious grins, the two men slipped out of the large double doors and into the steadily-forming crowds of the town.

-----

“All right! I’m off~!”

“We’ll be back by tonight. Be good, and don’t cause trouble for others, okay?”

“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll make sure Micah is on her best behavior today.”

“I was talking to you, actually.”

“Eh?! You meant me?!” Bernadetta’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as Henrietta ran through a simple set of rules for behaving properly in public. From the side, Josefine snickered to herself, eyeing the young child balanced on the woman’s arms and resting on her shoulder.

“Little Micah’s such a well-behaved cutie, there’s no way she’ll act up today!” she said. “Plus, she takes after me the most, so that practically guarantees that nothing will go wrong~”

“Ah. You’re right.” Henrietta blinked once, then turned to face Josefine with arms crossed. “It’s you I should be telling all of this to.”

“Ehh?! But you already do it every day~!”

As the trio of nuns fell into their usual bickering, Mikasa no, she supposed it was about time she got used to calling herself Micah now watched silently with a smile on her face. It had been two years since that night she awoke on the church steps, and she’d had more than enough time to grow accustomed to her new family and the world she was expected to live in for her second life.

First, through reading books and being taken on walks with Bernadetta through the town, she learned that the world she found herself in was called the Circle of Magi Magi for short due to the existence of four nations representing the four cardinal directions that form a ring around a center territory. She was currently situated in the western nation, Westra, in the small town of Halloway.

Secondly, by listening to the nuns’ conversations, she was able to learn that they belong to a religion called the Kindness of Nor, whose doctrine dictates that by staying devoted and keeping kindness in one’s heart, one will be rewarded by the goddess, Nor, for their efforts, and receive kindness in turn. Basically, it was a religion centered around the idea of being kind to others.

Bernadetta, her adoptive mother and the owner of the church, is the great granddaughter of the man who founded the religion, and she takes great pride in upholding it and the church he’d built over one-hundred years ago.

Unfortunately, the church isn’t doing so well, as a larger, more popular sect called the Disciples of Circe rose in popularity and influence over the years, and grew to become the world’s leading religion.

Along with that, with the recent peace agreement between the world’s nations, people simply had less and less reason to pledge their faith to the gods. And even when one did seek such things, they would rather flock to the massive, spiraling monastery than the smaller, poorer church that the nuns occupy.

With the decline of their donations came a lack of funds, and thus an inability to pay the nuns for their services. Most of them left to serve the more prosperous Circe, leaving only Henrietta Bernadetta’s headstrong, but loyal childhood friend, Josefine a local teenager (she’s only fourteen, much to Micah’s surprise) whose parents knew Bernadetta’s father before they passed away several years ago in an accident, and Brunhilde a woman who, in her younger years, was good friends with Bernadetta’s grandfather and often helped out her great grandfather in the church.

Bernadetta herself lost her mother when she was very young, and has remained loyal to her father’s desire to uphold the church even in the face of their financial decline. Though she always urges the other nuns to leave her behind to find greater success, all of them have declined every time. Instead, Henrietta works a second job as a waitress in a popular tavern, and Josefine is often paid for her volunteer work at the local library reading to and tutoring children. Together, the two of them procure the main funds with which the nuns live off of, though it isn’t much.

It’s a rather pitiful situation, all in all.

The third and final thing is that, having kept her memories of her life as Mikasa, she could not simply accept a quiet life in this world. Day in and day out, thoughts of her younger brother Yuu would plague her mind as she slowly grew up. Not only that, but lingering questions about her meeting with God would often swirl around in her head, leading to many sleepless nights.

She knew that, at some point, the day would come when she sought out the answers to all of these questions she had. It would mean leaving behind this family that she’d spent so much time with, surely, but that eventuality was something she’d long accepted.

It was strange. Even after getting to know the nuns, she still couldn’t bring herself to say she was really attached to them. She sympathized with their plight and definitely felt a close connection to them, but her feelings never went farther than one would feel for characters in a novel. Try as she might to accept them as her new family, she still could never get the idea out of her mind that these people were from a world completely alien to her. They weren’t “real” to her. Sometimes, they hardly even felt human.

She could still remember the faces of her parents that had raised her with so much love and care, and of her adorable younger brother that had brought a light to her world she hadn’t known she’d needed until he was born. They were her real family. And the time spent living without them had left something of a hole in her heart a hole that had grown wider with every passing day until she eventually came to the decision to leave by any means necessary.

However, as she learned more and more about the kinds of people and creatures Magi housed, it became increasingly clear to Micah that she would need to find a way to defend herself against the various threats that the world had to offer before setting out on her own. No, defense wasn’t enough; if she truly had any hope of overcoming any trial sent her way in the pursuit of the truth, she would also need the strength to crush anything and everything in her path.

And to that end, she needed to decide early on precisely what her goals in this world exactly were. With the inability to properly write at her age, she instead detailed it out in her head:

-Find Yuu

Why was Yuu hospitalized? Did he die too? Where was he now? Was he in this world somewhere, having been reincarnated just like her? Answering these questions were no doubt her top priority.

-Find God

And unless she was incredibly lucky, the only way to accomplish the first goal would be to locate the one who put her here in the first place, God. He surely knew more than he let on during their meeting, and thus finding a way to get in contact with him again was another priority. Even if she had to beat the answers out of him, she would find a way to do so.

And of course the first solution she considered was to commit suicide. If death was all it took to meet with God once more, then she was prepared to die countless times in order to do so. However, that idea was quickly shot down once she realized that there was a chance that it wouldn’t work.

Ever since her meeting with God, there was one thing that had been bothering her one question in the back of her mind that she knew needed answering among all the others.

Why had her memories remained after her reincarnation? She’d been thus far suspending her disbelief regarding life after death and living in a new world, but that was the one thing she couldn’t understand no matter how much she tried to reason it out. It just made more logical sense to her that a reincarnated soul would lose their memories of their previous life before entering the next one. If not, then why hadn’t there been more people on Earth claiming to have memories of a previous life?

Because of the possibility that there were special circumstances she wasn’t aware of, she deemed it too risky to commit suicide. If it turned out that this first time was some sort of fluke, she would rather try and search for answers using her accumulated knowledge than risk losing her memories the second time around.

And that brought her back to the concern of a means to protect herself, and to make sure that nothing could stop her quest for the truth, not even God. It only took a short while of reading and studying books from the church in her own time (She was surprised and very thankful to find that everyone not only spoke Japanese, but the written language was the same) for her to find exactly the thing she needed.

Magic.

Sawatari Mikasa wasn’t exactly the skeptical type. Rather, she was the kind of person who would not have much trouble believing something if it was right before her eyes. She was almost too gullible, as her friend Nari would often put it. But this trait is what allowed her to comprehend the strange situation she’d found herself in after her death, and also what got her excited the moment she laid eyes on this fantastical word.

Magic. Sorcery. Witchcraft. In this world that was so different from the one she’d known all her life, magic existed.

And it sounded so. Damn. Cool.

It didn’t take her long to start practicing. The books on magic at the church were unfortunately few in number, but they were enough to give her an idea of what it was like. As it was described, the fundamentals of magic were based around the concept of an energy source called ‘mana’. Mana existed in all living things, and is said to be closely tied to their soul. Therefore the stronger and more experienced one’s soul is, the more potent and plentiful the pool of mana they would possess.

However, after hours spent trying to access her mana pool, she was only able to get a weak response. It seemed that she didn’t have much mana at all, despite the fact that her soul was technically seventeen years older than her current physical age. Still, she didn’t give up, and kept poking and prodding at her mana day after day in the hopes that something would happen.

And, in a way, something did. Just not in the way she expected.

Instead of feeling the usual response from within herself, out of nowhere she felt a strange pulse come from within her scarf the same scarf that had been with her since her first moment in this new world. The same scarf that she refused to part with for fear of the dread and panic that would always come with being separated from it. The very same scarf that had been given to her by Yuu so long ago, and had become her most precious possession.

But, well, that was enough about all of that for now. In the time she’d spent reminiscing, the nuns had already finished squabbling and were finally ready to go about their business.

“Alright, we’re going now,” Henrietta announced as she and Josefine stepped through the front doors of the church.

“We’re headin’ out~!”

“Take care~” Bernadetta called after them, returning Josefine’s energetic waving with a small one of her own and matching her bright smile. Once the doors shut and their footsteps faded into the distance, she turned towards the rear of the chapel, where Brunhilde sat still as a rock in her usual chair.

“Madam Brunhilde, can you take her for a minute? I need to go get ready.” she asked. Though the woman didn’t answer verbally, there was a brief inclination of her head that told Bernadetta that it was alright, and so she carefully lowered Micah into her lap. “Thank you. I’ll just be a minute.”

“...” Silence descended upon the room after Bernadetta’s departure. Micah met the old woman’s gaze with a neutral stare of her own.

She’s doing it again. She’s giving me THAT look…

From Micah’s perspective, Brunhilde was the strangest of the nuns, and the relationship the two of them shared was certainly the most unique. Whenever she found herself in the company of the old nun, the entire time would be spent in complete silence, without a word uttered between the two. Micah of course got away with it by being young, but it was strange that in all this time, Brunhilde had never once tried to interact with her other than giving her this long stare, like her eyes were boring into her soul.

The kind of stare she was once again receiving right this instant.

Does she hate me or something? It seems like she only looks after me in order to inconvenience the others less, but I get the feeling she really doesn’t enjoy my company...

Sometimes Micah even felt as if Brunhilde could see right through her that she wasn’t a two-year-old child and was in fact much older mentally. The idea was honestly kind of chiling, until she realized that such a thing was simply impossible any way you looked at it. Even so, she had no idea why the woman stared at her with such an odd look on her face.

Luckily, the weirdly tense situation didn’t last too long, as Bernadetta returned to take her back after a few minutes. “Thanks again. I’ll be taking Micah out for a walk before I go to the town hall, so I’ll probably be back sometime in the evening. Will you be alright by yourself?” she asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Brunhilde responded, turning to eye the bag hanging on Bernadetta’s shoulder. “You’re the one I should be worrying about. Those documents are our lifeline, and your last connection to your father, his father, and his father before him. Don’t lose them.”

“I... I won’t.” Bernadetta pouted slightly, them smiled as she adjusted Micah’s position on her arm. “Besides, Micah will be with me. Even if something goes wrong, she’ll help me right away. Isn’t that right?”

