BDEFML 06

Chapter 6

Chester finished showering and leaned against the wall, waiting for Lopez.

He said he didn’t care, but he felt uncomfortable because he was the one who pushed her and made her fall.

Also, he planned to warn her not to hurt Bill carelessly.

He couldn’t just watch and stay silent when Medina was worried.

Especially because he didn’t want to give such a kind child more things to worry about.

Then he suddenly faced Lopez, who was muttering something angrily.

“Banana milk, banana milk!”

When she made eye contact with Chester, she tightly closed her mouth and naturally turned around, pretending he didn’t exist.

Chester, who had been waiting to apologize after Lopez ignored him, felt annoyed.

He forgot what he was going to say and spoke coldly to Lopez.

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but don’t get close to Bill or us—”

No, he tried to speak coldly.

If Lopez didn’t suddenly run away the moment he started talking.

Left alone, Chester looked down the hallway in disbelief.

Lopez disappeared without even looking back.

His cheek felt stinging.

Chester’s burning gaze felt like it would melt my cheek.

But instead of looking at him, I ate a cookie and seriously thought about the future.

“Where should I start if I want to find a way to return?”

If I want to walk around freely and find a method, I would need money too.

I didn’t know where to begin.

‘Maybe I should go to the temple.’

Anyway, there must be a reason why I possessed this body…

This novel world was a place where “gods” really existed. Maybe if I prayed sincerely, I could get an answer.

Or maybe the possession itself was related to a god.

‘And the first place I can go without money is the temple.’

There was a temple near the Sunflower Orphanage.

Actually, I wanted to go today, but children here were not allowed to go outside unless accompanied by a teacher.

That meant I had to find another way to sneak out.

“Hu-ing…”

Because the green-haired baby beside me started crying again, I was pulled out of my thoughts.

Ah, I must have eaten three cookies without noticing.

I wish I could change my partner.

I handed the cookie I was about to eat to the green-haired child and asked kindly.

“What’s your name?”

“Waaah!”

……Why does this baby keep crying?

Bill bit his lip to stop himself from laughing while watching the confused Lopez who was crying beside him.

Lopez is funny! It’s fun!

Bill had no bad intentions at all.

Lopez felt new every time he saw her.

After several days, I got used to life here.

“Bad Lopez!”

Even when other class children passed by and pointed at me, I didn’t care.

It was an orphanage where somewhat mature children gathered, but they were still children.

And their way of bullying was…

Splash!

They poured water on me while passing by, saying it was to help me cool down.

When I lifted my head, the culprit had already run away before I could check.

A teacher came out to the hallway because of the noise and frowned when she saw me.

“You! I told you not to play with water in the hallway!”

“It’s because it was too hot and I was sweating.”

Even with such a ridiculous answer, the teacher replied skillfully.

“No one would think this amount of water is sweat, child.”

“Ah, it’s hot. I’m sweating…!”

“Enough! That won’t work! Go and wipe it all with a mop!”

“Can I change my clothes first? Otherwise it will flow again.”

“Fine. But don’t run away!”

“Yes, teacher.”

It was just children’s prank.

I didn’t feel bad at all.

From my unhappy childhood to the brief adult life I experienced before possession…

I had gone through many things, so something like this was laughably trivial.

Changing clothes was annoying though…

‘Lopez herself didn’t have a good reputation anyway. And the false accusation against Medina made the hostility worse.’

Most children avoided the sharp Lopez.

But the bullying was the same as in the novel, where children who were trained and had their spirit crushed in the punishment room bullied her.

It was basically children who were hurt by Lopez now bullying her back.

I changed clothes as I told the teacher and went to the hallway with a mop.

There, Klein was smiling and pouring water on the floor.

“What are you going to do? I spilled more water.”

I was already wet anyway, so it didn’t matter much…

Klein smiled annoyingly with an angelic face.

Then Bill, who was following behind, called me while crying.

“L-López sister… Th-there’s water here too…”

“Why is it there?”

I had never stood there.

“I… dropped it…”

Bill sniffled and grabbed the hem of my skirt tightly.

…Yeah. It’s better that it was just an accident.

I gently tried to remove Bill’s hand from my skirt.

