Maydare Volume 1 Chapter 12 - Unfolding Destiny (Part 2)

 Makia finally gets to talk to Thor properly and is on the verge of confessing her feelings...but of course things won't go that smoothly! 

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The next day, after discussing with Professor Medite about how to supplement the lessons I missed while I was asleep, I headed for the usual glass bottle atelier. Nero and Frey were there, each doing their own thing. 

“Ah, Makia…”

“You can walk around now, Leader?”

Nero was, as ever, making something, and Frey was lying on the windowsill, idling around.

“I heard you two were here, so I came. I’m really sorry for all the trouble I caused you guys. I baked some salt apple caramel muffins to thank you, or rather, I had to bake them for a reason, so I brought the ones left over.”

“Are we in charge of the leftovers or something?”

“Well, don’t say that, Frey. It’s a special magical recipe that helps to regulate the disorder of magical power. You should be grateful for them as a magician.”

“You’re as prideful as ever, Leader.”

Though Frey said that, he came over to get the muffins. I also passed one to Nero.

“...Did you get your hair trimmed, Makia?”

Nero looked at me and narrowed his eyes as he took the muffin.

Indeed, my hair was much shorter than before. It used to be to my waist, but now it was just past my shoulders. Personally, I thought it was cute.

“Big Sis Nagi trimmed it for me last night. I cut it off roughly at the ball, so it was pretty messy and unfinished. But it’ll grow out quickly. My hair has always grew well.”

“Senior Nagie...huh.”

Frey fell into melancholy at the window with a faraway look in his eyes.

“Oh my, Frey. Didn’t you say you asked her out on a date? You’re an experienced veteran, but you’re having a hard time with Big Sis Nagi?”

“Hah. After the ball, everyone in school found out that I was a prince. After that, the minute Senior Nagie saw me, she said, ‘A prince is too much for me...’”

“Aah...my condolences.”

It was true that Big Sis Nagi would find a man in the position of prince as troublesome.

At any rate, this glass-bottle atelier had become a meeting place for the members of Team 9 before we knew it. We were willfully boiling water and making herb tea, as well as persisting in having tea time with the salt apple caramel muffins I bought.

These muffins were a classic treat my mother often made. The dough was moist, and the saltiness of the salt apples and the sweetness of the caramel mixed well together. How should I put it, the sour-sweet salty caramel flavor that was produced was quite addictive.

By the way, there was a diary entry hidden in this recipe as well. But there was no hidden spell.

I would have to try the other recipes again.

“Makia, when exactly did you learn to use magic like that?”

As if on cue, Nero asked about that aforementioned magic. As I peeled off the muffin’s paper cup, I said,

“Oh, are you curious about it as the head of the class?”

“I suppose.”

“I knew only the incantation from the beginning. I recalled it at that moment and thought I should use it.”

I continued truthfully, “But I don’t understand anything about it.”

Those were my true, honest impressions.

“But it’s a shame that the palace didn’t give you any reward.”

“Reward?”

“In fact, it was because you were able to use magic that they were able to arrest the margrave who was behind the attack, right? I just think that the palace should cough it up.”

“Shouldn’t you, the fifth prince, make some kind of suggestion about that?”

Frey waved his hand in front of his face at Nero’s nonchalant jab.

“Oh, nope nope. I don’t have that kind of authority. I really am just a pointless fifth prince.”

And then, we ate the salt apple caramel muffins. We just devoured them, without saying whether they tasted particularly good or bad. As I ate, I asked them about their future plans.

“So, what are you guys doing for summer vacation?”

“I’m...going back home.”

Nero said with his tendency to look away somewhere. When I asked him where his home was, he replied matter-of-factly, “It’s a secret.” He was a secretive boy.

“What about you, Frey?”

“I’ve got a bunch of stuff going on, and they told me to go back home. I’ll be at the palace for a bit.”

“Hmm. Lapis says she’s going back to Frezier for summer vacation. She went to buy a ship ticket earlier. I’ll have to book a train ticket too.”

“Are you going back to Deliafield?”

