He wouldn’t ever come down here for fun, nor would he willingly associate with any of the people living here. Like he’d said to Miledi, he only associated with nobles.
“Yeah. Weird, right? I dunno what that little brat’s up to, but be careful. You’re the only reason I can think of for them to come down here.”
“Yeah, exactly. And the streets have been dangerous lately...”
“You’re referring to the missing people?”
“Mhm... That too. But the templar knights have been poking around the mine shafts as well. There’s no way those elite soldiers are there just to chat it up with the miners. Word among the adventurers is that there’s an insanely strong monster hiding somewhere down below. None of us are willing to go too deep, just in case.”
“I see...”
Fortunately, the serious topic managed to calm the horde of hormone-crazed girls.
Just then, Oscar and Miledi’s food arrived. The adventurers said their goodbyes and returned to their table.
Oscar eagerly dug into his food. After a few bites, he finally noticed Miledi wasn’t touching her food even though she’d said she was starving. He looked up at her.
“Miledi?”
“Hm? Oh! This looks great! Time to eat!” Miledi stuffed her face full of food.
Oscar felt a sense of foreboding. He hadn’t liked that thoughtful expression on Miledi’s face one bit.
Once they finished eating, Oscar was instantly on guard again. She isn’t really going to follow me back to the workshop, is she?
“Thanks so much for hanging out with me today! Can I come back again tomorrow?”
Well, I didn’t see that one coming.
He wanted to refuse, but instead he found himself saying something else.
“Even if I say no, you’ll come anyway, won’t you?” That was basically the same as implicitly giving her permission.
“Ehehe. See you tomorrow, then!” He realized too late what he’d done. Before he could call out to her, Miledi slipped into the crowds and vanished from sight.
Oscar scratched his head and began walking back to the workshop. He still needed to figure out what kind of excuse he was going to give his coworkers.
A week had passed since then.
Though she came and went as she pleased, Miledi had spent most of her time hanging around Oscar. At this point, all of the common citizens knew her.
Oscar spent most of his time with her complaining, but the others just took this as a sign of their closeness. After all, he was reserved and polite to everyone else.
And in fact, the two of them had talked quite a bit over the past week.
Most of it had been Miledi going on about something, but as time passed Oscar found himself replying to more and more of her questions as well. Though the conversations were never serious, Oscar still found himself learning more about Miledi. At the same time, he found himself opening up to her more as well. Slowly, he found himself giving up on getting her to leave.
Oscar walked down the twilit street, heading toward the orphanage. He made sure to check up on everyone at least once a week.
The pale orange sunlight cast long shadows on the ground, and the cries of crows echoed in the distance. For some reason, the sight made Oscar feel empty.
This was his first time coming back to the orphanage since meeting Miledi. The reason for that was because he was still a little wary. Though he may have opened up to Miledi, she was still a heretic. If the Holy Church found her, they’d kill not only her, but the people she’d been in contact with.
Still, if he’d really wanted Miledi gone, Oscar could have used his artifacts to chase her away whenever. At that point, even he didn’t fully understand why he hadn’t.
She’s no ordinary person, that’s for sure. There’s no guarantee I can beat her even with my artifacts, so it’s better not to poke the hornet’s nest. That’s right, I’m just being careful here. I’m just being cautious about how I handle her, that’s all. Oscar tried to convince himself that was the reason he hadn’t done anything more than yell at her over this past week.
However, things couldn’t continue for much longer. Miledi had already become rather well-known among the citizens. If she got herself arrested now, Oscar’s involvement with her would almost certainly come to light. He needed to put an end to their relationship once and for all.
“Sheesh, she’s such a handful...” Oscar surprised himself by muttering that. He hadn’t said it in his usual annoyed tone. No, in fact, he’d sounded almost happy.
No matter what he said or did, Miledi was always smiling. Though he’d said a few truly hurtful things, for some reason, she never lost any of her cheerfulness. It was infectious. Even Oscar couldn’t help but loosen up a little around her.
“What the hell’s wrong with me.” Oscar smiled to himself and shook his head.
Tomorrow. I’ll cut my ties with her for good tomorrow.
If he had to, he’d use his artifacts to force her out. Though she was pushy and always fooling around, if Oscar really put his foot down she’d listen. He hoped.
With that, his strange days with this odd girl would finally be over.
He’d go back to living simply, hiding his true strength and making basic necessities for the people. He’d be made fun of and insulted again of course.
However, that was a price he was willing to pay. Or at least, he thought it was. Regardless, he knew there wouldn’t be any problems with returning to his ordinary life.
“Hey there, O-kun! It’s me, Miledi-chan in the evening!”
“Why do you have to go and ruin the mood every single time! What the heck does Miledi in the evening even mean!?”
Miledi popped out of nowhere as always, making Oscar retort as per usual. The tension drained from Oscar’s body as he watched Miledi laugh. He’d psyched himself up to finally chase her away, but now this happened.
Miledi looked at Oscar’s soot-stained face and said something with a smile.
“I figured since you were heading this way after work, you’d be seeing your family today!”
“Yeah...”
“Hey, hey, O-kun. I want to eat Moorin’s food again. It was delicious.” Miledi casually invited herself over for dinner. Normally, Oscar would have adjusted his glasses and told her to get out.
That’s what Miledi was expecting as well.
However, contrary to expectations, Oscar just looked at Miledi with a serious expression on his face.
He’d steeled his resolve once more.
Miledi could sense it, too. The time had come for them to part ways.
“O-kun, can we talk for a bit?” Miledi’s smile faded and she spoke quietly.
Oscar deliberated for a few seconds before nodding.
The two of them silently walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.
The sun sparkled in the evening sky, as if determined not to set. Miledi’s profile was dyed bright orange by the light. Her blue eyes looked off into the distance.
Finally, she began to talk.
“My name is Reisen. Miledi Reisen. Daughter of Earl Reisen, and the last living member of the Reisen family. I come from a long line of executioners. We manage the Reisen Gorge Execution Grounds for the Grandort Empire.”
Oscar whistled in surprise. The Reisen name was so famous that even people in other countries had heard of it. The whole family supposedly died a few years ago... but I guess one of them survived. Miledi smiled sadly at Oscar and continued her story.
Her tone was serious throughout the entire tale, which she started from the very beginning.