A cold voice that sounded more irritated than Oscar felt punctured the silence that followed.
“Aren’t you just a loser right now?” Dylan and the others turned around in surprise.
The person who’d spoken was Ruth. He was looking down at his plate. Ruth had spiky black hair, and had recently turned eleven.
“Hey, Ruth!” Dylan yelled at Ruth. However, Ruth looked up from his plate and glared at Dylan.
“It’s the truth! Even though he works at the Orcus Workshop he doesn’t make any weapons. He’s just a loser who only takes requests from regular citizens! Everyone knows it!” Ruth pointedly avoided looking at Oscar.
Like Oscar, Ruth was a Synergist.
Among the orphans, he was the one who had looked up to Oscar the most. When Oscar had still lived at the orphanage, Ruth had followed him around everywhere. They both had the same striking black hair, and people had often thought them to be actual siblings.
“Ruth, apologize to Oscar. That was uncalled for.” Moorin had been smiling the whole time until now, but Ruth’s words made her frown. Her tone was soft, but firm.
Ruth hesitated for a second, but then he stubbornly repeated himself.
“But it’s true! If he’s not a loser, then he should show it to everyone! If he showed them how strong he really was, then all those dumb people would shut up, but he doesn’t do anything! And you know what, it’s because he can’t! He just grins like an idiot all the time and doesn’t say anything! He’s just a weakling who doesn’t want to fight back!” It was like a dam had burst inside him. Once the words started flowing out, he couldn’t stop.
It had felt like a betrayal, seeing the man he’d idolized so much end up like this.
Oscar understood that as well, so he didn’t say anything. He just smiled his usual smile. If he really was that great, he should show it. If he wasn’t, then it’d just hurt Ruth even more.
Ruth had wanted Oscar to argue back, to say it wasn’t true. Instead he got Oscar’s smile, which only annoyed him further. Ruth stood up, unable to bear staying in the room any longer.
“That’s not true!” A cheery voice stopped him.
“You think O-kun’s amazing too, don’t you, Ruth-kun? I can tell.”
“I-I do not!”
“Yes you do~ My special Miledi eyes can see through everything! I know exaaactly how you feel~ You actually think O-kun’s amazing, I know!” Miledi said smugly.
Everyone stared at Miledi in surprise, even Oscar. Her tone was as cheerful as always, but her words had a strange weight to them.
“This is why I wanted to see O-kun. I’ve spent so long searching for someone like you.” She turned to face Oscar, her gaze piercing through him.
She spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I’ve finally found you.” She closed her eyes and smiled.
She looked sincerely happy that she’d been able to meet him.
Oscar felt his heart skip a beat. What on earth does she even know about me?
Yes, surely his heart must have skipped a beat because he was worried how she knew so much about him. Definitely not for any other reason. At least, that was what Oscar kept telling himself. He adjusted his glasses to hide his expression.
Unfortunately for him, Miledi’s eyes really could see through everything.
“Oh my, doth mine eyes deceive me? O-kun, did your heart just skip a beat? Was my smile that captivating? Well, was it? Come on, say it~”
“Shut up, you’re annoying.” At that moment at least, that was how he truly felt.
Miledi and Oscar’s exchange dispelled the strained mood that had fallen over the dining table and everyone returned to their dinner.
Even Ruth sat back down and returned to staring sullenly at his plate.
However, Miledi’s words still swirled around in the back of Oscar’s mind.
He didn’t know what she’d come to him for, but he could tell it was extremely important to her.
Her declaration had almost sounded like a profession of love. Corrin and Katy certainly seemed to think that was what it had been, at least. They kept on looking back and forth between Miledi and Oscar.
“Ahem... Miledi-san, now that everyone’s eaten, I think it’s time you tell us why you’ve come.”
“Come on, don’t be so formal. We’re friends, right, O-kun? You don’t have to act so distant!”
“What do you mean, friends? I just met you today. More importantly, why—”
“Not telling! Not unless you call me Miledi-tan. And put some feeling behind it, okay?”
“H-Haha... You’re an interesting one. Anyway, enough with the jokes—” Oscar’s patience was running out. Sadly, Miledi didn’t seem to care.
“Wait, don’t tell me the reason you’re being so cold to me is because... you already have someone you promised your heart to!?”
“What!?”
“I see... I understand now. My superior intelligence has deduced the truth. I should have expected O-kun would want to make Corrin-chan and Katy-chan his wives!”
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll sew your big mouth shut for you.” Unable to contain himself anymore, Oscar lashed out at Miledi. At the same time, Corrin and Katy gasped.
He turned and saw Corrin was blushing furiously. Katy, on the other hand, wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“Onii-chan, do you really want to marry me?”
“W-Well, I don’t want to marry him! B-But if Onii insisted, then maybe...”
They’d taken Miledi’s words seriously. Meanwhile, his brothers looked at him in disgust.
“Onii-san, I respect you, but this is a little too much...”
“Tch... I should have known the loser was a pervert too.”
They’d taken Miledi’s words seriously as well. Dylan and Ruth edged away from him.
Then, Miledi delivered the finishing blow.
“Oh, O-kun... you’re such a pedo!”
Oscar adjusted his glasses again, losing control of his temper entirely.
“That’s it. You’re coming with me, you fucking bitch!”
Oscar grabbed Miledi by the collar and started dragging her outside.
The moon’s pale light shone through the gaps in the clouds. Oscar and Miledi stared at each other in the orphanage’s backyard, underneath the beautiful half-moon that would surely become a crucial part of the memory of their first meeting...
Though Oscar had tossed her out of the door, she’d seemingly ignored gravity and lightly landed on her feet.
“O-kun, you monster! I can’t believe you’d throw someone out of your house like that! You’re not human!”
“Says the girl who just ignored gravity.”
Oscar sighed. He knew that if he let himself be led along by this girl their conversation would never get anywhere. He glared sharply at Miledi, displaying a grim expression that he’d never shown to the kids.
“So what do you really want with me? I played along with your dumb game. It’s about time you came clean.”
Throughout the meal, Oscar had worried she might try to take the kids hostage.
Moorin and the kids had both taken a liking to her, which meant she probably wasn’t someone evil.
However, she knew things she shouldn’t. She claimed she’d come to meet Oscar, but instead of going to his house she’d headed straight for the orphanage.
Intentionally or not, she’d basically said “I can get to your family any time I want to.”
And that was why he’d changed tactics.
If the kids had been wrong about her and she did mean them harm, then he’d eliminate her without a second thought.
“Don’t glare at me like that~ Didn’t anyone ever teach you to treat girls nicely?”
“......” Oscar’s only response was to glare harder. He didn’t look anything like the loser everyone thought him to be.