The Abandoned Village (3)
The Abandoned Village (3)
Whether the monster I had just caught was the leader or not, the wolf monsters soon turned to flee, but...
-Kkududeudeuk!
-Chwaaaak!!!
Golden vines sprouting from the ground instantly wrapped around the wolf monsters.
"Hero-nim...!!"
"Right...!"
Ria nodded as if telling me to finish them off, and I, who had nodded back, immediately dashed forward.
They weren't particularly powerful monsters, so with a single swing of my sword, the wolf monsters were cleaved in half and died.
Letting out a sigh, I turned to look back.
"Hiccup...!"
"Ah......."
I made eye contact with a little girl wearing a red hood, who was hiccupping.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, yesss......."
The little girl nodded, looking up at me with tearful eyes.
Thinking that Ria must have comforted her well, I gave a slight smile.
"This place is very dangerous, why were you here? Where are your parents?"
Wondering if the child had perhaps come out for a picnic and gotten chased in the forest, I asked her that, and the child opened her mouth without any change in expression.
"I don't have any......."
"Eh...?"
"Mm, no mom or dad......."
"......."
The child lowered her head.
Following suit and lowering my own head, I noticed the child's tiny, clenched fist gripping the hem of her skirt.
'...Looks like she hurt her ankle too.'
She seemed very scared and hurt, which made me feel sorry for her, but why on earth was a little girl like this here?
There weren't any proper villages around here.
'Even if she lived in the royal capital and came out, it doesn't make sense.'
But on the other hand, she didn't seem like an evil being either.
Ria showed no particular reaction and was simply comforting the child.
"Are you okay?"
"...Yes, I'm fine."
"Yeah? How old are you?"
The fact that Ria was talking to her this warmly meant she was at least not an evil being.
'...There are mysterious aspects, but she's not a bad child, I guess.'
With that, while maintaining caution, I put away the Holy Sword I had taken out back into my dimensional pocket.
"Um...n-now."
In response to Ria's question about her age, the child fidgeted her tiny hands, trying to extend her fingers.
It was really cute, but.
She kept bending and straightening her fingers as if she couldn't quite remember her own age properly.
At this, Ria looked up at me and shook her head.
'...Amnesia?'
Thinking it might be short-term memory loss, I slowly patted the child's head.
"You don't have to rush."
"Yes, yesss......."
The child nodded.
With a slight smile, I knelt down and introduced myself.
"I am the Hero Leon. Just call me 'mister' normally."
"Mi, mister? You look young though......."
"Do I?"
"...Yes."
A child who speaks better than expected.
As I raised my hand with a slight smile to slowly pat her head, the child flinched slightly but soon relaxed and closed her eyes.
'...A child with trauma?'
I thought she might be a child who had suffered from violence for a long time.
'She looks about 10 years old on the outside.'
I don't know when she lost her parents, but if she says she doesn't have any, perhaps she's been without parents from the very moment her first memories began.
Thinking that made me feel even more sorry for her, so I patted her head a little more affectionately.
"What's your name?"
"Sia."
"Sia?"
"Yes."
Sia nodded.
I think it's a name that suits her well.
The child's sparkling eyes.
Ria, who had been staring intently at the child, slowly smiled and asked Sia a question.
"Sia, is there any place you can stay right away?"
"...No."
Sia immediately answered 'no' to the question about having a place to stay.
As expected, but it made my heart ache considerably.
Seeing a young child suffer doesn't sit well with me or Ria.
It might be because we're more sensitive than other people, or perhaps it's simply because I am the Hero and Ria is the Saint.
'Orphanages...there aren't any reliable ones yet.'
For a moment, I thought about sending her to an orphanage, but.
Knowing what most orphanages are like, I hesitated briefly.
"Hero-nim."
Ria pulled on my sleeve with a slightly serious expression.
Tilting my head, Ria gestured as if asking me to come to the back for a moment.
"Sia, can you wait here for just a little bit?"
"Yes."
Sia nodded and simply plopped down to sit.
Perhaps her injured leg was hurting, she let out a groan, then took a deep breath and her expression became calm.
We decided to move a bit away, to a distance where Sia couldn't hear our voices, and then talk.
