The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 57

57. The Third Friends

Rosette’s face flushed, and she quickly changed the subject.

“I’ll introduce you to my familiar, too. This is Bbibbi. I named her Bbibbi because she chirps. She’s my first friend.”

“Wow, she’s cute! Is she a reed parrot?”

“Yeah, but she can do a lot of things. She can deliver notes, and…”

“Amazing!” Teresa exclaimed, genuinely impressed. Bbibbi puffed up with pride.

[Bbee!]

“Besides that, she also picks flowers. She actually picks flowers for me.”

“How romantic! But can you understand Bbibbi?”

“Yes, I can understand what Bbibbi says.”

“That’s so cool, really,” Clara said wistfully.

“I want to learn magic too! I want to have a cute familiar like that!”

Rosette almost said, ‘Not all familiars are as small and cute as Bbibbi,’ but stopped herself.

After all, Clara had no magical talent, so she would never summon a familiar.

Soon, Clara, recovering from her surprise, asked with sparkling eyes.

“If Bbibbi is your first friend, then what number are we?”

“Friend?”

“Yeah! What number are we?”

“Well, I don’t know. More importantly, are we even friends?”

“Yes! Why? Don’t you want to be?”

“No, it’s not that…” Rosette mumbled timidly. “Is it okay for me to be your friend?”

“What are you talking about?” Clara laughed.

“I’m the one who would be happy to be your friend! A friend who’s a mage! I’m going to brag to my sister. She’ll be so jealous!”

“Me too!” Teresa, who had been quietly listening, raised her voice, a little excited. “I want to be friends with you, too.”

Rosette’s cheeks flushed again.

“Then I like it too!”

Bbibbi, who was flying above the three children’s heads, also chirped with excitement.

[Bbee! Bbee! Bbee!]

Rosette chattered excitedly.

“My first friend is Bbibbi, and my second friend is a kid named Melody Oser. We’re learning magic together.”

As soon as Rosette said that, she realized her mistake.

‘Will they be disappointed that they’re not second?’

But, contrary to her worries, Clara shouted, “Wow!”

“So, Teresa and I are your third friends?”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

“We’re in the top five! That’s amazing!”

“That’s right, it’s amazing,” Teresa quietly agreed. Rosette unnecessarily folded her right-hand fingers, counting one, two, three. Looking at it that way, it really did seem amazing.

“I guess so.”

Rosette, Clara, and Teresa burst into laughter at the same time.

After that, the three children were busily talking about what items they had donated that day.

“Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”

At the servant’s words, everyone jumped up and paid their respects. Thanks to the special training over the past three weeks, Rosette could now strike a fairly plausible curtsy.

“Everyone, please rise. Thank you all for coming.”

“It’s our pleasure, Your Majesty.”

“The items you have donated today will be used for a good cause. As a token of our gratitude, we have prepared refreshments and a puppet show, so please enjoy yourselves.”

Ophelia smiled sweetly and walked gracefully to sit next to Joshua. As she clapped her hands, servants began to bring out refreshments.

“Wow, that looks delicious,” Rosette whispered to Clara, who was swallowing her saliva, as if telling a secret.

“Lucas told me that the head chef of the Empress’s palace makes great tarts.”

“Really?” Clara grabbed a tart topped with green grapes and took a big bite. She savored the taste and gave a thumbs up.

“It’s delicious! The tart crust melts in your mouth! I’ve never had such a crispy tart before!”

“I want to eat too,” Teresa said, and after also eating a tart, she was impressed.

“It’s really delicious. It’s like a taste of heaven.”

Rosette, who took a bite of a walnut tart last, smiled.

“It’s really good.”

There was a reason why Lucas had emphasized eating a lot.

While the children were talking and enjoying the refreshments, a puppet show began on the stage. It was a myth that all the children of the empire knew.

Rosette forgot about eating her dessert and focused on the puppet show.

It was definitely a story she knew, but seeing it again brought a new wave of emotion.

Everyone was engrossed in desserts or the puppet show when…

“……?”

[Bbee?]

Rosette, startled by the sudden vibration, asked Bbibbi.

“Bbibbi, did you feel that too?”

[Bbeet!]

Clara, who was listening to their conversation, asked with a fork in her hand. “Why? What do you feel?”

“A vibration…”

Before Rosette could finish her explanation, the floor vibrated greatly, shaking the table.

“Kyaa!”

Instantly, everything on the table fell, and everyone was thrown into chaos.

“Protect Her Majesty!”

As Joshua helped Ophelia up, about half of the escort knights guarded her. The other half began to take care of the children.

[Bbeet! Bbeee!]

Bbibbi saw a large crack forming in the wall and quickly urged.

“Clara, Teresa! Let’s get out of here!”

Some of the children, still young, were frozen in fear, unable to move in the face of the unprecedented crisis.

Teresa was one of them. She covered her head and trembled.

“What to do… I’m scared.”

Clara shook Teresa’s shoulders roughly.

