Chapter 113: The Smart Bug

As I created plays about heroic tales with the children, sang songs, and drew pictures, the sun was already setting beyond the window.

‘Already…?’

‘I didn’t know playing with children could be this much fun.’

“Lycoris, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Grandma Karina asked with a gentle smile.

Seeing her warm, grandmotherly smile put my heart at ease.

‘Hmm…’

‘Still, I should eat with my master.’

‘He must be waiting for me.’

“It’s okay! We’ll eat at home! Cecilia, let’s go now!”

At my words, the orphanage children all wore disappointed expressions.

“Already…?”

“Play a little longer!”

“Eat with us!”

The children’s disappointed voices were cute.

Just then, Serina came trotting over and carefully held out a piece of paper.

“Lycoris… this is…”

‘Oh?’

When I took it, I saw it was a drawing made with crayons.

The lines were bumpy, but you could tell it was drawn with care, and the spots where the coloring went outside the lines were also cute.

It was a picture of me, Cecilia, and Miel floating in the sky.

‘To be honest, it wasn’t drawn very well.’

“Oh… you drew this so well! Thank you!”

“Heehee… I wanted to draw you because you’re pretty!”

Serina said, laughing shyly.

Receiving such a pure gift warmed my heart.

‘I want to give them something too…’

‘That’s right, I’ve always used my body for things like this!’

“Kids! Everyone, come out to the garden! I’ll give you a special gift before I go!”

“A gift!?”

“Really!?”

The children’s eyes sparkled as they rushed out to the garden in a crowd.

Grandma Karina and Iris followed, their faces full of curiosity.

‘Polymorph!’

In an instant, my body began to change.

Giant petals unfolded, and a sweet fragrance spread throughout the entire garden.

“Whoaaa!”

“It’s a flower!”

“It’s huge!”

“It’s so pretty!”

“It’s so amazing!”

The children gasped, letting out a stream of exclamations.

Grandma Karina wore a deeply moved expression, and Iris smiled as if to say, ‘That’s our Lycoris.’

Sweet, rich honey formed all over the pistil.

I carefully moved a root to scoop up my nectar.

As I moved the honey-laden root towards the children, they cautiously approached and tasted the honey.

“Wow! It’s so sweet!”

“It’s so delicious!”

The children shouted with delight, their faces utterly happy.

A few of the children closed their eyes gently, lost in expressions of ecstasy.

Grandma Karina also tasted a drop, her eyes widening in amazement.

“This… I’ve never tasted such a mystical flavor… It’s truly like food from the heavens…”

Iris also looked moved as she tasted the nectar.

Crunch, crunch!

Cecilia was already clinging to a stem, eagerly munching on a petal.

‘What the? When did you get up there?’

“Mommy is the tastiest in the whole world!”

Cecilia exclaimed with the happiest expression on her face.

‘Seriously… “Mommy is the tastiest”… That sounds like a line from a horror movie…’

Miel was also sitting on a petal, sucking up honey with its long, straw-like mouth.

Watching the two of them hastily eating the petals and honey, I realized I might have been feeding them too much human food lately.

‘Right, I should give them more when we get home.’

‘Especially cute Cecilia, she’ll get a lot!’

“It’s so good…”

“Yeah… I want to eat this every day…”

The orphanage children were still drunk on the honey, their faces blissful.

‘Good, good! A whole new batch of honey slaves has been added!’

‘From now on, no matter what they eat, it will taste worse than my honey!’

‘These kids will never forget the taste of my honey for the rest of their lives!’

‘And my honey will be added to the heroic tales, too!’

‘Heeheehee…’

After letting the children eat plenty more honey, I returned to my human form.

“How was it? Delicious, right?”

“It was so delicious!”

“I don’t think I can eat any other honey now!”

‘Perfect! Just as I planned!’

“Well then, we should really get going now!”

The children looked disappointed again, but this time they accepted it a little more readily.

Iris was saying her goodbyes as the children saw her off.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give Iris plenty of vacation time!”

“Lycoris, you come too!”

“And Cecilia and Miel!”

“That’s right! You all have to come!”

“We’ll show you the play when it’s done!”

The children told me, Cecilia, and Miel that we must all come back together next time.

‘Hehe.’

‘This feeling of being welcomed isn’t bad at all.’

A carriage was thoughtfully waiting in front of the orphanage.

‘Oho! How considerate!’

“Well, bye!”

I waved and got into the carriage.

The children waved back, seeing us off.

As the carriage started moving, Iris began to doze off.

“Iris, you must be tired, right? Just get some sleep!”

“I’m sorry… It’s been so long since I’ve seen the children…”

Iris apologized, but she soon drifted off to sleep.

‘She has every right to be tired. The kids were clinging to her so much.’

The carriage continued on its way.

Watching the scenery pass by the window, I thought back on my day at the orphanage.

‘Hmm… but what is it… there’s a nagging feeling…’

‘How should I put it, an unsettling feeling… I kept feeling like I had forgotten something important.’

“I feel like I’ve definitely forgotten something important…”

“Hmm?”

