...Birthday!

“Hey, Hibiki. When you finish getting ready, I need you to get more stuff.” Flint informed me as I was approaching the bathroom.

“Ok, got it. What exactly do we need?” I asked since we brought back a week's worth of veggies yesterday.

“With all these orders coming in so frequently, we keep burning straight through our supply.”

“Wait, but we aren’t even being paid for most of those orders right?”

“That’s right. That’s not to mention that silver just keeps getting more and more expensive. At this rate we’ll be out of money before we know it.”

“We should just start rejecting their jobs.”

“We can’t no matter how much I agree with you. We'll be exiled, or worse, killed.”

Seeing the ultimatum in front of me made me realize just how little I knew, and just how powerless I was. The feeling made me want to find something that could be used to help Flint and his family. However, I also knew this desire was wrapped in selfishness. It was only to prove that I had some sort of value. Since they had just informed Cordelia of where she was going, I assumed my release was coming up soon.

The anticipation of Flint or Allirea mentioning it kept me on edge whenever either of them would start talking to me. There had to be something I could do. Constantly being on edge like this won’t help me get anywhere.

Maybe they’ll consider bringing me along with them. Since I’m a slave, they would have to guess I was a spy at some point. Maybe they’ll keep me for that reason.

The flurry in my mind overshadowed the greatest of blizzards I had ever seen in my life. Not even seeing the ephemeral dragon of Cordelia’s storybooks could cause this much anxiety. This constant-waiting game was eating away at my mind.

I quickly cleaned myself off in the bathroom, making sure I left as soon as possible to go out and help Flint later. I also had to make up time thanks to the state of my leg. Somehow each day the pain felt worse, yet by some point throughout the day, I got adjusted to it. This was only after I started walking for a while though. On days where I didn’t move much, the pain lingered all day.

Reaching downstairs, I quickly looked for the usual plate of vegetables for me. Today there was just a piece of bread. I guess everyone’s busy today with the large amount of requests coming in.

I had forgotten that even Allirea had started going to more and more business meetings, however, each of them were pointless. Each meeting set with her was for selling off the shop, and none of the people who set up the meetings were willing to pay any reasonable price for it. She had to attend them out of courtesy, not choice.

I grabbed the piece of bread and resolved to eat it while making my way to my destination. I made my way into the shop in order to leave. Seeing Flint hard at work, I attempted to wave to him to let him know I was going. At this sight, Flint paused for a moment.

“Hey Hibiki. You can take the day off after you bring the silver.” He told me.

“What? I can't. We have way too much work for that!” I replied.

“At least think about it please?”

“Okay, I’ll think about it. But the answer’s probably still gonna be no.”

Laughing at this, Flint handed me the money and waved me off to go and do the job he had asked me to do. Today I was able to effortlessly make it through the large line up of guards. They even made way for me to pass through. It was probably thanks to the display Flint had made yesterday. I’ll need to thank him again, later.

Hobbling my way down the path and past the place where I normally go to buy vegetables, I passed by the coal cart once again. I took a quick glance in its direction, but it seemed as though no one was there for now. Maybe the man who ran the cart was taking a break? 

While my attention was diverted, I had tripped unnaturally on something, falling to the ground and ripping my clothes more than they already had been. I tried to recover from the ground quickly so that I could still reach the place to buy the silver in time. I attempted to look around to see who had tripped me, but all I could see was everyone around me snickering and gossiping.

Getting up as quickly as my leg allowed, I limped away and kept my head down so as to not draw further attention. For quite some time I could only hear constant whispering. Finally after the long and exhausting walk, I had reached the place we normally bought our metals from.

Seeing as I was a usual by now, I quickly finished the dealings I had with the man upfront. Flint really wasn’t kidding; the price of silver had gone up from last week’s five-hundred thousand copper to seven-hundred fifty thousand copper. If these ridiculous price spikes keep going, the nobles will only keep getting richer and richer.

I picked up the bag, the weight of which felt far different from the first time I had picked it up.

