Chapter 3: The Self-Proclaimed Normal Girl Does This and That to the Orphanage
“...Hey, y’don’t think we got the wrong room, do you?”
“What’re you talking about? This is definitely the right room.”
“But this room looks like some aristocrat’s daughter lives in it.”
“What in the hell are you talking about? This orphanage wouldn’t have a room like—Whaaaa?! Wh-What the hell is all of this?! None of this was here before!!”
“Did the girl bring it all with her?”
“No, Ristia didn’t come with a single piece of luggage, from what I remember.”
Ristia thought, I don’t know what’s going on, but entering a girl’s room while she’s sleeping sure is rude, and woke up.
“...It’s so late; did you need something?”
“Wha? Ristia! Why didn’t that drug work on you?!” the man exclaimed in an abrasive tone. She was trying to place that familiar voice this whole time, but it ended up being Director Georg’s.
“What exactly is the matter, Director Georg? You don’t sound yourself.”
“Grk, I mean, well... Um, what I meant to ask was, ‘Why are you still awake, my child?’”
“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘why’...”
What in blazes is going on?! She drank that powerful sleeping agent with the wine, so she should be knocked out cold until morning! Georg thought to himself, but with no way of knowing what he was thinking about, Ristia cocked her head in bewilderment.
“Hey, Georg, what are we going to do?”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s not going to put up much resistance anyway. Using a little force is fine every once in a while.”
“Heh, you got a point. Gets a little stale when they can never put up a fight, after all.” The burly man that came in with Director Georg flashed a lecherous grin. That had affirmed Director Georg’s goal in coming to Ristia’s room, and her face took a very displeased turn.
“Heh, looks like you finally realize the situation you’re in. Too little, too late, though. The Director gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Now I’m gonna have my fun and then some with that beautiful body of yours!” the burly man said, a perverted grin stretched across his face as he made his way up to the bed where Ristia was sitting. He then reached his hand out and tried to forcibly touch Ristia’s breasts—to which she gave him a chop with her hand.
“...Huh? Wh-What’s this? My arm... Why isn’t my arm moving?!”
“H-Hey, th-that thing. Is that your...” Director Georg stammered, pointing at the man’s feet.
Atop the now-crimson-stained carpet was a dismembered part of the man’s body.
“E-Eek! Why?! Why is my arm down there?!”
“Stop that. If you shout like that, you’ll wake up the children.” Ristia isolated the room so that no stray voices would slip out using her magic. Her crimson eyes glowed in the wavering flames of the lantern as they glared straight at Georg and the other man.
“Sh-She’s a sorcerer?!”
“H-Hey, Director! You never told me she was a goddamn sorcerer!”
“I was never told either! Grk, whatever, just run!” Director Georg turned heel and tried to make a break for the door, but as he turned and rattled at the doorknob, he found it wouldn’t open.
“Hey, what are you doing, Georg?! Hurry and open the damn door! Please!”
“I’m trying, but it won’t budge!”
“There’s no point trying. I made it so the door wouldn’t open when I isolated the sound of this room earlier.” Ristia responded as she climbed off of her bed and robbed the man of his consciousness with magic. Immediately after doing so, the man crumpled to the carpet limply. His severed arm was still spewing blood profusely, and guessing that he would die if he kept bleeding out like that, she stanched the wound.
“Wh-Who are you? Some spy sent by the local lord?!” Director Georg shouted in a shivering, violent tone, most likely mustering his best possible bluff, as to not give in to his fear. Conversely...
“I’m just a normal girl.”
“Bullshit! In what world is someone like you considered normal?!”
“What a flop...” Ristia flopped her shoulders in disappointment after being told that she wasn’t normal in regular fashion.
However, Director Georg looked at how Ristia was acting and perceived it as being something other than plain madness, so he asked her, “What do you plan on doing with us?”
“What do I plan on doing with you? No, that’s my line here. What were you planning on doing, coming into my room?”
“W-Well...”
“I was half-convinced from what I heard, but you... did do something to Maria, didn’t you? No, you’ve been doing something, haven’t you?”
“She talked?!”
“Judging from that reaction, that was your handiwork... No, the handiwork of you and the others, Director Georg. What kind of immoral acts did you people subject her to?”
“W-Well...”
“Well, what?”
“Well... take this, bitch!” Suddenly, Director Georg caused his right arm to flash. The moment Ristia identified the flash as coming from him tossing a small magic item, the item emitted an intense light, which enveloped the room in white.
“Hahahah! You let down your guard! You may be a sorcerer, but you can’t do a damn thing if you can’t see! I’m going to make tears run down your pretty little face until you regret ever screwing around with me!” Director Georg grinned perversely, pulling out the knife he had concealed at his hip. He then circled to Ristia’s flank and sprung at the girl. Much to his dismay, Ristia maintained regular vision throughout all his actions, stopping the tip of the knife between her fingers.
“What?! How can you react to my attack?!”
“‘How’? Because I can see it just fine...”
“Impossible! That flash hit you dead-on!”
“You thought seeing a flash would disable my vision?” Sure, it got bright all of the sudden and startled me, but that wouldn’t stop my eyes from working properly... right? Ristia pondered as she looked on, confused.
“Wh-Who in the devil are you?”
“I told you a second ago. I’m a normal girl.”
“Like hell a normal girl like you exists!”
“Grr... I am a normal girl, though.” Not only did he call Ristia “not normal” yet again, but the knife was threatening to rip up her favorite camisole, which angered her enough to smash the knife caught between her fingers. The shattered pieces of the weapon flew about, slicing up Director Georg’s cheek.
“L-L-L-Like hell someone like you is normaaaaal!!” He screamed from the depths of his soul. Being able to make such a quip in this situation showed rather strong confidence, but the truth of the matter was that his fear had simply reached past its limits. As Director Georg quaked in his boots, Ristia dragged him down to the ground.
“Damn it all! What are you going to do with me?!”
“I’ll decide on that after you tell me what you did. Now... what did you do to Maria?”
“Y-You think I’m just going to talk?”
“Of course I do.” Ristia squinted her eyes, using her vampiric charming powers. As soon as she did, the light of reason started to disappear from Director Georg’s eyes. “Now, tell me what you did to everyone... and I mean everything.”
“What I did was...”
Once turned into her servant, Director Georg went into detail about his catalogue of reprehensible acts. Apparently, Maria was taking the full brunt of the damage in order to protect the other children, but his vile acts didn’t stop there. With the exception of Maria, every child in the orphanage had to be under the age of twelve, or they were forced to “graduate” from the institution. Director Georg was using the orphanage as a front for an illegal child slavery ring, and the man that had accompanied him was apparently an accomplice with many other crimes under his belt. After pulling all that information out of him, Ristia was on the verge of raging out of control, but she was suddenly reminded of Nanami’s reaction from when she had killed Gawain. That memory caused her to regain her cool and release the charm spell she’d cast over Director Georg. It wasn’t long before Director Georg was back to his senses. He understood that he was being controlled by some mysterious ability and had spilled the information about all of his crimes, making his face twist in fear.
“P-Please! Spare me! I swear I won’t go against you! You can have this orphanage!”
“Huh? You’re giving me the orphanage?” The unexpected offer made Ristia blink in surprise.
“Sure, you can call yourself Director and do whatever you want. Also, I swear that I’ll never bother you ever again! So, please, let me off the hook!”
“You’ll never do anything bad ever again?”
“I won’t! You have my word.”
“If you mean that, I won’t kill you.”
“Really?!” Ristia nodded her head in reply to Director Georg’s question. That was her decision, made out of consideration for the children’s happiness. In her mind, she needed to do something for the children, and that wasn’t killing Director Georg; it was securing a place where they could live in peace. Hence, Ristia made a deal with him—a deal that she would spare his life in trade for ownership of the orphanage, under the condition that he repented for his crimes and vowed never to commit them again. Ristia then followed Georg to the Director’s office, where he transferred the deed to the orphanage over to her and also wrote her a letter of authorization, bestowing her the title of Director.
“That makes the orphanage one-hundred percent yours. So hold up your end of the bargain!”
“Yup, a deal is a deal. And I never go back on one. That being said... if going back on your word is your intention, then you’re dead. Am I clear?”
“Yes, of course! I promise!”
“So you say... But what do you really think?” She once again used her charm powers, ordering him to tell her his true intentions.
“Hah! I’m obviously just saying whatever to make you believe me. You think I’d ever give up on having the time of my life? Also, mark my words, I’m going to get my revenge on you.”
“...As I figured. I’m relieved that you didn’t have a change of heart. I made that deal out of consideration for the kids, but I personally found you beyond sparing.”
“What are you...? W-Wait, that was a, um... a misunderstanding!” Director Georg started to panic after being freed from the charm, but Ristia’s crimson eyes flashed as she set an offense-oriented spell into action.
“No, stop!! ...Huh, what? Nothing happened. Hahah, don’t scare me like... that...?” Director Georg made a complete one-eighty from fear to relief, but he suddenly found himself on his rear.
“What’s going on? I suddenly lost my balance and... My toe! What the hell? What’s going on?!” Director Georg’s toe was starting to fade away into particles of light, and once he noticed what was happening, he shrieked in distress.
“It’s an offensive spell that will gradually disintegrate you from the toes up, eventually erasing even your soul from existence. That should be enough time... until you die. Reflect on your past actions before your life ends in the meantime.” Ristia put the letter and the deed into her Item Box, turned herself away, and was about to exit the room when Director Georg let out a pathetic yell to stop her.
“W-Wait! Please wait! I gave you the orphanage like I said I would, so this goes against what you promised!”
“What are you talking about? Our agreement was that I wouldn’t kill you if you would repent for your crimes and never commit them again, and I upheld it.” Her agreement with Director Georg was that she wouldn’t take his life if he gave the orphanage to her and vowed to reform himself, never falling back onto the same sins. She had planned to hand him over to the city officials, sparing his life as she had agreed to if he held up his end of the bargain, but... he didn’t. Ristia didn’t have a single reason to compromise with him now.
“Killing you if you broke our agreement was part of the agreement.”
“You can’t... be serious... W-Wait, please! I was wrong! I swear I’ll change my ways this time! So please, I’m begging you, spare me!”
“...I bet you scoffed at Maria’s pleas when she was at your mercy, didn’t you? But it’s fine. I’ll make it so that your voice won’t be heard outside of this room, so shout all you’d like,” Ristia declared in a cold and solemn voice as she shut the door to the director’s office behind her with a slam, also casting a spell over the door so that it would temporarily remain shut.
“Now then... That leaves the other one.” Ristia returned to her quarters and forced the unconscious man awake, intending to put him through the same interrogation process as Georg—which led to her disintegrating both that man’s body and his soul in a similar fashion.
──2──
“Aah... I feel terrible.”
Maria awoke in her simple bed and looked up at the low-hanging ceiling, letting out a deep sigh. Last night was the night Maria was supposed to be forced into volunteer services, but despite that being the case, that nightmare never came to pass. Of course, she wasn’t always scheduled for volunteer services on fixed dates. It was just the opposite; things would be conducted on dates that weren’t fixed, as well. It was actually rare that she wouldn’t have her services scheduled to someone. And the night Ristia showed up happened to be one of those rare days. It basically meant that the nice young lady that turned up at their doorstep with an angelic smile might be singing a sadder tune today. Despite Maria’s repeated warnings, Ristia just wouldn’t listen to her. If she’d tried any harder to dissuade her, Director Georg might have taken it as disobedience, and the other children would be put in danger. That was the reason that she couldn’t warn her in a more direct manner... but, be that as it may, it didn’t change the fact that Maria silently knew that something terrible would happen to Ristia. That fact still tormented the fifteen year old girl’s heart.
I’ll at least go fetch a bucket and towel for her, Maria thought to herself, but... it wasn’t just so she could atone for her actions. If Ristia walked around the orphanage after being “violated,” then the other children might end up knowing about the dark secret of the orphanage Maria fought so desperately to keep under wraps. Plus, Maria was alone in keeping this secret from leaking to the other children, so she might be able to share the pain with Ristia, seeing as how she went through the same turmoil. With all that serving as her purpose, she visited Ristia’s room with a bucket and towel in hand... only to find an angel sleeping soundly on a princess-style canopy bed.
“...Huh? What? What’s going on here?” Her mind was literally boggled. She had expected the fact that Ristia would be asleep, of course, but the way she pictured it was more... unconscious—a slumber brought on from mental and physical exhaustion. She certainly wasn’t expecting her to be sound asleep in a spotless, untainted bed. In fact, the room as a whole was odd. There was a fancy chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the room was warm, and the air inside of it was fresh. Not only that, but a soft and fluffy carpet adorned the floors, lace curtains hung from the windows, and the plain and rather firm bed had been replaced by a bed fit for a princess. “...What in the world is going on here?” Maria whispered to herself, as this was something she was seriously lost on. However...
“Good morning, Maria,” Ristia, the girl that was snoring a second ago, greeted Maria in reply to her murmur, making the her practically jump from her skin.
“R-Ristia, you were awake?!”
“No, just woke up.”
“Oh, um... do you mean that I woke you up?”
“Yes, but don’t worry about it~ I can normally function without a few days’ worth of sleep.” Maria, who couldn’t have possibly known that Ristia literally didn’t need sleep to function, thought that Ristia was just trying to console her, which made guilt wash over her face.
“I really don’t mind. Plus, you were worried and came here to check on me, right?”
“Huh? Does that mean that they...?” she asked, implying the question of whether Director Georg came to her room last night or not.
“Yeah, they were here. Director Georg and another person—a burly-looking man.”
“...!” Maria found herself biting her lip. Director Georg was bad enough, but that other man was someone Maria hated, since he was especially violent. She lamented Ristia’s misfortune of being forced to deal with both of those unsavory characters right from the start.
...Huh? But if that’s the case, then why does Ristia look so unaffected? Is she just really experienced with all this and just doesn’t show it?
“Hey, Sister, would you happen to be in the business?”
“I’m just a normal girl.”
“Then... how are you doing so fine?”
“Because what you think happened never happened.”
“What in the hell do you mean by...” It was worth noting that Maria’s un-fifteen-year-old-like conduct was a sort of defense mechanism. In her mind, since she was an older sister to everyone else, she had to endure the work for their sakes. And as a result of deceiving herself like that, the mature way she spoke to others just stuck with her. Maria was still a child on the inside, however, and she found herself confused by what Ristia was saying. To make matters worse...
“I’ll get right to the point, then. As of today, I’ll be running this orphanage.” Ristia ended up saying something even more incomprehensible.
“Um, um... What do you mean by that?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Director—Former Director Georg handed over the position of Orphanage Director to me. That’s why, as of today, you’re under my supervision~”
“I... see...” Maria was confused, but the fact sunk into her. If Ristia was the director here, then all of the despicable acts she was forced to endure this whole time might cease. She was relieved that, at the very least, comfort levels would be at a newfound high. Once that all processed in her mind, Maria made a sigh of relief. “......Huh? Ristia, Sis, you’re the director?”
That was when she finally realized that the statement that Ristia had inherited the title of director in itself made no sense. Maria had come here in the first place to console Ristia, thinking that she went through the same terrible experience she herself had, so why the topic suddenly shifted to being about how Ristia took over as director of the orphanage made absolutely no sense.
“Umm, I’m sorry. I’m afraid I don’t follow, Sister. So, Ristia, you’re going to be the new director?”
“Indeed I am~ Got the letter of authorization and everything. See for yourself.”
“This does look like the director’s handwriting, but... No, wait, wait, wait. ‘Indeed I am~’? Cut it out! What in the world happened that led to this?!”
