Orino turned her head, looking at Mia beside her, whose hair was a bit fluffy and messy from the cold wind. Under the dim streetlight, the usually composed candidate saintess now seemed to have a touch more worldliness.
“Miss Mia…”
“Just call me Mia, no need to be so formal.”
Mia tidied her windblown hair by her temples, her voice gentle.
In truth, aside from that cup of orange ice cream, the two of them didn’t have much in common. Orino’s head was full of desserts and opening a shop, so she could only babble on about orange ice cream. Mia’s thoughts, however, were as heavy as the pitch-black night.
Now that the ice cream was finished, the brief connection sustained by food seemed to have come to an end. Orino had initially heard from the Elf Empress that a saintess was coming, but that was about it.
As a candidate saintess and one of the strongest contenders for the position of saintess, Mia was no slouch at communication. When helping others in the past, she had encountered shy children, hot-tempered uncles, and disabled people who had lost hope. So talking with a simple-minded great fairy wasn’t hard for her. Moreover, Mia did have something extremely important—something that even related to the meaning of her existence—that she wanted to confirm with Orino.
“Orino.”
Mia turned slightly, pressing her legs together. Under the thick coat, her calves, wrapped in ultrathin glossy black stockings, were pressed tightly together from the cold, trying to generate a little warmth through friction—both physical and emotional.
“Have you remembered anything? Are you… living well here in the Amber Empire?”
By late night, Orino’s volume and movements had calmed down a lot, like an owl perched on a treetop, quietly swinging her legs.
“Mm-hmm… I feel pretty used to it.”
Orino looked down at her own legs dangling in the air, swinging left and right. She wore white over-the-knee socks paired with small leather shoes, looking particularly playful against the intricate maid outfit.
Orino wasn’t surprised. She said calmly, “Looks like… you know.”
“After all, it’s only natural for the Church to have relevant books. But Miss Mia, you have a strange smell on you.”
Mia didn’t look away. Her hands were clasped tightly in her coat pockets, nails digging into her palms.
“Yes…”
“If sisters fight, just let them fight. We’re just ordinary people.”
Orino shook her head sharply, her four orange braids cutting arcs through the air as if trying to shake those complicated thoughts out of her mind.
“Oh well, none of my business. I’m just a great fairy.”
Mia looked at Orino’s profile.
“But I… I have a wish I want to fulfill. It’s very important. So… have you remembered anything?”
Orino stopped swinging her legs and nodded.
“I don’t have memories, but I have a general idea of some things. Not memories, really—more like a way of living.”
Orino, like a little detective wrestling with a tough case, reached out a finger and kept playing with her smooth chin.
“For example, no one ever used chopsticks in the Elven Forest. I’d never seen them, but I heard people outside used them, and I learned their shape from books.”
Orino’s hand made a grasping motion in the air, as if holding a pair of chopsticks.
“When I was wandering around the Capital and passed by a noodle shop in a certain alley, I saw chopsticks in a container on the table. The moment I picked them up… my fingers naturally adjusted to the right position. I knew how to grip, how to apply force, even how to twirl them around noodles. At that moment, I instinctively understood that this lifestyle was something I had once possessed.”
Orino shook her head.
“But the specific details—I can’t remember anything. It’s just that when I came to the human world and looked at the streets and scenery, I always adapted without thinking.”
Mia sat up a little straighter in excitement, the gap of her coat opening, letting in a gust of cold wind that brushed her glossy black-stockinged legs, but she felt no chill at all. Her eyes seemed to shine with some kind of light, and her tone grew more urgent.
“So the records were true. This is the first time I’ve met a great fairy, and also the first time I’ve verified the documented information. Orino… did anyone tell you about great fairies?”
Orino looked at Mia and nodded.
“Of course they did. It’s no big deal to tell you. In the Elven Forest, the head maid of the Imperial Palace is in charge of us great fairies. When I first woke up, she told me everything very gently and patiently.”
Mia looked at Orino’s happy expression.
“Is that so? For a little sun like Orino to praise her, she must be a truly gentle person.”
Orino’s gaze softened, as if sinking into some warm cloud.
“Yes… The head maid is very gentle. To us fairies, she’s like a mother. I was taken in by her when I first woke up.”
“Mother…” Mia murmured to herself, pressing her palms against the cold wooden slats of the bench, using the leverage to scoot closer to Orino.
The distance between them closed. The hem of Mia’s coat overlapped with the skirt of Orino’s maid outfit. On this bitterly cold late night, the warmth from another living being felt especially precious and unwearying. Mia’s glossy black-stockinged leg almost touched Orino’s calf. She tilted her head slightly, her deep eyes glinting.
“So… do the great fairies live together in the Elven Forest? Have you ever met any other great fairies?”
Orino wasn’t nearly as excited; she just swayed her head left and right.
“That depends on each one’s preference, right? I like staying indoors, so I’ve always lived in the place the Empress arranged for me. There are some great fairies there, but most of them go off to live on their own.”
“Then… have you ever seen a great fairy with brown hair in a ponytail and freckles on her face?”
“Hmm… I don’t recall any freckled great fairies, but there was one with brown hair in a ponytail.”
“That’s probably not the one…” Mia was a little disappointed, but she quickly perked up. She patted Orino on the head.
“Thank you, for being willing to tell me so much.”
Orino swayed like a sprout.
“If you want to find a great fairy, you’d better prepare yourself mentally. Just like I remember how to use chopsticks, some fairies might also remember unpleasant feelings.”
Orino lowered her head.
“If it’s too painful, they might not reincarnate into this world. Even without memories, the heart will keep aching. In that case, perhaps the fairies would reincarnate early.”
“Then… is there a chance to find them again after reincarnation?”
“Only if they have a strong wish. After all, to become a fairy—unless you’re an elf—other races need powerful magic power or an insane obsession to have a chance. Not everyone can.”
Mia clenched her teeth.
“No… I’m fairly sure she became a fairy.”
“Then you can only pray that she hasn’t reincarnated.”
“Mm…”
“For example, Mahina. She’s probably the most obvious case.”
“What?”
“Pink eyes… Think about it, out of all the people in the world, why is she the only one with pink pupils? She’s the reincarnation of a love fairy. That’s why her eyes kept the pink color after reincarnation. But the Love Great Fairy is simply rare… she has no great power. Nothing at all. A fairy with nothing.”
That’s a big bomb. I guess it makes up for the boring previous arc