Chapter 11: Intuition

「About three to five years old… that’s my guess.」

After measuring Chryse’s height and weight, Nina gave that verdict.
Chryse herself sat in a chair, beaming as she munched bread. Until yesterday she wouldn’t put anything but milk in her mouth—she didn’t even have proper teeth yet.

「Does that mean her growth caught up to her age?」
「If anything, it feels like she overshot it.」

At Rin’s words, Nina cradled her head. We’d thought she wasn’t growing at all, and then—overnight—this sudden growth spurt. I could understand the urge to do just that.

「Maybe she’s got an identical older sister and they swapped them…?」
「This child is Chryse. That much is certain.」

Nina stated it flatly in response to Yuuka’s words. I felt the same.

When a baby turns into a toddler, their features change a lot. Her once-plump cheeks had slimmed; her short hair now reached her shoulders. Her cute little ham-like arms and legs had grown slender—she’d fully taken on a girlish look.

It wasn’t unreasonable for Yuuka to suspect a different person. But to Nina and me, it was obvious at a glance.

Even after growing, those feet swinging idly from the chair. That smile with narrowed eyes as she chews her bread. Those gleeful little squeals. All of it told us this was our beloved baby, grown. There was no mistaking her.

「At any rate, it’s confirmed she’s not human…」

Nina flicked her gaze to Chryse’s forehead. There, clear horn-like protrusions had formed. As a baby it had only been raised skin, but now they were pointed enough to see at once, and to the touch they were hard—like a nail.

「We can’t tell whether this growth is a racial trait or the effect of some magic.」

Or maybe there isn’t much difference between the two.

「If there’s magic that makes you younger, then… maybe there’s magic that makes you older too?」

Yuuka shot a glance at Rin.

「There’s a magic like that?」

Rin asked, blankly.
As expected, she doesn’t remember anything from “before.”

「…Well, magic is something that springs from wishes.」

Watching Chryse happily eat the leftover stew from yesterday, I felt I could sort of guess what that wish had been.

「Chryse.」
「Mm?」

When I called her name, Chryse reacted and looked at me. In other words, she recognizes her own name.

「Why did you get big?」
「…I dunno.」

As I thought, she was too young to explain her own circumstances.

「No point overthinking it.」

Nina heaved a deep sigh and raised both hands.

「Right. It’d be a problem if she kept on growing and then aging rapidly like this…」

Somehow, I don’t think that’ll happen. Even if you wish to gain new abilities, no one would go out of their way to wish to grow old and wither. There were far too many unknowns here, and my thought was speculation piled on speculation—but if it’s just speculation, there’s no point in fretting over it.

「I’ll try not to take my eyes off her as much as possible.」
「Mm. Please do.」

Just as things settled down, four bells rang. Peeling Chryse off a reluctant Nina, I sent Nina off to the clinic. As I was getting ready to head to the lab, Rin and Yuuka said they’d come along, so the four of us set out together.

Alarmingly, Chryse could already walk. If she were to grow again during the day and be an adult by night, Nina would be devastated…


* * *


「Chryse‑chaaan!」

The moment we reached the lab, lively hoofbeats rang out and a head of white, fluffy hair rippled.

「You’re extra cuuute today, too—」

Like the wind, Mel darted to Chryse and, without a moment’s hesitation, scooped her up in a tight hug.

「Hey, Ara. To you four‑legs, does Chryse look not all that different from yesterday?」

Before I could stop myself, I let slip a question that could be taken as extremely rude, depending on how you heard it.

「No—of course not… Wait, is that child really Chryse?」
「If Mel’s saying that, I suppose it is… but what on earth happened to make her like that?」

Ara shook his head, voice thick with bewilderment, and Inis, as languid as ever, murmured her line.

「We don’t know. We woke up this morning and she was bigger.」
「…Well, she did end up at about an age‑appropriate size.」

At those words I couldn’t help looking at Inis’s face; she twisted her expression in a blatant ‘whoops, I said it’ way.

「Inis—did you notice Chryse’s slow growth rate?」
「Pretty much… and while I’m at it, I noticed that you two hadn’t noticed, too.」

When I pressed her, she confessed without fuss.

「You could’ve told us.」
「Too much hassle.」

Textbook Inis.

「Besides, even if I’d said something, it’s not like you could’ve done anything about it.」

Well, that much was certainly true…

「Hey heeey, Sensei—」

Mel, for her part, lifted Chryse high overhead and said:

「Chryse‑chan feels a teeny bit heavier!」
「Yeah—by weight she’s about doubled.」

We’re pretty oblivious ourselves, but Mel takes it to another level. …Then again, she pegged her as Chryse at a glance, so maybe she’s actually sharp? Honestly, her senses are often beyond me.

「Chryse, you got biiig, didn’t you!」
「I got biiig!」

Hoisting the proudly puffed‑up Chryse high, Mel spun around in place.
Well, they look like they’re having fun, so fine.

「Ara, want me to spar with you for the first time in a while?」
「Yes, please!」

Yuuka proposed it to Ara, and the two of them stepped outside.

「Sounds fun—I'm going to watch too!」
「Ah! Mel’s watching too!」

Rin followed after them; Mel set Chryse on her back and trotted along, and of course the fluffy floating sofa drifted after them. In the end, all of us went to watch.