“What happened? Well, he lost his right hand, for starters?”
“...Pardon?” Maria would never assume that a person had literally lost their arm, and she instead took that to mean that Ristia had found a weakness in the man who served as Director Georg’s righthand man.
“Anyway, the orphanage is mine now, and that’s a fact. There might be people who will say something about the switch, but I’ll deal with them if that happens, so don’t you worry.”
“...Really?”
“Yup, really really.” Maria rushed out of the room to verify whether Ristia was telling the truth or not and knocked on adjacent door leading into Director Georg’s office, but what she received was...
“No response, right? That room is empty now,” Ristia told the girl after chasing after her. Despite her assertion, Maria wasn’t so easily convinced. It stood to reason, considering the years upon years of hell the director put her through. And so, Maria rushed in through the door inside to find... not a single person inside, just furniture and whatnot that was slightly strewn about.
“The director... where did he go?”
“Director Georg left town after regretting all of his crimes.”
“Left town after regretting his crimes...?” The idea of the director she knew regretting his crimes was incredibly unbelievable, to say the least, but it was also unthinkable that Director George wouldn’t be in his office around this time of day, under normal circumstances.
Reason aside, the fact that he skipped town may be true. Maria thought, putting things into perspective and finally considering that Ristia might be telling the truth.
“Then... you’re the director here now, right?”
“Yup, sure am.”
“Th-Then... um, then what about all of the... volunteer service that I was forced into doing this whole time?”
“If that ‘volunteer service’ was something that Director Georg forced you into doing, then you don’t need to ever do it again. And even if anyone else were to tell you to, I wouldn’t ever allow it to happen.”
“B-But he said I have to keep working, or we won’t have the money to feed the others...” —We won’t be able to make the money to feed the children unless you work. Otherwise, the only other option is to put the other children to work or throw them out. That was the threat Director Georg posed to Maria which made her bend to his will. And the financial difficulties of the orphanage weren’t going to be changing even if the one taking charge as director did, but...
“Don’t worry. Even if that was the case before, I promise that I will make do for you all.” That brilliant, angelic smile illuminated Maria’s inner darkness.
“...I really, really don’t have to do that stuff anymore?”
“You really, really, really don’t.” Ristia extended her right arm toward Maria, and once the girl saw it coming toward her, she brushed it aside, just like the first time they interacted. It wasn’t based on a hatred for Ristia, either; it was simply a reflex brought about from memories of all the repugnant acts she had to perform night after night.
“I-I’m sorry. But, um... you shouldn’t try to touch me. I’m, um... not like you, Sister. I’m tarnished.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. You may not know this, but I’m...” Maria started her sentence, but wasn’t able to finish—because Ristia’s thin and supple fingers gently patted Maria’s head. At the same time, a genial warmth started to seep its way through Maria’s body.
“...Ristia?”
“See~? You’re all fine.” Your scars, infections, every last bad mark on your body—every single one? I got rid of them. So, Maria, my dear, you’re no longer ‘tarnished’.” She didn’t understand what that meant, but... it was made clear to her not long after. Both the fatigue that punished her for the past few days along with the lingering pain in her lower half disappeared completely. She almost felt like—no, she literally felt as if she had been reborn anew.
“...Sister, who in the world are you?”
“I’m just a normal girl.” That was a clear lie. She was probably intent on not divulging the truth behind who she was, which was why Maria knew that Ristia was not the normal girl that she claimed she was—she was far from it. But she didn’t care who Ristia really was, because, at least to Maria, Ristia was the angel sent from above who helped save her from her plight—a fact that brought tears streaming from the young girl’s eyes.
“Thank... you... Thank you, Sister. Thank you, Ristia,” Maria said with tears pouring down her face as Ristia softly took her into her embrace. That tender warmth washed away all the doubt that Maria still had left in her.
With all of the bad emotions out of her system, Maria’s tears finally came to an end. “S-So, what do you plan on doing from now on?” Maria asked, pulling herself apart from Ristia, having regained her composure after crying her eyes out. Her cheeks were pink from the embarrassment of shedding tears.
“Well, I guess turning around the orphanage.”
“Turning around the orphanage... Yeah, that’s a much-needed step.” Maria was so impoverished that she had to go around and volunteer her services, so it was obvious that a turnaround of their financial situation was necessary in order to get the institution in shape. Maria never would have thought that Ristia meant ‘a literal turnaround of the building, complete with renovations,’ so it was a total misunderstanding.
“I’ve already got a lot of ideas lined up for turning this place around. I’ll set everything up, so don’t you worry about it.”
“...You already thought up ways to fix things? The mayor that the aristocrats put in charge of town is a renowned cheapskate, so I don’t think he’ll be willing to give us any financial aid.”
“Financial aid? No, I’ll have the funds needed, so that won’t be necessary.”
“...Are you serious?”
You needed to pull money from somewhere in order to perform a massive upgrade of an orphanage. Basically, that meant what you needed was a way to actually pull in money in the first place... or so one would think, but Ristia was saying that money was never an issue from the get-go.
There’s no way she’s planning on making the kids do the same kind of work I did, right? She said I wouldn’t have to service anyone. I want to believe that Ristia really means that, but all signs are pointing to that as the only other option. Ristia’s overly optimistic attitude was filling Maria with uneasiness.
“In any case, you don’t have to worry about how I’ll be turning things around here. Actually, there’s something that I want to ask you, Maria.”
“...What’s that?”
“I made your body as good as new. That is a fact without a shadow of a doubt. But I assume your mind still holds some terrible memories, right?”
“Yes... it does.” Although she felt like a massive load was off her shoulders, that simple bit of implication was enough to give her flashbacks of her time working, making Maria unconsciously hug herself.
“If you’d like, I’ll wipe all of your memories of that.”
“Wipe... my memories?” Maria looked up at Ristia in confusion.
“Yup, I’ll use a spell to wipe the bad memories and any memories linked to it out of your mind.”
“...Sister, are you a sorcerer?”
“I am, and it’s a secret, okay?” Ristia said with a mischievous grin. That angelic smile met Maria’s eyes, and she thought to herself, Is she some sort of sorcerer of justice? If there were a connoisseur of magic present, they would probably be screaming, “Yeah, right! As if there’s some kind of demonic magic around that would wipe someone’s memories clean!” However, there was indeed magic like that, so it was a moot point regardless of the noise or actions of this hypothetical person. Now, whether or not it was within the realm of human capability was a different story...
“You’re saying that your spell could erase my bad memories?”
“Yeah, I can erase just your bad memories... is the right way of putting it, I guess? In order to do a thorough wipe, I would need to erase a lot of your normal memories so as to not cause any inconsistencies, so I think some related memories will end up getting wiped, as well.” Maria wasn’t able to completely comprehend the drawbacks of doing that, but there was one thing that she did understand—that she would forget the fact that Ristia saved her if she were to wipe her memories right now.
“...I’ll be fine without a memory wipe, if you don’t mind.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, if you wipe my memories, it’s likely that I’ll forget you saved me too, right?”
“...That’s right.”
“Right. In that case, don’t wipe them.”
“Maria...” she said, probably understanding Maria’s intention of wanting to preserve her memory of Ristia as her savior. Ristia looked absolutely, positively delighted.
“D-Don’t get the wrong idea. If you were to wipe my memories, then there wouldn’t be anyone around to confirm whether you’re holding up your end of the promise, right? That’s why I’m just going to be by your side to make sure you’re keeping everyone safe!” Maria said in a blunt manner, trying to hide her embarrassment.
“Okay, I plan on making this orphanage better than it’s ever been, so I’d appreciate you helping me out, too, Maria.” Ristia smiled, casually extending her hand to the girl. Looking at her white, slender, and spotless hand, the gears in Maria’s head started spinning. Honestly, she wasn’t sure about Ristia’s claim that she had become the director when she woke up this morning, so she was also uneasy as to whether this would all work out, but if Georg continued to be director for another six months, then he may have ended up recruiting the other girls to offer their services alongside Maria. And even if he didn’t, he would have made a few of the children “graduate,” for sure. The fact stood that Ristia saved all of them from that fate, which was why...
“I’ll help you. Look forward to working with you, Director Ristia.”
She called Ristia “Director” with the utmost respect. Instead of calling her “Sister” like she usually did, adding the title to her name showed that she recognized her as the director of the orphanage and was willing to cooperate with her in her future endeavors. Be that as it may... Ristia still found herself hitting the floor in disappointment.
──3──
“What a flop...” Ristia said, flopping her shoulders in her depression unusually hard. Pretty much all the children at the orphanage called her “Sister” or “Sis.” They meant that as a term of endearment because she was older than them, but she believed that if she tried hard enough, she could promote herself to a loving “Big Sis” status. She believed that, but all her hard work and gaining ownership of the orphanage gained her was being called “Director” instead. And it wasn’t just Maria calling her that, but every child in the orphanage who knew the situation. It was proof that the children adored Ristia and accepted her into their lives, but seeing as how Ristia just wanted them to call her “Big Sis,” it was devastating to her. Those factors led Ristia to be in the extreme slump she was in now, just after breakfast. However, she couldn’t afford to be down in the dumps forever.
Considering that Maria had vowed to help turn around the orphanage and rebuild it, it meant that Ristia needed to hurry up and plan things out. Ristia then decided to check the orphanage grounds, taking her to the back of the facility. Perhaps it was because the orphanage was on the outskirts of town, but the facility grounds were quite vast. There was enough surface area for two or three orphanages, but... it seemed as if absolutely no groundskeeping had been done for a while. It was disheveled with weeds growing amok.
Hmm... Maybe I should build something next door since they’ll need somewhere to live while I’m doing renovations? Ristia thought as she mowed the weeds growing in front of her with magic and collected them in one location. With Ristia’s magic, she would be done in an instant. In fact, it was entirely possible for her to even dig a plot, manufacture lumber, and construct an entire house. However, building a house all by one’s self was something that would clearly be considered abnormal. That was how she came to the conclusion that she was going to hire a carpenter for the rebuilding process, and to do so, she was going to have to sell the enchanted item through Eindebelle’s connection.
“I’ll be stepping out for a bit, so could you mind the children while I’m gone?” Ristia called Maria to the entryway, leaving her to babysit. This was nothing out of the ordinary for Maria. She was the oldest out of all of the orphans, so it was apparently always her duty to watch over the other kids. Although, it was probably more accurate to say that since the former director had never done his job to begin with, the task of taking care of everyone had inevitably fallen upon her. At any rate, she asked Maria, knowing that she could comfortably leave her in charge, but for some odd reason, Maria seemed nervous.
“...Maria, what’s the matter?”
“Um... you’ll be back before lunchtime, right?”
“Hmm, I’m going out to procure the money for rebuilding the orphanage, so it might be a bit hard to come back before lunch. I do plan on coming back by dinner, though.“
“Oh... you will?”
“Sure will. I’ve left ingredients in the kitchen, so could you use those to whip something up to eat?”
“Well... sure. Okay, then. But... um...” Since she had worked yesterday, she basically understood how a day around the orphanage went. She knew that the children made the meals, so she had stocked the kitchen in advance with meat, vegetables, and other ingredients she had in her Item Box. Her going out should have been no problem, but Maria seemed nervous about something regardless.
“Really, though. What’s the matter?”
“Erm, well.. I was worried about what would happen if Director Georg were to come back...”
“Ah, so that’s what’s wrong.” Director Georg had left town—and since not even his soul was still around, the “town” he was headed off to was “the afterlife.” But all she had told Maria was that he had simply “left town,” so it was natural that she would be worried about him possibly coming back. As Ristia considered what she could do for her, Maria suddenly clung to her tight. It was something that Ristia had never experienced before, so she was taken aback.
“M-Maria?!”
“Um, so... I know you have things to do, but I’d like it if you could stay next to me...” Maria said, opening up her worries while still clinging to Ristia. Normally, she carried herself in a grown-up manner and acted as everyone’s older sister, but right now, she was showing her vulnerabilities. It was a sight that Ristia couldn’t help but find cute, and it was piercing her dead through the heart.
I want Maria as my little sister. Her brand of cute is different from Nanami’s and I want it all to myself. As soon as that thought ran through her head, an impulse similar to the time she’d carried Nanami in her arms assaulted Ristia. With Nanami, it had happened so fast she couldn’t tell what it was, but... now Ristia knew the true identity of that feeling. It was a feeling that Ristia shouldn’t have experienced from Maria holding onto her—her vampiric impulses to feed.
But... why? I’ve never had these impulses drive me before, so why now? Ristia bit her lip, trying to keep those vampiric impulses in check as she slowly pulled Maria away from her.
“...Director Ristia?” Maria looked at her with uneasy eyes.
“O-Oh, don’t worry. Nothing’s wrong,” Ristia assured her, pretending that she was fine as she shook her vampiric impulses off. She then desperately worked her brain, trying to think up a way to help Maria from her worries.
“...Let’s see. Oh, maybe that would do. Wait just a second.” She procured a few materials from her Item Box. Gritting her teeth and using some enchantment magic, she created a magic item capable of telepathic communication.
“Huh? I feel like you just pulled a bunch of things out of nowhere,” Maria said, rubbing her eyes in disbelief before Ristia took her hand and placed a tiny hairclip in her palm. “Oh, uh... What’s this?”
“It’s a magic item that communicates the thoughts of whoever touches it straight to me. This will be yours, so make sure to put it in your hair. Any time you call for me, I’ll come rushing back.”
“...Thank you,” Maria said with a wry smile. —Heh heh, I’ve never heard of a tool that lets you communicate thoughts to another person, not even in fairy tales. But she’s trying to get me to relax because she knows I’m worried. Director Ristia really is too kind. The hairclip transmitted Maria’s thoughts to Ristia, since it was sitting in the palm of the girl’s hand. Ristia didn’t have it in her to point that out right now, but she was willing to settle with that for the time being since she knew that Maria felt a little more at ease.
“I’ll be off, then.”
“Okay, take care!” Maria said, seeing Ristia off as she began to walk away from the orphanage. Immediately after that, she heard Maria’s surprised thoughts. “Wha?! All the weeds in the yard suddenly got mowed?!” Ristia ran away before Maria had a chance to pelt her with questions about it.
She eventually made her way back to Eindebelle’s shop.
“Welcome on in... Oh, if it isn’t Ristia!”
“Good afternoon, Belle.” Eindebelle, running the shop, smiled at her. Soon after, hurried footsteps could be heard from the back as Nanami came running up to the front.
“Lady Ristia, you are safe!” Nanami shouted as soon as she saw Ristia’s face, jumping at her. She caught Nanami’s small body in her arms.
“Good afternoon, Nanami. I’m sorry. Did I make you worry?”
“Yes, I was worried. That orphanage has a bad reputation, and you went there and spent the whole night out.”
“I see... Thank you for being so concerned for me.” Nanami knew that Ristia was a True Blood, the ultimate lifeform which no human could ever stand up against. She knew that fact well, but she was still concerned for Ristia’s wellbeing. So this is what it would feel like to have a little sister, Ristia thought in bliss. However, as Nanami stared up at Ristia in her arms, her face started to take a sulky turn.
“Lady Ristia, I said I was worried about you, so why do you look so gosh darn happy?”
“Huh? Oh, well, you see... Um, I’m sorry?” Ristia apologized, but her face was all smiles, which made Nanami puff out her cheeks and pout. Eindebelle saw all this happen and let out a laugh.
“Nanami, Ristia here is a-smilin’ ‘cos she’s happy that you were so worried for her.”
“Huh...? Is that true?” Nanami peered into Ristia’s eyes.
