Character Bible: Short Story of Anise
Short Story of Anise
From Tales of the Abyss: Character Episode Bible
Translation by Pazu (otakara)
In the outskirts of the city of Daath lay the slums.
Within them, a group of unpleasant-looking men gathered at a particularly run-down little house.
“Hey, we had a contract, you know! If you can't pay up, then sell whatever you have, even if it's your eyes or your organs, to make the money!”
(...It's those debt collectors again.)
Anise clicked her tongue as she watched the scene. She was used to seeing this sort of thing whenever she came home from work.
Anise's parents, Oliver and Pamela, were extraordinarily generous people. Even though they themselves were poor, they would often give money or food to others who lived in poverty. On top of that, they would often fall for scams, so their debt was always growing.
“--Hey, what do think you're doing!?”
When Anise spoke up, the men simultaneously turned their heads to face her, a look of terror on their faces.
“Y... you... You're that brat who blasted us with a Limited the other day...”
“You want another one?”
“...L-let's get out of here!”
At their leader's signal, the debt collectors dispersed like a cluster of spiders. Anise simply snorted as she watched them go. Ever since she attacked them with a fonic arte some time ago, those debt collectors would flee at the sight of Anise. It was just an arte she learned by peeping in on lessons at a nearby fonic arte dojo, but the technique turned out to be suitable for Anise.
“Oh, Anise! You aren't hurt, are you?”
From the entrance to the small house came her father, Oliver, who on shaky legs, rushed to see her. One would think that with his obvious injuries, he would be in no position to be worrying about his daughter, but Oliver was the sort of person who would always put the well-being of others before himself. With his strong sense of parental duty, it was always Anise who came first for him.
“...Honestly! You're the one who's all beat up, Papa. Are you okay? You should get Mama to take a look at that...”
“Oh my, Anise! Those scary men didn't do anything terrible to you, did they?”
Sure enough, when Anise peeked inside the house, she saw her battered-up mother standing there. And sure enough, just like Oliver, she was putting her own well-being aside and was worriedly inquiring about Anise's health instead. It looked like those debt collectors had the gall to raise their fists against Pamela, too.
“...Damn it, those bastards! They better watch out...”
“My, my, Anise. Where did you learn those sorts of words?” Pamela asked, lowering her eyebrows with a sad expression. Anise was weak against that kind of look from her mother.
“I-it doesn't matter where. More importantly, you two should see a doctor.” As Anise scrambled to change the subject, it was Oliver's turn to give her that sad look.
“That's not possible, Anise. I'm afraid we just don't have the money for a doctor.”
“There's no problem, then! I just got paid today.”
Anise cheerfully presented a leather pouch she had been hiding. To help with her family's dire money situation, she had been helping with the dishes at a nearby pub. She also learned a few simple and inexpensive recipes while working there, making it a job she could be grateful for.
But Oliver simply pushed the pouch back to her with a troubled look on his face.
“We can't do that, Anise. You worked your hardest to earn that money.”
“That's right. You should spend that money on yourself. The two of us couldn't possibly use it.” Even Pamela spoke up in agreement, sending a serious look in Anise's direction.
Ahh, this was it.
This was the reason Anise could never bring herself to hate her parents.
No matter how many strangers they donated to, no matter how many people deceived and scammed them, that couple of pushovers refused to lay a hand on any money that was meant for Anise. No matter how many days they had to starve through, it was only towards Anise that they always held that conviction. It was hard to call any of their efforts and endeavors successful, but because of the unconditional love they showed for her, Anise could never abandon her parents.
“By the way, Anise. We have some very good news for you!” With a grateful smile, Pamela gently took Anise's hand into her own.
At that moment, Anise could feel her sixth sense tingling. Whenever her parents gave her that kind of look, it usually meant they had just gotten roped into some con artist's scheme.
“...This isn't another scam, is it?”
“Hahaha. Always the skeptic, aren't you?”
Anise went ahead and voiced her suspicion, but Oliver smiled mildly as he denied it. In Anise's opinion, he was much too naive for his own good. It was like the parents were always on a different page than the child. When Anise let out an exaggerated sigh, Pamela spoke up in a strong voice, trying to reassure the girl.
“Don't worry, Anise! You see, a powerful person from the Order of Lorelei has offered to shoulder our debt for us.”
“Huh? The Order of Lorelei? Why?”
“He told us it was because we've been such devout followers of the Order.”
That sounded weird. When she thought about it, there had to be a lot of poor, devout followers in the world. There was no doubt that if they tried to save all of them, even the Order of Lorelei would end up bankrupt.
