520 - IF Toughness ~Tough Me Won't Be Pessimistic~ 5
"I'm heading to the fort for the day... what about you?"
"What do you mean... is something happening at the fort?"
"Today is the annual tournament."
It seems to be a tournament held every year at Gurnol Fort, acting as a sort of salary increase exam for the Black Knights. Since it is a tournament, there are occasional accidents and injuries, so three pharmacists from the Sedovara Church are dispatched every year, and this year it was Jasper's turn.
The reason Jasper, who is originally a scholar, goes to Gurnol Fort as if he were working a side job is because he took me in. If he were single, a room would have been provided within the Sedovara Church, allowing him to live and conduct research there, but by having a dependent like me, he had to rent a room outside the Sedovara Church. To earn the extra living expenses, he now works as a pharmacist within the Sedovara Church, where he previously spent all his time on research.
Knowing Jasper's circumstances, I have only one answer.
"I'll do as usual. I'll do my side job here."
I go to the Menhishumi Church once every two days. And only for half a day. Since I have nothing to do for a day and a half until the next lesson, I do work that even a child can do.
Specifically, I was allowed to do miscellaneous work within the Sedovara Church. Of course, an amateur, let alone a child, cannot touch medicines, so the work assigned to me consists only of simple tasks that anyone can do. Yesterday's work was harvesting herbs for throat lozenges made from autumn, and today I think it will be the individual packaging of soap. Someone mentioned yesterday that the soap being dried would soon be finished.
I divide soap the size of a stone block made in the Sedovara Church into ten equal parts and wrap each one in paper. I still think this is a large size, but here, this is the basic soap size. I feel like smaller ones would be easier to use, but seeking ease of use is not the work of the Sedovara Church. When I asked if they could sell them by adding colors or scents, a pharmacist told me while cutting the soap that such commercialism is for merchants. The soap of the Sedovara Church prioritizes practicality and keeps the price low so that even the poor can buy it, so they intentionally do not add colors or scents.
I hand over the wages from these trivial tasks to Jasper, hoping they will at least help with living expenses. When I do, Jasper puts the wages into a small jar and returns it to me.
He tells me not to worry about living expenses as a child. He says I should save the money I earn for myself.
When I complain that I'm relying on him too much, he brings up the title of "adoptive father," which he usually dislikes, saying that it is only natural for a father to provide for his adopted child's life, so Jasper has become quite softened by me. This is how we are becoming a family.
Speaking of family, when I was walking with Royne and Teo, we were mistaken for a parent and child. I let that slide as a slightly ticklish misunderstanding, but I was mistaken for a twin with Teo, who is two years younger. I couldn't forgive this, so I stepped on the speaker's foot, and it turned out to be Teo's biological father.
After various things happened with Royne, we reconciled.
Just when I thought I was parting ways with Royne and his child, it seems the father decided to move into Royne's room. Along with Teo, he tries to act like a father even to me, which is ticklish. When I joked that if my husband is acting like a father, then Royne must be my mother, it seems Royne had already intended to be so.
It seems I had a second mother without knowing it.
While I am grateful, it was slightly stifling when the three Black Knights also started claiming to be my father.
One day as the Harvest Festival approached. When I opened the door to go to work at the Sedovara Church as usual, a black dog was there, having entered from somewhere. Because the black dog walked closely behind me, the landlady scolded me, asking if I had picked up a dog. I don't understand.
No matter how many times I chased it away, the black dog kept coming back, so I consulted the Black Knights, one of whom is always in the room, and it was decided that the fort would protect it as a stray dog. That was fine, but the black dog, which always followed me, would hide only when the Black Knights gathered to catch it. Rather than a coincidence, it probably knows and is hiding. It is hateful how it reappears once the resigned Black Knights disperse.
The landlady's misunderstanding was cleared up before I knew it.
Or rather, the landlady was softened by the black dog, which intruded from somewhere almost every day even if locked out and sat in front of my room. She seems to have fallen for the black dog's loyalty.
I, who discovered the scene, froze in surprise, but I saw the landlady giving a piece of meat to the black dog. And with a wonderful smile that she rarely shows.
