Chapter 3

A few days earlier…

The day I was punched by the guards.

Hebenia made a wish to the demon.

“Please save me… and all the prisoners.”

“Do you want me to let you leave this place?”

The demon asked again, as always, after being summoned while taking a bath.

“No.”

“We’re staying here.”

“I don’t understand. If you stay here, you’ll definitely die…”

“The prisoners are precious to me.”

“But they’re also criminals who committed crimes.”

They had to serve the rest of their sentences here.

That was how they would pay for their sins.

“I want us to spend the rest of our exile together… happily.”

“…”

“I wanted us to apologize to the victims and spend our lives reflecting on our crimes together.”

“I’m also officially guilty of attempting to assassinate the Imperial Princess… even if I only came here because of guilt by association.”

Because of that…

Hebenia came up with an idea.

“I heard this exile settlement used to be a huge city.”

“That’s right.”

“It used to be a fairly large territory.”

The demon slowly smiled, already understanding what she meant.

Just as expected…

“We’re going into the forest full of man-eating monsters.”

“To the place where people once lived before this became an exile settlement.”

“You want me to find you a new home there?”

“Yes.”

“Then none of you will die immediately.”

“But that’s still not enough.”

“No.”

“It isn’t.”

If all the prisoners suddenly disappeared…

The Empire would definitely send people to search for them.

“So…”

“We have to die once.”

“…How?”

For the first time…

Hebenia hesitated.

“…I think it counts as self-defense.”

“…”

“And technically…”

“It’ll just be an accident.”

Because I won’t be the one killing them.

Everything had become complete chaos.

“They’re over there! They’re heading for the exit!”

“They’re trying to escape! Stop them!”

“Damn it! If they catch us, we’re all dead!”

The prisoners and I ran as fast as we could.

Behind us, the guards shouted so loudly that their voices chased us like arrows.

You were going to kill us anyway!

And to think…

Every single prisoner had actually been innocent.

No wonder they were all so kind for supposed violent criminals!

Whenever they insisted they were innocent…

I had assumed they were simply shameless.

Now that I knew it was true…

I felt terribly guilty.

“Hyah!”

“Move! Get out of the way if you don’t want to get hurt!”

The people of our exile family swung the pickaxes they had brought from the mine.

They drove the guards away from the entrance.

Even now…

They tried their best not to seriously hurt anyone.

At last…

We escaped the village.

Outside was a narrow path.

Bathed in moonlight, it looked like a glowing golden carpet.

But on both sides…

The dark ancient forest stood like a wall.

Inside…

Countless monsters waited.

Even hidden within the darkness…

I could clearly feel countless eyes watching us.

The man-eating monsters.

For the first time…

Even the brave prisoners hesitated.

“Keep running!”

My shout brought everyone back to their senses.

They started running again.

Unlike them…

I gradually fell behind.

My calves burned.

The inside of my mouth tasted like blood.

Even breathing became painful.

Damn it… is a seven-year-old body really this weak?

That brief delay…

Gave the guards exactly the chance they needed.

“Ah!”

Someone grabbed my hair and yanked it backward.

The back of my head slammed into the ground.

Pain shot through my skull.

When I opened my eyes…

A guard’s sword was pressed against my neck.

The prisoners immediately stopped running.

“That’s right.”

“Stay where you are.”

The guard pushed me harder into the ground.

“Unless you want something to happen to this precious little girl.”

“You bastard!”

“Let me go!”

I kicked and struggled with all my strength.

“You imprisoned innocent people!”

“Then you tried to kill them!”

“And now you’re threatening everyone by taking a child hostage!”

Smack!

My face snapped sideways.

My cheek burned.

The guard pressed even harder against my neck.

Through my blurry vision…

I saw the bite mark on his arm.

Pathetic bastard.

He still couldn’t get over being bitten by me.

Only brave enough to hit little girls.

The guard shouted.

Come back.

Or he’d kill me.

And then…

The prisoners slowly turned around.

To save me.

Even though they knew…

They would be murdered if they came back.

…Idiots.

I slowly moved my limp hand.

Something touched my fingertips.

“The reason monsters can’t enter here…”

“…is because of the barrier.”

Ian’s words echoed in my mind.

The barrier.

The moment my fingers touched it…

It tried to push my hand away.

But I forced my hand against it.

As if grabbing it.

Please…!

I bit my lip.

Behind us…

The guards who had remained in the village rushed over, shouting,

“Kill them all!”

But…

I couldn’t hear the prisoners running away.

They had stayed.

Please…!

My lip split open.

Blood trickled down.

“Open alreadyyyyy!”

The moment I twisted my hand while gripping the barrier—

Clack.

The sound of a lock opening echoed throughout the forest.

“Do you know how to open and close things?”

“…What?”

“Hm.”

“Not yet?”

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Then you’ll learn today.”

“Could you please stop saying things only you understand?”

The day I summoned the demon for the second time…

After I wished to save everyone…

The long-haired demon, still relaxing in his bathtub, revealed a secret.

“Y-You mean…”

“I have powers like a magical girl?”

“Not exactly.”

“It’s a power every member of the Clavis family possesses.”

“What is it?”

“How do I use it?”

“What kind of power is it?”

“Open… and Close.”

“…Open and close?”

