"Mmgh…"
Mia rubbed her eyes and sat up. She had dozed off next to Leca after breakfast without even realizing it.
Judging by the golden hue filtering into the tent, it was already late afternoon.
How long did I sleep? Since morning… wow.
Leca was still fast asleep, his breathing slow and peaceful. Careful not to wake him, Mia quietly stepped outside and surveyed the surroundings.
The area was desolate, scattered with rocky outcrops. Dry winds swept through the barren land. There wasn't a single tree or blade of grass, and yet—it didn't quite feel like a desert. More like a forsaken stretch of land.
Mia ducked back into the tent and gently placed a hand on Leca's forehead. The fever had broken. His body was no longer burning, and the wound on his back looked much better.
"Lady Mia?"
His eyes fluttered open.
"Oh no, did I wake you?"
Leca stretched and sat up. He no longer winced or groaned in pain. Perhaps the worst had passed.
"I think… I slept forever."
"Haha, yeah. Looks like evening's almost here."
Leca stepped outside and scanned the area with practiced caution.
"How's your body feeling?"
"Much better. If I rest just half a day more, I think I'll be able to fly back to the palace."
"Teleporting is still out of the question, right?"
"Yes. It consumes too much mana. I can only manage that when I'm at full strength."
"Right. Better conserve your energy—for when we get to wherever Roy's being held. But where even is that place?"
All she remembered was that it was somewhere near a swamp full of crocodiles. The salamander had said it would meet them there, but… could they really rely on that? She wished she could see the creature again in her dreams and get a clearer answer.
But dreams didn't work on command. It was frustrating.
"The area is vast. For now, we should summon another fire spirit and ask."
Just then—
A faint crying sound reached their ears. A long, drawn-out wail. Waaah, waaah…
It sounded like a child.
Mia perked up and glanced at Leca. She could now hear sounds from great distances, but even so, she couldn't tell how far away it was.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes. A young child."
"Could there really be kids out here?"
"There's a tiny settlement not far from here. Very small in size…"
Though Nakil was mostly wasteland, there was a weak spring nearby and a patch of sparse grassland, enough to support a tiny village.
Mia frowned. The child's cries grew louder. A dog barked furiously in the distance.
"It's not unusual for a kid to cry, but… something feels off."
"…There's a strange scent on the wind," Leca murmured, lifting his head to sniff the air.
"What kind of scent?"
"It's… difficult to explain."
"Do you think it's connected to the crying?"
"Perhaps. But I can say one thing for certain—I've never smelled anything like it before in this area."
Then they heard it again. The child's sobs. The barking of a dog. But now there was something else, layered beneath—an adult crying. A woman's voice, choked with grief.
"…Something's definitely happened. Should we check it out?"
Leca nodded silently and began walking. The two of them traveled some distance and arrived at the edge of a small village.
It was poor and worn. Mud houses dotted the landscape, and toddlers crawled in the dust as if it were nothing. As the pair entered the village, a dog began barking madly somewhere out of sight.
Leca suddenly paused. Something had caught against his foot. He bent down to examine it.
"What's this?"
A blue body, a long tail, massive pincers—but it lay motionless, curled up.
"It's a desert scorpion. Dead."
He summoned a flame and incinerated the corpse.
"Fire!" a child cried out.
A small boy came running toward them. He looked about nine or ten, painfully skinny, his face smudged with dirt and his clothes little more than rags.
"Who are you?" the boy asked, glancing nervously between Leca and Mia.
"We're travelers passing through," Leca replied gently. "We heard crying and came to see if everything was all right."
The boy wiped his nose on his grimy hand and said,
"My sister's canary died."
"…A canary? What happened to it?"
"I don't know what happened. It just… died, all of a sudden. My sister lost it when she saw."
"That must've been hard. I'm sorry to hear that," Mia said softly.
The death of a beloved pet was a shock—whether to a child or an adult.
Just then, another piercing wail rang out. This time, it wasn't a child—it sounded like a woman, sobbing uncontrollably.
"…That sound…"
The boy glanced back toward the village. Now it sounded like more than just one person crying. An entire family, perhaps.
"Did something happen to them too?"
"That's the Lea family. They said their baby died. It happened around the same time as our canary."