"So, what is it?"
"...That, that is."
Ria fidgeted a bit, then scratched her cheek awkwardly and asked.
"I was wondering if maybe we could take care of her for a while."
At Ria's words about living together until Sia could stand on her own, I paused for a moment.
Of course, it's a good idea.
Because neither I nor Ria have particularly positive thoughts about orphanages.
Of course, orphanages themselves are great facilities, and not all orphanage directors are bad people, but.
If a child is pretty, they might be sold into slavery.
If there's no money, cases of abusing the child arise.
It was also our thought that we didn't want to create any more abused children like Ria.
'We already have experience taking care of a child.'
Not just me and Ria, but the whole party.
Among them, Bina's master did the most childcare, but.
'Bina was about Sia's age when she joined our party.'
I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea.
Of course.
'I want to enjoy our newlywed life without a child a bit more.......'
I did have that small desire of mine, but.
My wife, who was currently in my arms, looking up at me with a slight smile, made her request feel even more important.
After all, Ria has been granting all my requests until now.
'Well, it should be fine.'
With a slight smile, I patted Ria's head and nodded.
"I understand."
"...I'm sorry for being pushy."
"No, I want to raise her too."
Ria apologized, saying she was sorry.
My wife's appearance felt so incredibly lovely.
Sia.
Sia Lines.
A survivor of the Fairy Kingdom that fell 100 years ago, and a survivor who barely managed to escape outside the Fairy Kingdom.
Enduring the pain rising from her ankle, she blankly listened to the Hero and Saint chattering away.
'...Raise me? Me?'
She only knew information from 100 years ago about the human world, and they were complete strangers she should rightfully be wary of, but.
Since she didn't sense any particularly evil emotions from them, she was merely breaking out in a cold sweat.
Her age was 15.
An age that could almost be considered an adult, but due to the characteristics of the fairy race, she just looked slightly young.
'Ooh, I think I caused a misunderstanding.'
She thought she might have caused a slight misunderstanding as she groaned.
Well, she too felt the absence of family keenly.
She still carried her parents, who passed away when she was 6, in her heart.
The only fairies who shared warm affection even in a ruined world.
Perhaps she was hoping for similar warmth in her heart.
'Someday I'll have to reveal it...but for now.'
She longed for their warmth.
True, she had fled through the back gate of the old kingdom because she wanted to live, but.
If things continued like this, she felt like she'd die soon.
'My conscience pricks me, but still...wouldn't it be okay to pretend to be a child just a little?'
Resolving to pretend to be a child just a little with her eyes tightly shut, and to leave once her body recovered, that was her.
When I returned after finishing the conversation with Ria, the child was sniffling with a worried face.
"Sia."
"Yes...?"
When I called her name, Sia lifted her head.
With a slight smile, Ria asked carefully.
"Perhaps...if only our Sia is okay, would you like to live with us...? Since you have nowhere to go, your unnie and oppa want to protect you......."
Saying we weren't suspicious people, Ria released her Divine Power outward.
At this, Sia seemed briefly surprised, but when Ria withdrew her Divine Power, she lowered her guard.
"I want Sia to do what she's comfortable with."
I also said that, deciding to respect the child's wishes.
If the child wanted to stand on her own, I planned to finish treating her, take care of her for a while, then contact Bina and send her to the Academy.
"If you don't like it, we can send you to the Academy at least."
"...A, cademy?"
"Ah...are you too young to not know it?"
"Tha, that must be it...!"
Tilting her head, Sia muttered 'Academy'.
Indeed, she was still too young to even know what an Academy was.
"...Um."
Sia fidgeted with her hands, seeming to hesitate slightly.
In response, Ria and I tried not to pressure her, giving her some distance so she could choose.
Eventually, Sia's answer fell.
"Umm...I, I want to live together......."
"Really?"
As if happy, Ria asked with a slight smile if it was true.
In response, Sia hung her head and nodded.
"Hero-nim...!"
Ria looked up at me, not knowing what to do.
With a slight smile, I patted Ria's head and said it was good.
"That's good."
"Yes...!"
It seemed we would have to add one more room to the house we needed to build.