ESML 06

Chapter 6

Emilia arrived at a neighboring territory by public carriage.

It was the only place in the vicinity with a train station.

As she stood in front of the ticket booth, Emilia swallowed nervously.

‘It’s expensive…’

She had always only seen Cedric off at the station and had never actually ridden a train herself, so she had never known.

Then again, the trains here ran on magic stones, so they were bound to be expensive.

“Excuse me, miss?”

When the clerk called out to her, Emilia gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, could I have the earliest ticket that’s still available?”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

A short while later, Emilia left the ticket booth after receiving some basic information from the clerk.

She looked up at the large clock tower in the center of the station.

‘There isn’t much time until departure.’

She entered the waiting room and sat down on a long bench.

She intended to rest for a little while until the train arrived.

But then, a strange and sticky atmosphere began creeping through the waiting room.

‘What is this?’

Emilia naturally shifted her gaze.

“…Mmm. Honey, stop it.”

In the far corner, she spotted a couple practically glued to each other.

“What if people see us?”

The woman bashfully pretended to push the man away.

“Aw, who cares?”

But the man didn’t budge. Instead, he pressed closer to her and attempted even more blatant displays of affection.

Emilia quickly turned her head away, embarrassed.

‘What are they doing in a public place?’

Smack, smack.

The shameless kissing sounds that followed made her face feel hot.

They looked as though they would go even further if there weren’t any people around.

“Ahem! Ahem!”

At that moment, a middle-aged man sitting nearby made his displeasure quite clear.

But the couple’s determination seemed even stronger.

“Tsk. Young people these days…”

Eventually, unable to stand watching any longer, the middle-aged man left the waiting room.

But as he passed by Emilia, he gave her a disapproving glare as well.

‘Wait. Why am I getting dragged into this?’

Emilia felt unfairly lumped in with them.

Meanwhile, after getting rid of their unwanted audience, the couple’s affection only grew more intense.

Emilia decided she couldn’t take it anymore and hurried outside.

She shook her head, trying to erase the scene she had just witnessed from her mind.

Ding ding ding ding—

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the sound announcing the train’s arrival could be heard.

People were already lined up in a long queue in front of the platform. Emilia went to the very back and joined them.

As she waited for the crowd to thin out, she heard a commotion coming from the front.

‘What’s going on?’

Emilia craned her neck to peek ahead.

The source of the noise was quite a distance away.

A child was clinging to a man up ahead.

But the child’s appearance was rather conspicuous.

The robe was so oversized that it nearly concealed the child’s entire face, and the hem of the clothing was covered in dirt and dust as though the child had been rolling around outside.

Perhaps because of that, the man looked at the child with displeasure.

“What on earth are you saying? If you want to beg, go over there! Everyone here is busy!”

The man waved his hand dismissively, chasing the child away.

The child looked around and then reached out to another passerby.

But no one paid any attention.

Because of what had happened before, they seemed to assume the child was simply begging for money.

Emilia carefully watched the child’s behavior.

‘It doesn’t seem like simple begging… Could they have gotten separated from their parents?’

She stepped out of the line and walked forward.

And soon, she realized.

The child was desperately trying to say something.

“[Please help me!]”

But the language the child was speaking wasn’t Imperial.

‘This is…’

Among the various languages swirling around in her memory, Emilia soon found the answer.

‘Hyprian?’

The Holy Kingdom of Hypria was located at the very edge of the continent.

Because of its isolationist nature, it had almost no contact with the Empire.

That was why no one could understand what the child was saying.

Emilia, on the other hand, had become interested in Hyprian several years ago.

‘I learned it because I was trying to figure out how to make Cedric understand legal terminology more easily.’

In the past, the Holy Kingdom of Hypria had held considerable influence over the surrounding nations and left a significant mark on the continent.

As a result, traces of Hyprian remained in many places, including as the origin of certain legal terms.

Emilia approached the child and spoke.

“[What happened?]”

However, she hadn’t properly studied Hyprian either, so her speech was far from fluent.

Meanwhile, upon hearing a language familiar to them, the child’s tear-filled eyes widened.

The child quickly turned around and looked up at the woman who had spoken, then asked with hope in their eyes,

“[You can understand me?]”

‘Understand… words.’

Emilia roughly understood what the child meant.

She quickly nodded.

The child’s expression brightened.

Excited, they immediately began pouring out words.

“W-wait!”

Emilia bent down and stopped the child.

“I can’t understand you if you speak that fast—Ah, [slowly, slowly.]”

Fortunately, the child seemed to understand and quickly nodded.

After thinking for a moment, the child began listing several words instead of forming sentences.

“[Medicine! Treatment! Injury!]”

At the same time, the child pressed both hands against their abdomen and grimaced.

‘Ah, do they have a stomachache and need medicine?’

“[You? Hurt?]”

But the child vigorously shook their head, indicating that wasn’t it.

‘Then what is it?’

The child stomped their feet in frustration.

After thinking hard for a moment, they pointed at themselves, then crossed their arms into an X.

‘Ah.’

They meant it wasn’t them.

Apparently, someone accompanying the child was sick or injured, and they were asking for help.

“[Together, person, sick?]”

“[Yes, yes!]”

The child grabbed tightly onto the hem of Emilia’s clothes as though it were a lifeline.

In truth, before losing consciousness, the person accompanying the child had warned them not to move and to hide because there was a dangerous person on the train.

But the child was terribly worried that their companion might die if they stayed hidden.

After agonizing over it for a long time, the child had secretly slipped out when the train stopped.

They had been desperately searching for someone who could help.

But the people outside the train couldn’t understand a word the child said, and everyone had been cold and indifferent.

There were so many people around, yet not a single one had been willing to listen.

Then, like a miracle, the child heard a woman’s voice.

“First, calm down a little…”

Emilia took the child’s hand, which was damp with nervous sweat, and crouched down.

Just then, the child moved their head, causing the hood to flutter.

‘Wait. Those eyes…’

Emilia froze when she caught a glimpse of the child’s eyes.

A sudden suspicion crossed her mind.

“…Excuse me for a moment.”

She carefully released the child’s hand and gently pulled back the hood.

“Ah.”

Emilia let out a small gasp when she saw the child’s eyes.

They were a brilliant golden color, almost a vivid yellow.

Such an eye color was extremely rare in the Empire.