The boy spoke while lightly kicking at the scorched remains of the scorpion. Mia and Leca exchanged glances. The coincidence was too strange to ignore. Leca recalled the odd scent he'd detected earlier on the wind.
That scent… was gone now.
"Something's not right," Leca murmured. "I don't know what it is yet, but…"
"Okay, now give me money."
"…What?"
Mia blinked in surprise. The boy nodded with the casual confidence of a street vendor.
"I told you everything. So you owe me."
He spoke like a clever little merchant at a tourist trap. Mia gave a dry laugh and pulled the jeweled hairpin from her hair.
"If this is okay with you… want it?"
Lily had styled her hair with it before they left for Muria. Mia wasn't sure of its worth, but if it came from the royal palace, it had to be expensive.
Sure enough, Leca's voice cut in, clearly alarmed.
"Lady Mia, that's far too valuable. It's a top-grade emerald—classified tier one."
But it was too late. The boy had already snatched it with lightning speed and tucked it behind his back as if to say you're never getting this back.
"It's fine. Look at him—he's skin and bones."
"…That's true, but…"
Leca worried someone else might steal the gem from the boy. But the child's sharp, calculating eyes made him hesitate. He decided to let it go for now.
"Don't show that to anyone outside your family. Understood?"
Of course, in a village this small, word would get around. But Leca said it anyway.
"Got it! Thanks!"
The boy darted away, disappearing into the village.
Mia watched him go and thought, So a single hairpin turns out to be a tier-one emerald. Everything really is on a different scale in this gemstone country… If I ever go back to Earth, even a few of these accessories would set me up for life.
The sun had now completely set. The village, steeped in shadows, echoed only with the chilling sounds of grief.
"It's best we return now, Lady Mia. It's too dark—let's wait until morning to depart."
"Yeah. Good idea."
In Muria, inside King Thorpel III's office—
The king, as usual, looked relaxed and unbothered. His advisors, however, wore tense expressions.
"Let them go."
"But Your Majesty—aren't you even a little offended by what they did?"
"Of course I am."
"Then why take no action? Shouldn't something be done?"
"Hm… 'done,' you say…"
The king tilted his head and rested his chin on his hand, lounging in his chair.
"Even that arrogant Julius looks down on Muria. And now a lowly spirit and human girl think they can treat us the same? They clearly have no respect for us, Your Majesty!"
"There's no need to get so riled up. You all know why they left, don't you?"
King Thorpel had learned the next morning that Mia and Leca had broken through a barrier and fled. He was mildly surprised—but not especially bothered. After all, he had watched their entire conversation at the Fountain of Fairies through a magical orb alongside his ministers.
"Which makes it worse, doesn't it? They left Muria over something so trivial!"
One of the dwarf advisors, wearing a green pointed hat, puffed up in outrage. The king merely smirked.
"Think about it—poor girl left without even learning the spell to conceal her wings. What's she planning to do about that? Ha."
The king pulled something from within his robes. A small vial filled with thick, dark-red liquid.
"Is that…?!"
"The blood of the human girl. Which means… we got what we came for."
With a snap of his fingers, a large cylindrical glass chamber materialized—large enough to fit an infant. He poured Mia's blood into it.
"Ooh… are you attempting a homunculus?"
A homunculus—a legendary artificial being from alchemical lore, said to be created in a flask.
"Yes. I'll test it now. If I add my own essence to this blood, it will become a homunculus—a perfect one. One that inherits half my nature, and half hers."
"We can hardly wait, Your Majesty!"
The advisors crowded eagerly around the chamber, eyes gleaming with curiosity. The king gave a pleased smile.
"And don't worry. I won't just let those two do as they please. Someone has to teach them the world doesn't bend to their whims."
From the air, he conjured parchment and a quill. In one swift motion, he penned two letters and sealed them with his royal crest.
Then he gave two sharp whistles.
With a flutter of wings, a large brown owl and a white one swooped into the room. The king tied the first letter to the brown owl's leg.
"Take this to the fire spirit Leca and the human girl in Nakil."
Then he tied the second letter to the white owl's leg.
"And this one—to King Minophon of Sibareth."
The owls took off, vanishing into the clouds like arrows disappearing into cotton.