Welcome to Our Home
"Come on in. That toad-looking bastard was getting all cocky."
I looked down at the toad I'd just subdued, sprawled across the ground, and spoke.
"Grrraaaah..."
The toad lay foaming at the mouth on the roadside. To think the guy who'd once threatened to kill me someday would be this weak. Irritated all over again, I kicked the toad's golden beads once more. It let out a short groan before collapsing right there on the spot.
"Are you okay?"
I turned away from the fallen toad and looked at Scarlet and Rita as I spoke. The thought of having shown such a disgusting sight to children left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"......"
Rita and Scarlet stared up at me with hollow eyes. They said nothing, simply gazing at me in silence. As I held eye contact with them, murmuring voices began to rise from the surrounding crowd.
When I turned my head, I saw a large group of people had gathered around us. They kept glancing back and forth between the collapsed toad and me. Conscious of their stares, I grabbed Scarlet and Rita by the hands and quickly led them away from the scene.
Their hands, which I'd seized in haste, were incredibly rough. They bore so many scars that it was hard to believe they belonged to children. We fled the area at full speed.
After a series of twists and turns, Rita and Scarlet finally arrived at our home. Once inside, I sat them down at the dining table, set various dishes in front of them, and said,
"You must have been starving all this time. At least eat this."
They looked severely malnourished, nothing but skin and bones. If it were up to me, I would've removed the iron chains around their necks first, but judging by their physical condition, getting food into them was the immediate priority.
"..........."
However, they simply stared blankly at the food and made no move to eat. Rita gazed at it in a daze, while Scarlet looked up at me with eyes full of suspicion.
Don't tell me she thinks I did something to the food?
Scarlet seemed extremely wary of me. It made sense for her to be suspicious when a complete stranger suddenly started treating them kindly. With that in mind, I decided to reassure them. I picked up one of the dishes in front of me.
Their eyes followed my hand as I lifted the food. Right in front of them, I took a big bite and showed that nothing was wrong.
I slid the plate closer to them while maintaining eye contact.
"...."
Rita stared at the plate with even rounder, more cautious eyes. Just then, as if she'd made up her mind, Scarlet reached out with her bare hand, grabbed the food in front of her, and shoved it straight into her mouth.
"No!!"
I couldn't help but shout when I saw what Scarlet had done. Because that... I'd just made it, so it was still hot.
Sure enough, Scarlet's eyes flew wide open the moment the food hit her tongue. Her mouth must have been burning, because both her hands began to tremble violently.
"Sister!"
Rita, seeing her sister's strange behavior, immediately glared at me. Her face was filled with rage, as if she were looking at human garbage. Luizen felt wronged. I'd prepared warm food specifically so they wouldn't get stomachaches from eating something cold... It was unfair to be suspected for trying to do something good.
Scarlet pounded her chest and finally swallowed the food. Rita looked at her sister, who had returned to her usual expression, with a puzzled gaze. I said,
"I just made it, so you shouldn't eat too fast."
At my words, Rita's face—which had been full of suspicion—flushed slightly red. Unlike Scarlet, it seemed Rita still had a range of emotions left in her. While Scarlet's expression remained mostly consistent, Rita displayed a variety of feelings in a short span of time.
I offered Rita some food.
"Try this. It's really delicious."
I handed her the meat stew, one of Rita's favorite dishes that often appeared in the novel. Accepting my suggestion, Rita cautiously reached out with her hand to scoop some up.
"Wait a second!!"
I grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Hic...!"
Rita flinched violently at my sudden action, her whole body shaking with fear. But I had to stop her. Not only could eating stew the wrong way burn the roof of her mouth, but she was about to grab the freshly made hot stew with her bare hands.
I pointed to the spoon and fork placed in front of Rita and said,
"When eating stew or soup, try using this spoon."
I handed her the spoon. Rita hesitated for a moment before taking it.
"Oh..."
Rita stared blankly at the spoon. She was looking at it with wide, unblinking eyes.