Micah decided to humor her and respond with adorable enthusiasm. “Ya!”

“Fufu~, see? Micah and I make the best team.”

“...” Once again, Brunhilde descended into silence. As Micah looked over, their eyes met momentarily before she quickly turned away again. “Yes, yes. Hurry along now, lest the job never get done.”

“Alright, I’ll be going then. Come on, babe.”

“Bai-bai, Grammy!”

“...”

She totally hates me…

-----

After exiting the church, the pair entered the town proper.

Though this was far from the first time she’d seen it, Micah couldn’t help but be swept up in the excitement of seeing a bustling fantasy town like she had every other time before. It was all so… fantastical, for lack of a better word. Wide, vibrant streets with passing horse-drawn wagons and people of all ages walking about, and colorful houses of varying heights and construction so unlike what she’d grown up around back in Japan that it was mystifying.

It was one thing to view this sort of scene behind a screen or through the words on a page, but actually being there, standing right in the center of it all, was so extraordinary that it left her speechless each and every time.

“Now then, Micah,” Bernadetta’s gentle voice cut through her mesmerized state and brought her back to her senses. “We still have some time before we have to go over to the town hall. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“I’unno,” Micah answered simply with a small shrug.

For the record, even at age two, she was capable of forming full sentences perfectly fine thanks to her knowledge as Mikasa. However, the first time she tried speaking normally nearly ended in disaster.

One night at the church, Bernadetta had prepared a bottle to feed Micah in their room before bed, only to find her already fast asleep by the time she arrived. As she gently stirred her in order to wake her up, Micah momentarily forgot her situation and ended up acting as Mikasa would.

“Wake up, wake up, babe…~ One more bottle before you sleep, okay? Come on…~”

“Nngh… Fuu…”

“Bernadetta!”

“Ah?! H-Henrietta?!”

“What in the world do you think you’re doing waking a sleeping child?!”

“H-Henrietta, shh, shh~! I don’t want to startle her…”

“I-I wasn’t even yelling that loud though. M-More importantly-!”

“Henriettaaaa~!”

“Fuaaaa~ Why is it so noisy…?”

“I’m just trying to tell you-... eh?”

“Eh...”

“...???”

What? Why’d everyone get so silent all of a sudden? Come to think of it, where the heck even am… I…

…

…

SHIT.

“...Bernadetta.”

“...Henrietta.”

“You heard it too, right?”

“...I did.”

Fucking hell, how could I have been so careless?! Stupid stupid stupid, Mikasa! W-W-W-What should I do?! They’re gonna find out-

“Josefine, where are you hiding? This kind of prank isn’t funny, you know!”

“She’s right, Josefine. What if you scared poor Micah? Please, come on out.”

“.........”

As the two nuns began to search the room for the non-present Josefine (who would have been greatly offended had she known they’d mistaken Micah’s voice for her own), Micah could only stare in awed silence at the scene akin to a comedy skit taking place in her bedroom.

In the end, she let out a small relieved sigh.

Safe. Thank goodness these guys are morons. Sorry Mom, but thank you. The stupidity of you and your friend has saved me this time.

Ever since that day, she’d been extra careful about speaking normally around others, and even spent time practicing proper baby-talk during the periods where Bernadetta would leave her by herself while she tended to the church and Brunhilde. Quietly, of course.

“Then how about we take a walk around the marketplace? I’m sure we’ll find something to do if we look around there.” Bernadetta offered. Excited at the prospect of going to that wonderful place again, Micah nodded enthusiastically.

“Ya! Ya!”

“Hee hee, alright then.”

It was only a small walk from the church which sat somewhat closer to the outskirts of town to Halloway’s boisterous marketplace. Being a trade town for as much as it was known for its religious influence, one could say that this was where the “magic” happened. Merchants and tradesmen littered the stalls swapping wares and coin, while butchers and food vendors boldly shouted for passersby to try new shipments and products. The moment the nun-child duo set foot at the entrance, voices began calling out one by one.

“Bernadetta! Out shopping today, are we? How about some fish?” called a burly man with a wide grin.

“Ah, no thank you, Mister Reder. Henrietta and Josefine will be through here later today to get groceries. I’m just taking Micah for a walk today.”

“That so? Well be careful, this place can get real busy now and then. Wouldn’t want Little Micah to get overwhelmed now! Hahaha!”

“Yes, you’re right. I’ll be sure to avoid the busier areas. Good luck with your sales today.” Bernadetta offered a meek smile as she kept on her way.

“Ah, Bernadetta! Josefine’s not with you? I wanted to thank her again for teaching my Fromm math the other day. Used to be the only adding he could do was meat to stew, but my boy’s been counting multiples nonstop since he got home yesterday!”

“That’s wonderful, Mrs. Luzia! I’ll be sure to give Josefine your thanks when I see her.”

“I’d appreciate that. And here, on the house.”

Bernadetta’s eyes widened as the woman handed over an elaborately-designed tapestry. “U-Um, this looks really expensive. I-I don’t think we can-”

Her concerns were silenced with a wave of the woman’s hand. “Just take it. Put it in Josefine’s room, to remind her of the old bag she made cry when her son came home saying he learned math.”

“Ahh… Thank you.” Bernadetta reached in to take the item, staring in wonder at the beautiful design completely unbefitting of the old church. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“Followin’ Nor’s helped me more than Circe ever did, that’s for sure. Don’t forget that you ladies got a friend in old Mrs. Luzia! See you later, hon.”

“Yes, goodbye...” It seemed Bernadetta was the one getting overwhelmed, Micah noted, as she practically stumbled through the marketplace while being greeted by various vendors and salespeople, most of which offered free gifts on behalf of either Henrietta or Josefine, and even a few for Micah herself.

By the end of the several-hour-long experience, she was heaving under the strain of baskets of food, vases, pots, and enough paintings to replace every mural in the church.

“Haa… Haa… Since… since when have we been this popular…?” Bernadetta coughed. “People have never… been this generous before… Sorry, I need to sit down…”

As she found an empty bench and offloaded all of the items she’d gathered, the poor woman collapsed onto the seat for a break. Micah, who’d helped carry a few of the things in exchange for taking up one of her arms, gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

A lot of that stuff wasn’t completely useful, but it’s clear that the nuns aren’t disliked despite their situation. Plus they do a lot of good for Halloway, so I can see why people like them.

She decided to give her mother some time to rest and wiggled out of her grip to place her two tiny feet onto the road. Immediately, she wobbled and fell on her bottom. Admittedly, she hadn’t gotten much time to practice walking due to Bernadetta’s insistence to carry her everywhere she went, even from one end of a room to another. She appreciated having a mother that showed such consideration for her child, but the woman came off as a tad overbearing at times… most of the time.

...Now that she thought about it, her family her real family from Earth would often say the same thing to her about her treatment of Yuu. But… but there’s no way she was this bad about it, right? Right?

A sudden shout broke her train of thought. It was the call of a man in front of what looked like a miniature stage set. In his hands were various puppets, but they were too far to really make any detail out. But it seemed that he was calling for adults to bring their children and gather ‘round for some kind of show he was about to put on.

...I-It wasn’t because she was a child that she was interested in going. She was just curious to see what all the commotion was about, that was all.

“Ma-ma! Ma-ma!” She tugged at her mother’s pant leg and pointed at the steadily growing crowd of children and adults carrying infants both older and younger than herself. “Go, see!”

“You- you want to go see the puppet show…?” Bernadetta still looked exhausted, but Micah continued pulling on her until she eventually stood up. “But, what about all of these things we just got?”

“No, steal! No, steal! Come!” She was actually fairly certain someone would steal it if they left it unattended for long enough, but most of it was useless anyway so she continued to pull Bernadetta along. Finally, she let out a small sigh of resignation and scooped her up to walk her over to the show.

“Fine, let’s go take a look. But we’ll watch from the back, okay? I’m not much of a fan of crowds myself, and I don’t want you to be scared of all the people.”

“Okee~!” Replying with impeccably-practiced baby-talk, she climbed up to sit on Bernadetta’s shoulder as they arrived at the back of the crowd just in time to hear the start of the show.

“I am Elmar, the traveling Talespinner! From the city streets of Regalia to the remote village of Avalon, from the fishing town Zenith to the isolated Jochen, I travel the four nations in order to tell stories, legends, myths and epics to children of all ages, and I don’t accept a silver in return! Gather ‘round, gather ‘round children of Halloway, for I have quite a tale to tell today!”

The crowd buzzed with excitement, and even Micah couldn’t deny the anticipation coursing through her at the thought of seeing one of the more entertaining things in her lifetime on Magi thus far. Because honestly, being a baby was quite boring most of the time.

“This tale is of a group many of you have likely heard of before. The Five Legendary Heroes!” Elmar seemed to fill each and every word with energy, as he had the children practically hanging off everything he said. Once again, they erupted into a jovial cacophony at the revelation of the tale’s subject.

Micah had heard of the “Five Legendary Heroes” before. They were mentioned in a book she’d skimmed in the church while researching magic, which described the existence of Heroes and an academy that trained them into warriors that use their talents for magic, martial arts, weaponry, or any combination of the three in order to protect the innocent and the world at large from threats of any kind.

Of the many different brave and powerful Heroes, five in particular stood far above the rest.

“The second-youngest female practitioner of magic in the noble Brightwind family, known to the world as the strongest support mage of her generation, Wilhelmina Brightwind!” Elmar introduced the first puppet, bearing the likeness of a young woman with long, ginger hair and deep blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a white button-up shirt covered by a green jacket over her shoulders and a matching green skirt reaching her mid-thigh. Several small colors seemingly represented badges pinned to one side near the chest area.

Though the expression on the puppet seemed to be adjustable, there was a hardness to her neutral gaze, giving her the look of a no-nonsense woman. But due to having her likeness plastered on a puppet meant for children, she looked quite cute instead. Micah wondered if the real Wilhelmina had such pinchably adorable puffed-up cheeks.

After giving all of the children a good view, Elmar set the Wilhelmina puppet aside and held up the next one. “Known as the Shadow, master of the Soundless Slice technique, and bearing a weapon never before seen in this world until her time, the infamous Eviscerator blade! The mysterious warrior known only by the name Shimo!”