“What's the catch?”
“Anise. It's not good to be so distrustful of others. Besides, the one who brought us this offer was Grand Maestro Mohs himself.”
At Oliver's casual reply, Anise gave another big sigh. Grand Maestro Mohs was the second most powerful man in the entire Order. Why would somebody like that care about what happened to some unimportant followers like Oliver and Pamela? This development just made the story sound more and more suspicious.
“Besides that, the Order of Lorelei will arrange for a new place for us to live, and you'll even be able to go to school!”
Hearing her own name brought up so suddenly, Anise took on a bewildered look.
It didn't make sense. If the Order was going to send her to school, they had to be asking for them to pay her tuition, right?
But that wasn't the case, as Pamela confirmed with a shake of her head. It seemed they didn't need to have any money prepared. With each development sounding more suspicious than the last, Anise didn't know what to do.
“Anise, they've told us that they'll admit you into the Oracle Knights officers' school. Grand Maestro Mohs has heard about you, and your ability to use fonic artes. He says that if you refine your skills at the academy, you could even become a Fon Master Guardian someday.” Pamela explained proudly with an oblivious smile.
The more she heard, the fishier it sounded. There was no way they'd be given this offer if there wasn't something in it for Mohs. For a brief moment, Anise wondered if maybe she was his objective, but it seemed pretty unbelievable to think he'd need a little girl just barely over 10 years old for anything, so she figured it had to be something else he was after.
“See, doesn't that sound like a good deal?” Oliver gave the girl a wide smile as he tried to get some agreement out of her.
In all honesty, Anise didn't have much confidence in this. But this was the widely respected Order of Lorelei they were talking about. At the very least, there was no reason that the Order would try to swindle money from a couple of common followers. And if she did manage to become a Fon Master Guardian, and it went well, and she managed to catch Fon Master Ion's eye, maybe she could aim for a wealthy marriage in the end. In fact, even if that didn't work out, her career could still help her find a nobleman she could marry.
But first and foremost, this wasn't a decision they could rush into.
“...I'm going to give this offer a good look-through to see if it's a scam or not. We can give our answer after that. Now, with that settled, we should start on dinner...”
“About that, Anise...”
“I'm afraid we've already signed the contract.”
--Gahh, what a stupid couple!
And that was how Anise's entrance into the Oracle Knights was decided.
From Tales of the Abyss: Character Episode Bible
Translation by Pazu (otakara)
In the outskirts of the city of Daath lay the slums.
Within them, a group of unpleasant-looking men gathered at a particularly run-down little house.
“Hey, we had a contract, you know! If you can't pay up, then sell whatever you have, even if it's your eyes or your organs, to make the money!”
(...It's those debt collectors again.)
Anise clicked her tongue as she watched the scene. She was used to seeing this sort of thing whenever she came home from work.
Anise's parents, Oliver and Pamela, were extraordinarily generous people. Even though they themselves were poor, they would often give money or food to others who lived in poverty. On top of that, they would often fall for scams, so their debt was always growing.
“--Hey, what do think you're doing!?”
When Anise spoke up, the men simultaneously turned their heads to face her, a look of terror on their faces.
“Y... you... You're that brat who blasted us with a Limited the other day...”
“You want another one?”
“...L-let's get out of here!”
At their leader's signal, the debt collectors dispersed like a cluster of spiders. Anise simply snorted as she watched them go. Ever since she attacked them with a fonic arte some time ago, those debt collectors would flee at the sight of Anise. It was just an arte she learned by peeping in on lessons at a nearby fonic arte dojo, but the technique turned out to be suitable for Anise.
“Oh, Anise! You aren't hurt, are you?”
From the entrance to the small house came her father, Oliver, who on shaky legs, rushed to see her. One would think that with his obvious injuries, he would be in no position to be worrying about his daughter, but Oliver was the sort of person who would always put the well-being of others before himself. With his strong sense of parental duty, it was always Anise who came first for him.
“...Honestly! You're the one who's all beat up, Papa. Are you okay? You should get Mama to take a look at that...”
“Oh my, Anise! Those scary men didn't do anything terrible to you, did they?”
Sure enough, when Anise peeked inside the house, she saw her battered-up mother standing there. And sure enough, just like Oliver, she was putting her own well-being aside and was worriedly inquiring about Anise's health instead. It looked like those debt collectors had the gall to raise their fists against Pamela, too.
“...Damn it, those bastards! They better watch out...”
“My, my, Anise. Where did you learn those sorts of words?” Pamela asked, lowering her eyebrows with a sad expression. Anise was weak against that kind of look from her mother.
