“What?”
Rou was flustered by the Goddess’s resolute attitude. The Goddess cherished Rou and would grant him anything he asked for. (Of course, Rou’s requests were mainly things like whether he could eat a fifth sugar cube) This was the first time she had spoken so firmly.
Rou fluttered his wings weakly as if heartbroken and crawled up onto the back of the Goddess’s hand.
“But, but. Goddess. That child saved me. Even though he himself had been starving for a long time, he willingly shared food with me.”
Rou had completely forgotten the memory of bristling at being called a fly, and was already desperately defending the child. As Rou explained his life’s savior with sparkling eyes, the Goddess pressed her forehead as if in pain. Rou dropped one sugar cube into her cup so the Goddess could drink her deep tea.
“Goddess……”
《Rou. It’s not that I don’t want to help that child. Didn’t you say that child’s body and heart were both kind? But…….》
“……But?”
Kaine chose her words for a moment. She moistened her throat briefly as if Rou’s sparkling gaze was burdensome.
《Rou. Though this isn’t something I should say to you, my spirit, my power doesn’t have influence everywhere on the continent.》
“Yes. I know. The barren lands of the north are places where the Goddess’s power is weak.”
《That’s right…… I tried for thousands of years, but in the end I couldn’t turn that land fertile. Perhaps because of that, those from the north don’t worship me. And a god cannot help those who don’t believe.》
Rou blinked his eyes. He understood what the Goddess was saying. All gods couldn’t exert their power on those without faith. Especially those who grew up in the barren lands of the north without feeling the Goddess’s touch wouldn’t believe in the Goddess, so it would be hard to expect her help.
“That means…… that child is from the north, isn’t it?”
《That’s right. Black hair and red eyes…… He’s definitely a child of the north.》
‘Was I swept that far away?’
The child’s origin was an aspect Rou had never pondered. Rou had only wanted to grant the child’s wish unconditionally and hadn’t thought that he might not make a wish. Rou lowered his head and gulped down the sweet beverage.
The Goddess seemed to have already made up her mind that she couldn’t help the child, and if so, Rou also couldn’t do anything for that child who had saved his life. Rou remembered those small hands he had rubbed his body against. Unlike the plump and pure white children of that age, the child’s hands were chapped and rough.
“B-but…… That child might be different. I’ll go myself and ask the child if he has a wish. I want to help the child so he can sincerely make a wish to the Goddess!”
《Rou. How can you go down to that barren land? In a place where half the year is winter, you won’t be able to endure it with that small body.》
Rou spun round and round in place, feeling like he had to say something. But as always, the Goddess’s words made sense, and Rou couldn’t refute them. Even if he suddenly appeared and asked the child about his wish, the child wouldn’t suddenly develop faith he didn’t have, and before even meeting the child, he would likely freeze to death in the north’s cutting wind.
《Rou. Don’t worry. The child will eat well and live well even without your worry. Eventually, he’ll receive lavish treatment in a warm place.》
“……Yes.”
Rou answered in a gloomy voice. He flew slowly to his cushion. The Goddess set down thickly boiled sugarcane in front of Rou, but today, even catching the deep fragrance didn’t particularly whet his appetite.
Unable to ignore the Goddess’s sincerity, he just tasted it a bit and crawled back onto the cushion.
Rou was sad. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Goddess’s words. Since the Goddess only told him the truth, the child would indeed eat good food and live in a good place someday. However, given the child’s situation when he last saw him, it seemed it would never be easy to get to that point.
The fact that he couldn’t do anything for his life’s savior weighed heavily on Rou’s heart. The Goddess had the sweet things he enjoyed brought out so Rou could have a change of mood, but Rou could hardly swallow them down his throat.
While he was enjoying sweet things, it felt like that child who had shared a sugar cube with him would be starving. Those red eyes still flickering before his eyes made Rou feel guilty.
It wasn’t that he was making a silent protest to the Goddess or deliberately cutting off his meals. Rou tried to eat somehow because he didn’t want the Goddess to worry about him, but he couldn’t taste anything in the sugarcane soup he usually enjoyed.
Since the always bright and lively bumblebee was sprawled out listlessly, the Goddess’s worry was considerable. She would occasionally make time to come see Rou, and though Rou tried hard to smile, the Goddess’s eyes looking at such a Rou were full of concern.
