While Arata and Merlin were in the divine beast people’s village, Reina and Snow stayed home, and heard a familiar sound from the sky.
“Ah, this sound…”
“Mommy?”
“I’m going out for a bit. Be a good girl and keep eating.”
Reina looked up, and saw a big black dragon spread its wings wide as it descended.
Along the way it began to shine, and by the time it landed, it had the shape of a girl.
“Darling. I-a-m-h-e-r-e! Oh? Darling?”
“Arata isn’t here. He went to the divine beast people’s village.”
“What? Mumumu, and I came all the way here too… He’s not back yet? He went somewhere the other day too, so we haven’t been playing at all…”
Tiltue was referring to when Arata and Reina went to the alfar village.
Indeed, it had been busy lately, and Arata had been away from home a lot, which was making her feel a little lonely.
She had been deepening her bonds with different kinds of people lately thanks to Arata, but Tiltue was still an outcast among the ancient dragons, and led a lonely life.
Tiltue was very uncomfortable with strangers, so she was very anxious when Arata, who she was particularly taken to, was away.
And Reina was a caring girl to begin with, so she could not bring herself to ignore the lonely girl…
“Well Arata isn’t here, but since you came to visit, how about we have tea?”
“Reina… Yes. Then I’ll take you up on your invitation!”
Tiltue looked happy about the offer, and that brought a smile to Reina’s face as well.
She had come to visit many times already, so she walked in like she owned the place, but found someone she did not know.
“Mu?”
It was Snow, who was sitting down and enjoying her meal with a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other.
Her mouth was dirty, and she looked confused when she saw the visitor.
And so did the visitor.
Both just stared at each other.
“Who?”
“I’m the one asking.”
They stared.
Reina thought it was a little funny.
“Ah, mommy! Welcome back!”
“Thank you Snow.”
Snow quickly got down from her seat, and jumped towards Reina.
And as Reina held her and wiped her mouth, they really looked like a mother and child.
“Hey Reina, who’s that?”
“Oh right, we haven’t introduced you to her.”
Reina put Snow down in front of a quizzical looking Tiltue, and they looked at each other again.
“This is Snow.”
“Snow!”
“Yes, that’s a very lively greeting, Snow or whatever. I’m Tiltue! An ancient dragon whose ancestor is the great Bahamut!”
“Bahamut! Cool!”
“Hey Reina! She’s perceptive!”
Snow’s eyes sparkled at Tiltue’s introduction.
Reina couldn’t laugh at how happy Tiltue seemed about it.
“So, who’s she?”
“Hum, it’s hard to explain…”
“Snow’s mommy’s girl!”
“I see, mommy… Mommy? Wait, is she…!?”
Tiltue’s pupils expanded, and she turned to Reina.
“Reina, did you have a child with darling!? When did that happen!?”
“Wai! No!”
“No? Then with whom… Xellos?”
“Of course not! I didn’t have a child with anyone! I haven’t even been on this island long enough to have a child this big!”
“Mu…”
Reina held Snow from the sides, in front of Tiltue.
They looked at each other. Snow with a big smile, and Tiltue with a grave expression.
“She kind of reminds me of darling around the eyes…”
“That’s in your head! I’ll explain everything! Snow, finish your meal.”
Snow jiggled happily in Reina’s arms, before she put her back on the chair, and Reina explained what happened the other day.
They went to the alfar village, the great spirits were missing…
Arata and Katima set out to find out why…
They met the great spirits, witnessed the birth of a new one…
“That’s just like darling…”
“Isn’t it?”
Wherever he went, he ran into trouble, and picked up something or other.
And strangely enough, that made him expand his connections.
Normally it would be strange to reach out with a smile to things that would kill a normal person, and do it many times, but…
“Well, that’s a good quality of his.”
“Yes.”
Arata himself might not be aware of it, but they were there because he reached out to them.
But Tiltue was very aware of it. It was thanks to him that she had people she could call friends.
“Mommy, all done eating!”
Snow raised her voice as they thought about Arata, looking like she wanted praise.
“Yes, good girl. You emptied your plate.”
“Yes!”
Her mouth was dirty, but she was not wiping it herself.
It seemed she knew it was dirty, but wanted to have it wiped.
“But this is a great spirit…”
“Have you never met one?”
“Yes… I don’t go to that area a lot.”
Tiltue looked at Snow with a curious look on her face.
“I do feel a strong power. So this is the female smell I smelled on darling that time.”
“Snow’s strong?”
“Not compared to me, but I guess so.”
She was a newborn, but she was still a great spirit. And she had the power fitting of one of the strongest races.
“But calling darling daddy and Reina mommy is…”
“Big sister Tiltue is strong and cool!”
“All right Reina. I’ll treat her as a little sister!”
