Chapter 53
Kyle's daughter woke up safely.
Though they had worried if there would be any after-effects, fortunately she seemed to be recovering healthily.
It was thanks to her father's devoted care.
Like that, Astro gained a new family member.
"Dad! I want to play with other friends today!"
"Oh my, Eileen... To say you'll go to other children leaving this father behind, could it be you've already grown to dislike daddy?"
"That's not it!"
"Then why...?"
"When I'm with you, you give me piggyback rides all day and won't let me down! I want to walk on my own feet too!"
"Th-That's because I'm worried you might get hurt if you walk..."
"Hmph! I don't care! I'm going to play with my friends today!"
"E-Eileen...!"
Eileen turning away coldly and moving away.
Kyle reacting restlessly.
I, who had been watching the two people with somewhat odd chemistry, soon smiled slightly.
I patted his pitiful back.
"Huhu, it seems parenting after a long time isn't easy?"
"...Commander."
Red eyes looked this way.
I swallowed the laughter about to burst out and spoke as if comforting him.
"Don't be too disheartened."
"......"
"Isn't it fortunate instead? To be able to smile so brightly despite experiencing such terrible things."
"You're right... It's a miracle I'll never see again in my lifetime."
"She's truly a pretty child."
"I know this too is grace bestowed by you, Commander. How on earth should I repay this favor......"
"It's troublesome if you sob like this every time."
This had been the problem recently.
The person called the continent's strongest now had tears welling up just from meeting my eyes.
As if he couldn't contain the overwhelming emotion.
"Please endure it."
"Ugh... I understand."
Other members are getting weird because of you too.
A person with a light concept like you shouldn't get so serious.
"Ahem."
Anyway.
It was a fairly good ending.
Though I wondered if it might be a bit gloomy space for a young child to live in, it should be fine since her beloved family was beside her.
I should spend some money to decorate the headquarters a bit more cutely while I'm at it.
Children should originally grow up seeing only good things.
Otherwise they might grow up to be bad adults like me.
"Eileen! Let's play together!!"
"I'm playing hide-and-seek with big sister Anne! I have to hide without being found!"
"Hehehe! Let's go hide where the teachers are..."
"Hey! That's cheating, you know?!"
The little foxes also welcomed their newly made friend.
As children that age usually do, they meshed well without rejecting each other.
I smiled faintly.
'It was good that I pushed myself.'
Though I coughed up blood for the first time in a while, thanks to that I could see these little ones' smiles.
It was a personally satisfying choice.
"Huhu... Children, you must be careful not to get hurt."
"Oh! It's the Commander!"
"Wow~ Commander! Please play with us!"
"Silly. The Commander is always busy, you know?"
"Irene sister is here too! If you play with us, we'll let you marry sister later!"
"Hey! Why are you giving away my sister as you please?"
Children squabbling among themselves.
I laughed at that cute sight.
"My~ Marriage with Miss Irene, that's quite a tempting offer!"
"Right? I'll put in a good word with sister for you!"
"Good! Shall we play fun together then?"
A peaceful daily life continuing.
We spent several days like that.
***
Irene and I finished preparing to return to the academy.
As we had already left the academy empty for a week, it was time to return soon to keep up attendance.
Of course, Irene was coming along too.
We were waiting for the carriage to arrive.
"Are you leaving?"
"Miss Neria."
As I was standing in front of the stairs for a moment, the gloomy-faced vice-commander spoke to me.
Silver hair drooping lifelessly.
It seemed she was upset at the news of our departure.
I lightly stroked her head as if soothing her.
"Because there are things we need to do."
"Hic, huu... I-I know."
"I'll entrust Astro's command to you. Thanks to our vice-commander, I can leave with peace of mind."
"Uugh... Th-Thank you."
"Huhu."
Neria melting immediately.
She clasped her hands together as if embarrassed. Her pure white cheeks were already full of hot heat.
I enjoyed that cute reaction for a moment.
Then voices of other members were heard too.
"We'll be waiting, Commander."
"Uhaha! You must take care of yourself wherever you are!"
"Please call us anytime."
I received greetings from each of them one by one.
As such noisy farewells ended, and as I was about to leave headquarters at news the carriage had arrived.
"Big brother!"
There was a girl peeking her head out.
Brown eyes blinking.
I smiled brightly when our gazes met.
"Miss Anne."
Toddle toddle-.
Anne approaching with cute steps.
The girl seemed to check her surroundings for a moment, then soon spread her short arms and tightly embraced my body.
Warm body heat dyed my chest.
"My, my... What a bold farewell hug."
"Hehe."
It was a purely bright smile.
The girl who had been clinging for a while soon looked up at me intently.
"Uncle Kyle told me."
"What did he say?"
"That when big brother returns to the academy, it will be hard to meet for a while, so I should say anything I want to say!"
"Our chef explained well."
It would probably be so.
Though she was staying at Astro now, Anne would soon have to return to her family's arms too.
I was planning to send her back next week at the latest.
'If we part like this... it will be difficult to meet again.'
Baron Frank's family.
It was a family located in a very distant countryside. It would take at least a month by carriage to go back and forth from the capital.
So it wasn't an environment where exchange was easy.
If the distance is too far, it's burdensome for either side to readily come meet.
Of course.
This childish reason wasn't everything.
The previous one was just an excuse to persuade the child, and there was a separate practical reason.
It was a decision I had made.
'I hope we don't meet again.'
I wanted Anne to live an ordinary life.
As she had just woken from suffering a terrible nightmare, I hoped she would be happy by her family's side from now on.
I wanted to give the girl a daily life that was no longer dangerous.
'There's nothing good about getting entangled with us.'
Astro is ultimately a criminal organization.
It was too dangerous a world for a fifteen-year-old girl to set foot in.