“Yes, of course, Nero. But I have to take supplementary classes for the first three days of summer vacation, so it’ll be after that.”

The long summer vacation was about to begin. I have been able to meet my dependable team members, and I think that the first half of my freshman year has been quite good.

Several days later. My team members had gone back home and although I was lonely, at the glass-bottle atelier, I took in the drying net I had put outside during the day.

The drying net was dotted with round, red, and wrinkled things.

I was in the middle of making apricot umeboshi. I had just finished drying them in the sun.

Though it wasn’t exactly Japanese umeboshi, I disinfected apricots with alcohol, pickled them in salt and lemon juice, added red shiso, and shook the accumulated plum vinegar. It all took about a month.

Although high school students in my previous life didn’t know how to pickle umeboshi properly, I have pickled and dried various things as a magician in this world, so I relied on those skills and the memories of the taste from my previous life to try making umeboshi. I started to dry them in the sun a few days ago and finished today. I put them back in the plum vinegar again, but I couldn’t resist and decided to taste one.

“The red shiso gives it a nice color...It really does look exactly like umeboshi, doesn’t it?”

Now, it’s time to eat it. My mouth and eyes immediately narrowed. Mmm, it was so sour!

“Wow, it’s more umeboshi than I thought. It does have a fruity apricot flavor, though. ...I wonder if I should use a bit more salt. But it’s my first time.”

As I was alone, I talked to myself a lot.

“Okay, now let’s cook some rice! Umeboshi needs rice. The cafeteria is closed, so it’ll be umeboshi rice balls tonight.”

I felt sad that I couldn’t share this excitement with anyone, but I was going to try cooking the rice I bought from the market in town in an earthenware pot in the atelier.

First, I washed the rice, steeped it in water and put it aside for a little bit, then drained the water with a sieve and moved it to the pot.

After smoothing out the rice in the pot,

“The amount of water should be enough to cover the back of your hand with your palm on the surface of the rice...right?”

This was where the rice cooking techniques I learned in outdoors school in my previous life came in handy.

Now, let’s light the fire.

I have been waiting a long time for the day when I could eat rice and the umeboshi would be ready.

If it tastes good, I would bring these umeboshi as a present for Mother and Father.

I wanted to eat them with rice, so I’ll have to go into town tomorrow to buy more…

With all that, the rice has finished cooking.

The rice was a bit longer and narrower than the kind in Japan, but when I broke it up with a wooden spatula and ate it, I felt that it tasted the same as the rice I knew. It was a little hard, maybe it needed more water, maybe it was the type of rice, but rice was rice.

I immediately made some umeboshi rice balls.

I broke the fruit into pieces, removed the seeds, mixed them with the plum vinegar to make a soft semi-paste, then wrapped them in rice and added a little salt. 

It would have been nice to have some seaweed, but I couldn’t find any, so I left it as it was.

“Haaaaa… The umeboshi rice balls I’ve always yearned for are complete.”

A mere white triangular lump sparkled like treasure.

Now...let’s try it!

“Mm?”

But when I opened my mouth wide, I heard a strange noise above me, as though to interrupt my taste testing.

I wondered if someone came into the atelier, so I walked upstairs from the basement kitchen, looked outside, and was...at a loss for words. There was a black monster through the glass walls.

Giant wings. It was a ——dragon!?

“G-Gyaaaaaaah!”

I couldn’t help but shout again, but upon closer look, I saw Thor straddling the dragon’s back. He suddenly put out his head and mouthed, “Can you come out?”

Of course, I rushed out. The dragon landed on the open beach in front of me, and, as though he was used to it, Thor alighted next to it with a flutter of his cloak.

The black dragon and its gallant knight against the backdrop of the ocean at dusk was picturesque, but I ran up to them and said,

“Thor!? What are you doing here on magic school premises! You’re going to get caught as a suspicious person…”

“Oh, it’s fine. When that time comes, I’ll tuck my tail between my legs and run away immediately.”

What was he saying with that crisp and cool face?

“Because if I don’t do this, I won’t be able to see you, milady, right?”

