Chapter Three Hundred and Forty-Five: Empty Vessel
“It is none other than I myself—”
Harald looked over the children gathered in the room and continued:
“—who, despite the considerable trouble caused to Lady Karen, am willing to consider forgiving it. That fact alone should tell you what kind of ordeal Lena went through. I think all of you deserve to know that.”
The children stirred.
“Teacher Harald… is willing to forgive trouble caused to Lady Karen…!?”
“What could have happened to her to make him say something like that…?”
“It must have been something terrible… just thinking about it is scary.”
“Lena is still so little, and she went through all that… how sad…”
“From now on, let’s be kinder to her… let’s forgive Lena, okay…?”
“Yeah…”
“Right…!”
Karen found herself wondering what exactly the children thought of Harald, and slipped away from the room she’d been peeking into. While the children were in their lesson, Karen headed to the lower floor. The children’s rooms were down there—divided into a boys’ dormitory and a girls’ dormitory. She made her way to the girls’ side, where Lily was already waiting, and Lena lay sleeping, her face pale.
“Thanks to your potion, Little Karen, Lena finally managed to sleep.”
“I’m glad.”
Karen let out a quiet breath of relief. Lena had been unable to sleep at all since coming back. Lily had noticed immediately and done everything she could to help Lena rest. But nothing had worked, and so Karen had given Lily a few sleeping potions.
“Little Karen, do you have a moment?”
Hearing those familiar intonations, Karen flinched slightly. But she quickly gave in and nodded, and Lily stepped out of the room where Lena slept. Karen took one last look at Lena. Tucked into bed, she was sleeping with a stuffed animal—some sort of creature with four limbs total—clutched in her arms. Probably Lily’s handiwork. Karen recognized the style; she’d been given a stuffed animal in the same aesthetic once, long ago. It bore more than a passing resemblance to Karen’s own painting style, if she was being honest.
Satisfied that Lena was breathing quietly and steadily, Karen followed Lily out of the room.
“…Did she really need to be pushed that far? She’s still so small.”
Just as Karen had expected, Lily had brought her here to scold her. It was a tone Karen had heard many times back in the adventurers’ district, and she answered with an odd wave of nostalgia:
“She didn’t need to be.”
“Then why—!?”
“Because it was what Lena herself wanted. …But do you think I should have stopped her, Mrs. Lily?”
“Yes! When a child is about to do something dangerous, it’s an adult’s job to stop them!”
“A parent might think so. But I’m not her parent.”
She saw possibility in them—she was an alchemist—and Karen hadn’t taken these children in to pity them, protect them, and pour unconditional love over them.
She didn’t flinch as Lily raised her hand, and she had been prepared to accept whatever came next—but…
“Don’t, Lily. That’s crossing the line.”
“Let go of me, Sepl! Let go—mmgh!?”
Sepl had grabbed Lily from behind and covered her mouth, so Karen was spared both the slap and the scolding.
“Ow, ow. Bite me all you like, Lily. That’s part of why I fell for you—but your way of thinking isn’t normal. And you definitely don’t have the right to scold Little Karen.”
Pinned by an adventurer who was, even among D-ranks, considerably formidable, Lily could do nothing and simply let tears roll down her face. She was surely crying out of righteous fury on Lena’s behalf.
A woman who could feel compassion and love for a child that wasn’t her own—regardless of whether the child had magical power or not. That was not a normal way to be, in this world.
“She could have slapped me. I wouldn’t have minded.”
“What kind of supporter lets his wife slap his employer? Besides, no matter how kind you are, you’re still a noble. You’ve already done more than enough for us. Sorry about my wife, Little Karen.”
The only reason Lily had been able to live in this world without abandoning those values was that her father and the adventurers around her had tolerated, indulged, and protected her. From now on, Sepl would be the one protecting her.
Karen had memories of a past life, and yet her values had shifted considerably in this one. That was precisely why Lily’s existence was so precious.
She was one of the few people who could be genuinely angry on Lena’s behalf. For children discriminated against simply for having no magical power, she was an almost irreplaceable presence. Precious enough that being slapped once or twice felt like a fair price —
“You don’t interfere with someone challenging the goddess’s trial, no matter how young they are… Ordinary people just can’t understand that feeling.”
“Mrs. Lily isn’t just an ordinary person. She’s more than that.”
“Is that a compliment?”
Many people had never climbed a single step in their lives. Many who had no sense of the goddess’ existence or what a trial felt like. But people like Lily were rare.
“Of course it is. I knew what kind of person she was before I asked her to come… and I hope she stays exactly that kind of person.”
Whether she’d worn herself out thrashing or simply given up, Lily had gone quiet in Sepl’s arms, and was now hanging limp against him. Apparently fast asleep—Karen realized she’d been at Lena’s side without rest, day or night, and smiled.
She was a pitiable yet irreplaceable woman who had grown up with rare values in such a harsh world.
“Please keep protecting that part of her, Sepl.”
“Glad to hear you say so.”
Sepl scooped Lily up and carried her off. When Karen went back one last time to check on Lena, the girl who had supposedly been sleeping was now sitting up in bed, both hands jammed into the belly of Lily’s stuffed animal, prying it open.
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