Chapter 39
But where did she put that useful spirit and why is she cutting directly? You know, like Wind Cutter or something. Of course, I'm not saying she should use it on us.
"Have I been abandoned?"
Is she talking about being abandoned by the spirit? But even if it were me, if my contractor was a human trafficker, I'd abandon them and run too.
"That's right. You didn't meet the criteria."
In novels, spirits are so pure and have such high standards.
"So stop now."
The director, seeming to finally realize she'd been abandoned by the spirit and her escape was blocked, started wailing. The children Daisy had been protecting quietly came out and took Troy back from the director.
"Kanna, you take that child and the others."
Was it Mary? Kanna took the children's hands and headed to the corner. If I went, I might cause a scene, so Kanna going is the best choice.
Jelly also looked after her friend. Then should I take the director? Am I not going to get stabbed?
Then Daisy approached. Right, I have Daisy. If we both carry the director, the chance of getting stabbed drops by half. But Daisy said something completely different.
"Why didn't you save Troy?"
What is she asking? That girl Mary came out and drew aggro! Even though she got caught up in the aggro too.
I was a bit hurt, but I decided to understand since Daisy's heart must be in turmoil right now. That doesn't mean my hurt feelings disappear though.
"That wasn't in our agreement."
Of course, you have to separate public from private matters. I decided to act shamelessly and claim that saving Troy wasn't explicitly stated in the contract terms, in case Daisy tried to lower my payment for not saving Troy.
"Do you want to save him?"
"Yes. I want to save him."
"Fortunately, I have holy water. Just one bottle though."
Since I was going out with Kanna, I brought one bottle of holy water for emergencies in case we got caught up in some incident. Right, just one bottle. The problem is there are two patients here.
In my heart, I wanted to split it in half and let them both use it, but I don't know what kind of setting was given to the holy water, but apparently that doesn't work. They say only one person can use one bottle.
So only one of either Troy or Jelly's friend can use the holy water. What is this life-or-death branching point! It's too heavy!
I couldn't make a decision.
"Daisy, you choose. Who should we give the holy water to—Troy or that man?"
When I tossed the decision to Daisy, she cursed at me with her eyes as if to ask if that was even a question.
"Just kidding."
I withdrew my statement with tears in my eyes. Right. I'm the villainess, so whatever happens, I'll make the choice.
Daisy would naturally choose Troy, right? Right. Between a beast person with amazing recovery ability and someone on the verge of death, the latter was more critical.
I fed the holy water I had carefully kept in my embrace to Troy. The bleeding stopped immediately. Now in a few hours, flesh will grow back and the wound will heal perfectly. The holy water's performance is truly amazing. That's why it's so expensive.
And let's promise to treat the unfortunate Mellock who wasn't chosen later.
"I can't treat you right away, is that okay?"
Just in case, I decided to inform him personally. Honestly, isn't saving him already something to be grateful for?
"...Yes. It's okay."
Jelly's friend answered obediently. My conscience hurt.
"Instead, may I come with you?"
"Do you have nowhere to go?"
Jelly's friend nodded. Nowhere to return to? A sad backstory unfolded in my mind. Because slave traders captured people indiscriminately, he lost his hometown and his family was scattered. Let's not pry too much since it would be rude.
"I don't mind."
Jelly's friend seemed satisfied. But taking a blindfolded strong adult man... won't that add more strange rumors? But telling him to take it off is a bit scary. I haven't even treated his injuries, and if he says he can't see on top of that, I might die from guilt.
"Mellock, are you hurt...?"
When the aggro-drawing child came up and said that, my conscience felt like it was being sliced apart. This won't do. Let's stop dawdling here and take him quickly to get treated.
There was some cord cut on the floor, so I used it to tie up the director.
"It's dark, so be careful!"
Supporting the two injured people and making sure the children didn't get hurt, we left the basement. The director volunteered to guide us, but I didn't trust her so I refused. Instead, Jelly sniffed around again to find the way. We found the stairs going up without getting lost.
"How did this break...?"
The director muttered emptily as she looked at the secret passage that had been torn open and was no longer a secret. I just pushed it, you know? Wasn't the wood just rotted from age?
"We're out..."
"Waaah, it was scary."
I don't know how long they'd been trapped underground, but when the children reached the surface, they burst into tears from relief. Even Daisy, who had been comforting the children telling them not to cry, had tears in her eyes.
Leaving the sound of crying behind, I looked around the room. The child who had been baking bread on the summoning circle—where did she disappear to?
