“All b-e-t-t-e-r!”
I hear that voice echoing through the house early in the morning.
Everyone is awoken by it, and we head to where it came from, Luna’s room.
“Ah! Good morning mister!”
“Good morning Luna. Looks like you’re feeling well!”
“Yes! Well well! Better than usual!”
Apparently her lack of magic energy came about because she lost Tamamo’s power.
Luna wants to start running around right away, but Merlin catches her by the nape of the neck.
“Even if you’re feeling well now, you were in danger yesterday. I think you will be fine, but still, sit quiet for today.”
“Eh…!”
“No eh’s.”
For Luna, losing her magic energy like she did yesterday could’ve threatened her life.
Merlin knows this, so she’s talking to her with a serious expression.
“If you stayed like that, you would have been hit by magic energy of strong monsters of this island and you would have died. Listen to me, for today at least.”
“That’s right Luna! I was worried too!”
“And Snow!”
Luna can see everyone’s worried, so she makes her normal disappointed face, and behaves.
“Come lie down.”
“Yes…”
Luna is taken back to bed, and gets under the blanket, not trying to get out again.
Luna loves to play, so having to stay still despite feeling healthy must be painful.
But still, she knows we’re all worried, despite looking a little sad.
Elga and Livia stayed here last night, and they sit by her bed.
“Hey Luna, if you’re feeling good tomorrow too, how about we go somewhere?”
“We might as well all go out together.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Think about where you want to go.”
Is all he says before getting up.
And when he’s about to leave the room, I stop him.
“What?”
“Stay with Luna today.”
“…Tch, I know.”
He says as he goes back. Why can’t he just be honest?
That said, no one here is more concerned about Luna than Elga and Livia. But that’s why I want them to stay with her today.
“I was worried there for a moment. I’m glad she’s all right.”
“Yes.”
I say, and Reina agrees.
I heard about it from Wil, so I understood her condition to a certain extent, but everyone else was feeling tense.
Even now that she’s feeling better, they’re staying with her in her room.
“Can Luna play with everyone tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
“Let’s have a picnic together.”
“Yes! Then today… Luna’s gonna behave and sleep!”
Luna sounds excited for tomorrow, as she talks to us from her bed.
◇ ◇ ◇
I head to the divine beast people’s village to tell Suzaku Luna is feeling better, because Elga and Livia are staying with her.
“Sorry for having to look after her.”
“It’s not a problem. Luna’s our dear friend.”
“Fu, I see…”
It sounds blunt, but there’s feeling in those words.
She treats everyone, be it divine beast people or beast people, as her children. And since everyone’s so dear to her, that means she had to be worried.
“I also met Tamamo directly, and heard all sorts of things.”
“Hou…”
Suzaku’s eyes turn harsh. I’m sure she’s well aware of someone even Wil is cautious about.
“What did she say?”
“Well… She seemed to be thinking about Wil.”
“I see… Well, they always got along.”
Suzaku looks into the distance, as if thinking back to that.
No matter how much time passes, some things never lose their color.
“Wil also told me not to talk about Tamamo.”
“Eh, did she… Is that how much she cares about Luna?”
Suzaku then whispers that she’s changed.
When I got to this island, Wil already got along with Luna. I don’t know how it was before, but at the very least, I do get the feeling that Luna is special to her.
“Divine beast people are not immortal, just purely strong. Well, I’m an exception.”
“…”
Suzaku’s expression is serious, so I stay quiet.”
“But Tamamo is different in terms of everything ending once you die.”
She can revive after death.
“And that would mean stealing Luna’s body.”
“Yes. But this time, Wilhelmina took measures beforehand. As long as things stay normal, Luna should be all right.”
“I see…”
I reflexively rub my chest with relief. Wilhelmina also said she would be all right.
But I was still worried, so hearing the chief of the divine beast people say that, makes me feel reassured.
“You probably heard this already, but Tamamo gets stronger the more people can be aware of her.”
I nod, as she says the same thing Wil said.
“If you really want to protect Luna, you better stay quiet about it.”
“…Does Luna know about that?”
“No, and that’s fine now. Although that means she won’t know who her ancestor is.”
“I see, then I’ll stay quiet.”
“Ou.”
She gives me a simple answer, but her eyes look gentle.
“Well, just keep playing with Luna.”
We chat for a while longer, until I say goodbye to Suzaku and return home.
“Welcome back.”
“Thanks Reina. It’s pretty quiet in here.”
“Luna really feels like playing when everyone is here, so I had them leave. Snow went with Tiltue somewhere to play.”
“Ah, I see.”
I go check how Luna is doing, and see that Elga and Livia stayed here.
But I shouldn’t butt in on their family time, so I go back to Reina without saying anything.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes, I don’t think there are any problems. But…”
In the end, Luna doesn’t know the name of her ancestor.
I think that’s fine, but at this rate, she isn’t going to be able to do the ritual to become an adult.
“What about Luna herself?”
“She’d probably say if she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know. There’s nothing she can do.”
In any case, if she doesn’t mind, that’s fine.
“Well then, let’s have a party to celebrate Luna’s recovery.”
“Fufu.”
Reina laughs at what I say.
“What?”
“Arata, Tiltue and Snow said the exact same thing.”
They really care about Luna, so I can see that. And it makes sense for Reina to laugh at that too.
“Then it’s decided.”
“Yes. Let’s really go for it.”
And then, we laugh and start talking about what to do for Luna’s party.
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Thanks for the treat.