“Yeah, I was so happy that you were concerned for me... but I’m sorry.” Ristia apologized again, this time looking genuinely apologetic. She then pulled out her Item Box and created the same type of hairclip that she’d given to Maria as an apology. “Just touch this magic item and think something to yourself, and the words will be conveyed to me.”
“Huh? Oh, thank you very much... Wait, Lady Ristia?!” Nanami panicked and peeked at Eindebelle. Nanami didn’t know that Ristia had made an enchanted item in front of Eindebelle before, so she was worried that Ristia had screwed up again. However, having witnessed it yesterday as well, Eindebelle was outright impressed, nevermind surprised.
“Hah... Unbelievably skilled, as always.”
“‘As always’? Wait... Mom, you too?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I know ‘bout how skilled Ristia is with magic.”
“Lady Ristia... did you not say you were going to be a normal girl?” Nanami said with a disappointed look in her eyes as Ristia looked back at her as calm as could be. Her reason?
“So, listen, Nanami. Nowadays, even normal girls can make enchantments.”
“...Did Mom tell you that?”
“She... did...? Why?” Ristia answered, prompting Nanami to look at Eindebelle. Seeing that Eindebelle quickly turned her eyes away, Nanami looked up at the heavens.
“Umm, is... something the matter?”
“Well, you see... Okay, I’m about to tell you something, so please prepare yourself for this.”
“U-Uh-huh?”
“As I told you before, a normal girl cannot make enchantments.”
“Huh? But Belle told me they could.”
“That was a lie. Mom tricked you, Lady Ristia.”
“...Huh? Is that so?” She looked over to her to confirm that, but Eindebelle kept her eyes averted. Ristia now knew that she had been deceived.
“...Grr, why did you feed me that lie?” she asked Eindebelle, who was still averting her gaze and keeping her head turned to the side. Eventually, the woman found herself unable to bear the stares and silence, and she looked at Ristia straight on.
“Um, y’see... I wanted to see yer enchantments, Ristia.”
“So basically, you figured out that I could use enchantments and tricked me into confessing?”
“W-Well, if I hafta be blunt...”
“So I see...” Realizing that she had been tricked, she let out a sigh.
“Oh, Ristia, I’m sorry, Dear.”
“Lady Ristia, my mom is sorry.”
The two of them bowed their heads in collective apology, but Ristia gently shook her head at them in response.
“Please do not apologize. I am in the wrong here.”
“Huh? But...”
“I was the one who couldn’t figure out that I was being had. That also means that I was being so obvious that I could be duped like that. I don’t blame Belle,” she said benevolently, like an angel with an angelic smile.
“Ungh, God, I feel so guilty... I was... I was wrong! Just don’t look at me with them pure eyes!” Eindebelle said, holding her ample chest in distress. An awkward smile formed on Ristia’s face as soon as she saw her act that way, because she remembered that her older sisters would oftentimes react in a similar manner.
“I seriously don’t blame you, Belle. It’s just...”
“It’s just what?”
“Next time, please just be honest with me, okay? I can show you as many enchantments as you want as long as it’s for your sake.”
“Huh? Y’mean it, Hun?” Eindebelle said, the look in her eyes suddenly taking an earnest turn.
“I do. You are Nanami’s family, after all.”
“Are you sayin’... yer willin’ to do that fer me because I’m family with Nanami, who’s someone ya trust?”
“That is right. I have told Nanami who I really am.”
“...Who y’really are?”
“Yes. You see, I am—” Before she could reveal her true identity, Nanami came rushing at her at lightspeed to cover her mouth. She proceeded to drag her off to a corner of the shop.
“You need to stop right there, Lady Ristia.”
“...I do?”
“Yes. Please give it a little more time before telling them the truth.”
“...Well, if you insist, Nanami.” Ristia nodded her head obediently, thinking, I don’t really have any real reason to refuse. Once their discussion had ended, she turned back around to Eindebelle. “So as I was saying, I am a very, very normal girl.”
“...Yeah, well... That’s good t’hear.” She certainly didn’t seem like some ordinary person, but that didn’t change the fact that she was the person who had saved Nanami’s life. With that knowledge in mind, Eindebelle said that as long as she told her when she was ready, that would be good enough for now. “But I sure would like ya to show me what ya got regardin’ enchantments.”
“Yes, of course~”
“And, well, I sure’d appreciate it if ya not only showed me, but did a lil’ tellin’ here and there ‘bout it. If that’s okay...?” Eindebelle looked at her with a hungry look in her eyes, probably unable to contain her desire. Not considering for even a second to hoard her techniques, Ristia nodded and assured her she didn’t mind at all. “...Y’mean that?!”
“Yes, but I’m here today to sell my enchanted items, so would you mind terribly if we deal with that matter first?”
“Aah, yer here just in time for that. Got word from ‘em that they’re gonna be over t’pick up the stock today, so I think they’ll be here in a lil’ bit.”
“Oh, that’s great news. I need the money as soon as possible, so that will be a big help.” Ristia let out a sigh of relief and smiled softly... However, Eindebelle and Nanami looked at one another, doubtful expressions on their faces.
“Nanami, what’dya think?”
“Lady Ristia is strong, but she is a bit of a ditz...”
“Yeah, that’s the worryin’ part.” Ristia had a feeling that they were badmouthing her, so Ristia pouted her lips cutely.
“Are you two thinking something rude about me?”
“Naw, Child, we ain’t thinkin’ anything of the sort. It’s just that we’re a lil’ worried that the director of that orphanage is trickin’ ya.”
“...You two are badmouthing me. I would never allow myself to be tricked by that director.” It was an extremely valid argument, but since neither of the two knew her current situation, they weren’t buying it.
“Y’say that, but sayin’ y’need the money quick clearly means y’need it for the orphanage, right?”
“...Well, yes.”
“Then, I also assume y’need the money to do renovations on the orphanage or somethin’ like that, right?”
“Yes, that is also true...”
“And goin’ off that, are we talkin’ about the director givin’ the word and y’coughin’ up the money?”
“Yes, well, that is true, but... I am not being tricked, okay?” Ristia tried to plead her case, but the stares on the two girls’ faces had already went from doubtful to sympathetic.
“What are we going to do, Nanami? Li’l Ristia here is completely clueless.”
“I never thought that Lady Ristia was so much of a natural airhead.”
“Nanami, you too? You’re all terrible~! I’m not a ‘natural airhead’ or whatever,” Ristia said, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. That adorable sight stirred up their desires to protect her.
“Ristia, I do think yer a little clueless here. The director’s pulled the wool over yer eyes for sure.”
“They did not~! Why would I pull the wool over my own eyes?”
“Ristia, I get that ya wanna think that way, but... Hm? Wait, you pullin’ wool over yer own eyes? What’dya mean by that?” Eindebelle blinked in confusion at Ristia.
“That’s obviously because I’m the director of the orphanage.”
“......Pardon?”
“Like I just said, last night, I inherited the position of director from Director Georg.”
“Ooh, y’don’t say... Wait, whaaaaaat?! What the ‘ell?! What d’ya even mean?!”
“Like I said, I’m the director, so there’s no way that I can get tricked by myself.”
“No, not that; that’s the only part I get! What in the heck happened where ya got th’ position of director in a single night?!”
Right next to Eindebelle, struggling to understand what Ristia was saying, Nanami looked at Ristia, saying,
“You did get into trouble, then.” Ristia had no intention of getting into trouble, but she disclosed that the orphanage’s director had been perpetrating crimes, so she erased him, soul and all. That ultimately led to her telling people that he had left town.
“...Holy smokes, you really got into the thick of things.”
“I knew you got into trouble.” After hearing her explanation, their impressions did not change. In fact, it pretty much convinced them instead—something that did not please Ristia in the slightest.
──4──
“Lord Gratt, we have arrived at Ms. Eindebelle’s shop.”
“Yes, thank you. We’ll be ironing out negotiations, so you wait right here, Misty.” He was the president of Gratt Commerce, a company that was starting to distinguish itself in the imperial capital. Gratt ordered his secretary to wait in the carriage as he made his descent down. He then patted himself down and fixed up his appearance before entering Eindebelle’s shop. Eindebelle’s enchanted merchandise had a great reputation in the capital, so they were goods that the Gratt Company simply had to broker deals for. That was why he naturally had to give due consideration. At least, that was the story Gratt was sticking to. Although according to his secretary Misty, that was nothing more than a pretense, because it was a well-known fact that Gratt had a thing for Eindebelle. Whatever the case was, Gratt psyched himself up and made his way into Eindebelle’s shop.
Once he stepped inside, he realized there was another unknown young girl in addition to Eindebelle and Nanami. Perhaps she was a customer who had gotten here before him, but Eindebelle was talking to her about something. Gratt decided to wait at the entrance of the shop so that he wouldn’t disturb Eindebelle while she carried out her business. He couldn’t keep from twiddling his thumbs, however.
Gratt looked at the three engaging in their conversation in an unaffected manner. First, he set his sights on Eindebelle. Her red hair flowed loose, and her blue eyes were those of an intellectual. A woman filled with maternal love, her expression was alight even moreso than usual. Gratt found himself taking a sigh at her sheer beauty. Next, his eyes went to Eindebelle’s adopted daughter, Nanami, who was getting cuter and cuter with each passing day. Like mother, like daughter—even though the two of them weren’t related by blood. She would probably be quite a beautiful woman in a few years’ time. That left the other person, the young girl that he assumed was a customer. Out of the three, she stood out the most. The good-looking young lady could only be described as being beautiful in the purest sense. This girl, possessing undeniable beauty from head to toe, had her jet-black hair bundled casually. Seeing her so dressed down put her beauty and cuteness in perfect harmony. Maybe she was an aristocrat, or royalty in disguise. The one thing that was abundantly clear, at the least, was that this girl was no commoner.
...Well, I still believe Ms. Eindebelle to be more beautiful, regardless. Gratt thought to himself as he decided to come back when she wasn’t busy. He figured that just waiting off in the wings while dealing with a high-class customer could interfere with business. However, the young girl turned toward him as if she sensed his presence in the room.
“Oh, Belle, it looks like you have a customer.”
“Who th’ heck is it? We were just gettin’ to the nitty gritty—Oh, it’s Mr. Gratt!” Eindebelle exclaimed once she saw Gratt, her cheeks blushing slightly. She hadn’t at all noticed that Gratt appeared discouraged upon hearing what she said, thinking that he really did come in at the wrong time.
“My apologies. I seem to have come in while you’re in the middle of something. I will come back again later.” Just as he was about to turn back toward the door, Eindebelle frantically rushed toward him.
“Hold it, hold it! I was just a lil’ engrossed in enchantment chat; that’s all. You’re not gettin’ in the way of anythin’, Mr. Gratt.”
“You aren’t just saying that out of consideration?”
“‘Course not. I appreciate you always takin’ the time to come out.”
“Oh, no. Ms. Eindebelle, coming to your shop is worth the trip.”
“Teehee, flattery’ll get you everywhere,” she commented, blushing and clearly fairly pleased. He knew that Eindebelle turned into a different person when it came to enchantments, and it seemed as though that explained what happened a moment ago. Realizing that it wasn’t because she disliked him, Gratt breathed a sigh of relief. He then instantly switched gears, putting his business-focused merchant face on.
“Ms. Eindebelle, you told me that you had something interesting in today’s stock?”
“Yeah, I did, but lemme introduce her first off. This lil’ lady is Nanami’s savior, Ristia. And the somethin’ interesting I got was from her.”
“Oh-ho...” Now it’s making sense. So it was no coincidence that this young, stand-out lady is here. Gratt thought to himself, pointing his attention toward Ristia once again. Her clear red eyes met Gratt’s line of vision head on. Looking at her up close was starting to make her look less and less like an ordinary individual. If I let down my guard, I’m bound to get overwhelmed, Gratt thought to himself, attempting to get back into the swing of things. “Pleased to meet you, Lady Ristia. My name is Gratt. I establish places of business in the imperial capital.”
“Very nice to meet you, Mr. Gratt. I’m just a normal girl.” Ristia stood up from her seat and elegantly curtsied in front of him. Gratt found himself holding back a chortle as a result. A normal girl would never go out of their way to address themselves as normal, yet here she was, making such a dainty show of respect in the most refined manner and explicitly proclaiming herself as such. That was practically the same as her shouting that she was not normal.
...No, wait. There is no way that this girl wouldn’t know that herself. If this girl is introducing herself as normal knowing that full-well... I see. She’s trying to gauge my reaction. She was probably going to pass Gratt off as an unreliable business man if this slight inconsistency was enough to make him disparage her. With this possibility in mind, Gratt acknowledged Ristia as a business partner not to be taken likely. Hence, there was only one reasonable way for Gratt to handle this. Remember. You just have to interact with her in good faith as a business partner, regardless of what her social standing is, he concluded, warning himself of his own conduct.
“Well then, Lady Ristia, I was told that you have some goods you’d like to show me today?”
“Yes, that would be correct. I asked Belle to introduce me so that I might interest you in buying the items I created today.”
“Very well. I’d like to start off by viewing the merchandise, so... Ms. Belle, would you mind if I took a seat?”
“‘Course, help yerself.”
“Much obliged,” he thanked her, taking a seat next to Eindebelle and across from Ristia. Gratt was slightly embarrassed to be sitting right next to Eindebelle, but he locked off that happy-go-lucky thought since he knew that he was conducting business.
“The item I was hoping that you would buy off of me is a brooch that I made,” Ristia said, pulling the brooch out of seemingly thin air. Witnessing this, for a split second, Gratt thought, That couldn’t have possibly been an Item Box, could it? That would explain a lot, but there wasn’t a human being alive capable of using an Item Box. It was probably some form of sleight of hand. Most likely, it was some strategy to distract Gratt away from the brooch. What was essential right now was appraising the brooch she presented him. Gratt understood that and quickly turned his attention toward it, and it wasn’t long before his breath was taken away by its beauty.
“...Would you mind if I were to examine it by hand?”
“No, be my guest.”
“Much obliged.” Putting his rashness in check, he used a piece of cloth he had on him to take the brooch. It was an open heart brooch with differing sizes on both sides. However, the difference in sizes seemed to be done in a perfectly calculated way. It was asymmetrical, yet it maintained a certain balance. Most importantly, its contours were superb—beautiful, with not a single irregularity. Gratt had never seen contours as aesthetically pleasing as this. And the stone set in its center... was a magic stone, without a doubt. The rainbow-lustered magic stone held exquisite potential even as far as jewels went. Furthermore, the silver-colored material that made up the brooch intrigued him. At first, he thought it was silver, but once he held it in his hand, he noticed it had some considerable weight.
I can’t estimate an accurate weight since it has a magic stone in it, but my guess is that it’s about double the weight of silver. He racked his brain, coming to the conclusion that this was made out of platinum. To be frank, the brooch was simply sublime. But that was the reason why it was hard to believe that a girl this young could ever make it. With that thought in mind, Gratt decided to trick her to get to the bottom of this.
“This is quite a beautiful design. You seem to be superbly skilled.”
“Ehehe, thank you very much,” Ristia said, her lips curling into a soft smile. He didn’t sense an ounce of nervousness from her; in fact, he felt an air of confidence.
“Still, this is truly beautiful. Is this metal silver?”
“No, that would be platinum.”
“Platinum, you say?”
“Yes, it doesn’t oxidize as easily as silver. Also, I’ve mixed in other metals to harden it.”
“...Oh-ho, is that so?” Gratt said, essentially back-channelling while in a state of complete shock on the inside. Even Gratt knew the difference and features between platinum and silver, but he wasn’t privy to the act of mixing in other metals to harden it. If that were true, that would be a trade secret among trade secrets even for metal carvers. Considering that Ristia knew about it, there was a chance that she was a top-class metal carver herself. But if she were a top-class metal carver, then there was no way she would so easily divulge trade secrets. He was clueless as to who it was he was dealing with here.
