"War, you say?"
Plimene was quite taken aback by the sudden mention of war. She was aware that Tirna's political situation had been turbulent recently.
Actually, it wasn't a recent matter. It was because the overall atmosphere in Tirna had been heading toward the worst due to the disaster that suddenly struck District 49 one day.
She had hoped that things would get better with time, but perhaps because the city government had placed high expectations on District 49, the aftermath remained even after time had passed.
Tirna tried to hide this fact somehow, but it couldn't be easy. Even after a year, those wounds hadn't disappeared, and rather, neighboring countries that had been intimidated by Tirna's rapid growth had caught wind of it.
"Even so, war. This is too sudden."
"......There's no point in talking about something that's already happened—it'll just make your mouth sore. What's important is what happens to the city because of this war."
"It'll be fine, right? The city is strong."
The Free City of Tirna is a massive nation composed of cities. That's why other kingdoms resented it but couldn't dare touch it.
'Perhaps from the moment they realized the city had weakened, the kingdoms might have formed alliances and prepared meticulously.'
In a way, it could be considered Tirna's greatest crisis. But at the same time, it was something they would inevitably have to face at least once.
"What had to happen has happened. You don't need to worry."
Julius was reassuring Plimene when he noticed his signal device ringing.
"Oh no. It seems the workshop is calling for me."
"Julius, you'll be okay, right?"
Plimene asked with a worried voice. Julius was an excellent mage. If war broke out, he would inevitably be conscripted.
At that question, Julius smiled mischievously.
"What? Are you worried about me? Even though you always speak sharply, you really think of me that way after all?"
"It's, it's not like that! It's just, when someone you know gets dragged off to war......that's lonely."
Julius chuckled and roughly ruffled Plimene's hair with his hand.
"What, what are you doing!"
"You don't need to worry. Even if I get dragged off, I'm a mage. I'll be treated as valuable. If the city has any sense, they'll treat us safely."
Plimene knew. That conversely, because enemies would desperately target mages, the danger would only increase. But she didn't want to thrust such cruel reality at this man who was trying to reassure her.
"I understand."
"And even if war is declared, it'll be fine. Tirna is strong. Tirna's soldiers will block them magnificently."
Julius said as he draped his cloak from the coat hanger over his shoulders. The bluish cloak had emblems embedded in it, proving that he was a mage and simultaneously belonged to a certain workshop.
"Well then, I'll be going."
After Julius left like that, Plimene just quietly stared at the spot where he had disappeared.
"He's a good person."
The one who spoke to Plimene was her younger brother Phillis, whom she thought was sleeping.
"Phillis. I told you to lie down."
"Sister, why do you keep rejecting Julius' feelings?"
At Philips’s question, Plimene seemed to be at a loss for words and kept her mouth tightly shut.
"......That's not something you need to concern yourself with."
"Just as sister worries about me, can't I worry about sister too?"
"That's......"
"He's a good person. Sister can see that too. That Julius is sincere."
"......I know too."
Plimene recalled her first meeting with Julius. Right. When they first met, honestly, she couldn't say she liked him.
Plimene worked while studying to earn rent money. She worked at a spinning factory in the morning, at a flower shop during the day, and as a waitress at a restaurant in the evening.
People of this era all lived like that. Plimene especially had one more mouth to feed, so she had to work that much harder.
Besides earning rent and living expenses, she also had to earn money for her sick brother's medical treatment.
She met Julius at the restaurant where she worked as a waitress.
At the time, Julius had come with his peer friends who were also mages like him, and they were drinking beer heavily. Whether something good had happened, they drank heavily and quickly got drunk, and then one of Julius' group started hitting on Plimene, which caused trouble.
-Hey. Miss. Are you ignoring me? Why won't you answer when I keep asking your name!
Drunk customers causing trouble was familiar to Plimene. There had been more than one or two people who, enchanted by her appearance, tried to subtly approach her while drunk. Each time, the kind restaurant lady would step forward and chase them away, but if the opponent was a mage, the story was different.
Mages could kill a person easily if they set their minds to it. They were strong people who could easily take a person's life with a few incantations or a few finger gestures.
Therefore, in that situation where she couldn't receive the help she usually got, surprisingly, it was Julius who helped Plimene.
-Why don't you moderate yourself?
-Huh, huh? Julius.
-Do we really need to go that far on such a good day? I'm not sure. It ruins the taste of the alcohol.
-So, sorry. I must have lost my mind for a moment because I was drunk.
Whether the alcohol had sobered him up, the man apologized to Julius, but it was already too late. The mage who received Julius's cold gaze shrank his shoulders and fled the store as if running away.
The other mage friends were also watching Julius's mood. Plimene found that sight both satisfying and quite fascinating.
For her, who couldn't even use mana, mages were people of such a higher class that she could only look up to them. But she didn't know that even among them, there were ranks.
-Sorry, miss. I'm called Julius, and well, I'm just a mage who's fortunately receiving expectations due to luck.
Julius introduced himself as nothing special of a mage, but Plimene didn't believe him. Just from seeing how other mages watched his mood, she could tell that Julius held considerable skill and position within their group.
-It's okay.
-It's my friend's fault, but I'm not without responsibility either. May I ask what your name is?
Plimene narrowed her eyes. Right, in the end, this man had done that because he was interested in her too.
