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At the sound of crying coming from one side, Selian and I turned our heads simultaneously. There, we saw a little girl walking on the street, crying all alone. The passersby glanced at her but didn’t approach.

“Just a moment.”

Leaving Selian behind, I walked up to the little girl. The small child was still wailing, unaware of my presence. I crouched down to her eye level and spoke to her.

“Hey, little one?”

“Waaah!”

Even though I tried to talk to her, she was too busy crying to respond, so I gently placed my hand on her head.

“Why are you crying so much? Can you tell me?”

“Ugh…”

As I continued to soothe her in a calm voice, she finally seemed to settle down, sniffling as she stopped crying.

“What happened?”

Now appearing ready to answer, I asked her again. She sniffed a few more times before responding in a nasally voice.

“Mommy…”

“Did you lose your mommy? Where did you last see her?”

“Ugh…”

Recalling her mother seemed to bring on another wave of tears. I couldn’t let her start crying again after having calmed her down.

“Okay, okay. It’s alright. Stop crying. What’s your name?”

“…Cindy.”

“Alright, Cindy. That’s a lovely name. But why are you crying with such a pretty name and face? Can you tell me why you were crying?”

“I came with Mommy… and she disappeared…”

Just as I suspected, it seemed like the child had wandered off and gotten lost. If she had stayed in one place after getting lost, her guardian would have come looking for her, but when we found her, she was already walking somewhere.

“Alright, we’ll help you. Let’s go find your mommy together.”

As I reached out my hand, Cindy shyly placed her tiny hand on mine. After wiping the tears from her puffy eyes, she stood up.

“Hey, Selian? The guards will probably find her mommy, and it’s best not to get in the way—”

“Huh? No way I’m leaving her like this while she’s crying. I feel bad for the captain who gave us the tickets, but we can come back to see the show later.”

“That’s not really why—”

“Then should we check if there are any reports of a lost child?”

Instead of hesitating like Selian did, I took Cindy’s hand and led her towards where the guards might be. As we approached the nearby watchtower, sure enough, there were two guards standing at the entrance.

I shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance, but I approached the guard with a more welcoming face.

“Hello.”

“What seems to be the matter?”

Unlike when I was suspected of restoring the city’s barrier in the past, this guard responded kindly.

“Is there a report of a lost child?”

“Please wait a moment.”

As I raised Cindy’s hand a little, the guard I was talking to went inside the tower. He likely went to inquire if any reports had come in or to check with other posts.

After a moment, the guard who went inside came out again.

“We haven’t received any specific reports. Can you describe the child’s guardian’s appearance and clothing? We’ll send out patrols to search.”

I explained the appearance and clothing of Cindy’s mom as she had described it, and the guard reported it through a magical crystal.

“Then we’ll take care of the child. Thank you for your vigilance.”

“Alright, if you stay here, the officers will find your mommy soon. Let’s wait inside for a moment.”

As I was about to pass Cindy to the guard, she dashed behind me and hid behind my legs instead of going to him.

“Cindy?”

“No! I want to stay with you! Do you not like me?”

“Ugh…”

I was startled by her sudden behavior, but I wasn’t the one who sighed. When I glanced back, I noticed Selian was holding her forehead and letting out a deep sigh. Something seemed to be off with Selian for a while now.

“Cindy? Please don’t do that. You should stay with the guards now. It’s time to stop playing around.”

Selian spoke to Cindy in an unusually displeased tone. In response, Cindy hid further behind me, trying to avoid Selian.

“I don’t like that lady…”

“Ugh…”

Selian sighed again. I decided to put off checking on Selian and focused on convincing the stubborn Cindy.

“Look, Cindy? You shouldn’t act like this. Your mommy is probably worried about you.”

“Waaah…”

As I tried to reason with her, tears started to build up in Cindy’s eyes again. If I let it go, she’d start bawling like before, and I had no choice but to give in. If she cried here, it would only inconvenience the guards as well.

“Alright, alright. Cindy. Let’s wait for your mommy together until she comes.”

Upon my surrender announcement, Cindy’s expression switched to one of delight as if she hadn’t been crying at all. She then pulled my hand to lead me away.

“Ha ha… I’ll come find you again later. Sorry for the trouble.”

“Not at all. We will bring the child’s mother here as soon as we have news.”

Reluctantly, I followed Cindy around as she led the way. We watched water gush from a fountain, enjoyed the music played by a street band, and stopped at a café to have a drink. She seemed to be completely enjoying herself. The fact that she was separated from her mother didn’t seem to bother her at all. Meanwhile, Selian was oddly a step behind, trailing us.

“So, Cindy, did you come to Felches to see your mommy?”

“Yup! I insisted on coming because I wanted to see something!”

Cindy, holding a strawberry juice, replied cheerfully. It’s unfortunate that she became a lost child right after coming for sightseeing, but I hoped that the fun time we spent together would overshadow that bad memory.

“Is that so? What is it? Before we head back, let’s stop by one last place.”

The sun was beginning to set. By now, Cindy’s mother was likely waiting at the post.

“That’s okay. I already saw everything.”

“Really? Then shall we head back? Your mommy has probably been waiting for a while.”

