Mui Freya
I had no memories of my parents. They vanished after my birth, taking off to who knows where. Or maybe they were dead. It didn’t bother me much—I didn’t have the leisure of sitting and worrying over them. It was always far more important to figure out how I was going to survive another day.
My big sister raised me from a young age, and being with her was the only life I knew. When I was little, we lived in a really shabby house. Because I was so young, my sister prioritized giving food to me over herself. I never considered where the food came from, but simply lived day-to-day, eating the meals placed on the table before me.
But then years passed of watching my sister come home looking like a tattered mess, and I realized that she couldn’t keep doing everything herself. I needed to help. How old was I at the time? I still remember speaking those words. My sister looked shocked for a moment, but then she admonished me in a gentle tone, saying that I didn’t have to push myself. Uncharacteristically, I protested, denying that I was pushing myself at all. It wasn’t quite a quarrel, but I was somewhat disgruntled that she wouldn’t allow me to help her.
Eventually, I ended up tagging along with my sister and taking on all sorts of chores in back alleys. These days became a routine. Every day, I worked myself to the bone, earning what money I could, or else being paid in food that would last us maybe a day. The work was varied, and it consisted of everything from cleaning gutters to weeding gardens to watching pets. Rarely, some of my employers would add a little extra because I was a kid. The work wasn’t satisfying, but wasn’t hopeless, and we were managing to scrape by. At the very least, my sister was always there when I got home. As long as she was with me, I knew things would work out one way or another.
At first, my sister and I often worked together, but after a while, we ended up taking on separate jobs. With more jobs bringing in funds, the quality of our daily meals started improving little by little.
“Mui, you don’t need to worry about anything.”
She told me this frequently as a child, but as time went on, she started saying it more and more. Thinking back on it now, those words were probably meant to comfort me and to atone. I never figured out the truth of it, though.
“This the place? She’s been living in quite the shithole.”
One day after finishing work ahead of my sister, I was sitting at home, waiting for her to return. Instead, a man dropped by.
“Oh, there she is,” the man mumbled. He looked me in the eyes. “You Mui?”
I answered him curtly. He was awfully big, but I dealt with nasty-looking men about his size all the time.
“About your sister... Unfortunately, she’s passed away.”
His tone wasn’t at all contrite—he didn’t sound like he found it unfortunate at all. Why? How? Where? When? Questions flooded my mind, but I couldn’t even attempt to ask any of them.
“You remember this?”
As I remained lost in a silent daze, the man threw something at me. I caught it reflexively. This small object, glimmering in the light shining through the open door, was the pendant my sister had always worn. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I somehow vaguely knew that I would never see her again. Though I didn’t abandon all hope, I felt something like despair surging up within me.
“She asked me to look after you,” the man said. “That’s why I’m here.”
He kept talking, his expression brimming with annoyance. I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t. But...now that my sister was gone, I honestly had no idea what else to do. My thoughts felt trapped, spinning endlessly around in my mind.
But then, an unexpected choice was thrown at my feet.
“You wanna resurrect your family?” asked the man. “Then come with me. It’ll be fine. I’m not gonna eat ya.”
My young mind was incapable of seeing through the lie, incapable of refusing him. And so, I agreed. With this new arrangement, I no longer had to do filthy, low-paying jobs like cleaning gutters or weeding gardens. Though, in a way, the jobs I did were still filthy, just not for the same reasons. I hated it at first, of course. But once I got used to the life, crime simply became a habit. And though I experienced both successes and failures, stealing was far easier than doing menial work. I earned far more money too.
“Here, take this.”
One day, the man threw an accessory at me, just like he’d done with my sister’s pendant. According to him, this thing was magical—he said it was capable of temporarily creating fire. At that moment, it felt like the man was finally showing me the slightest hint of consideration, and the accessory actually came in handy quite often. I used it whenever it seemed like I was about to get caught. Surviving day-to-day was a desperate struggle, but I knew that if I was ever apprehended, my life would go down an even darker path.
Still, I wasn’t doing it for myself—every job I took was to resurrect my sister, and I was ready to do anything to achieve that goal. At first, when I inquired about the price of resurrection, the man simply told me that it would cost a lot of money. Over and over, I asked him how much it would be, and after a time, he begrudgingly muttered, “Five million dalcs.”
Five. Million. Dalcs. That was an enormous sum. Still, if it was for my sister, I would gather it. I was sure I could pull it off, and if anything, I was ready to cross even more dangerous bridges. By now, I was used to the work, and the magical equipment made it difficult for anyone to catch me.
