Chapter 166
“I’m home!”
When Ronnie called out loudly, one of the doors immediately opened, and a girl about our age came out.
“Oh! Ronnie, you’re back!?”
“Emma! It’s been a while.”
She was a cute girl with fluffy brown bobbed hair, brown eyes, and a lovely smile. Maybe because I’d been Japanese in my previous life, those colors felt comforting.
“What about Royal School? Did something happen?”
The girl, whose name seemed to be Emma, asked worriedly.
“Royal School has a twelve-week break, from the first half of the Month of Summer through the second half of the Month of Autumn. It’s break right now, so I came back.”
“I see. So you’re going to be here for a while, Ronnie? I’m so happy!”
“Hehe... Are you really that happy?”
“Of course I am! I thought you might never come back here again.”
“I’ll come back. Everyone’s here.”
Ronnie said that and smiled gently. This is such a lovely moment! Am I getting in the way!?
...I wanted to use teleportation magic and get out of here immediately.
Thinking that, I tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible, but Emma-chan turned toward me. Then she spoke to me.
Thank you so much, Emma-chan. I couldn’t take this atmosphere anymore.
“Are you Ronnie’s friend?”
“Yeah. We’re in the same class at Royal School.”
“Wow! Then you’re excellent, too!”
“Not as much as Ronnie.”
I was embarrassed by Emma-chan’s honest praise, so I modestly said that, but Ronnie immediately called me out.
“Leon, don’t lie. I’m nowhere near as good as you.”
Ronnie said, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
“But when it comes to pure intelligence, Ronnie’s better...”
“You still don’t realize just how extraordinary you are, Leon. Want me to talk endlessly about how wonderful you are until you understand?”
Ronnie said with a smile. It was a beautiful smile, but for some reason it was scary! When had that once-innocent Ronnie learned to make a face like that...?
Was it me? Could it have been my fault?
“Sorry, Ronnie. I guess.”
“Hm? Why are you suddenly apologizing?”
“I just sort of felt like apologizing...”
Still, getting stronger is a good thing, right? I decided to think of it that way and changed the subject. Emma-chan had been completely left out, so I should hurry up and ask Ronnie to introduce us.
“Ronnie, who’s this girl?”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t introduce you. This is Emma. She’s our age. Emma, this is Leon, my friend from Royal School.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Leon, Ronnie’s friend. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Emma. Call me Emma! Leon, I hope we get along!”
After we greeted each other and smiled, the door Emma had come out of opened again, and a girl a little younger than us came out.
“Big Brother!!”
The girl shouted with a huge smile, ran straight over to Ronnie, and threw her arms around him.
“Whoa... Liz, that hurts.”
“Big Brother, Big Brother, Big Brother!”
The girl Ronnie called Liz clung to him, rubbing her head against him vigorously.
“Liz has been down ever since Ronnie went to the central district.”
“Is that so? Liz, did you miss me?”
“Yeah, because... because... hic, hic...”
“W-wait, Liz, don’t cry. What’s wrong?”
“It was my first time being apart from you, Big Brother... I thought I might never see you again, just like Mom.”
Ronnie and Liz’s mother died of an illness, right? I see... If she’d lost her mother when she was little, then being afraid she might lose her only family, her big brother, too, was understandable.
“Liz, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. We can live together again, and we’ll be able to see each other anytime.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! If I can earn enough money, we can live together.”
“I see... I see. I’m so glad.”
Hearing Ronnie say that, Liz-chan finally smiled with a relieved expression. I’m glad she stopped crying.
Still, she’s an incredibly cute girl. This is going to be trouble when she grows up.
“All right, Liz, why don’t you say hello to Leon?”
“Leon?”
“That’s right. He’s my friend, Leon.”
When Ronnie introduced me, Liz-chan finally seemed to notice me and turned to look. Our eyes met for a few seconds, but then she quickly hid behind Ronnie.
“Whoa, Liz? Aren’t you going to say hello?”
She peeked out from behind Ronnie and watched me. Maybe she was shy around strangers?
She reminded me of Ronnie when he first started at Royal School. She had the same slightly timid air about her. They really were siblings.
“Sorry, Leon. Liz is shy around strangers. She’s fine once she gets used to someone.”
“It’s okay.”
I said that to Ronnie, then leaned around to take a quick look at Liz-chan behind him.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Leon, your big brother’s friend. What’s your name?”
“...Liz.”
“So you’re Liz-chan. Nice to meet you.”
“...Just Liz is fine.”
“Thanks. Then, Liz, I hope we get along.”
“Yeah. Leon... I hope we get along.”
Liz said that and gave me a small smile. She still seemed wary, but maybe she’d opened up to me a little?
As I was talking with Liz, Ronnie suddenly exclaimed as if he’d remembered something.
“Oh, that’s right. Emma, is there a room we can stay in? If not, we’ll have to clean one, right?”
“Hmm, I think there’s a four-person room with only two people in it, so we can use that one.”
“I see. Then we’ll use that room.”
“Okay. How long are you staying here?”
“Summer break is twelve weeks, and I plan to be here most of that time. But I’m also going to visit Leon’s house at some point, so I might not be here the whole time.”
“I see. Then should we go see the director for now?”
“Let’s do that.”
Then Emma, Ronnie, and Liz headed toward a different door from the one the two girls had come out of earlier. I followed them inside. It led to a hallway with lots of rooms on either side.
They went a little way down the hall to a door at the end and opened it.
Wow, it’s pretty spacious. The door opened onto what seemed to be a back garden. Dozens of children were in the yard, which was large enough for them to run around and play.
Some children were sitting on wooden crates and listening to an adult talk, others were running around the yard, and still others were practicing sword swings with wooden branches. They were all doing different things.
All the children turned to look at us—or rather, at Ronnie. They stared at his face for a moment, then all ran over.
“Ronnie, you’re back!?”
“How was the central district?”
“Did you bring anything tasty?”
“What was Royal School like?”
“Whoa... W-wait, everyone! You’re coming on a little strong!”
Ronnie was surrounded and flustered. I guess everyone here really looked up to him. They all seemed younger than us, so maybe he was like a big brother to them.
I think children can stay at an orphanage until they’re fifteen, right? Where were all the older kids?
As I watched Ronnie and wondered about that, the adult who had been teaching the children something earlier walked over to us.
She looked to be in her thirties, with a gentle air about her. She seemed kind.
“Everyone, you’re overwhelming Ronnie. Calm down. It’s been a long time, Ronnie. How have you been?”
“Director! I’ve been doing well. It was hard at first, but I’ve gotten used to Royal School.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I wondered if sending you to Royal School might have been too much for you.”
“I’m truly grateful that you let me take the entrance exam for Royal School. I couldn’t have managed there without Leon. Let me introduce you. This is Leon, the friend I made at Royal School.”
Ronnie introduced me, so I gave her a proper greeting.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Leon. Ronnie and I are good friends.”
“I’m Asia. I run this orphanage. Thank you for being friends with Ronnie.”
Asia-san said that and smiled warmly at me. I could already tell just by looking at her that she was a wonderful director. She had a gentle presence, and she looked at the children with such kindness.
It’s true that an orphanage’s atmosphere depends on the director. It isn’t so much that this orphanage was lucky as that Asia-san is wonderful.