This one was almost the opposite of the last one, so full of vibrant colors. Instead, there were dark colors everywhere, from the straight black hair to the dark red robe that covered her entire body all the way down to her open-toed sandals, and finally to the black muffler that ran down the length of her back and concealed most of the lower half of her face.

“Ohh~ She’s quite pretty isn’t she?” Bernadetta commented. “She seems a bit scary though…”

But what caught Micah’s attention more than her outfit, the cut bangs across her forehead, or the stern, almost threatening expression on her distinctly asian features, was the sewn-on accessory resting on her hip.

Though it was miniature to match the puppet’s size, it looked chillingly similar to a popular weapon from her homeland.

The famous Japanese long sword.

A katana.

Was it just a coincidence? Elmar said it was never before seen in Magi until her time, but why had he called it the ‘Eviscerator’? Did they not know it was a katana? Or was there some other reason?

Elmar didn’t give her time to consider the questions further, as he was already gesturing to the next puppet. “Perhaps just as, if not more mysterious is the cloaked woman that serves as the party’s attack mage. With a hood and mask to hide her identity and powerful magic rivaling that of Brightwind’s Lennart and even the patriarch himself, Achill! The kind stranger said to have previously wandered the Circle for decades gathering knowledge and power, draped in darkness as much as she is in mystery, the Black Mask, Claire!”

Many of the children let out little ‘Ooh!’s at the sight of this one. It seemed she was a favorite.

‘Claire’ as she was called seemed to be a tall figure wearing a long black cloak that ran down to cover thick boots. At the end of her sleeves were matching gloves, and her most notable feature, the designless face mask hiding all but her grey eyes through two narrow holes, was also pitch black in color.

She… seemed to be a fan of the color black.

The cloak also had a hood which covered the top of her head, but strands of silvery-white hair still fluttered out from the sides, reaching to just above her waist. With how heavily-dressed she seemed, it was honestly a wonder how they even knew she was female, until Micah realized that her voice would likely have given her away.

Decades… How old was she?

“And now we have the newest member to join the ranks of the legends, extremely popular for her cute and childlike appearance yet possessing extremely unique magic, including a spell never before thought possible, Teleportation! Some even say she’ll be the first to discover Time Magic, which has been a myth in Magi for centuries, and others still that she’s not even human in the first place! Here’s the Living Doll, Aaia!”

The next puppet brought out was the smallest by far, looking barely bigger than a sponge in Elmar’s hand. Wearing a large, frilly blue dress of gothic lolita design with sleeves that ran longer than her own arms if the empty holes were anything to go by, Micah couldn’t help but laugh at the prospect that this world even had a loli, and a strong one at that, if Elmar’s explanation was anything to go by.

Her skin was pale, unnaturally so, and her eyes seemed to lack the same light in them as the others. It may have just been the lack of detail on the puppet, but Aaia really did seem to be inhuman. Rather, she looked more like a porcelain doll, which seemed to have garnered her apparent namesake. Other than that, Micah noted that her entire outfit seemed to be based around the color blue, save for her matching violet hair and eyes.

Something about the stoic, lifeless look to her expression gave Micah chills, as well as a slight sense of déjà vu. Had she seen this girl somewhere on Earth? Her eyes seemed somewhat familiar…

And wait a minute. I’m noticing a pattern here. They’re the Five Legendary Heroes, but so far they’ve all been female. Was this generation of magic just more potent in women? Most of the famous Heroes I’d read about were male, so I kind of assumed it’d be the same here, but...

The children, who were already so captivated by the show thus far, exploded in joy as Elmar displayed the final puppet. “And last but not least, the leader of the Five Legendary Heroes. Idolized as the epitome of a true Hero, with a heart of gold and a smile that could brighten even the sun. Known for his meek, caring temperament, but his ferocity on the battlefield, offering a hand to his allies and a sword to his enemies, the strongest Hero in the four nations, Alistaire!”

“Ah…” Micah’s eyes widened slightly as Elmar displayed the puppet of the man known as the World Hero, Alistaire. When she read a bit about him in the book, she hadn’t been too impressed by what she saw. Sure he was widely regarded as the strongest Hero in the world at just twenty-five years old, and one of the kindest men known to all of the Circle, but it all seemed so laughably overdone that she didn’t take it too seriously.

Seeing his design on the puppet didn’t do much to change her opinion. He was the exact image of a typical fantasy manga protagonist, with a short mop of black hair on his head, friendly black eyes, and a kind smile that one could find plastered on any cover art featuring an average Japanese student.

And yet, for some reason, seeing that smile sent her heart racing.

It was just a puppet, but Micah felt as if she could see the actual person through its button eyes and felt skin. The image of him holding his hand out, looking down with the gentlest smile meant just for her…

“Are you alright, Micah?” Bernadetta asked worriedly. “You look a bit flush. Is the crowd too much after all? Want to go home?”

“Eh?! A-Ah, uh, um-” Micah stammered nervously at the realization that her cheeks had heated up while she'd been lost in her own fantasy. She raised her hands to cup them, trying to hide them from view. “N-No, I’m- I mean, I okay, Mommy.”

“Are you sure? There’s no need to be strong…”

As thoughts of Alistaire continued to swim through her mind, she pulled the scarf over her nose and buried her quickly-reddening face in it. “M… Mhm…”

H-Holy crap… Am I really crushing on someone I’ve never even met, through a PUPPET?! I must be out of my mind, especially since I’ve never really had crushes much growing up.

Her interest in sports kept Mikasa occupied for most of her time, setting aside the fact that it was considered a boyish interest in the first place. Though it allowed her to easily talk to both boys and girls, she never really developed romantic interest in those around her, and any crushes she did have were usually toward the athletes she watched on television or at live games when she was really young.

Any chance of her becoming romantically attracted to someone all but vanished when Yuu was born. From then on, he became not just the most important boy in her life, but the most important person in her life. No man could hope to compete with him for a place in her heart, for it was reserved for him and him alone.

B-But… This guy is like, REALLY cute for some reason... Damn it, me. Why this idiot, with a face you can find anywhere…

Finally, Elmar finished introducing all of the puppets, and as he gathered them up, his story began. “This tale is of one of the many great adventures the Five Legendary Heroes embarked on. In the Eastran town of Konban, our Heroes…”

Hearing Elmar’s voice begin to fade, Micah peeked her eyes out from beneath the scarf she was pressing against her face with both hands to hide her blush. “Eh? Wha…”

“You don’t look well at all, so I’m taking you home,” Bernadetta said sternly as she began picking up the items she’d left on the bench. “If you get sick, Henrietta will yell at both of us and we’ll have to pay for a visit to the clinic. Better safe than sorry.”

“No, no!” The shock of her mother’s decision brought her back to her senses, and she quickly shot up to protest. “I fine, Mommy, I fine! See, see! I wan’ stay!”

“No, Micah. This is for your own good. Besides, I have to drop these things off at the church, so we’ll be going back either way.”

Damn it, not back to that boring place again…! How can I convince her to let me stay? How…

Then she remembered she was a child. And children have one hell of an annoying trick to get their way.

“Uu… Uuu…~” She shivered and puffed out her lower lip in preparation for the eruption of a mood swing that would make any parent pale.

And pale Bernadetta did. “W-Wait, wait Micah! Please don’t cry! I-I’m just trying to do what’s best for you!”

“...Wan’, stay.”

“I-I really think it’s better if you rest at the church…”

“UUUUUUU-”

“Okay, okay!” Bernadetta finally relented. “You can come with me to the town hall after I drop these things off. But we’re buying some medicine on the way home, just to be safe. Please, no tantrums once we get there,” she said with a defeated pout.

“Ya! I, good~!”

Sorry for taking advantage of your biggest weakness, Mom. But it’s not everyday that I get to go out like this. I don’t want it to end so soon.

Sometimes she really did wonder if someone as big of a pushover towards children as Bernadetta was really fit to be a mother. She was just glad the woman had Henrietta to watch out for her, though she was more than glad Henrietta hadn’t been there at that particular moment.

-----

“That was her, yes?” Barnabel raised an eyebrow as he and Altheon watched the nun walk off a child in her arms.

“Indeed it was, brother. I would not call you over if there was any doubt.”

“I see. And did you confirm our target?”

“Yes. Though there were too many people around for me to take any real risks, I briefly glanced through her belongings as she was preoccupied and found that what we seek is in her possession.”

“Excellent work, brother. As expected of someone with your talents.”

“Haha, too much flattery as always with you. And what of your preparations? All of this will have been for naught if she arrives before you’ve finished.”

“Oh, that? Worry not, my end of things has been long taken care of. You will know the time to strike when you see it, brother.”

“And until then, we wait.”

-----

After stopping by the church to drop off all of the things they’d gotten at the marketplace, the two set out once again under the late afternoon sun, this time heading straight for Halloway’s town hall. The atrium-like interior was wide and spacious, easily holding the few hundred some odd people going about their business or waiting in comfortable looking leather chairs.

The task Bernadetta had set out to accomplish that day was to have the property deed for the church updated, as it was close to its expiration date. If the date passes without the officially designated owner of a property having shown up to update their deed, then their ownership is revoked and it becomes the property of the town unless it’s purchased by a third party.

The owner must be present for this process though, which is why against her better judgement Henrietta entrusted Bernadetta to handle the matter on her own.

“Okay. All we need to do is walk up to the front desk and tell them that we’re here to update our deed. Easy, right?” Micah really hoped she wasn’t talking to herself just then.

“Ya. E’zy”

Taking a deep breath, Bernadetta entered the shortest line to one of the various clerks and, after a short wait, they found themselves at the front of the line.

“Hello! How may I help you?” said the clerk, a young man with the kind of business smile that showed he neither adored nor despised his job.

“Yes, um, hello. I’m here to update my property deed…”

“Excellent! The process should only take a short while provided you have all the necessary information. May I ask which property?”

“Th-The Church of Nor, near the western side. It’s the only building of its kind.”

“And you’re the owner?”

“Yes, I am. My name is Bernadetta Stronoff.”

“I see. And do you have the property deed with you? Some form of identification for yourself and any adults living on the property, as well as written consent forms from those not present, please.”

“Ah, yes. I have it all right here…” Looking nervous, Bernadetta opened her bag and retrieved a small stack of documents before handing it to the man, who accepted them with a smile and turned to verify all of the information. After seeing that there were no immediate problems, she let out a sigh of relief and waited while all of the information was processed. In the meantime, Micah glanced around, idly taking in the sight of a building she hadn’t seen before.

