The New Job (4)
"Marquis. So rich people really do have lots of money, huh?"
"Plenty. An absolutely obscene amount of it······."
"Mmm! Can I go check out the next room?"
"No······."
I wrestled the giddy, bouncing Tia to a halt and turned my attention toward the sofa, where something strange was afoot.
Now that I looked closer, they seemed to be talking about me.
I'd always prided myself on having sharp ears, so the fact that I couldn't catch a single word struck me as odd—right up until the moment I remembered a spell Leopard the Hero had once shown me.
A low-grade barrier.
An invisible, formless wall, but one capable of blocking sound completely.
What on earth could they be discussing that required a full barrier to keep it from my ears?
Curiosity got the better of me. I crept around the back and poked my head over the top of the sofa, and the voices began to reach me.
And the conversation passing between the two of them was the kind of thing I absolutely could not pretend I hadn't heard.
"What's this about an oracle?"
"Oh."
"Ah."
Only then did the two of them notice my presence, and their bone-white faces swung toward me.
They looked for all the world like they'd seen a ghost.
By the time I came back to myself, I had already lost my grip on my fury and was vaulting over the sofa to tackle Leopard.
I pinned him from above, my hand fisted in the Hero's collar.
"What the fuck was that? Huh?"
"W-wait, just a moment. Ariel. Let's all calm down first······."
"My name isn't Ariel, it's Yulia!"
Even as I said it, something felt off.
My name was neither Ariel nor Yulia.
And yet lately, I seemed to be growing comfortable with the name Yulia.
At this rate, I'd end up forgetting my real name altogether.
Let's see. What was my original name again?
Kim······ Kim······.
Ugh. That's not the point right now.
"Explain. What is this oracle?"
"The oracle is the will of God, delivered at irregular intervals from the Helios Temple. Whatever is written in it will come to pass without fail."
"What?! How many people know about this?"
"It's never made public. Especially anything that would cause social upheaval like this. But you can assume every high-ranking clergyman in the Church knows."
"Then what is this 'Seed of Calamity' supposed to mean?"
"That depends on how you interpret it."
"Why did you keep it from me?"
"There's nothing good to come of you knowing. How exactly am I supposed to tell you that your daughter is going to destroy the world?"
"······."
The strength drained from my hands.
I lifted my head to find Tia standing beside me at some point, watching me with a face full of worry.
"You look exhausted. Take your daughter back to your lodgings and get some rest."
"No. I'm fine, thank you."
"Get some rest."
"······."
The Marquis's tone was firm.
It had the shape of a suggestion, but it was no suggestion at all.
I rose from my seat, bowed once in apology for my rudeness just now, and took Tia by the hand.
"Let's go. Mama needs a little break too."
"Mama, did you just have a fight?"
"Huh? Oh, no. We just had a little disagreement, that's all······."
She couldn't have heard. She couldn't have heard.
The entire walk back to our lodgings, my palms were slick with sweat.
"Did you hear anything?"
"Mmm? Hear what?"
"Anything Mama might have been saying."
"Nope. Your lips were just going mmbly-mmbly and I couldn't hear a thing. But I could tell from your face that you were mad."
"Right. Of course······."
Relief washed over me.
So the barrier had kept Tia from hearing everything.
What a blessing it was that I didn't have to share this confusion with her.
On the way back, I turned the meaning of the oracle over in my mind.
'The firstborn child of the Saintess shall become the Seed of Calamity.'
As far as I knew, there was only one Saintess in this entire world—me.
The firstborn child, then, could only be Tia.
So Tia would become the Seed of Calamity······.
There was a corner of it I could guess at.
Tia carried a deadly poison within her body potent enough to neutralize even a Saintess's power of regeneration.
Suppose, for instance, someone used that poison to bring about the end of the world.
Of course, I couldn't imagine Tia ever committing such a heinous act herself.
It was the Seed of Calamity, after all—a seed. That meant someone would cultivate Tia, use her for their own ends.
It hadn't even happened yet, and already my blood was boiling.
"You said someone was picking on you earlier. What happened?"
"Mmm! Some pretty big sisters showed me this super yummy-smelling bread and said I could have it if I came outside······!"
"Said you could have it if you came outside?"
"And then when I came out they said I could have it if I sang a song······!"
"Said if you sang a song?"
"And then they said I had to dance too, so I danced······!"
"So you danced?"
"And they only gave me one measly piece. Meanies."
"Well. They did give you some, at least."
A sigh of relief escaped me before I knew it.
When she said they'd been picking on her, I'd been ready to go teach every last one of those insufferable women a lesson.
Apparently their spite was aimed at me and me alone; they weren't about to start shit with Tia.
Which made sense. Anyone who'd treat a child like garbage isn't a person at all—it's a beast.