Could this be her first time seeing a spoon?
The thought crossed my mind. It made sense—Scarlet was currently playing with the fork like it was a toy.
"Ha..."
A sigh escaped me at the realization that the road ahead was longer than I'd thought. After gathering my thoughts, I clapped my hands lightly to get Rita and Scarlet's attention, then demonstrated how to use the spoon and fork right in front of them.
Stab the food with the fork. Put it in your mouth.
I repeated the motions very slowly so they could follow along easily. After demonstrating several times, I handed the fork to Scarlet and said,
"Now try copying what I just showed you."
Scarlet took the fork with a much more determined expression than before. She stared at it for a while without moving, then finally stabbed it into a piece of meat.
[Thud!]
She must have stabbed it too hard because the utensils clattered loudly, but Scarlet paid it no mind and shoved the speared meat straight into her mouth.
[Munch munch...]
Scarlet began to slowly savor the meat. Her eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal. Then, drop by drop... she started shedding tears.
"Hic... hic..."
Scarlet desperately tried to hold back the tears that kept falling. Seeing her like that, Rita also picked up a fork, stabbed a piece of meat, and put it in her mouth.
"....!"
The moment Rita chewed the meat, her face brightened so much it was almost radiant. Then, just like her sister, she began to cry.
The two of them burst into tears the instant they ate the food.
Did I really cook that badly???
The thought even crossed my mind. It had tasted good when I made it for myself... Was my palate just incredibly cheap? But despite my doubts, once Scarlet and Rita tasted the meat, they quickly devoured every last piece and even started reaching for the other side dishes.
They inhaled the food like vacuums. Thankfully, it seemed the tears weren't because my cooking was terrible. Worried they might choke from eating too fast, I brought them some water.
"Eating too quickly will upset your stomachs. If you're still hungry, I'll make more, so eat slowly."
At my words, Scarlet and Rita paused their eating and stared at me intently. After gazing at my face as if trying to pierce through it, they lowered their heads back to the food and resumed devouring it.
Only after they'd completely finished everything I'd made did they finally set down their forks and spoons. I'd prepared enough food to be more than enough for me alone, yet it had vanished without a trace thanks to Scarlet and Rita. And it wasn't just empty words—they'd even licked the plates clean, sauce and all.
After the meal, their expressions seemed somewhat brighter than when they'd first arrived at our house.
"Then shall we move on to what I prepared next?"
I stood up and approached them. Fear flashed across both Scarlet and Rita's faces.
"Don't worry. The painful part will only last a moment."
I placed my hands on their shoulders as I spoke.
"See? It really was just a moment, wasn't it?"
I'd removed the iron chains that had been wrapped around their necks. The chains had been fastened extremely tightly and even reinforced with double-layered magic. Most people probably couldn't have undone them, but it was nothing to me.
With a few flicks of my fingers in the air, the magic dispelled itself, and the chains that had been constricting their necks fell away.
"You won't have to wear this ever again. You can relax now."
Right in front of them, I crushed the iron chains into pieces. Scarlet and Rita stared at me in apparent shock at my actions.
When someone was sold into slavery, the first thing done was to take away their freedom. By stripping away freedom, they were made to obey only their master. This process was absolutely necessary to turn a slave obedient.
But I had destroyed the chains right before their eyes. Then I showed them the slave contract and said,
"And I'll be keeping the slave certificate for now. It's not that I don't trust you two... but I think I should hold onto this for the time being."
Upon hearing my words, Scarlet and Rita's expressions darkened slightly. The slave certificate was a magical tool that allowed the owner to do whatever they wanted with the slave. As long as the owner possessed it, they could issue any command. In other words, as long as I held the certificate, they couldn't run away from me.
Though the chains that had bound them were gone, they still hadn't escaped their status as slaves.
I showed them to the room where they would be staying. There were two rooms available, so they could have used separate ones, but it seemed they preferred to stay together.
And so, today marked the first night since I'd brought them home.