IBDEML 18

Chapter 18

Lopez picked up the cleaning tools and limped quietly away.

Klein looked at her back and felt uncomfortable for no reason.

“Ah, this is annoying.”

…Maybe I should have helped her.

Should I go now?

‘But she was the one who told me not to interfere.’

He fell into deep thought and became anxious.

Medina carefully called Klein, who was fidgeting.

“Klein?”

“Huh? Hey!”

Instead of answering, Klein called Chester, who was walking from far away, and asked him to take care of Medina.

“Keep her with you.”

“You don’t have to say that. I will stay next to Medina anyway.”

“Damn…….”

After hesitating, Klein finally turned around and ran toward Lopez, who was moving away.

Lopez turned back after hearing irritated footsteps.

“Hey, you!”

“Hic!”

Seeing Klein’s angry-looking face running toward her, Lopez was surprised and started running, even though she was limping.

Seeing Lopez clearly avoiding him, Klein stopped.

Then he spoke angrily for no reason.

“Hey! I was going to help you because you looked pitiful……!”

Lopez’s hair soon disappeared around the corner.

Klein felt bitter inside.

‘She could have just acted rude like before.’

Then I wouldn’t feel this disgusting mood.

Why act pitiful in front of me, damn it.

Klein angrily kicked the floor.

Why is he so desperate to bite me?

‘Help me because I look pitiful?’

He is kind, but I wish he would stop showing such pity.

I erased Klein’s annoyed face from my mind and spoke to the three children of Class 3.

“If you won’t help clean, go outside and play.”

“Hmph, we won’t go out!”

“If we go out, you should go out too!”

Miles and Rodney turned their heads away.

Seeing the children who refused to stand up from their chairs, I started sweeping the floor.

There was a lot of dust.

As the dust flew into the air, Miles coughed on purpose.

“Cough! Hey! This dust……!”

“These dirty dusts! There are so many!”

When I pretended to be angry, Miles quietly closed his mouth.

“I can’t let our precious Class 3 friends eat this dust!”

This should stop them.

Dust is bad for children’s lungs, so I quickly swept the floor and used a duster to remove dust.

I also brushed dust off the children’s heads and bodies.

Then Rodney and Miles, who had been watching quietly, looked at me in disbelief.

Rodney pushed the duster away angrily.

“What are you doing!”

“There is too much dust……. We are going to swallow all this dust. Do you know what happens then? It seriously affects the respiratory system. And if the respiratory system is bad, then what happens?”

Rodney quickly got scared and stuttered.

“H-How does it happen?”

“How it happens……!”

I raised the tension dramatically, and when they were filled with fear, I suddenly lost strength in my voice.

“No. You are too young to know this.”

Rodney’s face turned pale as he trembled.

“W-What is it!”

“What is the respiratory system?”

“It’s a part of our body. If this is bad……!”

“Oh, if it’s bad then?”

I intentionally paused.

Instead of answering, I muttered quietly.

“But if you clean properly, that won’t happen.”

I sighed and shook my head.

Even so, I continued dusting the children’s bodies.

Probably because they were scared, the three children stayed quiet.

Taking advantage of that, I swept dust hiding in various places and sent it out through the window.

After wiping the sticky dirt from the floor carefully, the smell finally disappeared.

Straightening my bent back and putting the cleaning tools back in place, it was already evening.

Watching the sunset sky, a strange feeling of emptiness came over me.

‘……Why am I working so hard cleaning?’

I should be looking for a way to go back, but I kept helping the children because I felt pity for them.

I also lived in an orphanage before, so I couldn’t ignore them.

‘But Class 3 is abandoned anyway, so I can move secretly without being noticed, right? I should go out tonight.’

I planned to find the road leading to the town.

I didn’t know the geography here.

Since there was no map, I had to be careful not to get lost.

‘And since things are like this, I should help one more thing.’

I looked at the dirty three children.

“Kids, how about washing up before eating?”

“…….”