“Snap out of it! We have to get out of here!”

The escort knights carried the children who could not move out one by one. Teresa was also carried out by a knight.

However, the children, terrified and rushing out without order, made the escape slower. About half of them had escaped when…

[Bbeeeeek!]

Bbibbi warned again from above Rosette’s head.

“……!”

Rosette instinctively deployed a defensive magic circle. She felt the mana draining from her body all at once.

Thanks to the practice of growing her mana core with Celine over the past few months, her mana core had become quite solid. She had also become sturdier from morning training.

But she still had the body and mana core of an eight-year-old. It was difficult to maintain a large-scale magic circle for long.

“Rosette?”

“Everyone, get out of here quickly!”

At the same time, the building began to collapse. The children screamed and ran out.

“You go too, Clara.”

“But…!”

“I’m okay. It’s helping me if you get out.”

At Rosette’s firm words, Clara nodded.

“Okay. Then come out quickly.”

Rosette gritted her teeth and endured. Thanks to Bbibbi’s help, she could hold on a little longer, but her arms and legs were trembling.

After seeing all the children, including Clara, leave, she reduced the defensive magic circle. Then, the building began to collapse from the edges.

Rosette was soon trapped in the rubble.

It was dark all around. Bbibbi trembled, scared.

[Bbee…….]

“It’s okay, Bbibbi. I can get out of here by myself.”

She had enough mana left to use magic once or twice. It might have been difficult if Clara or the other kids were with her, but it was okay because she was alone.

“It’s a relief that the other kids got out safely. Let’s get out of here before it collapses more.”

[Bbee.]

Rosette was about to find an exit with Bbibbi when…

“Save me!”

A desperate voice was heard from somewhere. Turning her head, she saw Antony, his leg pinned under a pillar, begging for help.

When he met Rosette’s eyes, he cried out desperately.

“Please save me! Please! You’re a mage with a familiar.”

Above her head, Bbibbi urged her to leave quickly. But Rosette couldn’t just leave Antony behind.

‘He did tease me, but…’

She couldn’t just stand by and watch this child get hurt.

Rosette hurried to Antony.

She tried to lift the pillar with both hands, but it didn’t budge. Realizing this, Antony burst into tears.

“Please save me. Your familiar can breathe fire. Can’t it move this pillar?”

Rosette hesitated for a moment and then stepped back slightly. Then, she began to squeeze out the last of the mana in her body.

[Bbeeet!]

Bbibbi also sat on her shoulder and lent her strength.

Thanks to Bbibbi’s help, the mana that seemed about to disappear became a little more stable.

As Rosette stretched out her palms forward and focused on the magic, the pillar that had not moved at all began to shake little by little.

‘Just a little more…’

Cold sweat broke out on her back. As she scraped the mana to the bottom, she lost strength all over her body. Still, she focused a little more.

Soon, the front of the pillar began to shake little by little and began to move noticeably. When enough space was secured, Rosette cried out urgently.

“Get out of there quickly!”

“Ugh, but my leg…”

“Is that what matters now!”

Antony, startled by Rosette’s shout, crawled out from under the pillar, using his arms.

Rosette put Antony’s arm around her shoulder as he limped to his feet. At the same time, the pillar fell to the ground with a loud noise.

“Let’s go quickly. It’s just a little further.”

“Okay. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Antony limped along with Rosette’s help. It was dark all around, so they couldn’t see the exit and just walked forward.

[Bbee!]

Bbibbi, who had gone ahead, told them to just go straight.

“It’s just a little further. Just bear with it a little longer.”

“Okay.”

The two children leaned on each other and moved forward.

How long had they walked? In the distance, they could see light coming through a gap.

“We’re here.”

But their joy was short-lived. The two children who had approached were in despair.

“The hole is too small. We can’t get out!” Antony cried out.

The gap they saw up close was a little bigger than an adult’s palm. It was far too small for the children to escape through.

Still, hoping against hope, Antony tried to push his head in, but even his head wouldn’t fit.

Unlike Antony, who was completely out of his mind, Rosette became calmer and calmer.

She had lived like a child, cared for by her family, but she had still lived to the age of twenty [in her previous life]. She had experienced such dangerous situations a few times.

‘It would be good to send Bbibbi…’

She had used too much strength earlier, so she didn’t have much mana left. She didn’t know when the stone shaking precariously above her head would fall.

If she were alone, she could somehow defend herself even without Bbibbi, but to use magic enough to protect Antony, it was better to have Bbibbi.

In that case, rather…

“Calm down, Antony.”

“Hwaaah. I’m going to die like this. I’m going to die!”

“Snap out of it!” Rosette slapped him hard on the cheek. Antony covered his cheek, shocked.

“Y-you hit me?”

“Let’s find another exit. There must be another place where people are gathered.”

“O-okay.”

Rosette put Antony’s arm around her shoulder again and got up.

They were about to go back the way they came when.

[Bbeet! Bbeeeeek!]

Be careful! Don’t go!