MTM 93

That night, Harto once again had a dream similar to the one before.

A hospital room with the blinds drawn over the window, pure white walls, and a bed. And a small butterfly glowing white was perched on the back of Harto’s hand, softly fluttering its wings.

‘That butterfly I saw back then…’

Just looking at it made him feel better. He was so happy to see it that Harto stayed completely still, afraid it might disappear if he moved even a little.

As if it understood his feelings, the butterfly slowly beat its wings.

Click.

At that moment, the hospital room door opened and a nurse walked in. Just like last time, she didn’t spare Harto a glance. She irritably flipped through a chart and scribbled something down.

‘…What is this?’

The nurse, who seemed like she would leave as soon as she finished her work, noticed the butterfly sitting on the back of Harto’s hand. The moment she saw it, she frowned and she raised her hand. She was about to kill it.

Startled, Harto tried to shake his hand to scare the butterfly away. But his body wouldn’t move. He tried shouting at it to run, but as if it couldn’t hear his voice, the butterfly remained where it was until the very last second, then suddenly flew up just before the nurse’s hand reached it. However, it didn’t escape far. The nurse spotted the butterfly as it landed on top of the blind and slowly walked toward it.

‘Ah… no…!’

Harto was overcome with despair. It seemed certain that the butterfly’s wings would be cruelly broken.

But then, at that moment, flames suddenly burst forth from where the butterfly had been.

Whoosh!

‘Aah!’

A blazing flame began to burn the nurse’s fingertips, then quickly spread throughout her body. In the blink of an eye, the nurse’s entire body was engulfed in flames. Harto was horrified, but he couldn’t move, bound by invisible restraints.

Even as she suffered while wrapped in fire, the nurse slowly approached Harto.

‘Kh… uh, ugh… you… you…’

The nurse managed to move her melting tongue and spoke.

‘Ha… Harti…ros… is it…?’

‘No no! I’m not Hartiros!’

Harto desperately denied it. He screamed that it wasn’t true, that he wasn’t that kind of being, but his voice remained trapped in the dream and never came out. Meanwhile, the nurse was losing her shape within the blazing flames and slowly collapsed.

‘I, I… it’s because of me…. I couldn’t do anything, anything at all….’

Overwhelmed with guilt, Harto cried in agony as tears streamed down his face.

“…Harto! Harto!”

Harto was startled awake by the sound of someone repeatedly shouting his name. As his blurry vision gradually cleared, he saw Ser looking down at him with a face full of concern.

“What kind of dream were you having?”

“Me-me…?”

“Yes. Just look at how much you’re sweating.”

Ser gently brushed Harto’s forehead with the back of his hand and clicked his tongue. Only then did Harto take stock of his condition. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and his breathing was labored.

“I think you should wash up in the bathroom. I’ll have them send hot water.”

“Th-thank you….”

As Ser hurried out of the annex, Harto let out a long breath. When he looked around, the annex looked exactly the same as it had before he fell asleep the night before. Warm morning sunlight filtered into the glass conservatory and brightly lit the room.

“Yes… it was just a dream….”

It wouldn’t be an ominous sign. It was probably just anxiety buried in his subconscious taking the form of a dream….

Harto pulled himself together.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

After finishing his bath, Harto emerged from the bathroom. Thanks to this, he felt much better, and his cluttered thoughts began to clear somewhat.

‘I think it would be best to meet Isadora and talk to her first.’

Harto made up his mind. He postponed breakfast and prepared to go find Isadora.

“Harto.”

“Hm?”

Just before leaving the annex, Reina suddenly blocked Harto’s path. He looked at her with a bewildered expression, and after a moment’s hesitation, she suddenly thrust something out.

“I thought it’d be inconvenient if you kept carrying it around.”

What she handed him was a bracelet inlaid with spirit stones. The silver ring was dotted with bumpy spirit stones, emitting a soft glow.

“I’m fairly good with my hands. About what happened yesterday… I made it as an apology.”

“Oh, no! It’s not like that happened because of you, Reina….”

Harto remembered how he had burst into tears at the dinner table the night before and flushed as he denied it. But Reina didn’t look convinced.

“What’s with you, then?”

At that moment, Ser suddenly stepped over and examined the bracelet.

“I was wondering what you were putting together so busily this morning…. You made it pretty well. Spirit stones work based on purity rather than size, so it should be practical enough.”