“We won’t wash!”

“Real men don’t wash!”

Miles and Rodney shouted proudly.

“Even if you are real men, people will hate you if you smell…….”

“Anyway, Class 3 is already hated.”

“So you’re planning to spread bad smell because you are hated?”

“Yeah! So they avoid us more!”

Why are they looking proud?

I stood in front of the messy-haired child. He avoided my gaze openly.

“Get up. Let’s go to the shower room together.”

“No……!”

It looked like he would refuse again, so I took out a cookie from my pocket.

It was a cookie I got from Megan.

I had asked her for cookies because I was going to clean the classroom, and cleaning is a good deed.

And I knew these children liked cookies.

There is no child who hates cookies.

Also, they must have always watched other class children eating cookies.

It is natural to want to eat when others eat delicious food.

As expected, after confirming their surprised faces, I put the cookie back into my pocket.

“If you wash cleanly and come out, I will give you two each. How about it?”

Rodney was already half convinced, but Miles tried not to look at me and endured.

“W-We are not going to fall for something like that…….”

Not enough, huh.

I switched to intimidation mode.

“You sat in a dusty classroom today and got covered in dust. Then your respiratory system…….”

I trailed off and showed a frightened expression.

Finally, Miles and Rodney couldn’t hold it anymore and got angry.

“Ah, fine!”

“Let’s just go! Don’t forget the cookies!”

“‘Don’t talk to me’ also, come with us!”

“I am…….”

“Come on.”

Cleanliness is necessary everywhere.

Especially the oil and dirt stuck in that messy hair couldn’t be left alone.

Dust was even clumped together.

I brushed the dust tangled in the matted hair with my hand.

The child was startled and pulled his neck back, avoiding my touch.

“W-What are you doing…….”

“Ah, sorry for startling you.”

I awkwardly withdrew my hand and said to the three children.

“If you wash thoroughly, I will give you cookies again tomorrow.”

“Hmph! It’s not because of cookies!”

“R-Right! Not because of cookies!”

Probably because they were twins, they were perfectly in sync.

I grabbed the messy-haired child’s hand, who didn’t want to go, and forced him to pull along.

Come on. To the kingdom of showers.

The child was surprised again and stopped me.

“W-Wait! It’s dirty……!”

“Hmm? What is?”

He muttered while looking alternately at my hand and his hand.

“Ah, are you worried that my hand might be dirty because I cleaned earlier? It’s okay, I washed my hands.”

“That’s not it…….”

“Then let’s go quickly!”

The child who was looking at me with strange eyes soon followed quietly as I pulled his hand.

The twins and the messy-haired child were standing hesitantly in front of the shower room.

At that moment, Champ and Darwin, who had just finished showering, saw the three people hesitating and stopped.

When their eyes met, the shoulders of the three children jumped.

Seeing how frightened they were, Champ and Darwin openly laughed at them.

“Ah, what is this. You smell.”

“Hey! I told you not to stand out!”

“We, we were going to wash too…….”

Miles spoke bravely, but Champ and Darwin looked at each other and sneered.

“There is no shower room here that you are allowed to use.”

“When did you ever wash properly……. If you use it, it will get contaminated, right? Dirty!”

Hearing the giggling sounds around them, the three children lowered their heads sadly.

‘This is why I didn’t want to wash…….’

Tears gathered in their eyes.

“Hey.”

At the familiar voice, Darwin and Champ flinched out of habit but soon straightened their posture.

They were not afraid of Lopez who had lost her memories.

Especially since the current Lopez didn’t attack back like before, no matter what was said.

Darwin and Champ raised their chins.

But their arrogance didn’t last long.

“If you say contamination, what kind of contamination do you mean? Water pollution? Soil pollution? Air pollution? Can you tell me exactly what kind of contamination these children are causing?”

Lopez pretended to push up non-existent glasses and opened her notebook.

Caught by the unexpected question, Darwin and Champ couldn’t answer immediately and stuttered.