🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 6
Chester finished his shower and leaned against the wall, waiting for Lopez.
He had said he didn’t care, but it still bothered him that she had fallen because he pushed her.
Besides that, he intended to warn her not to recklessly approach Bill and hurt him.
He couldn’t just stand by while Medina worried.
She was already such a kind child, and he didn’t want to give her more things to worry about.
Just then, Lopez came out muttering something irritably under her breath.
“Banana milk, banana milk!”
The moment her eyes met Chester’s, she clamped her mouth shut, then naturally turned around as if he didn’t exist.
The instant Lopez ignored him, Chester—who had been waiting there to apologize—felt his mood sour.
Forgetting what he had originally planned to say, he snapped at her coldly.
“I don’t know what you’re scheming, but with Bill and the rest of us—”
No, he was going to snap at her.
That is, if Lopez hadn’t bolted away the second he started speaking.
Left alone in the hallway, Chester stared blankly ahead in disbelief.
Without looking back even once, Lopez disappeared.
My cheek stung.
Chester’s fiery glare felt like it could burn a hole through my face.
But instead of paying attention to him, I munched on cookies while seriously contemplating the future.
‘If I want to find a way back, where should I start?’
I’d need money if I wanted the freedom to search around.
But I had no idea where to even begin.
‘Maybe I should visit a temple.’
There had to be some reason why I ended up possessing this body…
And in this novel’s world, gods actually existed. Maybe if I prayed sincerely, they’d tell me something.
Or perhaps the possession itself was related to a god.
‘Besides, the first place someone broke like me can go is a temple.’
There was one near Sunflower Orphanage.
Honestly, I wanted to go immediately, but the children here weren’t allowed outside unless accompanied by a teacher.
Which meant I’d have to figure out a way to sneak out.
“Huuiing…”
The green-haired baby beside me started sniffling again, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Ah, had I unconsciously eaten three cookies already?
I wished they’d change my seatmate.
Handing the cookie I was about to eat to the green-haired child, I asked as kindly as possible,
“What’s your name?”
“Waaahhh!”
…Why did this baby keep crying?
Bill bit down hard on his teeth to stop himself from laughing as he watched Lopez stare blankly at the crying child.
‘Lopez is funny! She’s interesting!’
Bill truly didn’t mean any harm.
Every time he saw Lopez, she felt new and surprising.
After a few days passed, I finally got used to life here.
“It’s the nasty Lopez!”
I no longer cared when children from other classes pointed fingers at me while passing by.
The orphanage was full of unusually mature children, but kids were still kids.
Their way of bullying someone was…
Splash!
Throwing water at me while saying I needed to stay hydrated.
By the time I lifted my head, the culprit had already run off.
A teacher who came into the hallway because of the commotion frowned upon seeing me.
“You brat! Didn’t I tell you not to play with water in the hallway?”
“I was sweating because it’s hot.”
Despite my ridiculous answer, the teacher replied smoothly.
“No one would look at this amount of water and think it’s sweat, child.”
“Ah, it’s hot. Sweat…”
“Tsk! I’m not falling for it! Hurry and wipe it all up with a mop!”
“Can I change clothes first? Otherwise it’ll just drip again.”
“Fine. But don’t run away!”
“Yes, teacher.”
It was only childish pranks.
I didn’t even feel that upset.
From my miserable childhood to the brief taste of adulthood before transmigrating—
Compared to everything I’d been through, this was laughably trivial.
Changing clothes was annoying, though…
‘To begin with, Lopez never had a very good reputation. And after the incident where she framed Medina, everyone disliked her even more.’
Most children simply avoided the prickly Lopez.
But just like in the novel, they bullied her after she came back from the disciplinary room looking completely crushed.
The children Lopez had hurt were now tormenting her in return.
After changing as I’d told the teacher, I grabbed a mop and headed into the hallway.
Klein was there, grinning as he poured more water onto the floor.
“Well, what should we do? Looks like I spilled even more water.”
I was already soaked anyway, so it barely mattered.
With his angelic face, Klein flashed an irritating grin.
Then Bill called out to me tearfully from behind him.
“Lo-Lopez noona… th-there’s water here too… sniff.”
“Why is there water over there?”
I hadn’t even stood there.
“I-I spilled it…”
Sniffling, Bill clutched tightly at the hem of my skirt.
Well… at least accidentally spilling it was better.
I tried to gently remove Bill’s hand so I could clean.
“Hic… uuugh…”
But when I saw him gathering tears like he was about to burst into sobs, I gave up and quietly kept mopping.
