Chapter 33
In Tilia’s memories, Elric had a round face and mischievous eyes.
His brown hair was soft and fluffy, and his clothes were clearly made from expensive fabric.
That was the kind of boy he was.
And he was also the first child her age that Tilia had ever met.
“Where are you from? I’ve never seen you before.”
The curiosity-filled question was a form of kindness Tilia had never experienced before.
It was annoying that he had insulted her appearance only moments earlier and seemed completely unbothered by it, but she couldn’t help instinctively feeling drawn to a boy her own age.
“…Over there.”
Tilia pointed beyond the hill toward the Wibin estate.
Elric immediately said,
“Oh, the parasite nest!”
Tilia flinched.
That was an incredibly vulgar expression—exactly the sort of language she had been taught never to use.
“P-para…”
“My dad says so. He says people who live there are parasites feeding off the territory.”
He laughed cheerfully.
Surely he knew what those words meant.
And yet he had casually said them to someone who had just admitted to coming from that mansion.
Much later, she would learn that Elric was simply the type of troublemaker who threw around insults without a second thought.
But to the young Tilia, everything about him was shocking.
“Well, whatever. Come with me first.”
“Huh?”
“Our medic got scolded by his mom today and can’t come. You’ll be the medic instead.”
Grab!
Elric seized Tilia’s hand.
Forgetting entirely that she had come seeking help, Tilia allowed herself to be dragged away.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
The bruises on her calves from yesterday’s beating hurt so badly that she limped with every step.
Her swollen face stung even when the wind touched it.
Elric seemed to notice only then.
He frowned.
“What? Your leg’s hurt? Then you should’ve said so.”
“This is…”
“Come here.”
What he did next completely caught her off guard.
“Up you go!”
Before she knew it, Elric had scooped her up into his arms.
At the time, Elric was six years old.
Tilia was eight.
Neither had reached puberty yet, so naturally Tilia was larger than him.
And yet, somehow, Elric lifted her with absurd ease.
Then—
“So you’re not the medic. You’re the injured patient!”
Elric grinned brightly.
Standing with the sunlight at his back, the boy’s smile overflowed with confidence.
The wind was cool.
Though his arms were small, they felt surprisingly secure.
It was the first time.
The first time someone had ever held her tightly.
The warmth of another person was so overwhelming that it felt miraculous.
And because of that, Tilia reacted in a way she herself couldn’t understand.
“Hic…”
Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
“What? You’re ugly and a crybaby?”
“Uu…”
“Don’t cry. They say if you cry, your butt will grow a huge patch of hair.”
“Hic… S-sorry…”
“Geez. Who told you to apologize? It’s fine.”
Elric gently patted her back.
It was on that day that Tilia learned something.
Crying wasn’t something you had to apologize for.
“Uwaaa…”
Held in the arms of a laughing boy, Tilia experienced comfort for the first time in her life.
That was probably why she could never forget that moment.
* * *
“Here’s today’s medic!”
The place Elric brought her to was a small clearing at the edge of the village.
Tilia stared in shock.
She had never realized there were so many children her age living nearby.
Of course, they weren’t like Elric.
Some were dirty.
Some wore clothes that, by the standards she had been taught, were little more than rags.
Some clearly hadn’t washed their hair.
The sight didn’t disgust her.
But it did make one thing obvious.
Among them, Elric was the odd one out.
“Hey! Ugly!”
Elric called out to Tilia.
At that moment, embarrassment surged through her.
“…I’m not.”
“You are! Your face is all swollen and ugly! Aldio told me pretty people have really slim faces!”
Insulting someone’s appearance in front of others was crude.
Yet Tilia couldn’t deny it.
Even she thought her swollen face looked awful.
Her bruised cheeks turned red.
Her eyes began to fill with tears again.
Elric sighed.
“Ugh. She’s crying again.”
“The boss made a girl cry!”
“That’s our boss! A true bad-boy role model!”
The children cheered.
Elric shrugged and walked over.
Then he carefully dabbed away her tears with a handkerchief.
“Don’t cry. Do you really want a hairy butt?”
“Hic…”
“I said stop crying. Here, blow your nose.”
