Baek Ha-na
Baek Ha-na
"Uuu, ungh...!!"
"Stay still."
She ate with truly spectacular lack of grace.
Spectacular was the right word—half the milk in the bowl had ended up on her face and body rather than in her mouth. And the way she ate... what was that even supposed to be?
Her carefully combed and dried hair was now soaked with milk, sagging limp and heavy. Watching it happen, I caught myself letting out a faint laugh.
"Ubuup...!!"
She made that absurd noise without exerting any real force at all.
After absorbing those Essences, my emotions had dulled to near nothing, but this tiny creature kept sparking little flickers of response. Insignificant and cute. Wasn't that practically the definition of this child?
I wiped her overreactive face with a towel and stirred the mana around us. The mana shaped itself into a gentle, lukewarm breeze and wrapped around the small body.
"......?"
She must have noticed something, because the commotion stopped. Though with her face covered, I couldn't see her expression.
The breeze gathered everything unnecessary from her clothes and hair and scattered away into the air. Her wet hair and my shirt returned to a soft, dry fluffiness in seconds.
Only then did I lift the towel from her face.
"Paha......?"
She let out a soft breath and her eyes darted toward me before dropping back to the floor.
The clamorous child from moments ago had gone instantly quiet. Even her swinging legs went still. It made me realize this little one was far more conscious of me than I had assumed.
I had no intention of getting angry. Not even a flicker. But that wasn't something I needed to say out loud.
I hung the wet towel over my shoulder, bent my knees, and lowered myself until I was at her eye level.
Her downcast eyes rolled in their sockets and stole another glance at me. A child's reaction, plain as day.
I moved my hand, rising from below to gently cover her small fist still clamped around the spoon I had placed there earlier.
"You hold it like this."
"Uh, un."
Grip corrected. Now for how to eat.
I guided her hand slowly toward the bowl and scooped up a spoonful of the remaining cereal.
"Open your mouth."
"Aah~"
I slipped it past her parted lips.
Her cheeks, still flushed pink with lingering warmth from the bath, worked up and down as she chewed.
I released her hand.
"There is no need to wolf down your food here."
"......What's wolf down?"
So it starts there, does it.
"Fast. It means you don't need to eat like you just did. No one's going to snatch it from you. Take your time. No need to watch for anyone. Chew properly and swallow. Understood?"
"Un. Slowly."
"Right. Slowly. Finish eating."
As I straightened my knees and back, her gaze shifted between me and the spoon for a moment.
Slip.
She repositioned the spoon right back into that awkward original grip I had just corrected. Then she started scooping cereal again as if nothing had happened.
'Well... we can fix things bit by bit.'
I knew what kind of institution an orphanage was, but only in broad strokes. Fragments, at best.
What kind of environment this tiny girl had grown up in there—I knew nothing. More precisely, the game had never mentioned even a speck of it.
'I can guess roughly, though.'
Age didn't matter. One day, the ability simply blooms. That was the nature of an Awakened. Though statistically speaking, extreme circumstances, powerful will, or deep desire tended to produce more exceptional abilities—stronger variants even within the same classification.
I couldn't call that a certainty. Not even the gods above the sky would know for sure.
"Burp."
Having emptied the bowl in a flash, she let out a cute little belch and licked her lips with her tongue.
"If it's not enough, I'll get you more."
"Full."
She set the spoon down and stroked her slightly rounded belly. It didn't look like she had eaten that much.
"Hyaaam......"
Where had all that energy gone? Her eyes suddenly turned drowsy and her mouth stretched in a huge yawn before closing. She had been nodding off even on the way here.
Warm bath, full stomach—the drowsiness was hitting her all over again. Plenty of things I wanted to say, plenty I wanted to ask, but none of it was urgent.
I slipped my hands under her armpits and lifted her right off the chair.
"Ue?"
"Stay still."
Her body dangled loosely with every step, swaying to and fro. I had to suppress another laugh.
Our destination was the bathroom. The only sink in the house was here, so of course teeth-brushing would happen here too.
'A body that doesn't even need to eat, yet there's a toothbrush ready. Don't know why.'
I held her up and asked.
"I assume you know how to brush your teeth."
"Un. I know."
"Good."
I took the toothbrush hanging beside the mirror and placed it in her hand.
"Big."
"It's for adults."
"Adult!!"
Her eyes sparkled as she stared at it, and I squeezed toothpaste onto the bristles. Which was also strawberry-flavored, amusingly enough.
"Ah~"
"Wait."
"......?"
I gave her a cautioning tone as she moved to stick the brush in her mouth.
"Don't swallow it. This isn't food."
"I know. Toothpaste tastes bad. Spicy."
"......Even if it's sweet, don't swallow it."
"Sweet?"
She stared at me through the mirror, then stealthily slid the toothbrush into her mouth. Her drowsy eyes flew wide open.
Gulp—
Accompanied by a sound that should not have been heard, her small throat bobbed once.
