"Huh? But is this all there is?"
There were only three magical items left.
Just in case, I searched other boxes too, but that was all.
'Will this be enough?'
I don't know much about magical items, but it seems insufficient.
I was worried, but I didn't have much of a choice. I opened the turtle backpack I was carrying and carefully put the magical items inside. I'd taken everything from my personal safe except for the ring and earrings.
"Huh? But this magical item..."
Just then, the dim lamplight made the transparent magical item glow, and my eyes widened.
"This is..."
A tree seed?
What is this?
I had a pretty good idea what protective magical items looked like. We had two at our house.
They were prepared because Dad was often away from home for work. (Thinking about it now, Dad is a noble, so he might have had them from the start.)
Of course, when Dad wasn't home, they were mostly safely kept at Aunt Marsha's, so there was no need to use them.
Anyway, I'd never seen one like this before.
I didn't know much about magic. There was no one to ask.
But there were at least 100 people—or things?—in this mansion I could ask.
'I should talk to the trees! Hooray for plants!'
I promised myself I'd get to the bottom of this, and I whipped out my magnifying glass.
'Huh?'
I was stomping around the mansion grounds, trying to find a tree I could talk to, when suddenly I got the creeps.
'Someone watching me?'
Who is it?
I spun around, but no one was there.
It was broad daylight, and there was no chance that an assassin would dare to enter the Winterwald estate.
Am I imagining things?
Blink, blink. Just as I was blinking, something lying on the floor caught my eye.
"......?"
That's a wooden doll?
"Oh?"
And it's not even one I've seen in the toy shops!
What is this? Did one of the maids drop it?
Before I knew it, I'd dashed over and snatched up the doll. It was an adorable bear-shaped doll! Its arms, legs, and head wiggled.
"Ehehe. Beary cute!"
Its cheeks are rosy too!
I crouched down right there and started checking out the wooden doll.
As expected, the initial 'B' was engraved on it.
So that means...
'There must be another secret mechanism somewhere?!'
I turned the wooden doll this way and that. I'd messed around with these so much back in Lephi Village that figuring them out was a piece of cake.
"Found it!"
I gave the little switch under its paw a tap, and the bear suddenly dropped to the floor with a thump.
Then, it did a little knee bend.
"Huh?"
One arm up.
The other arm up.
"......Why are you being punished?"
Now that I thought about it, the bear's face even looked kind of sad.
I blinked and suddenly lifted my head.
"......"
Whoosh.
I caught a glimpse of a dark shadow darting away behind a big tree.
That afternoon.
I finished all the preparations for the procession.
'I still haven't figured out how to work the magic thingy with the seed, but...'
Still, I did get something out of it. From the tree in front of Dad's office, no less.
"Hello! Thank you for telling me when Dad's office was empty!"
[No biggie. But hey, you've got something interesting there, huh?]
"Do you know this magical item? What is the seed inside?"
[I don't know about that. It seems like some kind of special barrier though.]
"Ugh. But it's no good if I don't know how to use it."
[Nah, that's not it. Even if you just turn it on, it should work like a regular protective magical item, I think.]
'It's great that it's not totally useless, but...'
Sigh. It has premium features, but I have to use only the basic functions.
It was kind of a bummer.
Anyway, you needed magic power to use even the basic functions.
I wrestled with it for hours and finally managed to get a tiny bit of my magic power into the thing.
It was super hard since I'd never actually been taught how to use magical items or magic, but luckily, I'm a pretty quick study.
If I had to put my finger on it, it felt kind of like when I move my magic power around to talk to plants.
And just like that, the magical item in my hand started to sparkle.
Now, if anything dangerous came near, the barrier would pop open like an umbrella.
'Speaking of umbrellas.'
"But who was that hiding before? The one who dropped the wooden bear near me!"
[Oh, you mean Elisa's little buddy?]
'It was Blaine Winterwald after all.'
Then, was that a peace offering?
I thought, stroking the cute bear in my hand.