My being scolded was a complete waste.
The landlady seemed to love dogs. As the one who was scolded, I couldn't accept it, but the landlady also seemed aware of this and gave me sweet bread with sugar on it, so I'll let this matter go. Sweet bread is justice.
The Harvest Festival was delicious. Because there is a memorial service for the victims of the Words disease at night, Jasper couldn't go around the festival with me this time either, but I wasn't lonely because I went around with the children from the apartment.
It was delicious because one of the three Black Knights accompanied us as a guardian and treated us to various things. I had heard from Royne beforehand that Black Knights earn well, so I took the opportunity to be treated. Jasper also guided me to be treated without hesitation, so I had him buy roasted chestnuts until my pockets were full for takeout. I could even challenge myself to try the skewers with the unpleasant smell that I usually avoid, thinking of it as someone else's wallet. The skewers with the unpleasant smell did, as expected, have an unpleasant taste.
At night, I participated in the memorial service at Jasper's invitation. It is a requiem ritual to pray for the peaceful sleep of the victims of the Words disease.
A priest of the god of death, Uaksu, performs the ritual, lighting candles called Soul-Quieting Lights, which have the names of the victims written on them, and watches over them all night until they go out. I am not a long-time resident of the town of Gurnol, so I asked if I could participate, and I was told that rather than anything about the town of Gurnol, the purpose is to send off the people who died in this Words disease together. Therefore, I, whose parents died of the Words disease, also have the qualification to participate in the memorial service.
I received a Soul-Quieting Light one size larger than the personal ones from the priest and prayed for the repose of everyone in Meiyu Village. On the personal Soul-Quieting Lights, I wrote the names of my parents and the Daltowa couple and saw them off with Jasper.
The funeral style of this country is a banquet while remembering the deceased. It seems the idea is to send them off by making a lot of noise.
It seems people talk about memories of the deceased while surrounding the Soul-Quieting Lights, but the ones seeing them off were me and Jasper. I was the one talking about memories of my parents and the Daltowa couple for the most part.
...And a surprising fact was revealed.
Jasper probably became concerned halfway through, thinking it was too much to let only me talk. Usually, he doesn't tell me much about Meiyu Village, but tonight was different. Tonight, Jasper let slip a few stories from his childhood, and as a result, it was revealed that he is a relative of that village chief.
...No wonder he doesn't go near the village. His own father sold his childhood friend.
I wonder if I should probe further and ask about this. While I was worrying whether I should unusually be considerate and change the subject, a face I hadn't seen in a while arrived. It was the Black Knight Alf with sparkling blond hair.
"Hi, good evening."
"Um... Aleph-san!"
"Close."
"Huh?"
I pretend to search my memory, feigning that I was wrong. Since I only met him once at the Sedovara Church, it wouldn't be strange if I remembered the name incorrectly. Rather, it would be rarer for a child to remember the name of a person they haven't met for several months after meeting once.
"I think it started with 'A'."
"That's right."
"A... A... Alec-san?"
"I feel like you've moved further away."
"Huh? Then, Adolf-san!"
"Alright, I get it. You're doing this on purpose."
I'll show a child who intentionally gets people's names wrong, Alf said as he took a step toward me, reaching out his hand. From beneath his feet, a sorrowful cry rose.
"Kyan!!"
"Hyaa!?"
Surprised by the scream of the black dog heard from beneath my feet, I also screamed. It seems the usual black dog was by my side tonight as well. He must have had his foot or tail stepped on by the approaching Alf. He barked loudly, which was rare.
"Kuro, are you okay?"
"The dog is here before I know it."
"Ah, that was in the report..."
Report? I wonder, I look up at Alf while petting the black dog. By the way, "Kuro" is the name I call him, and "Inu" is the name Jasper calls him. Royne calls him "O-inu-sama," and the landlady calls him "Godiva," a strict but delicious-sounding name. Everyone called the black dog by whatever random name they liked and doted on him.
"What do you mean, report?"
"...You put out a request to the Black Knights to protect a stray dog, didn't you?"
