The Black-Haired Baby and the Madam's Den
I started with the dye. From the bottom of the brazier, I carefully scraped up only the finest, softest charcoal powder—free of any impurities—and collected it in a wooden bowl.
But if I simply mixed this charcoal with plain water and applied it, the baby would sweat or get splashed even a little and the color would streak right off. I needed something to provide adhesion and coating power.
I rummaged through a corner of the shack and found the residue of vegetable oil stuck to the bottom of the metal pan the siblings had used to bake bread yesterday. I added a bit of lukewarm water and a splash of that oil to the fine charcoal powder, then stirred like a madwoman with the help of my magic.
“Huu…”
Before long, the bowl contained a natural hair dye(?) with a sticky, ointment-like texture—charcoal that had soaked up the oil, just like shoe polish.
“Okay, hand me the baby.”
I gently took the soundly sleeping infant from France’s arms and laid her across my lap.
“It might feel a little cold and smell weird, but you have to stay still, okay?”
I wrapped a soft cloth scrap around my finger, scooped up a generous amount of my special charcoal dye, and began carefully dabbing it onto the green hair at the crown of the baby’s head. I worked it in with light, tapping motions so it would soak through.
“Hiiik…!” “Vita, be careful not to get it in her eyes…!” “Don’t worry.”
Heh. Just as I expected. The charcoal mixed with oil showed excellent absorption.
Each time my fingers passed over, that alien green color smoothly transformed into a black that matched ours perfectly.
Finally, after meticulously coating even the fine baby hairs at the back of her head, I blew gently to dry the dye.
“Uung… Uwaaeng.”
The baby fussed and whined at the oily smell and strange texture, but the job was already perfectly finished.
“How about it? Behold this stroke of genius.” “Woooow…! There’s really not a single trace of green left! She has the same black hair as us!” “……Good heavens. Because you mixed it with oil, the charcoal isn’t flaking off at all. And it even has this subtle sheen…”
Though her hair had stiffened and swept back into an all-back style that made her look like a mafia boss, she was now perfectly disguised as just another ordinary orphan baby rolling around the slums.
“Um, Vita? What do babies usually eat? Is it okay to soak the hard bread we eat in water and give her that?” “……Why are you asking me?” “Huh?? But Vita, you clearly told me before that you’re the genius Vita-nim who knows everything!” “……O-of course! This genius Vita-nim naturally knows everything!”
I actually don’t know a single thing.
“Right now, I’m giving your brother a very precious opportunity!” “Huh? To my brother? What does that mean?” “You two have been relying on me way too much lately! So this time, I’m specially yielding the chance to give the correct answer to Prin so he can show you—his little sister—a cool, dependable, smart big-brother figure!” “H-haha. Well, I’d like to say I haven’t always just relied on you… but it’s true we’ve received a lot of help from you lately, Vita.” “Right? I’m correct, aren’t I? So hurry up and answer, Prin. What exactly should we feed a newborn baby who was just born?”
I crossed my arms and arrogantly lifted my chin like a great master waiting for her disciple’s presentation. Fortunately, Prin either didn’t notice my scheme or pretended to fall for it. He pondered seriously before opening his mouth.
“Obviously breast milk. No matter how hungry she is, a stomach that young can’t digest bread. When France was little, I went around every corner of the district begging for breast milk to keep her alive, so I know this well.” “Aha, then where do we get the milk right now? It’s not like it’s going to come out of you.” “When France was a newborn, there was a place that gave us a little breast milk in exchange for sharing some food. Since this child’s hair is now dyed completely black, there’s almost no risk of her being recognized. If we give them a bit of our food like before, they should help us.”
Oh ho, what an excellent method! I cheered inwardly while nodding with a solemn expression on the outside.
“Mmm, perfect score. A very practical and realistic answer. Has your curiosity been satisfied now, France?”
At my perfectly natural attitude—as if I had known everything from the start—France’s eyes sparkled with respect. Just as expected from my brother and Vita! she seemed to think.
Whew. Thank goodness. We got through it cleanly.
“Then shall we go right now? This baby hasn’t had a single drop of water all day.” “Yeah. Let’s hurry.”
If she started wailing from hunger later, it would be an absolute nightmare. I hated crying sounds more than anything in the world. They were too loud.
The place Prin led us to was a central alley quite far from our house. The moment we arrived at our destination, my eyes widened in disbelief.
Good grief. Who would have thought such a luxurious building was hidden in this godforsaken neighborhood?
Of course, compared to the splendid structures beyond the wall, this was probably still nothing but worn-out trash. But at least it was on a completely different level from our slum of rotten planks, dirt floors, and haphazardly patched tents. This was a real building—solid stone and bricks stacked layer by layer, even covered with a proper roof.
Prin walked inside the enormous stone building that resembled a dormitory without the slightest hesitation, as if he were completely familiar with it.
Hmm. The fact that he strode in so confidently meant this was definitely a place he knew well.
But France’s reaction was similar to mine—perhaps because she had been too young to remember. No, hers was far more intense. Her eyes sparkled like a country child stepping into a fairy-tale castle, and she kept turning her head every which way without pause.
“Wooooow……!! Brother, Vita! This house is seriously huge and wide! The floor isn’t even dirt! I never dreamed a place like this existed! It’s so amazing!”