"Mmm. You're not mad at me······?"
"Mad about what?"
"For going outside even though Mama said not to······."
"Well, there was delicious-smelling bread involved. I'll commute your sentence. But you're still on thin ice, young lady."
"Ahhh! Ow-ow!"
I took hold of Tia's cheeks and pulled.
They stretched out long like rice cake, and that strangely addictive texture was quietly becoming my guilty pleasure.
Laughing and chattering as we walked, we reached our lodgings before I knew it.
Time had flown by without my noticing.
Come to think of it, when had it started?
When had I stopped feeling so terribly alone?
Probably around the time I began to see Tia as a person in her own right.
"Whew······."
I'd made up my mind.
There was something I had to tell Tia now.
After chewing on my lip for a long while, I finally forced the words out.
My voice trembled a little.
"Tia."
"Mmm?"
"Do you think you could live well without Mama around?"
"No. Tia can't live without Mama······."
Sensing something strange, Tia wrapped herself around my waist and clung to me.
Her arms squeezed tight as if she'd never let go, and that grip hurt quite a bit, actually.
Tia was unmistakably far stronger than before.
She was taller now, too.
She talked more, as well.
"There might come a time when we have to be apart, sweetheart."
"Why? Why-y? Did Tia do something wrong?"
"No, it's not that. It's just—when you go to school, you might have to live in the dormitory."
"Really······?"
"Yeah."
It wasn't quite a lie.
The plan had always been this: if the Church's net closed in and the worst came to pass, Tia would at least escape on her own.
"Mm-okay. But Tia likes being with Mama better. Don't wanna go to the dormitory."
"If you don't go, Mama's going to have a really hard time, you know? Someone has to cook your meals, and do your laundry······."
"...Then I'll go."
"······."
Eyes brimming with tears, Tia answered bravely.
The way she backed down the instant Mama said she'd have a hard time—it was, truly, almost too endearing to bear.
Who on earth did she take after, to be this sweet?
She certainly didn't take after that pitch-black baby lizard, so her personality must have been carved entirely from me.
"No whining about it later. When the time comes for us to be apart, you don't cling and you don't cry—you turn around like a real cool grown-up. Got it?"
"Mmm! We'll just see each other again right away anyway! Right?"
"Uh. Y-yeah, right······."
I pulled Tia's beaming face into a tight hug.
I didn't know what expression I was supposed to be wearing, so······.
"I love you, my daughter."
"Mmm-hehe. Me too······."
Seed of Calamity or not, I had decided to protect Tia to the very end.
Tia has no one but me.
So I have to be the one to keep her safe.
If it comes to it, even if it means being left all alone while Tia runs away······.
'I will protect Tia. No matter what it costs me.'
Even now, I could still hate Tia to death.
She's a boulder that landed in the middle of my life, a dead weight I'd happily throw off even today.
But none of that is Tia's fault, is it?
She still doesn't quite feel like my own flesh and blood—but whoever's child she is, an adult protecting a child is simply how it should be.
That's the only reason I mean to protect her.
There's no other special reason.
One week had passed since we arrived at the villa.
I was slowly growing used to life here.
Wake early, dress, prepare the Marquis's meal, and then wait for him to rise.
The one small mercy was that the Marquis at least dressed himself.
If I'd had to help with that too, I might have sunk into a deep well of self-loathing.
"Hey, so, uh... is there anything left over in the kitchen?"
"Even if there is, none of it's for you, dear."
"Don't you spend all day trailing after the Marquis stuffing yourself with delicacies anyway?"
"I'll be eating other things too, of course."
"Pfft-hahaha! Honestly, this one!"
"······."
The maids' petty hazing hadn't let up one bit.
They had no idea how hard I'd tried to get on their good side.
Every single time the Marquis and I went out and I came back with some dessert or other, I shared it with them.
And for all my trouble, kindness repaid as spite, nothing ever came back to me.
Those bitches.
Not a shred of give-and-take in them.
"Hmm. He's up rather late today."
Standing outside his door, I checked the clock—it was already past breakfast time.
By now there should at least have been some rustling from inside, but the room was still silent.
Was he sleeping in?
The thought flickered through my mind that if he'd really overslept, I might have to go in and wake him myself.
And then it hit me.
"Ah."
Remembering that this was not a man who ever slept in, I hurriedly turned the doorknob.
Sure enough, the bed inside was completely empty.
The bathroom was the same.
Instead, only the large window leading out to the balcony stood open, letting the cold air pour in.
And of course, the Marquis wasn't on the balcony either.
"What the hell is this man's deal with me······."
Before, he'd popped his head out, seen my face, and promptly retreated back inside.
These days he was avoiding running into me entirely.
Was there some reason he couldn't bear to see me in the mornings?
I could feel my temper starting to rise.