Honk!
Tilia obediently blew her nose into the handkerchief.
Elric immediately tossed it onto the ground.
“Anyway, get along with these guys. If they get hurt, you’re the medic, okay?”
He made her cry.
Then made her laugh.
And on top of that, he was completely self-centered.
Yet somehow, she couldn’t dislike him.
Remembering the way he’d carried her while smiling, Tilia shyly nodded.
* * *
For Tilia, that day was the day she learned what play was.
No—
More accurately, it was the day she learned what real play was.
Everything she had previously known as play had merely been education disguised as entertainment.
Writing poems by combining words.
Polishing teacups.
Things like that.
So this was new.
“Medic! Treat my wounds!”
Elric sat down before her wearing a red cape and carrying a small wooden sword suited to his size.
Just moments earlier, he had been rolling around on the ground fighting the others with it.
Tilia, who had spent the whole time watching, stared at him.
“Now! Treat this injury!”
Elric rolled up his sleeve.
The moment she saw it, Tilia was horrified.
“That’s filthy…”
“Dummy! Wounds are supposed to be dirty!”
Grinning, Elric shoved his arm toward her.
It was covered in mud.
Tilia recoiled instinctively.
Then Elric said,
“Now wipe it with this cloth.”
Even if she wiped it, the dirty rag would probably only make it filthier.
That was what she thought.
Still, she took the rag and wiped his arm.
As expected, it wasn’t truly clean afterward.
The mud was gone, but that was all.
A sudden worry gripped her.
What if I get scolded?
But—
“Well done, Medic!”
Elric seemed perfectly satisfied.
“Nn! Nn!”
He nodded enthusiastically and smiled.
Then—
“Excellent work!”
He gently ruffled her hair.
Tilia’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.
“When I get hurt, this is how you treat me, got it?”
It was such a simple compliment.
Yet it pierced deep into her heart.
Perhaps she had desperately craved approval from others.
After all, every compliment she had ever received had come only after countless punishments.
Play.
So this was play.
Tilia finally understood.
There was no punishment in play.
* * *
The entire day felt like a dream.
And like all dreams, eventually it had to end.
“Boss! See you tomorrow!”
“Bye, Ugly Medic!”
The sun was setting.
The sky had turned red.
The air was growing colder.
One by one, the children who had caused all the commotion dispersed, leaving the clearing quiet.
“You’re going home too, right?”
Elric asked.
But Tilia couldn’t answer.
How could she?
She had sneaked out without telling her parents.
She had skipped all of her lessons.
And she still hadn’t properly apologized after yesterday’s incident.
If she returned now, she might be beaten even worse than before.
Fear suddenly gripped her.
“Why? Why don’t you understand our feelings?!”
The memory of a massive hand filling her vision resurfaced.
Her body trembled.
Her mind went blank.
Thin breaths escaped through her clenched teeth.
“What? What’s wrong with you?”
Frowning, Elric looked her over.
Tilia shrank back.
“…Nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing? Come here.”
Elric grabbed her hand and leaned closer, examining her face carefully.
Tilia lowered her head.
Then suddenly—
“Ah!”
Elric exclaimed.
“I got it!”
“…”
“You don’t want to go home!”
Tilia’s head snapped up.
It was astonishing.
She hadn’t said a word.
Yet somehow Elric had seen right through her.
She stared at him in complete shock.
Whether he noticed or not, Elric simply grinned.
“Then let’s play more!”
“Boss?”
“Running away again today?”
The two remaining boys, Luten and Bart, shook their heads vigorously.
Elric pouted.
“What a bunch of cowards. Come on, Ugly.”
Tilia could barely keep up.
Elric was that reckless.
Yet amidst her confusion, she felt both nervous and relieved.
Running away?
Does that mean we’re not going home?
Then I won’t get punished today?
As her fear slowly receded, another concern emerged.
She looked at Elric and asked quietly,
“Is that… okay?”
“What? Running away from home?”
Looking back on it now—
The feeling she remembered most clearly was what came next.
“It’s fine. My dad doesn’t care about me anyway.”
At that moment, what Tilia felt was not pity.
It was kinship.
