"Haru!" Arsh called out to the green-haired boy running along the beach. Hearing his voice, the boy turned around and ran back toward Arsh. He had gathered his shirt up like a pouch, filling it with exotic fruits Arsh had never seen before. Although he held the shirt tightly with both hands, a few fruits slipped out as he ran. He glanced back at them with a look of regret, but kept running anyway.
'I wonder if it's possible to find these fruits in Tirsit. I'll look for them for you,' Arsh thought as he watched the child.
This place in Haru's dream was probably the island he had lived on before encounter Helen. Although he ate everything given to him with great appetite, everyone had already noticed his particular fondness for fruits. These fruits had likely been his staple food while living on the island.
When Haru reached Arsh, he dumped all the fruits onto the white sand and wrapped his arms around Arsh's legs with a smile.
He really was a very small child. Arsh wondered if the boy would ever be able to live in the human world. If he didn't start growing up when the time came like other children, and with that green hair of his, living here was going to be difficult for him. Arsh wondered if there was another place where they could take him back—a place where others like him lived.
He sat down on the sand and pulled Haru onto his lap. Wiping the sand off one of the fruits on the ground, he handed it to him.
"Even your dreams are innocent. Is there nothing you want besides fruit?"
The boy shook his head.
"Then, can I ask you to do something for me?"
"Yeshh," the boy said. Lately, he had been using these three words very often: 'Arshhh, Yeshh, No.'
"Alright then. Tomorrow, can you do what I tell you? And don't tell anyone that I was the one who told you to do it, okay?"
Fortunately, this innocent child would listen to whatever he said. Although the idea of using a child as a shield for someone else didn't sit well with him, he would stick to this plan for now.
...
The next day, Arsh and Mes were quietly reading together in the library, just as they always did. Lately, their studies focused on the Goddesses, what Haru's origins could be, and the Darkness. Although there were various legends and myths about the first, they knew nothing about the other two.
When it came to Haru's origins, Helen was the most knowledgeable person. She had seen various ruins on the islands she visited and had brought back some of the things she collected. However, there was no one among them, nor within their FFSD connections, who could decipher them.
While they continued reading, Haru sat quietly beside them, scribbling something on the paper placed in front of him. A moment later, he got up silently, approached Mes, and gently touched his arm from behind.
Lost in his reading, Mes hadn't noticed Haru approaching and flinched slightly.
"Hmm... do you want something? Let me just finish this page, and then I'll play with you."Mes said, patting the child's head.
But instead of letting go of his arm, Haru pulled Mes's shirt sleeve up. When the wound was exposed, he winced, looking as if he were about to cry.
"Ah... did the wound scare you?" Mes asked, reaching over to pull his sleeve back down. Instead, Haru gently placed a hand over the wound.
The reason he looked like he was about to cry wasn't the wound itself. It was because he felt sorry for Mes.
A moment later, Haru pricked the tip of his fingernail into Mes's arm. A quiet gasp escaped Mes's lips.
"Haru... why did you do that?"
Arsh was only watching from the side without intervening. Haru was smart, Arsh realized that, but now he also realized this little thing was quite strong. He grabbed Mes's arm with his small hands and didn't let go.
After digging his nail into Mes's flesh once more, he covered the wound with his palm. When he pulled his hand away, golden dust had already cascaded down from it, completely covering the wound.
"Haru, what did you do?" Mes asked in astonishment once again, this time standing up to look at his arm.
At that moment, Professor Reiner, who had been in his study in the room right behind them, came out and watched what was happening.
"What happened? Let me take a look," Professor Reiner said. Mes, still not understanding what was going on, extended his arm toward him.
"Haru suddenly scratched my arm, and then... I don't know... Professor, I feel a bit weird."
Professor Reiner had already started to examine his condition. Watching from the side, Arsh saw a smile, a flicker of hope. A moment later, the professor spoke.
"What are you feeling right now?"
"I feel like my mind is a bit foggy. It must be because I stood up too quickly just now," Mes said as he sat back down. But his face was growing increasingly pale.
Although Arsh was beginning to worry, he knew the Professor would react if something were wrong. Yet, the he remained calm.
"It is not because of that... It's what Haru did to you. Your body accepted the siuni."
"…?"
Mes turned to Professor Reiner in shock, but no words came out.
Then he looked at Haru, and finally at Arsh.
His face had turned deathly pale, his lips were already beginning to turn blue, and his eyes were slowly losing focus.
"But... how is that possible...?"
Before he could say anything else, he collapsed.
Arsh rushed toward him, but Professor Reiner raised a hand, signaling him to stop.
"Don't worry. His body is just too weak, so it will take time for him to adjust. But he is fine," the Professor said, his voice sounding fragile and trembling.
"Thank you," he added in a whisper.
When Arsh glanced him, he caught sight of Professor Reiner quickly wiping his face. When the Professor turned back, his expression was as composed as ever.
"Come on, help me carry him to his room."
...
When Bera saw Mes lying in his bed during the day, fainted, he was close to losing it. But Professor Reiner acted fast. He explained what had happened, and now Mes's situation was more stable than before.
After hearing this, for the first time, Bera got close to Haru and gave him a hug. Haru didn't reject it. It was as if they could both read each other's feelings perfectly. Perhaps that was why they had preferred to keep their distance from one another until now.
At that moment, when Professor Reiner and Arsh met each other's eyes, they both silently looked away. Fortunately, Bera's emotions were far more complicated than usual, so he paid no attention to either of them.
When Arsh had approached Professor Reiner with his plan, he had been forced to reveal far more than he had intended. After hearing the whole story, Professor Reiner admitted that he had already suspected something unusual was going on. He also promised that he would not share what Arsh had told him with anyone else.
But there was no way he could explain how he had suddenly found the symbol to complete Mes's siuni. At that point, using Haru was the best option.
Just as Arsh had explained beforehand, Haru did exactly what he had been told to do. Meanwhile, Professor Reiner stayed in his study that day, ready to intervene if anything unexpected happened. Thanks to that, they had managed to get through the whole incident without raising the others' suspicions.
As Arsh waited for Mes to wake up later that day, one question kept lingering in his mind. It was something he could have asked the girl from the very beginning.
What ability did Mes's siuni grant him?