“…You are smaller than I expected.”
「…I-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to change into this…」
“I was not telling you to apologize.”
Faust, now inside the Ratel, looked no different from the way I had seen him in the mindscape.
Measured against this body, the crown of his head barely reached its shoulder. His limbs, concealed beneath a uniform, were thin, and his hands were so small that comparing them to mine seemed absurd.
It was astonishing that he had grown into this body.
“…Is this his true form?”
“I was told that a soul is influenced more by the mind than by the body. Its form changes according to the essence defined by the unconscious, or something like that. That is likely why he appears as a child.”
Furthermore, since a Ratel was a substance without a fixed shape, perhaps it naturally followed the form of one’s mental projection.
I briefly explained my theory, and Meister’s and Daniel’s expressions changed in different ways. Meister filled with interest and curiosity, while Daniel bit his lip upon learning the child was even younger than expected.
Overall, their reactions resembled mine when I first saw Faust. Probably. I had never personally seen my own appearance, after all.
“…First, it would be best to sit down before the story grows long.”
After deliberating for some time, Daniel seated Faust, who had been standing blankly, in the armchair he himself had occupied until now.
「Huh?」
“I will fetch a chair.”
If I searched another room, there ought to be something resembling a stool.
I stepped out for a moment and searched the other rooms. Fortunately, the door to the room across the hall was open, so I did not have to go far.
“Sit.”
An armchair was too bulky to carry, but I…