「Kuu!?」
I was careless.
Even though I had a reason—a slight discomfort in staying in the room—it was foolish to venture outside alone like this. I should have thought my actions through more thoroughly.
Regret, however, comes too late.
Who is the one who restrained me? And what is their purpose?
To unravel all these mysteries, I strained my immobilized body and searched for the person who had cast the spell. And then…
「A-ha-ha-ha! Great! Success!」
A girl’s voice echoed.
And not just any voice—it was loud. The tension that had gripped me until now seemed to snap audibly, leaving me feeling drained.
The one who appeared was much younger than I had imagined—or rather, she was a child.
Her skin was tanned, and she had short black hair.
She appeared to be around ten years old, roughly the same age as Hanon or perhaps a bit older.
She held a staff, suggesting she was a mage, but her demeanor was quite different from Kiara or Charlotte.
「I can do it too! I won’t let anyone call me a failure anymore!」
The girl proudly declared, bursting into laughter.
I had worried she might be a lackey of the Mist Witch, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. Besides, I didn’t sense much magical power from her. Judging by her exuberance, perhaps she rarely dabbled in magic?
—Maybe, just maybe, this restraining spell could be undone?
I decided to try the dispelling magic that Kiara had taught me ‘in case of emergency’.
Admittedly, my magical abilities were subpar, but it was worth a shot.
「Haa!」
It was a desperate move, but miraculously successful—I dispelled the restraining magic.
「Eh?! Why?!」
The girl widened her eyes in surprise.
「According to the information, your magic should have been utterly useless!」
「Well, it’s true that I can hardly use magic.」
「Then why?」
「That’s because—」
I hesitated to say, ‘Your magic was quite lacking’. After all, the girl looked at me with tear-filled eyes, clearly disappointed.
…Who is she really?
Despite restraining me, she doesn’t seem like a bad kid. Maybe someone manipulated her into taking this action?
Amidst these mysteries, I pondered what to say to the girl.
At that moment,
「Bale! What happened?!」
Kiara and the others arrived in the backyard, noticing my absence from the room.
「Everyone!」
I was about to explain about the girl—yet everyone wore identical expressions of shock.
「Um, you… While we were away, what were you doing with another girl?」
「Huh?」
…Could they be misunderstanding something entirely?
「Wait a moment! I was restrained by this girl’s magic!」
「That’s right! I wanted that guy! So I restrained him!」
「W-What?!」
「Could you please be quiet for a moment?」
The situation was already complicated, and the girl’s statement only made it worse.
Now that everyone was gathered, I needed to explain and get a proper grasp of the situation.
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