Chapter 6

When did I first see that boy? I wonder how old I was.

It must have been around three or four years old, when I had just started to understand things.

In a dream one night, I saw a boy who seemed a bit older than me, looking at me with black eyes that shone like obsidian.

"Come on, Chico. It's time to eat."

He smiled and offered me something that looked like small grains with a white spoon-like object.

--What, what? Are you telling me to eat this?

The grains, softened with water and slightly mushy, didn't look appetizing at all.

But in the dream, I seemed to enjoy it immensely, eating it greedily.

Although it was a dream, I could clearly feel the deep sense of satisfaction that came from eating it.

The boy with the black eyes also smiled happily, watching me eat the grains.

Somehow, I wanted to see more of his happy face. So, I kept eating the grains until I was full.

In front of the many gathered believers, Caledonia stood on the pulpit and earnestly spoke the words of the god.

Relaying the commandments and words of the god recorded in religious texts to the believers is one of the important duties of the priests who serve the god.

Most of the people living in this world, where Caledonia had summoned Tatsuhiko, cannot read or write. Therefore, to convey the teachings of the god, the priests must speak them aloud.

Of course, it's not only Caledonia who performs this preaching; other priests and bishops take turns. However, when Caledonia preaches, the chapel is always filled with many believers.

Their purpose is to listen to the blessed words of the god spoken by the priest. But there were also those who came to the chapel for other reasons.

At the very back of the chapel, on a slightly raised pulpit from which the entire chapel can be seen, many believers gather to catch a glimpse of the "Holy Maiden" who solemnly relays the words of the god.

But the believers who gathered to catch a glimpse of the "Holy Maiden" as usual felt a slight confusion.

The "Holy Maiden" who usually speaks the words of the god solemnly and calmly looked different today.

From then on, I sometimes saw dreams of that boy.

After seeing the dream many times, I realized that the self in the dream was very small. Moreover, it seemed that I wasn't even human.

The boy would pick me up in his palm and lift me to his eye level. Then, he would offer me something that looked like seeds, and I would peck at them happily with my beak.

Yes, the self in the dream seemed to be a small bird. I had gray feathers close to silver, and something seemed to stick out on top of my head. When I shook my head, it would sway.

I would skillfully break the seeds with my beak and eat only the insides. Then, I would make a happy sound, "Hioe."

"Was it delicious, Chico?"

The boy would laugh and call out to me. "Chico" seemed to be the name of the self in the dream.

The boy was always there with me.

On his shoulder, in his hand, on his head. The self in the dream was always by the boy's side.

As the real me grew older, the boy in the dream also seemed to grow older.

And eventually, I began to fall in love with the boy in the dream.

I gradually became attracted to the boy who was always there and filled my heart with warmth.

As time passed, and when the real me was close to ten years old, I suddenly realized.

The dreams of the boy I sometimes saw were not dreams at all, but past experiences of my former self. I was reliving my past through these dreams.

This realization triggered a flood of past memories. Among them, the face of the boy—my owner—looking at me with a world-ending expression as I approached the end of my life, deeply shook my heart.

Caledonia, as usual, was preaching from the pulpit. But today, something was off.

Usually, the "Holy Maiden" would speak the words of the god like a flowing stream, maintaining her dignified demeanor. Her beautiful and dignified appearance would draw admiring gazes from her followers. But today, they were looking at her with puzzled expressions.

She, who usually spoke the words of the god with a calm smile without changing her expression, today had a strangely moist and dreamy look in her eyes, and her words were broken and intermittent. Occasionally, a passionate sigh would escape her lovely lips.

The believers and her colleagues looked at the unusual "Holy Maiden" with tilted heads and curious eyes.

Some were even more captivated by the strange allure she exuded today.

In the midst of these gazes, Caledonia's heart was completely filled with thoughts of a boy she had seen in her dreams and finally reunited with.

Two thoughts welled up in her heart. One was the desire to meet that boy—her master—again, and the other was the worry about the great despair he would feel if she were to disappear.

So, she made a decision. She would learn magic and use it to return to him.

In the world where she now lived, magic existed. She thought that by using it, she could go to him, a simple idea she had as a child.

At that time, she didn't know that the magic to cross worlds, while it did exist, had long been forgotten and was an extremely difficult and legendary great magic.

She first consulted her parents.

She had already told her parents about the boy in her dreams.

Her parents initially watched their daughter, who had a faint crush on the boy in her dreams, with a smile. But as time passed and she kept talking about the boy, they began to feel uneasy.

Then, suddenly, their daughter said she wanted to learn magic. And when they asked why, it was again for the boy in her dreams.

Her parents finally thought she had gone mad and decided to abandon her.

They lived in a remote and cold village in the Largo Ferris Kingdom.

If a strange rumor spread in such a remote small village, not only the daughter but the entire family would be seen as outcasts.

So, her parents warned her not to talk about her dreams outside. But as a child, she didn't always follow this warning and sometimes told other villagers about her dreams.

The villagers' attitudes gradually became more distant. This led her parents to decide to abandon her.

They couldn't bear to sell their beloved daughter into slavery, so they entrusted her to a traveling priest who happened to pass by.

They provided the priest with the little money they had, asking him to find an orphanage in a larger town that would take her in. They told their daughter that she couldn't learn magic in such a small village, so they had asked the traveling priest to help her find a larger town where she could study magic.

And so, she was led away by the traveling priest, leaving her birthplace without anyone to see her off.

During the journey, the priest barely spoke to her. He had heard from her parents that she was mad and didn't think it necessary to interact with her.

