I trudged back to the Court of Fontaine. By the time I arrived at the Bouf d’ete Residence, it was already past noon.
The moment I opened the door, Peruel came running out. Seeing how haggard I looked, she immediately demanded to know what had happened.
"Brother! What happened?!"
"Call the others... I’ll explain everything..."
I gathered the children and told them that Uncle and Auntie had been murdered by Kujavina last night. Peruel and Cravie looked grief-stricken, while Citra was horrified. The mother she knew could not possibly have been capable of such a thing.
"Mother would never do that! It must have been someone else!"
"No... I saw it all... She’s more than capable of doing something like that."
"He’s right... Mother is that kind of person..."
"Even you, Cravie...!"
When even Cravie joined in, Citra looked as though she could not believe it and tried to run out of the house.
"Peruel, grab her. Now."
Peruel immediately grabbed Citra by her pigtails and dragged her back, just as I had dragged Citra around before.
"Let go of me!! I’m going back! I’m going to ask Mother myself!"
"No. If you go, you’ll die."
"Huh...?"
"Kujavina ordered our deaths—all four of us. Uncle and Auntie died because they did not want to obey that order..."
"Then... what do we do now...? Does that mean... we’re going to die soon...?"
Citra began to panic. Peruel and Cravie soon lowered their heads as well.
"No... I’ll protect all of you."
"Demon King...?"
"I don’t like you calling me the Demon King, but if I really am one, then I should at least have the power to protect my own subordinates, right?"
I straightened Citra’s disheveled hair and comforted her.
"Don’t worry. The four of us can survive anywhere. We have such a large house, and we have somewhere to return to."
"Avrora... sniff..."
Citra clung to me and began sobbing her heart out. I had given her hope, so what else could she do...?
"Then, Avrora... what about food? We don’t even have money to buy anything..."
"I’ll earn it."
"How...? You haven’t passed yet, Brother."
"That’s true, but... maybe we can ask someone we know for help?"
"...?"
A question mark appeared over Peruel’s head. It was not long before it turned into an exclamation mark and an angry-vein symbol.
"So? You’re asking to borrow money?"
"Yeah... Something came up on our end..."
Furina and I sat on the chairs outside a café and began our consultation. Why were we not going inside? Because we needed to save money. I felt guilty enough borrowing money from Furina already.
"Do you really have to borrow money from this bitch? I’d rather work myself...!"
"Peruel... how old are you?"
"Eleven..."
"Your birthday hasn’t passed, so you’re ten. It violates child labor laws."
"Tch... Damn laws..."
"To think Avrora’s reputation has fallen so low that he has to borrow money from me~ How pitiful~? Of course, I am the endlessly merciful Hydro Archon, so if you do what I ask? Money is no trouble at all~"
"Then... what is it that you want, Furina?"
"A one-day Avrora pass..."
"Die."
The instant she said it, Peruel pounced on Furina.
"Hey! Hey! Stop her!"
"Peruel! We’re in a position where we need to ask Furina for help!"
"Tch..."
Looking like she truly hated it, Peruel returned to sit beside me.
"So, how much will you pay for a one-day pass?"
"One hundred thousand Mora a day? You should give me at least that much~"
One hundred thousand... If it was a hundred thousand... a Ley Line was worth a hundred and twenty thousand... No, no, not that. Fish and chips cost five thousand Mora, so that was enough to buy twenty servings. There were four of us, so if we spent twenty thousand Mora per meal, we could last five days. This might be all right?
"Rather than have you sell your body, Brother... I’ll...!"
"Peruel? Once I enter the Judicial Training Institute, I’ll get paid. We just need to hold out until then, okay?"
"All right... Brother..."
Once I entered the Judicial Training Institute, I would receive money under various categories, such as an allowance for maintaining appearances. I would have to earn even that much and feed the children. Somehow, I had become an actual guardian.
"And I’ll contact Clorinde, too. The four of you cannot do anything on your own, can you? It should be all right if Clorinde becomes your guardian. She’s a fairly well-known kid at the Palais Mermonia, you know?"
Well, she would become famous. She would awaken a Vision later, after all.
