Tears in the Moonlight and Family Tensions
“Just hang in there a little longer until the workshop.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Encouraged by Balen's cheering words, I straightened up my posture while piggybacking Sepi.
The woman who'd been tearing at her hair for so long was now out cold.
The frenzy from earlier had vanished completely, leaving her sleeping like a baby.
One thoroughly intoxicated woman, her body worn out from training.
It wasn't unbearable, but the burden was real.
“By the way, why the workshop instead of home?”
“It's a bit far, but we basically use the workshop like our house... We're used to it.”
From the explanations she kept piling on, it seemed they kept most of their heated blankets and bedding at the workshop.
Then what's the point of even having a house?
Before I could nitpick, we arrived at the workshop.
Instead of me, whose hands were too full to move, Balen gently pushed the door open.
“Huh?”
Clunk—
But what followed was the cold sound of metal.
Balen looked pretty flustered by the ominous noise.
“W-what do we do? It looks like it's already locked.”
For the first time, Balen—who'd been all smiles until now—panicked and glanced at me nervously.
“Locked?”
I tilted my head, not understanding her reaction.
If it was locked, just unlock it, right?
Considering those two were practically the owners of the workshop, there was no reason to panic like this.
“Our workshop's caretaker locks up.”
“What? The key?”
Turns out, they had a hired manager who handled the doors.
“If Sis or I carried it, we'd always lose it...”
“Unbelievable.”
When I asked about the key, she explained they'd hired the manager precisely because the two of them kept losing them.
What kind of insane situation was this?
Tension flooded back into my calves, which had just started to relax.
“What about your house or a nearby inn?”
“Our house is too far from here, and the inns around are always full...”
Balen answered my questions promptly but kept flustering about helplessly.
A place popped into my mind, but technically it wasn't my house, so I hesitated.
Still, my trembling legs demanded one clear answer.
“For now, let's head to the place where I'm crashing.”
Sorry, Hailey.
I've got two guests coming over right now.
As we started walking down the night streets,
Balen, who'd been walking beside me, took a few steps ahead.
“You know, back in the day, you used to pat my head like that a lot.”
“Oh? Yeah, right.”
Out of nowhere, she brought up the old days.
Maybe remembering how I'd stroked her hair earlier that day, Balen placed her palm on top of her head.
Under the moonlight pouring down on the night street, the back of her hand gleamed.
The rough hands of a worker, callused from handling tools.
She spun around, lips pressing together as if holding back surging emotions, then slowly parted them.
What followed was a story of waiting.
“After about two years, I was ready to give up. I cried sometimes, worrying Sis... I even skipped meals a few times.”
Once she learned about the three thousand nights—that absurd unit of time—she was convinced I'd abandoned her for good.
“But after learning about the slave ban and the fallout it caused... I realized from your perspective, it was the best choice.”
From Balen's view, she understood it rationally, but emotionally, she didn't want to accept my decision.
“What stopped my tears and made me cling on was magic and magic tools. You have no idea how hard I worked.”
So Balen overcame it in her own way.
Instead of dwelling on the past, she threw herself into something she could immerse in right away.
For her, that was magic and magic tools.
The reason the genius developer Balen of today even existed.
Just looking at those unchildlike, rough hands told me how much effort she'd poured in.
For a moment, the world's perception of her as simply a 'genius' felt infuriatingly reductive.
Deeply acknowledging the traces of that effort, I said nothing more.
Adding any extra words would mock all the scars etched into those hands and that fragile heart.
“That's why I stuck to you today—felt like if I let go, I'd never see you again.”
“It's not like—”
I started to rebut, lifting my gaze from the ground, but the words caught in my throat.
Tears were streaming down the face that had been bright all day.
“I don't want to wait anymore...”
“Yeah.”
You did great. Sorry. It's okay now.
Many words flashed through my mind, but what slipped out was just those two short ones.
I wiped Balen's tears with my right hand.
Meanwhile, the trembling in my aching legs had stopped.
Occasional sniffles brushed my ears.
Whispers of breath and hiccups repeating near my ear.
In the quiet, melancholic atmosphere, we arrived at the place that was Balen's memory—and her current home.
“This is...”
“Mind knocking?”
Tap-tap.