All of a sudden, she met eyes with a woman who seemed to be looking over a list of documents with a bored expression nearby. It wasn’t that they happened to randomly glance at each other at the same time. The woman had clearly been staring at them long before Micah noticed her.

Though rather than saying she met eyes with the woman, it became increasingly clear that her focused gaze was completely locked onto Bernadetta.

Okay, why the heck is this weirdo staring at my mom so hard? What a suspicious person. And she doesn’t exactly strike me as the “old friend” type. Lemme try and spook her.

Activating “Mommy Defense Mode”, Micah put on her best angry baby face and glared at the woman until she eventually took notice. The moment their gazes met, however, her expression warped into something like disgust as she turned away.

Wha-?! The nerve! Who in their right mind makes a face like that at a BABY?! And a pretty darn cute one too, if I do say so myself! Something is definitely weird about that lady...

*Staaaare*

Micah continued to stare hard at the woman who was now actively refusing to meet her gaze.

*Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare*

But as the seconds turned to minutes, she could swear that a bit of sweat was forming on the woman’s face as she physically turned her body away.

-----

“What the hell… You didn’t say shit about a kid…!” Miriam whispered into a small crystal stuck to the inside of her collar. Even now, she could feel the pressuring gaze of that little shit on her back, making her shiver unconsciously.

It wasn’t that Miriam feared children, but this one in particular had really strange eyes. They were big and innocent on the outside, but for some reason they seemed like they saw way more than a child her age should. It felt like their entire plan had been unravelled in the few moments their eyes were locked.

Relax yourself, my dear.

Barnabel’s voice emerged from the crystal in response, and she focused her glare on the chair directly in front of her at the far end of the room. He momentarily peeked up from the book in his hands where his own crystal lay to return her expression with a charming smile that only pissed her off further.

An unexpected occurrence, but not one that should change the plan in any particularly noteworthy way. Unless, of course, you happen to be afraid of something as small and adorable as a child?

His tone was mocking as his eyes flickered back down to casually continue reading.

“Shut the fuck up…” she muttered. Daring a glance back, her shoulders hitched at the realization that the brat was staring even HARDER at her.

What the fuck?! Any normal kid would’ve lost interest or gotten distracted by now! She is seriously not normal...

Just proceed as normal, Miriam. I’m only paying you to do the job you were assigned. Let me worry about the unexpected.

“Y-Yeah… Okay…” With the reminder of just how much she was being offered for what was, all things considered, a ridiculously easy job for someone as skilled as her, she was able to get back into the right state of mind. “I’ll just focus on the job. Nothing weird about that kid at all. Nope. I’m just here to do one thing and one thing only.”

Exactly. Now pay attention, would you kindly? Your cue is approaching.

As Miriam peeked back at the target, she was thankful to see that the child had finally broken their gaze and faced back towards the clerk as he offered them some papers. “Right. I’m ready.”

-----

“Here you are.” The man offered another textbook smile as he returned the stack of papers. “All of the information checked out. The page at the very top of the stack is your updated property deed. Please come back before the end of next year to have it updated again.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you very much.” Bernadetta gave a small polite bow as she picked up the stack of documents and turned to leave the building while reaching around to put them in her bag. However, in the same moment…

“Whoa!”

“Ah!”

She ended up colliding with a man as he was walking past, spilling her papers all over the floor and nearly dropping Micah in the process.

“Oh my, you have my deepest apologies, Madam!” The man apologized with a worried look on his face as he gazed at the mess of pages scattered all over the floor.

“N-No, I’m the one who should apologize! I wasn’t paying attention at all as I was walking. I’m known for being rather clumsy among my friends, so I should’ve been more attentive. Are you alright, Micah?”

“S-Scawwy!” Almost being dropped from your mother’s shoulder may as well be like falling headfirst off of a bunk bed when you’re body is that of a two-year-old child’s. Truly terrifying.

“I know. I’m sorry, babe.” Bernadetta hugged Micah close, placing her head on her shoulder and rubbing her back to soothe her. “Ahhh, and everything was going so well too~”

The man looked hesitant to interrupt their moment, but still hesitantly cut in. “Excuse me? About your papers…”

“Ah, let me,” A third person suddenly approached from the side, bending down to pick up the scattered documents. “Don’t worry, I’ll get them for you. Please, look after your daughter, Miss.”

“Yes, thank you…” Bernadetta gave her a grateful smile as she focused on calming Micah, who’d started glaring daggers over her mother’s shoulder. Why?

It was the woman. The one who’d been glaring at Bernadetta earlier had been the one to approach and was now digging through all of the papers she’d received from the clerk.

For some reason, that gave her an extremely bad feeling.

But Bernadetta didn’t seem to notice anything strange at all as she continued talking to the man. “My name is Bernadetta. I hope I haven’t hurt you, Mister…?”

“Altheon.” The man gave a friendly smile as he reached out to shake her hand. “But my friends call me Al.”

“Haha, I can’t imagine I’ve earned that privilege after what just happened...” Bernadetta chuckled awkwardly as she returned the gesture.

“Nonsense. It was I who collided with you. I’m afraid I’ve misplaced my glasses recently, so I’ve been stumbling around this building in an attempt to locate them.”

“Oh no! Are you alright? Would you like me to help you find them?”

“No no, that’s quite alright. A delightful woman such as yourself must have an endless amount of better things to do with your time.”

“Ahaha, n-no that’s not true at all…” The flattery was clearly having an effect on the pliable Bernadetta, whose face turned a light shade of pink as her head dipped down to stare at the floor.

Tch, who the hell does this poser think he is? Talking to Mom all casually like that. He better be thankful I can’t see him, or he’d get a taste of my baby-glare too. Man, no wonder Henrietta doesn’t like Mom going out on her own. She draws so many weirdos to her.

In the midst of her bitter thoughts, Micah remembered the suspicious woman who was picking up the scattered documents, and looked down from over Bernadetta’s shoulder to see what she was doing.

“Ah.”

And right at that moment, before her baby eyes, the woman quickly swiped up the page that had been on the top of the stack before it fell, and exchanged it with another similar-looking sheet from inside of her coat.

Eh? Eh? Excuse me? What was that?

Confused, Micah turned her head back to see if her mother had noticed, but she was still caught up in her conversation with the Altheon guy who’d bumped into her. And right at that moment, he casually glanced over her shoulder to meet eyes with the woman, who nodded quickly and stood up as she put the papers together in a stack.

No way… You’re kidding me…

“Here you go,” she said in an awkwardly cheerful voice. “Sorry, I did my best to put them back into the order they were in before, but-”

“Oh no, I’m grateful for just this much. Thank you so much for helping me!”

“Yeah… No problem.”

She handed the stack over, and Bernadetta quickly scanned through it before bowing deeply to her. “Phew, it looks like nothing’s missing. Once again, thank you for your help.”

“It’s wonderful to hear that all is well. On that note, I’m afraid I must excuse myself. It’s getting rather late, and I would like to locate my glasses before I’m forced to walk home in the dark.”

“Oh, that’s right. Are you sure you wouldn’t like my help?”

“As much as I would love to accept your offer, Miss Bernadetta, you have someone you should be looking after first and foremost, don’t you?”

“Ah, that’s right!” Bernadetta squeezed Micah’s frozen still body a little closer. “She hasn’t napped all day, so I’m sure she must be tired. I’m sorry, but I have to go. I hope you find your glasses!”

Waving goodbye, Bernadetta quickly made for the entrance while shoving the papers into her bag, all the while Micah continued to stare from over her shoulder with a blank expression on her face as Altheon spoke a bit with the woman. Soon a third man joined them, and the woman discreetly handed him the property deed that she’d stolen. After looking it over for a while, he nodded in satisfaction and he and the woman exited while Altheon continued to hang around.

…

…

I can’t believe it. My mother was just conned.

-----

The entire time during the walk back to the church, Micah had been mulling over in her head how she was supposed to convey the idea that her mother had just been conned. Not only was she not supposed to be smart enough to know more than about fifty words at her age ‘con’ likely not included but she wasn’t even technically able to form a full sentence yet.

So naturally, Little Baby Micah was beset with quite a bit of worry as they arrived back inside of the church.

“I’m home~”

By now the sun had long begun to set, bathing the interior of the chapel in a gentle orange hue. It looked like Henrietta and Josefine had just arrived themselves, as they were still in the process of sorting through their groceries and ferrying them into the kitchen next door.

“Ah, they’re back!” Josefine took notice of them as she emerged from the kitchen, her green eyes widening before she turned to call back into the room. “Miss Henriettaaaa~, Miss Bernadetta and Micah are back!”

“Good,” Henrietta poked her head out of the kitchen momentarily. “Welcome back you two. I’ll get started on dinner once we finish putting the groceries away,” she said before vanishing once again.

Instead of following her right away, Josefine turned back to them and offered a wide, grinning smile that stretched the mess of freckles dotting her nose. “Welcome back, Miss Bernadetta. Welcome back, Micah~” Without waiting for a reply, she scurried back into the kitchen.

Left with a lingering smile, Bernadetta moved to take Micah back to their room, and once she realized this, her heart began to beat more rapidly.

What were those conmen planning to do with the deed they’d stolen? What would happen if Bernadetta and the nuns never learned about what happened? Micah couldn’t simply sit quietly after having witnessed that. She had to do something, had to warn them… But how? It honestly didn’t take as long as she figured it would to find a solution.

Henrietta. That woman was definitely the smartest of the nuns (for whatever that was worth), so she’d notice if there was something wrong with the papers. It was a long shot, and depended largely on the skill of the forger and Henrietta’s own keen eye and memory, but it was her only shot.

First she reached over to Bernadetta’s bag and pulled it open, gently, so the woman wouldn’t notice. Then the real act began.

“Uwahhhhh!!!!” Using her expertly honed baby skills, Micah burst into tears for seemingly no reason at all, throwing her arms around until she “accidentally” pushed the bag off of Bernadetta’s shoulder, causing it to fall to the floor and scatter all of the papers once again.

“O-Oh no, not again!” Bernadetta’s brows furrowed with slight frustration that all of the documents were spilled a second time. But still, her first concern was Micah. “What’s wrong, babe? What is it? Please calm down…”

“Waaaahhhhhh~!!!”

