There is a saying that an awl in a pouch cannot be hidden. Indeed, Linmel was an awl too sharp to be hidden by the mere fact that she was an orphan.
"Linmel!!!!!!! Linmel, no, but why did she run off?"
"Linmel!!... I'm not sure, but it seems she felt burdened after her conversation with the knight turned to the topic of adoption..."
It seemed the people of the orphanage had formed groups and were searching for Linmel in the middle of the night. Wait, I was gone in the middle of the night too. The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but it seemed I was classified as a semi-adult.
It's true, in a way. On the other hand, Linmel is just a child, so if she were to meet a bad person somewhere... Hmm... the bad person might be the one who ends up dead.
There would be no greater folly than to throw away the chance to become a knight's daughter by becoming a murderer. It couldn't be helped. I let out a small sigh and headed into the forest.
"This isn't working. I'm going to act on my own for a bit."
"... Will you be alright?"
"Yes."
The Director seemed to be contemplating whether he should stop a ten-year-old child from going into the forest at night, or how foolish it was for him to worry about a mage. To reassure him, I showed him with my actions. —Crunch! I lifted a nearby fallen, rotten tree with my will and compressed it.
However, I felt a slight dizziness in my head. This was my limit. If I synchronized with the Deep Sea any more than this— 'Even the medicine won't be enough...'
Something similar to what happened at lunch today would occur. Still, my proficiency had increased to a point incomparable to before. The price I paid was a slightly narrowed field of vision, and the feeling of water coiling around my arms and legs with every step.
Considering my Tide Sense's range had expanded dozens of times, it was an exchange that couldn't be anything but beneficial. The Director nodded and urged me with a firm expression.
"Alright, I'm counting on you. Just don't do anything too dangerous."
"Yes."
I began to scan the forest, extending my Tide Sense just enough to not create any pressure. At the same time, I realized. Once its range increased a bit, it was absolutely unrivaled for searching.
To what extent, you ask? I could count the number of feathers on a bird sleeping on a high branch of that tall tree. I could feel a family of rabbits sleeping in the burrow over there...
I didn't bother shouting to find Linmel. They were running all over the place looking for her, so she must have heard them. She just doesn't want to come out.
That must be it.
"Still, to climb all the way up there is a bit much, isn't it."
"...?"
A massive, ancient tree about a ten-minute walk away. It was a tree so covered in leaves that the top was not visible, but my Tide Sense located her precisely. Linmel, thinking she hadn't been discovered, quieted her sounds.
She must have thought I was just talking to myself. I tapped the tree a few times and bluffed.
"I can see everything. Your wooden sword is sticking out."
"Huh?! Wooden sword? I don't have one...?"
"Oh, right. I must have seen wrong."
Easy.
Linmel, as if dumbfounded, shut her mouth tight.
"Come down. Let's talk for a bit first."
"... I don't want to."
"Really? Then I'm coming up."
"?"
As I pretended to grab a branch and climb, Linmel peeked her head out from between the leaves and stopped me in a fluster.
"Ah, no. Jern, you could get hurt trying to climb up."
Indeed, it was a smooth and tall tree, difficult to climb for anyone who wasn't a superhuman like Linmel.
"Then will you come down?"
"That's..."
Since she trailed off, I took a step without hesitation. With the currents pushing my back, there was no fear of falling and it was instantaneous, so the great disaster Linmel imagined did not occur. I ascended almost as if I were walking.
When I reached the top of the tree in an instant and sat perched on a nearby branch, Linmel covered her mouth in surprise.
"Wha, what what what what what was that?! How did you do that?"
"I learned body‑reinforcement techniques too, you know."
"Ah, is that so...? Jern, you're amazing. It took me a whole week to learn how to climb this tree!"
I lied without batting an eye. I still don't really know the difference between body‑reinforcement techniques and yoga. I know I've become much more flexible, but as for whether it's enough to withstand water pressure, well...
I guess I'll have to learn it to the end to find out.
"So, why did you run away from home?"
"... I didn't run away."
Linmel puffed out her cheeks and hugged her knees on the branch. If I tried a pose like that, I would fall immediately. Her sense of balance was marvelous.
"I was driven out."
"Why."
"They're telling me to go when I don't want to..."
"Then don't go."
It was a simple problem. When I said that, Linmel glared at me fiercely.
"How can I do that? I can't just do that!"
"What do you mean, how? You just have to say you don't want to go, and that's it. Who's forcing you? Choose what your heart wants. It's your life's decision. Don't leave it to others."
"It's not that easy."
"It is easy. Go down right now and tell the Director you don't want to be adopted. Then he'll do whatever it takes to not let you go. You know what kind of person the Director is."
"That's not the problem..."
Linmel lowered her head, looking depressed.
