78 - Teo and Mirshe
「Do not you bully my little sister!!」
「Ow!?」
There is a hand pulling my hair from behind with all its strength while shouting an utterly baseless accusation. I am starting to get used to this sudden violence too. My head hurt, but while holding my hair, I scratched the hand that was grabbing it.
「Ow!」
The hand was hastily withdrawn after being scratched, and I turned around. There he was, just as I expected. The same boy who suddenly pulled my hair at the martial arts tournament the other day. I had named him Marcel No. 3 when I came to tour the Menhishumi Church before.
「Why are you here!? Leonyaldo-san said you were not supposed to be at the church from autumn!」
「What are you doing here! Babies under seven cannot come to church!」
「Marcel No. 3 is the baby!!」
「What the hell, Marcel No. 3...」
As Marcel No. 3 pointed at me and shouted, Nils stepped in front of me and blocked his gaze. It did not seem like he was going to teach me social skills, but it appeared he would handle guard duty.
「The one who is a baby is Teo. Tina-sama is nine, and Teo is eight.」
...That is not what we are talking about right now!?
So it seemed Marcel No. 3, now known as Teo, was younger than me. Since he was big for his age, I had thought he was the same age or older.
Nils, who always wore a gentle, warm smile, corrected Teo's words in a calm voice. It seemed Nils was the type to live at his own unique pace. He was easygoing and slightly offbeat.
...Anyway.
「Teo, huh. Sounds like a weak name.」
When naming the bear stuffed toy a while back, one of Leonardo's suggestions had been 'Teo.' At the time I thought the lack of voiced consonants made it sound weak, but it actually seemed like the name of a yapping puppy that barked noisily.
「I am not weak!!」
Teo, who had been called weak, reacted to the mutter that slipped out. He seemed about to lunge at me, but Nils restrained him while speaking words of restraint. Having secured temporary safety thanks to Nils's hold, I completely ignored Teo.
「...Leonyaldo-san said this kid would not be here from autumn, but why is he here?」
「Teo was not diligent, so he could not learn what he should have in three months. So they decided to let him attend the church for another three months to see...」
The story about his poor performance was true, but it was a humiliating matter for Teo. Perhaps Nils was the type who did not like spreading bad rumors about others, as he furrowed his brows apologetically and told me in a small voice.
「...If he does not feel like studying, he should just not come.」
Coming to the Menhishumi Church itself was a matter of personal freedom, so I could not tell him "do not come," but I wished he would not come while I was attending. I had been relieved to hear he would not be here, so I had come to learn letters in peace, only to find the little brat who should not be here was still here, and on top of that he had suddenly picked a fight and pulled my hair. It was nothing short of a disaster.
「Let me go, Nils! I will show that coward how strong I am!!」
...Huh? Why am I the coward?
No matter how you look at it, Teo, who suddenly pulls hair from behind, is the coward. I do not even understand why my hair is being pulled in the first place. Bart giving him an iron fist punishment at the martial arts tournament, and him being restrained by Nils now. It is all Teo's own fault.
「Tina-sama, did you do something to Teo?」
「I do not know desu. I can tell that Teo, who always suddenly pulls my hair from behind, is the coward though.」
As I tilted my head with Nils, not understanding the reason, an impatient Teo shouted.
「It is your fault I could not see the martial arts tournament!」
His words continued with "I was looking forward to it," and I understood that the punishment of being locked up had worked as a punishment. I understood that, but I could not grasp Teo's argument at all.
「That is just what you get, is it not?」
Teo had been locked up on the day of the martial arts tournament because he had pulled my hair for no reason. If his actions had truly been justified by something I had done wrong, he would not have been put in a cell.
「There is no way they would let a ruffian who suddenly pulls people's hair into a martial arts tournament where lots of people gather.」
「It is your fault!!」
「Do not blame me for your own mess!」
No matter how many times I explained it logically, Teo showed no sign of understanding. He just kept screaming that I was the bad one while struggling to break free from Nils's restraint.
