Recollection
Fortunately, the children opened their hearts to Karina in no time at all.
Watching her play with them in the training yard, the squad members tossed out comments one after another.
"Gotta hand it to her — that face is top-tier."
"Are all elves that pretty…?"
"Elves have ugly ones too. Karina's an elf and she's short."
"That's uncalled for!"
No matter what she did, she never grew past a hundred and sixty-three centimeters. What was she supposed to do about it?
She was on the short side for a forest keeper, that much was true… but it still stung.
"Karina, quit playing with the kids and come eat."
"Yes, sir!"
Karina took an elven meal for herself and portioned out a reasonable human meal for the children.
She'd worried the cafeteria food might not suit their tastes, but they ate well enough. Maybe they'd simply been starving.
She was watching them with a warm smile when the captain spoke up.
"We're taking them to the facility tomorrow. If you get too attached, saying goodbye's going to hurt."
"Ah — I already gave them my contact info, so we'll keep in touch now and then."
"That so?"
Well then. Nothing more to say.
Click. Click.
She was running through her usual gear check. This time, the rhythm didn't throw her balance off in the slightest.
Satisfied.
A smile touched Karina's lips as her hands moved swiftly over her wand inspection.
Come to think of it, this operation was linked to the one where they'd rescued those kids before. They'd traced the money trail, found the head of the snake, and now they were going to cut it off.
The children's faces rose unbidden in her mind. They'd been filthy when she first met them, but once they'd been scrubbed clean they turned out to be rather adorable. She hadn't noticed at the time — only after the bath did the folded ears finally show. Beastkin, apparently.
They were doing well, surely.
One of the squad members raised a hand.
"Captain, once this job's done, mind if we take leave without worrying about it?"
"Sure. Take as much as you want. You've got my permission."
"Hell yeah!"
He pumped a fist like he'd just won something, and a few of the others clapped him on the shoulder in solidarity.
"Why are you so obsessed with leave? What are you gonna do once you get it?"
"Take my little girl to an amusement park."
"Now there's a grand ambition."
A daughter and an amusement park — that was serious business.
"Speaking of which, you still in touch with those kids we rescued back then?"
Karina nodded and answered.
"You mean Karen and Airen? I got word a few weeks ago that they were being adopted."
"That's a relief."
"Tell me about it."
It had been a long time since she'd had leave. So long she couldn't even remember how many weeks it had been.
And the first place Karina decided to go with that hard-won time off wasn't her hometown of Veriton — it was an orphanage.
She wanted to see Karen and Airen's faces one more time before they were adopted.
"Hmm. This should be the place."
Karina felt a faint sense of being dwarfed by the building she'd arrived at. A facility nestled in a forest rich with mana — larger and more sprawling than she'd expected. It wasn't exactly clean, but it had a garden and looked decent enough overall. There was even something like a playground off to one side.
And yet something about it put her on edge.
"Are most facilities like this?"
She couldn't shake the impression that the place was run-down. The walls seemed oddly high, and the guards made quite an impression. She couldn't tell what class of wand they were authorized to carry, but she suspected they packed a serious punch.
Because it's in the forest…? Guarding against monsters, maybe?
Forests had the advantage of free mana, but the drawback of monster appearances. Well — that had been the founder's choice to make.
Karina talked herself into accepting it and kept walking. Then, abruptly, a guard barred her way.
"Hold it. Are you a visitor?"
"Hello. I'm Karina."
"Karina… Never heard the name. Did you make a reservation?"
"A reservation? I didn't know I needed one."
"Hmm. I see…"
The man looked mildly put out as he lifted a phone and called inside.
"Yes, just one person… Yes. Yes, understood."
After a brief exchange, he said, "Please wait a moment. The facility director will be right out."
"All right."
She sat and waited as instructed, and before long a sturdy man with ash-brown hair emerged from within, wearing a smile.
"Welcome to Dillant Orphanage. I'm the facility director… Dillant."
"A pleasure, Dillant. I'm Karina."
She extended her hand for a handshake. Dillant accepted readily, clasping her hand and giving it a firm pump or two.
Karina was privately startled by what she felt.
His hands are incredibly hard…
The calluses were rougher than her own — and she was a forest keeper. Maybe handling children was simply that demanding a job.
Shown into an office deeper inside, Karina was ushered onto a suitable sofa.
"If you'll wait just a moment, I'll bring something to drink. What kind of tea would you—"
Before he could finish, an interruption buzzed from his pocket.
Brring, brring.
"Ah, damn. A call…"
Dillant offered a slight smile, said something along the lines of "Just a moment, please wait here," and vanished.
Karina nodded and sank deeper into the sofa. The fake-leather smell was pretty awful.
"Hmm…"
She glanced around. The office was rather cluttered. What stood out most were the trophies and certificates of every kind displayed in a cabinet.
Awards, in a shabby place like this…
Judging by the dates, some of them were barely two years old. "Best Facility Award," no less.
It is spacious, I'll give it that.
The judges had probably phoned it in. Or else the place was very good at putting on a show. Maybe a thorough cleaning was all it took to win one of these?
Hmm…
Turning her gaze, she spotted photographs taken with what looked like important people. The ones with children seemed to have been taken before adoptions went through.
