Goodness is Goodness Itself (1)
From a higher vantage point than usual, I could look down at the floor. That was because Rudmila was carrying me princess-style as she walked somewhere.
Where is she taking me? She didn't seem like a bad person, so I stayed quiet.
Warm. Sleepiness crept in from her embrace with its deep valley of warmth. The rigid but cozy heat made it impossible to stay alert. As I started nodding off, Rudmila spoke.
"Mm..."
"It's healthy for little kids to sleep a lot."
I shook my head with my languid body. Falling asleep here seemed bad for her back. After stuffing myself earlier, the warmth spreading through me brought on waves of drowsiness. I resisted bit by bit, wriggling in her arms.
Rudmila's expression didn't change at all, but I felt a subtle emotion in the hand gripping my shoulder.
She seems to be handling me preciously... It was impressive, the careful way she wrapped her hand around me like a master artisan with fine craftsmanship.
But the position was uncomfortable. My neck wobbled a bit, so I had no choice but to rest my head against her body. Then, my ear by her side warmed with her body heat.
"Uuu..."
And an irresistible sleep demon overwhelmed me, foiling my efforts to stay awake. I rubbed my head against her, but I couldn't fight the weight of my closing eyelids any longer.
In the end, I fell asleep. It was an unavoidable sleep from sheer exhaustion.
And I dreamed. A strange dream, somehow.
Fearing she might wake the child in her arms, Rudmila walked more slowly than she ever had in her life. She usually preferred striding quickly like her mother, but not now. Waking the child who'd just fallen asleep would be unforgivable.
Gazing quietly at Riru, who slept with her head against her shoulder, Rudmila felt some emotion blooming deep inside. She didn't know what it was, but her heart warmed all the same.
After walking silently for a while like that, a voice came from afar.
"Found her? You did?! Where was she?"
"In the kitchen. Stuffing her face."
"Eek? She ate a ton already— what else did she eat?"
Monte came running from the opposite direction. Rudmila felt a strange emotion; when was the last time she'd seen her little brother running like that? Thinking back, she'd been off to battlefields and conflict zones or killing criminals, so she hadn't seen much of him. They'd only been close as kids, when they could speak freely.
Her brother, whom she hadn't been near in so long, didn't annoy her now. Normally, she'd want to slice anyone approaching into six pieces, but not today.
Monte cautiously peeked in and asked,
"What, she's asleep?"
"Yeah. Quiet."
How ordinary and peaceful this conversation was. Monte handled Riru with special care. He was the type who'd always tossed human relationships aside carelessly.
My little brother who once released slimes in the principal's office at the Academy... The one who'd caused the office to half-shut down. But he seemed different now.
Rudmila felt a slight joy at that fact and brought her hand to her mouth.
Monte nodded and approached the sleeping Riru. Her peaceful sleeping face was so cute he almost poked her cheek without thinking. But Rudmila's cold glare stopped him. Monte yanked his hand back in surprise at himself.
He raised an eyebrow, nodded, and said,
"...Anyway, let's move her quick. The priestess is waiting."
"Right."
Riru, breathing softly in her sleep, was carried all the way to the priestess's room.
The priestess, sitting quietly reciting prayers, welcomed the two back.
"Is that the child?"
They both nodded at once, and Monte gave her more details—omitting that she'd been abandoned by her family. He wasn't so foolish as to air someone else's pain carelessly.
"Hmm, burns at such a young age..."
The priestess smiled kindly and lightly touched Riru's stomach. After brushing just her fingertips there, she closed her eyes briefly in thought, then asked them to lay Riru down.
Rudmila moved Riru to another room with utmost care. The priestess and Monte followed, and soon the three arrived at a room Rudmila had used in her early childhood. A plain room with nothing in it. Just a lone bed, and the sparse atmosphere made the priestess give an awkward smile.
Monte snapped his fingers at the candle by the bed to light it. Then he held his hand over the bed, and a fragrant breeze emanated from it, flipping the bedding like turning a page.
"Good now. Lay her down."
He'd cleaned the bed perfectly, and the priestess nearly praised him for it.
Oh, well done~ That would've been a disaster. Occupational habit from dealing with kids at orphanages and nurseries.
Anyway, the priestess spread her palm wide toward Riru, who wriggled slightly on the bed, deep in sleep. Then she furrowed her brow sharply.
"It's severe... Burns all over her body, oh my..."
She touched Riru's small, pudgy foot and let out a groan. Monte and Rudmila hurriedly checked Riru's foot and saw her toenails were broken.
"Looks like someone pulled these out on purpose."
"......"
"That damn son of a— mmph..."
Rudmila quietly covered Monte's mouth. The priestess tilted her head at their reactions, then asked cautiously,
"Do you happen to know why she ended up like this?"
Rudmila glanced at Monte, sighed, and spoke for them.
"She's from another family, and we took her in. That's all we know for sure."
"Ahh..."
