Chapter 21

"Hey, Fiona. If you're free, come with me for a bit."

With her sky-blue hair flowing down, she sat on the bench in the courtyard as usual, about to doze off in the warm sunlight.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her, and a voice came from above.

When she looked up with her dazed eyes, she was met with a pair of bad-tempered green eyes. It was a common occurrence.

"…Graham, are you going somewhere?"

He was wearing a black V-neck shirt and dark gray skinny pants. Two silver earrings gleamed in his right ear, and bracelets jangled on his left wrist.

His lazy demeanor and bad-tempered eyes made him look like a thug. If he were called one, he wouldn't have much to complain about.

When she asked him as usual in a relaxed manner, he replied with a sly grin.

＊ ＊ ＊

"Can you take care of a kid for me?"

She accepted his offer with pleasure and followed him to the outskirts of town.

Fiona was carrying three large boxes in each hand. She used wind magic to balance and lighten them, so there was no worry about dropping them or the weight being a problem.

Graham, who was leading the way, had his hands free.

He was skilled in water magic. He was good at pushing things away, but to carry them without getting them wet, he needed to create a barrier, which required a lot of magic and was troublesome.

His motto was to use whatever or whoever was available to make his life easier.

"You're really useful, you know. When the cart I kept was stolen, I was seriously thinking about killing the thief."

"You can't do that. You'll have to write a reflection paper again."

"Yeah, that's true. Writing it over and over is so tedious. I'll just put a bunch of ice cubes up the thief's nostrils."

"…If it's a girl, you should stop."

Graham walked on without a care, completely ignoring the fact that Fiona was carrying all the bags.

After about ten minutes, they arrived at the orphanage where Graham grew up.

The wooden building with a triangular roof had been patched with plywood in some places and decorated with childlike flower drawings. Handmade flower beds and mailboxes, among other things, gave it a warm and cozy feel.

Opening the large white door with a cute sign, they were greeted by the priest in charge.

"Hey, Graham. It's rare for you to bring someone. Is she your girlfriend?"

Fiona was a bit surprised. She had imagined a small, plump, and smiling woman would greet them, given the cute place.

She didn't expect a rough, tall, and thug-like man to appear.

Though his attire was a refined white priest's robe, his long, burnt-brown hair flowing back and his lazy manner of speaking while smoking a cigar made him look like a thug boss.

Fiona instantly realized that Graham's bad mouth and lazy demeanor, as well as his poor behavior, were influenced by this man.

"This is my first companion. I don't know what that bastard will do to her, so don't ever call her my girlfriend again."

"…I see."

The priest seemed interested in Fiona and looked at her intently as she was putting the boxes on the floor.

This man, who came from a well-known good family and still attended social events, knew who Graham meant by 'that bastard.'

He often saw him casually brushing off women who approached him, and now he understood that he preferred younger, cool-looking beauties.

"Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, miss. I'm Walt. I'm the priest in charge here."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Fiona. Please take care of me."

She greeted him in her usual relaxed manner and bowed slightly, causing Walt to drop his cigar.

"You're quite a sight."

"This is her normal way. You'll get used to it soon."

As she watched Graham's deep frown and thoughtful muttering, she thought they looked quite similar.

Just then, children ran up from inside.

"What did you bring, Big Brother Graham? Do you have any snacks?"

"Toys? I want toys."

"Mr. Graham, you said you would bring new magic books last time, right?"

The children quickly gathered around the boxes.

Though they didn't open them on their own, their expectant faces urged him to do so.

"Hey, you guys have something to say first, right?"

At Walt's prompting, the children stood up straight and bowed politely.

"Hello!"

After bowing, they immediately surrounded Graham and Fiona.

"Who's the sister?"

"Is she your girlfriend, Big Brother Graham?"

"No, he said he doesn't need a girlfriend last time. So she's just a playmate."

"She'll be thrown away when he gets tired of her."

"Big Brother Graham is the worst."

"Women are the worst."

As the children chattered, Graham snapped.

"Hey, don't say whatever you want."

"Wow, so high!"

"Swing more!"

The bad-tempered man with a vein popping on his forehead carried two boys on his shoulders and swayed them back and forth. Fiona watched with a smile, finding it heartwarming.

Two girls peeked from behind a door, their hands trembling with anger.

"What should we do? Big Brother Graham brought a woman."

"He's our Big Brother Graham... We can't allow this."

They were at the age where they were already determined that their future husband would be Graham. Fiona was automatically considered an enemy just for being brought here by him.

"We'll drive her away."

"Yes, take this!"

One of the girls took a potato from a basket and threw it at Fiona.

