4 Snow was falling. Beautiful, cruel white fragments fell from the heavens, gradually burying the freezing body. It was all alone. It was cold. There was no one who would hold it close nor anyone who would relieve its starvation. The indisputable reality was there in the freezing limbs. The unalterable truth was there in that squalid body. Why am I so dirty? So poor? So empty? So cold? Those questions rose to the surface of an ashen heart for the thousandth time before disappearing. What would I have to do for this body to stop being this body? While an ephemeral consciousness gradually faded, what little remained was genuinely pondering that question. And as that pondering continued, the consciousness decided to try to stop living. And at that time— “—Are you okay?” A soothing soprano voice resounded in those frozen ears. The voice wrenched open eyelids that were threatening to fall, and the moment those eyes saw the owner of the voice, they widened. An outrageously beautiful, rich, satisfied, warm being was standing there. It was the first evidence that such a being could actually exist in this world. “I was thinking of trying to help you…Is there anything you want?” the being standing there asked, as if she was just asking to amuse herself. Or perhaps, as if she could see the glimmer of a wish harbored in that body. There is. Of course there is. Finding out that such a beautiful, rich, satisfied, warm being existed, there was a single thing gripped that cold, empty, poor, dirty heart. It was not merely envy or longing or jealousy—it was an all-consuming desire. I want to become you. I want to quit being me and become the clean, warm you. That rich being honestly had not expected that answer. Shocked, she laughed out loud. “You want to become me? How ravenous can you be? There’s never been a child who’s said that before!” There were those who had been saved by her love. And those who had sworn loyalty to her. But there had never once been a person who had wanted to become her. She laughed. The silver-haired goddess kept laughing. As if to demonstrate how unbelievably strange the request was. As if her interest had been piqued. “All right, then, I’ll give you—. In exchange, will you give me??” There was a slight nod in response. And then, in that slum devoid of all hope, the goddess reached out her hand and asked: “What is your name?” The girl’s lips twitched. “—Syr.”
There was an explosion accompanied by a terrible odor. There was an odd thwump as a puff of black smoke started to rise. Faced with the explosive disaster rising from the pot, the girl tilted her head cutely and calmly extinguished the heat source before shaking her head. Her platinum hair that was tied back, swaying as she did. “It feels like something is off…” Inside a narrow kitchen. The girl was cooking in a room that resembled a certain tavern somewhere, as if it was constructed to be a replica inside the familia’s home. Wherever her gaze might wander around the room, there were countless ingredients in pieces and in the pot as well as several other pans and utensils were charred. “Like it’s wrong…or like there’s something…like I’m missing something…?” Beside her, holding back her nausea with a hand to her mouth, was a female member of the familia, a girl of a similar age. Even hidden behind her long hair, her face was clearly beautiful, but currently it was twisted in grim agony. She was the poison tester—or rather, taste tester—for the experimental cooking that was being conducted here. “Should I say that it was far, far better back when you prepared things that you didn’t have to cook…or rather, I would greatly appreciate it if you could return to that…?” “Awwww, you’re so cruel, Helen! Even if it turned out like this, I am still trying my best, you know!” “I fully recognize and understand that you are trying your best, but…!” Helen shrank back a bit as the little girl threw up her hands in anger. Despite being clearly far stronger than the girl, she was careful not to be disrespectful. It could even be said that that was why she was suffering. “The die is already cast! There’s no choice left but to push on, break through my limits, and create the ultimate tasty dish!” Taking the cookbook from the table, the girl reaffirmed her resolve and furiously started reading it as Helen paled in despair. What did a person have to do in order to create such novel, strange, deviant dishes? There was no end to Helen’s questions. She could do nothing but shudder and declare it the work of a god. “I’m going to use the results of this training to make Bell happy!” Helen hung her head in exhaustion. The girl made another few dishes that Helen suffered through taste-testing, and then she put the best one into a basket. Even understanding it was not entirely fair, Helen could not help resenting the boy whose stomach would just barely survive thanks to the sacrifices of her and other taste testers. She did fully recognize that he would have to endure a fair amount of suffering, too, at least. “All right, I’m headed out!” “Ah! W-wait a minute! What about protection…!” “I’ll be fiiiine! After I head to the orphanage, I’m just going to the tavern!” As the girl finished up her preparations quickly, Helen gave up and just let it go. “Umm, please take care of yourself…L-Lady Syr…” She paused for a bit, struggling with what to say before getting it out. And the girl, Syr, smiled. “I will! See you later!”
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