LMHS 06

Chapter 06

While I was silently repeating the man’s name to myself, he asked another question.

“…Do you have parents?”

“No.”

“A guardian, then?”

“Well. My uncle raised me, but two years ago he abandoned me in a forest full of monsters. Since then, I’ve been an orphan.”

I answered his questions earnestly while chewing my food.

When I stole a glance at his face, his eyes were blazing like fire, as if he were barely holding back his anger.

“Then, in the monster forest…”

“How did I get out?”

“…Yes.”

“At first, I ran through the monster forest, begging anyone—anyone at all—to please save me.”

I begged, and begged again.

But hope shattered quickly, and unbearable pain engulfed my frail body. And that happened over and over again.

“Eventually, I started praying for someone to kill me—without pain.”

Dying even once was unbearably cruel, yet no matter how many times I died, I kept coming back to life.

Now that I can use my ability freely, I think of it as a ridiculously overpowered skill.

But back then, that ability was nothing but a horrifying curse.

“Still, after awakening my ability, I somehow managed to survive.”

Though, to be precise, I was forced to keep living.

The man closed his eyes, as if it were hard for him to meet my gaze.

A good sign.

I needed to look as pitiful as possible so I could stay at his house for a while.

Despite his rough exterior, he was a soft-hearted and compassionate person. There was no way he could turn someone like me away.

He opened his eyes quietly and spoke with care.

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me what ability you awakened?”

“Precognition.”

“I see…”

“Huh? That’s a pretty good ability, but you don’t seem very surprised.”

“I am surprised enough.”

No, really—you don’t look surprised at all.

I was about to retort, but remembering how taciturn he usually was, I merely shrugged lightly.

“Then have all your questions been answered?”

“…Where are you staying right now?”

“Nowhere. I used to live in a small village, but if I stayed there any longer, I felt like I’d starve to death. So I followed a merchant caravan and just arrived in the capital today.”

“Was there no one in that village who could help you?”

“It was a poor frontier village. A kid like me wasn’t useful as labor at all, so…”

The man’s expression instantly twisted into something savage, as though he might tear someone apart at any moment.

So this was the face he’d worn when he’d heard about my past.

“…One last question.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

His face twisted subtly, as if deep in thought.

“Tania, did you come here because you knew me?”

Thud.

My heart dropped.

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I nearly failed to keep my expression under control.

Had longing shown in my eyes when I looked at him without realizing it?

As I hesitated, unsure how to answer, he added quietly,

“I was just wondering why you came here, of all the houses.”

Ah, so that was it.

Well, I suppose it was natural for him to be suspicious of someone who showed up out of nowhere.

After all, ever since as far back as I could remember, he’d always seemed like someone being hunted.

Even a child would have had reason to be wary and suspicious.

In the previous timeline, the man hadn’t died from an accident or illness—he’d been murdered on someone’s orders.

Most likely, he’d been killed by the very person who had been pursuing him all along.

Back then, I hadn’t been able to catch that person.

But in this life, I would find the mastermind who did that to him—and eliminate them, no matter what.

Keeping my tone calm and natural, I answered,

“I don’t know how many houses this was.”

“What do you mean…?”

“I was knocking on doors, hoping to get at least some food. You were the first one who actually gave me any.”

“I see…”

Letting out a small sigh with an unreadable expression, he spoke evenly.

“Do you have a place to sleep?”

“Not right now. So I’m planning to take the entrance exam for the Papiope Ducal Family’s Talent Development Institute soon.”

The Talent Development Institute.

It was an institution established by the Papiope ducal family, dedicated—just as the name suggested—to nurturing talented individuals.

Only children aged seven to fifteen could enroll, but if you passed the exam, you were provided with room and board as well as a high-quality education.

The problem was that countless children dreaming of social advancement flocked there, making the exam extremely difficult to pass.

After hearing my plan, the man closed his eyes briefly, then opened them.

“If you don’t have anywhere to stay, then remain here for now.”

I’d known his soft heart would lead him to say that, but hearing it directly still made me break into a broad grin.

“Really? Thank you so much!”

As I bowed deeply, he frowned as if displeased.

“…I’ll have to teach you to be more suspicious of others. And put some meat on those bones.”

✦ ✦ ✦

Late at night.

Aiden stood in front of Tania, who was sleeping soundly in the bed he had given her.

Perhaps the journey here had exhausted her—she was sleeping so deeply that she wouldn’t have noticed even if someone carried her away.

With bloodshot eyes, as though something were boiling inside him, he stared at Tania for a long while.

“I’m sorry.”

Then, suddenly, his pale face contorted as he murmured each word as if sobbing,

“I’m really sorry… for leaving you alone, Daddy is.”

A monstrous wave of regret crashed over him.

From the moment he first held Tania in his arms, to her first steps, to the day she first called him “Dad.”

Every memory was vivid.

That was why, the instant he’d come face to face with Tania when she appeared at his home, he had known.

There was no way he wouldn’t have known.

Her lovely rose-gold hair, her amber eyes so much like his own.

She was the daughter he’d longed for every single day, even in his dreams.

In the end, he collapsed to his knees beside the bed.

With trembling hands, he gently stroked Tania’s gaunt cheek.

“My one and only daughter, Tania.”

Aiden’s face was twisted in unbearable pain.

✦ ✦ ✦

The next day.

I woke up feeling the warm morning sunlight pouring over my eyelids.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I stepped out of the room and saw the man’s back as he prepared breakfast.

Just looking at him made me smile for no reason.

“Good morning, sir.”

At my cheerful greeting, the man, who had been focused on cooking, turned to look at me. He frowned, as if something displeased him.

“You don’t sleep much for a child.”

“That’s true. So when will you properly return my morning greeting?”

“…Good morning.”

The food must have been ready, because he placed a plate of golden-brown food on the table.

“Eat.”

“Thank you! Please sit and eat with me too.”

“I’m fine—”

“Come on!”

When I tugged at his sleeve with a grin, he sat down across from me as if he had no choice.

When he just stared blankly, I speared a sausage with my fork and held it out to him.

After hesitating with a flustered expression, he eventually accepted the fork.

Watching him with amusement, a question from yesterday suddenly came back to me.

“Um, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Aren’t you tempted by my ability?”

At that, his expression darkened slightly.

“Do I look so poor that I’d take help from a snot-nosed child?”

“No, I was just curious. Other adults were very tempted by my ability.”

“You…”

He looked at me with a conflicted expression before finally speaking.

“Isn’t it horrifying, becoming an abiliter?”

Buying and selling abiliters was a fairly common occurrence in the criminal underworld.

That made powerless orphans like me especially easy targets.

That was what he was asking about, in a roundabout way.

It was the first time.

In my previous life, and in this one too.

Someone who worried first about what might happen to me because of my ability.

Everyone else had wanted to use me, envied me, or resented me…

“I like being an abiliter. I’ve never met my parents, but I’m grateful that they passed this ability on to me.”

If I hadn’t had this ability, I would never have been able to see him again.

“I see…”

His face grew complicated as he thought for a moment. Then he sighed and spoke.

“After breakfast, we’ll go buy you some clothes.”

“You’re going to buy me clothes too?”

“Were you planning to keep wearing those rags?”

His words sounded harsh, but what they really meant was that he cared about me that much.

I let out a soft laugh.

He was as bad at speaking gently as ever.