“Mr. Gratt. Lil’ Ristia ‘ere made that right in front of my very eyes.”
“Oh-ho. Did she now?” Gratt had shared quite a long relationship with Eindebelle, so he didn’t think that she was lying. Which only meant that it was true that Ristia had made this brooch herself. That piece of information came to Gratt’s rescue since he was so clueless to all of this. While there was a lot he didn’t understand, it didn’t seem as though the brooch was stolen property, at the very least. He decided that as long as he knew that, he could safely put all other factors aside for the time being. It was a decision that seemed to come a little too late, however. Ristia had noticed that she was being suspected, as her face adorned an awkward smile. “My apologies. I am running a business here, you see. I need to be extremely careful about how I handle my products.”
“Yes, I understand, which is why I’m not worried about it.”
Despite Gratt and his worries, Ristia gave a tender smile in response. With her display of tolerance, the young girl ended up one step ahead of Gratt. Gratt rebuked himself. I can’t afford to mess this up any further.
“So then, Sir... are you interested in buying it?”
“Ah, right. I’ll have a definitive quote for you after I confirm this item’s materials, but how does thirty gold pieces... no, fifty gold pieces sound?” Fifty gold pieces was enough to build a fine house. It was a relatively high asking price, but the tagline of “hardened platinum” was bound to attract the interests of the aristocrats and nobles, so he set it high based on that idea. He thought that it was a transaction that was more than satisfactory. However...
“Now hold it right there!” Eindebelle unexpectedly shouted to halt the proceedings.
“Ms. Eindebelle... are you not satisfied with this price?”
“You’re darn right I ain’t satisfied. No chance I’m sellin’ this for that price.” Gratt had always conducted honest business with Eindebelle, and he thought that she saw his appraisal skills as reputable, as well. So her outburst was shocking to him, seeing as how he never expected her to so vehemently find fault in one of his offers.
“...You have my dignity as a merchant that I only sought to offer you a reasonable price.”
“That price is only reasonable goin’ off its aesthetic merits, ain’t it?” It took a second to process what she meant by that, sending Gratt’s eyes quickly back to the brooch. Shining in the center of the piece of jewelry was a beautiful magic stone. Gratt was then struck with a sudden realization. He had thought that the magic stone was set up so that the buyer could install whatever enchantment they’d like, but...
“Do you mean this magic stone is already enchanted...?”
“That’s the gist of it. And I’m sayin’ I’ve assessed this brooch as an enchanted item.”
“So I see. This was a joint project between the both of you, then? Your enchanted items have always been popular, Ms. Eindebelle, so the price would indeed have to increase.” Using high-quality magic stones yielded stronger effects, but they were also that much harder to produce. Therefore, it would take a considerable amount of technique and effort to enchant a magic stone of this caliber. Gratt reflected on his ignorance, seeing that Eindebelle was reasonably upset that he had only viewed the item as a piece of jewelry. That was when Ristia spoke up.
“I’m the one who enchanted this brooch~” she declared in a very matter-of-fact manner, which threw Gratt for a loop. As explained earlier, a considerable amount of technique was needed to enchant a magic stone of high value. He was surprised that a girl so young was capable of enchanting anything, but... unfortunately, any person capable of purchasing a piece of jewelry this fine could also request a well-known enchanter to enchant it the way they wanted. Basically, an amateurish enchantment applied to the brooch would actually diminish the value. An enchanter enchanting something was natural, and it was understandable that one would like to provide their own enchantments, but it was a bad move from a merchandise perspective.
Nanami, probably understanding that, made a reproachful look, simply saying, “Lady Ristia...”
That’s right. Please, tell her for me. Me telling her might make things even worse, but since Nanami seems to be on good terms with her, if she were to tell her, things would work out peacefully. Gratt hoped, watching patiently over the pair’s interaction.
“...Huh? Are you saying I shouldn’t tell him?”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t, it’s just...”
“Naw, he’s gonna figure it out once he looks into its effects anyway. Mr. Gratt is a reliable connection, so it’s better to tell it to ’im straight and get him on our side,” Eindebelle said, positively reinforcing what Ristia said. Gratt hadn’t at all been anticipating this interaction between the three of them. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed that there was not a single person present that was willing to explain that an amateurish enchantment would lower the value of an item. Gratt breathed a sigh and decided to break the news himself.
“So Ms. Ristia, you were the one that enchanted this?”
“Mm-hmm, I sure did~”
“I see. Well... I should start by telling you that many of the customers who would buy such a high-priced accessory make requests for enchantments that they themselves want.”
“Oh... I didn’t know that.”
“Hence, well... I would like you to be informed that the price of this brooch could very well drop depending on the effects of your enchantment.” The gist of Gratt’s roundabout phrasing was that a poor enchantment would negatively affect the value. It ran close to saying, “Your enchantment isn’t going to cut it,” which had the potential to rub Ristia the wrong way, but his appraisal value would make his sentiment clear to her either way. That was why he wanted to make sure to hammer that point home while he still had the opportunity...
“Oh, now I get it. So I should have taken the person’s request and then enchanted it, right? If that’s the case, then should I rewrite the enchantment so it does whatever the person wants?” But the point did not seem to reach Ristia. In fact, it raised an even bigger concern. Rewriting something that was already enchanted shouldn’t have been possible.
Normally, being capable enough to enchant a magic stone of this quality would take a considerable amount of knowledge and skill... so why is it that she doesn’t know something so simple? Gratt asked himself, confused. It was almost as if they had come to a mutual understanding, yet they were worlds apart at the same time.
Perhaps witnessing the two miscommunicate was hard to watch, because the nearby Eindebelle provided some recourse. “Hey, Ristia? Why don’cha explain to Mr. Gratt what kinda enchantment you put on this here thing.”
“Oh, good idea. The enchantment nullifies bodily ailments.”
“Oh-ho! That would put it in demand, if that is so.” I may not know the extent of the effect, but we’re heading in the right direction here, Gratt thought, slightly relieved. Regardless of whether they were aristocrat or merchant, any person with money needed to be careful of poison, so any enchantment that would mitigate bodily ailments of any kind would receive positive reviews. “Right, so what kind of ailments does this enchantment help mitigate?”
“The conditions are less ‘what kind,’ and more ‘every kind.’ It targets every ailment.“”
“...Huh? ‘Every’? Are you saying it helps mitigate every bodily ailment?”
“No, it doesn’t mitigate. It nullifies.” Gratt blinked in disbelief. Soon after, he laughed.
“Goodness, you’re quite the comedian, Young Lady.” If an enchanted item produced the same effect every time, then it would have more effective abilities the further its scope was narrowed down. Based on that premise, it targeting “every bodily ailment” was so broad that it was infeasible. And even if one was to restrict the scope of what it helped, it couldn’t have enough power to nullify bodily ailments. For example, even if you were to limit it to specific poisons, the best it could do was mitigate the effects of the poison. Setting weak poisons aside, nullifying the effects of poisons in general was simply impossible. Basically, it would be a high-end item if it were able to pacify even just half of an ingested poison, and if it had an ability to completely nullify even a single type of poison, then it was practically an Artifact. Nullifying any and all bodily ailments was the sort of thing one would only find in fairy tales.
Eindebelle remarked with an awkward smile, “Yeah, can’t blame ya fer thinkin’ that...”
Nanami, on the other hand, had an obvious tension in her brow. “Lady Ristia, you’ve fouled up, haven’t you?”
Gratt then realized that something here was off. If what Ristia claimed was the truth, then that would mean all of their stories fit into place, leading to quite the unbelievable predicament. Gratt looked at the brooch in his hands for a second time, then shot his eyes back to Ristia.
“Huh? Does it really have the power to nullify all bodily ailments?”
“Indeed it does.”
“...D-Do you mind if I appraise it?”
“Go right ahead~” Ristia said in an easygoing tone. Upon hearing that, Gratta used his treasured Artifact, a magic crystal tool that appraised enchanted wares. And the moment he did—the magic crystal tool shattered into pieces.
“...Goodness!”
“Oh, no. A tool that low-grade simply won’t cut it. Wait just a second.” Gratt was taken aback at what had just happened, but it wasn’t soon after that Ristia pulled out a countless number of crystal-like shards seemingly from thin air. Then, an unbelievably complex magic circle deployed around Ristia, and the shards transformed into one solid, transparent orb.
“Ehehe, voila. An appraisal crystal that will appraise any and all enchanted items~” Ristia said with an innocent smile. However, the words that came from those beautiful glossy lips never entered Gratt’s ears—because the phenomenon that had just unfolded before his eyes transcended his comprehension.
“Wh-Wh-What... What did you just do?”
“‘What’? Just what it looked like. I made an appraisal crystal.”
“You made one? Just like that?” A simple enchantment took several hours, and some even took several months. Also, an appraisal crystal was an Artifact, an item that could never be created in the modern day. So, unable to believe what he was told, Gratt tried appraising the enchanted item in his hands with the crystal he was just handed. Displayed on the crystal was an effect he was familiar with... along with a detailed supplementary explanation. The explanation far exceeded the appraisal crystal that had just broken moments ago, which caused his jaw to hit the floor.
“I can’t believe it... Is this a genuine article?” No, impossible. This cannot be... Gratt thought as he checked other enchanted items to test, but it provided the correct ability and a detailed explanation for each one. This was his first time meeting Ristia, and not even Eindebelle knew of every enchanted item that Gratt walked around with, which meant there was no way this could have been set up in advance. He couldn’t suspect them now that he was faced with all these facts. The appraisal crystal was the real deal. So that means... Gratt thought as he timidly appraised the brooch, and it gave him a detailed explanation. In addition to the ability to nullify any and all bodily ailments, it was also enchanted with self-restorative abilities. Even if the owner had a fast-acting deadly poison enter their system, it would immediately nullify it, and even if the brooch was smashed into a million pieces, it would restore itself as good as new. This was a brooch crafted by a normal girl.
“...Haha, hahaha,” Gratt let out a dry chuckle, perplexed as to where he should even begin pointing out the lunacy.
──5──
In the corner of Eindebelle’s shop, Mr. Gratt the merchant sat in astonishment as he looked at the brooch that Ristia had brought to him. It seemed that the enchantment Ristia had placed on it had him in a state of shock. That being said, Ristia had started to realize that her own enchantment abilities did stick out a bit—a teensy bit—after that lecture she gave both Eindebelle and Nanami earlier before Gratt showed up. Even so, the reason she was trying to sell the brooch in the first place was because she needed money for the orphanage. That was why Ristia waited for Gratt to regain his composure and carried on with the proceedings, asking, “So how much would you be willing to buy that brooch for, Sir?”
“R-Right... If I am to be honest, I’m completely unqualified to buy this from you.”
“...Huh?” Ristia was confused at his unexpected answer.
“Please, do not get the wrong impression. I am not saying that this brooch holds no value. On the contrary, I am saying that it holds too much value for me to make you a reasonable offer.”
“There’s no need to worry about that.” Ristia didn’t want the money for herself; she just wanted the money because she needed it for renovations to the orphanage.
I think she would settle for an amount that would net her a small fortune, but... Gratt trailed off, shaking his head.
“No, my dignity will not allow me to purchase this at the meager price that I can provide.”
“Oh, I see...” Even Ristia was pleased that he held the brooch she made in such high regard. While it did put her in a difficult situation, she couldn’t find it in her to ask him to buy it regardless. Gratt was not finished with his statement, however.
“...That being said, I can represent you in selling this brooch, Lady Ristia.”
“Um... what does that entail, exactly?”
“Once a month in the imperial capital, they hold an auction. What do you say to me selling the brooch on your behalf and taking a small commission from the sale?”
“An auction once a month...” Ristia had no idea where the imperial capital was, but she worried over whether it would take a considerable amount of time until she could receive any money, which showed on her face.
“Pardon me asking, but do you need the money immediately?”
“I want to rebuild the orphanage.”
“I must say... That is quite noble.”
“No, I just want to help the children. Nothing necessarily noble about it,” Ristia gently denied. Gratt, on the other hand, was touched, taking it as a show of modesty and virtue. “You are like an angel, Milady.”
I’m a normal girl who just wants a little sister, after all. And I don’t need Nanami jumping into the conversation saying stuff like, “She is not like an angel, she is an angel,” either, Ristia thought to herself, but since she decided to not to say that she wanted a sister aloud, she kept it to a whispered comment, “But I am a normal girl...” It was a comment that he laughed off for whatever reason.
“So, the only orphanage in this town I recall is the one that sits on that hill, correct? That would be the same one with all the unsavory rumors about it, if I remember correctly.”
“Oh, well, um...”
She wasn’t sure how much of the situation she should expand upon, but Eindebelle advised her from the sidelines.
“Mr. Gratt is a reliable guy, so ya can tell ‘im the whole story, Dear.”
Given the okay, she disclosed that the director running the orphanage was operating illicit activities out of the facility, and she explained how she had exposed him and taken over the position of orphanage director herself.
“You took over the orphanage...?”
“Yes, indeedy. He signed off on a letter of authorization and everything. ...Oh, right. Would you mind taking a look at the letter to make sure everything is in order?” Ristia asked, pulling the letter of authorization out from her Item Box.
“My pleasure,” Gratt said as he took the letter and scanned his eyes over what the agreement detailed. After he finished checking the letter from top to bottom, he looked back at Ristia. “...This letter of authorization has an intentional drawback built into it.”
“Huh? Does that mean that... it doesn’t make me the owner of the orphanage?” If they kick me out of the orphanage... What should I do? Do I take the kids with me and move to someplace that’s available...? Or do I create an orphan town outside of this one? Ristia pondered, thinking well outside the box. Plus, if Ristia did build another town outside the town they were already in, the town’s greatness would cause people to start migrating there, which would lead this town to ruin in the not-so-distant future. However, that wouldn’t end up happening—for better or worse.
“You can relax, Lady Ristia. This still gives you ownership of the orphanage.” Her fears weren’t going to come true, thanks to Gratt’s welcome news.
“Oh, but, umm... You said there was a drawback, right?”
“This letter of authorization includes a clause that states that if the bestower petitions within the span of six months, the transfer will be null-and-void.”
“Aah... so that’s what you meant.” It meant that Director Georg never had any intention of handing over the orphanage. If he had made his escape back then, he would have objected after Ristia used the letter of authorization to reclaim ownership.
“So essentially, everything is fine so long as you make certain that the predecessor cannot file for the transfer to be null-and-void, but...” Gratt said with a implicative look shot Ristia’s way. She hadn’t explained what happened to Former Director Georg, but... maybe Gratt had already realized that he was no longer in this world.
This man sure is one capable merchant... Ristia thought as she answered him. “If that is the case, I don’t see any problems arising.”
“Ah, I see. Well, I can get this squared away, if that is all right by you.”
“...Are you sure?” Ristia was not very privy to human law. She appreciated the prospect of Gratt doing things in her place, but she was also not sure whether she should have him put himself out like that.
“Also, my shop has a branch in this town as well, so my business will help front any expenses that you may need for the orphanage.”
“While I do appreciate that, Sir... are you really sure about all this?”
“Certainly. Even the lowest bidding price I have in mind for your item is enough to help build a few dozen orphanages, so just think of it as a down payment.”
“Oh, thank you so much!” Despite the rocky start, they hammered out the details and finalized their agreement. After which, Ristia shared a short chat with Nanami and Eindebelle before going back to the orphanage.