"Ouch!"

The potato hit her right on the back of her head with perfect control. Fiona picked it up from the floor and tilted her head.

"…A potato?"

When she looked in the direction it came from, more potatoes were on their way.

She quickly used wind to reduce their momentum and caught them gently.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

The potato attack didn't stop.

After catching about twenty, Fiona finally spoke to the girls.

"You shouldn't throw food at people."

"…Grr…"

They couldn't argue with her reasonable statement.

"Sonia, Rosaline, come here."

"…Eep…"

Called by Walt's stern voice, the girls flinched and slowly approached Fiona.

"…We're sorry. We won't do it again."

They looked at each other and apologized in unison, though their eyes showed no sign of remorse.

"Okay, if you won't do it again, that's fine. Hello, I'm Fiona. Nice to meet you."

She smiled warmly, and the girls hesitated for a moment.

Feeling intimidated by her adult composure, they tried to counter with their youth.

"I'm Rosaline. I'm a vibrant ten-year-old! I won't lose to any old woman!"

"I'm Sonia. I'm also a ten-year-old with beautiful skin."

Fiona felt a warm feeling seeing the cute girl with fluffy pink twin tails and cat-like eyes, and the girl with long blue hair who pushed it back with her hand and stuck out her chin.

"Cute… Rosaline looks just like Muriel. She's so cute and spunky."

"Huh? Cute?"

Rosaline, known for being sassy, rarely heard the word 'cute.'

"Sonia is cute and mature. Your hair is so beautiful, that calm blue. It's my favorite color."

"Huh? Beautiful?"

Sonia, who always lamented her dark hair and preferred a brighter color, took care of it every day to make it look as beautiful as possible.

Hearing the praise they had longed for, the girls' hearts wavered.

But they weren't about to lose. They were the ones suitable for Graham.

"The one suitable for Big Brother Graham is us!"

"Right. You two like Graham, don't you? He's very kind."

"That's true. You're not worthy of him."

"Big Brother Graham is going to marry us!"

"Wow, that's great… I envy you."

At the age of ten, already having a future husband decided. Fiona felt envious, as she hadn't even started dating yet.

"Hehe, too bad. You can't marry Big Brother Graham."

"Wait, I don't want to marry him at all."

Fiona's firm and serious response made the girls tilt their heads in confusion.

"Really? You're in front of him, so you should choose your words more carefully."

"Right, you're right. Sorry?"

"Ha, you got rejected."

"I didn't get rejected. You guys are so troublesome."

Graham, muttering in annoyance, lightly patted Fiona's head. His eyes showed a hint of tenderness.

"Wow…"

Walt, who hadn't seen Graham's soft expression in years, watched with interest.

Sonia and Rosaline felt envious again. Graham's demeanor was clearly different from usual. They had never seen him with such a gentle and calm aura.

"Hey, what do we do with these potatoes?"

"Huh? Oh, we were going to burn them with the leaves collected in the yard…"

"Okay, let's go then."

"Huh? Oh, okay…"

Carrying the potatoes in both arms, the girls forgot their anger as Fiona interacted with them in her usual laid-back manner. They decided to show her the yard.

"What's with her…"

Graham frowned, seeing Fiona being led away by the two girls, despite bringing her to play with the kids.

The other children were excitedly opening the boxes and taking out toys and books.

Among them, a boy approached Graham with a book in hand, looking dissatisfied.

"Mr. Graham, this magic book is too difficult for children. They can't understand it without a lower-level book first."

"Huh? Didn't you say the last one I brought was 'too easy for kids'?"

"The difficulty level increased too much from the last book. You need to think more carefully."

The boy, adjusting his glasses, sighed and snorted. Graham snapped.

"You little brat!"

"Yaaaah!"

He applied a submission hold, twisting the boy's arm. He didn't hold back at all.

"Tap out! Tap out!"

Even as the boy cried out in pain, Graham didn't let up. He believed in appropriate punishment for disrespectful behavior.

"I'm sorry. I won't complain anymore! Please teach me!"

"Huh? I'm not an expert in fire magic. You should—"

Just as he was about to say more, Graham had an idea.

"Right, he can teach you."

"???"

Graham grinned and released the boy from the hold.

When they reached the yard, Fiona was already starting a fire with the leaves.

"Yeah, that's right. And Matias is really cool—"

"Hey, Fiona."

On the way to the yard, she had already bonded with the girls and was chatting with them. Graham called out to her back.

The three turned around, and Rosaline and Sonia looked at Graham with pity.

They felt sorry for a man with unrequited love.

"That's not it, I'm telling you."