Melin's Salvation Plan

Chapter 3

Without mistake, ten children and Father Director sat together at the table.

Just like at lunch, Hope began his prayer for dinner.

I thought of Tepeo while pretending to pray, when we split ways earlier.

He’s probably having a non-food dinner with other kids who can’t sit at the table by now.

(t/n: In chapter 1, the porridge that doesn’t look like a food.)

I should at least take some bread secretly.

“Karen, you put the wrong tableware again.”

“Ah, I, I’m sorry.”

I felt familiar from the stuttering voice and raised my head.

The brown-haired girl sitting right next to me was urgently looking for a tableware.

Only then, I realized that the supporting character C’s name was Karen.

Karen picked up the right dish after being pointed out by Hope, but she just looked away at the plate as if she had no appetite.

Then, she lowered her head as if she were determined to do something.

“That….Fa, Father Director.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“Ca, can I ask you o, one thing……?”

Why does it feel like she is going to talk nonsense?

I internally hoped Hope wouldn’t listen to her.

But Hope nodded and signaled Karen to keep talking.

Karen trembled and tried to speak clearly.

“Yo, you know the new kid today, right….?”

If he’s new today.

Ah, crazy.

“I’d like to let her stay in my room.”

(t/n: I used ‘her’ instead of him because there was a misunderstanding to his gender.)

Again.

Tepeo told me his real name earlier, and this time unscheduled development interrupted us.

Why does this keep happening?

“If you’re talking about Tepi, I’ve already decided that she would stay in my room.”

Things were getting worse, so I rushed in.

I talked to Karen with a calm voice.

“Karen, you showed her to my room with me. So, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Karen said nothing with her mouth shut.

I don’t know what the hell she was thinking about when she said that.

I usually couldn’t even raise my head because I was scared of the Director. Just why all of a sudden?

“The other kids’ rooms were cold, and Tepi loved my room. Is there any reason for her to go into your room?”

Karen couldn’t answer. Then Hope took my side.

“I can’t help it because she is already in Melania’s room, Karen.”

“Bu, but…..”

“Stop, the food is getting cold.”

Karen seemed to want to say more, but perhaps because of Hope’s cold attitude, she just kept her mouth shut.

When I was relieved that the work was finished, Hope looked at me.

“And Melinia will stay for awhile after the meal.”

“…..Yes.”

Since he said that, I can’t remember exactly what I’m eating.

When I came to my senses, the table was already clean, and I was left alone at the table.

He sat next to me.

“So, is there any inconvenience?”

“……I’m doing well.”

“That’s a relief.”

His friendly smiling face was disgusting.

I was worried that if I stayed longer, I would really swear in front of his face, but thankfully Hope quickly came up with his point.

“The name of the friend you’re sharing a room with……Tepi? Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s good to be kind. The goddess will also praise your behavior. But……”

He leaned toward me with his nose in.

My whole body got goosebumps once his breath brushed my ears.

“That’s the room I gave you. It would have been nice if you had discussed it in advance.”

Instinct disgust began at the tip of my toes and hit me to the tip of my head.

“Are you not going to anwer, Melinia?”

“……I’ll tell you next time.”

He laughed as if he was satisfied with my answer.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t move a bit until he disappeared from my sight.

* * *

When I split ways with Hope and came up to the third floor, I found Tepeo standing at the end of the hall.

He is strolling in front of the door and seemed to be agonizing over whether it was okay to go in.

“Tepi?”

Tepeo turned his head like an arrow to my call.

“Ah, Melin.”

“Why are you not going in?”

Tepeo turned his head away from my eyes as I approached him while asking.

Wait, what’s wrong with his face?

“Are you hurt?”

He turned his head and remained silent.

“Tepi, look at me.”

I reached out my hand immediately.

Tepeo resisted weakly, but I was a little more tenacious than that. Eventually, I caught Tepeo in the face by me.

And I saw what he was trying to hide.