"As there are meetings, there must sometimes be partings."
"I know."
The girl nodded calmly.
"So... because this might be the last time, I really wanted to say it."
Anne stared this way for a moment, then soon held a clean smile on her lips.
Faint starlight fell.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to have hope again."
"......"
"I was so scared, tired, and lonely... Thank you for reaching out your hand to me like that."
Mouth corners smiling brightly.
What Anne was giving was a thank you note neatly folded with a warm heart.
I quietly thought.
Looking at it like this, so many things have changed.
The girl who had been trampled without a trace of hope in the original work had gained a chance to live anew this time.
Perhaps this time I had done the right thing.
"Miss Anne."
I lightly bent my waist.
Matching eye level with her brown pupils, I poked the girl's cheek with my finger unconsciously extended.
A soft sensation touched my fingertip.
"Don't let go of hope from now on."
I recited calmly.
Adults generally don't remember their childhood.
It was a disease adults suffered from, and at the same time a blessing only they could enjoy.
Children forget their childhood as they age.
"Sometimes there may be difficult things. Perhaps unreasonable misfortunes like this time will block Anne's path. You must have faith each time that happens."
Originally the girl was fated to not even finish that process.
As she breathed her last before becoming an adult, she ultimately closed her eyes without forgetting her childhood.
But this time was different.
"Faith that surely a better tomorrow is waiting, as much as it hurt."
Because she received a chance to live.
I wanted Anne to experience many things, meet many people, grow old through many years, and gradually forget her childhood.
I hoped she would become an adult like that.
"Anne can do anything. You can become whatever you want, and dream whatever you wish."
Children are possibility.
And this was one possibility I was giving to you who couldn't become an adult 1943 times.
"So, please become a wonderful adult."
What if she came to find me someday all grown up?
While hoping such a future wouldn't come, on the other hand a corner of my heart was dyed with affectionate excitement.
I whispered vaguely.
To my beloved little writer.
"Just that alone would make me as happy as if I had the whole world."
A voice pressed down with only sincerity.
The girl who had been exchanging gazes soon bloomed into a bright smile.
"Yes, big brother...!"
A pure white lamp illuminating the dark world without leaving anything behind.
"I'll definitely do that! I'll become a wonderful adult and come meet sister and brother again!"
"Huhu... I'm already looking forward to it."
I turned my steps.
As I trod the stairs going outside, I bid farewell to the silhouette remaining behind.
It was a short, ordinary phrase.
"Well then, goodbye."
A bright voice was heard from behind until the end.
I chewed over the nostalgic background music and boarded the carriage waiting at the end of the stairs.
Neigh-!
The coachman immediately swung his whip.
Wheels rolling little by little.
As I stared at the scenery outside gradually speeding up right after, a belated realization that all this was over washed over me.
Now it was really.
Time to return to the academy.
***
After spending a day in the carriage, the snake and fox returned to the academy.
Perhaps because they arrived in the late dawn?
The academy was sunk in gentle silence.
The scenery reflected in the night sky was so peaceful it felt like all the events of the past few days had been a dream.
Irene had to tremble for a moment at that sense of dissonance.
"......"
Inside the spacious dormitory.
The fox who had been staring out the window suddenly turned her head and looked somewhere.
Where her eyes were directed, the golden-haired boy was sitting.
Breathe in, breathe out-.
The snake was leaning his body on the sofa.
It seemed he had fallen asleep like that.
Though it was difficult to distinguish because of his usual slit eyes, she could guess from the steady breathing sounds heard.
Irene quietly threw out a question.
"...Are you sleeping?"
Words scattering.
There was no answer returning.
Only then did the girl relax her tension and stare at the snake sitting beside her.
She examined him carefully.
The boy exuded a mysterious atmosphere.
Though he had clearly dozed off in the chair, there wasn't a trace of disorder in his posture.
She couldn't even find wrinkled parts in his clothes.
It was simply an appearance that didn't lose dignity.
"What a terrible person."
A sigh flowed out involuntarily to that.
Irene peeking around.
As she stood blankly like that for a while, suddenly a certain scene came to mind.
The voice that had saved her a few days ago.
-Miss Irene.
-If it can make you even a little less unhappy, I'll gladly lend you my strength.
His lips whispered gently.
A particularly vivid memory.
The girl was unknowingly clenching her fist tightly.
What filled her mind was none other than the question she hadn't been able to conclude last time.
'Why on earth does this person... care about me this much?'
Looking back, it had been that way from the start.
It was full of help received.
He had rescued her from the slave traders, then provided a safe place to stay afterwards.
He took in her siblings who had nowhere to go and cared for them devotedly.
This time he even came to save her himself when she was kidnapped by black magicians.
'For someone like me.'
What on earth was he hoping for?
What was he hoping for from this wretched beast, to pour such heavy affection?
Irene bit her lip in confusion.
-I don't believe in humans.
-I know how vile and cruel your kind is.
Her resolve from that time remained.
The fox didn't believe.
Because the traces of burns that had dyed her past red remained as scars that wouldn't erase.
Distrust of humans.
However.
'I don't know what he's thinking.'
She just wanted to know.
About the blind devotion that kept confusing her.
-Because one must always take responsibility for what one has tamed.
-Was that an answer?
Though the snake had said that, it wasn't an answer at all.
Rather, it only felt abstruse.
Because the fox didn't yet know about taming.
When one doesn't realize the meaning, sentences are just empty shells.
It was the same for Irene.
"Let's stop."
She couldn't reach a conclusion today either.
She was simply postponing it.
Rustle-.
The girl carefully spread out a blanket that was beside her.
Then she gently covered the thin fabric over the knees of the boy sleeping on the sofa.
Along with a voice that wouldn't reach.
"...Sleep well."
It was the girl's own way of saying thank you.