"They say I have talent. I thought smart kids like you, Jern, were the geniuses, but the knight told me that I'm actually the most outstanding one."
"... Well, that's true. What about it?"
"Do you know Sister Rian?"
I racked my brain at the sudden mention of her name. She was one of the knight trainees, a few years older than us, I think. I remember her being very bright and kind.
"Yeah, I know her. Didn't you learn the sword from Sister Rian?"
"Yeah. Sister Rian was serious about it. When everyone else went to sleep, she would practice alone, run, and work so hard... We even promised to take the knight apprentice test together someday."
Linmel hugged her knees tighter and mumbled.
"Sister Rian was excited to hear that the knight was coming to watch her sword practice."
"She wanted to show him everything she had learned. But... the knight just glanced at her and said she'd have to work harder, and that was it."
"Really? She must have been very hurt."
"No..."
She shook her head back and forth.
"Sister Rian confidently said she understood and that she would try even harder. She was so cool."
"She has a strong spirit. What a heartwarming story."
"But..."
Linmel buried her head, her face on the verge of tears.
"The knight... after seeing me swing my sword just once, he covered his mouth and called it a talent of the century."
"He said that if I became his daughter, he would make sure I could one day join the Imperial Knights..."
"I... I didn't hear the rest of the story very well. I saw Sister Rian's expression, and... I didn't want to see an expression like that."
It's something that happens often, in this world or any other. Talent trampling on effort and dreams.
"I don't want to leave. But if I stay, Sister Rian... I don't know, but she might hate me. I don't want that..."
Linmel stared at me with teary eyes.
"Jern, what should I do?"
"Hmm..."
It was rare for Linmel to be this serious. I thought for a moment, but for this kind of problem, no answer would be the right advice. I guess I have no choice but to use some shock therapy mixed with a little lie.
I scratched my head and answered.
"First, there's something I have to tell you."
"Huh?"
"You're not that great."
"...?"
"Your talent isn't all that. It seems like you're getting full of yourself, acting like some tragic heroine just because one knight made you an offer. I felt I had to say it. Sorry."
At those words, Linmel, who had been staring with her mouth agape— instantly flushed red.
"Are, are you an idiot?? The knight said my talent was enough for the Imperial Knights..."
"I know. I'm saying that's no big deal."
"Are you jealous of me too? How is this not a big deal! It's something that has never happened before in our orphanage! You wouldn't understand!"
"Why? Are you angry to hear that your talent is no big deal?"
"It's not that I'm angry..."
"This is what real talent is."
I grabbed the hand of the shrieking Linmel and pulled.
"Huh?"
As if she couldn't even imagine it, Linmel lost her balance and began to fall.
"Kyaa... ack?"
But she never hit the ground. Linmel, who landed gently on the ground as if sinking in water, wore a bewildered expression, seemingly unaware of what had just happened. Only after seeing me descend in a similar fashion did Linmel's eyes go wide.
"Jern, were you a noble?"
"I don't think so."
Probably.
Not stopping there, I used the currents to lift all the surrounding leaves. Thousands of them. As they were instantly surrounded by leaves, Linmel looked around with sparkling eyes, surprised.
"Whoa..."
"Linmel. The world is vast. From my perspective, your talent seems truly trivial. And even someone like me is just a nobody mage in this wide world."
I persuaded her calmly.
"You seem to think you've received some undeserved ability, but this world is overflowing with talents that would make you look like nothing, even without me."
"Once you're adopted and live as an apprentice, you'll realize it. The talent you possess is merely something that gets you to the starting line."
"... Even if that's true, Sister Rian—" "Right. Rian couldn't even make it to the starting line."
"That's so unfair..."
"It's the truth."
I let out a soft laugh and lightly tapped Linmel on the chest.
"That's why you have to take responsibility."
"...?"
"For Rian, who couldn't even stand at the starting line, you, who could, have to run in her place."
Not everyone can become a knight. That is a self-evident fact. Therefore, the one who can must inherit the wishes of others.
I only told one lie. That Linmel's talent was ordinary. Linmel will one day reach the pinnacle.
That is a certainty.
"If you become just an average knight, Rian will probably be jealous enough to die. But if you become the greatest knight, she will be proud."
"She will cherish the day she guided you to the path of the knight as a point of pride."
"... Really? You think so?"
"Yeah. That's how everyone lives."
Linmel looked back and forth between me and the ground, as if deep in thought. Watching the gloom on her face gradually give way to the mischievous smile of a rascal who would put a rock in a desk and throw it at the back of someone's head, I knew what she was going to say.
"Jern."
"Yes."
"I'm going to become a knight."
"That's the right choice."
Becoming the daughter of a knight. It is the sweetest fantasy an orphan who soaks their bedsheets with tears every night could have. To refuse it would be nothing short of rude to the other orphans.