Chapter 4 – Ririi’s first act of affection

The third day.

The elf that seemed to have given up on everything finally seemed to realize something changed.

Like ‘oh, something’s different’.

That sign came from her tiny hand.

“…Oh?”

I woke up, and noticed right away, because we were sleeping close together in the same bed. I smiled when I looked at her, still sleeping.

She was actually holding on to my shirt. She had one thumb in her mouth, and the other hand was holding my shirt. I didn’t know if it was on purpose, but figured she wouldn’t do that with someone if she was wary of them. I figured she might be opening up to me a little.

“…It looks like today’s going to be a good day.”

I felt like even though I had no idea where to even start, my project of raising her was working out somehow. Her heart was regaining its shine slowly, and once I realized that, I just had to dash forward.

And so, I kept staring at her with a creepy look on my face until she woke up.

◆

I hoped she would start to really look at me after that, but childcare isn’t that easy.

“My… Name… Is… Weiss… Get it?”

“…”

“Can you… Tell me… Your name?”

“…”

“…No good uh?”

I sat Ririi on a chair, crouched to meet her at eye level, and tried to speak with the softest voice I could, but Ririi still wouldn’t respond to anything.

I figured that would be the case, but I didn’t know what else to do.

I mean, it wasn’t like teaching words to a toddler. In that case, you’d teaching more things to someone that already understood to a certain extent. Trying to make someone understand in the first place was totally different.

“…I need to do something about this unresponsiveness first…”

I decided to tackle one problem at a time. First, the lack of any reaction. Once that was cleared, I’d start teaching her words. And there was still the matter of her name too.

Again, her name is Ririi now, but she didn’t have one at the time. I was in the process of teaching her words, also to decide what her name would be.

“…I mean…”

Thinking about doing something about her unresponsiveness was easy… But how would I tackle that exactly?

Why was she so unresponsive anyway? What happened to her heart?

I didn’t know anything about kids. I’m an adult, and obviously I was a kid once too, so I figured maybe I’d learn something if I dredged up those memories.

And so, I sailed on that sea of memories for a while.

◆

Unlike most people in Zenith, I was born to a very normal family. I was born and raised in the capital, and probably received as much love from my parents as an average person. I haven’t seen them in ten years, but they’re probably still living in the capital, worried about me because I ran away right after graduating.

I feel sorry about that.

…But there was nothing I could do. Those teachers, all of them, were pushing me to be an executive in the ministry of magic.

Apparently I was an unprecedented prodigy in the capital when it came to using magic, but I couldn’t care less about that, so I ran away. And after wandering around aimlessly, I settled here in this town of villains.

It was a good thing that it was hard for information to leak out from Zenith, because I heard they still hadn’t given up on trying to shove me into the ministry of magic.

Well, nevermind that, I was trying to think of the past.

That said, I couldn’t remember it very well. The last ten years were just too packed, and they pushed back the memories from when I was living in the capital.

I remembered my father’s back being large, the feeling of security when my mother held me, and other abstract things like those. Of course, I had no idea how I learned to speak.

That’s probably the same for most people. It’d be pretty scary if someone had vivid memories of when they were little. In a way, the fact that nothing big enough to become a memory happened is a great blessing. There are probably many people in Zenith who carry with them fear and hatred from when they were little.

“…Maybe I’ll go out.”

I figured the answer wasn’t in my memories, and I might as well ask someone else.

Horo did tell me the previous day that I could ask her anything, so I figured I would take her up on her offer right away.

“I’m going out for a while, but I’ll be back soon, so be a good girl.”

I pat Ririi’s head, as she sat on a chair and looked at nothing with a blank expression as always. And then I headed towards Horo’s store.

“Excuse me.”

Horo’s store was empty as always. Actually, that was only my second time there, so all I knew was that it was empty in those couple of times. I was confused about how much Zenith, a town filled with men, really needed a clothing store for women.

“Welcome… Oh, it’s you Weiss. What? Here to ask something?”

“Yes, just a bit.”

Horo had her elbows on the counter when I came in, and then stretched when she saw me. That wasn’t a good way to greet customers, but then again, no one in Zenith would care.

“It’s about the elf.”

“The one you’re keeping?”

“Yes.”

Keeping? Typical of Zenith. A place where slavery was normal.

“She doesn’t react to me at all when I talk to her. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what to do.”

“Ah… Yes, she was like a doll when I was dressing her too. But aren’t slaves typically like that? Have you ever seen a lively looking slave?”

“I guess you’re right, but she really doesn’t show any reaction whatsoever.”

“That’s true. But what do you want to ask?”

“Tell me how to make her feel better.”

Horo put her hand on her chin and groaned.

“…I dunno. I’m guessing the cause is the way she lived until now. I can’t really help you with that, because it’s not like I have any experience raising kids either. Sorry Weiss.”

“It’s all right. Sorry for the weird question.”

I waved my hand, and just as I was about to leave, Horo called out to me again.”

“Ah, Weiss. Maybe Loretto knows something. He has five kids, doesn’t he?”

“Loretto… That might work.”

Although at that point, he was the owner of an old bar and an old man himself. It had probably been decades since he raised those kids.

“How about we go there tonight? I haven’t gone out drinking in a while.”

“That’s what you’re really after, isn’t it?”

“Of course not! We don’t want you getting home too late, for the sake of that elf kid, so let’s meet there at seven.”

“…Just deciding everything for yourself, aren’t you…”

Would that old man really know how to heal that slave girl’s closed off heart? I didn’t expect much from him, but I was grasping at straws at that point. And so, I accepted Horo’s invitation.