“Hello, everyone! I’m back~”
“Oh, Director! Welcome back~” When she announced her return in the entryway, the children came rushing in from the back and glomped Ristia, which caught her off-balance and made her totter. It wasn’t because she was physically knocked off-kilter, but because she was being surrounded by a group of adorable younger children.
“Whoa, whoa! Director, you okay?” Mew, the tomboy, asked with a concerned look in her eyes.
Ristia crouched down and assured her, “I’m fine, my dear. Thank you for being so concerned,” gently petting her dog-eared head.
“Woof...” she said with a delighted-looking smile. That sparked a chorus of pleas from the other children.
“Me next!”
“No, me!”
Ristia was in so much bliss that she could die.
“Alright, you guys. Break it up! You’re going to give Director Ristia a hard time if you don’t cut it out.”
“Okay!”
Maria rushed from the back of the crowd right into the scene of the crime and let out a thunderous roar. The children obediently broke away from Ristia, albeit in a slightly reluctant manner. In response, Ristia did not flop her shoulders like she normally would, but instead smiled sweetly.
Maria sure is cute. Has me jealous. Ehehe. It’s okay. I’ll give Maria’s pretty little head the headpats she deserves. Ristia thought as she gave Maria’s head a gentle stroke. As a result, Maria’s brown skin turned a subtle shade of red.
“D-Director Ristia?!”
“Heehee, the way you turn red is adorable.”
“D-Don’t make fun of me, please!”
Ristia was, of course, not making fun of the girl at all. She was simply doting over an adorable younger girl with extreme sincerity. Then again... it was pretty much like being made fun of from the young girl’s perspective, so to each their own.
“Uh-oh~ Big Sis Maria’s blushing~”
“She is! She’s blushing~”
“Blushing~ Blushing~ Whole face is flushing~”
Seeing Maria, the same Maria who acted as their older sister this entire time because she was the oldest, blush gave the children material to start teasing her. That was when Maria had had enough.
“Alright, all of you! Quit it with all your nonsense and get back to your chores in the room!”
“Oh, man! Big Sis Maria is mad!”
“She’s mad~!”
“Mad~ Mad~ Sure not glad~” the children chorused, making merry, as they scampered into the back of the room. Among them, Ristia could see the standoffish boy, Allen, with a slightly complicated expression on his face. It was just her guess, but he was probably trying to assess Ristia’s personality just as he’d declared he would. His actions had a very adult-minded manner despite his age. She had felt him stare at her a lot ever since then, too. Once he looked Ristia in the eyes with that extremely, incredibly serious expression, it made him turn his head and blush.
“Teehee, kids are so cute...”
“...While I agree with you, I would like it if you didn’t project that onto me, too.”
“What are you talking about? You’re one of those cute children, aren’t you, Maria?”
“~~~!! Okay, seriously, the poking fun at me needs to... Oh, whatever,” Maria started, but probably noticed that Ristia’s smile wasn’t mean-spirited in any way. Maria turned her head in an attempt to cover up her embarrassment.
“By the way, Maria, was lunch alright?”
“Right! About that! What the heck was up with those ingredients?!” she said, storming at her at lightning speed.
I left the ingredients out in a rush before I left, so maybe I made a mistake along the way? Ristia thought, anxious. If I remember correctly... I left fifty kilograms or so of the highest quality meat, as well as ten kilograms or so of fresh vegetables like carrots and cabbage. I also left them an assortment of spices with it, so I don’t think there should have been anything wrong, right?
“Oh... do you not eat meat due to religious reasons?”
“That’s not the issue here!”
“...Then, do you hate carrots?”
“I’m telling you, that’s not the issue! Plus, we don’t have the leeway to be picky like that.”
“...Then, I assume it’s the amount?”
“You don’t have to assume anything. That is the reason.”
“Sorry, it was too little, wasn’t it...?”
“It’s too much!”
Boy, kids sure do eat a lot, was Ristia’s initial thought based off of her impressions, but Maria completely shut that down. “Oh, okay. A little too much, huh?”
“Considering that we only ate a little of it, I would say it was ‘way too much,’ not just ‘a little.’”
“Oh, really?”
Her idea was to get everyone to eat since they all looked so thin. She was the type of girl that, if she kept a pet or something of the sort, she would feed it until it was nice and plump.
“So, yeah, we’re starting to take the leftover meat and dry it out for storage.”
“Aah... so that’s what you meant by ‘chores.’”
“Yes. I thought about confirming it with you, Director Ristia, but it was too much as a whole, and it likely would have spoiled if we didn’t act fast,” Maria said, looking slightly anxious. Ristia didn’t mind since her intent was to have them eat it all anyway, but Maria probably thought that she went out of line in her actions.
Taking this into consideration, Ristia looked at Maria with a smile and said, “Thank you.”
“...Director Ristia?”
“I didn’t give you clear enough directions. Thank you for coming up with a backup plan.”
“Huh? Oh... um, I just did what was natural!” Maria replied, looking away in a bashful manner. Incidentally, while Ristia would have no way of knowing, Former Director Georg was the type to scold Maria for acting out of line if she did things independently and get angry and tell her to act on her own if she didn’t. Hence, Ristia not only applauding Maria’s decision, but being thankful as well was enough to fill her with indescribable emotion. That was the main reason why she turned her head away in such a bashful manner. “So, yes... Should we be drying out all the meat?”
“Right, about that... Truth is, there’s actually a way to store it raw.”
“Huh? There is? Have we just been wasting our time, then?”
“Not at all. There’s plenty to go around. You guys dry all the meat out, or I can store it for you—either way works.” Those ingredients were also collected by Ristia before she ran away from home, making them all a millennium old by this point. But since she had stored them in her time-freezing Item Box, there was no problem when it came to their freshness. If there was a problem, it was that the meat was from animals that were long since extinct in this era, but that was relatively tame by comparison.
“I’m not quite sure where I should point out what’s wrong with that statement.”
“Every word is true.”
“...If it is true, then can we dry out all the meat?”
“Of course. I don’t mind, but can I ask your reason why?“
Maria seemed a little anxious as she asked that question, but she didn’t give off the impression that she was doubting what Ristia said to her. Be that as it may, there shouldn’t have been any need to hurry and dry out all the meat if she did believe Ristia’s words. Ristia was curious as to the reasoning Maria had in wanting to preserve everything regardless.
“Um, you may be aware of this, but the reason why I volunteered my services was because we didn’t have the money to put food on the table for everyone. Of course, they don’t know that, but they do know that life has been tough.”
“...You are so kind, Maria.”
With a surplus of dried meat, then everyone could rest easy knowing that they didn’t have to starve. Upon figuring that out, Ristia smiled and said, “In that case, you can go ahead and dry it all out, then.” It was worth noting that, as described earlier, what they were turning into dried meat was high-quality cuts of already extinct animals. If there were any aristocrats around, they would find turning this high-quality meat into jerky unfathomable. They would probably be screaming, “I’ll pay you whatever you’d like, but for the love of all that’s sacred, sell it to me raw!” However, for better or worse, there were only the orphaned children and a True Blood princess here.
With that settled, Ristia went to join the children in their work. They managed to boil each piece of meat pickled in salt water one by one and leave them to dry in the sun.
—The next day rolled in, and after breakfast, Ristia asked that everyone remain in their seats. The children looked worried as their young eyes fell upon her. “The reason I had you all stay is because I want to ask your honest opinions.” Ristia’s ice-breaker was met with a line of confused stares from the children, followed by a chorus of chatter questioning what they were giving their opinion on. Ristia, however, expected this would happen, so she turned to Maria. For the past two days, Ristia had been casually explaining what she was going to talk about to Maria alone since she realized that everyone trusted her like their older sister.
“Alright, now. All of you, pipe down. Director Ristia wants to ask all of you about renovations to the orphanage. She wants to ask your opinions on how we should shape things up around here.” Maria said, looking at Ristia and thinking, That’s about the gist, right? Ristia promptly nodded in affirmation.
“As Maria just explained, I plan on renovating the orphanage. So I would appreciate it if you could all chip in and tell me how you’d like to spruce things up~” Ristia said with a soft smile, upon which the children’s face lit up like supernovas. And what followed was...
“I want a yard so I can play with everyone!”
“Oh, wow! Then gimme a room to myself~!”
“No fair. I want a room to myself too!”
“I want a small hot spring!”
“Ah, I’d like to take a hot bath~”
One after another, the children started firing off their requests.
Ristia listened to each one with a smile.
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, good idea.”
However, Maria was starting to get flustered from the sidelines.
“Wait, wait, everyone, hold your horses. Don’t get the wrong idea here. By ‘renovations,’ she doesn’t mean renovating the building, she means renovating the finances of the orphanage.”
The moment Maria corrected the statement, she was met with a collective disappointed, “Aww...”
“...Guys. I don’t know how to break this, but, well, this orphanage is in bad financial shape. I’ve kept it a secret this whole time, but to be honest, it’s a wonder that this orphanage wasn’t shut down a long time ago.”
“...Huh? The orphanage is gonna shut down?” Little Mew asked with a teary-eyed expression.
“No, we’ll be fine. Director Ristia will be taking care of everything, so this orphanage isn’t going to get shut down by a long shot. But you still shouldn’t be making all these demands.” Maria’s warning helped them understand their current state of affairs.
“Oh, right...” some of the children said with solemn expressions. They then started to apologize. “Sorry for being selfish.”
It looked as if things were getting explained extremely well, but after hearing what Maria said, the question marks went flying over Ristia’s head as she asked, “Maria, what are you talking about?”
“‘What’...? The point of this was to get everyone to pitch in and economize because renovating finances here on your dime alone would be impossible... Uh, right...?” Maria asked, looking more and more uneasy with each word because she had predicted the worst case scenario, but... Ristia replied in a casual and indifferent tone.
“Nope, not at all. I’ve already got the money to renovate the orphanage, so the point of this was to ask everyone how they wanted the building to look.”
“...Uh, what? Wait, huh? No, I mean, um... You have the money to renovate the facility itself? You’re not talking about our immediate living expenses?”
“Yup, yup. It’s all good to go.”
“Wha...? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...?!” Maria screamed in disbelief while the children all cried in celebration nearby.
──6──
“Director Ristia, how many fingers am I holding up?” Maria came up to Ristia holding up three fingers, which made her pout her cheeks.
“Just so you know, I’m not going insane, okay?”
“Yeah, but you said that you already got the money needed to renovate the orphanage... Does that mean you’re some kind of aristocrat, Director Ristia?”
“I’m just a normal girl, though...”
“...Normal girls don’t take over an orphange and gain enough money to rebuild said orphange literally overnight.”
“I’m a normal girl who just has ways to get ahold of an orphanage and a lot of money?”
“That’s not being a normal girl, either.” Maria let out a huge sigh in response.
Shoot! All signs point to me being normal because I am normal, but I’m having such a hard time being considered a normal girl in everyone else’s eyes... Ristia thought to herself.
“Just to make sure one more time, did you really get the funds?”
“Yup. I don’t have it on me right now, but the costs needed for the renovations are going to be covered by a company. The carpenters should be here any moment, so you can ask them when they arrive.”
“...Right, I’ll go ahead and ask.”
And that takes care of convincing Maria, Ristia figured. She prepped a blank blueprint atop the table and started to draw plans with everyone’s ideas incorporated into it.
“And there, and there, you’ll each get your own room, so I’ll make it accommodate extra space if we adopt new orphans... which leaves the playroom and the mini hotspring. And a playground in the yard, right? That, and I’ll make my quarters a two person room...” Ristia thought to herself, planning for the event in which she would get her younger sister. All the while, she handled a ballpoint pen in her slim and supple fingers to sketch up a set of blueprints so pristine it was like she used a ruler the entire time.
“Wow, Director, that’s so cool!”
“Ehehe, thank you~” In high spirits from the children’s praise, Ristia added some separation and drew in a large bathroom, following up by making the entire orphanage a two-floor building and putting in additional rooms.
“And... here’ll be fields for crops. But maybe I should open up a shop, too...” Ristia drew up her plans without an ounce of hesitation, setting up three buildings in a right-facing half rectangular pattern. She then took out another piece of paper and drew in water-supply lines and air-conditioning ducts, finishing it all off with a water-sewage pipeline and heating-cooling systems using magic tools. Finally, deciding on the materials for the building and penning in the load factor—the house’s upper limit in terms of weight—Ristia had completed a perfect blueprint in practically no time at all.
“This is just the testbed, so it’s subject to change based on whatever you guys want~” A perfect blueprint that was just a testbed. The children excitedly scanned the blueprints, but they ended up making some rather doubtful faces. Ristia looked at this in confusion, clueless as to what the issue was, but the children stared on, bewildered, without providing an answer. Ristia looked to her trusty Maria for help in this situation.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Um, well... How do I put this? Can you really build a place this incredible?”
“I’m not going to build it; the carpenters are.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, is it financially possible? Also, what is this ‘magic-tool plumbing system’ stuff?”
“A system that draws water from underground with magic tools?”
“No, I mean, the system in general is... Ugh, you know what? Forget it. I’ll ask the carpenters later.” Getting the feeling that she was being treated like the awkward child of the family, Ristia flopped her shoulders in disappointment, deciding to try her very hardest so that Maria and the other children would be singing even more praises of her awesomeness. Unfortunately, she hadn’t noticed that she was going overboard and turning them off from her instead.
Her blueprints now completed, Ristia led the children outside the orphanage, this time without Maria, who had been acting as her bulwark this entire time by her side. Maria had since stepped out to Gratt Commerce in town to confirm whether it was fronting the costs of the operation. Ristia’s conduct was illogical in every sense of the word, and while it was commendable that Maria was being so straight-laced and confirming the facts... it left Ristia in a bit of a slump. Poo, she doesn’t trust me... However, she couldn’t allow herself to stay in this slump for long. There were twelve children around her, and if she impressed them enough, they would probably tell her, “Big Sis, you’re amazing!” Maria was also going to come back from her check sometime soon. If Ristia were able to change up a bunch of things before Maria got back home, then she might praise her, “You did all this while I was away? Big Sis, you’re amazing!” Motivated by that idea, Ristia decided to get started with her work.
“First... I guess I can start by moving the old building out of the way.” She used a search-type spell to confirm the foundation of the old orphanage building, and the results showed her that it was sitting underground, barely touched at all. Oh, this should be easy, then, Ristia thought, activating her spell without an incantation. She then removed the soil from a corner of the orphanage grounds the same size as the width of the building and about thirty centimeters deep, stuffing it inside her Item Box.
“Whoa! The ground just caved in?!”
“Wait, what? What’s going on?!”
The children started to panic in unison. And seeing that, Ristia felt sorry for startling them with the sudden display.
“Everyone, calm down. I just removed the soil with magic; nothing to be shocked over~” If there was a person here with the tiniest inkling of magical knowledge, then they would have really laid into that comment with a quip. “Just removed it? Yeah, right! Like that’s even possible!” But none of the orphans there had that particular knowledge on-hand.
“Wow, Director, you’re a sorcerer!”
“Director, you’re amazing!”
The children’s genuine surprise was followed by multiple amazed cheers. The moment those cheers graced Ristia’s ears, she was overjoyed. Yes! I did it! I got them to call me amazing! Just a little more before I get them calling me “Big Sis!” This time, she kept in mind not to startle the children as she cast her magic circle. It was a thoughtful gesture, but the tremendously-sized and breathtaking magic circle only managed to startle them all even more; it was a slight mishap, but it was neither here nor there in comparison to what she did next. She made the orphanage levitate, foundation and all, over to the space she cleared out just seconds ago and gently placed it down.
