The Grown-Ups' Conversation

Baron Martz draped a blanket over the black-haired, black-eyed girl, who had fallen asleep in the blink of an eye, and quietly left the room.

The Salar baronial house was technically counted among the nobility, but it wasn't especially wealthy.

Since the hallways weren't equipped with magic lamps, he headed toward the study through the dim corridor, a portable magic lamp in one hand.

“My, she really was exhausted. The moment she entered the room, she dove into the bed and was out in an instant.”

As soon as he entered the study, the baron spoke to the man and woman waiting there.

One was Baroness Emma.

And the other, a man, was Sneigen, the butler of Baron Martz's house.

He was a tall, mean-eyed man.

“Wiping out those thieves in a flash...... In terms of fighting strength, I'd put her at a rank-2 adventurer at the very least, but you'd never guess it to look at her, would you? She seems like nothing more than an ordinary child.”

Baron Martz sank deep into his seat, leaning back against the rest, and looked toward the tall butler standing beside his wife, Emma.

“So. What did you think of her, Sneigen?”

“Ominous, filthy, unpleasant. A cursed child. It would be best to put her out of the house first thing tomorrow, the moment the sun rises.”

Put on the spot, the butler declared it flatly, not even trying to hide his scowl.

“The very fact that such a black-haired, black-eyed creature breathes the same air as Emma-sama is intolerable. Normally, she should have been cut down on the spot, yet we provided her with a night's meal and lodging. It is an overly generous reward for such low-born scum.”

“Now now, she is our benefactor, after all. That's a bit much, don't you think?”

“No. Merely speaking with a cursed child sullies Emma-sama's good name. She is not a presence to be tolerated. Besides, what was that story of hers? I was in attendance at the back and heard it all. She lived in the forest? Staved off hunger by eating bugs and the like? No child could survive such a life. It is preposterous. Her background is obscure and suspicious, and she is a cursed child on top of it. I cannot allow such a creature any nearer to Emma-sama!”

“Sneigen!”

Emma reined in the butler, who was getting heated and raising his voice.

Sneigen bowed his head, his mouth set in a grim line.

He was the only servant who had left the count's house to follow Emma when she married Martz.

His loyalty seemed to lie with Baroness Emma more than with the Salar baronial house.

Good at his work, but a man with a whole host of problems. That was Sneigen.

“Emma, what do you think of her?”

Asked next by her husband, the baroness thought for a moment before speaking.

“Well, as Sneigen says, her background is unclear, that much is certainly true. But I don't think that's because she's lying to hide something, or anything of the sort.”

The baron nodded at his wife's opinion.

“She seems to be quite bad at speaking, after all.”

As for Emi, she had meant to tell them everything except the reincarnation part, hiding nothing, but in truth the baron and his wife hadn't understood much of her explanation at all.

Because she used so few words and the content of her story was fragmentary and jumped around, it had been very difficult to understand.

“There's no chance she's some spy lying to lead us into a trap, or anything like that.”

“Besides, there'd be no profit in trapping a poor baronial house like ours, would there?”

“My lord. It is hardly fitting for you to call this house poor. If this house is poor, that is, by definition, a question of your own acumen. To admit as much so shamelessly makes me doubt your fitness as head of the house.”

“Sneigen, hush for a moment, would you?”

“If that is Emma-sama's wish.”

“......Shall we get back to the topic?”

Baron Martz cleared his throat and steered the conversation back.

“So, Emma. What do you think of her personality?”

At this question from her husband, Emma knit her brow slightly and started to say something...... then swallowed it and answered like this.

“I can't really tell. She's expressionless and quiet. Maybe because she's had so little contact with people, her feelings don't seem to rise and fall much. So little that she can kill people, thieves or not, without it bothering her in the least.”

“That...... is a necessary quality if one is to be an adventurer.”

“That's one way of putting it. ......Dear, I...... I am grateful to that child for saving us from the thieves, I truly am. ......But.”

The baroness continued, her voice trembling slightly.

“I'm............ a little afraid. Of that child. ......There's no telling what she is.”

“Then let us cast her out immediately! There is no need to wait for morning!”

“Sneigen, be quiet.”

“A little, afraid...... huh.”

Baron Martz, elbows on the desk, his chin propped in one hand.

What he was thinking right now.

Emma had shared her life with him for years; she could read that much at a glance.

Including the fact that he couldn't put those thoughts into words out of consideration for her.

And so it was Emma, with a sigh, who broke the silence in the study next.

“With Sara............ she might get along, don't you think?”

“......You think so?”

“Yes, that child...... is quite thick-skinned. So unbothered by the little things that it's almost worrying.”

Emma continued with a wry smile.

“Sara hasn't had any friends her own age until now...... so for 1 month or so, until she enters the academy, wouldn't it be all right?”

“......One moment, please. What exactly are you discussing......”

The butler was bewildered. He couldn't keep up with the couple's conversation.

“Sneigen, in this incident, the thieves clearly understood that Emma and Sara were members of the Salar baronial house.”

“Yes.”

“In other words, the Salar baronial house is being targeted. Though I don't know the reason.”

“Yes.”

“I need to keep my beloved wife and daughter safe. Correct?”

“Of course!”

“Then, does our baronial house have the financial leeway to hire adventurers as guards for the next month?”

“......We do not.”

“Then, what if we hired a live-in maid apprentice?”

“?...... If that is the case......”

As he was about to answer that it was possible, even the butler finally understood what the baron was getting at.

“My lord, please don't!”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“That child is a vagrant of unknown origin!?”

“But she's strong. Cheap to hire and strong; what could be better?”

“But she is a cursed child! If we keep such a child in the house, who knows what kind of disaster will befall us......!”

“Emma says it's fine, too, you know?”

“Ugh......”

Once that was said, this butler had no comeback.

“Sneigen, I've already decided. From now until Sara enters the academy, our baronial house will employ her...... Emi, as a maid apprentice and bodyguard. After breakfast tomorrow, bring her to the study, would you?”