“Yup!”

Fortunately, it seemed Cindy had enjoyed herself enough, as she didn’t refuse like before. We had intentionally stayed close to the watchtower, so the path back was not far.

“Hello!”

“Oh! You’re the young lady who reported the child earlier. I’ve been informed. Please go inside; the child’s mother is there.”

The guard I had spoken to earlier had changed shifts, and another guard welcomed us. Following his lead, we entered, and a woman stood up suddenly, approaching us.

“Oh my, thank you! I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you…”

I thought she would be overjoyed to see Cindy, though she seemed more eager to thank us instead, bowing her head in gratitude. Cindy, too, stood beside her mother and simply stared at us. Despite her earlier tears, it seemed this little troublemaker was quite familiar with such incidents.

“No, it’s fine. Just seeing you reunited is enough for us.”

“Then we’ll take our leave.”

If we stayed there any longer, it felt like we would be compelled to receive a reward, so I quickly followed Selian out. By now, the outside was growing dim.

“In the end, the play is gone. I’m really sorry to the captain! I bet Selian wanted to see the play too; I’m sorry.”

From the way the captain had beamed when giving us the tickets and fixing the time to meet, I knew well that she had been excited about seeing the play today. But due to my stubbornness, we missed it. Of course, with a lost child in front of us, there was no other choice, but it made sense that she would feel disappointed.

“…It’s too late now. It can’t be helped, can it?”

“How about we try again tomorrow? I don’t know if there will still be seats available, but if we go early, we might be able to get on-site tickets…”

“Sounds good.”

Selian answered before I finished speaking. Since she was this excited, I couldn’t just stay quiet. I needed to secure two tickets early tomorrow morning before they sold out.

“Do you want to wait for a bit?”

While on our way back to the Academy, I stopped Selian as we passed the plaza’s fountain. I took out something I had been holding onto, unsure about when to give it to her.

I handed her the ribbon-shaped hair tie I had secretly bought when we were shopping for clothes. Well, I won’t bother denying that black is my preference.

“This is a gift for you.”

Selian’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at my face and then at my hand, going back and forth. A bright smile spread across her face. Instead of accepting the hair tie, she lifted her hand and let down the one that had been tying her hair up. Her sparkling golden hair flowed down.

“Could you… tie it up for me?”

I moved behind her, gripping her soft hair with one hand and, with the other, skillfully tying the hair tie around it.

Even without a mirror, Selian seemed to know she looked fantastic as she touched the hair tie with a beaming face.

Anything would suit Selian, but seeing her look even better than I expected and her joyful expression filled me with pride.

“Alright, shall we head out now?”

“Yes.”

Unlike earlier when she was a step behind, Selian was now walking closely beside me. But seeming dissatisfied with just walking closely, she linked her arm with mine. I could feel her chest against my arm, and I thought about casually loosening my grip, but given her strength, I didn’t dare to move. I could feel my face heating up, but thankfully, the setting sun hid any possible embarrassment.

With a slightly shy heart, I returned joyfully.

*

“Your Majesty! Did you not promise not to wander off alone this time?”

The words from the child’s mother as she exited the watchtower took everyone by surprise, but no one turned to look at her. The area around them had been perfectly silenced by the barrier she had cast. Nobody could eavesdrop through her magic.

“What? Oh, right.”

Filled with worry, her tones conveyed urgency, while the figure resembling a child casually responded as if it were no big deal. Of course, the Chief Wizard, Isis, was no stranger to such behavior from the Emperor, who was well aware that there was no threat to him in this city. But that didn’t mean it should be overlooked. The Emperor was the Empire itself.

“…So, how did it go?”

“I initially came to see the Hero chosen by the Goddess, but… heh heh…”

The Emperor burst into laughter at Isis’s words, clutching his stomach as if something was incredibly funny. Anyone witnessing such a sight would be astonished, but for Isis, who always supported the Emperor, it was a not-so-uncommon scene.

“The Hero candidate for some reason knows my real identity, and this person beside me is rather amusing. It was worth the visit.”

“…Then you should return and handle the work that has piled up today.”

The Emperor’s outings weren’t taken lightly. Normally, even an all-powerful Emperor would never be allowed to come to such distant places alone without the protection of the knights. However, this Emperor was too distinct even without being female.

– Stop messing around.

With a single remark, the Emperor demolished all opposition. With the Emperor’s decisive action and Isis’s magic by his side, such things were made possible.

To hide her identity, a polymorph artifact stored in the Imperial Palace’s treasury was used, and the Chief Wizard was activated for protection. Moreover, a decoy imitating the Emperor was diligently acting so that nobody outside would realize the Emperor was absent. Of course, it was only acting; the decoy couldn’t make any actual decisions, so it was certain that stacks of paperwork had piled up in the palace for the day.

“Normally, I would delay it until tomorrow, but today I feel really good. I will handle it immediately upon my return.”

“…That’s what you’re inherently supposed to do, Your Majesty.”

With the Emperor’s answer, Isis drew a giant magic circle in the air, and a bright light dazzled the surroundings. Yet, still, no one turned to look.

And when the light faded, the two figures had disappeared as well.