A gentle breeze blew.
The little girl tilted her head, still hiding more than half her body behind the nearest column. Ruger's words left her wavering, as though she had many wishes, all of them important.
"I want Father and Uncle to stop being sick, and..."
Little One thought for a while and rattled off a long list, but she seemed far from finished.
Ruger could not help smiling.
Little One's voice was already timid, and it grew softer as she spoke, as though she were still thinking things over.
Ruger twitched his ears as he watched her. Her family must have praised the gods and their messengers as all-powerful and eager to help, leading to the scene before him.
The child had taken every word seriously.
They might have encountered some kindhearted Wizard Apprentice. Little One had addressed him as a divine messenger right away, rather than one of the God-Gifted whom ordinary people most often encountered. That meant her family had spoken of divine messengers in their stories. For instance, when Lord Kurt had been forced to show himself on the island, he had called himself a divine messenger. Most Wizards and apprentices on the Endless Sea did the same. Only such messengers could be all-powerful, fulfilling wishes that some of the God-Gifted could not help grant.
Could it be someone in this palace?
If so, Ruger hoped he would advance successfully.
With that thought, Ruger could not help looking toward the palace. The isolation worked only one way, and faint spell fluctuations were already emanating from within, possibly from someone activating the magic array needed for the Ascension Ritual.
Meanwhile, he was also hefting the Weighty Book in his hand.
When he turned back, he found Little One even more adorable. Her grubby little hands nervously fiddled