Reina shrugged at the more favorable reaction than she had expected.

“Really? That’s a relief. I was even debating whether to make an anklet or a necklace, or even earrings instead of a bracelet.”

She added that she still had plenty of spirit stones left.

“Th-thank you.”

Harto hesitated, wondering if it was really fine to accept a gift like this, but he carefully took the bracelet. It was the first time someone had made something with such care just for him.

“Hm…. I want to give something too….”

“Why you?”

Reina looked at Ser from the corner of her eye, seemingly asking if he had done something wrong like her. Ser answered with an ambiguous“Mm.” He had already apologized for what happened at Honey, but in the end, the fact that he was alive now was thanks to Harto, so he just wanted to do something for him.

“Harto, come sit here for a moment. It won’t take long.”

“Mm….”

Creak.

Ser pulled a chair over, sat facing Harto, and gently took both of Harto’s hands in his own.

“What is it? Are you trying to use magic?”

“Shh, spectators stay quiet.”

Ser scolded Reina, then closed his eyes. In a low voice, as if telling Harto to focus, he spoke.

“Harto, think about the power you have. Specifically.”

“Specifically…?”

“Yes. Just think of the feeling. Shapes are fine. Smells or textures too.”

“Alright….”

Harto closed his eyes as well and thought of fire, water, and earth one by one.

Fire, hot yet warm, water with a cool yet refreshing scent, earth with a soft yet solid texture. They were all Hartiros’ power, but as he recalled them one by one, strangely enough, it felt entirely his own.

“I did it….”

When Harto murmured softly, Ser held his hands a bit tighter and recited an unfamiliar incantation. In that instant, a dim red light spread from Harto’s forehead. Indecipherable patterns appeared one after another, then faded, and a single spark flared up.

“Huh! Wh what is that?!”

When the spark quickly grew into a fist sized fireball, Reina shouted in surprise.

“…!”

Startled by the shout, Harto also flinched and opened his eyes. At that moment, the fireball, now with two eyes, jumped onto Harto’s shoulder as if it had gained life.

“Pipit!”

“Huh…?”

The fireball wasn’t hot, it was warm. It felt like it perfectly embodied the image of fire Harto had pictured in his mind.

“That’s because you made it with your own power. It isn’t dangerous.”

Ser smiled as if he could see through Harto’s thoughts. Apparently agreeing with his words, the fireball rubbed itself against the back of Harto’s neck and shouted, “Pipit!” It looked like a small bird with its body heat fully warmed up, acting cute.

“Can I… do other powers too?”

When Harto asked cautiously, Ser nodded as if it were obvious.

“Of course.”

He closed his eyes again and softly recited something short. A magic formation flickered into view, then a bubbling sound rang out as a large water droplet appeared.

“Pyupyu!”

The water droplet, with round blue eyes resembling Harto’s, gently settled next to the fireball. The fireball and the water droplet blinked at each other for a moment, then suddenly hugged.

“Pipit!”

“Pyupyu!”

Chiiiik!

As soon as they hugged, a white smoke rose from where the fire and water touched

“Ah, those two shouldn’t hug.”

Reina, who had been watching with interest, said as she waved the steam away with her hand. Smiling, Harto moved the water droplet to his other shoulder.

Last was the power of earth.

“Oh, what is that? That’s basically a rock.”

Maybe it was because Harto had thought of the word solid. The third element to appear was a small chunk of stone. Its rough but reliable appearance made it look much sturdier than the fireball and the water droplet.

“Krng!”

The stone leaped over Harto’s head, settling down with a steady, bird-like presence. The fireball and water droplet jumped in place, as if welcoming its arrival.

“What do I do…. You’re too cute….”

Harto was completely captivated by the small beings climbing over his shoulders and head, and he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Thank you, Ser….”

In response to his sincere gratitude, Ser shrugged.

“It isn’t over yet. Now give them names.”

“Names?”

“Yes. Even if they aren’t newly born, they came from your power. You should give them names.”

“Names….”

Just like when he had made his own name, Harto carefully looked at the elements of fire, water, and earth, thought for a moment, and then immediately opened his mouth.

“Spi, Mir, and Krom.”

They were the names of fire, water, and earth, respectively.

“Pipit!”

“Pyupyu!”

“Krng!”

When they received their names from Harto, the elements bounced in joy.