“The whole house moved!”
“Director, you’re amazing! Really amazing!”
The children cried as they clung to Ristia, who was jumping for joy on the inside.
Yay! I’ve captured everyone’s hearts. I’m the happiest girl around~ Ehehe~
Unwilling to let that very un-older sister-like behavior show to the children, Ristia petted everyone’s heads with a docile, “Why, thank you.”
As mild and level-headed she seemed on the outside, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was absolutely estatic on the inside. Ristia decided to proceed with even more of this and that.
“Alrighty, next order of business~” Digging up where the construction site would be made it so that the groundwork could start as soon as possible. Ristia followed this up by using a search spell a few thousand meters underground and checking for any underground water sources or hot springs. She pierced her way underground, proceeding to thrust pipes made of orichalcum in that very location. If a scholar had witnessed what she was doing, they would probably go into a frenzy, yelling, “You made plumbing pipes out of a legendary metal?!” But, in Ristia’s mind, the material was nothing more than extremely resilient non-rusting metal. She devised a setup wherein they could draw hot spring water or regular water by installing a magic stone-powered pump. Of course, she didn’t forget to run the hot water through the rooms, as well, to supply the mini hot springs she promised.
“Next... a sewage system.” Ristia then connected the pipes in the locations she marked on her blueprints of where the sewage would drain, and then she installed a magic stone-powered filtration system that would process the unclean water and deposit it into a nearby lake. The pipes were, of course, also made out of orichalcum, and if that same hypothetical scholar from before found out, then they would probably have had tears in their eyes. “Using a legendary metal as sewage pipes? Blasphemy...” But, true to form, that wasn’t an issue to Ristia. As such, Ristia finished up her work lickity-split and took a breather to look at the children’s reactions, but she was met with blank stares all around. Apparently, they were only able to visually confirm the fact that she had dug up the foundation, but a lot of what she did was out of their sight, so they couldn’t wrap their heads around what had just happened.
“Director, what did you just do?”
“Um, well, I pulled out an underground water source and a hot spring.”
“Underground water and... a hot spring?”
These children, born and raised in the orphanage, were so far removed from society that they probably didn’t know what went behind making a hot spring.
Ristia gave the children a comforting look as she went into detail. “You see, I took what we call a ‘non-volcanic hot spring,’ which is hot water trapped deep underground, and I brought it up to the surface with magic.” It was a detailed explanation that the children only understood half of, but they seemed to understand that magic was amazing, and their Director was awesome for being able to use it. Everyone gazed upon Ristia with reverence in their tiny eyes.
Ristia thought to herself, Go ahead, tiny ones! Now’s your time to call me “Big Sis!” But they looked up to her as the director of their orphanage, so regardless of all the amazing stunts Ristia pulled, the chances of them calling her their Big Sis were slim to none—chances that Ristia was naturally oblivious to.
“So, hey, Director? Real hot springs are basically big bathtubs, right?” asked the red-headed girl, Ayane, her purple eyes alight with hope. She was still only nine years old, but she was the precocious tyke with the most knowledge of the real world behind Maria. Judging from what she had said earlier about baths and her question just now, she must have come to the conclusion that a hot spring meant warm baths.
“You guessed right, Ayane, my dear~ I’m making a bathing place for you all,” Ristia said, pointing to the place that would serve as the bathhouse as she explained the recessed area would be the actual bath, and there would be a changing room nearby... but as she did, Ayane’s expression grew dimmer.
“Huh? Is something wrong with that?”
“Oh... no. It’s just that, um, I’m wondering if this is a bath just for you, or not.”
“What? Oh, no, this is for everyone to enjoy.”
“...Really?” The child seemed surprised for whatever reason. While Ristia couldn’t guess why Ayane and the other children were so surprised upon hearing that, she looked back at them with a reassuring smile.
“When I’m finished with it, let’s all take a dip in the hot spring together.”
“‘All together’ meaning... just girls?”
“Oh, I meant everyone who’s here.”
The second that Ristia uttered those words, the faces of the boys in the crowd turned beet red, and the girls started to panic. Incidentally, this wasn’t a problem for reasons so readily apparent. In fact, if it were just the children, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all. They’d never had a real bath before, with their only means of bathing being wiping down their bodies with a pail of water, so they never had the luxury of separating the boys and the girls. That was where Ristia fit into the equation. She had the grace and beauty of a nobleman’s daughter. The thought of taking a bath with someone as lovely as Ristia naturally turned all the boys’ faces flushed and inevitably had the girls panicking, as well. For the girls, their behavior didn’t stem from jealousy of Ristia, but from them disliking the idea of the Director’s beautiful and graceful nude form being exposed for all the boys to see. Ristia herself didn’t think that, thinking to herself in a carefree manner, These kids sure are precocious.
The girls picked up on Ristia’s ignorance and all shared the same thought. We’ll have to look out for Director Ristia since she’s so vulnerable. It was a group decision that would bring Ristia to tears if she heard it aloud. Afterward, Ayane and the other girls admonished Ristia, which made her promise to separate the bath into boys and girls.
As she created a personal vegetable garden in the corner of the orphanage grounds, among completing other work, the carpenters finally arrived.
“Thanks for being so patient. I’m Wood, the lead carpenter. We’re here on orders from Gratt Commerce.” One of the carpenters stepped up in front of Ristia. He was a man with a firm physique for someone in their late thirties or so that exuded an aura of leadership.
“Pleasure to meet you. I am Ristia, the person in charge of this orphanage.”
“Oh-ho... So it’s true that management of this orphanage changed hands.” His face looked oddly pensive. Ristia tilted her head in confusion, wondering if something was the matter.
“Oh, no. Not trying to be rude. The former director was a real nasty fellow. I was planning on declining this job if he was involved, but... looks like that’s not the case.”
“If you mean Former Director Georg, then he left town after telling me to take things over,” she explained, promptly lying through her teeth. Ristia was a bit of a naughty girl, so to speak.
“...Left town, huh?” Wood whispered with an expression that was difficult to put into words. He then looked down at the mob of children encircling Ristia’s legs and kneeled down to meet them at eye-level.
“You little guys like this young lady?”
“Yeah, we love her! And she doesn’t do bad things like the last director!”
“She’s really nice!”
The children answered in unison, bringing a smile to Ristia’s face, “Ehehe.” That reaction was all Wood needed.
“I see. Seems you’re a stand-up gal, Little Lady,” he said, nodding. “Alright, we’ll take the job.”
“Thank you so much. I look forward to working with you and your men,” Ristia replied, smiling toward the carpenters. The carpenter men, who had been watching everything unfold, formed goofy grins on their face as soon as they saw Ristia’s beaming smile.
“Well then, hate to be so up-front, but did you have any specific way you wanted things built? It seems that you already have some groundwork started here...”
“Oh, that? I was just getting things ready. As for specifics... If you could, I would like it built to the specifications on these blueprints, but is that doable?” Ristia presented the blueprints to Wood, who then looked at her with a troubled expression.
“Uh, right. Little Lady? I should warn you in advance, but houses have these things called ‘load factors,’ or the max threshold for the materials we use, so it’s not like you can arrange things all willy-nilly like... Hey, wait, these blueprints have a ton of detail.” Wood’s gaze fell upon the blueprints, and he started to check what was written down, enthralled. The other carpenters started to peek at the blueprints as well, making a bevy of different faces as a result. Before long, Wood’s attention went back to Ristia after he finished scanning through the plans. “You sure are skilled. I can’t find a single slip-up on here anywhere.”
“In that case, will you be able to build it to specifications?”
“No, that’s impossible.”
“...Um, I don’t follow.” Despite there not being a single slip-up, he couldn’t build it according to the plans. Ristia stared back at him blankly, unable to understand what he meant.
“If we followed what was written down on these plans, there’d be no issue. But the materials written down are odd. If we went by the values here, we’d end up making an orphanage that could withstand a siege engine.”
“Yes, I designed it with that in mind.” Ristia’s frank response to Wood’s concerns left him at a loss for words.
“...Little Lady, I’m going to be frank: there is no material in this world capable of doing what’s on this blueprint.”
“Ah, don’t worry; I’ll have that ready for you. I’ll prepare some columns for you in the meantime.” As soon as Ristia pulled out some orichalcum from her Item Box, she manufactured it into the shape of columns and stacked them up in a corner of the orphanage grounds.
“...Huh?” Wood and the other carpenters went wide-eyed.
“W-Wait, did you guys see hunks of metal just come out of literally nowhere?”
“Yeah, I saw the same thing. I feel like I saw the metal turn into columns, too.”
“But... that’s not physically possible, right?”
“Yeah, no way in the world. That’s probably just the exhaustion kicking in for us.”
The carpenters rubbed their eyes and took another look at the corner of the grounds. There, they saw Ristia right in the middle of stacking a new set of columns in the same spot.
“Is this real life...?”
“What the hell’s going on?!”
“Hey, Little Lady! What are those?!”
The carpenters all belted out in unison, crowding around Ristia. However, Ristia was a True Blood princess, and she was determined to not keep repeating the same blunder forever, which is why she turned to the carpenters and gave them a docile smile.
“Gentlemen, this isn’t magic, so there’s no need to be startled.”
“I mean, you say it’s not magic, but I don’t even think you can do that with magic...”
“That’s correct. I am a normal girl, so I wouldn’t be capable of performing magic.”
“Uh, right. I mean, is that right? I’m not sure what’s going on here, but if you’re not using magic, then how did you manage to bring out those materials?” Wood asked her, trying to gain a grasp over the situation in spite of his confusion.
Ristia then gave the same docile smile as before in response, explaining, “This is just sleight of hand.”
“...Excuse me?”
“Just as I said, sleight of hand. A trick.”
“Aah, that makes sense. Sleight of hand. All just a trick, eh? Nothing strange about that, then—Yeah, right!” he replied, the other carpenters joining in to quip at the same time. They didn’t pursue the topic any more than that for some reason, though. That led Ristia to believe that they had bought her story about it all being sleight of hand, but that wasn’t the case by a long shot.
There was no way that Ristia would know this, but since Nanami had predicted that Ristia would mess something up, she gave Gratt some advice, which he used to prime the men. Wood and the other carpenters were not to talk about what they observed to anyone else and not to pursue any various oddities that may occur. That also kept them from calling Ristia abnormal. The self-proclaimed normal girl who was often called an angel was being protected by a couple of actual angels. However...
“I’m back... Wait, the orphanage moved?!”
“Yeah, the Director moved it~”
“What the heck does that even mean?!”
Maria conversed with the children upon her return as the carpenters all formed a unanimous opinion amongst one another. That girl is absolutely not normal.
──7──
The reconstruction of the orphanage started promptly. Although, because the work didn’t finish instantaneously as it would have if Ristia had used magic, she and her children continued to live in the old orphanage until the reconstruction work was complete. That continued until one day—a day where Maria came to Ristia with some news.
“A suspicious man has been wandering around here?”
“Yes. He’s been scouting out the orphanage and going around asking about stuff. It’s making me worried about the kids...”
According to Maria, she saw a certain man several times over the past few days. A normal person would have thought that they had come to scout out the orphanage due to its sudden rise in prosperity, but Ristia, on the other hand, wondered to herself, Could they be here to look for little brother or sister candidates?
“Don’t worry. I won’t let him get to the children, mark my words!” she shouted, her inner intentions declaring, I’m going to be everyone’s Big Sis! I won’t let anyone who comes after me get to them! No way, no how! In that moment, Ristia was assaulted by some light vampiric impulses, and she furrowed her long, thin eyebrows.
Maria was oblivious to this, however, and smiled, “I kind of figured you might say something like that, Director Ristia.” All at once, the two of them were both on the same wavelength and having entirely different conversations. However, despite the crossed wires, they ended up finding a middle ground, both of them none the wiser. After that discussion...
“I have a present for you guys today~” Ristia said with a big smile for the children after they finished lunch.
She placed jewelry on the table—enough for several people. They were brooches with a design that depicted three fruits lined up on a leaf. It was a neutral design that even the boys could wear.
“Wow, they’re so pretty and sparkly...”
“What are these? They’re awesome.”
The children’s eyes lit up as bright as the brooches in front of them.
“These are my presents to all of you. They’re brooches I made.”
“Huh? You made these, Director?! These are so awesome! Wait, you’re giving these to us?!”
“Yup, that’s right~” These brooches were made with one goal in mind, that goal being: “These children are boys and girls that I’m trying to make into my younger siblings. I’m not giving anyone an opportunity to steal them after everything I’ve done!” Now I’m all set against that suspicious man! Ristia thought as she gleefully watched the children affix the brooches to their clothing. However, she realized that Maria was casting a doubtful look upon her and looked her way.
“...Um, problem?”
“Less a problem with me and more like there being too many problems for me to point out.”
“But I took your report into consideration.”
“Then I’ll just go ahead and say it: If we put on these expensive-looking brooches, it’s essentially the same as telling people, ‘Please pick us out as targets.’”
Maria had a point. The children were already cute by default, so adding any kind of allure with the brooch would obviously cause anyone to want to take them in as a younger sibling even more. There might’ve even been some people who wouldn’t be able to contain themselves and might try to take a child home with them. Warranted concerns, but Ristia replied simply.
“No need to worry about that.”
“What do you mean?” Maria asked curiously. Before Ristia even had a chance to answer her question, the children started to stir.
“H-Huh? The bruise on my hand is going away.”
“And I think I can see kind of clearer. Everything far away has been all blurry ‘til now!”
“My stomachache is gone!”
“My whole body feels lighter!”
“Wow, I feel stronger!”
Upon surveying the children, Maria asked, “What did you do this time?”
“I just enchanted the brooches I made. A boost to physical ability, and wound regeneration. Also, something to nullify bodily ailments, so they’ll be okay even if someone suspicious does accost them!” It was one of Ristia’s enchanted items, created with a bit of effort. If Ristia was the same as she had been before, she would’ve modestly claimed she was just a normal girl, but with the children showering her with praise, that humble attitude had disappeared. According to her, she was “just a normal girl who was capable of some slightly fantastic enchantments.”
Knowing for the past few days that pointing out the contradictions in her stories was no good, Maria replied, “If you can assure everyone’s safety, then fine,” and put on her own brooch.
“Oh, it’s true; my body does feel lighter. This is a handy little brooch.”
Maria was steadily adapting to Ristia’s illogical ideas and behavior. It helped that the children, who were raised behind the isolated walls of the orphanage, didn’t find Ristia’s antics unbelievable as much as they did plain incredible. Even Allen, who was on his guard like no tomorrow toward Ristia at first, had entirely softened up to her as of late and was just as impressed as everyone else.
“What the heck is this? This is awesome!”
It was a piece of cake getting him on her side—or rather, the blessings Ristia was bestowing them were so incredible that suspecting her of ill-intent seemed ridiculous. That was the truth of the matter. As such, Ristia continued to establish her normal—objectively speaking, extremely abnormal—territory on the outskirts of town.
Then, one fateful day, Gratt paid her a visit.
“Good afternoon, Lady Ristia. I am here to see you about the auction today.”
“Good afternoon to you, Mr. Gratt. Please, come inside, if you would,” Ristia said with a soft smile, inviting Gratt into the parlor of the old orphanage.
“My... I heard the rumors floating around, but this is quite the incredible room,” Gratt said in an impressed tone, scanning the room.
I really didn’t do anything much; I just prettied things up so that they would be about the same as my own room back home. Mr. Gratt is clearly just flattering me, Ristia thought with a wry smile.
“I just did some last-minute redecorating; giving me such high praise is going to make me blush.”
“Hahaha... Last-minute, was it? That’s what you seriously consider all of this, I see.”