“I-it doesn't matter where. More importantly, you two should see a doctor.” As Anise scrambled to change the subject, it was Oliver's turn to give her that sad look.
“That's not possible, Anise. I'm afraid we just don't have the money for a doctor.”
“There's no problem, then! I just got paid today.”
Anise cheerfully presented a leather pouch she had been hiding. To help with her family's dire money situation, she had been helping with the dishes at a nearby pub. She also learned a few simple and inexpensive recipes while working there, making it a job she could be grateful for.
But Oliver simply pushed the pouch back to her with a troubled look on his face.
“We can't do that, Anise. You worked your hardest to earn that money.”
“That's right. You should spend that money on yourself. The two of us couldn't possibly use it.” Even Pamela spoke up in agreement, sending a serious look in Anise's direction.
Ahh, this was it.
This was the reason Anise could never bring herself to hate her parents.
No matter how many strangers they donated to, no matter how many people deceived and scammed them, that couple of pushovers refused to lay a hand on any money that was meant for Anise. No matter how many days they had to starve through, it was only towards Anise that they always held that conviction. It was hard to call any of their efforts and endeavors successful, but because of the unconditional love they showed for her, Anise could never abandon her parents.
“By the way, Anise. We have some very good news for you!” With a grateful smile, Pamela gently took Anise's hand into her own.
At that moment, Anise could feel her sixth sense tingling. Whenever her parents gave her that kind of look, it usually meant they had just gotten roped into some con artist's scheme.
“...This isn't another scam, is it?”
“Hahaha. Always the skeptic, aren't you?”
Anise went ahead and voiced her suspicion, but Oliver smiled mildly as he denied it. In Anise's opinion, he was much too naive for his own good. It was like the parents were always on a different page than the child. When Anise let out an exaggerated sigh, Pamela spoke up in a strong voice, trying to reassure the girl.
“Don't worry, Anise! You see, a powerful person from the Order of Lorelei has offered to shoulder our debt for us.”
“Huh? The Order of Lorelei? Why?”
“He told us it was because we've been such devout followers of the Order.”
That sounded weird. When she thought about it, there had to be a lot of poor, devout followers in the world. There was no doubt that if they tried to save all of them, even the Order of Lorelei would end up bankrupt.
“What's the catch?”
“Anise. It's not good to be so distrustful of others. Besides, the one who brought us this offer was Grand Maestro Mohs himself.”
At Oliver's casual reply, Anise gave another big sigh. Grand Maestro Mohs was the second most powerful man in the entire Order. Why would somebody like that care about what happened to some unimportant followers like Oliver and Pamela? This development just made the story sound more and more suspicious.
“Besides that, the Order of Lorelei will arrange for a new place for us to live, and you'll even be able to go to school!”
Hearing her own name brought up so suddenly, Anise took on a bewildered look.
It didn't make sense. If the Order was going to send her to school, they had to be asking for them to pay her tuition, right?
But that wasn't the case, as Pamela confirmed with a shake of her head. It seemed they didn't need to have any money prepared. With each development sounding more suspicious than the last, Anise didn't know what to do.
“Anise, they've told us that they'll admit you into the Oracle Knights officers' school. Grand Maestro Mohs has heard about you, and your ability to use fonic artes. He says that if you refine your skills at the academy, you could even become a Fon Master Guardian someday.” Pamela explained proudly with an oblivious smile.
The more she heard, the fishier it sounded. There was no way they'd be given this offer if there wasn't something in it for Mohs. For a brief moment, Anise wondered if maybe she was his objective, but it seemed pretty unbelievable to think he'd need a little girl just barely over 10 years old for anything, so she figured it had to be something else he was after.
“See, doesn't that sound like a good deal?” Oliver gave the girl a wide smile as he tried to get some agreement out of her.
In all honesty, Anise didn't have much confidence in this. But this was the widely respected Order of Lorelei they were talking about. At the very least, there was no reason that the Order would try to swindle money from a couple of common followers. And if she did manage to become a Fon Master Guardian, and it went well, and she managed to catch Fon Master Ion's eye, maybe she could aim for a wealthy marriage in the end. In fact, even if that didn't work out, her career could still help her find a nobleman she could marry.
But first and foremost, this wasn't a decision they could rush into.
“...I'm going to give this offer a good look-through to see if it's a scam or not. We can give our answer after that. Now, with that settled, we should start on dinner...”
“About that, Anise...”
“I'm afraid we've already signed the contract.”
--Gahh, what a stupid couple!
And that was how Anise's entrance into the Oracle Knights was decided.