“Shh… Shh… It’s okay… It’s okay…”

“What happened?” Both Henrietta and Josefine emerged from the kitchen, and even Brunhilde had come out of her room to see what the commotion was.

“It’s Micah, she’s gotten upset for some reason… I dropped the papers again, can you pick them up while I calm her?”

“Again?” Josefine tilted her head, but her question went ignored as Henrietta moved to fix the stack on the floor.

“This is the updated property deed and the other stuff we gave you, right? I was planning on taking a look anyway to make sure you did it right,” she said as she set about organizing everything, with Josefine joining her shortly after.

“I-I did do it right!” Bernadetta protested. “I mean, I did drop it once before, but I properly checked to make sure everything was there before I came back-”

“...Eh?”

“Hm?” Josefine raised her eyebrows at Henrietta’s confused noise. “What is it? Something wrong?”

“...What.”

“Henrietta? What’s wrong?”

“Bernadetta.” The blonde nun stood up while clutching a single sheet in her hand. “What is this…?”

“The… property deed?”

“Bernadetta,” Henrietta’s gaze was ice-cold, teeth gritted and fingers digging so hard that the page had become wrinkled. “This. Is FAKE.”

“It’s-, w-what?”

“FAKE, Bernadetta! It’s a fake document!”

Bernadetta’s brows furrowed at her friend’s statement, and she marched up to have a closer look, while Micah silently cheered on the sidelines while pretending to settle down from her tantrum. “Eh? No way, that’s impossible. I already checked; the seal is definitely there.”

“Look!” She practically thrusted the thing into her face, pointing to the printed red seal of Halloway’s mayor’s office on the bottom right corner. “The seal is empty! There’s supposed to be a design inside the red circle, remember? A gold one!”

“Yeah, I remember seeing it around a lot at the library. It’s really not there, huh.” Josefine pursed her lips as she peered at it.

“Wha-... I… I don’t know what happened, I…” Bernadetta recoiled in disbelief, but Henrietta didn’t let up, instead issuing a stern command.

“Tell me everything that happened today,” she said with arms crossed. “Don’t leave out ANY details.”

“Um… okay. I went with Micah to-”

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The sound of three sharp knocks on the front doors of the church interrupted her. The nuns exchanged a quick glance before Josefine shrugged and trotted over to open it. The moment she did, in stepped four familiar faces.

“I-It’s you!” Bernadetta’s eyes widened at the sight of Altheon, as well as the woman who helped pick up the documents when she dropped them. And strangely enough, the official who updated her deed was also there, standing off to the side. She didn’t recognize the final person, but Micah did.

It was the man who the thief gave the real deed to after Bernadetta had already left. If it hadn’t switched hands since then, then it was likely that he still had it on him.

Micah felt a scowl tug at her features as the pieces fell into place, as well as waves of dread as she began to suspect what was about to happen.

“There! It’s that thing right there!” The woman immediately spotted the property deed with the fake seal in Henrietta’s hand and pointed it out, clear as day for all to see.

“I see. So it was true after all. Hello again, Miss,” Altheon began with a polite bow that made Micah sick to her stomach. “I do hope you’ve been well since our last encounter.

“Mister Al… What’s going on? Why are you and… all of them here?”

“Well you see, it’s rather simple,” he started. He briefly gestured to the woman, and she stepped forward. “This young lady told a most interesting tale after you left the town hall. She told me that, as she worked to set your documents straight, she noticed something rather peculiar.”

“You’re kidding me…” Henrietta whispered, her face a mix of disbelief and anger.

“She said, that your property deed was fake. That the seal on it lacked the internal design associated with our great mayor. Now what do you have to say about that?”

“E-Eh…? That’s…”

“Huh? Um, what exactly is going on here?” Josefine looked to be the only one not in the loop, looking around for an answer.

“Excuse me,” the second man said as he too stepped forward. Placing a hand on his chest graciously, he introduced himself. “My name is Barnabel. I'm rather influential in this town as a noble, and Altheon happens to be a close friend of mine.

“I too was present for young Miss Miriam’s confession,” he continued. “And after hearing that such… tomfoolery was being performed in this great town, I simply had to take action.”

He walked over to place a hand on the town hall clerk, who flinched slightly at the contact. “Now, I’ve already interrogated the clerk that you conducted your business with. When asked whether or not he had given you a fake document today, he claimed innocence.” Barnabel glanced at him momentarily, and received a short, hesitant nod in response. “To be very frank, even before I questioned him, I already had my doubts that he was guilty. Why would someone who works in the most reputable location in Halloway want to commit such a crime as forgery? It simply made no sense.”

He retreated from the man, causing his shoulders to relax slightly, and returned to Altheon’s side at the front. “I can only assume, then, that this was your doing alone, Miss Stronoff-”

“Oh go shove it! That’s ridiculous!” Henrietta cut in with a loud voice. Her gaze landed on the clerk. “If you’re innocent, that means you must have noticed something fishy yourself right? Was it during the document exchange? Or maybe after? You must have seen it happen!”

“I, um…” The clerk nervously glanced at Barnabel, who returned a neutral stare, seemingly awaiting his answer. Eventually, he responded with, “I… didn’t see anything strange.”

“Then, a replacement...!”

“Without the original document, there’s nothing I can do. Sorry…” As he dipped his head down, Micah nearly screamed in frustration.

The original document is two feet away from you, idiot!!!

His eyes suddenly flickered towards Barnabel guiltily, and Micah realized that there was no way he couldn’t have known what was really going on. It happened right in front of his station, for crying out loud!

In that case, are they threatening him? I don’t really know too much about nobles and stuff, but maybe that Barnabel guy’s too big or something? He looks like the kind of pompous prick that would do that kind of thing. How do guys like him get to be nobles anyway, while the nice people like Bernadetta are stuck in poverty for the rest of their lives? It’s totally unfair.

But like she was coming to understand, there wasn’t anything they could do in this situation. None of the nuns had the power to prove that any of them were lying, and Micah couldn’t tell the truth without exposing herself.

It was hopeless…

“Well, now that we seem to have come to an understanding, I would ask that you forfeit your right to ownership of this property immediately.”

“What?!” Henrietta shouted. “You-! You can’t do that!”

“I can, young lady, and I will. Well, even if you refuse, I’ve already taken the case to the mayor’s office and obtained the real deed. This church belongs to me now.”

“Th-That’s…!”

“Hey, hey, is that true?! Miss Bernadetta’s not the owner anymore?!”

Tch! These bastards! They did all of that just for this moment! I can’t think of anything else they would do with that kind of power other than…!

“...” It seemed only Brunhilde was able to keep her composure in the face of this distressing news.

However, as Micah dreaded, the worst was yet to come.

“Forty-eight hours,” Barnabel announced. “That is how long I am giving you to vacate this building before I have it removed.”

Bernadetta paled. “F-Forty…”

Henrietta spat out a curse, glaring daggers at the four people who so quickly arrived to give them a verdict no different than a death sentence, and Josefine looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Please, do not try anything foolish. If you are still here by the time the workers arrive, I will not hesitate to have them smash this false church to smithereens with you in it. Good day.” With Barnabel in the lead, the others piled out of the church, leaving the door to slowly swing shut.

Micah could swear that as it did, she could hear the sound of church bells ringing in the distance.

-----

“How could you be so STUPID?!” Later, after the situation had truly sunk in, the nuns were in complete despair. Josefine had run into her room with tears in her eyes, Brunhilde had gone to bed early, and as Bernadetta tried to do the same, Henrietta finally exploded, unleashing all of her pent-up frustrations on her longtime friend.

“I-I’m sorry…” she murmured from her spot on one of the chapel seats.

“You’re ‘sorry’? You’re ‘SORRY’?!” Henrietta echoed. “‘Sorry’ isn’t going to get us our home back! ‘SORRY’ isn’t going to keep us from getting put out on the STREETS in a couple of days! How the hell are we supposed to live from now on!” Face flushed red with emotion, she began pacing back and forth rapidly. “We can’t afford to stay in an inn every day, and we certainly don’t have the money to buy a new home. Without a bath, our clothes will get dirty over time and we’ll start to stink, which will affect my job and may even get me fired! And if that happens, how are we going to make money to eat?! HUH?!”

“I-If we just keep kindness in our hearts, then I’m sure-”

“ENOUGH WITH THE NOR CRAP!!!” That last comment seemed to push Henrietta over the edge. The next thing either of them knew, she’d lashed out with her hand, striking Bernadetta so hard across the face that the noise echoed within the large room.

“Ma-ma!” Micah immediately whined, frantically squirming in Bernadetta’s lap while checking to see if she was alright. “Ma-ma! Ma-ma!!!”

“It’s okay, Micah… Mama’s okay…” she whispered as she held her cheek. “Auntie Henrietta was just angry with me because I did something bad. But she’s calmer now.” Her eyes flickered to her friend. “Right?”

“I… Y-Yeah, I am.” Henrietta let out a deep sigh, the fire in her eyes dissipating as she slowly came back to her senses and realized what she’d done. “Bernadetta, I-”

“I don’t forgive you,” Bernadetta cut her off. “Because there’s nothing to forgive. I completely deserved that, and everything you said was true. I’m such a fool...”

“No, Bernie stop.” Henrietta leaned down and encased her friend’s shoulders in a tight hug. “I was just raging at you, and it was wrong of me. You were tricked by professionals; you didn’t do anything wrong, and I had no right to yell at you or hit you. I’m sorry.”

“Henrietta, what have I done…” Micah caught the shine of tears in her mother’s eyes as she buried her face in the blonde nun’s neck. “Because of me, I… everyone… My family owned this church for generations… My father loved it so much that he cried when my grandfather gave it to him… I promised him I would protect this place, Henrietta...”

“I know. I’ll figure something out…” she whispered in reply. “Tomorrow I’ll go and… ask for some help from my coworkers and my boss. And Josefine and I are pretty well known in the marketplace, so I’m sure I can find someone who can give us a place to stay until we can find a solution.”

“Uuu…~ Henriettaaaa~”

“Hey, remember? I also promised your dad I’d look after this place, and that I’d look after you too. Plus I’m not one to give up without a fight. Those bastards won’t get away with this, I promise.”

Bernadetta broke down into a mess of sobs after that, and Micah used the opportunity to slip away from them in order to not ruin the moment they were having. Though she was largely uncoordinated on her feet, she still managed to stumble and crawl her way into the bedroom she shared with her mother, where she climbed onto the bed and sat, waiting patiently for night to fall and the streets to darken.