Plimene felt unnecessarily spiteful. So, knowing she shouldn't, she snapped at Julius even more curtly.
-What if I don't want to tell you?
-Really?
Julius raised his eyebrows upon hearing that.
-Then it can't be helped.
He shrugged his shoulders as if convinced and turned around, going back to his seat. Plimene watched that sight with fascination. She had expected him to persistently pry, but his easy surrender was completely different from her expectations.
‘Just a strange person.’
Plimene decided to let it pass like that.
And a few days later a customer came to the flower shop where she worked in the afternoon.
-Welcome...... sir.
-Oh. Hello.
When Julius saw Plimene, he smiled brightly and waved his hand. Plimene looked at him with an even more cautious expression.
-We met at that restaurant, right? How strange. I never thought you'd be working here too.
-What brings you here?
-Ah. Look at my mind. I want to get some flowers.
-Flowers?
Plimene skimmed through the list Julius handed her. They were fairly precious flowers, but not impossible to obtain. At the same time, when she looked at him wondering why a mage would want such things, Julius smiled awkwardly.
-Funny, right? A mage wanting flowers.
-Well, you probably need them for magical experiments.
-Right. Mages experiment with everything. Especially flowers and plants like these are included in that. How strange. I never thought I'd meet you at the place I came to get them.
-......Well, I was surprised too.
-More than that, are you really not going to tell me your name?
So he hadn't given up cleanly and wasn't uninterested? Plimene filled up the flowers written on the list and handed them to Julius, saying,
-Goodbye, customer.
Even after that, Plimene often encountered Julius. More precisely, it was closer to Julius frequently coming to the restaurant and flower shop where she worked.
At first, Plimene was wary of Julius, but she realized he wasn't as bad a person as she thought.
He was a young mage, and from what she could see, he seemed to be quite a notable talent in the school he belonged to. But she couldn't find even a trace of the arrogance that mages of his age typically showed.
Despite being a mage, he wasn't scheming and was honest in everything, and sometimes even pleasant. It was fascinating how he could be so humble despite being more skilled and of higher status than other mages.
As time went on, she began to have open and comfortable conversations with him, exchanging trivial jokes. She also learned that his thoughts weren't very different from hers, and that their personalities subtly matched.
Naturally, she told him her name, sometimes had meals separately, and he would come to visit her house. She introduced Phillis, and they got to know each other and had conversations. They had become such close friends that they would feel lonely when parting.
At some point, she began to laugh often while having conversations with him. Without realizing it, she would stare intently at his eyes, and she would respond to his mischievous jokes with jokes of her own.
Like that she fell in love.
"Sister worries too much. It's not like you can easily meet someone like Julius anywhere."
At Phillis' words, Plimene's mind returned to reality. As her brother advised, Julius was a good person. Moreover, he was capable and had outstanding looks.
Even if she just stayed still, women who were attracted to him would line up around him.
"I......"
"......Sigh. Sister has too little confidence. He likes you too, so why are you trying to deny it alone with your inferiority complex? Cough cough!"
Phillis' nagging eventually ended with coughing.
"Sister. It's noisy outside, what's happening?"
"It's nothing. Just, something came up. That kind of thing is common in Tirna, right?"
"Maybe so. But I'm worried. If sister becomes a civil servant, won't you live even busier in this busy city?"
"Still, I have enough capacity to take care of you, so don't worry."
After laying Phillis back down on the bed, she flicked her brother's forehead with her finger.
"It would have been good if I were healthy. Like other people, walking around outside normally, doing what I want to do. Not being anyone's burden."
To Phillis, who spoke while panting, Plimene said,
"Don't worry. You'll definitely be able to get healthy again. Now, take your medicine first. You haven't taken today's yet, right?"
"Okay."
After taking his medicine, Phillis quietly closed his eyes with a much more comfortable expression.
Shortly after, only the sound of labored breathing quietly echoed in the room.
Plimene, who was lovingly watching her brother like that, raised her head at the flower fragrance filling the room. At the window, flowers that Julius had brought were placed in a water bottle.
It was such a sweet fragrance that just smelling it calmed the mind and body.
After staring at the flower vase for a moment, Plimene pulled Phillis' blanket up to his neck and left the room.
After news of the war was heard, Julius visited Plimene's house more frequently than usual.
"Hey. Phillis. You're doing well, right?"
"Yeah. How are you, Julius?"
"Me? I'm the same as always. Oh, more than that, here are the books you said you wanted to read."
Originally, these were books that Plimene should have obtained, but Julius said he could do it too and took over the task.
Since Phillis couldn't go outside, all he could do was read books in bed.
"And this."
"What's this?"
"You were interested in the human body, right? So I thought it might help, and I brought a research book from our school. It's written directly by an elder, so you can't get it on the market."
"Is this okay to take?"
"What wouldn't be okay about it? Well, it's a book related to the human body. If there are clues for you to regain your health, it wouldn't hurt to read it. I didn't read this because I'm from a different faction, but I thought it would be good for you."
"Thank you, brother. I won't forget this kindness."
"You little rascal. What's this between us."
Plimene watched the two of them with a pleased expression.
Just watching them naturally converse like that, the story of war that had been heard a few days ago felt like something from a distant country.
Plimene earnestly prayed inwardly that this small happiness wouldn't disappear.