Right at that moment, the dragon flapped its wings and silently took off. Every time it flapped its wings, snow crystals fluttered down. It was cool and refreshing in the summertime twilight…

“That’s my spirit, the ice dragon Griminde. His attribute is【Ice】.”

“What, Thor, you summoned a dragon!?”

I was shocked. A dragon spirit was worthy of the highest rank.

“As expected of you! He’s so amazing, so cool.”

When I praised his spirit, Thor looked a little pleased.

“Are you feeling all right now? I heard you had a high fever.”

"It's because I used a strange spell. I must have scared you."

“...Yes.”

And then, Thor stared at me for a moment. He gently reached out and touched the tips of my shortened hair, which was swaying in the sea breeze. His face twisted with some sort of regret.

“Oh, this? Fufu, this isn’t so bad, is it?”

“But milady, you’ve always prized your long hair.”

“Maybe it was for a time like this. If it’s for protecting someone I cared about, then I’m glad that I took good care of my hair. Besides, I’ve always wanted to try cutting it off at least once. I’ll take good care of it again and grow it out like before.”

I smiled a smile filled with determination.

“...Milady is milady. Anytime, anywhere.” 

Thor murmured, and then cleared his throat.

“Milady, would you like to go on a date with me tonight?”

“Huh? Date?”

“Milady, it’s your sixteenth birthday today, isn’t it?”

“...Oh!”

I widened my eyes. That’s right. I had completely forgotten about it myself.

Did Thor come all the way to this school in order to celebrate my birthday?

“I thought you might be interested in flying on the back of a dragon.”

“Oh, you’re giving me a ride!? Of course! I absolutely want to ride!”

Thor looked like he was about to laugh again as I pitched my body overly forward and appealed to him. 

Oh, but I just made umeboshi rice balls…

“Oh, yes! Can I bring my magic basket with me? Actually...I have something I want you to eat.”

“I don’t mind that, but what do you want me to eat?”

“Umeboshi rice balls.”

“Come again?” Thor tilted his head. I hurried back to the glass-bottle atelier, stuffed the rice balls I had made earlier into the magic basket, and then went back out to the beach with them.

On the beach, the ice dragon Griminde was already waiting for us with his body lowered. What a good boy.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Thor gently held me up and placed me on the dragon’s back.

He mounted the dragon behind me and held me in front of him, then grabbed the reins and ordered the dragon to rise.

“W-wooooow!”

The weak summer breeze and the cold wind created by the ice dragon blew against my face together.

When I opened my eyes, the night view of Miladriede was so dazzling and beautiful that I cried out from excitement many times.

The pale brilliant lights of Miladriede Castle. The holy Diemo Cathedral with its ten statues placed up high.

The brick bridges illuminated by stained glass spell-light street lamps, and the sparkling canals.

In the distance, at the edge of the sea, I could see the faint orange afterglow…

We landed on that bench on the roof of Diemo Cathedral.

Magical fireworks were launched in the direction of the port, welcoming the arrival of summer and foreign cruise ships.

“Pretty…”

The fireworks were very beautiful at the moment they bloomed, but when I followed the lights that fell as they disappeared with my eyes, I wondered what lay ahead of them.

“Milady, didn’t you say you wanted me to eat something? Please give it to me.”

With a composed look on his face, Thor plainly prompted me with his hand. What a glutton!

“It’s just like you to beg so boldly on your former lady’s birthday. But, you know, I think you’re going to like this.”

I brought out two rice balls wrapped in paper from my basket and gave one to Thor. Thor quickly peeled off the paper.

“Is this rice? We sometimes eat paella at the palace. Lady Airi likes rice dishes. Oh, um...do I just eat it like this?”

“Yes, exactly. Just take a big bite out of it. There’s something amazing inside.”

“Something amazing…”

Thor looked at the rice ball curiously and observed it from various angles, but since there was no information other than it was a white triangular lump, he straightforwardly took a bite.

“!?”

I wondered if he was surprised by the sourness of the umeboshi.

I gulped as he looked startled, or rather, paled.