「I am thou and thou art I—Shadow Double, my mirrored self—come to my two hands and become my claws!」

With Ara’s spell, his shadow writhed and became a pair—two blades—that settled into his hands. Yuuka, stone sword hanging at her hip, didn’t even so much as take a stance as she faced him.

「My shadow—stretch and pierce!」

With the words, the jet‑black sword warped and turned into a spear that shot toward Yuuka. But it didn’t catch her; it merely skimmed just over her shoulder.

「My shadow—grow heavy, swell, and crush!」

At Ara’s continued spell, the spear changed shape again. Its tip swelled large like a hammer. He brought it down while swinging the left‑hand sword to clamp in at the same time.

Even so, none of his attacks hurt Yuuka—the storm of destruction cut only empty air.

「Hey, Sensei—what are they doing?」

Watching that scene, Rin asked me in puzzlement. To an untrained eye, it looked like Ara was just flailing weapons around while Yuuka barely moved.

「I hear it’s Ara being made to swing his weapons.」

I don’t really get it either, but what looks like Ara simply striking in the wrong directions is actually being guided by Yuuka. Her weight shifts, eye movements, the tiniest motions become countless feints—and Yuuka herself barely moves at all.

「Huh—?」

Rin’s eyes flashed. That was the look she wore whenever she thought up a prank.

「Flame.」

She whispered, and a flame sprang to life at the fingertip of her hand stretched back behind her; timing it to Ara’s movement, she flicked it at Yuuka to catch her off guard.

—Right before it could hit, Yuuka suddenly looked Rin’s way and dug in with her legs.

「Ah—」

Jump to evade—Rin decided that on reflex. But the flame, which should have hit, flew about two meters off to Yuuka’s side as Yuuka remained perfectly still. I see—that’s how it is…

「Burst!」

As the flame passed beside Yuuka, it detonated at Rin’s word. It wasn’t a very big blast. Yuuka saw that coming too and, with just a half step back, completely avoided the effects.

But that wasn’t what Rin was after. Her real aim wasn’t the flame, nor the shock of the explosion.

「Ara’s shadow—spread wide and stretch long!」

Rin shouted her spell. Lit by the fire’s glow, Ara’s shadow deepened and lengthened. It became a greatsword and came crashing down toward Yuuka.

And in the next instant—

「Whoa, that surprised me.」

The massive sword Ara brought down was pinched between Yuuka’s index and middle fingers and halted dead. Not even a 'catching a live blade' trick—she’d stopped it with her fingertips…

「Rin‑chan, you really do the most unpredictable things!」

Which meant she hadn’t caught on to Rin’s intention until the very last moment and did it purely on reflex. Frankly, that might be the more impressive part…

「Hmph, and I still couldn’t make you draw your sword.」

Rin, for her part, looked displeased. Yuuka’s ever‑present stone sword remained hanging at her hip.

「If only I could shorten the spells a little…」

Ara grumbled in frustration. It’s true: the spells to change the shadow’s shape are a bit long for use mid‑fight. He was coordinating his body movements to minimize that opening as much as possible, but ideally you’d want it to morph with a single word.

「Come to think of it, Onii‑chan and Rin‑chan don’t use spells when they use magic, do they?」

At Yuuka’s words, Rin and I exchanged a look.

「Like this?」

A flame bloomed above my palm, and Rin’s spread hands turned into white wings.
Now that she’d said it, she was right. At first, Rin had properly chanted to transform her body. At some point she started transforming in an instant, like breathing. I too had finally gotten to where I could freely produce about this level of flame lately. If it were just producing fire regardless of power, it would be even easier.

「Right—that. Same with Nina Onee‑chan’s tree‑growing thing. How do you do it?」

How, she asks…

「Spells aren’t strictly required to use magic in the first place.」
「Huh, really!?」

When I said that, everyone around us showed looks of surprise.

「Of course, with a spell you can get bigger results more easily, but… for example—」

I turned to Mel and lightly tapped at the corner of Chryse’s mouth while Mel still held her.

「Food?」

Her eyes sparkled as she asked. Our kid is smart. Even with her appearance changed, she remembered the gesture Ara had taught her yesterday.

「Just as there are things that get across without words, you can use magic without spells. A spell is nothing more than a means of layering and conveying your intent.」

I realized that a very, very long time ago. But it’s unforgettable—the fundamental principle of magic.

「To whom?」
「Eh?」

I’d been recalling the image of a girl encased in ice when Mel suddenly asked that, making me jump.

「In Ara‑kun’s case, who is he sending that intent to? Inis‑chan?」
「Wh‑why am I even in this!? Obviously to the shadow. The shadow spirit.」

For some reason even Inis looked rattled as she pointed at Ara’s shadow.

「Eeeh, a shadow isn’t a spirit, you knooow—」
「Why do you think that?」

Rin asked Mel, who was chuckling.

「Huh? Why… why?」

Mel tilted her head. The two of them share a go‑at‑their‑own‑pace vibe, but at their core they’re opposites. Rin questions the things everyone takes for granted, while Mel skips past all the reasoning and just leaps to the conclusion.

—And for some reason, she’s usually right.