NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14 - Side Story: Sauradite
Side Story: Sauradite
The moment I saw that child, my time stopped. That’s why I blurted out such strange things. My bad, my bad!
But I couldn’t help it! Because she was so adorable! You see, girls love cute things. It’s true regardless of race, I think. I’m sure there are exceptions… But I believe the majority would agree that “cuteness is justice.”
Our kind, and demi-humans in general, have extremely low birth rates compared to humans. This is simply because we’re long-lived beings.
If human blood is mixed in, the birth rate increases, but the lifespan shortens. To put it simply, long-lived and strong creatures rarely have children, while short-lived and weak creatures have many. It’s basically the law of nature.
And us halflings are categorized as a particularly long-lived race. Others include dwarves, elves, and some rare demi-humans. Gil’s Shadow Eagle kind is also long-lived.
My age? …A lady never reveals her age. Let them make their own assumptions!
Ahem. Getting back on track, dwarves, elves, halflings, giants… These races are also known for their strong bloodlines. That’s why they have even fewer children than other rare demi-humans. What strong bloodlines mean is that when they interbreed with other races, the offspring will always inherit the dominant race. So if one parent is a dwarf, the child will definitely be a dwarf!
What about a dwarf and an elf, you ask? In that case, it’s probably a fifty-fifty chance? I’ve never heard of it happening, and the odds of those two races having a child are about as likely as threading a needle from the second floor through a pinhole on the first. I’d love to know myself!
Incidentally, other demi-humans, while rare, do have children, about five or six every ten years in a single country, but it’s generally impossible to predict what kind they’ll be. If there’s Shadow Eagle blood somewhere in their distant ancestry, there’s a chance they could have a Shadow Eagle child, even if both parents are different demi-humans. In fact, I heard Gil’s parents were a dragon and a mermaid.
So, you don’t even know what kind of child you’ll have until it’s born. It’s like a surprise box!
This is a bit of a tangent, but what I’m trying to say is…
Children, in themselves, are rare, and it’s been ages since I’ve last seen one!! There aren’t any humans living around here, so it makes sense, but still.
When was the last time I saw one… It must have been over fifty years ago… This town is full of rare demi-humans, so the birth rate is particularly low.
Well, even putting that aside, I think this child is especially adorable. In fact, I’ve never seen such a cute child!
She has beautiful, silky, fluffy hair that curls inwards at the ends. Large eyes shaped like those of a Kyatru, a small mouth. Her skin is fair, her cheeks rosy and plump… Ahh…!
So I couldn’t help but get a little carried away. Yes, that’s my excuse! Any complaints?
That’s why, when I heard about Meg-chan from Gil, my heart was filled with a mixture of anger and sadness, directed at I don’t even know who.
To begin with, it was unthinkable for her to be without a guardian. As I mentioned many times, elven children are especially rare, so they’re typically treasured. It made it even more outrageous when Schlie told me later that she was the first elven child born in centuries.
And she was abandoned in a dungeon? Even with the protective earring, that was far too dangerous. And leaving her in the rocky mountain area of a dungeon, where you can’t even eat or drink without preparation… She would have starved to death even if the monsters didn’t get her.
I casually glanced at Meg-chan’s earring, and… the protective magic was already gone. Elven earrings are special; once they’re enchanted, they should keep protecting the wearer over and over… as long as the enchanter is alive.
In other words… those who tried to protect this child are no longer…
What in the world happened? I couldn’t imagine the circumstances that would lead someone to put their precious child through this. But judging from Meg-chan’s thin frame and simple clothes, I doubted she’d had a good life, even before being abandoned in the dungeon. …Whoever imbued that earring with protective magic must have been trying to get Meg-chan away from something. That was as far as I could speculate for now.
Ideally, I’d ask Meg-chan directly… But according to Gil, she had amnesia, unable to remember even her own name or how to use daily life magic. …I didn’t know if it was a mental block or a head injury, but either way, it was a dire situation.
I didn’t want to risk triggering anything by forcing her to remember, and I doubted a child this young would even know the details. This was a case that demanded the full attention of the Special-grade guild, Ortus, to uncover the truth.
Ortus took on requests seriously when it struck a chord with its members.
This case had moved my heart, the heart of Sauradite, leader of Ortus. I would see it solved… Mostly by Gil!!
To achieve that, Meg-chan would need to stay with us at the guild. This was for her safety and the best course of action.
After all, this guild was said to be the safest place in the world. Well, I’m sure there are even safer places, to be precise.
Now that that was settled, I had to decide on a room for her, clothes for her to wear, and who would be by her side. It couldn’t be the same person all the time, so we’d have to rotate! …Taking care of Meg-chan would be such a desirable job, I’m sure we’ll be flooded with applicants…
But first and foremost, clothes! It was such a waste for someone this adorable to be wearing such plain clothes! The cuter they are, the more you should dress them up! Ufufufu, I wonder what kind of clothes I should get her?
Ah. At the same time, I needed to send Gil back to the dungeon to investigate. It was a shame to send him back so soon, but the passage of time erased traces and crucial information. I should send him off as quickly as possible.
Just as I was about to tell Gil, those ridiculous words tumbled out of Juma’s mouth, and I had no choice but to address them.
“Well, the thing about babies is… they’re not actually brought by storks. It’s men and women, having fun in be—Mmmph!”
Good job, Schlie. You did well to stop him. That red-haired idiot never said anything sensible!
I was already irritated by the gravity of the situation, and I ended up taking it out on Juma.
And then, what was that? An old hag…?
He had the audacity to call me, this ultra-beauty, an old hag…? “Short” is fine. Being called small is a compliment for a halfling. But “old hag” is unforgivable! I’m still a youthful two-hundred-something…!
To release my pent-up frustration, I grabbed Juma by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out of the room. I hadn’t had the chance to test my new trap yet, it was ridiculously dangerous. But Juma was a Heaven Soaring Oni, known for his incredible durability, so he wouldn’t die, right?
With the perfect excuse to utilize my lab rat, and my annoyance at his rudeness subsiding, I headed for the training grounds in high spirits. Ufufufu, this will be fun!
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Kyatru → Refers to cats.