Side story: Luck (Part One)

"I'm heading out!"

"All right! But remember to be back before noon!"

"I know!"

It was a bright, sunny morning. After saying goodbye to her mother and leaving home, Raphtalia happily headed for the village square to meet her good friend Keel and the others waiting there.

"Oh! You really came on time!"

Keel was also a Demi-Human child, a member of the P 묘ro tribe with a pair of ears that looked very much like a dog's. When he saw Raphtalia arrive, he happily wiggled his ears in greeting.

The other children had already gathered, too-they had planned to go out and play together that day.

"The grown-ups said we can't play at the beach today because Sadeena isn't here... but it's not like that matters!" Keel said.

"But Keel, didn't you almost drown a little while ago? You still want to play at the beach?" one of their friends asked.

"Sh-shut up! Then let's go play in the meadow today!" Keel immediately changed his tune.

"Okay!"

"Fine by me!"

Everyone agreed with Keel's suggestion, and the children raced toward the meadow as though competing with one another.

Although Raphtalia was a Racoon Demi-Human, she was one of the fastest runners among her friends. A sudden burst of speed was all it took for her to leave everyone behind.

"Wow! Talia, you're so fast!"

"Hehe, just swing your arms forward and run ahead as hard as you can, and you'll naturally go really fast!" Raphtalia slowed down and happily explained her running tricks to her slower friends.

Enjoying the gentle breeze brushing their cheeks, the group soon reached the meadow near the village.

Their fathers always warned them that monsters might appear nearby and told Raphtalia and the others to be careful. But since they had played there all their lives without ever encountering any dangerous monsters, none of the children took those warnings very seriously.

"What should we play today?"

"Let's play hide-and-seek! How about it?" Raphtalia took a deep breath of the meadow's fresh air. Feeling better than ever that day, she made her suggestion with boundless enthusiasm.

"Sure!"

"I agree!"

"Hehehe, I've found the perfect hiding place! I bet none of you can find me!"

"Really? That's amazing! Where is it?"

"It's right... did you think I'd be silly enough to tell you? That's my secret spot!"

Just like that, the children began their game. Raphtalia volunteered to be it first while the others hid. Afterward, the children she found played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would be it next. They kept going until everyone was exhausted, then lay down on the grass to rest.

"What should we do next?"

"Everyone can stay and keep playing, right?"

"We don't really need to go home and help yet, do we? Mom says I only make more work when I help!"

Lying on the grass and gazing up at the white clouds in the blue sky, the children chatted idly. None of them wanted to be the first to head home and help with the chores-even if they were old enough to help around the house now, playing outside with their friends was still more fun!

"Let's play hide-and-seek again, Talia! I'll definitely beat you this time!" Keel said to Raphtalia, still looking full of energy.

During their earlier games, whenever Raphtalia was it, he had always been the first to lose. He refused to accept that. How could a boy lose to a girl?

"But I'm exhausted! Let me rest a little. Can we just say you won this time? Go play with the other boys!" Raphtalia replied wearily.

Although she had plenty of stamina, she still couldn't quite keep up with the boys.

Luckily, Keel was a lively child who couldn't sit still. When Raphtalia turned down his challenge, he immediately went off to find other children who still had energy to play.

The entire meadow was their playground. They could play whatever they wanted for as long as they wanted-as long as the grown-ups didn't come looking for them.

Before long, the boys got up one after another and began their second round of games, leaving the girls who still needed a rest behind.

"They really have so much energy," Raphtalia remarked with sincere admiration.

"They sure do."

Rifana, who lived next door, smiled alongside Raphtalia as they watched the boys play and voiced her agreement.

Rifana was Raphtalia's best friend, a cute girl around the same age as her.

She sat down beside Raphtalia and started talking about things that interested girls.

"Hey, hey, is there a boy in the village you like?" Rifana asked Raphtalia eagerly.

"Hmm..."

After all, they were approaching the age when romance began to interest them. Every so often, they heard the older girls in the village whispering about who was dating whom and who was going to marry whom, so naturally, the younger girls had become quite curious, too.

"Probably someone like Dad?" Raphtalia thought for a moment and answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Clearly dissatisfied with Raphtalia's answer, Rifana shook her head repeatedly. "No, I mean someone around our age..."

"Um..."

That question stumped Raphtalia. After racking her brains for a long time, she shook her head in defeat. "There seem to be lots of different kinds of liking someone, and I don't really understand them. But Mom says it's different from the way I love her. What about you, Rifana? What kind of person do you like?"

Raphtalia turned the question back on her best friend.

"Hehe!" Rifana sat up straight, planted both hands on her hips, and declared proudly, "I'm definitely going to marry the legendary Shield Hero!"

Not only was Rifana Raphtalia's closest friend in the village, but she was also more girlish than Raphtalia and loved talking about romance and couples.

Perhaps because of all the legends and stories the adults told, the person Rifana admired most among the four legendary heroes was the Shield Hero, who cared most deeply for Demi-Humans.

Hearing Rifana say she wanted to become the Shield Hero's wife, Raphtalia seemed stunned by her friend's grand ambition. Her eyes went wide.

She was about to ask more when an enormous sound rang out around them.

BOOOOM!!!

What happened?

Raphtalia barely had time to form that thought before the air around them suddenly began to shake violently, unleashing a fierce wind that nearly swept them all away.

"Whoa!"

"Eek!"

"Waaah!"

Everyone hurriedly dropped flat and waited for the wind to subside. A little later, once everything around them was calm again, they finally dared to get up slowly and see what had happened.

Wh-what on earth was that? Raphtalia whispered inwardly, still shaken.

Suddenly, she heard Keel shout-

"Hey! Look over there! In the sky!!"

Everyone turned to look where Keel was pointing, and they were struck speechless-

It looked as though a dagger had pierced the sky. An eerie rift stretched from one end of the meadow toward the other, dark and ominous, and the sky suddenly grew dim.

The apocalyptic sight badly frightened all the children.

Keel, who had always been bold, actually wanted to go investigate. Fortunately, everyone joined forces to stop him, and the children hurried back to the village in a panic.

Who knew what terrible thing might happen next?

Side-story chapters will only appear as bonus chapters after the daily updates, to fill in the characters' experiences (really, they're just taken from the original work. Since some readers aren't familiar with it, and the main plot probably won't go into detail, I'm adding side stories to explain those parts~).