Note: I remembered mentioning I’ll finish this by August. But since that plan wasn’t achieved, I’ll just finish this arc as a commemoration of the end of August. That’s right! It’s a triple release!

[Elmer]

“El-chan, please feel free to look around.”

Lucsher-san left with a woman after leaving the reminder that she’ll find me when it’s time to go.

She said I can look around, huh…

After surveying my vicinity, I started walking to a random direction.

It was written in the entrance of this building that this is an orphanage. Although I was told to look around the town today, it’s likely that this is where we’ll meet up so just waiting here will be fine.

I was walking towards the center of the building when I heard someone’s voice. I got closer to the direction where the voice came from and sneaked at look at them.

There are kids playing. In Earth, those kids might be in kindergarten or early years of primary school. There are four kids gathered around, playing in the sand.

Should I talk to them? I considered what I should do while hiding.

Originally, I love playing with kids.

That’s why I want to talk to them. However, I need to confirm first that I do not look like a suspicious person.

I’m wearing Lucsher-san’s favorite choice of clothes and shoes. My hair isn’t disheveled, too. Alright. However, the bandage wound up around my body might be a little unusual, but it’s not a problem. They’re the wounds I got from standing frozen near Piett-san.

While I thought about that, someone from behind tapped me lightly on my shoulder

“Do you want to play?”

I looked behind me and saw a middle school kid.

What should I reply? I only want to kill time though.

“Okay, let’s go!”

I was thinking what to reply when the kid grabbed my hand and walked towards the sandbox. I nearly tripped when we finally reached the sandbox.

“Ah~! It’s Big brothe~r!”

“Are you going to play with us?”

When they saw the boy approach, the children gathered while saying those words.

“Yup! I’ll play with you!”

When the boy said that, all of them were simultaeniously delighted.

“Big brother, who is this kid?”

The kid that noticed me pointed his finger at me while asking that.

“This kid wants to play with you. That’s why everyone, let’s play with him, ‘kay?”

The boy who was referred to as ‘big brother’ pushed me in front of the four kids.

“Great! Come here so you can be our comrade!”

I wonder why is it?

My current mental age isn’t the same as my age right now (here, ‘big brother’ is older) but I, who is older than the four kids, got caught up in playing.

“Speaking of which, why are you here El? You aren’t from this neighborhood, are you?”

Castor asked while we were digging through the pile of sand. Castor was the big brother who tapped my shoulder from behind a while ago.

“I came with Lucsher-san.”

I answered while digging at the opposite side. Even though we’ve been digging for about two hours, it seems like it won’t come to an end if don’t make a tunnel on all four sides so we continued on doing the same thing. Castor judged that the four kids don’t have the motivation and sense to dig up the hole so I ended up doing it with him. The other children are busy moving around to compensate, so conversation naturally flowed among the two of us.

“With Lucsher? So you work for the Marquis?”

I think I’m not a servant since I do not work for them. However I myself do not know so the answer came out as a question.

“They look after me… I suppose?”

“Are you an aristocrat?”

I’m more of a former Prince rather than an aristocrat, but I feel like I can’t say that so I stayed silent. Castor’s hand stopped from digging the hole.

Castor’s gaze is painful. It’s uncomfortable. It may just be my imagination but I feel like he’s looking at my bandages and I tried to unconsciously pull on my sleeve to hide my wounds. I hate the thought that I’m no-good at magic and yet, it doesn’t seem like I’m good at cooking either.

“You… you’re incredible.”

“That’s not true.”

I don’t know what he meant by incredible. Speaking of incredible, it may be the fact that I don’t get discouraged from studying even if I’m considered stupid. If I’m a normal kid, I might be a failure.

“Now that you mentioned it El, you live in the West Vern House?”

“Yeah.”

I took away the shovel from the mountain that was destroyed three times, and I saw Castor poke the hole with a wooden stick.

“Matthias-sama is there?”

“He’s there.”

It’s Matthias’ house and it’s obvious that he lives there so I nodded.

“Is it true that Matthias-sama’s condition isn’t good?”

“Condition?”

“I heard this from a rumor, but it seems like his state is strange these days.”

His state is strange? I don’t even know what the heck is strange or what is normal. But I think Matthias is fairly normal.

“For example?”

“I don’t know much of it. I thought if it’s El then you’ll know, but… He played with us before so we’re worried about him.”

I recalled the recent impression Matthias left recently.

“He collapsed.”

That’s right. In the kitchen, smoke even came out of Lucsher-san’s fan…

“Is he alright!?”

“His head…”

It seems like it’s terribly painful. It looks to me like his forehead cracked.

With a strained expression, Castor stabbed at the sand hill desperately.

“Please ask Matthias-sama if he’s alright!”

“Yeah. Got it.”

[He asked “Is Matthias’ head alright?”] Castor’s message was engraved into my head firmly.

When Castor gave the order that entering one meter radius from the sand hill is prohibited, Lucsher-san’s attendant came to announce that it was time to go.

“If it becomes difficult, you can come to us anytime!”

Castor hugged me tightly as he said that.

“Yeah.”

I’m glad that I was able to make friends today. Do people say goodbye in this world with watery eyes even though this isn’t the last time we’ll meet?

“Come again, okay?”

Saying goodbye to that warm person Castor and the children, we then left the orphanage.

“El-chan, did you have fun?”

“Yeah.”

What should I talk about today? I spontaeniously showed a rare smile while I think about that.

“Big brother, big brother!”

In the courtyard where the sun is about to set, a girl holding a shovel in one hand pulled on the boy’s hem.

“Big brother, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought that although I’m being cared of right now, if a small child like that isn’t discouraged even though he’s being mistreated, then I should also need to give it my all. Well, shall we go?”

He muttered while brus.h.i.+ng off the sand in the girl’s clothes and then holding hands with her.

The distant shadow of two people stretched over the sand hill.