In the end, the kids didn’t wake up in the middle of the night.
As the sun rose, the sister Rosie stirred and woke up before I could wake her up, but that was a good thing because it was time for her to get up.
“Big brother, wake up!”
Oliver didn’t wake up for a while even though Rosie was shaking him, but after a while he suddenly raised his head and looked around.
“Good morning, Oliver. I’m going to take your temperature.”
“Huh? Ah. Okay.”
Oliver, looking around with his hairy head, nodded as if he couldn’t quite comprehend the situation. Come to think of it, they fell asleep at the clinic yesterday, so this was the first time they’d seen my room like this.
“This is my room in my house. You fell asleep after eating dinner at the clinic yesterday, so my dad brought you here.”
“Oh…”
I feel like he’s dazed, as if he’s still dreaming.
I quickly take their temperatures and write them down before I forget. Today’s temperatures are just as high as yesterday’s, but neither of them seem to be feeling unwell.
“First, I’m going to take off your wristbands. While you’re wearing these, if you leave this room your body will go numb. You’ll feel a shock.”
“Shock?”
“That’s right. It hurts, so you mustn’t leave the room while wearing this, okay? I can take it off in an instant, so be sure to tell me.”
After I have him pull on it himself to make sure it won’t come off, I use magic power to remove it.
“It’s magic.”
“Magic!”
Although it is something that children might dislike as it is similar to handcuffs, they are genuinely happy with it, as if they had found a new toy.
Since there is no option to not wear it, I would be happy if they can enjoy it.
After removing the wristbands, I turn the doorknob and open the door.
“You shouldn’t touch the doorknobs or windows either. They’ve been painted with something that will poison you if you touch them now.”
“Yes.”
“Yees.”
Oliver replied, and Rosie echoed him.
“This room is currently being used by the Saint Alice whom you met yesterday, and the priestess Sylphia, so you must not touch this room either. We will be eating in the living room on the first floor, just down the stairs.”
“I want to eat!”
“I’m hungry.”
I took them down to the first floor, where my father was already setting up chairs and a table in the living room.
Since we were just two people, it was not normal for us to have such a large group of people to eat together. So he had to carry chairs from his workplace, the store.
“Good morning. Did you three sleep well last night?”
“good morning”
I nodded as I returned the greeting to my father. My body was a little sore from sleeping on the floor, but I think I slept well.
“We slept well. Have you received any letters today?”
“Nothing has arrived yet. If you’re curious, why don’t you ask Alfie how Theo is doing?”
“It’s okay. I’m sure they’re busy too. It’s not like I have anything important to say.”
My father knew exactly who I was waiting for a letter from. It was embarrassing, but it couldn’t be helped since Theo’s magic circle was connected to the one used for trading at the store.
There really isn’t much point in doing that.
I just wanted a little boost of energy, so it’s really mean to ask Theo for a letter like this.
“Good morning, everyone.”
As we were talking, Alice and Sylphia came downstairs, so I quickly toasted some bread and made some sandwiches with the leftover meat and cheese.
Unfortunately, there were not enough plates, let alone spoons and forks. The only thing we had was cups for customers, so we could manage, but there were not enough of anything else. So we had to put the food on a large plate and have everyone take their own portion and eat it.
I’ll ask my grandfather later if he has any children’s plates.
Since Alice is a saint and a noble, I thought she might dislike eating with her hands, but during the maga subjugation, she would only eat what was available at the time, so it wasn’t a problem. If anything, Sylphia, who comes from a viscount family and is always at the temple, seemed to be more confused about eating with her hands. However, seeing Alice eating without complaint, she also seemed to have decided to swallow whatever she was thinking along with the bread, and said nothing.
The children don’t have any problems either, but Rosie spills a lot, so we find that we need to use a tray for her to eat from, and we realize that we need some dishes as soon as possible.
Also, judging from the fact that their clothes were getting dirty from the food, they urgently needed a change of clothes. However, it might be difficult to prepare everything in the village.
After feeding them, I washed their faces, and accompanied them to the toilet — and before I knew it, I hadn’t even started getting ready. Considering the time we had to leave, this was bad.
“Amelia, I’ll watch over the two of them, so prepare for the subjugation.”
“…I’m sorry, Dad.”
I wanted to take responsibility for looking after them, but it just wasn’t going well. But this was no time to sigh.
“Both of you. I, your older sister, will read you a book.”
It seems that Alice will look after the two of them who are bored and restless.
There is not a single doll in this house. I regret that I have only been thinking about treatment. Children are not property, so I should have paid more attention to their surroundings.
I busily gathered up mushroom spores, plant seeds, and magical tools that might be useful, and when I returned to the living room, the children were reading a book with Alice.
“What does it say?”
“These seem to be the names of the book’s owners. They say Grace and Amelia.”
“Grace is my mother’s name. It’s written here.”
I hadn’t really read fairy tale books lately, so I didn’t know my mother’s name was on it. My father said my mother bought it for me, but maybe it was originally my mother’s and she gave it to me.
“Big sister Alice, what’s next?”
Alice seems pleased that the lisping Rosie calls her big sister.
“Shall we continue after we move to the infirmary? Sister Amelia, is it okay if I take this book with me?”
“Not your sister, but that’s okay.”
Unfortunately, I don’t have any toys that children would enjoy. They were having a great time with the wristbands, so I thought I might be able to give them some fun with the magic tools, but I’d be worried that they might get hurt if they played with them carelessly. If they uses them, they can only do so when I’m with them.
It would be nice if the child who came to the village with his mother on the first day could play, but now that their monsterization is progressed, his mother will probably be wary of them because of their appearance. So a book is no big deal.
“But please treat it as kindly as possible.”
“Yeah”
“Understood”
After receiving a cheerful reply, we head off to my grandfather’s clinic.
As they were doing this, they suddenly noticed that they were both scratching their bodies.
“Maybe your body is itchy?”
“Yeah”
“Rosie too.”
Seeing them scratching their bodies, I wondered if it was because I hadn’t given them a bath, but no matter how I thought about it, there just wasn’t enough time.
Even if we provided a bathtub and soap, Rosie probably wouldn’t be able to do it on her own.
“Just tell Grandpa what’s wrong and ask him to help you. Alice can heal the injured, and holy water can cure the symptoms of monsterization. So there should be enough time to give them a bath and apply ointment.”
“But should I not be the one to take care of them? I brought them here myself.”
“It’s necessary for Amelia to take responsibility for their treatment and future plans, but no one expects you to be able to raise a child all by yourself, so rely on them. In fact, the old ladies in the village have better child-rearing skills. I used to get told off all the time if I wasn’t good enough.”
“Father?”
Everyone relied on my father when he was helping with rescue efforts in the neighboring town, so I couldn’t understand why he was getting scolded so often.
“No man can become a father from the beginning. You grow up with your child and then become a parent. So when I tried not to rely on anyone when I wasn’t fully grown up, they got really angry.”
My father chuckled at this.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!