My first order from here was half the weight of this, and even then it felt like it was going to crush my entire body. Now, even with this heavier bag, it felt as though the man had cheaped out on me, causing me to open the bag up and look.

While the weight didn’t feel like much to my arms anymore, the real problem was my leg. Before I could even get out of the store, it was already starting to buckle under the weight. Resolving myself to push through the weight and continue back, I left the store and proceeded slowly to my destination.

Since I’m going back this way, it would mean I would have to walk past all those people who had been laughing at me before. While I wasn’t the most excited to go through that again, it was indeed the fastest way back and would cause the least amount of inconvenience for Flint. I continued on the path from where I came, bracing myself to deal with the whispering.

As I walked my way back, I saw a girl sprint out of an alleyway. When she had stopped sprinting, she began hunching over, supporting her whole body on her knees. Her amethyst hair glistened like fine silk in the sun. She wore a black sundress, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea. The sun must’ve been frying her in that black dress. Her azure eyes shone like they had been gems attached to a doll.

However, her expression differed from her beauty severely. I knew the expression well, it’s one I’ve had quite often. Could she be in trouble? She did just come out of an alley. Maybe she was attacked by one of them?

“H-hey are you okay?” I called out while approaching her.

“I’m fine.” She replied holding out her hand and stopped me from coming closer.

She said she was fine, but she certainly didn’t look fine. Maybe I should push a little harder just to be sure.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I persisted in my questioning.

“I told you I’m perfectly fine, but what about you? What happened to your leg?” She asked me, bringing a little bit of gloom on my face.

I quickly tried to hide the expression before she could see it.

“Oh, it’s nothing really. Just a minor injury.” I tried to explain the brutality of what had happened in a way that wouldn’t cause her to feel bad for bringing it up.

“How long has it been injured for?” This time she pressed the question.

“A few months, but I’m sure it’ll heal.” I reply trying to show some optimism at my current situation.

While I know that was unlikely, I still needed to hold out some hope for it. Giving up on the idea entirely would mean I would be completely useless to Flint, and with everything going on, it wasn’t a luxury I could afford.

“Ha.” She let out a small laugh to herself.

The small laugh had caused confusion to come to my face. I don’t think I had said something comedic during this conversation. Maybe she was just thinking to herself about something?

“Come sit here and show me your leg.” She gestured for me to sit next to the corridor she had just emerged from moments ago.

This order had come as a shock to me, but someone who looked as well dressed and beautiful as her would most likely be a noble, or at least someone with a fair amount of power. I obeyed her words. There was still a chance that not doing so would lead to trouble.

“What’s with all these scars?” She inquired, as I rolled up my pant leg.

The question had been a bit of a surprise for me. Everyone in the capital could tell what these scars were. Maybe she hadn’t been in the capital for that long. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her before. Well I guess I haven’t seen most people here before. But if she doesn’t know about these scars, she probably isn’t noble.

“Oh, you must be new to the Capital.” I responded, hoping the playful response might answer my suspicions.

“My question?” She replied, showing a slight hint of irritation.

“Oh, right. I'm a slave. Pretty messed up, huh? The only way to become a slave is if you’re suspected of being a spy. Of course, spies are more valuable if they can talk. That’s for the most part, at least. The scars speak for themselves.” I explained as I showed her more scars by lifting my shirt a bit.

“Okay. I’ve decided I will heal everything.”

“Heal? Hahah, that’s pretty funny. How do you plan to do that?” The declaration had caused me to start laughing.

She definitely wasn’t noble. None of the nobles would even bat an eye at what she had just seen, let alone declare they would heal it. The confidence she spoke with had only further caused me to appreciate the person in front of me for their kindness.

“With magic.” She responded confidently.

“Haha, you can’t get my hopes up like that. Magic doesn’t exist.” I replied, this time laughing far harder than before.

