Crucible of Ideas

I liked this outfit for its cute design, but I also had a feeling that it encouraged the childlike impression I gave off.

Having said that, it was clear as day that a deliberately adult outfit wouldn't suit my child's figure.

"I'm not much of a match for big brother like this, am I...?" I wondered aloud, saddening myself.

"I'm sure big brother would prefer a beauty to an underdeveloped girl like me, too," I murmured, hanging my head.

I pictured someone who wasn't me walking shoulder to shoulder with big brother, and ended up bringing myself back to the verge of tears.

We were brother and sister, so we could probably never be lovers.

But still, when I thought about my beloved big brother being taken away by somebody else, my chest hurt so much it seemed about to burst.

"Not that." I couldn't hold back my tears.

I wiped them with the back of my hand, but they flooded out one after another and wouldn't stop.

My small sobs resounded in the deserted shop.

Just then, a voice called out unexpectedly from behind me. "Excuse me, is this a bad time?"

Hurriedly shifting my attention, I found that a person who looked like a customer had stepped into the doorway without my having noticed them.

I couldn't tell their expression thanks to the robe pulled down low over their eyes, but from the voice I guessed it was a young woman.

I had never seen her before, so maybe she was from out of town.

At any rate, her appearance was so sudden I thought my heart might stop.

Still feeling the violent palpitations in my breast, I called out a greeting to the strange visitor.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Welcome to our shop."

Still, it was stupid of me not to notice the sound of the door opening, even if I do say so myself.

She might even have seen me crying.

Fighting down my embarrassment, I tried to speak as I usually did.

"Is there anything you need?"

Going by her robe, she was probably a traveler.

But a woman travelling alone was rare.

Or maybe she had companions?

A woman coming to an item shop wasn't so unusual, but she seemed cloaked in a strange atmosphere.

As I stared at her, thinking such thoughts, the robed woman walked briskly in my direction.

Maybe she was looking for something.

But there was no indecision in her gait.

Maybe my staring had offended her.

She stopped in front of me and looked down at my face.

But due to the shadow of her hood, I still couldn't make out her expression very well.

"Umm... Anything?" I shortened my words, strangely uneasy, although I couldn't say why.

I had a feeling that the robed woman smiled faintly at my question.

And then she said something that caught me by surprise.

"There's something troubling you, isn't that right? I could give you a hand, if you like."

"Huh? Umm..." The words were too strange coming from a customer I was meeting for the first time.

My bewilderment showed on my face.

But the robed woman seemed to pay me no mind and let slip a little grin.

She continued to speak without concern.

"Hee hee. You want to ask how I knew? Anyone would think so once they got a look at your face.

Let me see now... Is it something to do with love, perhaps?"

"Huh?" My heart gave a jolt.

The corners of the robed woman's mouth rose in a smile, as if she had heard the noise.

"I thought so." The robed woman squatted down in front of me so that our gazes met.

I instinctively turned my face away, unsure of the situation, and noticed something unexpected peek out from the hem of her robe.

I drew in my breath instinctively, so shocked that I thought it might stop.

It was a long, thin tail.

It was white, ended in the shape of a barb, and moved back and forth with a swaying motion.

It looked too natural to be man-made.

There was no such thing as a human with a tail.

If she had one, she must be something other than human.

And, although the color was different, I knew what grotesque creature possessed a tail of this characteristic shape.

"M, monster...." My voice, grown hoarse, slipped out before I could stop it.

At those words the woman raised her eyebrows and glanced down at the tail peeking out from under the hem of her robe.

"Hm? Oh dear, that won't do." Despite her words, the woman showed no sign of dismay.

She spoke cheerfully, with a mischievous grin.

"Looks like I've been found out, huh? Well, I guess there's no need to hide it anymore, then," she said, removing her hood and exposing the expression it had concealed.

I was shaking with fear, my teeth chattering.

My eyes were irresistibly drawn to her.

What they saw was, in a certain sense, the figure of a young woman, just as her voice had lead me to imagine.

Her long, beautiful hair was like silver thread.

Her skin was spotless and white as snow.

Her almond-shaped eyes were like red jewels rimmed with long lashes, and there was something in their beauty that engendered a bewitching charm.

Beneath her straight and gently sloping nose, a smile hovered about her small mouth.

Her features could only be described as beautiful.

They made me think of a work whose elements were in perfect harmony.

Her charms were enough to fascinate even a fellow woman like me.

The word "pretty" wasn't sufficient to express her figure.

But the perfect beauty of her features only made me more forcefully aware that she wasn't human — a conviction that was further strengthened by the grotesque features with which her body was endowed.

The ears that peeked out from her silver hair were like a human's in color, but unlike a human's they tapered to points.

A single pink earring hung from one of them, swaying slightly.

Similarly, two horns, which certainly didn't exist in any human, emerged from her head.

Appearing rough, bony and hard, they resembled those of an animal, but I understood instinctively that they were entirely different.

They were the badge of a monster.