Once the grime was wiped off her face, Renee turned out to have a rather cute face.
“Hey, hey, big bro. What’re you gonna feed me?”
The mouth on her, though, was still rough as ever.
Figuring her empty, weakened stomach wouldn’t accept anything heavy right off the bat, I bought seafood soup from a stall near the guild, had it ladled into a cup, and handed it to her.
Renee took it tentatively and began sipping. Cat-tongue, apparently. Slow start’s probably for the best on an empty stomach.
“Wait here a moment.”
I left Renee there and stepped into the guild. Presented the guild card I’d recovered, withdrew a little money. Really only had a little in there. Coming back out, I took Renee in tow. Thought about taking her to a shop, but in her current state we’d probably get turned away at the door.
In the end, I bought some skewers from another stall and we ate them on a bench in the plaza.
“Don’t rush — eat slowly, you’re fine.”
“Mm.”
Whether she was that hungry or what, she chomped through the skewers and swallowed them down. Comparable to Yae, this one…
“Where do you live, Renee?”
“Nowhere set. Sometimes I sleep in the park, sometimes a back alley. Used to stay at an inn with my dad, but…”
“Where’s your dad?”
“Went out to hunt a magic beast a year ago, never came back. Dad was an adventurer…”
I see… Magic beast got him, then. Hunting jobs sometimes mean the adventurer ends up the prey. If he was solo, the body never gets found and he’s just listed missing.
“Your mom? Any relatives?”
“Mom died right after she had me, they said. Don’t know any relatives — dad didn’t talk much.”
She finished her skewers, wiping greasy hands on her trousers as she spoke.
So her father vanished, and the kid was on her own. Made it through a whole year like that — impressive, frankly.
“After dad disappeared, a wandering granny I got friendly with in the city taught me how to pick pockets. I knew it was bad, but I was starving so bad…”
Don’t teach kids weird stuff, granny. Then again, that lesson was the only reason Renee made it through. Either way.
Hmm. What to do with this kid. No parents, no relatives. Take her to an orphanage and she’s already a criminal — they might balk. From the sound of it she only stole when she absolutely had to, but she’s a kid, she’ll be let off, didn’t exactly seem like a safe assumption.
Apparently there are quite a few kids like her in this city. Without stealing, they starve. They’re fighting to survive — I get that. Doesn’t make stealing okay, but…
Hire her somewhere… yeah, no one’s going to do that. If I leave her, she’ll just go back to pickpocketing. And one of these days she’ll get caught…
I’m probably going to be called soft. Whatever. They can call me whatever they want. I want to help if I can — that’s the truth.
”…Renee. You want to come work at my place?”
“Eh?”
“You won’t have to worry about a place to sleep or food. But you’ll have to work — properly. And I’ll pay you a decent wage for it. What do you say?”
“Eh? Eh? You’d let me — work? Really?”
Renee stared at me, startled. Bewildered by the sudden offer, but a hopeful light kindled in her eyes.
“One condition: never use the pickpocketing skills again. Break that and the deal’s off. Can you promise?”
“Y-yeah! Never again! I promise!”
She nodded vigorously. I gave her hair a light ruffle. I’ll have Yumina check her with her Magic Eye to confirm her nature, but… She’s a good kid, I think.
All right. Then it’s decided. Time to head home.
I could use [Gate], but it’s better she learns the route, so we walked.
“Huh, isn’t it that way?”
“My house is this way. West District.”
“West District!?”
Renee had been pointing toward the East District; she whirled around in shock. That surprising?
I led Renee out of the South District and into the West. We passed through the spreading residential streets and climbed the gentle slope up the hillside. If only this slope weren’t here.
“Touya-nii-chan… are you maybe a noble?”
“Not a noble. Almost got made one once, though.”
Renee must have started feeling out of place; she asked, glancing around uneasily. Nobles tend to live in the Inner Ring rather than the Outer, but it’s not a hard rule. Low-ranking nobles and fallen-noble families end up over here. So do certain wealthy merchants.
We crested the hill and the red roof of our house came into view. Renee looked up at it, then at me, jaw practically slack.
“Th— this is Touya-nii-chan’s house!?”
“Yep. Ah — Tom-san, hard work as always.”
“My, my — Master coming home through the front gate? Rare sight.”
The gatekeeper Tom-san chuckled. Well, I’m always coming and going by [Gate] — fair enough that he’d say so.
We went in through the side door beside the main gate, walked the garden path, opened the front door. Lapis-san and Cécile-san were in the entrance hall, cleaning.
“Oh — Master? Welcome home. Coming in through the front, that’s unusual.”
