By the time I woke up from my nap, Otou-sama had come to pick us up, and it was time to go home.
âI onwy goth tho pway a withthwe bith!â (I only got to play a little bit!) I got angry, and Nico looked at me pitifully.
âLei, quickly grow up. We could have played if you didnât nap. Climbing trees is fun.â
What?! I looked at Nico, Nii-sama and Gill as if I couldnât believe them. Nii-sama and Gill averted their eyes awkwardly.
âCwimbing threesh! Onwy Nico!â
âYou canât climb trees anyways.â
âI can! I can!â
Hasnât it been decided that I can climb? I can climb on the heads of Rug Dragons.
âArgh, Iâm going home!â
Starting tomorrow is the weekend, so Iâll climb trees with Nii-sama at home. Nico spoke to me while I was still angry, âLei.â
Argh. Donât call me such a lonely voice.
âSee you thomorrow, I mean, nexth weew.â
âYeah! See you next week.â
I found myself in Otou-samaâs arms and waved at the smiling Nico. We canât end the day with a quarrel. Isnât it sad to recall an angry or sad face after separating?
âTree cwimbing. Tree cwimbing,â I sang, and Otou-sama, Nii-sama and Natalie watched me in amusement. Gill went home in his own carriage, and he looked bored.
âGill and I wonât come for a week even if youâre looking forward to it.â
âNii-syama, thomorrow!â
I never thought about climbing trees until now, and I didnât see any trees with branches at home, but itâs vast, so there should be a tree I could climb.
âBut, isnât that dangerous for you, Lei?â
âLuke.â
Otou-sama shook his head at Nii-sama.
âItâs better that she climbs trees where we can see her instead of climbing on the heads of the Rug Dragons when weâre not looking.â
âHuh? Did Lei do that?â
âUh-.â
I looked out the carriage. Nii-sama sighed in amazement and warned me, âMake sure someone can see you when you practice climbing trees.â This means okay.
âAi!â
Thatâs a good answer for me. But, itâs a secret that Hans couldnât prevent me from climbing the Rug Dragons even when he was watching me.
Then, we happily went home, had a fun dinner, and later gathered in Otou-samaâs room.
âWe managed to suppress His Highnessâs recklessness.â
âYes. I carelessly said that I could do it.â
Otou-sama and Nii-sama reflected.
âBut, I was shocked when he asked why the Hollows resonated with us.â
âDid he say something like that?â
Otou-sama, youâre mentioning him in a disrespectful way.
âI think itâs good that we can connect the resonation of Hollows with projecting our magic out of our bodies. Itâs not just us, the hunters in Frontier also understand this with their bodies, and Lei learnt it when she was in Frontier.â
âBut, they didnât think their magic would resonate with other people. Why would they need to do something like that in the first place?â
âYouâre right. But, Otou-sama...â
âWhat?â
Nii-sama stared at Otou-sama.
âLei and I noticed it straight away. Our magic has resonated with each otherâs before, hasnât it?â
â... At the barrier?â
âYes.â
I also nodded.
âThen, does this mean that Hollows are expanding barriers out of their bodies?â
âBut then, why would they need to?â
âHmm.â
Itâs a difficult question.
âHowwowsh become magic shthonesh.â
âThatâs right.â
âWe become magic shthonesh?â
âWe wonât. Thatâs impossible.â
Nii-sama answered my question, then muttered, âPeople with magic donât change into magic stones, but Hollows change into magic stones no matter how weak the person they absorb is. Why is that?â
âThey donât have a body, but perhaps their magic is incredible.â
âThatâs why they naturally dispel that magic out of their bodies, and it resonates with our bodies...â
âThen why donâth you thry expewwing a woth of magic?â (Then why donât you try expelling a lot of magic?)
Otou-sama and Nii-sama looked at me.
âMagic thhath ishnâth changed intho a barrier.â
âAre you saying we should try expelling pure magic out of our bodies?â
âAi.â
If you do that, then you may be able to interfere with other peopleâs magic a little.
We fell silent. We were each thinking about different things. But, when we looked at each other again, the words that came out of Otou-samaâs mouth were, âShall we try it?â If Linus were here, he might have stopped us by saying, âThatâs why the Albans are...â But, each of us was an Albans.
âWe wonât know until we try it.â
âAi.
It was decided that we would try.
âLei can mawe a barrier. Lei wiww thry.â
âHmm. I thought you or Luke would be the one who projects your magic out. Then, Otou-sama will receive the magic.â
âOtou-sama...â
âThe receiver is probably the one in the most danger. Adults should do it.â
Nii-sama looked like he wanted to do it, but Otou-sama stopped him.
I faced Otou-sama on the bed, and sat as close to him as I could.
âNo change intho barrier. Tawe outh jushth ash ith ish.â
Instead of expanding it into a circle around me, I sent it straight at Otou-sama.
âHere goesh.â
âHmm.â
Magic formed in front of me, then bam.
âGah, bah.â
Otou-sama slowly fell back.
âOtou-sama!â
âOtou-syama!â
We clung to Otou-sama.
âI, Iâm fine,â Otou-sama managed to reply weakly, then gently hugged the two of us.
âOtou-syama... Sowwy...â
Iâm glad. Iâm really glad. I was on the verge of tears.
âLei and Luke, this is bad. Weâve realised something unthinkable.â
âWhat the hell happened?! I could see the magic, but what happened!? Why did you fall all of a sudden?!â
Nii-sama yelled at Otou-sama.
âWait a minute. Calm down a bit, oh, donât cry you two. Otou-samaâs fine.â
I ended up crying because Nii-sama was yelling, and Nii-sama also ended up crying from shock. By the time we were tired from crying and quietened down, Otou-sama had managed to recover.
âThen, the conclusion is...â Otou-sama started talking after he sat back up. Nii-sama and I continued to cling to Otou-sama.
âWell, before that, I want to ask what happened to the magic from the outside.â
âI saw it,â Nii-sama whispered. What did you see?