One day when Rou had become thin enough to be similar to an ordinary bumblebee, the Goddess approached Rou’s side with a deep sigh. Rou wanted to greet the Goddess, but his head was too fuzzy and his body had no strength at all.
《Rou. Seeing you so heartbroken like this, my heart isn’t comfortable either.》
“I’m sorry, Goddess. I tried to forget but…… it’s not easy.”
The Goddess’s face was full of sorrow. It was the same look she had when watching him dying before he became a spirit.
《Won’t you eat just one bite for me?》
The Goddess set down a cup in front of Rou. Rou staggered up from his spot and flew to the honey tea that was lukewarm, just right for drinking. The tea gave off the violet fragrance Rou liked.
Rou stuck out his tongue to sip the tea but hesitated, feeling somehow familiar. Then he circled around the teacup once.
“Goddess. This cup, I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere.”
The Goddess smiled faintly as if Rou was both cute and pitiful.
《Where might you have seen it?》
“Somehow…… The same pattern as what I saw in that abandoned greenhouse where I met that child…. Ah!”
Rou looked up at the Goddess with eyes full of anticipation, and the Goddess answered with a smile as if Rou’s guess was correct. Rou jumped up, wanting to fly around wildly with joy, but his wings had no strength, so he plopped back down.
“Are you serious? You’re allowing me to go out to the continent?”
《That’s right. Since you desire it so much, I shouldn’t stand in your way.》
Rou’s eyes began to sparkle again. He could meet that child again. The opportunity to hear the child’s wish and grant it had finally come.
Watching Rou’s sparkling eyes, the Goddess exhaled a thin sigh. She slowly stroked Rou’s fluffy body. She had many concerns about how to send this small, innocent bumblebee out into the harsh and cold world.
《Rou. I don’t want you to take the narrow path with thorns. But since you want it so much, I have no choice.》
“I’ll work hard and definitely find out the child’s wish. Since you’ve allowed it, Goddess, I’ll definitely do so.”
But there are things in the world that can’t be done with effort alone. The Goddess had much advice she wanted to give, but seeing those eyes flushed with joy at the thought of being able to help the child, it seemed that whatever she said now wouldn’t be heard.
《If you’re going to ask that child about his wish, it would be better to appear in a trustworthy form. So I’m going to send you down to earth in human form.》
“In human form?”
《That’s right.》
Rou was flustered but had no complaints. Even if he were human, it would be more trustworthy for a fellow human to appear reliably and ask about wishes rather than a suddenly appearing bumblebee buzzing about granting wishes.
Having lived his entire life no bigger than a thumb, Rou was also a bit excited about becoming as huge as a human. If the Goddess permitted it, he also wanted to try living as a human as big as a brown bear.
Seeing Rou already having dreamy thoughts, the Goddess sighed again.
《Rou. I’m not giving you unlimited time. The time you can stay in the human world wearing that form is only 1 year. During the passing of the four seasons, you must make that child sincerely make a wish. Can you do it?》
“Yes! Of course!”
Rou answered energetically. Four seasons was enough time for bees to mate and a new queen bee to emerge. Rou thought that time would be enough to turn a human’s heart.
《……Alright. Drink everything in this teacup.》
Rou flew vigorously and sat on the edge of the tea. When he filled his mouth with the beverage, he could feel a subtle smell not covered even by the deep violet fragrance, but Rou mustered his strength and began to empty the cup. Watching the bumblebee diligently drink a beverage several times the size of his body, the Goddess also had determined eyes as if she had made some resolution.
Rou drank all the few drops of beverage pooled at the bottom of the cup. And the moment the cup became clean, his chest area began to tighten.
“Huk……”
Rou slid right along the curve of the cup. The Goddess carefully caught such a Rou and placed him on his cushion. The Goddess groomed Rou as if greeting someone being sent far away, and Rou instinctively entrusted his body to the familiar touch.
《Rou. To survive in the human world, you’ll need many things. If you remember the gifts I give you and the moments you lived as a bumblebee, they will naturally serve you.》
Rou didn’t fully understand the Goddess’s words. But soon the Goddess put a sparkling light in Rou’s mouth, and Rou gulped down the power filled with the Goddess’s scent.
《Remember. No matter where you are, you are my most cherished bumblebee.》
The Goddess’s voice began to grow increasingly distant. The Goddess’s touch felt in his fading consciousness somehow felt endlessly dear, so Rou rubbed his forehead against the Goddess’s palm.
That was Rou’s last memory.