Nobles?
Well — if the kids were going to good homes, that was a good thing. She hoped Karen and Airen were being adopted into families like that, and sat there enduring the sofa's unpleasant smell.
Mr. Dillant is taking a while.
Waiting alone this long had gotten thoroughly boring, and the weird smell coming off the sofa made sitting any longer unbearable. Karina stood, thinking she'd at least air the place out for a moment — and the instant she opened the door, a scrap of conversation snagged her attention.
"You idiot. You got the dosage wrong. How do you mess up the packaging too?"
"That's weird… I could've sworn I used about the right amount."
"Damn it. One of them's ruined. Bring another."
"Got it."
Someone had made a mistake? The sound of bickering. At first Karina figured everyone slipped up sometimes and was ready to dismiss it.
Until she heard this sound.
Vvvvvvvrrr—! Krrrk-krrrk-krrrk, krk.
That was unmistakably the sound of a power saw cutting through something. Construction work, maybe?
Then—
"Ms. Karina. I asked you to wait inside… Why are you out here?"
"It was a little stuffy in there."
"My apologies. My call ran long… Shall we continue our conversation inside?"
At Dillant's suggestion, Karina nodded and headed back in. Once she was seated, he poured the tea he'd brought and spoke.
"So, Ms. Karina. What did you say brought you here?"
"I just wanted to see the children at the orphanage."
"Looking for anyone in particular?"
"Karen and Airen. I was told they were at this facility."
A filled cup was passed to her.
"Ah, those two are currently preparing for adoption, so you won't be able to see them. Haha — the process is rather complicated. Any number of things that have to be wrapped up in a hurry. The adoption is tomorrow, you see."
"Is that so?"
Karina thanked him for the tea, accepted the cup, and was bringing it toward her lips when—
"Kyaaaaah—!"
She froze.
"Did you just hear something?"
"Hmm…? Not sure. I didn't hear a thing."
Karina studied Dillant's face. An obvious lie.
She sniffed the tea, and the wrongness only sharpened.
Something's in the tea.
She'd thought it was just cheap leaves. It wasn't. Having drunk tea since she was ten, she knew at once what had been done to it.
Every uneasy clue was knitting together into one picture.
Judgment made, she hurled the teacup straight at Dillant.
Thud, smash!
"Ghk — you bitch!"
Karina sprang up like a coiled spring and drove her knee into Dillant's face.
Crack—!
The blow landed perfectly. The force was enough to tip the sofa over backward; he had no choice but to black out.
Thud.
There had been far too many oddities. Rusted playground equipment she doubted any child actually used. Guards with strangely high alertness and gear. Strange noises and screams drifting up from below. And the sleeping drug he'd tried to feed her.
Every clue pointed to the same conclusion: this facility was not normal.
Karina pulled a key ring from Dillant's coat. Would this open the basement door?
A shame I don't have my wand…
Even a forest keeper couldn't just walk out with one of those whenever she pleased. Nothing to be done about it.
She toyed with the pocketknife in her coat. At least she had this much. She'd taken it off Dillant, actually. The blade was too small to do real damage to a person, but it was sharp enough to cut through things.
If she'd drunk that sleeping drug and gone under…
Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.
She slipped down to the basement — and the moment she arrived, a nauseating, fishy stench hit her nose hard enough to make her grimace.
This smell…
Voices from deeper in.
"Fuck, you absolute— the two dosages got switched."
"…We're screwed."
"Ah, whatever. Fuck it — you tell the boss."
"…"
Switched? What did that mean?
Karina swallowed a wave of revulsion strong enough to make her dizzy and edged forward, little by little.
Clank—.
Something heavy caught against her foot.
"Hhk — Boss?"
"Who…?"
A fat man startled badly; a thinner one asked the question. But Karina didn't answer. She couldn't. Her eyes had locked onto the object in the bucket.
The ring-like mark. Why was that hand sitting in there?
"Intruder!"
They were relieved, in a way. If they at least killed the intruder, maybe the punishment would be lighter.
Whether that was even possible, though…
"…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
She should have looked into the facility beforehand. She never should have just handed them over to the government.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
CRASH!
Karina finally smashed the television. No matter which channel she turned to, the broadcast kept looping the same story.
Of course it was shocking. More than ten nobles had already been dragged out in chains for their involvement. Naturally no network would ignore a scandal of that scale.
But every time she watched, it made her sick.
From the wrecked TV came nothing but static. Why did the noise feel almost comforting?
Karen and Airen…
Those children might as well have died by her hand.
If she had been a little faster. If she had noticed a little sooner. If she had thought a little deeper.
Ding-dong—.
The doorbell rang. She staggered to her feet and opened the door.
A postman stood on the threshold. He offered a brief greeting and said,
"Are you Ms. Yerna?"
"…Yes."
He handed over mail and a package. A letter from Tierne Forest… No need to open it. Notice that her resignation had been processed, no doubt. The package sent along with it would be her personal effects.
"Sign here, please."
She started to write Karina, the way she always had — then stopped.
"I signed wrong… May I erase this?"
"Of course."
"Thank you."
She corrected the signature.
Yerna Risphind.
The new identity she'd been given under the witness protection program.