You can say that again. If people could gather and live in a building this large and sturdy, it meant the humans living in this district had far more money in their pockets than the people in our neighborhood.
If I had known about such a gold mine of a district earlier, I would have come here long ago to perform puppet shows! The amount of coins and the quality of bread would have been completely different!
I swallowed my regret and firmly engraved the surrounding terrain and the building’s entrance in my mind.
I absolutely have to come back here alone next time.
Good heavens, there are even stairs inside the building!
I had roughly guessed the height by looking up from outside, but the scale I faced once inside was far more overwhelming.
Quite a few people were coming and going along the corridors and stairs. Wait a minute… don’t those people look strangely familiar?
Women standing around in revealing clothes, wearing heavy makeup and reeking of cheap perfume, and the rough-looking men loitering around them. Upon closer look, they were the same delinquents and prostitutes from before.
My ominous premonitions are never wrong. One of the men in the group—a big guy with a shaved head—spotted us and approached with a wide grin.
“Well, if it isn’t Prin? Been a while. Heard the rumors, but damn, your hand really got chopped off. Hahaha! See? I told you, didn’t I? Come work with us here.” “H-haha… Thank you for the offer, but I have a little sister, France, that I need to take care of……” “France? Ah, that precious little sister you cherished so much? Then which one of those two kids stuck behind your back is her? You had two sisters? I thought there was only one.”
The man’s greedy gaze swept over me and France hiding behind Prin’s back.
“Well, you may be a one-armed cripple now, but if you want, we can give your sisters jobs too. How about it? It’s not too late. We’ll treat them real nice.” “B-brother… I’m scared……”
To be honest, I was scared too. Goosebumps crawled all over me. The sticky, damp way that man’s eyes licked over us was definitely not the gaze of an adult looking at children. It was the disgusting look of someone appraising merchandise.
Especially when the man’s eyes landed on my face.
“Oho… This little one will be quite a looker once she grows up and gets cleaned up, huh?”
The man stared at me openly and flashed a sleazy smile. I wanted to gouge out those filthy eyes right then and there, but I held my breath and averted my gaze.
“How about it, Prin? My offer isn’t bad, right?”
At that moment, I saw Prin’s back stiffen like a board as he stepped in front of me. His remaining fist clenched tightly.
The boiling rage—he was clearly suppressing it with everything he had, solely to protect his family.
“……The offer is truly appreciated, brother. But… my little sister is still very sick. She’s in no condition to work right now. Haha…”
Prin bit his lip, then bowed deeply with a servile smile.
“She’s sick? Ah, that’s really too bad.”
The man clapped a large hand on Prin’s shoulder hard enough to make loud smacking sounds.
“Well, I’m not forcing you to start working immediately. I’m not that heartless. But Prin, with a disability and three mouths to feed, how long do you think you can last? When you run out of money for medicine or food, come find me anytime. Those sweet little sisters of yours won’t just sit and watch their only brother starve to death, right? Tsk tsk.”
Even at the end, he kept spewing disgusting nonsense while once again licking us over with his eyes.
“Next time I see you, make sure you’ve grown up prettier, little ladies. Hehehe.”
Finally losing interest in us, he sauntered off toward the end of the corridor where his gang was gathered.
“Haa… Haa…”
Only after the man completely disappeared from sight did Prin’s rigid shoulders slump. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead while breathing harshly.
Ugh. I seriously feel like throwing up.
“Brother… that was really scary……” “It’s okay, France. Brother will protect you. I’ll never let bastards like that get anywhere near you.”
While comforting a teary-eyed France, Prin also cast a complicated look in my direction. Seeing the mixture of guilt and helplessness in his eyes, I shrugged as casually as I could.
“It was just a mangy mutt barking. Hurry up and lead the way. The baby’s going to pass out from hunger.”
At my words, Prin gave a faint, bitter smile, then pulled himself together and quickened his steps again.
We hurried down the corridor and cautiously approached the room we were aiming for.
And finally. We reached the firmly closed wooden door at the end of the hallway. Prin took a deep breath, grabbed the handle, and flung it open.
Creak.
The moment the door opened, acrid smoke billowed out from inside. And beyond that hazy smoke appeared a middle-aged woman leaning crookedly in an old chair, puffing away on something in her mouth.
Wait. The thing in her mouth… is that a cigarette?
This pungent yet strangely familiar smell of tobacco wafting to the tip of my nose! Good grief, even in this filthy slum, such a luxury item existed?
“My, my, who do we have here? Isn’t it Prin? It’s been such a long time. Where on earth have you been hiding all this time without showing your face? Seeing that one wrist of yours flew off cleanly, it doesn’t look like you were living the good life.” “H-haha… There were some circumstances, Madam.”
Prin bowed awkwardly while sweating coldly. But the woman called Madam had already lost interest in him. Her heavily made-up eyes quickly locked onto me standing behind Prin.
“And… you there.”
The woman flicked the ash from her cigarette into an ashtray with interest and leaned her upper body forward.
“Lately the whole street has been buzzing with stories about you. They say a cheeky little brat appeared who puts on an incredible puppet show. So here’s the thing. This big sister has been very interested in you lately. Little lady?”
……Big sister, my ass?