However, one day, I stopped using it. As I was trying to drive someone away, fire erupted—not from the accessory, but from me. At first, I thought the magical equipment had gone haywire. But then, I realized that I could do it again. I could create fire. After a few tries, I figured out how to summon flames with my own two hands. Yet, this ability didn’t really bring me much joy. After all, I’d done the same thing with the magical equipment, so making my own fire didn’t seem all that special.
“Hmm. Well ain’t that amazing.”
I did tell the man about it. Not that his reaction was particularly great. Being able to create fire didn’t really mean anything to me, and I didn’t think much about it. Fire wasn’t going to bring my sister back. It was a somewhat convenient skill, but nothing more.
Regardless of anything else, my objective was clear: save up five million dalcs. I knew of only one way to achieve this goal. My work, this day and the next, would remain the same.
“Can’t say I approve of that.”
I was shocked—that was the only word I could use to describe it. Some of my targets had chased me, but only after I’d stolen something from them. Never once had someone guessed my intentions and stopped me before the theft.
“Tch!”
I focused my mind on my arm—the one my target was gripping. Fire sprouted from beneath his fingers, and he released me. I somehow got away, and frankly, I wanted to praise myself for not panicking. But then, after getting back to the base, I realized I’d lost something important.
“Are you, maybe, looking for a pendant?”
The next day, while searching around for the item I’d dropped, I bumped into the same old man. I tried playing dumb, but he remembered me too. Ultimately, it was useless to resist—I had no choice but to follow him. I cursed my luck.
We ended up at the office of the Liberion Order. They peppered me with pestering questions, with scrutiny—this was perhaps the most hectic day I’d ever experienced over the course of my short life. Then, without warning, an incomprehensible brat rushed into the room. Once the brat was settled, we all talked at length. I found out that my objective, the goal I’d been working on for so long, couldn’t be accomplished. At first, I thought they were lying. If resurrection was impossible, then what had I been working so hard for? I deflated, feeling mentally exhausted. I no longer had any motivation, or energy, or any reason to defy these adults.
Still...
Even though I was tired, I...felt warmth for some reason. I couldn’t understand the feeling.
“We cannot shut our eyes to a girl like you living in such miserable circumstances. I don’t know if we can be your ally, but at the very least, we’re not your enemy.”
That voice—it was the knight commander, a person rumored to be so noble. A person who lived a life that was practically the polar opposite of mine.
The magic corps commander, a girl who looked to be even younger than I was, addressed me next.
“Your dignity, and that of your sister’s, must be protected. And you’re the only one who can do it.”
Even that old guy, who’d seemed so unreliable at first, was actually super strong. These people were different from all the adults I’d ever known.
I still had my sister on my mind. How could I not? I hadn’t seen her die, and I’d never seen a body—I’d simply believed what the man had told me. And what else could I have done at the time? I’d been weak. If I’d had another choice, an option aside from innocently believing an adult’s words, then I challenge someone to tell me what it was.
After we discussed everything, there was only one question on my mind.
“What am I supposed to do after this?” I muttered.
“Well, it’ll work out one way or another,” answered the old man. “That’s wholly the adults’ responsibility.”
Did I trust him? I felt like...maybe I could. At the very least, he seemed different from all the other nasty adults I’d known. I thought back to our brief encounters. He really is a simple soul, huh? We’d met because I’d tried to pick his pocket, yet he was still acting so considerate of me.
And I mean, I guess I was kinda happy about that. But I didn’t know how to interact with him, and what little knowledge and life experience I possessed didn’t provide me with an answer. I had no choice but to do as the adults said. If that’s the case, maybe it’s fine to trust these people for now.
After our discussion, it was time for me to leave. We made our way back to the entrance of the order’s office. As I turned to walk away, I heard a voice call out from behind me.
“See you later, Mui.”
It was so gentle, so soft, and also a little unreliable.
“Hmph.”
The man was a little too old to be a big brother. If I had a father...maybe he would be like this.
As I engrossed myself in that sudden fancy, I felt a tugging on my arm. My mind snapped back to reality.
“Come on—you’re with me.”
And this brat... She’s my annoying, impertinent, and stupid little sister! Except I don’t ever want to imagine being related to her by blood!
Regardless of the feelings I still had about my missing big sister, I felt like this day would help me face the future.
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