The priestess examined Monte and Rudmila's appearances. The stark differences—especially Riru's black hair and red eyes—didn't match them at all. She nodded and said,
"Did you two save this child?"
Warm holy power began to emanate from her hand. Watching, Monte shook his head and said,
"We've only fed her good stuff so far."
"Hee hee, for some kids, that's salvation enough. A kind word, a warm meal."
A sigh echoed in Monte and Rudmila's minds. Thinking about it, despite her brave front, she was just a little girl. They could see with their own eyes how starved and hurt she'd been. An inexpressible anger welled up, that was true.
But they'd only given her what she wanted and hadn't truly cared for her from the heart. A single meal? In Cardia, that was just basic. If it was salvation, they had to do more to call it that.
Nobles' thinking differed from the priestess's a bit.
Instead of one meal, lavish feasts every day?
Buy her whatever she wants... Does she like swords?
The two gazed at the soundly sleeping Riru, pondering how to cherish her. It was still lacking, of course. But they had grown, in a way.
Ziiing—
Finally, golden holy power poured from the priestess's hand. It started with her foot, restoring Riru's underdeveloped toes to soft, plump perfection. Then, to heal the burns covering her body, the priestess moved her hand. Wherever her palm passed over Riru's skin, the burn scars faded away.
Watching, the Cardia siblings both thought the same: First, get her some proper clothes.
But the priestess had a different reaction.
What is this feeling?
From orphanages to nurseries, she'd been around tons of kids and knew the joy of being surrounded by them. Wild rascals laughing around her had always lifted her spirits.
So why now?
It feels like so many children are looking at me.
The sensation was odd. Like when she'd gone to the battlefield and shared bread with child prisoners. They'd all bowed deeply in thanks, grubby kids scarred by war expressing gratitude. That memory flashed by.
Why did healing this one tiny child feel the same?
Ah...?
For a moment then, the priestess's vision flipped.
It happened right after she absentmindedly reached for Riru's head.
「Thank you」
「No more pain」
「It was warm」
For a moment, she saw dark red childlike figures crowding around, staring at her. Blurry, but their voices reached her too.
The priestess's mind floated. A high hill she'd never seen in her life. Children sat all over it, waving at her. Her body lifted buoyantly, and she waved back in a daze.
Then, giggles erupted.
Girls and boys alike, countless voices rang out. The infectious childlike laughter shook her shoulders briefly.
And strength returned to her eyelids.
"...Priestess?"
She snapped out of the floating sensation, her closed eyes opening as she gasped for breath.
What was that just now...?
She turned her head. A hand rested on her shoulder— Rudmila's.
"Priestess?"
"Y-yes? Yes?"
She glanced at the soundly sleeping Riru in front of her and yanked her hand back hastily. Rudmila eyed her strangely and asked again,
"The treatment seemed finished... Was there another problem?"
"Oh, no... I mean... I-I don't know."
She stammered like a baby learning to talk. Rudmila and Monte both tilted their heads at the sight.
The priestess couldn't even guess what that scene had been. It scared her, left her flustered and tongue-tied.
"I-I'll be going now!"
"W-wait..."
In a daze, she blurted that the treatment was perfect, then fled Cardia like her life depended on it.
She ran until her lungs burned.
Her first hallucination ever.
What was it? That...
Walking outside Cardia, some strange emotion made tears flow unbidden. She had no idea what it was.
But those dark red children—for some reason, they seemed so pitiful, and that's why she cried.
I dreamed.
A vivid dream, like a past memory.
In the dream, I was freezing to death. The moment Collodic abandoned me.
But not from my viewpoint—from Speredo's.
In the quiet snowy mountain where chill winds scattered, Speredo's voice echoed.
"Just now, they dumped that thing like trash—and it's a kid?"
He muttered as he trudged through the snow. Following footprints.
Footprints left by the servants who'd carried me. Traces from that blizzardy winter day.
Following from afar at first, then stealthily just tracking the prints— Speredo.
He narrowed his brow and muttered to himself.
"Weird... How are the footprints still here? And why do they look so messed up..."
Speredo kept muttering and pressed on. The footprints continued all the way to the bundle where I'd wriggled with my last strength.
Speredo squinted.
"What the—! Crazy bastards!"
He bolted toward the bundle now visible to the naked eye from afar. The squirming bundle had stilled, so he sprinted at full speed.
......
I watched it all from a third-person view.
So that's how Speredo found me.
Like this...
And I understood.
Why footprints remained in the blizzardy night.
Why snow hadn't piled on my bundle, burying it.
It was because of them.
「Like this? 」
「Dummy, footprints don't look like that」
「Hard to make with hands...」
Tiny hands making the footprints.
「My arm hurts」
「No, they'll come soon—hold on」
「Uwaaah」
Raising hands over my bundle, blocking the snow.
「I hope she doesn't end up like us」
「Dummy, don't say that」
The dark red children. Thanks to them.