“What, what is this intense sour taste...Milady, you really do hate me, don’t you?”

“Eh!?”

That was his reaction!? So Thor didn’t remember the taste of umeboshi…

However, Thor faced the umeboshi rice ball once more, gulped, then took a few more bites and chewed.

Soon, he seemed to have gotten used to eating it, and his expression settled down.

“The first bite was so sour that I was surprised, but after the second bite, for some reason, O felt very nostalgic. ...Why is that? I don’t know...I’ve never eaten this before.”

Thor closed his eyes.

Along with the umeboshi rice ball, he was chewing on the homesickness that had welled up from somewhere else. That was the expression on his face.

“I’m sure you ate it somewhere, sometime before.”

“That, might be true. I don’t know where or when that was. I think I liked eating this. Yes, it’s delicious…!”

“...”

Thor gave a rare, honest smile. I was speechless at that expression on his face.

Aah, I knew it…

You were the boy I loved in my past life.

In those forgotten days, every morning, you eagerly stuffed your cheeks with umeboshi rice balls.

Thor probably had no memory of those times. However, it wasn’t that there was no trace of them, and this moment when I felt that they overlapped was important to me.

Combined with the nostalgic taste of the umeboshi rice balls, it made me want to cry…

For a while, we quietly talked to each other about magic school and Thor’s work at the palace.

As soon as Thor was taken to the royal palace, he joined the Order of the Royal Palace and was trained hard under Sir Lionel, the vice commander, to prepare for the appearance of the Savior. It seemed that he met Miss Airi last summer, and now he was searching for the final Guardian while protecting her by her side.

My two years weren’t as turbulent as Thor’s, but I told him how I had successfully enrolled into magic school, just as Thor wished on that night the stars fell, and how I had struggled to gather team members.

I couldn’t tell him everything about the past two years, but I was so happy to have the time to talk with Thor. That was all I needed to be happy.

The fireworks were over, and the lights of the city began to go out one by one.

“That’s right…”

Thor took out something from his breast pocket.

“This is for you, milady.”

It was the earrings he gave me on my birthday two years ago.

And the ones I had returned to him.

“I gave these to you exactly two years ago on this date. Please accept these again. ...If you truly don’t want them, please throw them into the sea.” 

“...But, Thor-”

“I don’t want them back. There’s no one else I want to give them to.”

I accepted the earrings without hesitation.

And then, I held them up to the night sky where there were not many stars visible.

Only these sparkled like a first magnitude star, and they were very beautiful.

“Thank you. I truly did miss them. It’s like a part of my body is missing without them.”

That was how much I had clung to these earrings and worked hard for these two years.

I cupped them in my hands, placed them against my cheek, exhaled a long breath, and then attached them to my ears.

Just like I did every morning as soon as I woke up.

“Happy sixteenth birthday, Lady Makia.”

“Yes. ...For me, today, the day when I met you, is the luckiest day in my life.”

And then, we giggled at each other.

“I’m aiming to become an honor student at magic school.”

“An honor student, you say? That’s a fitting title for Milady.”

“If I get good grades and get a job at the palace, I might be able to take part in something to help support you and everyone else, you know? I want to use the resources of the Salt Forest to develop something useful. I want to help you, Thor, even if it’s behind the scenes.”

Thor was silent for a bit, and then said,

“That’s...very Milady-like, and encouraging to hear.”

“Yes. I’m sure I’ll do something useful. I’ll make sure you stay safe.”

I didn’t know when his role would end. I didn’t know if there was even an end to it.

I became a little frightened when I saw Thor risk his life to protect Miss Airi in that incident.

I was afraid that Thor was going to be in a lot of danger from now on. But…

“When I first met you, I knew. I knew that you weren’t a normal boy, but a magician who would play a very important role in this world.”

Therefore, this was inevitable.

I was lonely when he left the O’Drielle family, but I was sure that the slave boy I found would become an important existence to this world.

“Milady. It isn’t just me.”

“...What?”

“A magician who plays an important role in this world...Milady, you are surely one as well.”