“Yes.”

“The power to open and close anything.”

“Urgh…!”

Something hot rushed up my throat.

I shoved the guard away and vomited.

Bright red blood splashed onto the ground.

“Cough! Cough!”

Everything spun.

My head pounded.

A loud ringing filled my ears.

Every ounce of strength left my body.

I’m… going to die.

Even so…

I forced my trembling legs to stand.

I had to make sure everyone else was safe.

But…

The moment I took one step…

My legs gave out.

The spinning world slowly turned black.

Just before I completely lost consciousness…

I saw people running toward me while shouting my name.

…Thank goodness.

They were safe.

That alone filled me with relief.

As I collapsed…

Someone caught me.

“What a mess you’ve made.”

The familiar scent of soap reached my nose.

Then…

Everything went dark.

The demon clicked his tongue as he looked down at Hebenia sleeping in his arms.

…That was unexpected.

He never imagined she would remove every barrier surrounding the ancient forest.

No wonder she coughed up blood and collapsed.

What Hebenia had accomplished…

Was impossible for an ordinary seven-year-old who had awakened her power only a few days ago.

If the demon hadn’t immediately restored the barriers…

Hundreds of man-eating monsters would have flooded into the area.

Just then—

“U-Um…”

The demon glanced at the brown-haired woman approaching him.

It was Livi.

Though she trembled from head to toe…

She still bravely held out both arms.

“H-Hebenia is hurt…”

“…”

“She lost… so much blood…”

“S-So she needs to rest…”

“I see.”

“…Pardon?”

After muttering something to himself…

The demon handed Hebenia over to Livi.

Livi bowed deeply before hurrying back to the others.

“Hebenia!”

“Is she breathing?”

“She’s breathing, right?”

“This tiny child lost so much blood…!”

“She’s alive.”

“Don’t worry.”

The prisoners visibly relaxed.

Then…

Several of them approached the demon.

“We’ve heard…”

“Summoning a demon requires paying a price.”

“Hebenia is still just a child.”

“So let us pay it instead…”

“The reason you’re all still alive…”

The demon interrupted them.

“Is the same reason that little girl made her wish.”

“…What?”

“I’ve already received my payment.”

“When she wakes up…”

“Tell her to summon me one more time.”

With that, the demon snapped his fingers.

The winged eyeball hiding inside Hebenia’s hair flew out.

It spread a dome-shaped barrier around the prisoners.

Then it slowly floated forward.

“Follow it.”

“It will lead you to your new home.”

At least half of Hebenia’s wish had now been fulfilled.

The only thing left…

The demon looked back.

The guards crawled across the ground like frightened insects.

“U-Urgh…”

“Aaaah!”

The demon made no attempt to stop them as they fled the forest.

Crunch!

A monster burst out from the trees…

And swallowed one guard’s head whole.

The guards’ screams…

Mixed with the hungry roars of the monsters…

Echoed far beyond the forest.

“How unfortunate.”

Thud… roll…

The demon listened as what had once been someone’s head rolled across the ground.

He also heard the scream of the Imperial Knight waiting outside the forest…

After recognizing whose head it was.

“A tragic accident.”

The demon offered no prayers for the dead.

“…”

I blankly stared at the warm sunlight shining through the window.

“…Glass.”

A real glass window.

A soft blanket covering me.

A fluffy bed.

Even lace pajamas instead of my dirty prison uniform.

These were all things I had never seen in the exile settlement.

“Our wish came true.”

We had escaped safely.

Just as I let out a relieved sigh—

The door opened.

“L-Livi…?”

“Hebenia!”

Livi looked completely different.

She had been just as dirty as I was before.

Now she looked so clean and beautiful that I almost didn’t recognize her.

While I sat there in shock…

She hurried back outside.

A moment later—

The door burst open.

The entire exile family rushed inside.

They all looked just as refreshed and healthy as Livi.

“My goodness!”

“Do you know how worried we were?”

“We really thought you were going to die…”

“You actually summoned a demon!”

“What if it had taken something precious from you as payment?”

Even now…

They were only worried about me.

…They’re alive.

The people who had nearly died…

Were all alive.

Only then…

Did all the tension leave my body.

“Hehe…”

“Hic…”

My smile slowly turned into tears.

Laughing and crying at the same time…

I made the most ridiculous sounds.

I’m twenty-five years old.

I shouldn’t be crying like this…

I hurriedly raised my sleeve to wipe my eyes.

Then—

“…”

“…”

I wasn’t the only one crying.

The entire exile family was crying too.

“Waaaah!”

“Sob…!”

“Honey…!”

Relief at surviving.

The bitterness of being falsely accused.

The fear that they might never leave this place again.

All those emotions mixed together…

Until the room became a sea of tears.

“Hebenia.”

Ian gently held both of my hands together like he was praying.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you… so, so much…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Only broken sobs escaped his mouth.

His crying was so sorrowful…

It made everyone listening want to cry too.

“…Yeah.”

Sniffling, I rested my forehead against Ian’s hands.

“Thank you too…”

“Thank you for staying alive.”

After those words…

We cried together for a long, long time.

For the first time since arriving at the exile settlement…

We enjoyed the simple privilege of crying as much as we wanted without worrying about anyone watching us.