“You……”

Tepeo’s face was full of minor wounds.

It was like a scratch somewhere. For example, was on his nails.

Tepeo turned his head again, specializing in my hand, as if my eyes were burdensome.

“Was that right?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Who is it?”

“Just, it’s nothing.”

In fact, I already expected that Tepeo would be like this.

In the novel, Tepeo is treated as a target of children’s confusion in the nursery.

The children at the table are hard to touch, and the jealousy and anger that build up is not good at all.

Meanwhile, Tepeo appeared.

Having a room with Melinia, the theme word that couldn’t even sit at the table, he quickly became a target.

So it wasn’t surprising in itself.

The reason I was surprised to see him now was not because he was hurt, but because he was ‘today.’

“It’s all right, tell me. What happened to you?”

Why? It’s been more than a week since he came here that Tepeo started being kicked out.

Why? Tepeo was starting to be bullied so early, he has been more than a week after he came here.

My head has cooled down. This is already the third variable. Three times in just one day.

“……it’s because of me.”

No matter how well you know the content of the novel, it is difficult to copy the original Melinia.

That’s why unexpected things keep happening.

I managed to suppress my irritation and hugged Tepeo.

What will happen to this world if the burden distortion continues? What if the story itself begins to crumble?

“I’m so upset.”

“Melin?”

I already knew the answer.

At least the 《Azley’s glorious misfortunes》that I knew would disappear.

“It’s a mess…..”

And that meant fewer cards could be seen in Duke Hillderox.

“Melin, ho, hold on.”

At that time, Tepeo was pushing my arms.

Did I put too much pressure on my arm?

I let him go quickly.

I hugged him so hard, but his face was red.

“Do, don’t give me a big hug all of a sudden!”

The child shouted low.

“Sorry, were you surprised?”

“A little……Ouch.”

Tepeo was surprised to see if I accidentally touched the wound while trying to look at his cheek.

“Don’t touch it. It could get worse.”

He held my hand so that I could not touch the wound anymore.

“There’s medicine in my room. Let’s treat it first.”

“Medicine?”

“Yes.”

Tepeo looked curious about how I had the medicine.

“Edina gave us permission to use the nursery medicine. But she always said that there was not enough medicine.”

“……”

“Isn’t that funny? The temple-sponsored nursery lacks medicine?”

I’m sure, even if they don’t tell us, I would have noticed immediately that Hope was embezzling nursery funds.

“So I just stole the medicine.”

“What….!”

I put my index finger on my lips before Tepeo’s voice got higher.

He then shut his mouth immediately.

I put him up and squatted on one side of the room. It was the place where the floorboard protruded more than other boards.

When the wooden board was gently torn off, a small hidden space was revealed inside.

Tepeo’s eyes opened wide as he watched me.

“What’s that?”

“Survival fund.”

I put down the torn board and took out some medicine.

“It’s for my personal use, but you can’t use it unless you move it to the other side. It’s better to use it like this.”

When I gestured to him, Tepeo walked towards me like a gentle puppy who was obedient.

I sat him in front of me and tied his hair so that he wouldn’t get any medicine on his hair.

After that, I took out the medicine and applied a little to each wound.

“I’m just putting on a little bit because I’m not a doctor. Since you know where I’ve been hiding the medicine, you can find it and put it on frequently.”

“…..Okay.”

A silence filled the area for at least a minute.

I didn’t know because I was concentrating on putting the medicine to his wounds, but every time my finger brushed the wound, Tepeo closed his eyes tightly.

Does it hurt?

“Melin, you can stop now.”

“I haven’t finished it yet. Does it hurt?”

“No, it’s not like that…..stop for a second.”

Tepheo went so far as to push my hand out. What’s wrong with him?

“I’m not done with the treatment yet.”

“That’s not it, did you hear anything outside?”

“Sound?”

Later, I began to hear something as he said.

It was the sound of footsteps crossing the corridor.

“Edina’s coming to check our room……!”

“What?”