I was satisfied with the explanation that the report had gone up, but Jasper had a subtle expression. Which means, it might actually be different. You take everything too literally, is a scolding I often receive lately.
...Which means, I should think about the meaning behind the words, right?
I ruminate on Alf's words, wondering what is being hidden. It wouldn't be an impossible story for a report about the black dog to go to the Black Knights. I had consulted the three Black Knights, but other Black Knights had also cooperated in capturing the black dog.
...Huh? Come to think of it, Jasper said something strange about those three before...?
What was it? I search through slightly old memories. My current life is so fulfilling every day that memories other than those I was interested in or enjoyed don't come out immediately.
After Jasper chased Alf away with unremarkable conversation, I couldn't remember in the end, so I ask Jasper directly on the way home. What was strange about Alf.
"...You really do have memories of your previous life, right?"
"Actually, I've been lacking confidence lately."
I remember things about Japan and miscellaneous things, but my awareness of having been an adult has faded. I feel as if I've become a real child.
"Real children don't usually say 'I'm a child'."
Normal children first try to act like adults, he pointed out, and I agree, thinking that might be true. When I was a child—of course, I'm talking about my previous life—I feel like I might have thought I was already the same as an adult.
"The report that he's going to that person... well, the capture of the dog probably isn't a lie, but—"
The information source is the three Black Knights from the same apartment, and the content of the report is my movements, Jasper continues. He says that's why he previously said, "You shouldn't see the three of them together."
One is watching my movements from the shadows, another is the emergency contact, and the last one is on break. They rotate among the three to watch me, and since one is hidden in the shadows, the calculation is that the number of people in my sight is always two.
"...Why am I being targeted?"
I shouldn't have spoken Japanese or mentioned being a reincarnated person in front of Alf. At most, he probably perceives me as a child who understands adult talk. Despite that, I didn't think three Black Knights would be assigned to watch me.
"Because the Witch of the Valley died, they are desperate to find Japanese people... or even just reincarnated people."
He continued that it's similar within the Sedovara Church, so I tilt my head. I go to the Sedovara Church almost every day, but I've never heard such a story. When I answer so carefree, he pinches my cheek, saying I'm too obtuse. It hurts.
"Should I come forward?"
"That's why I'm learning Japanese, so you don't have to do that."
Whether the person who can read Japanese is an adult or a child. Just that changes how the surroundings treat them.
If they are an adult, they have a certain amount of wisdom, so there is a need to deal with them cautiously, but if they are a child who knows nothing, they are thought to be conveniently usable—actually, since that child is also a reincarnated person, they should have wisdom equivalent to an adult.
"...Do you think you can learn Japanese, Jasper?"
"Expect results in six years, I'd say."
Six years is the period of Japanese elementary school. Since I had told him about Japanese compulsory education, this number probably came up. Japanese compulsory education is nine years, including elementary and middle school, but I'll leave that unpointed. Unlike school lessons, the time spent learning per day is not fixed, but Jasper uses the time from when he returns from work until bedtime for Japanese study. There is a possibility that he will be able to read Japanese a bit sooner than six years.
"...It seems like a long way to go."
"From the time when there was no reincarnated person (you), the research on Japanese will advance dramatically."
Things that were completely unreadable might become somewhat readable in six years. As a researcher, this could be called a sufficient achievement.
—A few days after that conversation.
On my way to the Sedovara Church after returning from the Menhishumi Church, I was greeted by a grim-faced Jasper and a group of pharmacists with beaming smiles. Since I'm not usually greeted, I immediately know this is an abnormal situation.
I look up at Jasper, wondering what happened, and Jasper, with a very reluctant face, begins to ask if I want to stay his child or become a child of Royne's house. I like Royne, but since I already think of Jasper as my guardian, I play along with a farce, saying, "Please don't abandon me, Father Jasper." At this, Jasper's face became even more bitter.
...Huh? Was this not the time to joke around?
When I ask if something happened, a pharmacist with neatly styled hair steps forward before Jasper. I don't have much interaction with this pharmacist, but I certainly know this person. He is the highest-ranking pharmacist at the Sedovara Church in Gurnol. Just like at the Menhishumi Church, the highest-ranking pharmacist in the church is called the Mentor.
