5 『Zera』

Immediately from behind the tree, a person came out, the same person that Mavis would never have expected to see in that place.

"Don't-Don't hurt me!"

"Zera ?!" Mavis exclaimed, seeing that figure.

For Merlin, however, it was the first time he had seen that little girl.

A little girl who has brown hair tied in two tails and a small fringe that covers her forehead.

The wizard then looked at Zera with a serious look but with a gentle voice, "Would this lady be kind enough to tell me why she was eavesdropping?"

The little girl named Zera seems to have been terrified at that 'glare' of the magician. She would never have expected to be treated in this way.

It has never happened that she, the daughter of the guild leader, has ever been treated like that. Never. Everyone has always been kind and thoughtful to her.

The little girl didn't notice the wizard's tone of voice at all. She just looked at that face.

Immediately her eyes filled with tears, large drops began to fall down her cheeks, her mouth deformed, and together with all this, a really 'annoying' sound entered the magician's ears.

Well, not so much 'annoying,' since the first moments of Artoria's life were marked by these same moments. But Artoria was born recently. Here instead, Zera is a six-year-old child but, despite this, Merlin has not broken down, but Merlin never expected that his little 'joke' would cause all of this.

Fortunately, throughout his life, he has had to deal with children, albeit in a different way. After all, in all those hundreds of years as a court magician, he has seen countless generations of kings born.

Then, with a slightly guilty smile, looking at Zera, he said, "What a beautiful day today, isn't it?"

While on the one hand, a little girl was crying; on the other hand, after that 'joke' of the magician, another was giggling.

Merlin put his hand on his forehead. If only everyone were like Artoria, the wizard thought, she never cried as a child, only in her first moments. But now that the game is done, he can't back down.

"Now, now, we don't have to behave like this, after all ..."

In this way, Merlin, bending down on his knees in front of Zera, brought his hand in front of the little girl's bent head.

"Wouldn't you like this?"

While she was crying, Zera suddenly smelled a lovely floral smell, then, after hearing the words of the magician, she opened her eyes.

In front of her olive-green eyes, a magnificent flower appeared, a small flower with six petals each of a pale pink color.

"Would you like it?"

The little girl looked at that flower for a few seconds and then unconsciously took it with her small hands, forgetting in this way to cry.

Merlin nodded with a smile, "Fortunately, children are so easy to 'buy.'" Soon after, however, he seems to have noticed what he said, "But the term I said it doesn't seem like it's the right one…" but he immediately gave a shrug forgetting what he just said.

"So, what about introducing yourself?" the wizard said towards the little girl with the two pigtails.

"..."

Merlin seems not to have heard anything, so with a smile, he turned his head, placing a hand near his ear, "How did you say?"

"... Zera ..."

Finally, this time the magician heard the name, so, nodding, he looked at the girl again with his two purple eyes, showing a smile, "It wasn't difficult, see?"

Zera looked up, and at the sight of that smile, it seems that all her anxiety has suddenly disappeared.

Precisely for this reason, in a really faint voice, she muttered, "Why didn't you show that smile earlier ..."

Merlin, placing a hand on his chest, bent his torso, making a kind of bow, "Greetings, I'm Merlin. I'm also known as the Magus of Flowers, but you can just call me Merlin as Mavis does."

The little girl looked at Merlin, curiously, "It's the reason of why you are full of flowers?"

Merlin nodded with a smile, "I'm called the Mage of Flowers because I like flowers."

But soon after, the magician seems to have noticed that something was missing in this presentation of his. He immediately put on a thoughtful look, a look that was thinking carefully about every little detail.

Still, not even two seconds later, he shook his head with a serene smile, a smile of a person who is at peace with heaven and earth, "If I don't remember it, it means that it wasn't that important."

But immediately afterward, Merlin felt like he was flying with incredible strength. Only with great effort did he manage to stay in that same spot even though he fell in the process.

"Stupid Merlin!" exclaimed a small voice full of 'fury.'

As soon as he heard this little voice, Merlin remembered what he forgot about.

But he can't open his mouth because the little creature started giving him so many 'slaps' with his paw.

"I can't believe you forgot about me!" he continued saying with some anger in his tone of voice.

"We last met as soon as five minutes ago!"

Merlin immediately raised his hands as if to indicate his surrender to that 'fight.' Only then does the creature seem to have calmed down, letting go of the wizard.

While all of this was happening, the two little girls watched this scene without words.

Zera would never have expected this situation, not even Mavis.

Zera would never have expected that person could make such funny reactions, while for Mavis, she would never have expected that Merlin could behave in this way. The little girl has always seen him as a model person, always calm and smiling—a person who is never caught unprepared and ready to give advice.

