Chapter 1-3 : The Girl And The Caring Cat

 

After her master passed away, Elle lit a bonfire in the front yard and threw books into the crackling flame.

Because the fire was made with a powerful magic stone, the books burned in an instant, and not even ashes remained.

The books she was burning were Moritz’s magic books he had collected since he became a magician almost a hundred years ago.

When he was still alive, he told Elle to dispose of his collection of magic books when he died, except the books that Elle thought were necessary for her.

Elle refused at first, saying that it would be a pity to waste those treasures, but then Moritz told her that it would be troublesome if his research and valuable magic books fell into the hands of evil people.

Elle decided to keep only two books from thousands of books that were piled and formed a small hill in Moritz’s basement library. Those books were Moritz’s diary and a magic book written by Moritz himself. Elle had memorized the content of all the other books, so she decided to burn all the books except those two.

Elle kept carrying the magic books from the basement library to the front yard and burning them in the bonfire.

When she took a magic picture book about fairies, she stared at it for a moment and murmured to herself.

(If I’m not mistaken, Master said that he kept fairies in this book… He was a kind person but he could be cruel sometimes especially when it came to his research…)

Right after Elle threw the picture book into the fire, several small light balls with different colors flew out of the fire and ascended into the night sky while whispering to Elle.

“Thank you”, they said.

However, that was not the only magic picture book Moritz had. There were other magic picture books such as the books about spirits, ghosts, and many others.

The spiritual beings that were trapped in the books thanked Elle as they finally got their freedom. Some of them looked annoyed but since they were all weak spiritual beings, none of them could harm Elle.

The last book was a blank book with nothing written on it. Elle thought it might require some kind of trick to be able to see its contents, but since the only person who knew about it had passed away, she didn’t see the need for it and decided to just throw it away into the fire.

However, right after the book was burned, a long thin line of light rose up and turned into letters above the bonfire.

It said, “Ellenestine, let there be light in your life”.

Those were the words Moritz said before his death.

(I was so panicked back then, but I feel like Master called me with that name before his last breath. Is it my name…? Or…)

Elle wondered who or what ‘Ellenestine’ meant. She felt that word was somewhat nostalgic and heartbreaking at the same time.

She wondered if it was her name, but her father never called her that. He always called her “Elle”.

「…Ellenestine…」(Elle)

As she muttered that name, the letters glowed brighter and brighter.

「Ugh…!」(Elle)

They were then dispersed into particles of light and were absorbed into Elle’s body.

「Wha… What is going on!?」(Elle)

It was probably some kind of spell but Elle knew that it wasn’t a spell that meant to harm her since as soon as she absorbed the light, she felt warm and comfortable as if someone was hugging her and whispering to her, “Don’t be sad. You’re not alone”.

A moment after, Yoyo, who had just finished cleaning up the basement, went to the front yard and approached Elle.

「Elle, have you finished burning the magic books?」(Yoyo)

When Elle looked at Yoyo’s face, she thought that it was true that she wasn’t alone. She still had the cat fairy who cared about her.

「Yeah. It’s done.」(Elle)

「Good. Let’s take a rest and have some tea!」(Yoyo)

「Un.」(Elle)

Elle nodded to Yoyo while showing a gentle smile on her face.

 

◇◇◇

 

When the two went to the living room to have tea, Elle remembered about the strange letters she saw earlier.

She was curious about what “Ellenestine” meant.

Was it the longer version of her name that she never knew or was it someone else’s name?

She thought Yoyo probably knew about it, so she decided to ask him.

「Say, Yoyo, have you ever heard the name Eーーーーー?」(Elle)

「Heard what…?」(Yoyo)

「Eーーーーー…Eh…?」(Elle)

「Huh? What’s wrong?」(Yoyo)

「I, I don’t know. I can’t say it! Eーーーーー. Wh, What is happening!?」(Elle)

「I’m the one who should ask you that…」(Yoyo)

Elle tried to say, “Ellenestine”, but she couldn’t for some reason.

(Why can’t I say it? Is it some kind of spell too?)

「I wanted to ask you if you ever heard of this word, but I can’t say it. I think Master cast the spell that forbade me to say it.」(Elle)

「I see. Aa-ahh… What a troublesome old man. Well, he must have done that for a reason.」(Yoyo)

「You’re right…」(Elle)

「Anyway, I brew lunar primrose tea with a lot of milk so that you can sleep well tonight.」(Yoyo)

「Thank you.」(Elle)

Elle grabbed the handle of the teapot and poured the tea into her cup.

Lunar primrose is a medical herb that could only be found during a full moon in the forest.

When boiled with water, it would turn into an herbal tea that could help you sleep.

Yoyo is a fairy who lives in the forest so he knows a lot about herbs.

When Moritz got absorbed in his research and forgot to eat and drink, Yoyo always made herbal tea and fried pancakes for him.

By the way, Yoyo could move things around him with magic. That was how he cleaned the house and did everything else.

When Elle saw him cooking in the kitchen, Yoyo just looked like he was just standing in the middle while watching the cooking utensils moving around in the air on their own, but in reality, he was controlling them with magic.

It looked easy, but Yoyo said that it was extremely difficult as it required a lot of practice and concentration.

「Ahh~… The tea you brew is calming as always.」(Elle)

「Glad you like it.」(Yoyo)

The gentle bitter-sweet taste spread in Elle’s mouth as soon as she sipped the lunar primrose milk tea in her cup.

「You want some cookies? I can bake you some if you want.」(Yoyo)

Whenever Elle was feeling down, Yoyo would always make cookies filled with lots of nuts.

He probably thought that she was feeling sad after she lost her master and tried to be considerate.

Elle appreciated that, but she was too tired to eat cookies.

「No, I think I’m good. I’m very tired, so I’m just going to sleep after I drink this tea.」(Elle)

「I see. I’ll go sleep too then.」(Yoyo)

Elle’s room in Moritz’s house was in the attic.

After they finished drinking the tea, they brushed their teeth and climbed up the wooden ladder to the attic.

There was a bed made of straws covered with a sheet for Elle to sleep. The blanket was made of deer fur from deer that Yoyo hunted. There were some holes in the blanket because Elle made some mistakes when she skinned the deer.

When Elle lay down in her bed, Yoyo joined her. He didn’t usually sleep with her, but tonight was different since they both just lost the person they cared about.

「Yoyo, you’re so warm and your fur is so comfortable~」(Elle)

「Is that so? You can hug me whenever you feel lonely.」(Yoyo)

「Thank you, Yoyo… I’m glad you’re here for me. Good night.」(Elle)

「Good night, Elle.」(Yoyo)

A drop of tear ran down Elle’s cheek as Yoyo’s kindness touched her heart.

It was their first night where it was just the two of them in that run down house.

They warmed each other and closed their eyes as they prayed, “May tomorrow be a good day”.

 

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