"Pudding?"
I couldn't distinguish between the children crying and the cat crying, so I didn't know where Pudding was. I couldn't tell the emotional children to stop crying, so only I was troubled by the crying sounds. I told her to wait right here, so where did she disappear to?
She's not just a stray cat, she's a beast person cat who understands words well, so that's fortunate at least.
'Meow—.'
And from beyond the door, a cat sound was heard. It's Pudding! Filled with joy, I opened the door and met eyes with Pudding.
She's grown a lot in that short time? Our eyes are at the same level... Ah, that's not it. Pudding was being held in someone's arms. When I raised my head slightly, I saw a very familiar face.
"Sir Gabriel?"
"Good evening, Lady Rohanson."
Huh? What? Why are you holding my cat? Behind Gabriel, who appeared out of nowhere, another familiar person emerged.
"Henah?"
What is this?
I had never doubted anything, but Gabriel started making excuses in detail as if he'd been caught having an affair. So...
"You came to find me?"
To summarize, the outline of the incident is simple. First, Gabriel came to find me for some reason.
"I deeply apologize for visiting at a late hour without prior contact."
But I was away. And coincidentally, he met Henah. Henah said she had clearly heard Kanna say "I'll be back in a moment," but it was taking too long so she was worried and waiting outside. No, Kanna. How long did you think we'd be late that you said you'd be back in a moment...
There, the two people's purposes aligned. An Evangeline (Kanna) search party was formed.
They got the destination by asking the butler, and came here in the temple carriage, but were shaken because there was no one inside the orphanage.
"If not for Sir Pudding, we would have just gone back."
So that's why Pudding is being held there. Pudding, held in Gabriel's arms, looked extremely exhausted. My baby, she can't even speak human language yet, but she must have used all her strength for non-verbal expression to be this worn out. How admirable.
When I took Pudding, Gabriel's gaze sharpened.
"So, can you now explain to me what this situation is?"
Well... It's long to explain...
Where should I start? From when I went to find Daisy? But suddenly going to find someone who quit is too suspicious, isn't it? I can't say I did it to fish for what information you heard.
"I think it would be more accurate to hear that from Daisy. After all, I came here because of Daisy's request."
As before, Kanna became my relief pitcher. It was such a perfectly correct statement that I could only marvel. People of the world, our female lead is this sharp and decisive.
Behind Kanna, Daisy bowed her head. Hmm, the two of them seem to have gotten somewhat closer. Or am I imagining it?
"We meet again."
"Indeed."
"Then may I ask for an explanation?"
Daisy glanced at me, then began her story.
The director had been trafficking children since she was young, and this time Troy had taken out a loan using the orphanage building as collateral, so to cover all that money, she had imprisoned the children in the basement.
As evidence, she submitted the paper with human trafficking records she had taken from the director's office.
Daisy never mentioned the spirit until the end. Is she keeping the secret out of loyalty since we have a connection? But even if she does that, it's clearly drawn on the floor there.
"Then this drawing is..."
"It seems they copied it from a painting hanging in the temple. You can confirm by checking the temple's entry pass."
If you can't find it, that means insufficient investigation. A very nice handling.
"What will happen to Director Merai?"
"We will detain her on our side until the trial. Since it seems related to the drawing as well."
If Gabriel handles it, I can rest assured.
"Uriel, transport Merai Miller first."
Ah, I had something to ask the director.
Uriel was taking custody of the director and heading to the carriage, so I asked if I could have a brief conversation with her before that. Uriel readily gave permission.
I thought she would send desperate eyes asking to be saved, but the director looked resigned and detached.
"What will happen to me?"
"You'll be punished."
My heart pounded violently. Ask how she summoned the spirit! The summoning method! First of all, it is a spirit, right?
"You know well what you summoned?"
The director looked at Uriel, then gave a vague answer.
"...The worst troublemaker who doesn't listen to me at all."
It's definitely the wind spirit. Their free-spirited nature is a racial trait.
"And how you summoned it?"
"I remember it very well."
The director firmly shut her mouth after those words. Why won't she talk? No, why do you only remember that?
It felt like seeing a friend who answers yes when asked if they have an eraser. You're supposed to ask to borrow it in the first place! That's like an implicit social rule! Maybe it doesn't apply because the worldview is different?
I wanted to grab her by the collar and make her open her mouth right now, but there were too many eyes here. The paladin, the children... If I slipped up, all the effort I'd made to clear my bad karma could crumble, so I couldn't act recklessly.
It can't be helped.