A person who has never once rested…

“So, how on earth does playing end up with the lodging in this state and a child’s body like this?”

I picked up Maki’s head and glared at Dale, who was crouching down in front of me.

The child who was crouching as if about to perform a dogeza at any moment.

“W-Well…”

Does he feel responsible for the surroundings ending up like this?

Certainly, as Ratel and Maki are children quite far from normal, there’s a risk of them going berserk.

That’s why I valued Dale’s role with his nullification ability, and emphasized that point before leaving.

But for the result to be in this shape… Yes, it’s also my mistake for entrusting judgment to a child who’s only 14 years old.

I should have at least told the surrounding holy knights to pay more attention to watching over them.

“Uu, uuu…”

As I was racking my brains recalling that point, Dale gradually started tearing up.

It seems he’s misunderstanding that I’m blaming him. Just as I was thinking I should try to persuade him with words since I wasn’t planning to scold him anyway…

“It’s my fault.”

The barbarian kid revealed his presence, overtaking Dale.

As I looked up slightly, I saw him looking at me with the same indifferent gaze as usual.

Even if he caused a big accident, you’d think he’d be flustered at least once, but why is this barbarian kid so docile?

“…Explain.”

Still, I’m curious what he’ll say, so let’s listen for now. As I granted permission to speak, Ratel soon began explaining to me.

“After you left, Teacher, I watched the two of them play.”

“Uh-huh, yeah. You just watched?”

“Yes, and then a mosquito appeared in the room…”

“And you got excited chasing the mosquito and ended up smashing everything around, is that it?”

“…That’s right.”

Certainly, I’ve gotten mad because of mosquitoes many times too, so I can’t say I don’t understand.

But this child is of barbarian origin. Even excluding anger management issues, if he unleashes his physical abilities without control, the surroundings are bound to become a mess.

It’s fortunate that this child has a docile personality; if he was even a little aggressive, I wouldn’t have given him freedom just by preparing countermeasures for anger management disorder.

“…Ratel. Head.”

“Yes?”

“I told you to lower your head to the teacher.”

“……”

Ratel silently lowered his head towards me.

I flicked his forehead sharply.

So sharply that it made a snapping sound.

“…Mm.”

Yet the kid just let out a small groan and remained silent.

I doubt if this kid is really the same fierce child I met the first time.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes.”

“More than being bitten by a mosquito?”

“…Yes.”

“Yet you’re staying quiet now. Is it because I’m the teacher?”

“……”

“It’s good to be concerned about your friends, but don’t lie. Friendship is about helping each other, not a relationship that needs to be maintained by sacrificing something of each other.”

I didn’t have any intention of scolding Dale in the first place.

If there was someone to scold, it was the one cradled in my hands.

“Maki. Don’t you have anything to say to the teacher?”

“Something to say…?”

“There are quite a few scorch marks around. As far as I know, among the children staying at the lodging, only you could do something like this.”

Of course, Beans could do it too if she used magic, but Beans is the most adult-like and sensible child even when emotional.

No matter how angry she gets, she wouldn’t turn the surroundings into a wasteland.

“By the way, lying isn’t a very good choice. There are times when you have to do it, but if you’ve done something wrong, being human means knowing how to repent.”

“Breaking things, is wrong?”

“There may be times when it’s necessary to break things, but even then, you should do it within limits that don’t trouble the people around you.”

As I looked down at her intently and spoke, Maki’s head rolled its eyes around, and then honestly confessed.

“I’ll speak honestly. I used a self-destruct attack to win against Dale.”

“…You rascal.”

“But I keep losing to Dale. Even though I carefully crafted strategies, I lost in every way. To win, I had to overwhelm him with force. But if I touch him, my functions stop… It’s the same even if I gather energy and shoot it out. So, I chose to blow everything around me away.”

“It’s good that you have a competitive spirit.”

It’s good in my view that this child has awakened the emotion of competitiveness, as it means she’s growing more human.

The fact that she did such a thing can be interpreted as taking a step closer to being human.

“But you rascal. What’s the use of committing suicide just because you lost a game?”

“I can repair the fragments on my own. But when Dale’s hand touched the fragments trying to retrieve them, my functions stopped. Unable to function until energy is filled in the core… Right now I’m barely holding on with the residual energy left in my head.”

…I guess this is possible because her body is a machine.

“It’s fortunate that you’re alive, but next time, give some warning before separating. It’s really scary for people who don’t know.”

Can’t you see Dale trembling over there?

Well, it’s fortunate that she can repair her body on her own once her core functions again.

“Excuse me, Teacher.”

Just as I was about to pat Maki’s head, Dale approached me and asked in a cautious voice.

“Are you not angry?”

“…Why would I be angry?”

Certainly, the surroundings have been severely overturned, and since we borrowed the lodging from the religious order, compensation is inevitable, but that’s just a matter of extorting it from the director who manages the school’s operating funds.

The director also feels the need to manage these children, so we should be able to get support somehow.

“Dale, what did I say when I first met you?”

And above all, I don’t want to experience raising my hand against them anymore.

“Huh? When we first met…”

“I said if you did something wrong, you should write a reflection letter, right?”

Well, with a war machine and a barbarian who can smash castle walls together, blowing up one lodging hardly counts as an incident.