“Welcome home. Ohh? Who’s the little one~?”
Cécile-san stared at Renee. Bashful under the attention, Renee ducked behind me.
“This is Renee. She’s working here from today, so please look after her. Renee — proper greeting.”
“Uah… R-Renee… pleased… to meet you…”
What’s this, all cat-on-borrowed-cushion? Nervous? Yeah — drag a kid suddenly into a place like this, of course.
“Where’s Lime-san?”
“He’s bringing tea to Yumina-sama in the living room.”
I took Renee through to the living room, sat her in a chair, and explained the situation to Lime-san.
Yumina listened in silence, eyes fixed steadily on Renee. Reading her with the Magic Eye, no doubt. Then a small smile crossed her face. See? She’s not bad at the core.
Confirming that out of the corner of my eye, Lime-san spoke up.
“I see. I understand the situation. However — half-hearted attitudes toward work are a problem. Renee, was it?”
“Y-yes.”
“Do you truly want to work here? Mistakes and inconveniencing the staff — those are fine. What I need to know is whether you can learn from them, and promise not to run.”
Lime-san fixed Renee with a piercing look. Awfully strict for a kid under ten, I thought, but it wasn’t an atmosphere where I could cut in.
”…Yeah. I want to work here. I want to be at Touya-nii-chan’s place.”
Renee met Lime-san’s eyes squarely and answered firmly. Our steward watched her steadily, then softened his expression and rose with a small smile.
“Cécile — take Renee to the bath. Scrub her down, every corner.”
“Right~. Renee-chan, come on~. Bath time~.”
“Eh? Eh?”
Cécile-san dragged Renee off to the bath.
“Lapis — go buy this child a few outfits that’ll fit her. Ah, and put a custom order in for a maid uniform.”
“Yes. Master, I’ll borrow a bicycle.”
Lapis-san hurried off briskly. Incidentally, she and Cécile-san both mastered the bicycle in a few hours. Ex-Espion, all right.
“While she’s still in the bath — she can wear some of my clothes for a bit. Sizes won’t match, but only until Lapis-san gets back.”
Yumina stood up too. Carrying her clothes to the changing room, I take it. As Yumina left, I leaned back in the chair and stared blankly. Eventually Lime-san returned and set tea on the table in front of me.
”…Maybe I should’ve taken her to an orphanage. Was this me sticking my nose in?”
“That is for Renee to decide. For now, please accept only the simple fact that the Master saved one girl from poverty.”
Yeah. True. I’ll stop worrying. I did it because I wanted to. That’s it. Smooth talker — but he was the King’s former personal attendant, after all.
Even so, what Renee did was still a crime. She has to make it up properly. Worth consulting the King about, maybe.
…Hm?
Loud footsteps came thundering down the hall. Bam! — the door burst open and in flew Renee, wrapped in a bath towel. In her arms was our white tiger cub.
“T-Touya-nii-chan! A tiger! There’s a tiger cub!”
Kōhaku turned a long-suffering look on me. Yeah, I get it.
[Master… what is this child?]
”!? T-the tiger talked—!?”
Hah, what a racket. And — put some clothes on, please. Indecent. Going to get noisier around here, isn’t it… Hm?
Something was dangling from Renee’s neck. A pendant?
“Renee, that pendant?”
“This? My dad gave it to me — it’s a memento of my mom. I’ve kept it on me the whole time.”
“Could I see it for a moment?”
Renee passed me the pendant. As she did, Cécile-san with her sleeves rolled up came and hauled her back to the bath. Busy day.
I studied the pendant. This is… gold, right? Pretty valuable piece, I’d say. Spread-wing motif with an inverted-triangle gemstone set in the center. Emerald… no — a magic stone. Wind-element magic stone.
On the back was — a crest.
“Lime-san… recognize this crest?”
“Griffon and shield, twin swords, and laurel… can’t say I do.”
“If this is a family memento — could it be Renee’s of decent birth, maybe?”
“Couldn’t say. The piece could have been picked up by Renee’s parent, or their parent, or earlier.”
Right — could’ve been picked up and passed down for generations. Although — find something this valuable and most people would either report it or sell it. And since her father’s gone, no way to know for sure.
“At the very least, this isn’t a Belfast noble crest. Griffon crests are more common in the Empire, though…”
The Empire. Regulus Empire to the east, then. The one Belfast isn’t on great terms with… Maybe Renee’s father was a fallen-noble from the Empire.
Either way, best not to flaunt it. Next time I meet someone from the Empire, I’ll make some discreet inquiries.