"Mmm~ The smell of the sea. Isn't it wonderful?"
Before Audalis's eyes, the girl fluttered her wings lightly and sniffed the air, a playful smile curling on her lips.
"...Who are you?"
"Oh, right! I forgot to say my name. Hi! I'm **Perina.**
I love finding little joys in life. For example…"
She looked straight into Audalis's eyes.
"Like your beautiful blue ones."
"...Little joys?"
"Yeah! Look at the sky. See all those stars? You can never see this many in the city.
Out here at sea, you can look at them as much as you want.
And this ship—the way it cuts through the waves—doesn't it feel so free?"
Stretching her arms wide toward the ocean, she continued, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"I even love this smell—the wind blowing from far away,
and… and…"
Perina chattered on without pausing for breath.
Her expression itself was happiness,
and that happiness spread like ripples in the water.
Without even realizing it, a faint smile appeared on Audalis's lips.
"When I think about things like that, it makes me feel warm inside.
What about you? What makes your heart feel warm?"
Audalis turned his head slightly.
"...I don't have anything like that."
Perina's eyes widened.
"Wow, really? That's so strange!"
Then she quickly grinned again, mischievously.
"That's okay! You'll find it soon. Something wonderful."
Leaning in a little, she glanced at the shell hanging around his neck.
"That's not just a shiny decoration, you know.
The sea doesn't respond to just any wave.
Some waves… reach deep inside you and leave an echo."
"...What do you mean by that?"
Perina didn't answer.
Instead, with the moonlight at her back, she gave him a teasing smile.
"Who knows~? You'll have to feel it for yourself."
With that, she lifted lightly into the air above the waves.
At that moment, the shell around Audalis's neck gave a faint tremor—
as if, somewhere deep beneath the sea,
a wave he had never heard before had begun to rise.