Hiasen, having finished tidying up their outfit, spoke to Na-me in a serious tone.
“Esteria… Honestly, I hope you never come to see us again.”
Na-me was left confused by those words. She thought it would be better to listen to the reason first.
“…Why?”
“You only come here when you’re at the edge of a cliff… You’ve said you’ve finished everything you wanted to do. What more do you want?”
What could I say? It was always the same old worry that Hiasen would babble on about like a cuckoo.
However, Hiasen’s gaze looked so sad that I decided to hold back the words I was about to mumble.
“That’s not why I’m here today.”
“Then?”
Na-me looked at her friends, who were enjoying the dessert from the Kaizen Empire that Niobe was handing out from the hilltop.
“There’s nothing particularly hard. I’m eating well, sleeping well, and while it takes a lot of attention, there are many cute friends. I just really wanted to see you guys lately.”
“We’re not real. Don’t tie yourself up with the past anymore.”
“I know… I know… But I can’t help but keep thinking about it.”
Na-me was not unaware of this.
She knew that the Alchemist was nothing but an illusion from the beginning to the end.
At first, one might feel a fleeting happiness by stepping into memories, but that feeling of emptiness inevitably follows once one realizes they must return to reality.
Moreover, as the characters manifested as Alchemists become aware of their own circumstances, their manifestation rates gradually decrease, marking their fate of never being seen again.
Hiasen, at thirteen, understood this, but ten-year-old Niobe did not.
In this precariously maintained false world, Hiasen genuinely worried about her half-sibling.
“Anyway, I came here to cheer up our friends, so don’t worry.”
“Can I really trust you?”
“I think the kids heard me mumbling about Raul-sist magic in my sleep. So I showed them a fun experience because I felt sorry for worrying them.”
Na-me could not accept that the pajama party she organized was turning into chaos due to her mistakes.
Since the conversation had veered in this direction, Na-me resolved to bring up stories of a new life.
“By the way, in the world I live in, does magic cost money?”
“…? What do you mean magic costs money?”
“I live in a world where there are taxes on mana. Isn’t that really strange? So even though I want to come often, I can’t.”
Na-me gave Hiasen’s back a couple of hard pats to lift the sagging atmosphere.
“It’s hard enough to pay off debts, so be grateful I came to see you without thinking about anything else.”
She was already in a situation where she had to repay the amount for the Akashic records and was also using the Alchemist.
As long as there was the professor with endless funds, there were no constraints under the name of capital that could control Na-me.
“Esteria, you still haven’t corrected your reckless spending habits, have you?”
“I’ll never fix it for life anyway. I have to think about earning as much as I spend, so why should I think about saving?”
Through experiences from various lives, Na-me had learned that saving money ultimately results in having nothing left, which could be seen as a significant flaw.
Back at the picnic spot, Yuna and Haru were whispering closely together with Niobe, their heads touching.
Niobe’s shoulders were shaking, apparently finding something amusing.
In such cases, it usually signaled the preparation of a mischievous prank.
Trying to find out what they were talking about, Na-me quietly approached on tiptoe.
“Hehe. Should I really tell you? What is Esteria’s favorite color of underwear?”
“Niobe, do you want to get hit? What are you saying to the kids in my absence?”
“Hiiiiiik! E-Esteria? When did you come…?”
Niobe, who had taken a headbutt from Na-me, picked up scissors and began making snipping sounds in the air.
It seemed that she was still rubbing the area she had been hit, which felt numb.
“Drumroll! Now, let’s get started!”
Niobe decided to cut Na-me’s messy hair as a gesture of apology.
Na-me’s strong refusal meant nothing.
“Esteria really hates having anyone mess with her hair. There are a few procedures. You all make sure to remember!”
Na-me chuckled at Niobe, who was showboating in front of the kids, and gently closed her eyes.
Especially Yuna’s expression had become serious. Na-me hated having anyone touch her hair to the extreme.
From what she heard, it seemed she never went to a beauty salon and cut her hair herself.
Niobe confidently said there was a method and sat Na-me in a makeshift chair, draping a white silk cloth around her neck.
“First, you have to hug her from behind like this!”
“Hug her?”
