“Is this the one?” Halion asked him, spewing cigarette smoke towards the child’s direction.
Instead of being surprised or amazed at a fairy about the size of two fingers, the child just looked at him with an expressionless face, and Halion, who usually hated humans, snorted and said that his expression was unfortunate.
“Why did you pick this up?”
Both seemed to be very difficult to get close to. Rafi smiled awkwardly between them.
“It rained a lot that day, and he got hurt. If I left him alone, he might have died.”
“He wouldn’t have died. How can he die from the rain when his body is so strong?”
“He got seriously hurt. It’s much better now.”
“If he was going to get better in a few days, he wouldn’t have died in the first place.”
“How could I guarantee that?”
That day, he had grown tired of taking care of the child, so he did the task that he had postponed, and went to visit the witch’s grave.
Fortunately, the tomb was not greatly destroyed. Rafi gathered up the scattered soil, patted it flat, and decorated it with flowers that had been broken off in the field.
When he arrived at the grave, he realized that he had once again forgotten the scissors.
It was all because of the child who strongly refused to stay at the house alone. Rafi ultimately decided to take him in a droopy barrel, but the child had no shoes and Rafi’s shoes were too small to fit his feet. Eventually, he gave the child the witch’s old fur slippers that she had only worn inside the house in winter.
So, the child now looked rather pathetic.
The shirt, which had been forcibly stretched out by adding cloth, was shabby, and the fur slippers on his bare feet were well out of the season. Regrettably, his face was still handsome.
It was fortunate that this was a forest. Even if the child looked like a beggar, there was no one to look down at him.
He had thought there would be no problems even if he ran into Halion on his way inside the forest and declared that they would pick up mushrooms to eat in the evening after he finished his business at the tomb. Because Halion, as a fairy, had no desire to interfere with the appearance of humans.
But a problem arose. Halion had started nagging the child.
Rafi looked at the child’s expression, and he felt bad for him.
Wouldn’t it hurt his feelings to hear this out of the blue?
If he knew he’d run into Halion, he would have paid more attention to the child’s appearance. He had originally been quite handsome, after all, and would have looked put-together if he dressed up properly. Rafi was a little upset that the child still had to hear Halion’s harsh words.
“The forest is dark and big. This child was exactly what the witch was talking about.”
“Where would he go? His skin is so pale and his eyes are sparkling like that. He only looks like this now because he doesn’t have clothes to wear at home…”
Halion clicked his tongue.
“Who cares about clothes? That’s what humans do.”
“Otherwise, there’s no reason to be pessimistic.”
“That’s the way it is, the deceit. In human terms.”
With those words, he looked back at the child with a new light. The child, his expression silent, did not look very good, but didn’t seem deceitful.
“It’s because there’s a lot I don’t know that I’m not familiar with. He’s still young compared to his physique.”
Rafi used the word “young” to imply that he appeared to have a developmental disability.
“He’s young, but he’s carrying things like that.”
Halion pointed between the legs of the child with the tip of his chin. Rafi’s ears, who had already seen what he was pointing to, turned slightly red.
“……Regardless of that.”
“Are you siding with him just because he’s also a human being?”
“What are you talking about?”
Rafi smiled awkwardly again and reached out his palm to Halion. He had meant to stop taking him home. Halion would not have encountered him while wandering in the forest without work, and he would have left the house on purpose knowing that he was nearby.
Halion shook his head and finally said something he didn’t want to hear.
“Hey. Kick him out. There’s nothing good about keeping things like that around for a long time.”
“Until he gets better. Are you coming home?”
“Of course, I’ll go. What do you want me to do here alone?”
It was time for Halion, who was sitting on a small branch, to move to Rafi’s palm.
“Oh my god!”
Suddenly, Rafi’s shoulder tilted back. It was because the child pulled him from behind as if hugging him.
“Why are you doing this? It’s dangerous!”
Halion almost fell off the branch. The body of an old fairy was bound to be as fragile as a dry fallen leaf. There could have been a big accident.
The child, who was biting his lips, slowly opened his mouth .
“Two times.”
“….What are you saying?”
“You laughed. Twice. To that one.”