I can recall Seele’s words in chapter… I can’t remember which one. It’s somewhere during the Herrscher of Domination. She always buys some stuff in a nearby city… or town?
She mentioned how she could not afford to buy some cakes, and that she’s always given free food by the shop owners.
I mean, Cocolia holds a position within the Russian Government. She can afford to construct a research lab at the bottom of the sea. Why not afford to give them more allowance?
My thoughts centered around that while we strolled around the orphanage’s surroundings.
Unlike my expectations, there is a local town nearby. It only took two minutes of walking on a public road. I thought it would be located in a mountain of sorts.
As for why Seele and Bronya appeared in Irkutsk, I don’t know.
“Are you still hungry?”
“Yeah! Let’s go check if there’s a buffet restaurant nearby!”
“You’re not worried about turning fat?”
I pointed out the elephant inside the room.
“No, not really.”
Kiana touched her stomach.
“I can’t get fat no matter how hard I try. It’s my talent!”
“...”
Elysia has no say over Kiana’s positive mindset. The latter can eat all the desserts she wants.
It took exactly a minute to reach the town’s outskirts. I vaguely recalled the places we visited during the Lake Baikal trip.
It definitely does not look like this.
The snowy climate caused the roads to be covered in snow. Most of the metallic signposts have rust in them. There are some traffic lights that seem to be working; there are some that don’t.
It is a far cry from the prosperous modern towns in North America and the United Kingdom. It looks more like the third world countries I visited.
Siberia… and honkai.
My sigh created a small white fog. I did not wear much except a brand new black hoodie. Kiana had the same style, but in white. She always picked the clothes we wore. My fashion sense sucks too…
…and I can’t bring myself to willfully spend her funds.
We strolled around this town. It is not much different from Irkutsk. There are bakeries with sky-high prices. There are also the typical snacks we buy. Nothing much changed.
Kiana’s handler…
I have a hunch that this entire town is under Cocolia’s control—at the very least, she can influence the high officials. Why would Kiana’s handler ask us to lie low in her orphanage?
We ended up slurping down a total of three assorted pies. Kiana sat with a satisfied look.
“Can we buy some for the kids?”
“Oh! That’s a good idea!”
I thought of the kids back in the orphanage. We might as well give these to Bronya to get distributed to others.
While we were waiting for our remaining orders, Kiana initiated some casual talks.
“Looks like you are already familiar with someone?”
“Hm? Ah, that’s the girl I saved. The one who got kidnapped.”
“Really? What a coincidence…”
Despite not saying it, I saw her apprehension about our temporary dwelling. Kiana could not do anything to the awkward air for the time being.
I hope our takeouts can break it down.
Suddenly, a mysterious sensation swept over me.
I can’t see it, but I know it came from the golden orb. I looked for a while and decided it would not be convenient to look at it now.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you using a sword yet. Can I see it?”
“Sword techniques? Sure. There are small trees behind the orphanage. We can cut it down.”
“Let’s go there!”
Her liveliness acted out once again.
*****
Things happened so suddenly.
Seele lost consciousness and was dragged away by the so-called robbers. All she felt at that time was fear, nothing else. Fear that when she wakes up, something bad will happen to her.
The occasional shaking she felt while sleeping stopped after a while. Seele could not distinguish what it was—gunshots, screams, hurried footsteps—though it upgraded her bad dreams into absolute nightmares.
Once it stopped… she no longer heard anything.
Seele woke up to an unfamiliar boy.
“Eek—!”
She did not hear much of the words he said. Only the buzzing on her ears mattered. After some twists and turns, she managed to return to Bronya’s side—to her home.
Once she calmed down, what followed was a harrowing guilt.
Seele is a coward. But, kindness is also in her nature. It is precisely why she was chosen by Cocolia to take care of Bronya in the first two months.
Thus came her surprise when the exact same boy came to their orphanage. That brief talk during breakfast was enough to make her feel lighter.
It was just unexpected for that guilt to turn into curiosity.
Unfortunately, the event this morning happened. She is exactly that girl whom Shi Tian reminded to lock
“Oh. Miss Seele!”
“Fwa–?!”
Seele did not hear footsteps coming from behind. She was shocked to see Shi Tian calling her name out. Her face turned red when she thought of what happened earlier. She tried to shake it off but to no avail.
That was when she noticed. Several boxes are held by his hands. When he stopped running, footsteps appeared on his feet again.
“I will leave these in the kitchen. Can I ask you to tell everyone?”
“Ah?”
Seele looked at the boxes he held. Its height is enough to cover her face, yet he carried it with one hand.
“These are snacks Kiana… and I bought for everyone. We are not really familiar with the other kids so…”
Shi Tian did not finish his sentence. Seele understood what he wanted to say.
“Got it. I will tell everyone.”
“Thank you!”
He walked slowly inside the orphanage. The sequence of events is so fast it almost left Seele’s mind to dust. It turned her embarrassment to bewilderment.
“Snacks… It came from the bakery near the intersection…”
Her thoughts flashed to that scene again. Although Shi Tian has slightly long and unkempt hair, it did nothing to hide his good-looking features. Coupled with the mature demeanor he shows, he is the perfect big brother material.
Just then, she could not help but recall the girl that came with him.
“They don’t look similar…”
A few thousand words long story swiftly appeared on her mind. Seele does now know much, but she is one of the few who can read inside the orphanage. Naturally, she spent it on reading books, be it hard copies or soft copies.
For some reason, she felt… disappointed?
Her thoughts did not wander much when she saw Shi Tian rushing off again, with a silver case strapped to his shoulder.
“I’ll be going for a while, Miss Seele!”
“Ah! Where—!”
Much to her relief, the running figure stopped. His feet sank to the layer of snow. Strangely enough, there are no footprints on the places he passed by.
“Are there any restricted places around the orphanage?”