“……She hits you?”
At Sven’s sudden outcry, the house fell silent in an instant.
Sven held Edel’s arm and slowly nodded.
Tears were already welling up in his eyes little by little.
“E-every night, she hits me saying if only I wasn’t here, things wouldn’t be like this, and then…….”
The words that followed from Sven were enough to make even Cassian, who had lived through all sorts of violence during training alone, furrow his brows.
Things like waking him while raving drunk at dawn and laying him on the floor to trample him with her feet.
Things like scattering his share of stew onto the dust-covered floor and ordering him to lick it up.
Or placing food before his eyes yet starving him, then beating him savagely if he couldn’t endure and ate it.
At least what Cassian had suffered was nothing more than something that hurt a bit and ended; it had never been that kind of raw violence that drove one into a corner mentally like that.
To begin with, he had started getting hit after saying he wanted to grow stronger, so at least half of it was his own doing.
Sven clung to Edel with a gaze more desperate than anyone else in the world.
“Please, please. Can’t you just let me live here? I won’t cause trouble anymore, and I’ll work hard at all the studies I’m told to do…… Because I won’t become like that person, please…….”
Edel, who until just moments ago had worn the expression of someone resolved to something, stammered without knowing what to say, perhaps unable to keep up with the sudden situation.
At that sight, the five including Cassian all looked at one another with identical expressions of bewilderment.
“What should we do about this…….”
“I know. I never imagined something like this…….”
If one considered the bond between parent and child, one might say that sending him back even now was the right thing.
And though it was a tangle of misunderstandings atop misunderstandings, since they had forcibly separated them, one could say it was right to return things to how they were.
But Cassian was certain there was probably no one who could say such a thing after witnessing this scene.
Even his master, who treated people heartlessly in his own strange ways, probably wouldn’t say it was wrong to leave things as they were in this situation.
Though the initial reason Cassian had come all this way was undoubtedly the sight of a mother wailing over her lost child,
in Cassian’s mind, any pity for that farmer had completely vanished.
“I, I…… I think it’s right to just leave things as they are…….”
Ilyana quietly offered her opinion from beside Cassian.
And everyone there looked at one another, then nodded in agreement.
That it would be best to do so.
◇
The next day.
Surprisingly, Cassian spent the night here. Of course, together with everyone else.
Because they had been talking, the hour when the sun began to set had already arrived.
Even if they left now, they would have had to camp nearby.
Haiken said it was dangerous to sleep in a place like this, but he was quickly convinced by a word from Draut.
In other words, if Edel wanted to kill them, outside or here would amount to the same thing.
On the contrary, the logic was that it would actually be safer since children like Sven and Lea disliked Edel using violence.
The inside of the house was larger than expected, enough that each person could use a room and there would still be some left over.
It was also so clean that one couldn’t believe a mere three people lived there, perhaps because it was maintained by magic.
And so, around the time the morning sun rose, they were even treated to breakfast before departing.
“……I apologize for the many discourtesies in various ways.”
There was a slight but noticeable respect in Haiken’s voice as he bowed his head, unlike yesterday.
After all, it must have been difficult to become favorable when he himself had his stomach pierced and had been on the verge of death.
Even so, the fact that she had helped people almost for free, and that what they had feared turned out to be the product of a misunderstanding, seemed to have considerably eased his wariness.
“……No. B-but. Don’t ever come back.”
“Yes, of course. And as I told you, to the Guild……”
Cassian didn’t know exactly what a Guild was, but it was something mentioned during dinner yesterday.
That they would report to their superiors that the investigation had found no evidence of a witch.
“……Is it really okay? I-it’s good for me.”
“Yes. Because it will be good for that child as well.”
Bella answered with a smile.
When Cassian peeked into the house through the door, he saw Sven rubbing his eyes and heading toward the dining room.
It was the result of everyone concluding that it was better not to take him away like this.
“Also, at this rate, they’ll try to offer another child next year, so we’ll clear up the misunderstanding as well. Somehow it resulted in a better ending for the child this time, but we don’t know about next time.”
“Y-yeah. I think that’s good too.”
“Then, we’ll be on our way……”
“Ah, w-wait!”
“Yes?”
Just as they were about to turn away, Edel suddenly cried out as if something had come to mind.
Bella reacted immediately, but Edel headed to where Cassian and Ilyana stood.
“E-excuse me…… This. Please give this to that p-person called your master. I think it’s probably the person I know…….”
