Guardian
"A guardian, huh…"
"Yes. As you know, Senior Yerna, if temporary guardianship drags on too long, the child eventually has to go into a government facility."
"I know. I know that, but…"
Temporary guardianship.
Just as the name suggested, temporary meant temporary and nothing more.
The temporary guardianship process itself required almost no paperwork, but once a set period elapsed, the child had to enter a facility designated by the government. There, state-supported food, clothing, and shelter would be provided—until adulthood, at least.
Yerna found herself wondering whether that might actually be better for Luke. And yet she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it.
Hadn't she already contacted every facility she thought might be suitable for him, only to be turned down by every last one?
Besides, Luke was a child with a Circle in his heart—and an extraordinarily powerful one at that. No matter how adorable he was, people simply did not line up to adopt a child who might die at any moment. The sheer volume of mana he consumed would be more than most households could handle, too.
He would almost certainly end up somewhere little better than a prison, scraping by until he came of age, only to be cast out into the world.
"That's why you should just apply to become his guardian outright."
Daphne pressed the point firmly. She was right—the end of the temporary period was drawing closer by the day. Once time ran out, Luke would be forcibly placed in a designated facility. For a child who had only just escaped slavery, that seemed far too cruel.
"Luke seems to like you a lot, Senior Yerna. So what's the problem?"
"Well…"
That much was true. Even from Yerna's own perspective, Luke followed her remarkably well. And as far as she could tell, there was no place more suitable for raising him than the forest. That made her profession as a forest keeper a perfect fit, almost as if fate itself had arranged it.
But the greatest obstacle was this:
"To apply as a guardian, though… you know I can't do it alone."
Yerna sighed and leaned back against the door of her parked off-road vehicle.
"Ah. Right."
Daphne nodded, her expression saying she had just remembered that particular snag.
A guardian. In practice, it was adoption. And adoption required a review proving that the applicant could actually provide a proper environment for raising a child. That review also insisted, without exception, that the applicant be a married woman.
Yerna had no partner.
"Haa…"
She had lived half a century, and in all that time no suitable man had ever appeared. Work had kept her busy, of course, but presentable elven men were hardly common to begin with. And with a job like forest keeper, her feminine charms weren't exactly… abundant.
"Senior, lower your standards a little. Half the world is men."
"Daphne, from that half you still have to filter out the elves."
"Ah. Right. Being a rare species is the real problem, isn't it."
Yerna covered her face with both hands and let out a miserable groan. As of last year, elves made up only about twelve percent of the population. Narrow that further to men of marriageable age, and the numbers became vanishingly small. Elves were simply that rare a race.
On top of that, elves—who lived an average of two hundred and fifty years—tended to have far weaker reproductive drives than other races, which only made finding a partner harder still. Even Yerna, who was only half a century old, still carried the quiet conviction that marriage was something for later.
Whether it was right that she had never properly dated anyone was another question entirely—but Yerna usually stopped that train of thought before it could fully form.
She asked,
"Isn't there anyone trustworthy we could turn to?"
"Hmm… none of my friends would be willing to take Luke in, I'm afraid."
Daphne shook her head firmly.
"What do we do? There's only a week left now."
"A week? It's already that close? Then we really don't have much time…"
Even by human standards—never mind elven ones—finding someone and stamping a marriage certificate within a single week was absurdly fast. You needed at least a month of dating just to know a person a little.
"I need more time."
At Yerna's murmur, Daphne spoke as if something had just occurred to her.
"Then apply for an extension review first."
"An extension review?"
"When temporary guardianship runs long, there's a system that lets you apply for an extension based on a review. If you have a valid reason, you can even apply for support funds."
"Is that true?"
Yerna's head snapped up as she stared at Daphne. Daphne smiled good-naturedly and nodded.
"Yes. Back when I was still in administration, that kind of thing existed."
"I see!"
Come to think of it, Daphne had originally been an administrative civil servant before requesting a transfer to field work because promotions came faster there. No wonder she was so well-informed. Yerna seized Daphne's hands and cried out with delight.
"That's my field guide! Thank you so much, Daphne! Dinner's on me next time!"
"Don't mention it. Oh—and if you take any cute pictures of Luke later, send me a few, would you?"
"Of course!"
"I see. An extension review for the temporary guardianship period."
Luke nodded after hearing Yerna's explanation.
Temporary guardianship, was it.
