Chapter 42 - Last Orphanage

After the party, Emilia and I flew through the sky in the morning, dragging our luggage. If you’re thinking we were heading to my house, then you’re wrong. The places we were headed to were the various orphanages scattered throughout the capital.

The reason we were going to the orphanages wasn’t to adopt a child, but to sign a few documents. Since I had become the master of 200 servants, and 30 of those servants had grown up in these orphanages, I needed to sign the documents to become their guardian. It felt kinda weird being a guardian while still being underage, though.

“Kuh… why do children cry whenever I look at them? Do you know?”

We had already visited a few orphanages, and the experiences had been quite disheartening. Whenever I observed the cuteness of the children, they would cry whenever we made eye contact. I asked Emilia why this happened.

“Hmmm… I think it’s because you have a really scary expression whenever you stare at them.”

“What? Where?”

I materialized a mirror and looked at my own expression. However, when I looked at it, I saw only a cute image of a loli.

“Right now you don’t have it, but whenever you look at the children, you would sharpen your eyes and make a sardonic smile. Adding to that, the way you sit with your hand on one of your cheeks makes you look quite intimidating.”

“Is that it? You do know that I only crossed my legs and placed a hand on my cheek because I was bored, right?”

Emilia gave me a smile and said, “Yes, I do… but they don’t.”

“… then, I won’t sit like that in the next orphanage! I’ll make sure that they won’t cry!”

I clenched my fist and resolved myself to achieve that goal.

“Good luck on that~”

Emilia gave me a half-hearted cheer.

* * * *

We were now exiting a two-story building behind a church. By the way, they call the god they worship the Magic God. They don’t really use a name, though. Also, the image they associate with the god is a plain sphere—just a plain marble sphere, without any designs or color.

When the masses are done, that sphere floats behind the priest as he preaches to the people. I’m not really all that religious, so I don’t really know what they preach.

“Haaa~”

I sighed before we flew up to the sky again.

“They still cried, huh.”

“Yes… I made sure not to cross my legs this time. I was even conscious of my smile, so I know I didn’t make a sardonic smile this time.”

Emilia looked at me with pity.

“Well, you managed to fix your expression and gestures this time. However, the poker face you made while glaring at the children was enough to make even eight-year-olds cry.”

“… I wasn’t glaring or anything.”

“No, you were glaring.”

I hung my head as we flew to another orphanage. Along the way, I continued to think of plans to stop the children from crying whenever I looked at them. However, no matter what scenario I imagined, their crying faces would always float up.

“This is the last orphanage, Lumina-sama.”

“… eh? The last?”

“Yes.”

As Emilia affirmed my question, she had a despondent look on her face. I tilted my head, wondering why she looked like that. I then realized that this orphanage might be the place where she was raised. There wasn’t any other explanation.

Since this was the place where she grew up, I needed to be extra careful not to make the children here cry. Hmmm… maybe it’s best to just ignore them, since I think the reason they cried was because I stared at them.

…

Un, let’s do that! Let’s ignore them so they won’t cry!

While I was deciding what to do, Emilia and I descended from the sky with our luggage. We then knocked on the door.

“Yes, I’m coming!”

Though we received a reply, the person didn’t open the door immediately. During that short wait, I quickly fixed my hair and adjusted my blue brooch. I then patted my black short skirt and straightened my blouse. After checking if my knee socks were aligned, the door opened as if on cue.

“Welcome… Emilia?”

A woman wearing a nun’s habit opened the door and became surprised when she noticed Emilia.

“Everyone! Emilia has returned!”

The nun shouted into the room inside the orphanage.

“Eh? Really?”

“Emilia-neechan has come back!?”

“Wai~”

“Neechan! Neechan!”

Judging from the loud shouts, I stepped back a few paces to avoid the coming stampede. Sure enough, around 14 kids burst out of the door at breakneck speed and rammed into Emilia. Because of their numbers, Emilia was toppled.

“Neechan… Neechan…”

“Hic… don’t leave us again…”

“Itsh… Weawwy, Eviya-nee…”

The children were crying as they rubbed their heads against Emilia. She, on the other hand, had a really troubled expression as she rubbed the heads of two of the children. This scene was heartwarming to watch.

“Oh my, oh my…”

The nun placed a hand on her cheek and smiled while observing the heartwarming scene. I glared at her with envious eyes while I ignored the scene. I ignored it because I didn’t want to ruin their reunion by making the children cry for a different reason.

“Excuse me… I came here with Emilia and am here to sign a few documents.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice you because I was too happy to see Emilia again.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go to your office. It’d be a shame to disturb them.”

“That is indeed the case.”

The nun gave me a bow and ushered me inside.

“Ah, Lumina-sama, wait for me.”

“It’s fine, just stay there and play with them while you can. I’m just going to sign a few documents anyway. There’s no need for you to accompany me.”

I spoke to Emilia without looking at her. I really did my best to avoid the temptation of observing them for her sake.

“Yes… thank you very much.”

When I heard her thanks, I closed the door and headed towards the nun’s office. Arriving there, the nun allowed me to sit on a red sofa while she prepared some tea. I drank the tea with gratitude. She then sat opposite me with a hesitant expression.

“Then are you…”

“Yes. I am Emilia’s master. My name is Lumina Chis Chem.”

“Then that means…”

“Yes. I wish to sign the documents to become her guardian.”

“I see, then…”

“Yes, after this visit, she will start living with me.”

Because I didn’t want to waste time on useless chatter, I cut off the nun before she finished her sentences. The reason I did this was because her hesitant expression indicated that she would stutter as we conversed. I wanted to spare her the embarrassment.

“Then, thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then, I’ll prepare the necessary documents. Please wait a moment.”

The nun stood up from her seat and headed to her desk. Feeling that this might take a while, I observed the room in detail. It had the same bluish wallpaper as the other orphanages. There were very few decorations, and the graffiti on the walls showed that children often played here. It seemed that all the caretakers were kind people. This was evident from the marks in all the orphanages I had visited.

“Here…”

The nun placed a piece of paper in front of me. I picked up the feather pen that was also provided and dipped it in ink. I then signed the document.

“Then from now on, you are Emilia’s guardian.”

Since this had already been repeated quite a few times, I closed my eyes as I drank my tea. By the way, the tea she prepared for me was lemon tea.

“Then will you depart?”

“No, not yet. Since this is a rare occasion, I’d like to stay here for a while and let her play with the children.”

“I see… thank you very much… you’re a kind master, huh.”

“It’s nothing.”

The nun then clapped her hands with a happy aura.

“Then, how about you go play with them to help pass the time?”

“No, it’s okay… I’ll stay here and read some books.”

I felt a thorn pierce my heart as I replied.

“Really? You won’t play?”

“Yes. Reading books inside this room is all I need. You don’t need to mind me. You can also go out there and play with them.”

“That’d be rude to you, Lumina-sama. You are a noble and our guest.”

“No, I said it’s okay. I’m just going to spend my time here (alone). You can go out there and spend time with Emilia. You may never get the chance to do this again.”

The nun made a troubled expression as she pondered for a while. She then stood up from her seat and bowed to me.

“Then, I’ll take up your offer.”

“Hurry up and go on (be happy with Emilia).”

The nun exited the room while I grabbed a book from the shelf. The title was *Mein the Adventurer*. It was a fiction novel. Since I didn’t have anything else to do, I started reading the book to pass the time.

I didn’t feel lonely while reading the book, okay! I wasn’t! In fact, I enjoyed my alone time with the book, so don’t pity me!