Because that, she decided, was when she would make them pay.

-----

Finally, after Bernadetta had calmed down and returned to the room to go straight to bed, Micah could hear her shallow breaths gently fade into deeper ones until it was clear that she’d fallen asleep.

Carefully, so as not to wake her up, she slipped out of bed. Changing out of her pajamas and into her normal clothes was even more difficult than walking, but she had only her overprotective mother to blame.

The mother that she had just seen cry for the first time in her two years of life.

Even if she still couldn’t completely see Bernadetta as her real, true mother, she still felt her heart break watching such a normally kind and happy woman break down. It filled her with such rage that she decided there and then that she never wanted to see such a thing again. Not just from Bernadetta, but from any of the nuns. She wanted all of them to continue living the meager, but happy lives they’d been living up until that point.

At least until it was time for her to leave them behind.

The bedroom door creaked just a bit too much for her liking, but it wasn’t enough to wake her mother. Instead, as she crept out into the main chapel area, she was the one shocked into alertness after hearing a strange swishing noise echoing off the walls. The moment she caught a glimpse of Brunhilde’s back, she quickly ducked behind one of the church benches and prayed that the woman hadn’t heard the door creaking in the stillness of the night.

But her luck wasn’t so kind. “I know you’re there. Come on out, girl.”

Realizing she’d been caught, Micah sighed and stepped into view. Brunhilde hadn’t turned around at all when she called her out, instead focusing entirely on sweeping the church floors.

“Um, why, Grammy, up?”

“Have to tidy this place for the new owners, after all,” she answered while still facing away. A moment later though, her eyes flickered to the side, eyeing Micah. “...And I thought I might see something interesting if I stayed here long enough.”

“I, pee.”

“You don’t have to talk like that around me. I know the truth already.”

...

...

...Hah?

“Th-The, trooff...?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know that you’re only pretending to be a child.”

Eh?! She knows?! S-S-S-Since when?! Did I make a mistake somewhere?! How long has she known?! Did she tell anyone-

“Easy,” she said as she finally stopped to turn around and face her. “I assure you, I haven’t told a soul. It was through my own observations that I was able to learn the truth.”

Shit… She really got me. Oh well, guess there’s no need to put up the act in front of her. But I’ll still be cautious, since I don’t know exactly how much she really knows.

“...I see. How long have you known?”

“Uwah!” Brunhilde’s eyes widened with a start when Micah spoke, but she quickly cleared her throat and continued. “K-Kuhum. Sorry about that. Even though I was prepared, it’s still strange seeing a two-year-old speak with such complexity.”

“It’s fine. So how long have you known?”

“Since two months ago.”

Micah immediately grabbed her head in anguish.

Gaaaaahhh!!! So it was that time after all…!

“Fuaaaa~ Why is it so noisy…?”

“I just happened to be walking past when I heard a peculiarly infantile voice. And considering I had just finished speaking with Josefine, I of course knew it wasn’t her voice like Bernadetta and Henrietta assumed. The only other explanation, albeit unlikely, was that you were the one who spoke.”

I know I screwed up big time that day, so why does it keep coming back to haunt me?!

“Once again, calm yourself, girl. I don’t plan on doing anything with the information,” Brunhilde said, noticing her state of distress.

“Y-You don’t?”

“Of course not. Why would I? I’m too old to go prying into the secrets of others. Conversely though, I have no reason to keep your secret or help you with whatever it is you want to do.”

“That’s fine. Just your silence is good enough.”

“So? Will you go after them?” she asked as she returned to her sweeping.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go and take the deed back.”

“I see. Well then, don’t let me stop you. Though I’ll probably have gone back to bed long before you return.”

Eh? She doesn’t care? I’m a child you know! You can show a little concern for me, even if you know that I’m more intelligent than I look!

Still, it made her job easier, so she simply stumble-walked through the chapel until she reached the front door. As she pushed it open and put one foot outside, she momentarily paused, then turned back to the old woman.

“Um… who exactly are you?”

“Heh.” Brunhilde let out a small laugh at her question and shook her head slightly. “I’m nobody, girl. Just an old woman who’s seen more than her fair share of strangeness over the years. Go on.”

Left with those somewhat cool-sounding words from the nun, Micah nodded and exited the church.

-----

The darkened, lamplit streets seemed so much more imposing at night, especially since she was on her own two feet and not being carried by Bernadetta or someone else.

Wherever they’d gone, it was certainly going to be a long trip to find them.

And on that note, how was she going to find them anyway? It had been hours since that incident, and they could have gone to any inn or tavern in town to stay the night. Or did they have their own homes?

No, she supposed the answer had been given to her earlier, during that last conversation.

“Please, do not try anything foolish. If you are still here by the time the workers arrive, I will not hesitate to have them smash this false church to smithereens with you in it. Good day.”

“‘False church’, huh…”

In terms of suspects, Micah had already built a catalogue in her head based on what she knew of the conmen. At first, it seemed they were only common thugs after some coin, but watching the woman, Miriam if she remembered correctly, swapping the property deed instead of taking Bernadetta’s money was extremely confusing.

Yet, it didn’t click with her that this was premeditated until they arrived at the church, and that fat guy took center stage using his position as a noble. That suggested that this wasn’t a random act, but that someone had planned this series of events from the start. And the big climax the ultimate end goal was to evict the nuns from the church.

But who would want to do something like that? The list got narrower. It was true that Micah didn’t know much about the personal lives of any of the nuns, or any enemies they might have, but there was one faction that she knew of that would potentially hold some kind of grudge against not just the nuns, but the Kindness of Nor in general.

And the ‘false church’ line all but confirmed it.

Micah’s steps were scattered and largely uncoordinated, but were filled with complete purpose as she headed for a certain location…

-----

“Well brother, that was a rather rousing success, wouldn’t you agree?” Barnabel smirked as he swished his glass of blood red wine in circles while facing both his brother and Miriam, who stood off to the side.

“I couldn’t agree more, brother,” replied Altheon from his seat across from him. Unlike Barnabel, he hadn’t indulged in wine, but was simply relaxing. “It was all thanks to your efforts, both in hiring a suitable accomplice as well as your performance in the grand finale. Because of you, all went without issue.”

“Oh you give yourself far too little credit. Without your stellar acting in the town hall, my end of things would never have gone quite so well.”

“Hahaha! Well I was only playing to my talents. We both were, I imagine.”

“And if we’re to speak of talents, then perhaps the grandest honor goes to dear Miriam here,” The brothers directed their gaze to Miriam, who shifted from one foot to the other while gripping her arm with her other hand, which in turn was holding a large pouch filled with coins.

“I agree. Her skill with her hands is befitting of her occupation as a professional thief. She could even aspire to become a Hero if ever the desire to follow a more righteous path should spring up within her.” Altheon said.

“...” Where one of her usual quips would have come, Miriam was instead completely silent. Altheon and Barnabel both noticed how she kept anxiously glancing at the door and biting her bottom lip.

Finally, Barnabel let out a sigh. “My dear, please don’t tell me that you’re still worried about what I think you’re worried about.”

“I-I’m telling you, there’s something weird about that kid! Why the hell did she look pissed off along with the rest of those bitches?! She shouldn’t have understood half of the shit you were saying! A-And then she was glaring at me at the town hall, before we’d even done anything!”

“Miriam, it’s a child,” Barnabel said. “I’m sure it just sensed the mood and copied its mother’s behavior. And what happened at the town hall can have been for any number of reasons. How do you even know she was staring at you and not, say, an insect?”

“No, you’re not listening to me,” she shouted. “I’m telling you that she’s not just a kid!”

“What then? Do you propose that she’s an adult trapped in the body of a child?” Altheon asked.

“I-I dunno… maybe?”

“Preposterous.” Barnabel scoffed and leaned back in his seat.

“I’m afraid I must agree. Surely you understand how implausible a notion that is as well, Miriam.”

“...”

Watching her glance back at the door once more, Barnabel abruptly sat up. “If a harmless infant truly frightens you so, then by all means flee. You’ve already been paid for your service, so there really is no need for you to remain here.”

“Yeah, true… Um, by the way. Wh- why do you guys want that deed thing so bad anyway? Wouldn’t it be better to just destroy it so that it can’t be recovered?”

“That is none of your concern.”

“Now brother, the poor woman at least deserves to know the purpose of the job she was hired for,” Altheon chastised. “And it isn’t as if the answer is anything so grand that it need be kept hidden from a thief bearing no motive to betray us, yes?”

“I suppose… There is no harm in it.” Barnabel relented. “However, I am rather famished, so I will leave the explanations to you, brother.”

“Indeed. Listen well, dear Miriam, for the truth lies in the very building we’re in right now...”

-----

The Disciples of Circe. It was the only thing that made sense, and as Micah approached the large door that would lead into the massive monastery’s main hall and heard muffled, but familiar voices inside, she felt more and more assured that she’d guessed correctly.

She prayed to Nor from the bottom of her heart that they hadn’t destroyed the deed. Thinking about it, there really wasn’t any reason not to, as it was the physical proof that Bernadetta owned the Church of Nor and was the one thing she needed to reclaim the property. All Micah could do was bet everything on the possibility that they hadn’t.

Well, either that or torturing them until they agreed to confess. But admittedly, she wasn’t very confident she could actually do that.

If they really didn’t destroy it, then she could only assume that the small, fat guy was the one who had it on his person, as he was the last one she’d seen it with after Miriam handed it over at the town hall.

So I just have to aim for that guy first. What was his name? Barnacle or something.

The door opened with an ominous swish, and Micah immediately noticed that the place was much nicer than Nor’s church not just with its outward appearance, but even in the small detail of a lack of door creaking. A small part of her heart stung a bit with jealousy, wondering why she hadn’t been left outside of this place instead of the smaller, shabbier church near the outskirts of town.

But she quickly shook that thought away when she remembered the faces of the people who’d been raising her all this time.

“Our Lady Circe is the one who issued the order to be rid of that false church.” She recognized the voice as the Altheon, the fucker who swindled Bernadetta earlier that day. “Brother and I were the ones most suitable for the task, and as such, we were chosen. Evidently, we did not disappoint.”

It sounded like they were in the middle of a conversation, so Micah decided to sneak her way to them and have a closer look.

