White clouds drifted softly in the fresh blue sky.
Looking up at them, Panilla (René) was reminded of cotton candy.
“…….Hungry… I forgot that being alive makes you hungry,… I was alive too until just the other day…”
Sitting on a barrel in the backyard and basking in the sun, Panilla (René) endured her hunger.
A piece of hard bread and a thin soup was not enough for lunch, and the hunger bug was already biting at her stomach, even though the sun was still high in the sky.
When she possessed Iris, she had to fight table manners at every meal, but at least she never suffered from hunger.
But now it was different.
This orphanage was better because it had a temple, but even so, orphanages generally were short of money.
The orphanage’s lack of food was too much for her growing body to bear.
“Isn’t there some kind of magic that can turn soil into food … or haze-eating magic … No, since the sun is so warm, if I could synthesize carbohydrates and oxygen from water and carbon dioxide…”
Panilla (René) was so hungry that she almost set foot in the plant world.
“It would be faster to go steal something at random or …, but no. It would be too much to look at if I were to stand out by acting unnecessarily…”
Panilla (René) shook her head to shake off the thoughts that popped into her head.
She was now undercover in the enemy’s lap. To avoid suspicion, she had to be careful about how she behaved.
–Well, it’s nothing if a couple of kids from the orphanage are suspicious, and in that sense I’m comfortable with it.
Panilla (René) thought as she looked at the small children playing ring around in the small backyard.
It was not a crazy mission to destroy an evil organization while working as a double for an Earl’s daughter while associating with adventurers with excellent crisis-sensing skills.
What she needed to do was simple, and if any of the children were suspicious of Panilla’s (René’s) behavior, there was nothing she could do about it.
–Anyway, I’ll wait for that Viscount Something to come. Until then…
Panilla (René) was just on the other side of the yard.
She turned her attention to a boy sitting on an overturned barrel, staring hauntingly at the sky.
He was about eleven or twelve years old. Brownish-red tousled hair. Same color eyes, a bit squinty. He looked like the kind of boy who might have joined a sports club or something.
His name was Wilfred. He is the son of Yuin, her client this time. Wilfred was not an orphan, but his mother, who was injured in an attack by thugs (apparently citizens who acted to punish the family of a “national bandit”), was sent here for a few days to receive treatment at the temple.
She didn’t care what happened to her client’s family, but that couldn’t be said in this case.
What Yuin wanted was revenge against the Viscount who had wronged him, as well as support for his wife and son.
In order to eat his soul, if he had other strong feelings besides revenge, she had to fulfill them as well. They had fallen on hard times because of Yuin’s set-up, and she needed to help them somehow.
–I guess this kind of pattern is possible. … Well, if you consider it a matter of unexplored issues, it might not be a bad idea to embrace it. Now, what should I do?
Since Wilfred was conveniently there, Panilla (René) thought about calling out to him to find out what he wanted to do.
However, Wilfred was giving off an aura of unapproachability, like a steampunk factory dripping liquid waste. Even the children playing around her wouldn’t go near Wilfred.
Above all, she was too hungry to take action, so she sat in the sun and watched Wilfred.
Someone approached Wilfred, leaving Panilla (René) aside.
Approaching him around the wall to avoid the small children playing around was a girl with walnut-colored hair in a braid. It was Eunice, everyone’s big sister.
She was holding a loaf of bread from lunch, which made Panilla (René) realized what was going on.
–Oh, I didn’t see Wilfred come in for lunch.
Probably he was over there looking at the sky the whole time during lunch. So Eunice brought him his share of bread.
-…If Wilfred rejects that one, I wonder if I can have it.
Panilla (René) stood up, motivated by her appetite.
“Wilfred. You didn’t come to lunch.”
Eunice, despite his black aura, approached Wilfred.
The tone of voice was high on sisterly power, as if she were gently questioning him.
“…Hungry, I’m not hungry.”
“Even so, it is a rule that we get together for meals. You didn’t eat in the morning either. Here, I saved some bread for you…”
“I said I don’t want it!”
“Kyaa…”
Wilfred brushed away the offered bread.
The bread, which looked like a large stone, was flung away and drew a beautiful parabolic line.
–Yikes, the bread is on the ground!
“Within 5 seconds!”
Once the bread fell to the ground, Panilla (René) retrieved it with a successful head-slide.
“… Phew, rescue successful.”
“Panilla, what are you doing?”
As Panilla (René) sighed while lying on her stomach, the voice of a dismayed Eunice rained down on her.
“What is it with you guys, one after the other … Leave me alone!”
Wilfred slammed his foot down on the ground in frustration.
It was a venerable gorilla’s manner to threaten by stomping on the ground. He was probably still calm enough not to hit her out of the blue.
The emotion that Panilla (René) felt from Wilfred was, to put it bluntly, “distrust”. It was not so much a distrust of anyone in particular, but of everything in the world.
He has been wronged and robbed of his father by a wicked plot. The neighbors looked at him coldly, his mother was assaulted by some extremists or something…
He probably felt as if the whole world had turned against him, and was turning hostile and wary of him like a hedgehog curled up against the needles. Desperation.
It may be inevitable considering the circumstances, but Panilla (René) did not have the gentleness to take his feelings into account.
Rough treatment preferred. All she could think about was getting the job done quickly and getting some bread.
“I escaped from my violent father with my mother. But life was hard and on top of that my mother died, so we ended up here. Eunice is a survivor from a village that was attacked and burned down by bandits.”
“Ah… hey, Panilla!”
Eunice’s situation was known to “Panilla” because she had heard about it before.
Eunice rushed to cover her mouth, but it was too late.
“You are not alone in your unhappiness. We may not be able to understand each other’s different misfortunes, but we can huddle together and lick each other’s wounds. We can echo each other’s resentment as we sing together. So … you are not alone.”
Wilfred was stunned to hear Panilla’s (René’s) words.
After meeting Mialanze and hearing about Everis’ plans, René had begun to explore the direction she should take.
If she wanted to build up a stronger force, it was not worth limiting her subordinates to monsters and undead. Just as Mialanze had done, there would be some humans who would be willing to commit something to René.
She carried the pain and resentment of the oppressed and embraced their misfortune…
That was how the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” could gather her strength.
Well, she had no intention of recruiting Wilfred.
But she would still offer her wicked hand just this once.
To make him get up from his seat. To complete the mission as soon as possible.
“Do you hate the people who framed your father? Then hate them. You can curse them! If everyone in the world is being fooled, if you don’t hold a grudge, who can? There is no time to be discouraged. Why don’t you just pick up your sword, stand up and howl!”
“Pa-Panilla, what’s wrong with you all of a sudden…”
The resentment continued to burn like a black flame in his chest.
As if seared by the flames of such resentment, Panilla’s (René’s) voice became heated.
Eunice flinched at the pressure.
Wilfred, who was staring at Panilla (René), gulped. His emotion was more fear than disbelief.
–…I’m scaring him a little bit too much, aren’t I?
Even though she was borrowing the body of a harmless girl, Panilla.
The vindictiveness of a great revenge spirit that destroyed a country may have been too much of a stimulus for the boy and girl.
“…. Who are you?”
“I am Panilla. I’m from here.”
Wilfred shook his head in resignation as Panilla (René) said her name.
“I’m sorry…, I’ll eat.”
–You didn’t have to change your mind about that part…
Hearing Wilfred’s sullen tone, René was rather seriously dismayed.
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