<CHAPTER 6>

Emilia arrived in the neighboring territory by public carriage.

It was the only place in the area with a train station.

As Emilia stood in front of the ticket booth, she swallowed hard.

It’s expensive…

She had always seen Cedric off at the station, but she had never actually ridden a train herself, so she had never known.

Then again, the trains here ran on magic stones, so it was only natural that the fares would be expensive.

“Excuse me, miss?”

When the attendant called out to her, Emilia gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, could I have the earliest ticket available?”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

A short while later, after receiving some basic instructions from the attendant, Emilia left the ticket booth.

She then looked up at the large clock tower in the center of the station.

There isn’t much time left before departure.

She entered the waiting room inside the station and sat down on a long bench.

She planned to rest for a little while until the train arrived.

But then, a strange, sticky atmosphere began to creep through the waiting room.

What is this?

Emilia naturally shifted her gaze.

“……Mmm. Honey, stooop.”

In the opposite corner, she spotted a couple practically glued to each other.

“What if people see us?”

The woman bashfully pretended to push the man away.

“Aw, who cares?”

But the man didn’t budge. Instead, he pressed closer to her and attempted even more shameless displays of affection.

Embarrassed, Emilia quickly turned her head away.

What are they doing, acting like that in a public place?

Smack.

The embarrassing sounds continued, making her face feel hot.

They looked as though they would go even further if there weren’t anyone else around.

“Ahem! Ahem!”

At that moment, a middle-aged man sitting nearby made his disapproval very clear.

However, the couple seemed even more determined.

“Tsk, tsk. Young people these days…”

In the end, unable to stand it any longer, the middle-aged man left the waiting room.

But as he passed by Emilia, he even shot her an accusing glare.

Why am I being dragged into this?

Emilia felt unfairly lumped in with them.

Meanwhile, having successfully gotten rid of their sole obstacle, the couple’s public display of affection only grew more intense.

Emilia decided she had had enough and hurried outside.

Then she shook her head, desperately trying to erase the scene she had just witnessed from her mind.

—

Ding, ding, ding, ding—

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the sound announcing the train’s arrival rang out.

People were already lined up in a long queue in front of the platform. Emilia went to the very back and joined the line.

As she waited for the crowd ahead of her to thin out, she heard a commotion coming from farther ahead.

What’s going on?

Emilia craned her neck to look.

The source of the noise was quite far away.

Up ahead, a child was clinging to a man.

But the child’s appearance was rather conspicuous.

The robe was so oversized that it nearly concealed the child’s entire face, while the hem of the clothing was covered in dirt and dust, as though they had been rolling around on the ground.

Perhaps because of that, the man was looking at the child with obvious displeasure.

“What on earth are you saying? If you’re going to beg, go over there and do it! Everyone here is busy!”

The man waved his hand dismissively, shooing the child away.

The child looked around desperately before reaching out toward another passerby.

But no one paid the slightest attention.

Perhaps because of what had happened earlier, everyone seemed to assume the child was simply begging for money.

Emilia watched the child closely.

It doesn’t seem like they’re simply begging… Could they have gotten separated from their parents?

She stepped out of the line and walked forward.

And soon, she realized something.

The child was desperately trying to say something.

“[Please help me!]”

But the language the child was speaking wasn’t the Imperial language.

This is…

Among the countless languages jumbled together in her memory, Emilia soon found the answer.

Hyprian?

The Holy Kingdom of Hypria lay at the very edge of the continent.

And because of its isolationist nature, it had almost no contact with the Empire.

That was why no one could understand what the child was saying.

Emilia, on the other hand, had taken an interest in Hyprian several years ago.

I learned it because I was trying to figure out how to make Cedric learn legal terminology more easily.

In the past, the Holy Kingdom of Hypria had exerted enormous influence over the surrounding nations.

As a result, traces of the language remained in many places, including the fact that Hyprian had become the origin of numerous legal terms.

Emilia approached the child and spoke.

“[What’s] wrong?”

However, she hadn’t properly studied Hyprian either, so she wasn’t particularly fluent.

Meanwhile, upon hearing a language familiar to them, the child’s tear-filled eyes widened.

The child quickly turned around and looked up at the woman who had spoken to them.

Then, with eyes full of hope, they asked,

“[You can understand what I’m saying?]”

Words… understand.

Emilia could roughly make out the meaning.

She quickly nodded.

The child’s expression immediately brightened.

As though suddenly overwhelmed with excitement, the child began pouring out words.

“W-Wait!”

Emilia bent down and tried to stop the child.

“I can’t understand you if you speak that fast— Ah, [Slowly. Slowly.]”

Fortunately, the child seemed to understand her and quickly nodded.

After thinking for a moment, the child stopped trying to form sentences and instead blurted out several words.

“[Medicine! Treatment! Wound!]”

At the same time, the child pressed both hands against their abdomen and grimaced.

Oh, are they saying they have a stomachache and need medicine?

“[You? Hurt?]”

But the child vigorously shook their head as if that wasn’t what they meant.

Then what is it?

The child stomped their feet in frustration.

After struggling to think for a moment, they pointed at themselves, then crossed their arms into an X.

Ah.

They mean it’s not them.

It seemed someone traveling with the child was sick, and they were asking for help.

In fact, before losing consciousness, the child’s companion had given them strict instructions.

There was a dangerous person on the train, so they were never to move and were to stay hidden.

But the child was far too worried that their companion might die to simply remain hidden.

After agonizing over it for a long time, the child had secretly slipped off the train when it stopped.

All to find someone—anyone—who could help.

But the people outside the train couldn’t understand a word they said, and everyone was cold and indifferent.

There were so many people around, yet not a single one had been willing to listen.

And then, as if by a miracle, the child heard a woman’s voice.

“First, calm down a little…”

Emilia took the child’s hand, damp with nervous sweat, and crouched down.

Just then, the child moved their head, causing the hood to flutter.

Wait. Those eyes…

Emilia froze when she caught a glimpse of the child’s eyes.

A suspicion flashed through her mind.

“……Excuse me for a moment.”

She carefully released the child’s hand and gently lifted the hood.

“Ah.”

A gasp escaped Emilia as she confirmed the color of the child’s eyes.

They were a brilliant golden hue, almost bright yellow.

That eye color was exceedingly rare in the Empire.