The things she had said could only ever come from a child's mouth. To hear them come from her with such bravado seemed almost priceless. Magic? There’s no way something like that could ever exist, but it did give me a good laugh. I couldn’t even stop myself from laughing.

Suddenly, a burst of light went right by my head, hitting the wall behind me. The shock at what had just happened only caused me to continue laughing, eventually slowing until I seemed like an idiot.

“Hmm, I think I overdid it a little. But hey, that was pretty good.” She spoke with admiration at the impossible feat she had just pulled off right in front of my eyes.

“‘Pretty good’? You almost killed me!” I screamed at the comment.

I was asking for that though. I knew I sort of deserved it for everything I was saying. At least it was with good intentions, or at least I hoped it was. Trying to process something this crazy was really difficult to do. It was even harder considering that I was still recovering from the shock.

“Haha. Well good thing it didn’t.” She laughed at my fear. “But now do you believe me?”

“Are you kidding me? Of course, lady! But…can you really heal me?” I replied, forcing myself to accept what I had just seen.

“Yeah. It should be simple, I thi....” She murmured the last part which made it hard to hear what it was.

She held her hand towards me with a large smile. I saw an emerald coloured light emerge from her hand which also started appearing all over my body. I saw as my scars opened themselves up and repaired themselves with brand new, proper skin. In a short while, all the scars on my body had disappeared and the strain on my leg was already lightening.

“W-wow. I didn’t know this was possible.” I exclaimed.

“Well, a while back, not many people knew about magic. But as of recently, it’s been starting to get more and more well known. I’m surprised you didn’t know about it considering I’ve seen so many magic crystals around here.” She attempted to explain away my shock.

Wait, she just said “magic crystals”! Does that mean when Flint mentioned them, he really meant that they were magic?

“T-thank you.” I showed my gratitude.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that big of a deal.” She replied. “Check to see if you can walk.”

Amazed at what I had just witnessed, I attempted testing out my leg. I could walk perfectly fine again. It was almost as if the injury had never happened. Next, I tried pushing it a little more and started running and jumping. None of the actions caused me any physical discomfort at all. I was just happy to be able to move normally again.

“How can I ever thank you for this?” I hoped I could repay her gratitude in some manner.

“Uh, don’t worry about it!” She responded suddenly.

“No, no, no, I have to do something or else it wouldn’t seem right.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

“Ok, how about this. When your birthday comes, let’s celebrate it together, yeah? You’re new here anyways. It’s not like you’d have any friends around.”

“I have plenty of friends! Also, what do you mean by birthday?” She questioned.

Shouldn’t this be obvious?

“You know, the day you were born.” I tried to explain.

“Well that’s today, but why would we celebrate it?”

“HUH? Today? Well of course we have to celebrate it.”

“But why?” She asked, still confused about what I was talking about.

Her question had caught me off guard. While they celebrate Christmas in this world, for some reason they don’t celebrate birthdays. Uh, how do I even explain this?

“Uhh, well, where I come from, we celebrate it to make sure the person feels valued after surviving another year.” I tried my best to make up the reason for birthdays as I didn’t quite know the full reason myself.

“Interesting.” She responded.

“So what can I do for you?”

“Hmmm. How about you show me around the capital then?”

“Alright, but first, I need to stop by my master's place to let him know. I also need to drop this off.” I pointed to the large bag of silver.

“Fair enough. I’ll wait right around here.”

“Okay. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” I told her as I took off with my renewed sprinting.

I quickly reached the store with my new found speed and energy.

“Flint! Look!” I showed him how I had been healed and explained how I needed to show my gratitude to the person who healed me.

“I see. Well then, enjoy your day off Hibiki.” He responded, also shocked at the strange event.

“See you later!” I waved at him again while taking off quickly.

I swiftly made it back to where we had just met, deciding this along the way as I was making a good pace. I could stop by the cake shop and order a cake ahead of time. It would be perfect for her birthday.

I made it to where we met, looking around for the beautiful girl. She wasn’t by the place she had just healed me. I continued to look around for her, but was unable to see her. Could she have left?

