Chapter 1 Starting from The Fire

The heat was so intense in front of their faces. The twelve nurses in black gowns with white patterns on their necks tried to find people who could still be saved. Unfortunately, almost all the houses here have been destroyed by fire.

"Is there anyone else here?" a nurse shouted.

There was barely any sound to be heard other than the sound of fire slowly consuming the wooden buildings. Although it's part of the Wallenstein District of Telhi City, the village is still too far from the downtown. The help had also not arrived because it had to go through quite dense jungle.

"Is someone here?" another nurse shouted again.

Despite risking their lives, these nurses were willing to do it just to save the remaining people from that horrific event. The smell of burning materials mixed with the smell of blood and corpses, all in this place.

"This is terrible," a silver-haired nurse muttered.

Armed with only minimal equipment and no weapons, these nurses tried to help anyone who was still alive. They didn't seem to care if there were still enemy witches ready to attack them at any time.

In the midst of the uncertainty, the sound of a crying baby was heard from the direction of two o'clock. The silver-haired nurse immediately approached the sound, followed by two nurses behind her.

"This is ..."

That's right. a year-old baby was seen lying in front of them. While behind her was an adult woman who was crushed by building materials. There was also a blaze that began to devour everything around it.

The three nurses immediately tried to help them both. The silver-haired nurse immediately carried the baby, while the other two nurses tried to get the woman out from under the pile of wood.

"M-My daughter is still alive, huh? Thank goodness," the woman said haltingly.

"Hang in there, ma'am. We'll save you soon," the silver-haired nurse said.

As if she had given up, the woman just shook her head and answered with a soft voice.

"No. Just save my daugh-ter. My time will come soon."

"What are you talking about, ma'am? We'll be right-"

One of the nurses encouraged her as she tried to get her out of the woodpile. But her words stopped when she saw something sad in front of her.

The adult woman's body was already in a very critical condition. Her left leg was broken, rotating almost 180 degrees from its original position. Not only that, its depth was also badly damaged. The fresh blood had soaked almost her entire body.

"Ma'am ..."

With such conditions, it seems natural that the adult woman had resigned herself to her fate and waited for her death to arrive. But the nurses thought otherwise. They continued to encourage the woman and tried to get her out of that place, even though the flames were ready to devour them at any time.

Almost a minute passed and nothing changed in that critical condition. The mother still couldn't be removed, while the baby continued to struggle and cry. The adult woman then spoked again to the silver-haired nurse.

"P-please. P-please take care of my daughter. Take care of h-her."

The silver-haired nurse just nodded her head without saying a word, because that was the purpose of their coming here, to save and treat people who could still be saved. The mother continued her words.

"Her-name is, A-Alisa Garbareva."

The mother mentioned her daughter's name. But when she heard the name, the silver-haired nurse was immediately surprised. A name that seemed familiar to her.

"Alisa Garbareva? Wait, Garbareva? So you are-"

Before the nurse could finish speaking, a large tree beside the woman fell towards them.

"WATCH OUT!!"

BRUKK

The two nurses who were trying to save the mother immediately jumped back. But unfortunately, the large tree trunk hit that adult woman. The flames grew bigger.

"MRS GARBAREVA!!" shouted the silver-haired nurse.

There was no more answer from her. That woman's voice was no longer heard.

"Mrs Garbareva ..."

"HUAAA!!"

The baby cried even louder, whether because of the sound that startled her, the increasingly scorching heat, or because her mother was no longer there. No one knew for sure.

Saw that, the nurse immediately hugged her tightly and left the place to find a safer place. The nurse's warm hug managed to calm the baby. She stopped crying.

"Mrs Garbareva, I will do as you wish. I will take care of this baby for you. May you rest in peace."

The silver-haired nurse looked at the baby's face, then kissed her lovingly.

"Don't worry, Alisa Garbareva. This Weiss Karny will always take care of you until you grow up. I promise to you and your mother."

***

WOOF WOOF

A gray dog is seen chasing a six-year-old girl. She appears very scared.

"SISTER WEISS!! HELP ME!!"

The girl ran screaming the nurse's name. She was so panicked that she fell. The dog then jumped and tried to bite her.

"AAAAA ..."

Just half a meter away from reaching the girl, a piece of wood landed hard on the animal's head. The dog ran away because of it. The girl was saved.

She turned to the person who had managed to chase the dog away. It turned out to be another girl who was almost the same age as her, maybe a year older than her. The girl with longer hair stared at her with a cold gaze.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked.

With a face still looking scared, the girl couldn't answer her words. Not long after, a silver-haired nurse came over to the two of them.

"Alisa, Flo, are you okay?"

Seeing the nurse who had arrived, Alisa immediately hugged her tightly while crying. It seemed like she was still scared by the incident.

"HUAAA!! SISTER WEISS!!"

"Come on, Alisa. It's okay. I'm here."

Sister Weiss then invited them both back to the orphanage.

Alisa Garbareva, a girl who was saved by Sister Weiss, now lives in an orphanage in the middle of the city with other surviving childrens. So does Flo, or her real name is Floria Fresilca. The difference is that she and three other childrens were saved through a different event on the eastern coast.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the orphanage. Sister Weiss treated the wound on Alisa's knee from the fell, while Flo waited for her outside the room. Alisa seemed to wince in pain as the silver-haired nurse applied medicine with a tissue to her knee.

"Ah ..., that's hurt."

"It's okay, Alisa. You're a strong girl, right? The wound will heal eventually," Sister Weiss comforted her while treating her wound.

Flo just leaned against the wall while waiting for them to leave the place.

Not long after, three boys came to her. They looked two to three years older than her. They looked at Flo with a cynical look.

"Hey, you're that Vitanian girl named Floria, right?" one of them asked.

Flo who heard it just nodded without answering a word. Apparently it made one of them furious.

"Hey, answer me!!"

"Yes. I am Flo. Floria Fresilca," she answered with a cold tone.

"Well, that's it. If someone asks you a question, answer it," said one of the boys.

Flo got up from her position and stood in front of them.

"By the way, what are you looking me for?" she asked.

Arrogantly, one of the boys immediately answered with a loud tone.

"Huh, you're waiting for Alisa, right? Why Vitanian girl like you acting sympathetic like that? You'd better get out of this city. Just go back to Vitania."

"What do you mean? I live here too. Why should I leave?" Flo answered innocently.

Hearing that answer, another boy immediately became emotional and hurled words to that girl.

"Hey, you still haven't realized it, Floria? It was a Vitanian like you who killed our family. When you become a magical girl, you'll definitely hunt us down too, right?"

Flo just lowered her head silently and heard it. Who knows what these people thought? They thought she was a monster who would finish them off in the future.

The girl answered him back in the same tone.

"No. I will not leave this place. I am not a criminal like you think. Besides..."

Flo turned towards the open door, where Alisa was being cared for by Weiss Karny.

"I want to be with Alisa. Always with her."

The girl's words apparently made one of them even angrier. He immediately approached Flo and intended to slap her.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!! YOU DAMN VITANIAN GIRL!!"

His hand suddenly stopped when it almost hit the long-haired girl's cheek.

"What?"

***