Adoption. (1)

It took only a split second to realize that this place was not the reality I remembered.

There was a smell of blood.

For some reason, I saw a woman lying dead, holding me with a sad expression, and the warm body heat of someone who had been alive until recently wrapped around my entire body.

I didn't even know the reason, but I... no, the poor boy whose body I had taken over seemed to be crying.

"H-hic-, M-mommy-."

I didn't need to ask to know.

I didn't even need to verify it to realize it.

For some reason, the parents of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the boy whose body I had taken over had been murdered.

'Where on earth is this place?'

I wished it were a dream.

I couldn't even understand why I had opened my eyes in a world like this.

'I', who had inhabited the body of a small boy whose name I didn't even know, trembled in fear.

Because the mother, who had died while alive trying to protect her child, was holding me tightly, I couldn't even run away.

I realized it wasn't a dream.

I realized it from the spine-chilling, squelching voice.

"... There's a living one here-!"

I turned my head in the direction of the shout and saw men with horns.

It wasn't a lie; that was the reality.

On their fists were things that looked like bright red jelly, and on their maces, sticky blood was dripping.

They were things that used to be human flesh.

They approached me with smiles, as if they were having so much fun.

I pissed myself in fear and screamed loudly like a little girl.

In a battlefield splattered with screams and blood, I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for anyone, anyone at all, to save me.

I'm going to die.

I might die.

I open my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes in a different world, and I'm going to die like this?

This is a nightmare, please, if it's a nightmare, just wake me up, please-.

"No-, Noooooooo-!"

Silence fell.

I thought I would die soon, but I didn't feel any pain.

Are they not killing me on purpose to play with me, to scare the child?

In the place filled with the smell of blood, the scent of lilacs suddenly wafted around.

A woman with blood soaking the tips of her golden hair was looking at me and praying.

"... Oh my, you poor thing-."

A woman with a sharp impression and flowing red hair pointed her staff-.

As if to ensure I wouldn't have to see the horned men, she fired magic.

Yes, she was firing magic and literally erasing them.

"... Aria. Are the parents alive?"

"... That's not something you want to say in front of a child, Alicia."

The woman with green hair and pointed ears hugged me and sobbed.

"... We've regained peace, but we've lost so much. I'm sorry we were too late.... That we couldn't protect you...."

I don't know the reason.

The three people suddenly appeared, saved me, and reached out their hands to me.

"... Alicia. Since there's the Prophecy too.... How about we take the child in?"

A cross necklace hung around the neck of the woman named Aria.

She seemed to be a religious person.

"Alicia. Raising a child isn't an easy task. And you know.... That they need a proper adult, not weirdos like us. Besides, we're too young."

"We arrived at the village following the Prophecy, and we found a living child."

"If the Prophecy were always accurate, this wouldn't have happened."

Trembling in fear, I was overwhelmed by the fear that the woman who appeared to be the leader, 'Alicia', might abandon me because of her indifferent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attitude, and that I might have to see the horned men again.

"... I, I'm scared. P-please-, h-help meeee...."

Without realizing it, I hugged the green-haired elf who was holding me tightly.

I sobbed, hugging the woman who was sobbing as if sorry for not being able to prevent this.

"... Sob."

The green-haired woman looked at me, then hugged me even tighter.

"... We are the heroes of the alliance. Who could be a more proper parent than us, Alicia? They say a mentor is like a parent. In that sense, there are no parents more perfect than us."

"Laika, don't get emotional...."

"How can I not get emotional when they went through the same thing we did!"

She raised her voice at Alicia.

"... Do whatever you want. But know one thing. If they lack talent and can't learn anything.... Then it's your fault. You take responsibility and find a child who can carry on the progress."

An era where peace was achieved by killing the Demon King and signing a treaty.

That was how I became the adopted child of the women who stood at the center of it all.

...

In the hands the Three Heroes reached out, there was actually no love.

There was only pity, guilt, and an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

Other children had been sent to war because of their innate talents from the age they should have been with their parents.

The Great Mage Alicia and the Saintess Aria, who hadn't even turned twenty yet.

Laika, a High Elf of about eighty, who was treated as a child among elves.

The war made them heroes and brought them immense wealth and honor, but....

It didn't bring them the time to become adults.

They didn't even know love, so there was no way they could know the maternal love a parent gives.

The adoption was based on the Prophecy, and it was nothing more than an act to alleviate the guilt for those they couldn't save.

Because they were forced to slaughter for humanity before they could even become adults, they didn't know how normal children grew up.

Therefore, the heroes, who had never learned how to care for a child, mistook the neglect they had experienced for the only way of raising a child they knew.

"Kael...."

The child's name became Kael.

It was the name of the hero who had first fought against the Demon King.

They gave him a name and provided a mansion, so the heroes carried out their parenting.

Kael was left alone in the large house without even a servant.

"... Hwa-, Ugh-. H-no, I don't want to-, Nooooo-!"

Sometimes, exhausted by the parenting method of 'neglect', he would wake up screaming.

Perhaps he had adapted to his five-year-old body, but he couldn't overcome the fear and sadness, so he sobbed alone.

It was a little less scary when his mothers visited, but.

Apart from the fact that the war was over, heroes were not meant to rest.

Alicia had to stay at the Red Tower.

Aria at the religious order.

Laika in the Elf Forest-.

So, the three of them staying at Kael's mansion didn't happen very often.

Kael was always alone.

He always had nightmares and always trembled in fear, but....

He didn't hate or blame his mothers for it.

He didn't know what kind of world this was, nor did he know what kind of place this was.

On the first day, he almost died, and they saved him.

He just wanted to stay by the heroes' side, no matter what.

Because he was scared.

Scratch-, scratch-.

Kael moved around as best he could with his young body.