Seeing a lightning bolt strike down in the passageway across from where we had been, followed by a bright light which had momentarily blinded me, I rushed over to see what it was. When I made it to the corridor, I saw the girl standing there. I was confused at what had just happened in this alley.

“What is that?” I asked out of confusion at what I thought I had just seen.

She turned around and simply gave me a smile. “Oh. You’re back earlier than expected.”

“Wait but what wa—.”

“What was what?” Her smile grew wider as she stared daggers into me.

“Uh, nothing.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Anyways, I got back far quicker than I thought thanks to this fixed leg.”

“Oh, so then it's working fine. That’s good.”

“Yes. Thank you again.”

“So, I think it would be difficult calling each other ‘you’ all the time. Maybe we should exchange names? You are giving me a tour, after all.”

“Oh, right, I thought we had by now!”

“Well nice to meet you. My name is Celestia.” She did a little curtsy.

“Nice to meet you. My name is H-Hibiki.”

“H-Hibiki? That’s a strange name.” She made fun of the way I stuttered.

“Hibiki!”

“Well it’s a little better, but still strange.”

“That’s what everyone says.” The familiar reaction caused me to cringe a little.

“Shall we get going, Hibiki?”

“Yes, let's.”

I took her to the garden, the same one I had seen when first entering the city and again on the night where I got my limp. The idea of my leg being injured now feels like a far distant memory. All that discomfort and pain had vanished from my life. When I looked over at Celestia, I could see her amazed expression at everything she was seeing in this garden. The sight brought me an indescribable joy.

Next I decided to take her to a spot I had found while looking around the Capital. For almost every place in the Capital, it was impossible to see the ocean as the castle had almost completely blocked out the sight and taste of it. However, at one overlook, most likely the only one in the Capital, it was possible to make out the ocean. You could even slightly taste the salty breeze from this distance.

This had been the place I went to whenever I wanted to clear something from head or to simply relax. Sometimes I screamed out into the open air at my frustrations.

Finally, to wrap up her birthday, I took her to a nice cake shop I had stopped by before when Flint needed something to make up with Allirea. The cakes here were huge and layered and it seemed like the perfect way to thank my savior. I had been saving the money Flint had been giving me, but it felt fitting to spend at least some of it on this. Even if I spend it here, I should still have just enough money to get into the library.

I had seen the books Celestia was carrying around and now knew that magic actually existed. This was now one more thing I wanted to look for in the library. Buying this cake was just a “thank you” for everything she had done for me.

Seeing her struggling to lift the cake, I went to help her. It was light for me, much lighter than what I had just been carrying moments ago. We left the shop and decided to go back to the garden as that would be a nice place to eat this massive cake. After a few minutes of walking, we had finally reached the garden and sat down.

“Happy Birthday Celestia!” I congratulated her aloud.

Confused by what I had said, she chose to ignore it and began eating the cake, gesturing for me to start as well. We ate through the whole cake that felt far more like a dinner than a dessert. As the sun began setting, its brightened rays came flowing into my eyes, making it hard to see. I covered my eyes, hoping to block out the light more.

“Somehow we managed to finish the whole cake.” She spoke.

“You’re right!” I agreed.

“Well, it’s getting late. We should probably go our separate ways. If you have time, we should meet again tomorrow.”

“That would be great. I should have time in the afternoon. How about around four, if that works?”

“That should work perfectly.”

“Well, goodbye Celestia.”

“Hey, Hibiki?”

“Yeah?”

“When’s your birthday? After all, if we celebrated mine, we should celebrate yours as well.”

“Hmm. It’s October 31st.”

“That’s quite a bit away.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll come back to the capital just to celebrate it with you! You should be grateful.”

“Haha. Thank you oh mighty and noble Celestia.”

“See you tomorrow Hibiki!”

“See you.”

As we waved goodbye, my heart thumped faster at the prospect of meeting with her again. I waltzed my way back to my home with my refound freedom.