“...Huh?”
“Oh, no. Just talking to myself. Now then, first things first: I will be returning the appraisal crystal you allowed me to have.” Gratt tried to return the appraisal crystal that Ristia made, but Ristia just glanced over it and declined the offer, even though it was made from a diamond fragment of her Crystal Cage.
“But I let you have that, Mr. Gratt.”
“...Wha? Are you out of your mind?! This appraisal crystal is on par with, or even greater than an Artifact!”
“Oh, come now~ I made that in less than no time; even you saw me do that, didn’t you, Mr. Gratt? It’s nothing as grandiose as an Artifact. It’s a regular enchanted item~”
“I don’t know where to start picking that argument apart... but you are serious about what you’re saying.”
“Of course I am serious. So, please, don’t be so reserved and accept it as my gift.” The whole reason that Gratt’s old appraisal crystal had broken was due to the brooch Ristia made, in any case. Her thought process wasn’t based off of assuming responsibility for breaking his possession, but since she could easily make a replacement for him, she didn’t see the harm in giving it to him.
“...I say, as of late, I feel like my financial know-how and general common sense is going by the wayside. Normalcy as I know it is flying straight out the window...” She didn’t quite understand why, but Gratt looked exhausted. Ristia wasn’t all that interested in anyone other than likely candidates to be her little sister, but she did have enough kindness in her heart to care for someone who had been such a big help so far.
“Would you care for another enchanted item as a present, as well? One that helps with fatigue?”
“I beg of you, please stop! My sense of normalcy will never end up coming back!” he pleaded with her with tears in his eyes, for some reason.
“Um, well... If you mean to say you don’t need it, then I’ll give up on the idea. But please, at least accept the appraisal crystal. Otherwise, I’ll end up feeling guilty for breaking yours.”
“...Very well. I will graciously accept your kind gift. In exchange, I shall foot all of the expenses and commission used for this month’s auction. The construction costs, as well, of course.”
“...Are you sure?”
“As sure as can be. I am making out with quite the hefty profit, after all. Please, do not worry about it. It will be my concern now, so I’d appreciate it.”
“...Okay, then. Thank you for all your help,” Ristia said, her smile full of gratitude.
“I should be the one showing my appreciation around here. Let’s see... So the highest bid in the auction was eighteen-hundred large gold pieces.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you so much, Sir.”
Eighteen-hundred large gold pieces was the equivalent of eighteen-thousand gold pieces. That was a price that would make any regular person—no, even an aristocrat—go wide eyed in surprise, but Ristia was indifferent, considering she had no sense of the currency of this era. Her lack of reaction prompted Gratt to comment, “Not very surprised, as I expected,” with an awkward smile.
“Surprised? About what?”
“Uh, well... if it’s all right by you, shall I bring the money here...?”
“Sure, I don’t mind... but why ask me?” she replied, cocking her head in confusion over why he went through the trouble to inquire.
“Well, bringing a large amount of money to the orphanage would be dangerous... Under normal circumstances, that is.”
“Ooh, that makes sense. But I’ll take good care of it, so it’ll be okay.” There was no safer place than Ristia’s Item Box, so Ristia accepted the large gold pieces.
“Also... there is something I want to tell you,” Gratt said, his face turning stern, suggesting he was getting to the heart of the matter.
“...You want to tell me something?”
“Your brooch, as I expected, has become a big enough topic to shake up society. Even at the auction, the highest bid went to the person who had the most money to give out of all the other auction-goers at the time.”
The auction floor went dead silent once the brooch was introduced. The auction-goers bid on it one after another, eventually driving the bid to exceed the funds most people had on hand and causing them to drop out. The ultimate result was that the person who had the most money on them at the time won the bid. It was a result that caused many of the other auction-goers who couldn’t win the bid to lament, saying that if they had known about the brooch beforehand, they would have prepared the funds even if it meant taking out a mortgage on their house. That meant that if he had made an announcement in advance, the highest bid would have been even higher. Under normal circumstances, one would be lamenting not making said announcement in advance. Ristia wasn’t fixated on selling the brooch for a high price, and if they made a grand announcement that made the brooch the target of a huge organization, there was a chance that not even Gratt Commerce could completely fend them off. That was Gratt’s decision. It was a decision that would have made Ristia happy, but...
“Truth is, the people who didn’t win the bid have been probing around for information on the exhibitor.” These people had an enchanted item on par with an Artifact bought out from under them, so several speculations flew by as a result. He explained that with all the discussion, there were people with intentions to negotiate business themselves if there were more items of that nature to be sold. “Of course, protecting my client is part of the agreement. I tried my best to hide your identity from them, but the aristocrats have taken this seriously.”
“...Do you mean you couldn’t keep it a complete secret?”
“Right now, there are no signs that the cat’s out of the bag, but...” Gratt offered as a preface. He continued by telling her that, while no one batted an eye to him dropping in every now and then because of his branch store in the same tow, keeping the fact that said branch was supporting the rebuilding of the orphanage under wraps was a daunting task. There was also the fact that the position of the orphanage’s director had just recently changed hands. If there was anyone who could connect those dots together, it wasn’t impossible that they would learn that Ristia was the brooch’s original exhibitor. “You have my apologies. I have been thinking up ideas for that aspect, as well,” Gratt admitted his failure, bowing his head.
“Please lift your head, Sir. If I had tried to handle matters all on my own, things would have assuredly turned out sour, so you have my gratitude, regardless.”
“...Thank you very much, Milady. I’m rather relieved to hear that from you. I would actually like to set up some security for you and your children myself, but would you...”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“...Right, I see. Wouldn’t help that if I provided guard detail, then it would be like outing the auction’s exhibitor on my own. I understand, then. Should anything go awry, please come consult me right away.”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll do just that if the time arises.”
—A few weeks passed, and the construction of the new orphanage was proceeding swimmingly. One day, during the mid-afternoon, Ristia handed out drinks to the hardworking carpenters as she always did.
“Thanks as always, Little Lady.”
“No, I should be thanking all of you. I’m so grateful,” Ristia answered, a smile on her face and appreciation in her heart. Ristia was dressed in a cool sundress with her jet black hair tied casually behind her. Despite her clearly coming from an affluent upbringing, she socialized and chatted with the rather rough-and-tumble-looking men. That quality made her a big hit among the carpenters. It resulted in some of the men deciding, After construction is over, I’m gonna confess my love to her. Naturally, Wood’s ever-prevalent eye loomed over his men, so Ristia hadn’t even noticed that that was the case.
“By the way, Little Lady, there’s something that’s been on my mind... Y’mind if I ask you about it?”
“Of course I don’t mind. What would you like to know?” Ristia asked, tipping her head in curiosity.
“Rebuilding the orphanage and the bathhouse are things that I get, but... what do you plan on using this building in the front for? It looks like a cafeteria, but it’s way too big for that, isn’t it?”
“Oh, that? I plan on opening up a shop.”
“...A shop?”
“Yes, a public cafeteria that specializes on light meals.”
“A cafeteria? But you’re not going to be able to make much of a profit with it being in this location, you know?”
“That doesn’t bother me one bit. Letting the children work is my goal, after all.” Ristia’s explanation that she wanted the children to work with no concern for profits made Wood and the others’ eyes open wide.
“I... see. So you’re trying to get them to work while they’re kids to teach them a trade? Boy, Little Lady, you really are looking out for those kids.”
Normally, there were no businesses that would let young children—especially orphans—work, but with Ristia being the one building it, there was nothing to worry about. Wood was touched, since she intended on letting the children gain experience while they were still young so that they could work properly for businesses in the future. Ristia had another plan in mind pertaining to all of this, but... that was another story for another time. The fact remained that she had the children’s best interests in mind, so she let it pass with a smile.
“Hey, Ristia! Ristia!” A relatively younger member of the carpenter crew called out to Ristia.
“Yes? What is it?“
“That cafeteria of yours. Can commoners like us come and eat at it?”
“Why, yes. Of course you can.”
“Whoooooa!!”
The carpenters let out cries of joy. It wasn’t just from the younger carpenters, either; Ristia was even popular among the middle-aged ones, too. Some of them could even be heard saying, “I sure wish I had a girl like her.”
“When you open up shop, I’m coming to eat for sure!”
“Yeah, me too!”
“Ehehe, I hope I get to see all of you there.” Ristia smiled adorably. Once she did, the carpenters’ thoughts all merged into one—they were going to go to the cafeteria every day once it opened and get cozy with Ristia. It was a sentiment that Ristia didn’t even have a clue about, however.
“Alright. If that’s how you want it, then let’s get back to work on the double!”
“Yeah!!”
The carpenters returned their cups back to Ristia’s tray after they were done drinking and returned to the construction site with revitalized faces.
“You’ll have to excuse my men.” Wood was the last one to return his teacup to the tray, and he gave her an awkward smile. While the apology was for his men’s suffocating appeals for Ristia’s attention, Ristia was left completely clueless, so she looked back inquisitively. She then cleaned up the cups on her tray with magic and placed them into her Item Box.
“By the way, is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, but the sentiment is appreciated. This is our job to do.”
“Oh, is that so? Please, don’t hesitate to ask me if you need anything, though. Personally, anything to speed up the process is greatly appreciated.”
“Hmm... Well, there is one thing I can ask of you. The materials you provided us are pretty heavy, you see. And carrying them up to the second floor is going to be a tall order. If you could move them to where we need, then...”
“Aah, I follow. If that’s your request, then I just have to move them to a more convenient location.” As soon as he finished his request, Ristia piled up and hardened the soil she had put in her Item Box from the groundwork she’d done right next to the under-construction orphanage, creating a sloped path that continued to the second floor portion of the facility.
“Hey, wait a second. What did you do this time?”
“Some more slight of hand, of course.”
“...Right, slight of hand. Can’t argue with that, can I?” It seemed that Wood had come to his own personal conclusion, accepting the supernatural phenomenon with little objection. Leaving Wood and the others to their business, Ristia, with the construction blueprints committed to memory, easily hoisted the materials up with one hand and carried them up the hill to the second floor with a casual stride.
◇◇◇
Ristia took her time leisurely moving the materials. Any passers-by that saw that sight would never think that Ristia was carrying anything heavy, but Wood and the others knew that the material she was handling was well over a hundred kilograms. As a result, Wood and the rest of his men shared the same idea: “Yeah, this little lady isn’t ordinary. Period.” But just then...
“Whoa~ Director, what are you doing~?” Several of the children came over to Ristia as she transported the materials.
“I’m carrying the materials that they need to rebuild the orphanage up to the second floor.”
“Then, I will too!”
“And me! Me, too!”
The children circled around Ristia. The first thought that came to Wood and the others, upon seeing them, was that having kids on the construction site was dangerous, so they rushed themselves over to Ristia to disperse the crowd of children, but before they could...
“Okay, then, why don’t we all do it?” said Ristia, making Wood’s eyes go wide in shock.
“Wait, a second! What’s the big idea, Little Lady? There’s no way in the world that...” Wood barely reached the end of his sentence before Ristia casually chucked the over-one hundred kilogram building materials to the dog-eared girl, who caught them with a cute little, “Heave-ho.”
“...Wha?!”
The likeminded carpenters that were heading toward the children all stopped and made the same dumbfounded exclamation.
“Now, carry it nice and carefully. And make sure not to inconvenience the others, okay?”
“Mm-hmm, gotcha~” said the supposedly prepubescent dog-eared little girl as she proceeded to carry the crushingly heavy batch of materials up to the second floor.
“Wh-What? What the heck is going on here?”
“I-Is it because she’s from the dog-eared tribe?”
“Well, I have heard that beast-men are stronger than humans, but... one that young?”
Amidst Wood and his men’s confusion, they caught a glimpse of Ristia passing off materials in similar fashion, this time to a human boy, and sure enough, he also proceeded to transport the materials without even a hint of an issue. The brooches on their chests glowed the entire time, but clearly, nobody gave that detail much attention. At any rate, faced with the sight before them, Wood and his carpenter team were positive—positive that it wasn’t just the girl that wasn’t normal, but the whole orphanage itself.
──8──
One day, about two months after construction had started on the new orphanage, Ristia’s long-awaited bathhouse was completed. Per the children’s specifications, it was split into two sections—one for boys and one for girls. And, of course, it was promptly opened for the children, as well.
“Let’s have a bonding session, everyone~” Ristia said, trying to invite everyone to come bathe together with her, regardless of gender. However, the girls were staunchly opposed to this idea. Ristia was still young herself, but the orphans were even younger. She was convinced that they were still too young to be aware of sexual interests, so Ristia was impressed by their reaction, thinking, My, everyone is so precocious.
Late that night, Ristia found herself in the changing room. The day didn’t fatigue her at all, but she still wanted to take a relaxing soak since she hadn’t had a bath in ages. She first removed her blouse, cast some cleaning magic over it, and threw it into her Item Box. Then, she took off her bra, panties, and skirt and put them away in a similar fashion. Now in her birthday suit, Ristia tied up her long hair into a bun and headed toward the bath.
“Ehehe, a nice, big bath is such a welcome treat after so long~” Ristia said to herself in high spirits. Adhering to pre-bathing manners and customs, she used cleaning magic to cleanse herself of any filth before soaking in the water. While that eliminated the need for her to really get in the bath to begin with, doing this was a matter of principle. She proceeded to pour some of the water on herself before entering the tub proper. Soaking her lower body first, she gradually submerged her upper body, as well. Now with the water up to her shoulders, Ristia laid herself down in the wide open space of the tub. Maybe it was from the components of the spring, or perhaps it was just a placebo effect, but Ristia found herself significantly more relaxed.
“Hah... This feels fantastic~” How long has it been since I’ve had a real bath? Ristia absentmindedly thought to herself, but she could only recall bathing with her sisters before she took her thousand-year sleep. “I wonder what my big sisters are doing right around now... And where...?” She hadn’t taken in a little sister for herself yet, but she’d figured out both what it meant to be a little sister, and the realization of just how much her older sisters cared for her. It’s been so long; I sure would like to see them... Ristia thought. But even for someone as capable as Ristia, seeing as how she didn’t know where in the world her family could be, it wasn’t possible for her to search for them. Although, if they were to intentionally use a large amount of power, she could at least isolate the area they might be in. That way, she could search for them, and would probably even find them in due time.
I sure would like to have a little sister to introduce to my big sisters before I see them again... As that thought ran through her head, the door to the changing room opened without a creak. Out from the door appeared a brown-skinned girl.
“Oh, you’re here, too, Maria~”
“Who’s... Oh, it’s you, Director Ristia. I was wondering where you went, but I guess you were taking a bath this whole time. Am I... disturbing you?”
“Goodness, no~” Ristia said with a soft grin as she rose from the bath.
“...Are you getting out already, Director Ristia?”
“Nope, I just figured I would help wash you off, Maria.”
“Huh? Oh, um, well... I can do that my...” she started protesting, shrinking herself in wariness. Perhaps it was a combination of the memory of being violated haunting her in addition to her lingering fear of being touched by others, but that would explain why she didn’t bathe with the others and waited to do so by herself this late at night. Understanding Maria’s mindset, Ristia gave her a comforting smile.
“You’re so pretty, Maria. Plus, I don’t mind if you’re still nervous about me. We’ll take it one small step at a time. Okay?”
“...Director Ristia, um, if you insist... then I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure thing, just leave it to your Big Sis, my dear!” Taking on the role of older sister for a bit, she sat Maria down on a stool at the washing station. Ristia took to her knees behind the girl at an angle and picked up the shower nozzle.
