Chapter 72
Chapter 26 The Real Genius (3)
“Uuuuu.”
The little girl smiled brightly as she swept.
Her face was deeply tanned from all the sunlight she had received.
Yet unlike her innocent smile, the sound coming from the girl’s mouth was quite grating.
A rough, hoarse voice wholly unsuited to a little girl was coming from her.
“Uu!”
But the girl, as though accustomed to the sound, hummed as she continued cleaning.
She was cleaning a garden far too large for one little girl to handle alone.
“So it was you.”
“Eek!”
Though unable to speak, the little girl heard better than anyone and was startled.
She had been startled because an unfamiliar man’s voice reached her even though she had heard no footsteps.
Jade immediately apologized to the girl.
“I’m sorry. I approached without making a sound, didn’t I?”
“Uu……”
The girl, flustered, backed away before hurriedly lowering her head.
It was because she had noticed in an instant that Jade’s clothes were those of a noble.
Since many noble scions attended this academy, nobles visited fairly often as well.
So the girl straightened up and bowed her head deeply.
“Were you cleaning?”
“Uh, uu……”
The girl did not know what to do.
Since she had been unable to speak from birth, she could not answer even when she wanted to.
Nor could she nod.
She had once been slapped for nodding insolently despite being merely a servant.
“You have trouble with your throat.”
“Uuh?”
“Lift your head. You may look me in the eye while we talk.”
The girl was startled by his saying she had trouble with her throat, rather than calling her a cripple or a mute.
No one had ever described her disability that way in all her life.
So she raised her head without realizing it, then lowered it again as fast as lightning.
“Uu!”
“I said it’s all right. You may look me in the eye.”
“Uu.”
A hand gently encircling her throat slowly lifted her head.
The girl’s eyes widened and trembled at the gentle touch she was feeling for the first time in her life.
But the girl could not resist.
She had never had a choice to begin with.
Kkyuu?
“Uuh?”
Even without words, the girl could feel it.
She could feel how carefully Jade was treating her.
As the girl was bewildered by the respect she was experiencing for the first time as one human being to another, something small and cute caught her eye.
Her eyes met those of an adorably cute creature.
“This child’s name is Whid. As you can see, they’re still a baby. Just like you.”
Kkyuuu!
Whid raised one forepaw high.
They were greeting her in their own way.
But having seen a Gold Drake for the first time in her life, the girl only opened her eyes wide and made no sound.
She was simply stunned, her mouth hanging open.
“What’s your name?”
“Uu……”
Perhaps it was because of Jade’s gentle voice and touch.
The girl cautiously shook her head.
Then, while repeatedly watching Jade’s expression, she slowly wrote on the back of his hand with her finger that she had no name.
All the while, she kept anxiously watching his expression.
“You know how to write.”
Jade looked slightly surprised.
Few people in this world knew how to read and write.
Commoners in particular.
Even Farzali had only just learned his letters, so Jade looked at the girl in surprise.
“Uu……”
Seeing that Jade did not dislike her touching him, the girl gave a small smile and wrote the words ‘a little’ on the back of his hand.
As if to say she only knew how to write a little.
At the same time, the girl began to wonder.
She found it strange that Jade, a noble, was speaking to her.
Of course, that was not to say no nobles ever took an interest in maids.
Nobles did show interest in exceptionally beautiful maids, but that did not apply to her.
‘Because I’m skinny and dark-skinned.’
Besides, she was so small and scrawny that if she stood beside a boy, it would be impossible to tell that she was a girl.
So the girl looked at Jade with eyes full of questions.
“My name is Jade.”
“Hey, mute! Where are you!”
Jade’s brows twitched as he continued speaking gently to the wary girl.
He instinctively knew that the person being sought by the owner of that irritated voice was the girl standing before him.
“Come out already!”
“You’re noisy.”
“Eek!”
A maid of about twelve, crossing the garden with heavy footsteps, jumped in fright.
Jade’s gaze was startling enough, but she was also shocked to see Whid in his arms.
Since there was only one person in the capital who carried a baby Gold Drake, the maid hastily straightened and bowed her head.
“I take it you usually call this child a mute?”
“Well, that is……”
“Enough. Go back. I have something to discuss with this child.”
“Yes, yes!”
Even without meeting his eyes, the maid could feel Jade’s icy gaze.
Feeling as if the crown of her head were being repeatedly poked, the maid, with spite written all over her face, bowed and fled.
“Now we can talk in peace.”
“Uu……”
The girl wore a bewildered expression.
She was wondering what was happening.
“How old are you?”
Jade could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her face, so he knelt on one knee to meet her eye level.
As he did so, he gently stroked her shoulder.
He naturally let mana flow into her to help her relax.
“Uu.”
“Ten?”
Perhaps Jade’s efforts had worked, because the girl, looking much more at ease, cautiously spread both hands wide.
But Jade’s brow furrowed for a moment at the sight.
The girl was far too small to be ten.
Her build was that of a seven- or eight-year-old, so when she said she was ten, Jade immediately understood.
“……You haven’t been properly fed.”
Grrr!
No sooner had Jade finished speaking than a sound from the girl’s stomach proved that she was hungry.
The girl’s face reddened.
She was still a girl, after all, so she was embarrassed despite her young age.
“Would you like to eat this first?”