What did it matter if the days they met became fewer?

He just thought he would do his best when he got to meet his mothers.

He cut paper to make flowers.

He made flower crowns. Sometimes, he studied hard on his own to learn how to write and wrote letters in crooked handwriting.

On the days his mothers visited the mansion, he would trot over and wait in front of the entrance.

He would smile brightly, hand them the flower crowns and letters, and even though his hands were trembling, he would hand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them a glass of water in case they were thirsty.

However, even if it was an act based on survival instinct.

It was enough to bring rain to the hearts of the women who had become desolate after crushing and killing countless living lives.

"T-this, I, I made this for M-mommy."

"Ah. Thank you, Kael."

At first, they all just said thank you conventionally, but little by little, they looked into Kael's eyes and noticed the warmth.

One day, Aria, who had returned from the religious order, asked Kael.

"... It's pretty, thank you. But, Kael. Why do you make them by cutting paper instead of picking flowers? Isn't it bothersome every time?"

There were flowers everywhere, and since he made the wreaths himself by cutting paper every time, she was simply curious.

"... M-mommy. You said that everything living should be cherished."

"... When did I?"

"... Mother, you told me to call you Mommy. On the day you saved me, you said that since you saved me, you would cherish and love me more than anyone else."

Kael hadn't forgotten the words Aria had said in passing, drunk on emotion.

He smiled as if the words his mother had said were so precious, and clutched her hem tightly, hoping she wouldn't leave.

"So, since flowers are alive too.... I did it because I wanted to keep the promise M-mommy made."

At those words, Aria looked at Kael's hands.

She realized, only then, that there were wounds on the hands of a child who was barely five years old that she hadn't noticed before.

"Did you get hurt making this?"

"Ah-. U-uh? N-no, I was just playing...."

Looking at Kael, who remembered even the words she had said in passing and was leaning on her as if wanting love, Aria felt a great sense of guilt, sadness, and pity.

'... Poor thing, he cares for us this much. To talk about fate and whatnot, adopt him, and then just neglect him.'

"M-mommy? W-what are you thinking about...?"

"Kael, I haven't really hugged you properly, have I?"

Aria hugged Kael.

It felt like his shoulders were shaking.

Another day, it was the day Alicia returned from the Red Tower after a long time.

Her eyes, as bright red as her hair, were full of annoyance from dealing with the old geezers at the tower.

But Kael approached Alicia somehow and massaged her shoulders.

"... I'm different from Laika or Aria. I don't want to have a son at this age."

"... I, I'm just so happy that you became my mom."

"Why do you keep massaging me when I said I don't like it? It's not refreshing at all!"

Because of the excessive kindness and the gestures that weren't even refreshing, Alicia snapped without realizing it.

"I just wanted M-mommy to rest comfortably at home.... I-I'm sorry. I-I overstepped, didn't I? Like a fool. I should be doing things Mommy likes, but I was just eager-."

Kael apologized, on the verge of tears, thinking he might be abandoned, and Alicia looked at Kael.

She saw the young, fragile child trembling in fear.

"... N-no. I'm sorry. I must have been a bit sensitive after fighting with those old, stupid geezers."

Alicia picked up Kael, who had been massaging her shoulders, sat him on her lap, and showed him a spirit with magic.

"Cute, right? Cheer up. I didn't mean it, I'm sorry Kael."

Kael looked at the spirit with infinitely surprised eyes, then smiled and thanked her.

Alicia couldn't bear to look Kael in the face because of the overwhelming emotions welling up, so she pretended to play around and turned the child's face toward the spirit.

'... What did Kael do wrong....'

Not long after, when Laika appeared, he handed her a letter he had written with more care than usual.

A letter with content that showed clear signs of deliberation, as if he had written and erased it several times.

A letter thanking her for saving him and for adopting him.

"... How did you learn to write?"

"I wanted to write you a letter, but I couldn't if I didn't know how to write. So I studied by looking at books."

"What's with the apology at the end of the letter?"

"... I remembered that you cried when you first saved me. I thought it was my fault. I, I'm sorry...."

Laika realized her mistake, that while Kael had been remembering and cherishing them all this time, she had neglected the child whose fate she had taken on out of a momentary sense of pity.

"... I, I'm sorryyy."

The elf, who had always lived emotionally, stroked Kael's hair with awkward gestures.

The three women received unconditional kindness from Kael for the first time in their lives.

For the first time, they realized the warmth that love brings.

Not the checks from nobles and royals who always tried to use them-.

Not the sugar-coated words of those who always looked up at them and worshipped them.

But pure, kind goodwill.

The mansion, which had rarely seen visitors, gradually found warmth.

Purely to be with Kael, to feel that warmth....

To be with the lovely boy.

Laika moved the tree she usually stayed in and replanted it next to the house.

Alicia cut the lectures she used to give 6 days a week in half.

Aria couldn't spare much time because she was a Saintess, but she unconditionally returned home on her days off for the 'adopted son' she had taken in.

Of course, they hadn't opened their hearts completely and loved Kael yet, but.

Because the unconditional kindness shown by the boy they had saved with their own hands, and the purity shown by the young boy, had become a kind of sanctuary in their hearts.

"Kael, what did you play today?"

"... Do you only like Aria? I'm jealous."

"That's because Alicia is always snapping at him. Right, Kael?"

The three women were gradually, albeit slowly, growing their sense of responsibility.

Perhaps, even if he wasn't a child born from their own wombs, it was safe to say they were growing maternal love.

Because their shoulders, which had always been weighed down by responsibility, were slowly relaxing thanks to Kael.

Although the relationship started with responsibility and pity.

It was because they realized that in the world the little boy looked at, there was no one else but them.

And because they knew that their sick hearts were being dyed with warmth little by little by the sight of Kael smiling brightly.