“Yes. Just hug her tight! Esteria doesn’t get ticklish around her neck, so it’s okay to embrace her like this.”
Hanging the scissors on her pinky finger, Niobe wrapped her arms around Na-me’s body.
It looked like the tension in her shoulders began to loosen a bit.
“How is it, Esteria?”
“A little suffocating…”
“Did everyone hear that? You have to hug her this tightly?”
It might have already been two minutes, as Niobe had been hugging Na-me for a long time, but now her arms gently loosened.
This time, she squeezed Na-me’s shoulders while parting her hair, starting to massage.
“We need to give her a shoulder massage so Esteria isn’t startled later!”
Swinging her small hands like ferns, it was questionable whether that was effective, but judging by her expression, Niobe was extremely enthusiastic.
“Is it over now?”
Haru asked.
“No! There’s still one left! Do you want to try making your hands into a claw shape like this?”
Niobe demonstrated first.
She then squeezed Na-me’s earlobes that peeked out through her hair.
“Tickle-tickle— Now you all try it. Tickle-tickle—”
Wondering if it could be done for real, Na-me cautiously let her fingers hover near her earlobes, which twitched excitedly.
“So soft…”
“Right.”
“You have to be careful not to let air get into her ears! It’s really sensitive.”
The earlobes of the girl who was being teased turned slightly red, still holding warmth.
However, the expression of the girl with her eyes closed remained calm.
“Once you’re done, you can just ask for permission. Esteria, can I cut your hair now?”
“Yes…”
“Then it’s successful! Big brother, come help me!”
“Why is it always me who has to cut it?”
“I’m not good at cutting, hehe.”
Hiasen took the scissors from Niobe.
Snip, snip—
Hiasen started slowly trimming Na-me’s hair so she wouldn’t be startled.
With the sound of overlapping scissors, the hair that had grown mangled and crooked gradually returned to its place.
The black hair fell like rain on the lawn.
“Can you guys help brush it out?”
Yuna and Haru took turns brushing away the stray bits of hair left on Na-me’s head.
“All done. You can open your eyes now.”
With a gentle voice flowing in, Na-me slowly opened her eyes.
Beside her, Yuna and Haru were looking at her with sparkling eyes.
“How is it, is it okay?”
Without a mirror, she couldn’t check her appearance.
Na-me asked the girls with uncertain voice.
“Yes! Na-me is so pretty!”
“Are you not going to cut more? It still seems long!”
“Yes. If I cut too much, I might not be able to come again next time.”
Someday, she hoped an opportunity to meet again would come.
Na-me continued to touch her hair as if she liked it.
Na-me said her goodbyes to them.
Although there was still a little time left for the Alchemist to be sustained, she wanted to give Yuna and Haru a chance as well.
“It’s your turn now. Yuna, do you want to go first?”
“Me? Uh… what should I do?”
“Just think of the happiest moment in your life. Then we’ll move to that moment.”
“Ugh? I don’t know…!”
[Recursion Casting: Alchemist]
*
A familiar scene loomed before her.
Seviron Academy, 2nd Grade A Class.
Yuna was extremely flustered by the unexpected situation.
In the top right corner of the blackboard, the date March 28 was written.
It was easy to figure out that it was the date from the current week.
“Why aren’t you coming quickly to play paper scissors?”
Children seated at the back of the classroom shouted.
They were speaking to the three girls.
Yuna, feeling shy, buried her face in Na-me’s back and spoke in a small voice.
“I’m fine not seeing it anymore…! Just pass it on to Haru.”
“Oooh… Was playing paper scissors fun? I’m glad to have taught you.”
“Yeah… Since we can all play together…”
Perhaps Yuna might be continuously updating moments of happiness day by day.
Feeling truly embarrassed, Haru scratched Yuna’s head affectionately.
“Haru, are you ready?”
“Uh? Yeah…”
It was now Haru’s turn.
It was difficult to predict what scene the Alchemist would show.
The happiest moment dictated by the subconscious might differ from how one perceives it currently.
Haru tightly closed her eyes and continued to wish.
That it was the moment when her mother was alive.
There were too many words left unspoken, including “I love you.”