He gave her only the bare minimum of food and rest and continued his journey. They eventually arrived at the capital of the Largo Ferris Kingdom, the city of Leventis.

This priest belonged to the Savive Temple in Leventis and had been called to the capital to witness the marriage of the son of a powerful local figure.

At such local weddings, as a way to show off their wealth and power, they often invite a priest from the central temple to witness the marriage.

This journey was also a request from such a local powerful figure. On his way back, he was entrusted with the girl.

Upon arriving in Leventis, the priest simply dumped the young girl into the church as a servant.

The money provided by her parents was meant to cover her food and lodging. But since the priest had used only the bare minimum during the journey, he still had a considerable amount of money left.

He secretly smiled and quickly forgot about the girl.

The church had other children in similar situations—those who had lost their families for various reasons or had been abandoned. The priest had no interest in the girl among them.

But this turned out to be fortunate for her.

Because, as a servant in the temple, she was noticed by the High Priest, who recognized her rare magical talent.

"…Such a thing…"

Upon hearing Caledonia's background from Giuseppe, Tatsuhiko muttered in astonishment.

"She may look it, but that girl has gone through a lot."

Giuseppe's account of Caledonia's past was much heavier than Tatsuhiko had imagined.

Tatsuhiko and Giuseppe continued their conversation in the parlor even after Caledonia left to preach.

"After becoming my adopted daughter, that girl worked very hard. She practiced daily as a magician and fulfilled her duties as a priest… and many other things. For years, she did all of this without cutting corners… and finally achieved her goal."

She revived a summoning ritual buried in a corner of the royal library, spent years preparing, and finally succeeded in summoning Tatsuhiko. It was the result of her tireless efforts that Tatsuhiko was now here.

"Therefore, I must thank you, son-in-law."

"Huh?"

"You accepted my granddaughter, even though you could have scolded her unilaterally. No one would have objected to that."

Indeed, if he had been summoned from another world without any prior consultation, it would be normal to complain, "What are you doing?"

But Tatsuhiko not only didn't complain about the summoning but was even grateful to Caledonia. Giuseppe was deeply impressed and grateful that Tatsuhiko had accepted Caledonia so smoothly.

"If possible, I would like you to really become my granddaughter's husband."

Giuseppe laughed heartily as usual, but Tatsuhiko was not in a laughing mood.

At first, he didn't understand what Giuseppe meant. Gradually, the words sank into his brain, and he finally understood what Giuseppe was saying.

Tatsuhiko, who was drinking tea, spat it out in a big spray.

The dreams continued, though not as frequently.

After being taken in as the adopted daughter of the High Priest of the Savive Temple, she began to study magic seriously. She developed her innate magical talent and worked hard to improve her skills while searching for a way to cross worlds.

Of course, she also fulfilled her duties as a priest, sometimes using healing magic on the injured.

Amidst these busy days, the dreams of the boy—re-experiencing her past—were her greatest pleasure.

She could meet her beloved master, even if only in dreams, when she thought she would never see him again.

As she grew, the boy in her dreams also grew.

Perhaps the god who had extended a helping hand to her and the boy had reincarnated her to be the same age as the boy.

Even as a child, she made this judgment and thanked the Savive god, the only god she knew in the remote farming village.

If the boy in her dreams was the same age as her, it increased her sense of closeness and strengthened her feelings for him.

Every time she saw the boy—her master—in her dreams, her feelings for him grew stronger.

However, the dreams were not always happy.

She clearly remembered the time when her master lost his family.

Her master and his family were badly injured somewhere far away. At the time, that was all she understood, but revisiting the memory in her dreams, she was overwhelmed with sadness as if it were her own.

She loved her master's family as much as she loved him. They had been kind to her, just like him. The thought of them all losing their lives, leaving only him, was unbearable.

At the time, she only knew that she couldn't see him and his family for a long time, but now she understood how badly injured he had been.

In that world, there was no healing magic like here. Therefore, it took a long time for serious injuries to heal.

During that time, a familiar neighbor took care of her. She remembered greeting this person many times when she rode on her master's shoulder.

After a long time, he finally returned, but he returned alone, enveloped in grief.

They moved to a smaller house from the one where they had lived with his family. From then on, she began to see his dreams every day.

So, she hurried with her preparations. The separation from the boy in her memory was not far off. She was worried about what would happen to him after losing her, so she rushed to prepare for the summoning.

She accelerated several steps in her plan, took only the minimum rest, and finally completed the preparations for the summoning. Meanwhile, in her dreams, the time of their separation had finally arrived.

In the dream, the boy, having lost her, was deeply saddened. She wanted to encourage him, to be of some help, to be by his side. So, she began the summoning ritual.

The ritual had to be performed without sleep for several days. Even with her abundant magical talent and youthful vigor, there was no guarantee of success.

Moreover, she could only attempt the ritual once. If it failed, she would have to start over from the beginning, which would take several years.

As she concentrated on the ritual, the image of the boy after losing her appeared in her mind.

Why did his image appear so clearly in her mind while she was awake? She didn't know. Perhaps the ritual had created some connection between them.

The sight of the boy, who had lost all hope and energy, was painful to watch. He spent his days staring blankly at the small cage where she used to be, with a dull, empty look in his eyes.

If this continued, the boy might wither away and die, or even take his own life out of grief.

With this worry weighing on her heart, she continued the ritual.

And then.

And then, her wish reached him.

She would no longer see the boy in her dreams. The precious boy she could only meet in dreams was now standing before her in reality.