Once the procession's over, I should work up the courage to go find him. He might not be as bad as I think.
'He even got me this super expensive wooden doll.'
I made a promise to myself, clutching the protective magical item.
'Anyway, tomorrow night, I'll sneak the protective magical item under Elisa's carriage seat.'
The procession is the day after tomorrow!
But no matter how much I thought about it, I was still hung up on not having enough of them.
'I need to find out more.'
All of a sudden, my head started drooping.
I was too wiped to even make it up to my room on the fourth floor, so I just collapsed on the stairs in the front lobby.
'Just a quick rest, then I'll...'
I guess I'd worn myself out running around all day.
I was nodding off like a sick chicken when Kate came up to me.
"Ririn, what are you doing here?"
Whoops. Almost dozed off.
I stretched out and said.
"Waiting for Dad... no, the Duke!"
"The Duke?"
"Yep."
Actually, this was my habit.
Waiting for Dad in front of the house around dusk!
"Oh, there's a carriage coming in."
Kate stroked my head and gestured.
The carriage stopped in the distance, and Dad appeared with Ruska.
"Kyaa!"
My sleepiness vanished!
I jumped up and ran.
If I ran like this, Alex-dad, always worn out from work, would come running, eyebrows practically flying off his face, swing me around, and give me a big hug.
It's kind of a bummer that now my eyebrows are the only ones doing the flying... but, oh well!
"Daddy! Welcome back!"
Dad glanced at me and kept walking.
I trailed after him.
"Where are you going? Aren't you going inside?"
"East garden."
My eyes got even bigger.
The east garden was one of the places I had been eyeing.
The Winterwald estate was huge, and it had tons of gardens to match.
But the ones around the main house where I was staying were all small and boring—super stiff and formal.
But the garden in the east was different.
'It was more like a small forest than a garden!'
I heard there was even a lake!
"Why there? Why?"
Ruska, who was standing a little behind, answered my question.
"We're planning on building another addition."
"Oh."
"We're thinking of putting up a workshop and a little getaway place for Lord Blaine."
"Ooh..."
So, the bad guy's dad...
'Just as I thought, he's probably making, like, super-weapons or something.'
Yeah, yeah. Gotta make that stuff hidden away in the woods.
Ruska said he had some things to finish up and would follow later.
Dad pointed at me with his chin.
"Drop this kid off at the dining hall on your way."
No way.
"I'm going too!"
"Who said anything about taking you? Maids don't go there. It's for gardeners."
"Then I'll be a maid and a gardener and a daughter! The more jobs, the better!"
"Forget it."
Dad shook his head and walked away with those giant steps of his.
I chuckled at his back.
Did he think I couldn't catch up?
I mean, I was a super-strong kid who exercised every morning, if I do say so myself.
When I caught up to him pretty quick, thanks to all my practice, Dad raised his eyebrows like, 'Not bad.'
Of course, that only lasted for like, two minutes.
"Huff, huff. Why is it so far..."
Man, I wish someone would give me a lift in a carriage.
"Hoo..."
Then, the Duke, who was giving me this look, muttered, like he was grinding the words between his teeth.
"There's more than one way to get what you want."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, I was way up in the air.
I blinked in surprise.
'I didn't ask to be held. I didn't manipulate him.'
But it was the hug I'd been missing so much!
I grabbed onto his stiff jacket for dear life, not wanting to fall.
Dad, used to this, scooped me up and kept on walking with those giant steps of his.
Sweet. Faster than a carriage.
"...But I've been meaning to ask you something."
I was getting close to the entrance to the forest-garden and sniffing the air like crazy when his low voice cut in.
"Have I been starving you or something? Not giving you enough meat?"
"Huh?"
I looked up, and bam, I was staring right into his blue eyes. He'd been looking at me for who knows how long.
"You feel like nothing but a shadow."
"That's just 'cause you're so strong... Whoa!"
My jaw dropped at the sight in front of me.