「What is all this commotion about?」
Eventually, Guide Anna must have heard Teo's yelling. She came outside.
「That coward is the one at fault, but Nils is getting in my way!」
Pointing at me accusingly, Teo screamed and tried to make me out as the villain to win Anna's support. As for me and Nils, we were already at a loss for words at Teo's incredibly dense attitude. I was too dumbfounded to speak, but I could not just stay silent and let him say what he wanted.
「Nils, please tell Guide Anna exactly what happened.」
I decided not to interrupt, thinking his words would be seen as more fair than mine. Adults would likely listen more easily to an older person trying to stop the commotion than to the one doing the shouting or the one being falsely accused.
「Teo suddenly pulled Tina-sama's hair.」
「It was not sudden! It is because she was bullying Mirshe!!」
Anna let out a deep sigh at Teo's yelling. It seemed she understood who was telling the truth without needing to hear any more.
「...Mirshe, is that true?」
「No. I was just asking the big sister for her name.」
She had been left behind during Teo's intrusion, but it seemed Mirshe was still there. We had barely met and things had gotten troublesome already. If Teo made her scared of me now, what would I do?
...Huh? Did he say 'my little sister'?
According to Teo, Mirshe was 'my little sister.' Come to think of it, her black hair was the same as Teo's. Considering that children under seven could not attend the Menhishumi Church, Mirshe would be at most eight and at least seven. If her brother Teo was eight, it was more natural to think she was seven.
...Is it not a bit too early for a kid from the lower town to be attending church?
Looking at Teo and Mirshe's clothes, it was clear they were not from a wealthy family. I had heard from Leonardo that children from poor families often had to work even at a young age, so it was rare for them to come to the Menhishumi Church right after turning seven. Yet here she was attending the church right after turning seven. Rather than a desire to finish her education early, I wondered if she was being sent as a deterrent for her roughneck brother.
...If so, that is pitiful. Babysitting a big brother who does not listen to anyone.
As I was silently sympathizing with Mirshe, Anna's questioning of Mirshe seemed to be over. Apparently Mirshe had simply wanted to become friends with me. She had just been brave enough to speak to me, but then Teo had burst in and started rambling about how she should not bully his little sister.
「...It seems Teo is not yet qualified to receive Menhishumi's blessing.」
Anna gently spoke words to the effect of "if you have no intention of learning, do not come to the Menhishumi Church."
「During the summer, you only got in the way of other children... you showed no willingness to learn at all, yet you promised me that in autumn you would study properly. You swore by Menhishumi, the god of knowledge, that you wished to receive the blessing of learning, and so I allowed you to attend the church again, did I not?」
「I will not tolerate you breaking that promise and hindering others who wish to learn,」 Guide Anna declared quietly. Admonished, Teo reluctantly shut his mouth and lowered his raised arm. Seeing this gesture as a sign that Teo had calmed down, Nils released his hold. But as if he had been waiting for that, Teo whacked me on the head.
「Ow!」
「Hey, Teo!」
Anna grabbed Teo's shoulder at his actions, which made it clear he had not reflected at all.
「Shut up! She is the one who is wro...」
I did not let him finish. I am basically a pacifist who dislikes conflict and can swallow a certain amount of unfairness, but there are limits.
...I am being pretty calm by not kicking him in a vital spot with my toes.
When I kicked up with the sole of my foot, pushing against Teo's stomach, Teo, who had been held by the shoulder by Anna, fell squarely on his bottom. He probably had not expected me, who had been enduring it all along, to fight back. Teo blinked dazedly with a face that did not understand what had happened, and when he realized he had been kicked by me, he started crying as if set ablaze.
「How uncool! After all the things you have done to me, crying when someone fights back. That makes you the coward.」
When I finished him off by spitting out "coward," for some reason I also got scolded by Anna.