But what struck the blond-haired girl together with the behavior of Merlin, is the fact that Fou, or as she called him, could speak.

The child immediately ran in the direction of the magician who, seeing her arrive, seems to have found his lifeline. So, Merlin closed his eyes and reached out his hand in the direction of the child, but he didn't feel anything grabbing it.

Opening his eyes again, he saw how Mavis completely ignored him, leaving him alone while she stroked Fou instead.

Merlin sighed at that vision, and then said without turning his gaze, "If you want to go too, go, leave me here alone on the ground, because you know, I really like this flowery ground."

Zera immediately understood that he was referring to her. So, turning her head, she snorted, "I wouldn't even think for a second about being with that cluster of germs ..."

Mavis immediately turned around and exclaimed in an 'angry' tone in the direction of the other child, "Fou has no germs!"

The little girl clearly knows who Zera is referring to. She knows very well that she is referring to her and not to the little creature, but now these insults no longer scratch her. She finally had some courage to answer; after all, Merlin is here with her.

Zera, on the other hand, does not seem to have noticed that Mavis understood what she meant. She simply looked at the other little girl again to say in a haughty tone, "I'm talking about you, idiot!"

"What should I do ..." the wizard murmured to only right after smile again refreshingly, "But this is what makes people interesting ..."

In this way, standing up, he arrived in front of Zera, and with a smile, he said, "These bad things can deeply hurt other people, you know?"

That wizard's smile, together with those words, shook the little girl deeply, but she didn't show it.

In fact, with a look that seems not to have cared at all about what the magician told her, she looked at him out with the corner of her eye, "So what?"

But the little girl seems to have forgotten that until not even a few minutes ago, she was here crying for something that the wizard hadn't even done, but despite this, the magician did not remove that smile of his from his mouth.

Merlin continued to look at her for a few seconds, and then said, "Let's put it this way, would you like it if another person called you in the same way you call the others?"

Only now, with these words, Zera has shown a reaction. She already knew these things aren't nice to say, but despite that, she continued.

All the adults present within her guild never told her anything, not to mention that Mavis never responded to her insults.

But this intervention with a stranger made her realize that it would hurt her a lot if someone else had told her this.

"After all, talking to a stranger can help solve problems sometimes, and your dear friend Merlin is always here ready to help," said the magician with a refreshing smile.

For this reason, she immediately looked down, trying not to look the magician's smile anymore.

That smile seems to tell her to apologize to Mavis. Zera, however, she does not want to do this even if she has understood that everything she has said so far is really mean.

"I don't force you to say sorry. Each person is interesting in their own way; each person has their own unique character and mind; this makes humans all different and unique. This makes the human world wonderful. But at least you should apologize to Fou, okay?" said the magician with a smile, bowing his head in the direction of the little girl.

Zera nodded to those words of the magician.

Then, with small steps, she went close to Mavis and Fou, and without looking at the other child, she set her eyes on the little white creature.

"Sorry…"

Zera has previously heard that this strange creature knows the human language and speaks it as well.

Fou immediately understood who Zera was talking about before. In fact, as soon as the little girl with pigtails insulted Mavis, he immediately gave Mavis many small pats on the side of the head so as to console her.

Fou immediately shook his head at the sight of that apology.

He was not in the least offended precisely because he understood from the start, so jumping from Mavis's embrace, he jumped on Zera's shoulder and seeing him jump on her shoulder, the little girl got a bit scared.

She doesn't know what to do; she saw how a 'pat' of this little animal could hurt; the proof was Merlin lying on the ground with a red cheek.

For this reason, with a slightly forced smile, she looked at the creature.

What she received in return is what she feared so much in her little head. As soon as she saw the creature's paw approaching, she immediately closed her eyes, trying not to look.

What she felt instead was a soft and warm touch.

So, as soon as she slowly opened her eyes, she saw two purple gems gazing deep into her soul, or so Zera felt.

"Kyuu ~."

"You can betray anyone, but don't betray yourself." Merlin said, coming close to Zera and Mavis, "Nobody here hates you, and nobody here despises you."

"Now, I leave you ..."

Mavis did not hear the whole sentence that the magician was saying, she immediately turned in his direction in panic, "You can't leave now, you promised to teach me magic!"

"Ah ..." Merlin sighed, "Dear Mavis, I think you got it all wrong. I'm just going to sit down."

Mavis's embarrassment at this moment can be seen merely from her slightly red face.

"This picture has a million stories in it ..."

"Two little girls, both with a unique character, one lively, one more reserved, both playing in the flowery field ..." Merlin muttered at the vision that presented itself before his eyes.

"You put your trust in me, and I will train you in return for that trust. My policy is to watch over you rather than fight alongside you. My reward will be the memories of our next adventure, … Mavis."