IBDEML 19

Chapter 19

“This is serious. You say that if these kids take a shower, the shower room will be contaminated. Don’t you need to know what kind of contamination it is to correct Rodney, Miles, and Arden?”

“Ah, well, um…”

“Leaving it like this is dangerous. Come on, tell me. What kind of contamination is it?”

Of course, there was no real contamination.

Darwin and Champ had obviously used exaggerated words to tease the kids of Class 3.

Chester and Klein quietly watched from behind.

Lopez, who would have normally yelled and snapped irritably, was attacking in a different, more calculated way now.

This child was changing. And for the better.

Whenever Chester and Klein saw Lopez like this, they couldn’t look away.

Lopez shouted with a fearful face.

“If it’s really contamination, it’s serious! You… you might already be infected too!”

Darwin and Champ’s faces went pale. Darwin hurriedly tried to deny it.

“N-No! It’s not like that! Contamination doesn’t mean that… ugh, we just said they were dirty!”

“What? You called them contaminated just because they were dirty? Why would you say such mean things?”

Suddenly, Darwin and Champ were speechless.

Lopez spoke fluently without pause.

“The shower room exists for washing dirt off. Why stop them from using it?”

Feeling pressed and embarrassed, Champ shouted back.

“Hey, it’s useless for them to wash anyway!”

“Why? Can you explain it using the five Ws?”

“Th-That…!”

There was no real reason.

Class 3 was disliked by the director and all the teachers.

Even though the kids in Class 3 were silly and incapable, they were easy targets.

Since everyone bullied them, Darwin and Champ just went along.

There was no way they could present a logical explanation.

“So it was bullying without reason?”

Lopez hit the core of the issue.

Trying to deny it, Darwin shouted defensively.

“They’re in Class 3!”

“Yeah? And you’re in Class 1?”

“Yeah!”

“Ah, I feel so annoyed. I feel like I have to pull Darwin’s hair to feel better!”

Lopez raised her hand as if she was about to rush forward.

Startled, Darwin instinctively covered his head and stepped back.

Her gaze flickered sharply with intensity.

“W-Why… why at me…!”

“No reason. Just because you’re in Class 1.”

Darwin and Champ widened their eyes.

“I won’t force you to like us, but let’s not say things that hurt each other, okay?”

“……”

“Who would like being called dirty or contaminated?”

Imagining that scene, tears welled up in Darwin and Champ’s eyes.

After seeing them tightly close their mouths and shake their heads, Lopez’s tone returned to normal.

“We don’t like it either. So don’t do it.”

Lopez spoke firmly.

“Then will you move aside now?”

Darwin and Champ hesitated, then finally stepped away.

Lopez felt proud.

“Kids understand well when you explain things!”

“Are you always causing trouble?”

But Klein’s comment dampened Lopez’s mood.

She trudged into the shower room with a sulky expression.

Seeing that reaction, Klein’s pupils trembled violently.

‘That’s not what I meant to say…’

It felt like needles pricked at his chest.

“Klein…!”

Medina’s sharp glare made him flinch.

“N-No, I….”

“You need to reflect too!”

“Medina!”

As Medina stormed off, Klein hurried after her.

Chester gestured to the twins and Arden, who were left behind.

“Go in. There’s no one inside.”

The three quietly entered the shower room.

When they came out clean, their eyes were shining brightly.

“Lopez……”

“Amazing……”

Following behind them quietly was ‘Don’t Talk To Me.’

The Class 3 kids seemed genuinely grateful for what had happened in the shower room.

They even chose to sleep with me in the middle in the dormitory and moved their seats in class to sit in front of me.

It would have been fine if they just moved, but Rodney and Miles positioned their desks to face ours.

Yes. They even boldly turned their backs on the teacher’s podium.

Their eyes gleamed so brightly when looking at me that it was dazzling.

“Can you see the blackboard sitting like that?”

Rodney proudly exclaimed.

“With the eyes of the heart!”

Is that… childish innocence?

Should I shatter it or not?

There really is no such thing as the eyes of the heart.

It would surprise them a lot if they knew the truth.

At that moment, the messy-haired child suddenly asked me.

“You know my name?”

“Yes.”

“O-Oh….”

“The teacher said, ‘Arden, open your eyes.’”

“But why… did you call me that way…?”

“I guessed you wouldn’t want to reveal your name.”

“……”

After that, Arden stayed silent.

With the child quiet, I naturally got information about the orphanage surroundings from Rodney and Miles.

“Rodney, Miles. Is there a temple nearby?”

“Yeah! Not too big, but not too small either.”

“Have you been to the temple?”

“Not really. But on the first day, we passed by and saw it!”

So it wasn’t far.

Once we got safely out of the orphanage, finding it would be relatively easy.

“Is it in the village?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Do you know which direction to go from here?”

“Now we forgot….”

Rodney and Miles shook their heads simultaneously. Arden didn’t react at all.

“Is there a specific time we can go outside?”

“Nope.”

“Class 3 is so embarrassed they never let us go out!”

Aren’t you celebrating that too enthusiastically?

They seemed to take it as perfectly normal, perhaps because they’d already been hurt so many times.

“It’s not embarrassing to be in Class 3. The adults who divide classes by rank are the ones who are embarrassing and cruel.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

They still looked confused, but I didn’t explain in detail.

My task was not psychological counseling; it was to gather information to return to the original world.

“Then Classes 1 and 2 can go out?”

In the novel, even the main characters rarely went out, so I needed confirmation.

“Class 1 only, very rarely. But lately, we haven’t seen anyone go out.”

So anyway, if I wanted to leave, I had to escape secretly.

‘Until I gather enough funds, it’s safer to stay here for now.’

Even if there was a risk of adoption, going out carelessly could make me a target for kidnapping because I was young and attractive…

“Is there absolutely no way to go outside?”

“Nope!”

“Classes 1 and 2 are very precious to the director, so they rarely let them out.”

“Has any child ever run away from the orphanage?”

“No…”

“Then why do you ask?”

“Just wondering.”

I replied lightly and closed my mouth.

Night fell, and everything was quiet.

After confirming the children were asleep, I got up and left the dormitory.

‘Tonight, I’ll just scout the path to the village first.’

It would be useful later for escape.

I glanced around while walking near the orphanage.

‘No guards… all lights are off. This seems like the best time.’

Next, I had to find a way out through the forest.

Paths that humans use leave traces, so even if I didn’t know the route, it would be easy to find.

Soon enough, I discovered two paths.

“Hmm… which one should I check first?”

They led in opposite directions, and I paused to think.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist.

“Wh-…!”

Before I could shout, Arden pressed his lips to mine.

“Y-You’re planning to escape, right? Let me come with you.”

“……Huh?”

“…Just get me out of here.”

Arden nervously pressed his fingernails into the back of his hand.

The skin broke slightly, and blood welled up.

I grabbed his hand.

“Stop. It hurts.”

“…It doesn’t hurt.”

“Really?”

He nodded nonchalantly, then shrugged my hand off.

“That way… leads to the reservoir.”

“How do you know?”

“……”

Arden pressed his lips tightly together, saying nothing.

“If you don’t trust me……”

“No, I trust you.”

For some reason, I had the feeling I shouldn’t press him further.

I held Arden’s hand, preventing him from digging into it, and turned our bodies in the opposite direction of the reservoir.