Faraway Survivor

Farah's POV

The next time I open my eyes, I find myself lying on a bed.

-The little girl awakes!

-Woah, really?

Many adults start approaching me as they find out about my awakening.

-Hey! Hey! Don't make her scared of you guys.

An elder laughs out loud and says.

-How could the handsome face of mince scare her? It must be because of your ugly face, old hag.

-You!!

I laugh out loud as I hear the conversation. These people really have a good sense of humour.

-Look! She is smiling now.

Some elders even take out the candy and give it to me.

-Little girl, do you want some candy?

I nod and accept their kindness. These candies are not something extraordinary, but I can feel the sincerity coming from them.

-Thanks a lot, grandmas! Grandpa! (Farah)

They somehow all look at me with warm faces.

-Do you want more, girl?

-Hey, old hag! Lemme give her instead.

-Hey!

It takes me a lot of time to escape from the friendly grandpas and grandmas.

After I am out of the room, I am inside one of many rooms deep inside the shelter.

-Should I take the stair and go up now? (Farah)

I shake my head since I want to check the other people's situation first. It's better to confirm there is no drawback to my treatment method. I walk around this floor, but only to see many elders and children residing here.

-Where are the adults? (Farah)

While I am asking myself, the nearby kind grandma answers me in a gentle voice.

-They have already gone out, child...

-Eh, where did they go, grandma? (Farah)

The grandma has a bitter look on her face as she answers me.

-I overheard some of their conversations. They didn't want to sit down and watch their hometown turning into this. Therefore, they all reach out to the newly created army.

-Why did they do that, grandma? Won't it be so dangerous for them to join that kind of unknown force? (Farah)

-Child, you may not understand. But that army may be their last hope...

-But I still think they should join their original army. (Farah)

The grandma scratches her head and says in a low voice. 

-The current army is not beautiful as you think, child. As soon as the war started, they only helped and evacuated the noble to the secret place. Only those ordinary citizens like us are not allowed to leave the city. We are like the scapegoat that was used to distract the revolutionary forces.

The grandma holds out her hand and tries to cast a small ball.

-You see...

But only a miniature fire comes out from the tip of her finger.

-You can use magic? (Farah)

-You must be surprised, huh?

I sit down on the bed near the grandmother and hear her out.

-It's not like all of us can use mechanical mana and utilize the machine. So us to those people do not differ from the burden. Not to mention a heretic like me...

-... (Farah)

-Since I have too little amount of magic, the machine won't be able to detect it when I was in the coming of age ceremony.

On this planet, the adult will check the children's aptitude at 5.

-Did the goddess of this planet implant this rule? (Farah)

Grandma shrugs and shakes her head.

-I don't know about this...since they held this ceremony even before I was born. As technology develops, those people have more and more methods to check their aptitude.

-Then the ending for the one that has mana is... (Farah)

Grandma has a wry smile on her face.

-Based on your reaction, you must have already known about that. Since you are not local, your friend may be the one telling you about this.

-Yes... (Farah)

-We either become a slave or run away from this planet. Though, it's not easy to leave this planet.

The grandma looks up with a sad face.

-If I could be reborned, I would never want to be born on this planet.

How horrible is this planet when a citizen comments about it like this?

-For the noble, this planet may be a paradise for them. But for us, it's no different from a scorching hell.

Grandma closes her eyes and continues talking.

-Then this war suddenly happened...

I can see tears coming out of her eyes.

-Can you understand the feeling that you lost everything over one night?

I can't help but try to hug grandma.

-Why I was the only one who survived after that?

So this is how the goddess of this planet governs her planet...

--------------------------------------------

At the same time, in an unknown place.

A little girl is covered by sand on the verge of dying.

-Is it my destiny to die here....?

The girl laughs sadly.

-Even a goddess would also have this kind of ending.

Madeus