Building Blocks

When the girl first mentioned Ur, Cain's first thought was, Was I reborn at a very early point in time?

The moment he heard that she was Ultear, Cain unconsciously let out a breath of relief, followed by joy, excitement, and other delighted emotions.

She was the first character from the original story he had encountered. It was like traveling back to ancient times and meeting people such as Ying Zheng or Li Shimin.

To make sure he had not misheard, Cain asked again, "Ultear?"

"Mm."

Ultear noticed the delight in Cain's voice, and she could not help turning to look at him.

His black eyes brimmed with happiness, joy, excitement, and other emotions Ultear could not understand.

Ultear did not understand why he wore such an expression upon hearing her name. Did he know her? She was certain that she did not know the boy before her.

Ever since she could remember, she had lived only with her mother and had never had any friends.

Ultear asked curiously, "Why do you look so happy?"

Ultear's question made Cain pause for a moment before he smiled. "Because I met someone very important."

Cain's words made Ultear fall silent. Was the important person he meant her? Why would he say that? Did he like her?

As she thought about it, her face began to flush.

Watching her face grow redder and redder, Cain found it strange. What is going on? We were talking just fine. Why did she suddenly blush?

If Cain knew what Ultear was thinking, he would surely sigh that the girls of the Ninja World... no, wrong setting. The girls of this world sure matured early.

The reason Cain said Ultear was important was because the girl before him could help him escape the Magic Development Bureau. He just did not know whether Ultear had already escaped once or had not escaped yet.

The best way to learn the current situation was to ask directly, so Cain said to the girl beside him, "Ultear, were you captured by these people too?"

The boy's question reminded Ultear of the fact that her mother, Ur, had abandoned her. The emotions she had only just recovered plummeted at once, and she buried her head in her knees, ignoring Cain beside her.

Cain saw that she did not want to talk.

He could not help scratching his head. He did not understand why she had suddenly stopped wanting to speak when things had been fine just moments ago.

Cain began recalling Ultear's story and gradually understood.

From Ultear's perspective, she had been abandoned by Ur. She did not know that because her magic power had been enormous since childhood, her body could not bear it, leaving her frail and sickly.

Seeing her daughter tormented by illness filled Ur with anguish. When she heard that the Magic Development Bureau could improve Ultear's condition, Ur sent Ultear there.

During that time, Ur had visited the Magic Development Bureau many times to see her daughter, but Brain stopped her every time.

Later, an explosion occurred at the Magic Development Bureau. Brain even lied that Ultear had died in the blast. Ur was devastated, and later took Lyon and Gray as disciples, placing the love she had for her daughter onto the two of them.

This scene was witnessed by Ultear after she later escaped the Magic Development Bureau. Believing that her mother had abandoned her, she eventually fell to the dark side.

Seeing Ultear's untouchable expression, Cain guessed that she had probably returned to the Magic Development Bureau. If he were to say something like, "Your mother doesn't want you anymore," right now—

Cain reckoned there was a good chance he would see Ultear cry, but he was not that kind of person.

Now that he knew the reason, things were easy. While he could not tell Ultear the truth directly, she was at her most vulnerable right now. As long as he treated her well—

There was a good chance they would become close friends. If he put in a little more effort later, would she not be the perfect child bride?

Thinking of what Ultear would look like when she grew up, Cain unconsciously let out a "Hehehe, hehehe" laugh.

Ultear heard Cain laughing beside her. The moment she heard it, her anger began to surge.

She was sitting here sad and upset while he was laughing so happily beside her. What was that supposed to mean? Growing angrier the more she thought about it, Ultear immediately raised her head, ready to silence this blond brat with a fierce glare.

Perhaps sensing Ultear's gaze, Cain snapped out of his fantasy. When he came to, he saw Ultear staring at him with watery eyes.

Cain did not find Ultear's gaze fierce at all. Instead, he thought she looked rather cute. Her chubby little face and adorable big eyes were simply too cute.

"Want to play with building blocks together?"

As Cain spoke, he shook the blocks in his hand. His sincere words and cute face instantly doused Ultear's newly risen anger, making it vanish without a trace.

Ultear said somewhat flusteredly, "S-something so childish? I won't play with it."

Seeing this, Cain remained completely calm. He arranged the blocks one by one, quickly forming a circular pattern in the middle. "Ultear, what do you think this is?"

Ultear glanced at the pattern on the ground but said nothing. Cain did not feel awkward at all. "It's the sun. You don't even know that? Then I'll make an easier one."

With that, he began fiddling with the blocks on the floor again. Seeing Cain take her silence as ignorance, Ultear thought indignantly, I just don't want to talk, not that I don't know.

"All right, what do you think this is?"

The sun pattern had vanished. In its place was something with a head made of one semicircle, a body made of two semicircles, and a tail formed from two trapezoids.

Not wanting Cain to look down on her, Ultear said, "It's a fish."

"Hehe, looks like I made it pretty well. Then take a look at this one."

After that, Cain made all sorts of shapes out of the blocks for Ultear to guess. At first, the shapes were fairly recognizable, and Ultear could guess them all.

But as time went on, they became increasingly abstract. Airplanes, dinosaurs, monsters, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider all appeared, making Ultear unable to stop herself from complaining, "You must have made all of those up."

Cain did not mind that she did not believe him. After all, even he could not tell that the abstract patterns on the ground were supposed to be monsters, Ultraman, and the like.

Soon, the day's recreation time ended, and everyone was taken back to their rooms. Lying on his bed, Cain looked at the blank white walls and believed that it would not be long before he and Ultear could leave this place.

When that time came, he would take Ultear to find Ur. Then she probably would not become one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory in the future.

In the time that followed, whenever recreation time came, Cain would seek out Ultear to play with her. Their relationship gradually improved, and they became good friends.