Thor declared with conviction in his words. He then turned to me again with a serious look on his face.

“I am grateful to you, Mialdy, who found me. And for giving me a name.”

“...Thor.”

“Do you remember when you gave me this name? I hated saying my real name. To tell the truth, ever since I can remember, I’ve never felt comfortable with my name. I even thought that it was my name that caused me misfortune.”

It was a feeling I felt as well.

In my previous world, I had also always felt that my name didn’t fit me.

“But, when Milady gave me the name ‘Thor,’ it felt like I have finally found what I have been looking for...Yes, I felt like I have been reborn.”

“...”

I slowly widened my eyes.

“I don’t know how to say it, but that is why today is my birthday as well. When you call me by this name...for some reason, I feel like crying uncontrollably.”

He smiled desolately with a heartrending face…

Then, Thor flipped his cloak and knelt before me.

“Please wait a little longer, Milady. I will fulfill my duty soon and return to you.”

“Thor, you…”

“So please don’t throw me away. If I don’t have any place to return to, I…”

Thor was afraid of being discarded, wanted a family, and yearned to live in peace.

Even though he has been toyed with by fate many times due to his unparalleled power.

I didn’t know he treasured the name I had given him in such a way.

So I embraced Thor, wrapping him in my arms. So that he didn’t feel alone.

“It’s okay, Thor. I won’t abandon you. I won’t forget you. I won’t forget you, probably never. No matter...how many times I’m reborn again…”

Let’s ask it one more time.

What is the truth of this feeling rising up in me?

This was not a lingering attachment from my past life, not a foolish feeling that became a dragged-out misunderstanding, but my own feelings of “love.”

I love you so much that it would be strange if it were otherwise.

It was true that I fell in love with Thor as Makia, while also inheriting the feelings of my “mind neighbor.”

I was so happy, so moved with emotion, to be able to be sure of that...

Now is the time to tell him. The words I had been unable to say for so long.

“I...love you.”

How good it would have been if I had been able to tell him properly at that time.

At almost the same time, there was a loud boom of thunder. It seemed to have struck very close to us.

“...Huh.”

It was so sudden that I was speechless. Thunder rumbled, and then rain began to pour down.

“It’s raining. There are sometimes thunderstorms at night lately. Milady, are you alright?”

“Huh? Yes…”

“Let’s return immediately. I’ll take you to the school dormitory.”

Thor wrapped me in his cloak, put me on Griminde, and quickly took me to the balcony of the girls’ dorm. 

The words probably didn’t reach Thor. It was too drab and tasteless to repeat what I had told him earlier on parting, and Thor seemed to be in a hurry…

“Well then, see you, Milady. Please give my regards to the master and mistress at Deliafield.”

“...Yes. And Thor, do your duty well.”

“Of course I will.”

While scowling at the stormy night sky, Thor straddled his dragon and left, looking a bit reluctant to go. He must have gone back to Miss Airi.

“I...failed to confess again.”

I thought absentmindedly as I watched the silhouette fade into the distance in the rain.

The timing of it was like it had intentionally interfered with my confession.

If, as Miss Airi said, this world was the world of some story…

Then an existence like me wasn’t necessary in the “story of the Savior.” I didn’t know anything about what was going on in this world.

But, I had a feeling.

Thor would be going further and further away…

Even if the scenario of the story didn’t connect Thor and me together as one in the future.

I have to become a splendid magician and protect it. The place of safety Thor could return to.

So, please, even if it was just once.

May I be able to convey my sure feelings in these words.

“Ah, I got wet. I have to take a shower.”

I was soaked all over due to the thunderstorm. I rushed to the shower room and took off my clothes.

I wasn’t able to confess, but I was filled with excitement from seeing Thor and being able to talk to him for a long time.

He said he will return to me.

I couldn’t tell you how happy that made me.

I thought of the pain that was even tightening my chest as a sign that I was in love with Thor.

Aah, look at my face in the mirror. I was grinning so widely…

“...Huh?”

However, my grin froze in an instant.

In the mirror, appearing brightly on my chest, was the——Crest of the Four Lights.

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