Saying so, Edel held out a tightly folded, crumpled sheet of paper to Cassian.
Curious about what was written on it, the moment Cassian unfolded the paper without thinking, what entered his eyes were incomprehensible characters.
“Ah, ah! D-don’t read it……!!”
Edel immediately snatched the paper from Cassian’s hand and handed it back folded several times over.
“I can’t even read what it says……”
“Th-then thank goodness. Th-that person would be able to read it. If it isn’t that person, then they won’t be able to. Yes.”
Edel muttered something to herself, then realized she was in the middle of a conversation and let out a surprised “ah,” barely managing to string together another sentence.
“Th-then please make sure you deliver it!”
Cassian had no idea what this was all about, but he nodded for now.
It was time to return.
◇
Four days.
Cassian and Ilyana returned on the fourth day since they had left.
Cassian had been going in and out constantly; even his longest absences saw him return by around the evening of the following day.
Still, I couldn’t help but worry that something might have gone wrong, even though I knew it was needless.
Having nothing to do while alone was also a reason such idle thoughts arose.
When Rutina was awake, I passed the time playing with her, but she was a creature that slept a lot by nature.
Come to think of it, when I traveled alone, it wasn’t uncommon to spend days lying around spacing out on a mountaintop or the like.
At least when I was alone, I could go somewhere else if I got bored, but I couldn’t do that now.
Anyway, I was relieved that everyone returned safely.
Because they had returned when the sun had already sunk quite low, I had dinner with the children who had come back first.
I had thought Bella, Haiken, and Draut would definitely join us, but they said they had somewhere to stop by first and left.
For my part, this was actually better.
After finishing the meal like that, the sun had set before I knew it, and stars appeared in the sky in an instant.
Ilyana and I were lying side by side on the bed talking, as we had always done until now.
“……So, I just thought it would be better to leave things that way.”
“Mmhmm, that’s right. I probably would have thought the same even if I had been there.”
She hadn’t shown much of that when we met, so the truth that she turned out to be a child abuser wasn’t all that shocking.
They might say this era is one where children’s standing is low, but that didn’t mean beating them without reason was tolerated.
There was a strong view that beating for educational purposes was acceptable, but that had simply been venting her anger.
Even by current ethics, that was exactly the sort of thing that earned one the title of a worthless scoundrel.
“But when I first saw her, that woman seemed to love her son so much…….”
“Well, it’s common. People who say they love you to your face while doing that behind your back.”
In many cases, they themselves believe they love their child.
Their affectionate behavior toward the child isn’t necessarily a lie.
But the maddening part is that if you ask where that feeling of love comes from, it’s not pure love.
After beating the child savagely, because they feel like they’ve become too much of a monster, they brainwash themselves into believing they did it because they love the child.
In other words, it’s guilt manifesting in a strange direction.
This case is probably like that too.
“Come to think of it, you slept alone at the house of that witch, Edel. Weren’t you scared?”
Having heard my words, Ilyana avoided my gaze slightly, then burrowed into my arms with somewhat awkward movements.
“……I was scared.”
Yeah. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.
Well, whatever.
When I gently stroked Ilyana’s back, she soon drifted off to sleep.
Then, my consciousness quickly sank into the world of dreams.
◇
Again the next day.
The time had come to resume the journey south.
Though my feet had been tied unexpectedly, there was still plenty of time before midwinter when travel would become difficult.
“Then, let’s meet again someday if fate allows!”
Bella took my hand in both of hers and shook it.
Then she patted Ilyana’s head once, tapped Cassian’s shoulder, and left.
Their group was heading east from here, unlike us, so this was where we parted ways.
Finally.
Bella had said let’s meet again someday, but I didn’t want to meet again if I could help it.
What troublesome business would I get dragged into next.
Leaving the inn, I crossed the village heading south.
The sight of farmers working diligently and energetically from early morning was pleasant.
Along the way, upon reaching the village boundary, I passed the shabby house that had been the origin of this affair.
And my excellent vision didn’t miss Greta, who was staring blankly into space beyond a crack in the wall, as if nearly out of her mind.
That morning, I had heard from Haiken that he had told her, “I know whether she’s dead or alive, but I won’t tell you.”
If you looked at it from various angles, she was pitiful, but if you reasoned like that, there was no one in the world who wasn’t pitiful.
She should have behaved better when she had the chance.
Sending such thoughts into the empty air, I left the village.