45
Chapter 45
"......I'm sorry, but could you say that one more time?"
Jewel-like red hair.
The blue eyes that contrasted with it frantically avoided my gaze.
Rubia's face was filled with shame.
Normally, I wouldn't want to do something like interrogate her. I owe Rubia so much.
If there was something she didn't want to talk about, I could at least respect that much.
"So...... you pulled a sword on the kids?"
But this crossed the line.
This went far beyond what could be overlooked with common sense.
All I did was ask you to get a signature on a confirmation form. How on earth did that lead to you waving a sword around?
It went beyond just being dumbfounded; it was absolutely appalling.
"Th-That's! I'm telling you, there were circumstances where I had no choice!"
Rubia shouted with a flushed face.
To the point where it was hard to distinguish her face from her hair color.
It seemed she at least knew to be embarrassed.
"What kind of circumstances could possibly lead to you pulling a sword on a kid, claiming to test their resolve...."
When I sighed and said that, Rubia shrank back.
Looking like a wilting plant.
It would be a lie to say I didn't feel bad for her.
But this was an issue I couldn't just let slide.
'Can I really leave the kids in her care?'
I knew she had her quirky side from the start. But this was at a level where I had to suspect she might actually be a psychopath.
"How could you even think of attacking kids under ten with the Artifact I gave you? On the very day you received it, no less!"
Rubia's eloquence wasn't going to work right now.
Because it was painfully obvious who was in the wrong.
In the end, Rubia shrank back even more than before.
"I-I'm sorry......."
Rubia said, on the verge of tears.
I wasn't cruel enough to keep scolding someone who was already crying.
Eventually, I had no choice but to stop my nagging and let out a sigh.
Rubia continued to ramble about her situation, making one excuse after another.
The process of how trying to scare them somehow resulted in a bizarre ordeal being given as a test... I somehow managed to understand that.
However, I couldn't comprehend this person's thought process at all.
'Just how easily swayed is she?'
She's usually so capable when she works.
To think that the highly capable person and this trembling, flustered Noona were the same person.
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't believe it.
'And she overreacts so much, too.'
Anyone watching would think we were some vicious and dangerous organization like Black Fang.
I only asked to check their resolve because I was worried the kids might quit halfway through, thinking the training was too hard.
It wasn't supposed to be some grand conversation. Rubia was just overreacting on her own.
Logically speaking, there's no way I'd put the kids in danger.
Even if something were to happen, I planned to act as humanely as possible.
I didn't need or want any kind of resolve like being willing to sacrifice their lives.
"......Is there something else you wanted to say?"
However, what happened had already happened.
Since I couldn't undo it, I figured I'd just count it as ending well enough and forget about it.
But Rubia was still standing in front of me.
Rubia kept avoiding my gaze, hesitating... before finally opening her mouth to speak.
"Um... there's a kid who got hurt."
"...So let me get this straight. You went beyond attacking an under-ten-year-old child, cowardly using an Artifact, and you even drew blood?"
Rubia's face turned crimson.
The morning sun visible through the window.
Telling the two apart would likely be close to impossible.
"C-Could you cast some Healing Magic please......."
Rubia spoke up, bravely enduring her shame.
I barely held back from saying, "So you can't even cast a single Healing Magic yourself and came all the way to ask me?"
If I said that much, her face wouldn't just turn red—it would probably explode.
"......Yes, bring them here quickly."
I finally let out a sigh and said that.
Seriously,
she was a Noonim who didn't act her age to the point where I worried about her future.
******
Fortunately, the kids weren't badly hurt.
Three of them just had some scrapes on their hands, that was all.
Nothing like amputation or anything severe.
It was at a level where I could treat them myself without needing to bother Ciel, who was still recovering.
The work was finished in no time like that.
The two little kids bowed so deeply it felt overwhelming, thanking me before they left.
Even throwing in lines like "We'll be counting on you from now on, Boss!"
They were well-disciplined. But seeing as it was coming from kids under ten, it was just cute.
Just as I was thinking about the kids who had just left.
-Knock knock!
The sound of knocking rang out.
Naturally, my face filled with question.
'Who could it be?'
Ciel doesn't bother knocking and just walks in.
Rien enters my room asking if she can come in.
Rubia is the type to knock that politely, but she just finished saying what she had to say and left, so why bother coming back?
"Come in."
As I said that, the door opened with a creak.
What appeared was the girl from last time.
The blind girl I had saved from the Black Market, the one with the number 1201 tattooed on her.
The face of the brown-haired, white-eyed child was filled with evident nervousness. The girl approached me with slightly flushed cheeks.
"Are you hurt somewhere?"
At my words, the girl shook her head.
"I-I just. I came to tell you that I'll be counting on you from now on, eep!"
The way she bit her tongue was kind of cute.
Come to think of it, I had heard about this girl from Rubia as well.
The test that somehow came to be.
She said the girl had shown the most outstanding performance there.
I also heard that she was the one who persuaded everyone. Thinking about it made me twice as proud of her.
"I heard you worked really hard this time. Is there perhaps something you'd like as a reward?"
That was why I asked.
I figured giving her an Artifact or something would be perfect.
I had already given Ciel a stamina-related Artifact,
Rien's body itself was in a league of its own, so an Artifact would only get in the way,
And Rubia had already taken one that suited her perfectly.
"R-really?!"
The girl's eyes sparkled with excitement.
And then, she made a highly unexpected request.
"Then, could I get a name?"
A somewhat abrupt question.
I reflexively almost asked why... but soon closed my mouth.
What reason could an orphan girl, who was captured as a Slave, have for wanting a name?
She might have a name given by her parents, but her parents sold her.
Or maybe she had never received a proper name in her entire life.
Either way, bringing it up wouldn't do any good right now.
"Of course."
I said that with a kind smile.
Naming, huh...
It was so sudden that my brain wasn't working properly.
There was no way I'd ever had this kind of experience before.
I was deciding on a name a child would use for the rest of her life. I couldn't just pick one carelessly.
I wanted to give her a name that actually meant something.
"Jang Ha-yang."
I hesitated for a moment before blurting that out.
It felt a bit out of place to have such a Korean-sounding name in a fantasy world, but well. Isn't the meaning more important than that?
"To symbolize starting anew from a blank slate, how about Ha-yang?"
The fact that she was asking me for a name right now probably meant she was hoping for a fresh start.
I figured a name like this would be a perfect fit.
Just Ha-yang felt a little strange on its own.
So I added my original surname from before I possessed this body, making it Jang Ha-yang.
......Is it no good?
I had absolutely no experience with naming, so I wasn't very confident.
I carefully observed the girl's expression.
But... it seemed my worries were unfounded.
The girl smiled brightly and nodded enthusiastically.
Seeing her so happy even with this unimaginative name made me feel all the more grateful.
I stroked the head of the girl as she repeated the name I had given her in a small voice.
Feeling a sense of relief that, whatever the process might have been, things had concluded properly this time as well.
*****
Ciel stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her eyes.
Ian was stroking a child's head.
His expression looked incredibly happy.
'He seems busy.'
She had come to report since she was feeling a bit better now. But it seemed like she would only get in the way if she went in right now.
What was going on,
Why Ian was stroking that child, and why he was making such a joyful expression.
It was completely beyond her understanding.
But as long as Ian was happy, she was satisfied.
There was no reason or need for her to barge in.
She shouldn't interrupt them.
That was why Ciel headed back to where she had originally come from.
As she walked away, she had a thought.
...She felt like she had become a little strange.