"I believe I told you not to swallow."
"Bueeeeeh!!"
I pressed both her cheeks and confiscated the toothbrush, reapplied toothpaste, and brushed her teeth myself.
"Ue-ue, euu-euu, ui-ui."
While keeping her cheeks pressed to prevent further swallowing, naturally.
'I need to put her to bed quickly.'
The eyes that had briefly widened were already half-closed again.
"Don't swallow. Spit it out."
"Mwumwumwu... Bueh."
"One more time."
"Urrrr... Pteh."
I rinsed her mouth out enough, dried her lips with the towel, and then led her—still stretching out a long yawn—through the study and into the bedroom.
The bed where I had awakened. The spot where I had lain recovering for six days. I laid the small child right there.
"Fluffy-fluffy...."
"Quiet. Lie still and sleep."
I saw her eyes were nearly closed, tucked the blanket over her, and made to leave the room.
Clench.
A small hand caught my sleeve. A little strength could have pulled it free easily, but I didn't. No reason to. I figured I had enough leeway for this much.
Ssshh— Ssshh—
Soon, the soft sound of a child's even breathing filled the quiet room.
The hand that had been holding my sleeve slipped naturally off the edge of the bed.
"Small indeed."
A tiny, gaunt frame that was hard to believe was twelve years old.
'Shopping... I can probably borrow an idle priest or two.'
Food was a given, but I also needed to buy footstools and things to install around the house. In too many ways, this place was uncomfortable for a child to live in.
'The bed should be fine for the time being.'
There was a separate room for storing books. I intended to clear it out soon and make it her space.
I stood watching the small child's sleeping face for a while, then turned away.
**
-It's mine!!
-I grabbed it first!!
-The little ones can just eat a little, okay?
-Aaagh!! She's stuffing her face again!! Stop her!!
-Spit it out!! I said spit it out!!
"......?"
Blink. Blink.
The room was dark.
But not too dark. The winter night's moonlight filtered softly through the large glass window and lit the room with a gentle glow.
"Ssup."
She wiped the drool running down her chin. The sleeve of the baggy white shirt grew damp.
"Hyaa-aam~"
A yawn slipped out.
She wasn't hungry. Her body was warm, and everything around her was soft and fluffy and pleasant. More than anything else.
"Sniff-sniff."
A room filled with a scent that made her heart feel at ease.
"Not a... dream."
She didn't have to fight over food anymore.
No more sleeping on a cold, hard floor.
No more ugly adults giving her strange looks.
The tall uncle with the nice voice.
The uncle who wore the big round things.
A good uncle.
He was different from all the adults she had seen before. A strange uncle whose mere presence calmed her heart.
Scratch-scratch—
"......?"
A small sound came from somewhere and she turned her head.
A crack in the half-open door. Light seeped through from the other side.
The sound was coming from there.
"Uung......"
She slipped carefully off the bed and padded toward the source. Peeking through the gap where the light leaked in.
"......!!"
"......."
The strange uncle was looking right at her.
Was she not supposed to have looked?
"Did you wake up hungry?"
"N, no.... Not hungry."
"Was the bed uncomfortable, then?"
"It was super soft and fluffy and nice though...?"
"......?"
"......?"
The strange uncle tilted his head. She tilted hers to match.
"Can't sleep on your own, is that it?"
"No...."
She'd never slept alone before, but she could. She had just done so, after all.
"......Can I come in?"
"Go ahead."
She quietly pushed the door open and stepped into the room where the light twinkled. She walked up to the strange uncle.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Do you know how to read?"
"Don't know."
"......I see. You'll learn little by little. Your memory should be good enough."
"Ue?"
The strange uncle lifted her up in one motion and settled her on his lap. Then his hands kept moving somewhere she couldn't see.
Scratch-scratch—
"Whatcha doing?"
"Nothing you need to know. More importantly..."
The strange uncle lowered his head and looked at her.
"I am Baek Woo-jin."
"Baek Woo-jin?"
"That's right. Baek Woo-jin. And."
The strange uncle placed a hand on her head. It was big and warm—a hand that felt good.
"Baek Ha-na."
"Baek Ha-na?"
"That's your name from now on."
"My name?"
-Hey!!
-Whitey, you brat?!
-You flour-powder-looking little punk!!
"Do you not like it? Or was there another name you used to be called...?"
"N, no!! I like it!! Baek Ha-na!! I'm, I'm Baek Ha-na!!"
Baek Ha-na... Baek Ha-na... Baek Ha-na...!!
A name!!
"Woo-jin!! I'm hungry!!"
"...You said you weren't hungry earlier."
Baek Woo-jin chuckled softly and set Baek Ha-na back down on the floor.
Lights brightened the house that had been dark.
The girl, Baek Ha-na, found the cereal tasted even better than it had during the day.
The sweet toothpaste, too.
"Uwaahh!!"
"I told you not to eat that."
Baek Woo-jin didn't let it go twice.