“Okie dokie, here comes the hot water~”
“Eeek?! Wh-What? What is this?!” Maria seemed unfamiliar with what a shower was. The hot water that spurted out from the shower made her shiver in surprise.
“This is called a ‘shower,’ and it’s a tool that can efficiently spray hot water~” Ristia said, spraying hot water from the shower to the shaken Maria’s side to demonstrate. Seeing that Maria’s fear was starting to diminish, she spritzed some hot water on her leg to further introduce her to the concept.
“...! It... tickles. Mm.”
She was still shivering, but it wasn’t out of fear like a few moments prior. Confirming that to be the case, Ristia slowly started to run the shower over Maria’s entire body. The hot water pelted off of Maria’s young and vivacious skin—a result of Ristia’s magic regenerating her body on a cellular level.
“It feels so good... but... using hot water this way is extremely frivolous.”
“It’s a blessing from nature. I say it’s fine to reap as many benefits from it as we’d like.” The hot spring being a blessing from nature was... technically not incorrect. So long as one was to turn a blind eye to the Artifact-level tools here and there that Ristia had used to power her way thousands of meters underground, of course. In any case, Ristia could see that Maria’s body was getting to the right temperature, so she pulled out a specially-made body soap and sponge, squeezed the soap onto the spongy surface, and started to lather the girl up.
“Alrighty, now I’m going to get to your back.” She gently applied the sponge to Maria’s back.
“...!“ Maria’s body stiffened up in response.
“Are you okay, Maria?”
“...I’m fine. I’m flinching out of reflex, but I know not to be afraid of you, Director Ristia.”
“I see... In that case, I’ll wash you nice and slow, so if there’s any discomfort, just let me know, okay?” She scrubbed gently, as to not cause her any fear, yet with enough force to disperse any grime from the girl’s body. Ristia could have easily eliminated the grime with cleaning magic, but if Ristia had learned anything from her older sisters, it was that an older sister should wash their younger sister’s body, so she was staying loyal to those teachings— which was a complete lie. Ristia doubted her sisters’ methods, always washing her body without the use of cleaning magic, up until today, but as she washed Maria with her own hands, she felt herself overcome with tender emotions, which finally gave her insight as to why her sisters always wanted to wash her so badly. In short, it was a moment of sheer bliss. But as she finished washing Maria’s back, she pondered where she should wash next—That was when her eyes fell upon the back of Maria’s captivating neck. Once Ristia’s eyes met her nape, her heart started to throb loudly, and vampiric impulses stronger than any she’d had before welled up from inside of her.
“—Ah, khh...” She bit her lip to subdue the impulses. But while that would normally quell the problem in an instant, it instead only proved to make them stronger. The urges ran through her mind, making her think, I want to scoop up Maria right now and sink my fangs into her neck. Then, suddenly...
—No, I... can’t! Maria is precious to me. She’s a candidate for the role of my little sister. And she is most definitely not food! She’s also had terrible things done to her by Director Georg. She means so much to me; I couldn’t throw myself on her like that!
She bit her lip until it started to bleed in an attempt to keep her compulsion from rising up to the surface.
“...Director Ristia?” Before she even realized it, Maria had already turned around and was looking up at her. With her defenseless, naked body spread before her eyes, Ristia found herself taken aback. “...Director Ristia? Is something wrong? Are you alright?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, I’m alright. You can wash the rest of yourself, right? Or do you want me to do the front, as well?”
“D-Don’t put words into my mouth!”
“Heehee, okay, then.”
Maria turned beet red as Ristia tried her hardest to give her a mischievous smile in retort. As such, she quickly washed off the remaining suds, said, “Okay, I’m going to get out. See you later,” and fled the bathhouse.
“Hah...! Uh-ah... Why...?”
Ristia had run off into her quarters, squatting in her bed and clutching her chest. Even after returning to her room, her vampiric impulses weren’t settling down a single bit. Of course, she had several kinds of food in her Item Box, some of which included meat dripping with fresh blood... or, in less crass terms, meat that was uncooked and undrained. However, Ristia’s body wasn’t satisfied with that variety of blood. What Ristia thirsted for was the fresh blood of Maria, Nanami, and the children of the orphanage. And that was the reason she was in so much turmoil. She wasn’t resisting the act of drinking blood as sustenance itself, but she considered Maria, Nanami, and all of the orphans precious parts of her family. In spite of that, she looked at that family like food. It was a conclusion that rocked her to the core.
“Ah-uh...! Hah... What do I do...?”
She desperately worked her brain, but she wasn’t coming up with any ideas. At this rate, she was bound to assault Maria eventually, but if that were to happen, Maria would develop scars on her heart that would persist for a lifetime. Of course, assaulting the other children was out of the question, as well. Considering Nanami knew about her situation, she wouldn’t have to worry about frightening her. If she explained her reasoning, then she would gladly let Ristia drink her blood, but... Ristia didn’t want to view Nanami as food. Faced with dire straits, her only other recourse was possibly getting away from the city for a while. Once that idea started rolling in her head, there was a sudden knock at her door.
“...Who is it?”
“It’s me, Maria... Can I come in?”
“Maria...” Of all the times for her to show up... Ristia thought, half in tears. Maria’s voice from the other side of the door seemed worried, and Ristia didn’t have it in her to refuse the girl once she heard her tone. And so, Ristia said,
“Yes, of course. Come on in.” Ristia allowed Maria in as she chomped at her lip, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong.
“Okay, I’m coming in now, so... Huh? What’s the matter?!” Maria, clad in thin pajamas, saw Ristia squatting in her bed and ran over to her side to check.
“Oh, it’s... nothing,” Ristia replied, feigning her calm demeanor with a smile.
“You liar. It certainly doesn’t look like nothing. What’s the matter? Do you have a fever?” Maria climbed onto her canopy bed and placed her palm on Ristia’s forehead. The sight of Maria worrying for Ristia clad in her pajamas was lovely. The second that thought ran past Ristia’s mind, her vampiric impulses became even stronger.
“Khh...”
“Well, no fever... So why are you acting so...”
“It’s... nothing.”
“Like I said, this doesn’t look like nothing!” Maria stated, raising her voice. Having never seen Maria act like this before, Ristia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Director Ristia, I’ve known that you suffer from time to time.”
“Y-You have?”
“Yes, I have. So why aren’t you telling me? Why are you saying it’s ‘nothing’? Am I that unreliable in your eyes?”
“No, that’s not it... Not at all.” Despite being so delicate and frail, she was going beyond the call to provide for the other children, so Ristia would never think of Maria as unreliable, but considering how precious she held the girl, she still couldn’t bring herself to speak about her situation. That was what she thought, until...
“In that case, tell me. This making me sad!” Maria urged her frantically. Ristia was taken aback, temporarily forgetting about her vampiric impulses and staring at Maria.
“...Maria? Why are you... ‘sad’ about this?”
“I’m so disheartened that you’d ask me that. Director Ristia, you saved me from the darkness. If you start acting weird, then it’s only natural that I would be concerned, isn’t it?”
“Meaning you feel... indebted?”
“That’s right. But not out of duty or anything like that. I’m just really, really grateful to you, Director Ristia. So I want to help you in any way I can. That’s how I feel from the bottom of my heart.”
“Maria...” Maria was sincerely worried about Ristia, yet she was looking at the girl as sustenance. Her conduct was betraying Maria’s emotions, a fact that brought pain to Ristia’s heart. It caused her indecision over whether she should disclose the truth or not... but only for a second. If considering Maria a food source was betrayal, then refusing Maria’s request for Ristia to disclose the situation was nothing short of betrayal, as well. While she couldn’t control her vampiric impulses of her own volition, she could certainly decide whether or not she should disclose the situation to Maria. Hence, Ristia made the judgment call to confess her sins.
“Truth is, I... want to take you so bad that I can’t help it.”
“...Wha?!” Maria exclaimed in a hysteric voice. After she darted her eyes around the room, she scooted back to the edge of the bed and hugged herself. Maria hugging at her stomach in her single piece of sleepwear emphasized her breasts, which were quite ample for someone her size and age. It gave her a somewhat alluring appearance.
“D-Director Ristia, you want to take me? Does that mean, um... Are you being serious?”
“Yes, I want to take you right now.”
“O-Oh, I... see. Erm, um, well, you have helped save my life and, um, I’ve been violated, but if you’re saying that you want me, then...”
“But, you see, at the same time, I don’t want to view you as sustenance because you’re so important to me, Maria.”
“I-If you want, Director Ristia, I don’t mind being sustenance for one night... Huh? Sustenance? What do you mean by that?” Maria asked, her head cocked in confusion.
“Um, well, what I mean is... I’ve had these impulses urging me to drink your blood as of late, which have made me almost jump all over you.”
“...Um, blood? Could you elaborate?” She was obviously dumbfounded. It dawned upon Ristia that she had yet to reveal her true identity to her.
“Erm, so basically... I’m a vampire,” she said covering up the fact that she was a True Blood, remembering Nanami’s reaction and thinking that telling Maria she was a True Blood would shock her even more than telling her she was just a vampire. Despite her consideration, the fact that she was a vampire alone was more than enough to shock Maria.
“A vampire...? Huh? Are you being serious with me?”
“I am. I’m not a human; I’m a vampire.” Right after Ristia repeated herself, Maria’s body went into shivers. So I did freak her out after all, Ristia thought regretfully.
But... that was when an anxious-looking Maria’s small hand grabbed onto Ristia’s sleeve.
“...Maria?”
“Director Ristia, why did you save all of us? Because you wanted to drink our blood?”
“N-No! I never once had that idea!”
“You... didn’t?”
“Not at all. I came to this orphanage to help children in need and build relationships with them.”
“But now you want to suck my blood?”
“Well... yes, I do.”
Ristia feebly nodded in reply to Maria’s pursuit on the topic. She knew she couldn’t really excuse herself; no matter how nuanced her motives were, the reality of the situation was that the end result remained the same. With that stacked against her, she couldn’t blame Maria if she ended up hating her, and she had to accept any verbal abuse she might hurl her way as a result. That was what she was prepared for, until...
“So, correct me if I’m wrong, but... Vampires don’t make kinsfolk by sucking blood, do they? It’s by giving blood, right?”
“That’d be correct.”
“In that case, I don’t mind you drinking my blood.” She had the same reaction as Nanami, and in a certain sense, an offer that Ristia had expected, but that was exactly why Ristia quickly declined.
“Why? You want to drink my blood, don’t you?”
“While I do, I don’t want to at the same time.”
“...What is that supposed to mean?”
“Let me explain. I do have the impulses that urge me to drink your blood, but I consider you too important, Maria... I consider you family. So, you see, I don’t want to view you as my sustenance,” she said, opening up her heart to her.
“I never knew you thought of me that way,” Maria smiled gently in response to Ristia’s heartfelt sentiment.
“So, hey, Director Ristia? Why do you want to drink my blood?”
“Why I want to drink your blood specifically?”
“Yeah, you want it just because it’s my blood? Or will any person’s blood do?”
“Well... I’m not quite sure myself. For whatever reason, whenever I see you or Nanami, I’m suddenly overcome with vampiric impulses...”
“Whenever you see me or Nanami?”
“That’s right, whenever I think about how cute you two are, this vampiric impulse tries to get the better of me.” Ristia’s disclosure made Maria assume a thinking pose before replying,
“So... why do vampires suck blood in the first place?”
“Um, well, they suck blood to increase their physical abilities, so it carries the implication that the target is food.”
“Really? It’s not a sign of affection or something like that?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I mean, if it was, then I wouldn’t be so torn up about it.”
“But you said that your vampiric impulses start coming up when you think about how, um... cute me or Nanami are, right? If that’s the case, then it’s most likely an expression of love instead, right?”
“That’s simply...”
“Impossible? You can’t say that for sure,” Maria cut Ristia off mid-sentence, denying her statement before she could finish it.
“...Why do you think so?” Ristia questioned, but after a slight pause for thought, Maria started to explain herself.
“There were a lot of people who had a warped way of showing me their affection when I was offering them my services. And no matter how twisted that stuff was, they definitely were their ways of showing their affection— as one-sided as it may have been.”
“So, um, do you mean to say that... the way I express my love is warped?” Ristia asked, caught off-guard and hard-pressed to respond.
“I don’t know about how normal vampires work, but... you can’t entirely say that sucking blood isn’t a form of showing your affection, right?”
“Yes, you may have a point, but...”
“It isn’t a matter of may. I mean, it doesn’t matter either way, honestly speaking. I’m interpreting it as affection,” Maria declared, lowering the shoulder on her pajamas and showing Ristia the bare nape of her neck.
“M-Maria?”
“If drinking my blood will help relieve you, then I don’t care what the reason is. I want you to drink it, Director Ristia. Even more so if those impulses are being brought on from your care and consideration for me,” Maria declared in a slightly bashful manner. Seeing Maria present herself started to send the vampiric impulses inside of Ristia back to the surface. And before she realized it, she already had Maria pinned down to the bed.
“Hngh... Director Ristia, please be gentle.”
“...Mm, I’m sorry. Anyway, I’ll be sucking your blood now.”
Maria was probably still afraid, even after all of that. Her body trembled slightly as she showed her neck. Seeing this, Ristia gently caressed the young girl’s cheek, starting off by planting a tiny kiss on the nape of her neck.
“...D-Director Ristia?”
“I’m going to numb your neck so that you don’t feel any pain.” Ristia ran her tongue over the course of Maria’s neck with a numbing agent infused into her saliva.
“Ee-aah... Mm, it... tickles.”
“...Mm. You’ll be fine now. Alright... I’ll be drinking your blood now, okay?”
“Uh-huh... Do it, Director Ristia.” Maria held out her arms and wrapped them around Ristia’s neck. Leaving herself to sit in Maria’s arms, Ristia sunk her fangs into Maria’s neck.
“Ah... mm...”
“Smch, mm, smch...” Ristia proceed to run her tongue over the blood coursing out of Maria’s neck, lapping it up into her mouth. Accompanying that, an unbelievable amount of euphoria started to wrap itself around Ristia. Her love and consideration for Maria swelled as a result. Ristia found herself entranced, running her tongue over the young girl’s neck.
“Hah... ah-mm... hah, hah... D-Director Ristia, you’re not, ah... done yet? At this rate, I might just... ah-ungh,” Maria stuttered, her body shivering all over and her breathing becoming more and more strained. The sound of Maria’s voice brought Ristia back to her senses as she healed the wounds on Maria’s neck with healing magic, lapping up the leftover blood with her tongue until her neck was clean.
“Maria... Um, I’m sorry. Did that hurt?”
“O-Oh no... I’m fine. I mean, forget it hurting, it was actually... um, no, never mind. Anyway, are you okay now, Director Ristia?”
“Me? Um, I’m...” Posed with the question, Ristia checked her own condition. She was enveloped by a huge wave of euphoria, power surged throughout her entire body, and the vampiric impulses that mimicked starvation which haunted her this entire time were gone without a trace.
“Thanks to you, Maria, those impulses seem to have gone away.”
“Great... I’m glad that I could be of service, Director Ristia.”
Maria’s adorable comment caught Ristia’s attention, which was a trigger for those same impulses—one which thankfully did not activate again. But remembering the euphoric rush that she felt when she sucked Maria’s blood did give Ristia a tiny craving. She seemed to be faring well for the moment, but the possibility existed that the craving might come back again eventually.
“Um, so... Maria? If you wouldn’t mind, um...”
“I don’t mind. If you want me, Director Ristia, feel free to ask me at any time.”
“...Thank you, Maria.”
With that, the issues caused by the vampiric impulses that had been tormenting Ristia this entire time were resolved for the time being.
No comments:
Post a Comment