As the girl lowered her head in embarrassment, Jade took out a simple snack from his subspace.
He had brought out cookies, fruit, and other treats he had packed just in case and held them out to her.
But the girl, who had instinctively raised her head at the smell, suddenly wore a dazed expression.
The friends who had taken the place of people in her life were smiling brightly and dancing around Jade.
-This child is incredible. She could probably eat most elves for breakfast!
-But Jade’s here too.
-True. There’s that.
Silestin, who had been surprised by the girl, soon acknowledged it.
Compared with the shock Jade had given her, the girl was nothing.
-But she seems pretty surprised to see the sylphs?
-Then we should surprise her even more!
Seeing the girl, who despite her intense hunger could not take her eyes off the sylphs and undine dancing circles around Jade, Silestin smiled mischievously and revealed herself.
She had drawn mana from Jade and manifested herself.
-Hello?
“Uu!”
Silestin looked similar to a sylph but clearly different, making the girl flinch.
She had been startled when a voice suddenly sounded inside her head.
At the same time, the girl wore an expression of wonder.
Sylphs and undines could express emotions but could not speak; when Silestin, who looked similar to them, spoke to her, the girl blinked in surprise.
-I’m here too.
“Ah! Ah!”
Elestra naturally appeared next.
Though she did not possess quite as much spirit affinity as Jade, she had an astonishing degree of it, so Elestra briefly set aside her haughty demeanor and greeted the girl with curiosity in her eyes.
“Don’t you want to speak?”
“……!”
The girl was startled by Silestin and Elestra’s sudden appearance, but only for a moment.
Since they looked like her friends, the girl soon smiled and greeted them—then her eyes flew wide.
Yet her eyes held a deep longing.
She had spent her life abandoned and ostracized simply because she could not speak and was different from the other children.
Even though she had done nothing wrong.
But despite such contempt and persecution, the girl smiled rather than cried.
She had realized at a young age that crying would change nothing.
And although she had not lived long, she had learned that this place was not entirely bad, so she lived on steadfastly.
Even when others pointed at her, and even when she was occasionally beaten for no reason, at least she had food and a place to sleep.
And she had friends by her side, too.
‘No one ever believed me, though.’
Since she was very young, spirits had been visible to the girl.
But no one had ever readily believed her when she said so.
No, most people looked at her as if she were a madwoman.
It was because the spirits visible to the girl could not be seen by anyone else.
But the Jade before her was different.
He was friends with spirits too.
Nod, nod!
Unlike before, the girl nodded her head as fast as lightning.
As though she absolutely wanted to speak.
“But to learn to speak, you’ll have to follow me. More precisely, you’ll have to become my disciple. Can you do that?”
Nod!
The girl nodded vigorously, as if she did not need to think about it at all.
Then she took Jade’s hand first.
As if she absolutely would not let go.
“You’ll be able to make new friends, too. But before that, you need a name, right? Just because you haven’t had one until now doesn’t mean you should go without one from now on. Besides, you’re my disciple now.”
The girl’s eyes trembled violently.
The words ‘my disciple’ had seared themselves into her heart like a brand.
“How about the name Della?”
“Eaa……”
The girl struggled to produce a voice.
But the sound she made was far removed from the word Della.
Yet Jade smiled despite the unpleasant sound of the girl’s voice.
Her expression had answered in place of words.
-You don’t have to speak only with your mouth.
“Uu?”
-You can communicate perfectly well this way, too. You don’t have to make a sound. And although it will be difficult for now, there is also a way for you to produce a real voice.
Della’s eyes grew wider and wider.
The ability to speak at all, even only like the spirits, was a miracle to Della.
But when she heard that she might be able to produce a natural human voice like ordinary people, Della looked at Jade with even more fervent longing in her eyes.
“But it won’t be easy. You’ll have to work incredibly hard.”
“Uu!”
Della clasped Jade’s hand tightly.
As if she would spare no effort at all if only she could speak.
“Then shall we get going? Leave that old broom behind.”
Jade smiled warmly and clasped Della’s hand.
He placed her beside him and set off.
‘Uu…….’
Yet even as she walked, Della wore a dazed expression, as though she still could not believe what was happening.
She looked as if she were wondering whether this was a dream or reality.
But the warmth she felt in her hand was real.
It was the first time in her life that someone had held her hand, and Della was suddenly overcome with emotion.
‘I can’t cry on a happy day!’
The first person to approach her had been someone who had always been alone.
Della did not want to show such an unbecoming side of herself in front of him.
-Things will be all right now.
-You’re not alone anymore. And many things will change from now on.
Jade hadn’t noticed, but Silestin and Elestra had.
They saw that the corners of Della’s eyes had grown moist as she walked.
So the two of them comforted Della.
“Uu!”
-You don’t have to try to speak! I can tell just by looking at your eyes!
-Don’t lie to the child. That’s not good for her education. Della is ten years old now.
-It’s not a lie!
At some point, a smile appeared at the corners of Della’s mouth.
Silestin and Elestra’s bickering had brought a smile to her face.
And with Jade, her master, beside her, Della felt for the first time that she was not alone.
‘I hope this isn’t a dream…….’
Della’s gaze turned toward Jade.
Then, as if sensing her gaze, Jade looked at Della and smiled gently.