According to the Mentor's explanation, the royal family of the Ivizia Kingdom has decided to reward the Sedovara Church for its great contribution toward the resolution of the Words disease. That reward is allowing them to make copies of the research materials of great figures kept by the royal family.
The Sedovara Church accepted this offer with great joy, but the copyist designated by the royal family was none other than Jasper. They believe that if Jasper, who has recently begun to produce remarkable results in Japanese research, does the copying, the revival of secret arts lost with the death of the witch will be accelerated.
"Um...? Are you saying Jasper is going on a business trip to the royal capital?"
I make a genuine comment, wondering how they could be so reckless toward the guardian of such a small child. However, this calm comment did not get through to the pharmacists of the Sedovara Church, especially the scholars researching Japanese, who are far removed from worldly matters. On the contrary, they are extremely excited, saying that the research materials of the great figures are not being copied in the royal capital, but have already been transported to the lord's mansion here in the town of Gurnol.
"Huh? Then, isn't it just that Jasper's workplace is changing?"
I turn my gaze toward Jasper again, wondering where the problem lies. Then, Jasper tells me the points of the problem in this story.
First, because the Sedovara Church has a prior record of burning research materials and prescriptions of great figures, the copying work will be carried out in a room guarded by knights. And, to prevent half-baked knowledge memorized during the copying process from being taken outside as half-baked knowledge, the copyist will also be confined to the lord's mansion until the copying is finished.
"How long will the copying take? About ten days?"
If it's about ten days, I feel like I can stay home alone. As I begin to count on my fingers, Jasper grasps my hand. The work of copying unreadable characters while even mimicking the handwriting will not end in ten days or a month. It will probably be a job that takes years.
"That much!? Does the Sedovara Church intend to take away the guardian from such a child for over a year?"
"Of course, the other party also 'knows' about you. That I have an adopted child (child) who is not yet ten years old. And then—"
And then, the other party apparently suggested that the dependent (me) should also live in the lord's mansion during Jasper's copying work.
...Wow, I understand why Jasper has a sour face now.
The reason the Sedovara Church is so eager to send Jasper, and the reason Jasper has a complex expression, are both clearly and cleanly understood. Behind the so-called other party, there is probably Alf. Alf, who seems to suspect me of being a reincarnated person.
In the end, I, who was to go to the lord's mansion under the guise of being Jasper's assistant, was given a child-sized white coat from the Sedovara Church. The clothes I usually wear are second-hand and a bit worn out. They seemed to think that this would be a bit of a problem for walking inside the lord's mansion. The consideration that as long as I wear a white coat, it doesn't matter if the clothes inside are worn out—is very typical of pharmacists.
...It's so spacious.
The building called the lord's mansion is so spacious that I feel a slight dizziness just by entering the entrance hall. It is a spaciousness that cannot even be compared to the entrance of the apartment that doubles as a bakery.
As I follow behind Jasper, who is following a middle-aged steward, the black dog, which also followed, walks behind me. Given that even the black dog is grouped as Jasper's family, it seems those three Black Knights were indeed monitoring me.
...The backyard is huge too!
In the backyard visible through the window, there are two men who seem to be gardeners. Besides them, although they are hiding so as not to be seen by guests, there are maids in places that are found by a child's eyes.
Upon arriving in front of the office on the second floor, the steward reports Jasper's arrival. As I watch Jasper's back enter the opened door, I suddenly realize.
...Huh? There's no need for me, the extra, to meet the most important person in town, right?
No matter what Alf thinks, I am just a child. Normally thinking, Jasper, who visited for work, is one thing, but there's no need for me, the extra, to meet him. Thinking in the style of my previous life, it's an adult invited to the mayor's house for work and their dependent. It's natural for the adult to greet them, but as for the child—
...No, as someone being welcomed into the house, I should at least confirm the face.
Changing my mind, I follow behind Jasper. The person sitting at the office desk installed by the sunny window was Alf, whose blond hair sparkled in the sunlight.
...Huh?