“As for the purpose behind it all,” Altheon continued, oblivious to the two-year-old stealthily entering the room and ducking behind a pillar. “well, it would seem that this deed will serve as a rather important trophy for Her. She commanded us to keep it safe and hidden until She arrives from Regalia.”

“She was already on Her way when She sent the messenger bearing our orders, so fortunately we’ll only have a few days’ time to wait instead of the normal three weeks.” Barnabel added.

So these assholes were acolytes of that stupid Disciples of Circe after all. But… it sounds like they’re talking about their goddess like she’s a human being? Weird… More importantly, at least I know for sure that the deed wasn’t destroyed. Now to wait for a chance to strike…

“...” All of a sudden, Miriam fell into silence, her face paling.

“...What is it?” Altheon asked.

“...Fuck.”

““Eh?””

She swallowed, then slowly turned around. “I… I know you’re there, you fucking monster. Come on out!”

There was a pregnant pause as the two brothers feared she’d gone mad. But a few moments later, a response came. “...So you noticed me. I guess getting paid off for petty thievery isn’t your only talent.”

Barnabel flinched, a drop of sweat sliding down his cheek at the idea that someone had overheard them. “W-What? Who’s there?!”

Seeing that she’d been caught (and coming to the realization that she was awful at stealth), Micah decided to emerge from behind the pillar and face the three that had ruined her family’s lives in only a single day.

“See?! I told you that little shit wasn’t normal!” Miriam jabbed a finger in her direction, while the other two struggled to comprehend what they were seeing. “Just what the hell are you anyway? A demon? A Hero in disguise?”

Micah stood there in thought for a moment, mulling over her answer to the question. It didn’t take her long to come up with a suitable response.

“Well I suppose… for trash like you, that would make me,” She beamed, her words chilling as they were innocent. “The Cleaner~!”

“What, what in the world is happening?!” Altheon cried as both he and Barnabel jumped to their feet. “The Cleaner?! How are you even able to speak with such clarity?!”

“Who knows~ I’m just here for one thing and one thing only. You know what that is, don’t you Onii-chans, Onee-chan~?”

“What the fuck is an Onee-chan-”

“Th-The deed!” Barnabel shouted. He quickly fished it out from his coat pocket and held it up for her to see. “This, right?! This is what you want? Then stay back!” He flinched as Micah took a small step forward. “Stay back or I’ll rip it to shreds right here and now.”

“If you do that, then I’ll just rip you to shreds right here and now~”

“Hiii~!!!” The man let out something like a quivering shout as he stumbled back.

Altheon, though looking flustered from the strange situation, spoke calmly with his hands extended out in front of him. “B-But I don’t understand. What are your reasons for doing this? What have we done to earn these threats?!”

“Ehhh~ and here I thought Onii-chan was the smart one. You reaaally don’t know why I’m here? Even a retarded monkey can understand when it’s done something wrong, you know?”

“I… Th-Then how about we negotiate? I’m sure we can work out favorable terms for both parties-”

“You seem to be really good at spouting out bullshit, Onii-chan~ Now I see how you were able to trick Mommy so easily. But if you keep flapping that tongue of yours, I might just wanna rip it out to shut you up, you know~?”

“...!!” Clenching his teeth at the imagery she put in his mind, Altheon reluctantly stayed quiet.

“Now then, I’m gonna give you tennnn seconds to-”

“Fuck it,” Miriam cut her off, leveling a pair of daggers from her belt in Micah’s direction. “This kid’s done nothing but talk since she got here. If she wanted to kill us, she’d have done it by now. She’s just trying to intimidate us.”

Altheon gulped, then took notice of the steadily-growing stain on his brother’s pants. “Well… By and large, it appears to be working-”

“You noble-types practice that fencing shit or whatever, right? Where’re your weapons?”

“Th-They’re right over there, but…”

“Then GET them and let’s rush this pipsqueak! It doesn’t matter what kind of magic she’s got, if the three of us take her on together, then we outnumber her!”

“Y-Yes… Yes, you’re right. Come, brother!”

Altheon quickly ran to grab a pair of fencing swords leaning against the wall and returned, passing one to Barnabel as he reluctantly got to his feet.

With the two brothers on her flanks, Miriam grinned. “So? What’s it gonna be, brat? There’s no way you can take the three of us on at the same time.”

...

…

Well shit.

Seeing that her attempt at bluffing them with creepy child threats failed, Micah took a deep breath. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t prepared for the possibility that things would turn into a fight, but she wasn’t confident she could follow through.

She was, after all, only vaguely aware of the power of “that”.

During her time practicing magic, she’d become aware of the fact that she had abysmally low mana. It was so pitifully minute that just by poking and prodding at it in her attempts to unlock some kind of affinity, she’d become tired and have to rest in a matter of minutes.

But she eventually discovered that by running her mana through her scarf, the one that had come with her from Earth, it resulted in a strange response. Eerily similar to when she spoke with God so long ago, it felt as if the scarf was “speaking” to her, communicating its will to her very soul itself.

And what it had to say blew her mind.

[Otherworldly Scarf]

[A scarf brought over from another world. Grants the wearer unique powers.]

[Ability - ??? Lv. 1]

[An Ability imbued into the scarf by [God]. The scarf grows through experience and its continual use. After a set amount of experience is gained, this Ability will level up.]

[Leveling up will increase its potential and capabilities.]

[Every ten levels, the wearer can select a new Ability.]

{Default Abilities}

[The wearer’s physical capabilities, reflexes, and senses are enhanced. These traits will increase further as [???] levels up.]

[The scarf acts as a translator, allowing the wearer to understand foreign languages, both verbally and visually.]

{Added Abilities}

[Free Slot]

[Unlocked at Lv. 10]

[Unlocked at Lv. 20]

[Unlocked at Lv. 30]

[Unlocked at Lv. 40]

[Unlocked at Lv. 50]

A game status window appeared inside of her head, showing her information about something called an ‘Ability’, and how it directly related to her scarf being able to ‘level up’. It seemed that the Ability in the scarf granted her two other Abilities, as well as the potential to create her own Ability every time she gained ten levels. Apparently, the strength and potential of all of the granted Abilities would increase every level too.

It was quite a lot to wrap her head around all of a sudden.

After mulling over the status window numerous times, Micah eventually gave up trying to understand it in full and decided to organize what information she could gain from it.

Firstly, God had been the one to do this. That much was obvious, and it was even mentioned in the Ability’s description as well. In that case, would it be right to say God “blessed” the scarf?

The moment she had that thought, there was a small *ping!* in her head, and the messages changed.

[Otherworldly Scarf]

[A scarf brought over from another world. Grants the wearer unique powers.]

[Ability - God’s Blessing Lv. 1]

[An Ability imbued into the scarf by [God]. The scarf grows through experience and the more it is used. After a set amount of experience is gained, this ability will level up.]

[Leveling up will increase its potential and capabilities.]

[Every ten levels, the wearer can select a new Ability.]

{Default Abilities}

[The wearer’s physical capabilities, reflexes, and senses are enhanced. These traits will increase further as [God's Blessing] levels up.]

[The scarf acts as a translator, allowing the wearer to understand foreign languages, both verbally and visually.]

{Added Abilities}

[Free Slot]

[Unlocked at Lv. 10]

[Unlocked at Lv. 20]

[Unlocked at Lv. 30]

[Unlocked at Lv. 40]

[Unlocked at Lv. 50]

That was when Micah realized another truth about the scarf. It seemed to be designed to mesh with her psyche, displaying information about itself in a way that was fairly simple for someone like her, who was by no means new to roleplaying games and status windows, to understand.

Somewhere deep in her mind, she could understand that this phenomenon was a lot like the formless being of God itself, changing to suit the comprehensive ability of whomever it was dealing with. That explained why it was organized in such a way.

Since then, she hadn’t messed with the scarf or even thought about creating a new Ability using the [Free Slot]. Without knowing how long it would take to increase [God’s Blessing] by ten levels, she absolutely didn’t want to risk creating a useless Ability when she could potentially need it in the future.

In circumstances like now, for example.

[Use [Free Slot] to create a new [Ability]?]

[Yes.]

[Please decide on the conditions of the [Ability]. Whether or not the conditions are accepted is dependent upon the current potential of [God’s Blessing].]

[Note: The potential of [God’s Blessing] is increased as it levels up.]

Okay, now this is a pain in the ass. I thought it would just kinda do it on its own or something!

Paling at the realization that this was a process that would take time, Micah took a sudden step back.

“What’s wrong, brat?” Miriam taunted as she guided the trio to advance. “Aren’t so big now, are we?”

It’s okay… I can do this… I just... need to think of something quick and easy. Something that can help me kick these guys’ asses all over the place. Yeah, some kind of combat Ability!

After thinking on it for a short while, Micah decided on what she felt were the perfect conditions.

[The scarf can be weaponized and attack enemies.]

Heh. How about that?

[Rejected.]

Ehhh?! WHY?!

All of a sudden, Miriam launched at her, daggers ready. Recoiling in fear, Micah gasped and just barely managed to throw herself out of the way.

“W-What the-?! How the hell did you dodge that, I had you dead to rights!” she barked.

“...???” Micah also didn’t think she would have been able to dodge Miriam’s strike, but somehow her body had moved before she even willed it to, and much faster than she should have been capable of. Was it the power of [God’s Blessing]?

That’s right! As long as I run my mana through the scarf, I can use the default Abilities! That should buy me some time to figure this stupid thing…

Dodging the next strikes were much easier once Micah got into the groove of things. In fact, she’d been missing this kind of movement ever since she was reincarnated. Her body was still only that of a child’s though, so she wasn’t able to move exactly the way she liked using muscle memory from her time as Mikasa, but it was still more than enough to keep out of the way of all three of their attacks.

“Damn it, hold still you fucking twerp!”

“H-How can a child move this fast?! She’s not even human!”

“W-What kind of monster…?!”

Now… let’s see… Let’s try-

[The scarf will defend Micah from threats.]

[Rejected.]

Eh? Was I too specific?

[The scarf will defend the wearer from threats.]

[Rejected.]

Hrrg! Then just tell me what’s acceptable and what’s not! Why the hell do I have to play this guessing game in the middle of a life-or-death situation?!

She quickly rolled out of the way as Altheon and Barnabel thrusted at the same time, nearly skewering each other in the process.

“Are you well, brother?” Barnabel asked.

