How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

The owner of the gentle voice that called me looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Did you get sold too…?”

The child, characterized by blue eyes, blue hair, and gill-like ears, was very small. They appeared to be a hybrid of different races, specifically a mermaid hybrid.

Wait, got sold?

“No, I was kidnapped.”

“You can’t get kidnapped…?”

“Right. And selling people isn’t allowed either.”

“I see.”

The child nodded at my words.

Just then, the car came to a stop. The men started banging on the sides of the vehicle and shouted.

“Get out!”

They won’t let us out unless they release our feet, you idiots.

As the darkness lifted, the scenery revealed a wasteland lined with partially collapsed buildings. Amid the ruins, I could see hastily built houses that looked like they would collapse at any moment.

The place we arrived at seemed to be one of the more intact buildings repurposed from the ruins.

“It looks okay.”

“What’s the price…?”

I fiddled with my now-loosened wrists.

I looked around, but there was nowhere to escape.

Just then, while I was patting the child clinging to me, I felt someone watching. A head of a child my age peeked through a broken window. When our eyes met, the child’s head quickly disappeared.

“Thank you always!”

The men who had kidnapped me seemed to have finished their transaction and drove away, laughing brightly.

Then a man who appeared to have bought us approached with a benign smile.

“I’m glad you’re safe. This was the only way I could help you.”

The man continued speaking with a gentle smile.

“This is a shelter run by the government. We help protect kids like you and move them to the intermediate zone.”

At those words, the child seemed to relax, releasing the tension from their body.

The man led us inside the building. Although the interior was old, it looked livable enough.

“Take a good rest here for a while. The other kids will guide you on how to get by. Kids!”

At his words, children around my age or even younger timidly appeared. They looked at us with curious eyes.

“These are new friends! Be nice to them! So, shall our fox take care of the new friends?”

At that, a boy with fox ears and a tail stepped forward and answered.

“Yes.”

The boy seemed to be a hybrid of a fox beastman.

‘Now that I think about it, most of the kids here are hybrids of different races.’

I looked around at the children and noticed something unique. It was remarkable that such rare hybrids had gathered here.

The man looked at us and said to the boy.

“Our mermaid friend should be named… um… half-mermaid sounds good!”

Half-mermaid?

I frowned slightly at his casual naming without even asking for my name.

Strangely, the man then asked me for my name.

“What’s your name, friend?”

“It’s Nahyun. Kang Nahyun.”

“Okay, Nahyun! If you have any problems, just let me know right away!”

A cold feeling washed over me. There was something off about this person…

“I’ll show you to your room.”

At that moment, the fox approached us. He spoke bluntly, then abruptly turned his back.

We silently exchanged glances and followed the fox.

“This is the bedroom. Over there is the dining room.”

The fox was gruff but sincerely guided us.

As we walked behind him, several children observed us from a distance with sparkling eyes.

The building wasn’t very large, so it didn’t take long to be shown around.

After that, nothing much happened. There was no particular hostility, but no one came forward to greet us either.

I thought we could manage just fine and eventually return to the intermediate zone as the headmaster had said. That was my assumption.

Until dinner time, that is.

“Don’t you want to eat?”

While I was sipping the clear soup that was served, I noticed the child sitting next to me pushing the soup away and only nibbling on the bread.

“This makes my throat itchy.”

The child pointed at the soup with their blue eyes, looking at me.

Is it an allergy? I glared at the soup, which I couldn’t figure out what was in it, and asked the child.

“Did your throat start itching as soon as you ate it?”

“Yeah.”

“Right. Don’t eat that. Just have the bread.”

I handed my bread to the child. The portions here were so small that even the bread fit perfectly in the child’s tiny hands.

The child smiled shyly as they received the bread. So cute.

As I was thinking that, I heard a kind voice behind me.

“Oh dear. You shouldn’t be picky.”

The man crouched down behind the child with a broad smile. He then picked up the bowl of soup that the child had pushed away and offered it to them.

“You have to eat it to be a good kid, right?”

The child seemed taken aback by that.

“I—I don’t like it. It makes my throat itchy.”

“I think this kid has an allergy, so I don’t think they should eat that.”

Even with my words, the man—the headmaster—paid no attention.

“You’ll get better if you eat it, even if you have an allergy.”

What nonsense is that? However, the headmaster kept pushing the bowl toward the child. The child looked frightened by the bowl coming so close to their face.

“Headmaster, stop…”

“I’m telling you to eat!”

“Stop it!”

With all my strength, I slapped the bowl the headmaster was holding, sending it crashing to the ground.

Clang, clang…

The sound of the bowl rolling on the ground echoed. The atmosphere turned tense and heavy.

Just as I felt the headmaster’s gaze twist in anger,

Smack!

A sharp pain suddenly struck my cheek.

“How dare you question what the teacher is doing?”

The headmaster, who had previously seemed so gentle, now erupted in anger. Pain coursed through my entire body.

“Such bad manners!”

After what felt like an eternity of being hit, the headmaster finally released me and left the dining hall.

I waited until I confirmed that the headmaster had exited before I straightened my hunched body. I needed to check if the mermaid child was okay.

