Chapter 11
Karina’s eyes widened.
Because of the chill she had felt a while ago she naturally thought that the Duke’s hand was cold, but they were rather hot.
“Wilder will investigate the rest.”
“You make me do all the hard work.”
Wilder grumbled but didn’t refuse.
The Duke put the magic stone in his hand and hurriedly left without saying hello as if he had nothing to do with this little store anymore.
Wilder plopped into his chair with a tired expression on his face.
“We’re gonna have to ban that kid from entering…”
“Do I have to go to work here starting tomorrow?”
“Huh? Of course.”
Wilder looked at Karina annoyed as if she was asking a lot of questions.
“You did well today. You just have to keep doing that.”
Karina was out of her mind but managed to find the courage to ask about magic.
“Well, is magic…”
“I know nothing of magic.”
Wilder waved his hand.
“The duke knows a little bit. If you’re curious, ask the kid. I won’t stop you.”
Judging from the way he spoke, the duke seemed to be at a level with knowledge of magic rather than a wizard.
Karina lowered her head.
“…You know I can’t do that.”
“Then you just have to keep doing what you did before. I mean, don’t try to hide what you see. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Wilder reached out his wrinkled hand toward her.
“Let’s do this, Mrs. Bloe.”
* * *
A week has passed.
Karina moved to a slightly better inn than the filthy one. It wasn’t very satisfying, but it was still an environment that’s good enough to be considered a home. The children also liked the new inn more.
Karina bought the children several toys that they could buy for a penny and allowed them to play with children their age nearby.
‘I can’t let you grow up like me.’
Karina still remembers her childhood.
‘My mother didn’t care about me at all, and Lord Lenque… Let’s not think about it.’
As much as possible, she wanted Roland and Melissa to grow up like the other children she envied as a child.
A life without any worries other than a little worry like having a birthday party even if it’s early and who to play with tomorrow.
As she was walking to the inn, the smell of sweet cookies hit the tip of Karina’s nose. She looked around and saw a stand selling cookies on the street.
‘Should I buy some cookies today?’
The food brought from Lord Lenque’s mansion ran out in three days. After that, the children and Karina only ate food for survival.
It didn’t seem bad to eat sweet cookies after a while. Karina paid 2 kibrin and bought a bag of cookies.
Ten minutes later.
Karina’s body stiffened as she opened the door of the room, which looked nothing like usual, and took a step in.
The cookie bag fell on the floor.
The room that had been tidy up in the morning when she left had turned into a mess, just like when Lord Lenque failed his magic experiment.
“Roland! Melissa!”
Karina kept calling the children until her throat hurts, but there was no answer.
‘Lord Lenque…’
Hot tears wet the floor. Karina wiped away her tears and looked around.
It wasn’t the right time for this. She needs to find a clue and go after Lord Lenque…
It was then.
A faint tear came back from the bathroom.
“Uh, mom…”
Karina ran to the bathroom at once. Her heart ached every second as if it was going to jump out of her ribs.
“…!”
She was relieved at the sight before her. Seeing Roland and Melissa put her mind at ease while also worried.
The two of them were covered in a lot of white powder, but upon closer inspection, you could tell that it was dough.
The two children were visibly relieved as soon as they found Karina, but they stiffened at the thought that they had been caught in an accident they had committed.
‘
It’s all made out of flour.’
If Karina hadn’t been frightened thinking it was Lord Lenque’s attack, she would have quickly noticed that the reason the room was a mess is the dough, hard-boiled eggs bought at the market in the morning, and apple slices.
“Mom…”
Roland called Karina with his head down.
“I’m sorry…”
“M-me too…”
Melissa peered up close to Roland and checked Karina’s expression.
Karina was lost in thought for a moment. She had no intention to scold the children from the beginning.
However, it’s not very pleasant for this situation to happen again, so she at least had to prevent it from happening again.
Fortunately, it was enough to be solved by only cleaning, but the entire room could have been blown away.