“About as can be expected. She’s so much larger, but I feel hitting a rat would be a more realistic venture!” Altheon replied.

Rolling to a stop near the entrance, she pushed herself up as she once again tried to re-word the condition.

Alright… If something directly related to fighting is too much for Lv. 1, then how about…

[The scarf can be manipulated according to the wearer’s will.]

...something more broad and general? I’d have to be more roundabout with how I use it here, but-

[Accepted. A new [Ability] has been added to [God’s Blessing].]

[Otherworldly Scarf]

[A scarf brought over from another world. Grants the wearer unique powers.]

[Ability - God’s Blessing Lv. 1]

[An Ability imbued into the scarf by [God]. The scarf grows through experience and the more it is used. After a set amount of experience is gained, this ability will level up.]

[Leveling up will increase its potential and capabilities.]

[Every ten levels, the wearer can select a new Ability.]

{Default Abilities}

[The wearer’s physical capabilities, reflexes, and senses are enhanced. These traits will increase further as [God’s Blessing] levels up.]

[The scarf acts as a translator, allowing the wearer to understand foreign languages, both verbally and visually.]

{Added Abilities}

[The scarf can be manipulated according to the wearer’s will. Its potential length, as well as its offensive and defensive power, will increase as [God’s Blessing] levels up.]

[Unlocked at Lv. 10]

[Unlocked at Lv. 20]

[Unlocked at Lv. 30]

[Unlocked at Lv. 40]

[Unlocked at Lv. 50]

Phew, it finally worked. Though in actuality, I might have just screwed myself. If the scarf is as soft as normal, I can’t attack them directly. Then what else can I…

“Gotcha!”

“Huh?!”

Darting at her from behind, Miriam threw one of her daggers while gripping the other one tightly. Even with having caught only a small glimpse of it, Micah still easily ducked, allowing the weapon to pass over her head and stab into the far wall, nearly piercing the brothers along the way had they not leaped to opposite sides.

“Try dodging this on-... ah?” A sudden feeling of weightlessness overcame her, and as she glanced down, her heart jumped to see that she was quickly falling face first after the two long ends of Micah’s scarf had shot out, extending like spears to push her legs out from under her while she ran at full speed.

“What… the… KHHH!!!” Her chin smashed hard against the oak floor, rattling her head and forcing a spurt of blood out of her nose. Altheon and Barnabel quickly rushed to her aid as Micah dashed forward past them to the opposite wall where Miriam’s dagger had landed. As the scarf ends retracted to follow her, one swerved around to grip the hilt and wrench it free.

“This should do~” the child sang sweetly as she turned back to them.

“Brother!”

“I’m on it,” Barnabel responded to Altheon’s call and fell behind him whilst he readied his sabre. As he prepared to act as a shield wall, Barnabel crouched down to the writhing Miriam’s side. “Miriam, are you well-”

*Sp’lurch*

Cutting him off was the sound of metal biting into flesh. Shocked, his eyes fell to his own foot, which Miriam, who had gone still, had suddenly impaled with her remaining dagger.

“G… GYAHHHHHH?!?!?!?!”

“Brother?! Gah!” Hearing his brother’s cries, Altheon turned back, only to be stabbed in the hand and pushed to the side by the scarf ends. As Micah scooped up his dropped sword, Barnabel let out another agonized scream as Miriam ground the dagger further into the floorboards.

“M-Miriam!!! Why…! Why are you…!” Altheon called while gripping his injured hand. His eyes widened with horror as Miriam jumped to her feet, revealing the wide grin on her face framed by the stream of blood running from her nose.

“Hahaha! My old man’s given me worse hits to the face than that, you dumbasses!” She gave the dagger one more good stomp to bury it to the hilt, eliciting another horrifying cry from Barnabel, then turned toward the door. “Hope you two enjoy the taste of hell! That’s what you get for messing with a demon!”

“Miriam, you madwoman! You were the one who suggested we combat her in the first place!!!” Altheon shouted, his face turning red from anger.

“Hah?! You really think I was serious about taking that monster on?! Get real, moron!” She roughly jabbed her index finger into her temple, giving Altheon an incredulous look. “I only did that to get you idiots in a position to be my bait! Everyone knows demons can’t resist the smell of blood and fear, so sucks to be you assholes, but I’m outta here!”

“Damn it…! MIRIAM!!!” Altheon pushed himself to his feet as he called after the fleeing woman angrily.

Then a sudden voice came from beside him. “She’s right, you know.”

“E-Eh?!”

“You guys did have this coming for what you did to my family. But you know what I hate even more than conmen...”

“Huh…?” It was then that he noticed that the ends of her scarf were pointing straight ahead of her. Turning towards the entrance where Miriam had run for, his eyes widened to see her skewered through the side of her neck and her torso by both the dagger and his own sabre.

She let out a gurgling groan, a disbelieving look on her bloodied face. “E..h… Wh...a… W...hy… m...e...e…. Gllggh…!”

“Fucking cowards.” Micah finished as she roughly yanked both weapons out and tossed them to the floor. Gritting her teeth, she marched up to the twitching woman as she collapsed helplessly and glared down at her. “I hate people like you the most! Cowards who run away when things get a little tough! Coward! Why do we have to die for your selfishness?! Do you think that’s right?! Do you honestly think it’s okay to sacrifice others so that you can continue living?! Well, do you?! Coward, coward, coward! You COWARD!!!”

As Altheon gently removed the dagger from Barnabel’s foot, he turned to watch the frantically yelling child with a look of wonder on his face.

“...And if you would honestly put your own life over the lives of others; if you really are the kind of person who doesn’t have anything worth protecting other than their own selfish interests...”

I love you, Onee-chan. No matter what, that won’t ever change. Okay?

Miriam’s throaty gasps and twitching began to fade with her consciousness, just in time to hear the final words of a girl many years older than the child staring down at her with disdain. “...then you should just go and die like the coward you are.”

-----

With Miriam having passed away, Micah stared coldly down at her corpse for a few moments before finally turning her attention to the two brothers, who flinched when they made eye contact.

“P-P-P-Please don’t kill us, Miss,” Barnabel begged, still crouched and holding his foot tenderly. “I can give you anything you want. Money? Power? Victims? Name it. Just please, spare our lives!”

“If a sacrifice must be made to sate your bloodthirst, then I would volunteer myself,” Altheon said with a polite bow. “Brother is too important for this town to lose, so I humbly ask that you spare at least him.”

“Brother! What are you-?!”

“Be quiet, fool,” he hissed, then returned to his respectful bow.

“...” Micah gave them both a silent stare as she considered them.

I only came here to get the deed back and scare them a bit, not to kill anyone. I shouldn’t have let myself get so overcome with emotion like I did… If the others find out I did this, what would they think of me? I should just get the deed and get out of here before someone notices what’s happened.

“...I don’t know why you guys did what you did, and I don’t care. Just give me what I came here for. If you do, I’ll spare you both.”

“I-I’m sorry, but we can’t- Nyeh?!” Barnabel recoiled as one scarf end slithered into his coat and removed the document hidden in there. “Wait! Y-You can’t-”

“Please, accept it as a token of our gratitude for sparing our lives, along with an apology for any trouble we’ve caused you. We will do so no longer.” Altheon quickly interrupted.

“I hope you’re telling the truth. Because if you or anyone related to you tries to mess with those nuns again, I’ll be back. And next time, there won’t just be one body.” Leaving them with those chilling words, Micah quickly made her way out of the building and ran straight back to the church as fast as her legs could carry her.

And she nearly didn’t make it, for those same legs gave out the moment she set foot in the chapel. Panting heavily, her body shivered as she felt her strength leaving it, returning her back to the weak two-year-old she was before she’d left.

Damn… I just barely got back before I ran out of mana. Looks like I can only keep that up for a short while. Ngh… So this is the ‘Mana Depletion’ I read about in that book… It really hurts...

“Are you alright?” came Brunhilde’s voice from the other end of the room. When Micah didn’t respond, she quietly approached and scooped her up. “You recovered the deed like you said, but you don’t look as well as I expected.”

“I’m… f-fine…”

“I see. In that case, you have my thanks. This church means a lot to all of us, myself included, so being able to keep it is all any of us can ask for. Shall I take you back to your room?”

Micah nodded, and Brunhilde gently cradled her as they walked.

“Welcome home, Micah.”

“I… I’m, h-home… Grammy...”

-----

“Eh… It’s really the real thing…”

The next morning, the nuns were more than a little surprised to see that the matter had been resolved overnight. Henrietta in particular, as she stared at the sheet in her hands.

“I found it this morning, left on the steps,” said Brunhilde coolly. “It seems that an anonymous individual has attacked the Disciples of Circe monastery, slaying a young woman and wounding two acolytes. Afterwards, they recovered the stolen property deed and brought it here.”

“Hmm, so all of that happened last night?” Henrietta asked as she listened to Brunhilde’s recount. “Well I’m still a bit confused, but serves ‘em right. Those jerks got what was coming to them.”

“More importantly, with the deed, Miss Bernadetta can prove that she’s the real owner, right?!” Josefine was bouncing with joy as she gripped one of Bernadetta’s hands in both of her own. “Isn’t that great?! Everything’s gonna be alright now!”

“Yeah, I’m so glad… Ah, that’s right! I have to go run this to the town hall. Can someone hold her?”

“Give her here,” answered Brunhilde. Bernadetta whispered her thanks as she placed Micah onto her lap and quickly left the church.

As the other two continued to revel in shock, confusion, relief, and joy, Micah silently spoke to Brunhilde. “I thought you said you wouldn’t help me. Why make up a lie like that?”

“Hmm…” She thought on it for a moment, then said, “Why not? They look happy enough. But I suppose you can also consider it my thanks for what you’ve done for us. Even if they’ll never come to know the truth about you, I want you to know that we’re all grateful.”

Micah smiled. It felt really, really nice being thanked for doing such a good deed.

“By the way,” Brunhilde continued. “How exactly did someone with your body defeat three adults? I can’t picture it no matter how many times I try.”

In response to her questioning look, Micah decided to mess with her a bit, and activated [God’s Blessing].

Slowly, the ends of her scarf began to lift up until they became level with her head. As she reached a hand up to hold one affectionately, she knew then and there that she would never forget the look on Brunhilde’s face as she said what she did next.

“Oh, that? I guess you could say I… had some helping hands.”