I asked Balen, lost in memories, and after two short knocks, footsteps sounded from inside.
“Why are you so la—?”
The door flew open, revealing Hailey with puffed-up cheeks.
“Oh, Hailey.”
“Huh?”
Balen recognized her even through tear-soaked eyes.
But Hailey just sighed in annoyance at the sight of the two women.
In her eyes, I'd brought home one drunk adult woman and one teary-eyed girl for reasons unknown.
“You're going to explain everything from start to finish, right?”
Glancing between them, Hailey fixed me with a glare that could bore holes.
“Y-yeah... You'll at least give me a chance to explain?”
“Detail it all, before I lose my cool.”
I laid the booze-reeking Sepi on the bed, then knelt on the floor like a criminal and began explaining.
“This is Balen, someone you used to live with...”
“Skip that. Where were you and what were you doing?”
Hailey cut off the intro, demanding the situation.
“Well, after training, she invited me to lunch.”
“R-right! I dragged him! He's innocent!”
Zing—
As I explained, Balen—kneeling beside me—chimed in, drawing Hailey's glare.
Balen froze under the murderous stare.
Hic. An unrefined hiccup pierced the silence.
Its owner bowed her head like she'd encountered a beast.
Hailey's gaze shifted to the bed.
The tense air warmed slightly with the stove's glow.
“So, nothing happened that I need to worry about?”
“Worry...?”
I tilted my head at the cryptic question.
Balen and I exchanged baffled looks.
“...Looks like you're fine.”
Hailey nodded to herself and moved on.
No idea what she'd been worried about.
Anyway, after those muttered words of acceptance, the overheated mood cooled...
And somehow, Balen and I—who'd been kneeling together—got to stretch our legs and sit at the table.
“Hailey, how long have you been with him?”
As we all pulled out chairs,
Curious Balen spoke first.
“Why? Do you need to know?”
“What do you mean, you...!”
Hailey didn't even glance her way, propping her chin with a sharp retort.
Unable to hold back anymore, Balen shot up from her chair.
“Hailey.”
I grabbed Balen's shoulder to stop her and quietly called Hailey's name.
Hailey, hostile toward Shane and now Balen too.
I wanted these kids—who'd once laughed and played together—to at least get along a little.
As I looked at her with a heavy expression, her prickly face twisted.
“...Why should I be the one to back down to kids who didn't even care where you were?! Did you scour maps and check every rural house like I did to find you? Why do you all show up now, after I found you first—like you're jumping on the bandwagon?! Don't act like you missed him all of a sudden when you never cared!”
Haa, haa.
Having poured out her emotions, Hailey panted heavily.
Her disheveled hair fell messily.
“Scour maps? You don't mean...”
Over the emotional breaths at the table,
Balen, momentarily cowed, spoke up again.
“Yeah! I found you on my own and dragged you back! So what? You wouldn't get it—you had other things to obsess over...”
“Hailey, enough.”
I stood to stop her from lumping Shane and Balen together as 'you guys.'
Hailey fell silent and sat back down obediently.
Blaming others wouldn't solve anything.
Everyone had just done their best from their own positions.
The mood wasn't right for eating.
Probably just crash like this tonight.
“Sorry, we don't have many spots to sleep... Mind sharing a bed with Sis?”
“Ah, sure...”
“Hailey, you take my spot.”
“...Okay.”
Like separating fighting kids back in the day, I assigned them different beds, then lay between them like a barrier.
My hand gently combed Hailey's hair warmly, but my words quietly scolded her.
“You can't talk like that.”
“...I know.”
“Not everyone's as tough as you.”
“...I know.”
Hailey kept saying she knew with each reprimand.
A hint of regret tinged her voice.
Deep down, Hailey knew.
Finding me—and being the one to do it—was something only she could claim.
Still, she couldn't help resenting Shane and Balen for showing up late to add their spoon.
“You'll apologize first thing tomorrow, right?”
“...Yeah.”
Understanding her feelings, I just buried her face in my chest and gave a short rebuke.
Her muffled affirmation reached my ears anyway.
Kids whose bodies had grown, but hearts stayed as young as ever.
A night of lingering regrets despite making the best choices.
This was around when Gente's training started getting brutal.