"Clorinde also came from an orphan background like you, so she probably understands how difficult your lives have been. I think she could look after you? And if that still isn’t enough, sell me a one-day Avrora pass—hey! Do something about her!"
The moment she heard the words one-day pass, Peruel reflexively sprang at her again. Did she hate it that much?
"For now... I’ll think about it... Please contact Clorinde..."
"All right~ By the way, why are you so desperate for money? Did something happen?"
Peruel and I both drooped. Should we tell her or not...?
"Huh...? Did I say something wrong...?"
"Peruel...? Why don’t you go home first? You can eat what Auntie made yesterday for dinner..."
"Okay..."
Peruel left without saying a word. Furina found it strange. Peruel was a child who hated being apart from Avrora’s side, so what could have happened for her to walk away looking so dejected?
"Did... something really happen?"
"I’ll tell you the truth. Listen carefully."
[Explanation in Progress]
"That orphanage is completely insane! We have to tell Neuvillette right away and have it shut down!"
"Even if it gets shut down, they’ll just form another organization somewhere else. Under a different name."
"But... that is the place that killed people close to you! You’re just going to let it be?!"
"Their backing is too powerful. Are you confident you can fight a Fatui Harbinger?"
"No... of course not..."
"Anyway, we have no choice but to bury this incident. Snezhnaya will obviously deny it has anything to do with them and say that, since it happened in Fontaine, Fontaine should deal with it itself. But the murderer is a Fatui Harbinger. There’s no answer to that..."
"You really have it rough..."
"I should blame myself for being born in a place like this..."
The two of us sat silently on the chairs. After some time passed, Furina spoke first.
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Just say a few words to Neuvillette. Tell him I’m not in a good state right now."
"All right... Then I’ll be going..."
"Furina, wait a moment."
"Hm? What is it?"
"The one-day pass is still valid, right?"
Furina’s face brightened.
"Of course it is~ Call me anytime~! I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow’s piano lesson, okay?"
"Okay."
That was how Furina and I parted ways.
That evening’s dinner was the meat stew Angelina had left behind. It smelled truly wonderful, but that scent only made us sadder.
"Thank you for the meal..."
Honestly, I did not want to eat. The more I ate, the more memories returned of life with those two Fatui members. Uncle, who had shielded me from reporters when I went to take the bar exam; Uncle, who told me that I could do it; Auntie, who had found a recipe being sold at the grocery store and cooked it herself; and the spicy fish stew... Those memories flickered through my mind.
"Sniff... sob..."
Citra shed tears. Who could keep from crying in a situation like this? Cravie and Peruel also ate their meat with their spirits crushed. I was no different.
"After we eat... should we go visit their grave?"
"Yeah..."
The long, long evening ended, and we headed toward the grave I had made. The stone could barely be called a grave marker, but it was easy to find the place.
"Uncle, Auntie... we came to see you..."
"Thanks to the meat stew Auntie made, we had a good dinner tonight, too..."
Citra kept sniffling behind me. It seemed she could not even speak.
"Uncle, you told me I would become the hope of the Fatui... I don’t think I’ll be able to fulfill that wish for you..."
A Fatui Harbinger had killed them, after all. I might have become enemies with the Fatui, but I did not have even the slightest desire to join them.
"I’m going to become a lawyer... A lawyer who takes responsibility for orphans like us... I never want to go through this kind of grief again..."
Cravie and Peruel stood behind me with their hands tightly clasped, watching me.
"So children will never be dragged into a place like the House of the Hearth... I’ll help them... Somehow, I’ll make sure there are no more children like that..."
"So... Uncle... Auntie... please watch over us from up there... Watch how we live..."
I rose from before the grave and spoke to the children.
"Everyone. Let’s say goodbye..."
The three children and I bowed toward the grave at the same time. Not long after Citra bowed, she collapsed onto the ground and wailed. Cravie patted Citra’s back, while Peruel said nothing.
That was how a purpose took root in my heart.
My death was certain. But I could not simply die. Somehow, I would make Kujavina suffer a devastating defeat before I died.
That thought pierced straight through my heart.
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