“Big sister…”

The child was crying.

But thankfully, they were not injured. The mermaid child stumbled over to me and hugged me tightly.

“It’s my fault…”

Just then, a creaking sound came from inside the dining hall.

Strange things began to happen. The faucets in the dining hall all started turning on by themselves and began to pour out water. It was as if the child’s tears were spilling out.

“I—I…”

The child, who had been sobbing, soon fainted and collapsed. I quickly rushed to catch the child’s falling body.

Before I knew it, water was dripping from the ceiling as if it were raining.

I instinctively realized that all of this was because of this child.

The fox quietly moved around, turning off the open faucets.

“The water will just drain down anyway. There’s a sewer too. We just need to clean it up now.”

“Thank you…”

The fox looked at me quietly and then suddenly said something unexpected.

“Do you know her?”

“Huh?”

“Have you known the half-mermaid from before?”

“No. We just got sold together.”

“Then… you must just be a fool.”

“What? I didn’t catch that.”

“Nothing, never mind.”

The fox fell silent for a moment and then pulled a mop out from the cleaning supplies.

“The headmaster won’t be out of the headmaster’s office for a while, so you should clean up in the meantime.”

The other children with the fox raised their hands eagerly and shouted one after another.

“I’ll help!”

“That was amazing!”

“Can I call you ‘big sister’?”

So cute. I gently patted the head of the dog hybrid child who came closer and rubbed against me as I replied, “Thank you. Call me whatever you want.”

Before long, the children seemed to let their guard down, laughing and chatting cheerfully.

“I came here because they said there would be food! What’s this government thing? A project?”

“The headmaster? He often does that, but he’s a good person! If you hold on a bit longer, they say you can get the chance to live in the intermediate zone!”

The fox casually remarked as if it were no big deal.

“I didn’t have a citizen’s card, so even if I was caught living in the intermediate zone illegally, I couldn’t go back. But when they said they were giving out citizen’s cards, I decided to hang on.”

…It was a heavy topic to discuss while laughing, but anyway.

Putting together what I had heard from the children, it seemed that this orphanage was part of a government pilot project aimed at rescuing children living in illegal residences.

Once they deemed it appropriate for a child to live in the intermediate zone, they would issue a citizen’s card and arrange for the child to be adopted by a suitable family in that area.

So, they had to endure here for now. I understood.

As evening passed and everyone began preparing for bed, the child who caused the trouble finally regained consciousness.

“I should just die…”

Drops of water floated beside the dejected child.

The other children seemed fascinated and poked the drops or tried to drink them. Wait, do they even know what they’re drinking?

I tried to pry open the mouth of the child who had taken in the water, but they quickly gulped it down and giggled. This is frustrating.

“Don’t be like that~.”

“Yeah, we’re okay~.”

Still, the children surrounded the mermaid child, offering comfort.

“It was a bit of a struggle to clean up!”

“Really, someone like me should just…!”

“Right! For a while, the dining hall floor might be a bit damp!”

“I’m trash…!”

…That’s comforting, right?

I pondered for a moment while pinching the cheeks of the child who kept trying to drink the water to make them stop.

The fox was putting the children to bed one by one.

“Time to sleep now.”

But the children couldn’t contain their excitement, and it took us a while to turn off the lights in the room.

By the time we had put all the children to bed, a sense of camaraderie had formed between the fox and me.

I lay down next to the mermaid child. The fox lay down above me, resting our heads together.

The child didn’t seem to be asleep yet, as they spoke to me in a sleepy voice once again.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, really.” I gently patted the child once more. I thought it might be necessary to shift their focus to something else.

“Really, it’s fine. By the way, what’s your name?”

Come to think of it, I still didn’t know their name.

At my question, the child mumbled and gave a response that made me doubt my ears.

“Half-fish…?”

Seeing my stiff expression, the child hurriedly offered other names.

“Oh, I have gills too…! And there’s a new half-mermaid this time…!”

I forced a smile, trying to lift the corners of my mouth.

“…Should we come up with a new name for you?”

As I stroked the child who had rolled over into my blanket, I pondered. I wasn’t very good at naming things.

“Hmm… Is there a name you’d like?”

The child looked at me intently and replied.

“I want it to be the same.”

“Same as mine?”

When I asked, pointing to myself, the child nodded eagerly. No, it wouldn’t be right to give them my name. That would be confusing.

“Well then… let’s take the ‘Kang’ from my name.”

I recalled the child’s abilities: the ability to manipulate gently flowing water. Seeing their blue hair and blue eyes, images of flowing blue water came to mind.

“And I think it would be nice to add ‘Yu’ to it.”

I rolled the word I created around in my mouth before saying it out loud.

“How about Kangyu?”

At my words, the child’s eyes widened. Soon, they broke into a bright smile.

“Sounds great!”

Startled by the loud voice, I quickly covered Kangyu’s mouth.

“You’ll wake the others…!”

Upon hearing that, Kangyu seemed to realize and covered their own mouth. Looking around, I noticed that everyone was sleeping deeply, without even stirring.

I let out a small sigh of relief.