Chapter 200, Extra Chapter 200: Hikari's Morning
(Note: This chapter is set before Chapters 123.)
Hikari's day begins at dawn.
Perhaps it's a habit she's developed since childhood, but Hikari usually wakes up very early whenever her physical condition allows.
Wash up and get dressed.
The winter sun comes late, the sky overhead is gray and gloomy, and even the birds in the forest are quiet, huddled quietly in their warm nests or hiding under the hollowed-out tree holes.
Looking up into the distance, a faint white line appears on the distant horizon, like a thin mist, or perhaps an illusion created by anticipation of the sunrise. Whenever I try to squint to see it, I can never make it out clearly.
It's a bit cold.
The mountain winds halfway up the mountain are much colder than those at the foot of the mountain, where there is a lot of vegetation, because the surrounding area is open. Even with extra windproof facilities and insulation barriers, it is still difficult to block the cold winds that penetrate everywhere.
Rubbing her hands, which quickly turned red from the cold, Hikari breathed warm, quickly cooling vapor into her palms. She moved as lightly as possible back to her room, took out a coat with soft fur trim, and put it on.
Warmth returned to her body, except for her fingers that were still red from the cold.
This was the first gift I received when I traveled around the continent with Yao and the others.
A farm girl who suddenly lost her family and didn't know what to do next was invited to join a group by a kind passerby. Although it seemed like a heinous case of trafficking innocent women, the sixteen-year-old Hikari was extremely grateful that she had met such kind-hearted older sisters.
Just like now, it was a winter morning when the first snow had fallen. The difference was that she didn't have any trustworthy relatives by her side, and her former friends suddenly avoided her as if they were afraid of getting into trouble.
[Xiguang] happened to be camping in the town and saw the thin girl sitting in front of the grave mound, shivering. After observing her for a long time, he finally came forward and gently draped a soft fur coat over her shoulders.
“If you keep sitting like this, you’ll die.”
The mature woman, who seemed like a dignified lady, spoke without reservation, calmly narrating the impending facts.
Sixteen-year-old Hikari instinctively clutched the sweater on her shoulders and buried her head in her arms: "I don't want to die, but... I have nowhere else to go."
The woman seemed to sigh, and without caring about soiling her expensive clothes, she turned and sat down on a protruding rock nearby: "Where are your family members?"
"He's dead. He was just buried yesterday."
"No other relatives?"
"No... all the people I used to be close to are gone too."
"Hey... well, what about a house? You need at least a place to stay."
Hikari silently pointed to the scattered wooden houses not far away.
The bright red bloodstains still remained on the spot, and several large footprints remained on the messy muddy ground.
A slender hand gently stroked her head; the warm and tender touch caused glistening tears to well up in her eyes instantly.
She cried for a long time.
"Since we've met by chance, why don't you come with us?"
Without asking any further questions, at the crossroads of fate, Hikari, who was not yet a fully grown adult, nodded without hesitation and left the village where she was born and raised.
"...I never imagined that so many years would have passed in the blink of an eye."
"If Mr. Yumi knew about that choice I made back then, he would probably pretend to be angry and gently pat my forehead while calling me an idiot and telling me to be more careful in everything I do."
Suddenly recalling past events, Hikari murmured to herself, then chuckled at her own thoughts, unable to suppress the smile that curved her lips.
"But if I had hesitated even a little back then, I probably wouldn't have met so many kind people."
"Hui-jie, who loves inventing strange little gadgets; Yao-jie, who seems to have many secrets buried deep in her heart; and An-jie, who sleeps most of the time... Then, by chance, they meet Mr. Yumi, who seems lazy but is actually more serious than anyone else; Ms. Shenxue, who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside; the mischievous and cute but very timid fairies; and Annie, whom they have only recently met..."
Looking up at the fragments of magic stone shimmering with an unstable light above her, Hikari pondered for a long time, then let out a long breath and smiled: "Indeed, life is good now."
Yes, these are good days.
For a farm girl who once had a limited perspective and whose daily life consisted only of the small plot of land in front of her house, even her current lazy and leisurely life is already interesting and wonderful enough.
A disgruntled snort rang out from not far away. Hikari squinted and turned her head to dodge, but still couldn't avoid the lick that came close by.
"Ouch, it itches! I-I know! I was just thinking about something, I'll continue grooming you soon, please stop licking my face!"
Seemingly dissatisfied with its assistant being distracted, the Pegasus lying in front of it flapped its wings, which were mostly outstretched, creating a gentle breeze. It then turned its neck and gently licked the girl's cheek, causing her to dodge away.
The morning's daily lessons, which had been interrupted, resumed.
Following the techniques she had learned, and humming a lighthearted tune she had heard somewhere before, Hikari buried her head in the soft wings and down, grooming each hair of the snow-white spirit beast until it was so smooth and beautiful that it seemed to reflect light.
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