As I muttered to myself, Cecilia tilted her head in confusion.

Just then, Miel began to write something with my hair.

[ You have to go to the Adventurer’s Guild. ]

Ah, right! The Adventurer’s Guild! The SS-rank tag!

‘How could I forget something so important!’

I opened the window and shouted to the coachman.

“Coachman! Take us to the Adventurer’s Guild!”

“Understood!”

The coachman replied, changing direction.

‘Phew! That nagging feeling is gone now!’

The carriage arrived in front of the Adventurer’s Guild.

As usual, adventurers were gathered in a crowd in front of the guild.

“Huh? A noble’s carriage…?”

“Uh… I think I know what this is.”

“Me too. A really pretty girl is about to get out.”

“Wait a minute… isn’t that Lycoris…?”

“Don’t tell me she’s here to feast on adventurers’ blood…?”

“Eek! Run away!”

“Get out of the way!”

I hadn’t even gotten out yet, and the people vanished in an instant.

‘…? Seriously… It is me inside, but…’

‘I’m an SS-rank adventurer, you know!’

‘The heroic tales from the orphanage kids need to spread faster…’

As I was about to get out of the carriage, someone rushed out of the guild.

‘Oh?’

It was Guild Master Selina.

She still had the appearance of a bandit chief.

When I opened the window, Selina approached with an awkward smile.

“Haha… So it was you, Lycoris…! Here, this is your SS-rank adventurer’s tag!”

Selina handed over the new tag.

It was much more ornate than the previous S-rank tag, and it was embedded with a crimson jewel.

‘Did they intentionally make it red to match my color scheme?’

‘It’s very pretty, but… if Lotte were here with her upgrade, I’d be ranking up again right away.’

“Thanks, but why did you come out here yourself?”

“Ah… well, there have been a lot of adventurers who are afraid of you lately… Of course, I don’t believe any of those rumors…!”

Selina replied with a laugh, but then her gaze suddenly shifted to Cecilia, who was playing with Miel.

“Gasp…! Who on earth is this cute child!?”

“I’m Mommy’s daughter! Miss Cecilia!”

Cecilia declared boldly, hugging my leg tightly.

“L-Lycoris… you… you were married… and you have a child…”

Selina’s expression changed drastically, and her voice trailed off.

“What are you talking about! It’s the red butterfly that came with me last time, she polymorphed!”

‘Argh! It’s cute when Cecilia calls me “Mommy,” but it causes way too many misunderstandings!’

“Hup… My apologies… But I see the amazing spider and the giant wasp aren’t with you this time?”

‘Huh…? Lotte was taken by Nis-nim…’

‘And Glacia… where did she go…?’

“Lotte-unni is at home! Glacia-unni was abandoned!”

‘Ah, f*ck! I left her at the market before going to the orphanage!’

‘So that nagging feeling was about Glacia!’

‘I think I left her there for almost half a day!’

“Coachman! Let’s go back to the market!”

“What? To the market?”

The coachman answered in bewilderment as I shouted urgently.

“Yes! Hurry!”

“Uh…? Have a safe trip?”

Selina said goodbye in confusion, but I was already inside the carriage, glaring at Miel.

“How was the Adventurer’s Guild the important thing! We forgot Glacia!”

I demanded, poking Miel with my finger.

[ You forgot too, so why are you freaking out at me! ]

But Miel lightly dodged my finger and wrote with Cecilia’s hair.

“If you hadn’t mentioned the Adventurer’s Guild, I would have eventually remembered anyway!”

[ So f*cking ridiculous! And the reason I forgot must be because I caught your stupid-disease! It’s all your fault, Lyco! ]

“What are you talking about!”

I shouted and tried to grab Miel, but it dodged me with its quick movements.

Flap, flap!

“Agh!”

Miel flew around near the carriage ceiling to evade me, turning the inside of the carriage into a complete mess.

While we were in the middle of that chaotic chase, we arrived at the market.

Leaving Iris, who was sound asleep despite the noisy carriage, I got out.

‘How did she not wake up once? Did she pull all-nighters for days…?’

The market was still a wreck.

There were still no people around, only the destroyed shops remained.

I hurried to the spot where Glacia had been unconscious.

A part of me expected Glacia to still be lying there, but…

“Huh?”

Only the distinct impression where Glacia’s large face had been smashed into the ground remained.

‘Where did she go!’

I looked all around, but Glacia was nowhere to be seen.

I searched thoroughly between the destroyed shops and under the collapsed awnings, but there was no sign of Glacia.

“Glacia-unni! Where are you!”

“Glacia! If you come out now, I’ll give you honey!”

Cecilia and I shouted together, but only an echo returned.

It was clear that Glacia had truly disappeared.

‘Did she go back to the Lair by herself?’

‘But… knowing her personality, I have a feeling she ran away from home…’

“Whatever, it’s fine! She’ll come back eventually!”

Just then, one of my hairs was pulled out.

‘What is it writing now…’

[ Leaving Lyco is a sign of intelligence… what a smart bug. ]

“What!?”

‘How the heck does it know words like that!’

“You little wench!”

The chase with Miel began again.