After imagining that case for a moment, Karina got a rough idea of the amount of compensation and was stunned by the amount of compensation she would have to pay.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
So it was necessary to give Roland and Melissa a sharp warning.
“How did this happen?”
“…We were going to make delicious bread.”
Karina blinked her eyes.
‘Ah.’
It seemed that the children were trying to make apple pie together. Of course, their method… is by using magic.
It was anticipated, as Lord Lenque was still poor at magic and dedicated to teaching powerful and destructive magic.
But Karina isn’t that angry. She even felt relieved.
‘I’m just glad they don’t feel bad about magic, enough for the children to use it.’
She doesn’t know about Melissa, but she was worried that Roland would never use magic again.
“This is… a blanket.”
Karina said, pulling something out of Melissa’s arms that looked like a huge lump of dough.
Melissa’s lips trembled.
“I was going to wash it. Tried to wash it…”
“I can wash it. You guys should have washed up first.”
“I- I will help you wash the blankets first.”
Melissa pulled the blanket.
Karina shook her head.
You can see how much effort she put in with her small hands, her hands were already shaking.
“It helps me to keep your bodies clean first.”
“But still…”
“Instead, help me when you’re done quickly.”
“Yes!”
Only then did Melissa nod with a relieved face. Karina began to prepare for the laundry. Even if it’s not a very cheap inn, it’s an inexpensive one.
There is no way that the bathroom attached to the guest room in such an inn was perfect. The term bathroom was also Karina’s idea who lived in a noble mansion, a washroom.
There was a floor with a drain hole so that the water drained well, a pump that only came out when you pump it with a lot of force, and a wooden barrel that was only big enough to fit a blanket in.
After taking the blanket out of the wooden barrel, Karina pumped it hard to fill the bucket with cold water.
Even with two children hanging on it, they couldn’t give enough strength, so pumping once or twice was the limit.
“You guys wash up with this. I’m going to clean up.”
Fortunately, Melissa and Roland were used to helping each other, so Karina could concentrate on doing the laundry and cleaning.
Karina, who had just finished washing the blanket, thought as she skillfully removed the dough from the wall.
‘It’s not in vain being a maid.’
Still, nothing didn’t jump up to the ceiling. Karina remembered how much trouble she had suffered when the creature’s intestines got stuck to the ceiling.
“Ugh…”
The feeling and bloody smell of that time seemed to come alive in her eyes, and her body trembled.
“We’re done. Can we help you clean now?”
Roland cautiously called Karina. Karina quickly checked the children’s condition.
The children tend to wash their hands pretty hard for an eight or seven-year-old, but there were a lot of things that were lacking in the eyes of an adult.
In particular, she couldn’t think of anything else other than their curly hair being tangled by lumps of flour dough.
Karina smiled and gently stroked the children’s heads.
“Hey, you’re not going to bake bread in your hair, are you? You’d better take it off before it hardens.”
“Ah…!”
At the same time, Roland and Melissa covered their mouths with a surprised look, and when they saw each other’s hair they hurriedly began to tear off the dough.
Karina looked at the scene for a moment and devoted herself to cleaning again.
It wasn’t just flour dough that stuck to children’s hair that had to be removed before it hardened.
How long has it been?
Karina wiped the sweat from her forehead and paused for a moment to rest. Maybe it was because she had been walking around all day, so her legs were shaking.
“Mom, are you sick?”
Roland carefully asked Karina, not removing the dough that had stuck to Melissa’s hair.
Karina blinked her eyes.
She was just exhausted from what happened today.
She felt more comfortable cleaning now compared to the pain she suffered from accidentally touching the magic stone wrong.
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“No?”
Roland was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth in a determined voice.
“If mom gets sick because of us… We’re going to the orphanage.”
* * *
(T/N: Roland and Melissa think they’re being a burden to Karina is just sad, I hope they’ll be able to realize they have nothing to be guilty about)