Tiltue completely flip-flopped after hearing Snow.
That unconditional adoration was completely new for a loner like her. Not to mention that someone like her, who was starved for friends and family, longed to be called big sister.
“All right Snow! I’ll hold you.”
“Yay!”
“Geyah!?”
The moment she picked up Snow, Tiltue let out a weird sound.
“Tiltue? What’s wrong?”
“S-s-s-s-she’s cold.”
Tiltue handed Snow over while trembling, and went outside.
“What happened to big sister Tiltue?”
“I don’t know.”
Snow was a little chilly, but as Reina held her, she thought she was not that cold.
It actually felt nice…
“Wait, is Tiltue’s magic energy rising!?”
Reina wondered what was going on, and rushed outside with snow in her arms, to find Tiltue lighting a bonfire and warming herself.
Next to her was Xellos, who brought firewood and was working to make the fire rise higher.
“Xellos… What’s going on?”
“Hey Reina. Tiltue suddenly started saying it was cold, and to start a fire…”
And that brings us here, is what Xellos said with his eyes, as Tiltue trembled with tears in her eyes.
“Xellos! The fire’s too weak! Make it stronger!”
“You could just breathe fire.”
“Then the wood would evaporate in an instant! C-cold… C-can’t control body temperature…”
She looked cold to the point that Reina felt sorry for her. Although the sun was up and felt nice, and she thought it was not the least bit cold.
“Xellos, can you try holding this girl?”
“An?”
Reina figured Snow was the cause, and handed her to Xellos.
“Uo, cold!?”
Xellos was surprised, and quickly gave Snow back to Reina, with his hands that were a little red like they were frostbitten.
“So she really is cold?”
“If I’m like this when I usually clad myself in magic energy, she’s pretty cold.”
“I see…”
“Mommy.?”
“It’s nothing.”
Reina held Snow tighter to reassure her, as she looked a little worried.
She pat her on the back, and Snow hugged her back.
Reina thought once again that she really was not that cold, so perhaps she was unconsciously adjusting it.
“Now that I think about it, I saw a presentation in a conference once that said dragons aren’t good at regulating their own body temperature. Could that be why?”
“Yes, there was that.”
If Tiltue was that cold, it might be because the sudden change in temperature left her bewildered.
“Snow, can you control the cold?”
“Hn? Dunno.”
“I see. There’s nothing you can do.”
“Xellos! Xellos! The fire’s weak! Bring more firewood!”
Reina put Snow down on the ground and wondered what to do, when she heard Tiltue.
Her voice sounded better, probably because her body was feeling warmer.
“Mommy needs to talk to them, so can you go back inside?”
“Okay.”
As she saw Snow go in like she asked, Xellos came back with more firewood.
“What are you gonna do?”
“Well, Arata and I are both fine, so I guess I’ll tell her not to hug anyone else? She really is completely unaware.”
“Well, there’s nothin’ else we can do…”
They reached that conclusion as they watched Tiltue squint in front of the fire.
“The problem is that no one can look after her when the two of you aren’t around…”
“We just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Leave it to me. If you’re not around for some reason and Tiltue’s the only one here, she might die.”
“I-I can’t! I really, really can’t!”
Tiltue shook her head frantically, as if she had endured enough with this incident already.
“Well, she really can’t look after her if just clinging to her leaves her like this.”
“You know Snow isn’t doing it on purpose?”
“I get that. And if she only affects me this much, people on this island should be fine with her. Except this one.”
Xellos was right. It was less that Snow was stronger than Tiltue, and more of an issue of compatibility.
A girl that could make someone’s body temperature drop suddenly was a natural enemy of a girl that was not good at regulating her own body temperature.
“Well, let’s just be careful for now.”
“Yes. And let’s ask the others if they have any ideas…”
As Xellos and Reina talked, a magic circle suddenly appeared below their feet.
“T-this is…!?”
“A summoning magic circle!?”
“H-hey you two! What’s that? I’m getting a really bad feeling!”
It was the same as when Arata was summoned.
“W-wait! Darling isn’t here, so if you two are gone, I’m going to have to look after…”
“Tiltue! Look after…”
The magic circle below their feet began to shine brightly.
The first one to disappear was Reina, which left Xellos looking at Tiltue with an expression of pity.
“Well, we’ll be fine. We’re two of the seven great mages, the greatest mages in the continent.”
“Who’s worried about you!? What about me…”
“Good luck.”
“Wait…”
Xellos also disappeared, leaving Tiltue alone.
“…”
Her first thought was to run, but just as she decided to do it and took a step forward…
“Oh? Mommy?”
“…”
Tiltue looked to the sky.
The blue sky above her was clear, but there were dark clouds in her heart.
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