“Hic, ugh…”

But seeing Bill trying hard to hold back his tears, I gave up and worked seriously on mopping.

Klein blocked my way while I was concentrating on cleaning and asked.

“Hey, aren’t you angry?”

“Yes, well…”

If you react to everything one by one, they’ll want to tease you more.

Children like it more when you react strongly.

“It’s annoying. I hate that Medina worries about you.”

“I’ll tell her not to worry.”

That’s enough, right?

So go away.

I wiped Klein’s shoes with the mop.

“Ah! Hey, that’s my shoes… Hey!”

Ignoring him, I cleaned the floor neatly.

“You just wait!”

Ha, it was another meaningful day.

Klein looked back a few times.

Seeing Lopez, who finished mopping and walked to the storage room holding Bill’s hand, made him feel uneasy.

“What trick is she playing?”

She kept following behind me like that.

“Well, it’s understandable to feel disgusted.”

Even if I acted so badly, only Medina stayed beside me.

So Medina was an angel.

Only Medina is mine.

“Eh? Klein.”

Medina, who just came out of the class, saw Klein and waved.

Klein smiled brightly.

“Medina!”

As expected, Medina was the best!

Since I was already playing the role of a wicked Lopez, I decided to move without hesitation.

I decided to cut off my relationship with Medina as Klein wanted.

“Medina.”

Medina seemed very happy that I spoke to her.

“You called me?”

Her bright smile was dazzling.

I looked at her sweet smile, like pink cotton candy, with satisfaction before coming to my senses.

“Um, I’m saying this because I have another meaning, not because I’m blaming you, please understand.”

“Okay, I will.”

I started first and then glanced at Klein.

It meant: watch carefully.

“Listen, I’m fine now, so you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“Eh…?”

“I was a bad friend to Medina. Soon there will be a test and I will drop to Class 3, so we probably won’t see each other anymore, so don’t worry about me.”

Medina panicked and reflexively apologized.

“Ah, I—”

“I should be the one apologizing. I’m really sorry for everything.”

Then I returned to my seat.

With tears filling his eyes, Bill spoke.

“L-Lopez sister, did you become stupid…?”

Children are surprisingly direct.

I wonder if this child knows how much an adult heart was hurt.

“Today we will have a treasure hunt!”

This was a special event only held in Class 1.

The children would search the forest for hidden “treasure exchange coupon” notes. The first and second place winners would receive prizes.

If they asked for cookies, dolls, dresses, or accessories, they would buy it for them.

As long as it wasn’t too expensive, everything was possible.

It was a kind of cheap method to control children.

But whatever the purpose was, it was still one of the most enjoyable events for the children.

“Wow!”

“I will definitely get first place this time!”

“Even second place is good! Please… I want a doll!”

The children were burning with enthusiasm.

If outdoor leave permission was the prize, I would have fought desperately to go to the temple.

But getting permission to go out alone was absolutely impossible no matter what I did.

Above all, even if I tried hard, first place would be Medina anyway.

Because Chester and Klein secretly placed treasure coupons near Medina for her.

Like typical romance novel heroines, Medina was also clueless and thought she was just lucky.

“What does Medina want to buy this time?”

“Um… a, a dress?”

Medina said shyly, her cheeks turning red.

“Lopez sister.”

Then Bill spoke to me.

I felt a little uncomfortable with this child…

“What does sister want to do if she gets first place?”

“I…”

“Hey! Do you think she can get first place? It’s better to give up unrealistic dreams!”

Klein seemed to be provoking me more harshly than in the novel.

But since he was cute, I decided to let it pass.

“So I’ll give up. Bill, do your best.”

“D-Did you cheer for me?”

If you hate it that much, I won’t do it anymore.

I slowly tried to release Bill’s hand, but he never let go.

In the end, I dragged Bill to the teacher.

Anna glanced at me and pretended not to see me.

“Teacher, I hear a dog barking from the left forest.”

“A dog bark? Did you just call the teacher a dog?”

“…?”

Even if she hates me, is sarcasm the only thing she can do?

Perhaps reading my gaze, Anna’s face twisted.

“Where are you saying the dog sound is coming from!”

The shout made the children flinch and glance toward us.