Luke wouldn't particularly mind being sent to a facility once the period expired—but being separated too far from Yerna was something he preferred to avoid. First, because he owed her a great debt of gratitude, and remaining at her side was the best way to repay it. Second, because of the unease that came from how desperately she wanted to keep him out of any "facility." And third…
"Lu, what do you think? You don't dislike your big sister, do you?"
"…Of course not. How could I dislike you? If anything, I only feel sorry toward you."
"Oh, come on—you've got nothing to be sorry about!"
It was reactions like that from Yerna.
In any case, if this was what his benefactor wanted, then he had no real choice left. When one's savior wished for something, it was only right that it be so. So Luke stroked his chin and asked the only question he could.
"Then what exactly am I supposed to do for this review?"
"Nothing! You don't have to do a thing, Lu. Oh—an examiner will come by a few times, so just answer well when they do. You can manage that, right?"
"I see. Understood. Don't worry."
Just answer well, she said. That truly didn't sound difficult.
"Alright then—I've got paperwork to file. Oh, and this is the forest, so don't go out alone under any circumstances. Always call someone to go with you. Got it?"
"I will. Though I doubt I'll have any reason to go out."
And so Luke was left alone again in Yerna's quarters, passing the time by opening a book. Now that he had formed a Circle, accumulating knowledge took priority over accumulating mana. Hadn't his own lack of common sense already placed a heavy burden on Yerna?
What Luke needed more than books on magic were books on society and culture. He had recognized his own ignorance, but he still didn't know what he didn't know. He needed a means of injecting broad, indiscriminate general knowledge. And nothing compressed the spirit of an age more metaphorically than fiction.
Luke pulled a random volume from the shelf, sat wherever instinct guided him, and began turning the pages. For a while, the soft rustle of paper was the only sound filling Yerna's lodgings.
"Hmm…"
Of all things, the book he had pulled was an erotic novel. The title and cover had looked perfectly wholesome; the contents were anything but. Being a novel, of course, it had a setup—and the early chapters had seemed like ordinary romance, which made the sudden leap into rather explicit territory all the more startling. Above all, the language was so bluntly direct that it left him stunned.
In his era, even books containing amorous descriptions had been expensive, and most of those who bought them were nobles. The depictions had therefore been packaged in refined, metaphorical language suited to aristocratic tastes. Accustomed to that style, Luke had almost no immunity to modern romance novels that painted every act in stark, unvarnished detail.
"I should probably find something else."
He could feel a faint heat rising in his face. Gifted with a mage's vivid imagination, Luke even felt a twinge of guilt, as if he had spied on someone else's intimate relations.
"Does Yerna read this sort of thing regularly…?"
So even elves aren't free of carnal desire.
With that thought, Luke carefully slid the book back into place on the shelf. This time he cracked open the middle of the next volume first, to check what it was.
This one has a similar feel…
When the second book proved the same, Luke wondered: was this kind of writing simply common in this age? No—surely not. He had merely been unlucky.
So he told himself as he reached for a third book—
Bang!
"Luke, you in here?!"
"Wh—whoa!"
A man flung the door open without warning, and Luke let out a high, startled cry. The moment he recognized who had entered, he exhaled in relief.
"Haa… so it was you…"
The newcomer was a red-haired man: Dighton Genepper.
"Huh? What, why so jumpy?"
As Dighton rubbed his chin with a puzzled look, Luke hurriedly shook his head.
"Ah—it's nothing. But do you always barge in like that? A knock wouldn't kill you, would it?"
Realizing he had flustered himself in a manner unbefitting his age, Luke turned a faintly accusatory tone on the man—but Dighton brushed it aside as if it didn't matter.
"Never mind that, Luke. I heard you need a guardian."
"Ah. Yes."
The extension of temporary guardianship was, in the end, preparation for becoming a proper guardian—or so he had been told. How one actually became a guardian, no one had explained.
Dighton suddenly dropped to one knee and clasped his hands together. At this bizarre display, Luke went pale and cried out.
"What in the world are you doing? How can a grown man drop to his knees so lightly?!"
He scrambled to haul Dighton up, but the man didn't budge an inch. The frail strength of a roughly ten-year-old body simply wasn't enough. Mage though he was, a single Circle only unlocked the most basic privileges; physical reinforcement was still a distant dream—a fact Luke found bitterly frustrating.
Dighton cleanly ignored Luke's straining efforts and spoke.
"Do me a favor. Put in a good word for me with Yerna."
"And what exactly am I supposed to say to her?"
"You need a spouse to apply as a guardian, right? Even if it's just on paper—just hook me up this once."
"What?"
Luke froze solid.
"A spouse, you say?"