Klein blocked my path while I cleaned and asked,
“Hey, aren’t you mad?”
“Not really…”
If you react to every little thing, bullies only get more excited.
Kids love big reactions.
“This is annoying. Medina worrying about you annoys me.”
“I’ll tell her not to worry.”
Satisfied now?
So go away already.
I swept the mop around Klein’s feet to shoo him off.
“Ah! Hey, my shoes—damn it!”
Ignoring him, I kept wiping the floor spotless.
“You just wait!”
Ha. Another fulfilling day.
Klein kept glancing back over his shoulder.
Lopez had already finished mopping and was now heading toward the cleaning closet hand in hand with Bill.
For some reason, seeing that made him uncomfortable.
“What’s she scheming now?”
She used to trail after him constantly.
“Well, I guess it makes sense she’d finally get sick of me.”
Even when he treated her this badly, the only one who stayed by his side was Medina.
That’s why Medina was an angel.
For him, there was only Medina.
“Hm? Klein.”
Right then, Medina stepped out of the classroom and waved at him.
Klein’s face immediately brightened.
“Medina!”
As expected, Medina really was the best!
Since I’d already become the awful Lopez, I decided to go all the way.
I would completely sever ties with Medina, just like Klein wanted.
“Medina.”
Medina looked genuinely delighted that I spoke to her.
“You called me?”
Her radiant smile was dazzling.
For a moment, I unconsciously stared at her sweet smile—like pink cotton candy—before snapping back to my senses.
“Listen, I don’t mean anything bad by this, and I’m not blaming you for anything.”
“Okay. I understand.”
After laying the groundwork, I glanced meaningfully at Klein.
As if telling him to watch carefully.
“You know, I’m fine now, so you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”
“Huh…?”
“I was a bad friend to you, Medina. And when the exams come around, I’ll probably get demoted to Class 3 anyway. Then we won’t really see each other anymore, so you don’t need to bother with me.”
Startled, Medina reflexively apologized.
“Ah, I’m sor—”
“No, I should be the one apologizing. I’m really sorry for everything until now.”
Then I returned to my seat.
For some reason, Bill—whose eyes were filled with tears—muttered,
“Lo-Lopez noona… did you become stupid…?”
Kids were more blunt than expected.
I wondered if this child realized how deeply he had wounded this adult’s heart.
“Today, we’re going to play treasure hunt!”
This was an event exclusive to Class 1—a special privilege.
Notes called “treasure exchange tickets” were hidden throughout the forest, and the first- and second-place winners who found the most would receive prizes.
Cookies, dolls, dresses, accessories—
The winners could choose anything they wanted from a long list.
As long as it wasn’t too expensive, they would buy it.
Basically, it was a cheap way to manipulate children with rewards.
But regardless of the intent, the children absolutely loved it.
“Waaah!”
“This time I’m definitely getting first place!”
“I’d be happy with second! Please…! I want a doll!”
Everyone was fired up.
If the prize had been permission to go out alone, I would’ve fought tooth and nail to win so I could visit the temple.
But no matter what I did, there was no way they’d ever allow solo outings.
More importantly, even if I tried my hardest, Medina would end up first place anyway.
Because Chester and Klein secretly moved treasure tickets close to wherever Medina happened to be.
Like most romance-fantasy heroines, Medina was rather oblivious and still believed she was simply lucky.
“Medina, what are you going to ask for this time?”
“Umm… a d-dress?”
Medina answered shyly, her cheeks turning pink.
“Lopez noona.”
At that moment, Bill spoke to me.
Honestly, this child made me a little uncomfortable…
“What would you want if you got first place?”
“I would…”
“Hey! You think she’d get first place? Better give up on pointless dreams.”
Klein seemed even more hostile than he was in the novel.
But he was cute, so I decided to let it slide.
“That’s why I’m giving up. Good luck, Bill.”
“Y-you… cheered for me?”
If he hated that enough to cry, maybe I shouldn’t do it anymore.
I tried to gently pull my hand away from Bill’s, but he refused to let go.
In the end, I ended up dragging Bill along toward the teacher.
Anna glanced at me briefly before pretending not to see me.
“Teacher, I hear a dog barking in the forest on the left.”
“A dog barking? Are you calling me a dog right now?”
“…?”
Even if she disliked me, was petty sarcasm all she could manage?
Maybe she understood the look in my eyes, because Anna’s face twisted instantly.
“What do you mean you hear a dog barking?!”
At her shout, the children all flinched and nervously glanced our way.
