~CHAPTER 16~
‘Stay right here and don’t move, okay? I’ll come back when you’ve counted to a hundred in your head.’
‘Okay! But Mom, where are you going?’
‘…Wait here and eat this while you count.’
What was Mom thinking when she gave me a handful of lollipops, something she rarely ever bought me?
When I opened my eyes, it was still dawn.
Even though the days were getting hotter and the sun rose early, the sky outside the window was still dark.
‘A restless dream.’
Ever since I was trapped in this endless loop of regression, I rarely dreamed about my life before possession.
Mom said she’d come back when I finished counting to a hundred, but even after I counted to a hundred three times, she never came back.
It’s a cliché story.
Back then, I cried like crazy, hated her, missed her, but not anymore.
After twelve lives as a possessor, the person I was in the real world feels like nothing more than a dream.
A distant past, with memories of my mother fading into something faint and blurry.
‘A tragic family background — perfect setup for a possessor.’
Maybe that’s why I signed up for the Possessor’s Insurance without hesitation and threw all my money into it before I died.
“Ugh…”
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, blinking blankly.
Since I hadn’t bought a bed yet, I’d laid a carpet on the bare floor and slept there, and now my whole body ached.
If I searched the house properly, there’d probably be an old bed somewhere.
But considering the state of the rooms untouched by Jahar’s magic, using it didn’t seem like a good idea.
“Ppiya?”
Bosongi—no, Ratia—approached me.
She looked curious, probably wondering why her owner had suddenly woken up in the middle of sleep.
After devouring two bowls of oatmeal porridge last night, Ratia’s stomach looked much fuller than when she had just woken up yesterday.
She even looked a bit bigger.
‘Grew overnight? That makes no sense.’
I smiled quietly and patted Ratia’s head.
Then—step, step.
There were footsteps outside the door.
“……?”
Sian? Or Jahar? Or could it be… an intruder?
I tensed up, quickly hiding Ratia in my hands, but relaxed soon after.
When I listened closely, I could hear the faint jingling sound that had been following Sian’s movements these past few days.
‘What’s he doing outside my door at this hour?’
The sound outside was quite restless, so I cautiously opened the door.
And as expected—
“……Sir Sian?”
There he was, standing at the door, holding a tray of bread.
“Did I wake you?”
“No, not really… But, what are you doing?”
“I was preparing breakfast.”
On the tray he held, there wasn’t just bread.
There was a fresh-looking salad and neatly sliced ham that I couldn’t tell where he’d gotten from.
“This early in the morning?”
“I thought it would be best to prepare it before you woke up, since I have to go out.”
“Go out? Where?”
“Ah… I have an errand to run.”
An errand?
Aside from the day he went out to find us this house, Sian rarely ever left my side.
So hearing that he suddenly had business felt strange.
“His Eminence the High Priest gave me a task. I may be on leave, but it’s something I have to take care of myself.”
“Ah.”
Right—he did say he was on leave.
I remembered hearing that the High Priest had stopped him from retiring.
‘A Holy Knight Commander should be busy enough as it is.’
And yet here he was, preparing breakfast at dawn like this.
I wasn’t the one who tied him down, but still, when someone shows you kindness, it’s only natural to feel a bit guilty.
At least if you have any decency.
“If you’re curious, you can have breakfast and come with me. It’s not far from here.”
“Uh…”
“Actually, it might be helpful if you come along.”
“Really? Me, helpful…?”
I glanced down at the tray in his hands.
The food looked like it came from the restaurant Jahar had recommended yesterday.
Since we’d even had dinner with those takeout boxes, there probably wasn’t much left.
Just about enough for what Sian had prepared for me now.
‘So he hasn’t eaten yet.’
Thinking that, I took the tray from his hands.
His eyes naturally followed my movements.
“Alright. But let’s eat together before we go.”
“Together?”
“You haven’t eaten either, have you?”
He didn’t reply, but he also didn’t try to refuse my offer.
So the two of us ended up sharing the food he’d prepared.
“Ratia, you eat too.”
“Ppiya!”
“The bread…”
“After seeing her eat yesterday, I’m sure she could chew through a rock if she wanted.”
Even though the meal was barely enough for one person, the two of us—and a magical creature—split it between us.
It wasn’t nearly enough, but somehow, it felt nice.
‘Come to think of it, if we finish everything here… what’s Jahar going to eat?’
Well, he’d manage. He’s not a kid.
Or maybe, on the way back, I could pick up a few things for him to eat.
I didn’t think much of it and left the house with Sian.
***
“Welcome, Sir Sian. It’s been a while.”
“I’ve been busy, my apologies for not visiting often.”
“Oh, no, no. You’re the only one who still remembers us like this.”
It took less than an hour by carriage from the mansion we’d bought.
When we stepped out, Sian and I stood in front of an orphanage.
The elderly woman who seemed to be the director led the way inside.
I glanced at Sian and asked carefully.
“……Sir Sian, you said the High Priest told you to come here?”
Since the High Priest himself gave orders to the Holy Knight Commander, I expected something like a monster subjugation.
So seeing this unexpected location left me too surprised to hide it.
Sian nodded calmly, as if it was nothing.
“Ah, I used to look after this place personally.”
“Personally…?”
“I only manage to visit about once every month or two, though.”
Scratching the back of his neck, he continued.
“The children here were all abandoned by their parents. Most were left behind after they’d already grown a little, not as infants.”
“…I see.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Maybe that dream earlier was my own way of warning myself—to be ready for something like this.
Before I ended up in this body, back in Korea… I grew up in an orphanage too.
Memories I rarely ever recalled started to push their way back into my head.
“But why did you say it would help if I came along?”
There didn’t seem to be anything here I could help with.
‘Well, even if it were a monster hunt, it’s not like I’d be any use right now. I don’t even have magic at the moment.’
Just as I started feeling a little gloomy over my own uselessness, I felt something cool touch my forehead.
When I looked up, Sian had placed his hand on it.
“You don’t have a fever, but your complexion isn’t good. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you to come.”
“Ah… no, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
He asked again, as if checking, and I nodded lightly.
Yeah, I’m fine.
My childhood in the orphanage feels so far away now.
Honestly, this Demon King’s body feels more like mine.
The life I lived before feels more like a dream.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“Ah. Just spend time with the children. See how they’re doing—if anyone’s bothering them, if they’re short on supplies from the temple, that sort of thing.”
I see. So he just needed someone to hang out with the kids and keep an eye on things.
At least he wasn’t bringing me here to make me do chores like cleaning or laundry.
“When someone starts embezzling, it shows right away in the children’s living conditions. That’s what I’d like you to pay attention to.”
“You personally handle that?”
“If someone higher up doesn’t check, corruption grows fast in any group.”
The task itself sounded simple, but the meaning behind it wasn’t.
I nodded.
In my previous life and through twelve more after that, I was never particularly fond of children—but I didn’t dislike them either.
So this shouldn’t be a problem.
…Or so I thought.