「Tina, violence is not allowed.」
「I know desu. That is why I have been putting up with it until now. It is not the first time this kid has suddenly pulled my hair.」
I dumped everything about Teo's violence and verbal abuse up to now onto Anna, as much as I could remember. It seemed she had thought of me as a quiet, reserved child. By the time I finished, I felt like she was slightly creeped out.
Since he did not show any understanding even when admonished by adults and even hit me, it was only natural that I hit back, and I was not in the wrong. But when I argued that, I was instead told things like "be more ladylike since you are a girl" and "violence is wrong, first try talking it out." They did not seem to accept my argument that I had been doing exactly that and the result was today.
「...I understand desu. Next time I will not just swallow it as something kids do. I will report it to the knights as an act of violence.」
It seemed teachers in any world would dismiss things as kids' quarrels and not do anything. In that case, the new common sense in Japan was to report it to the police or a lawyer.
It was just a casual thought on my part, but these words had more of an effect as a threat on Nils than on Teo. The city of Grenore was different from Japan. The Black Knights served a role similar to the police, and the one at the very top of those Black Knights was my guardian. Nils appealed to me about what would happen to Teo if I actually did that, since I was not at fault, and I reflected on it properly. I only thought that having my hair suddenly pulled was painful and troublesome. I certainly did not want Teo dead. I did not think Leonardo would go that far, but I needed to be aware of it myself. Since I was treated as Leonardo's little sister, my words carried the same weight as a certain degree of unjust violence.
Realizing the danger of my own words, I thanked Nils for pointing it out and retracted my statement to Anna. However, I did not withdraw my statement about fighting back with my fists if he crossed the line. Anna also stopped telling me to stop using violence, having become convinced by Nils's explanation. She seemed to have realized that, at least in my case, striking back with hands or feet was actually the gentler response.
...I still do not like being treated as equally at fault though.
After that, under Anna's ruling, today's lessons were canceled for both me and Teo, and Teo was sent home. Since I could not leave the Menhishumi Church until my ride came, I needed to kill time inside the church.
...I do not care about the religion part, but I was kind of interested in the history lesson.
Thanks to Teo, I had ended up missing class starting from the very first session. I was resistant to having religion forced on me, but I had wanted to at least know what it was about, so it was disappointing. To pass the time, I strolled around the Menhishumi Church grounds. Nils, who had been assigned to help me with my studies, silently followed behind.
「Oh? Is that not Nils? What is wrong? Were you not supposed to be helping the knight order's young lady starting today? It is still class time, is it not?」
Suddenly a voice came from above, and I reflexively looked up. From a second-floor window, a woman with straight black hair was waving at Nils.
「She is one of the researchers here, Arabella-san.」
Explaining that to me, Nils looked up at the second-floor window. The woman introduced as Arabella seemed to finally notice my presence, and when our eyes met, she gave a slightly apologetic smile.
「Tina-sama was accosted by Teo, and the Guide prohibited her from attending the rest of the lessons. She is currently strolling to kill time until her ride arrives...」
「By Teo? That is rough. That little troublemaker spent the whole summer making everyone cry...」
She seemed like a rather spirited woman. Her crisp way of speaking somehow eased some of my resentment at being punished along with Teo. Feeling a bit cheered up, I reported to Arabella, 「I made him cry instead.」 Upon hearing that, Arabella blinked blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing.
「Come on up. Strolling around the church garden is not much fun, is it?」
Accepting the invitation, I entered the building again. The place Nils led me to was the Menhishumi Church's library.
「So many books...」
It probably had even more books than the Fortress Lord's Residence. As I looked around the room, it was like a forest of books and bookshelves.
「You can kill time here. We have plenty of books.」
「But I cannot read yet desu.」
「In that case, use Nils. He has been assigned to keep you company, after all.」
It was a rough explanation, but I understood Nils's role from Arabella's words. Just as I thought, Nils had been assigned as my attendant. He was a boy trained to give advice when I did not understand something in my studies, and to handle any difficulties with navigating the Menhishumi Church. Even if he sat next to me, there was no point in Nils taking the same lessons at this point.