No one got hurt, so if there’s room for reflection, it’s the generosity of an adult to forgive magnanimously.

I handed Maki’s head that I was holding to Ratel, and quietly turned my back on the scene.

“I’ll talk to the holy knights about cleaning up, so you guys quietly follow them and write some reflection letters. The teacher will go find Beans.”

“Huh? But Beans didn’t do anything wrong…”

“It’s getting late, and we can’t let her wander the streets.”

From what I’ve heard, it seems a sensitive part was touched during the conversation.

From experience, such parts can lead to deviation when intertwined with sensitive adolescent emotions, so it would be strange not to be worried.

“Excuse me, has a girl with red twin tails passed by here?”

Fortunately, finding Beans wasn’t too difficult.

The place I’m currently at is what you’d call a fairly bustling area, and due to the nature of religious people, they tend to look over even non-members of their order for reasons of evangelism or teaching.

“Well, to find such a scenic place right after setting foot here… You’ve got talent.”

The place I arrived at after inquiries was the top of a bell tower with a clear view of the area.

Under the sky at dusk, the city spread out was brimming with religious sanctity.

Standing there, I glanced down at the small girl standing next to me. The small girl who was still leaning on the railing as if burying her head, even though she was aware of my presence.

“It’s a great place to get some fresh air, but you didn’t run out because those kids were disturbing your studies or anything, right?”

Yet her gaze was still directed outside the tower.

A gaze steeped in much regret, unlike a 14-year-old girl. What on earth is tormenting this girl so much?

“…Teacher.”

The answer came a little while later.

As a cool breeze blew at the top of the bell tower, Beans soon opened her mouth and spoke to me.

“A person who has never experienced peace…”

A voice steeped in so much regret that one couldn’t think a 14-year-old girl would utter it.

“Is it wrong for someone who has never once experienced peace to say they will protect peace?”

“……”

---

A person who has never opened a book engages in heated arguments with a professor based on shallow knowledge.

A person who has never held a sword threatens a swordsman by brandishing a blade in front of them.

A person who has never kicked a ball mocks an athlete’s efforts as if denying their missed kick…

There’s probably nothing as unseemly as non-experts discussing a field, but ironically, it was a very common occurrence in the world I used to live in.

Society is a community formed by people with their respective roles, and there’s no need to understand things outside one’s own field.

Therefore, for those who expose themselves in front of others to gain fame and money, it may be necessary to endure even unwarranted criticism aimed at them.

Given the social structure where there’s no need to understand others’ circumstances, it’s inevitable that even thorny words are boldly uttered.

“I always thought my father was right.”

Beans’ father, Marquis Zegret, was a person in such a position.

Although he had risen to the high rank of marquis, he was lower in status than the influential dukes or the imperial family.

Although he had risen to a high position in the military, compared to those at the very top like commanders, he was merely a middle manager.

Bearing much responsibility and authority, but consequently receiving the attention of many.

Because he could be a part but not the main axis, he was in a position where he could be replaced by someone else at any time as needed.

“He’s in a position to be hated by many people, but I thought the results were right… Because he achieved more than what was sacrificed, I thought at the time that it had to be done that way, that it was unavoidable.”

While looking at individuals and objective views, he might be someone who should be eliminated without fail.

Overall, it means he’s a suitable person to become a ‘sacrifice’ who will disappear after receiving everyone’s hatred.

“But I thought the people guiding my father would understand such efforts…”

This child’s sense of betrayal stemmed from the fact that the people guiding such a father had coldly abandoned him, who had endured such a position.

The anxiety that her own future, following such a father, might also turn out that way…

Because she thought that such anxiety might lead to resentment towards the father she had always respected.

“…But seeing those children.”

Yes, it might have been like that until now.

“Seeing them so lightly violate what I thought was natural, and casually let it pass… I realized why there’s no one defending my father.”

Ironically, the time I had arranged for her to spend with those children seemed to have left another wound on this child in an unexpected way.

What she had believed until now was…

The anxiety that perhaps the premise itself was wrong from the start.

“As far as I know, my father never rested at home. Even when he returned to his residence, he always looked after the territory, and when he faced me, most of the time was invested in education. If there was any leisure time, it was probably when we sat facing each other playing chess.”

The sun’s light that burns most passionately at the moment it’s gradually setting.

As if hiding her face from such light, her face buried deeper into her arms leaning on the railing.

“I respect my father even though he’s like that. Because such diligence must be a necessary virtue for a leader. But…”

Yet her voice still leaked out.

A voice that had sunk heavily as if about to burst into tears at any moment.

“Even what one wants to achieve with such effort, if it doesn’t align with what everyone wants, it won’t be welcomed, right? Such a method might have been necessary at one time, but not now. Because the atmosphere, rules, and perceptions of that time have all changed…”

“Beans.”

“Yet my father will probably continue to stick to the existing methods. There might be better ways, but my father only knows those methods. Because he’ll think only those methods are the right answer.”

Because he protected an era that wasn’t peaceful, even his qualification to protect peace is taken away.

Accepting that must require a lot of resolve.

“…How can someone who has never once rested lead the peaceful world everyone dreams of?”

If not for others, for this child.

It would mean accepting even a future where the father she has always respected stands on the scaffold.