Time was always like fine sand slipping through one's fingers, quietly falling away before one noticed.
Elysia pushed open the window and looked at the sky outside. It had not been long since morning began, yet the sun was already blazing. Come to think of it, she had never seen it rain on Itogami Island.
As expected of a cursed land.
Then again, Itogami Island itself had been built by Chihiro Himeragi using forbidden arts, with the "Saint's Right Arm" as sacrificial building material.
Still, this temperature really killed any desire to play outside.
"Elysia..."
Barefoot, Kanase Kanon walked over to Elysia's side, seemingly wanting to say something.
"Good morning, Kanon."
Looking at the utterly adorable little angel before her, Elysia reached out and patted her head. Kanase Kanon did not resist at all; she even seemed to enjoy it.
"Good morning. Um... Elysia, I think my Sacred Gear has awakened." Her cheeks slightly flushed, she hurriedly shared her discovery.
"Oh? It's awakened already?"
Elysia had thought it would take several years, perhaps until Kanon was in her teens, for it to awaken. Yet it had happened so quickly! Was it because... she had been reincarnated as an angel?
After all, compared to humans, angels... even young angels possessed far greater physical abilities.
"Mhm."
When she woke up that morning, Kanase Kanon had noticed something was off. After curiously playing around for a while, she discovered that the Sacred Gear Elysia had given her had awakened.
"Elysia, look!"
Unable to resist showing Elysia, Kanase Kanon picked up an empty cup and tossed it down. Yet the cup fell incredibly slowly, allowing her to catch it with ease.
The cup's time had been slowed.
"...Little Kanon is amazing. Work hard and practice, then!"
The Sacred Gear's power had only just awakened,