「Is there any book you would like to read?」
As he explained which books were on which shelves, Nils asked me that, so I made a slightly unreasonable request. I wanted to know the content of the lesson I should have been taking today. At my request, Nils showed a slight thoughtful expression, but then fetched a book from the smallest bookshelf and returned.
「Today's lesson was a broad overview of history. It was a really general explanation, and the detailed parts were supposed to start from next time, so it is not a big deal that you missed it.」
After that preamble, Nils gave me a rough overview of this world's history. Or rather, perhaps its origins.
...It is a bit strange how religion and history are intertwined.
If you think of it as the history of religion, it is not strange at all, but the world's history and the origins of religion are intertwined here. I had vaguely assumed they would ignore the process of evolution and only teach convenient things like "God created this world. God created humans too. That is why humans are the supreme beings among living things," but it was not like that. The concept of evolution and the idea that a god created various things coexisted.
First, the gods created the universe, making things like the seas and the land. Then they created various animals and released them. The animals each evolved, increasing and decreasing in number while living alongside the gods, but at some point, a race called humans was born, bearing a form very similar to the gods.
After that, humans multiplied too much and started wars, and the gods abandoned humanity, creating the heavens and moving there. And so the gods disappeared from history. After that, the typical formation of nations began.
「...I heard the Recollection Festival has been around for a long time, but what part of the story does it fit into?」
「The Recollection Festival, or the Remorse Festival. The Remorse Festival was right around the time the gods abandoned the earth. Or rather, it was the primary cause that incurred the gods' wrath.」
「Eh? Is that so desu?」
Back when I lived in the village, it was just a day for apologizing for small pranks, but learning the history, it seemed to be a festival with an incredible origin. I could not say whether the gods truly existed, but it was undoubtedly a turning point in history.
When the bell rang signaling the end of classes, Nils's simple history lesson also ended. I went down to the first floor and exited the building, where I could already see Bart waiting to pick me up. Bart was surprised to see me coming from a different direction than the classroom, so I told him everything that had happened without holding back. I parted ways with Nils along the way. I had thought he would be going home too, but apparently he lived at the Menhishumi Church. He told me that while looking after me was his job today, his usual work was taking care of the researchers who became so absorbed in their studies that they neglected their daily lives.
...So he is already left home and is working at twelve years old.
I had vaguely assumed that twenty was the age of adulthood, but apparently the age of majority was different from Japan too. When I asked Bart, he said it was common for children to start working by age ten, and at fifteen they were considered adults and could marry.
...If working at ten is normal, then I should probably start working soon too!
As I started worrying about whether there was any work I could do with this small body, I heard footsteps chasing after me from behind. "What is it?" I wondered as I turned around, and saw Mirshe running toward me carrying a large bag.
「Um, Tina big sister, I am sorry about Teo today.」
Bowing her head politely, Mirshe apologized for Teo's rudeness. Mirshe was small, seemed honest and sincere, and was very cute. I wanted to dote on her. But sympathy came before cuteness. I wondered if she had to clean up after her brother's messes like this every single day.
According to Mirshe, the reason Teo, a little troublemaker who could not sit still in his chair during class, was being sent to the Menhishumi Church was that he was too unruly to keep at home. Apparently since he turned seven, his parents had been foisting Teo's babysitting onto the Menhishumi Church, seizing their chance.
...And yet he was the one who said this was not a place for babies.
Teo himself, who had mocked me for being a baby when we first met with my lispy speech, was being treated like a baby by his own parents. And the victims were the people at the Menhishumi Church and the students who had to take lessons alongside him. No wonder a researcher who normally would not have any acquaintance with him knew Teo's name.
...They should discipline him properly before sending him to church.
Teo not being able to learn was his own fault, but the other students caught up in it were too unfortunate. And I was one of those unfortunate students.