The sunlight was dazzling.
The cozy blanket clung to me, refusing to let go.
Beside me, a familiar scent of grapes mixed with Harp’s fresh, comforting fragrance tickled my nose.
All of these things pointed to one undeniable truth.
“Early bird rising!”
“Early… wha… mmph…”
“Harp, you’re still so bad at waking up in the morning!”
Morning had arrived once again!
“Huh? What?!”
“Teacher, why are you making such a fuss so early?”
“It’s true! I’m back to my original body!”
“Oh, that…”
Harp’s reaction was lack luster.
Well, to her, I probably looked the same—just another small, childlike body.
But this was my body.
Nobody knows the changes in their body better than its owner.
Even the smallest difference can be deeply felt!
“See, I don’t even lisp anymore!”
“Uh-huh…”
“Police station, steel spear station… Oh.”
“…Are you sure about that?”
“Forget that just happened.”
“Alright.”
Ahem.
Anyway, the current me had no lisp, a slightly taller frame, and a bigger head for a smarter brain.
Sure, I’d always been like this before, but regaining something you’ve lost makes you appreciate it even more.
My mood was at an all-time high.
“Still a baby, but at least not a super baby!”
“…Teacher, the milk’s spoiled.”
“What?! How could you say that?!”
“Well, you are still a kid… but spoiled milk? That’s too much!”
“Ah, still fresh after all!”
“Right!”
Harp kept saying strange things, probably because she wasn’t fully awake yet.
Looking closely, her dark circles seemed much worse than usual.
‘They were fine yesterday…’
That was odd.
Just yesterday, the slime bath had erased every trace of her dark circles, and now they were back—worse than ever.
“Harp, are you having trouble sleeping?”
“W-what? No! Not at all!”
“Hmmm.”
“Really! Sleeping next to you, Teacher, is the happiest thing ever!”
The way she overreacted and scrambled to defend herself made it seem like she wasn’t lying.
“Hmm, then why…?”
“Why what?”
“You’ve seemed so tired lately. I was wondering if you weren’t sleeping well.”
“…Oh!”
Was the bed uncomfortable?
No, that couldn’t be it—the bed we got from the middle-aged man was comfier than anything even a five-star hotel could offer.
So what’s the problem…?
“Ah, maybe!”
“Huh?”
“Could it be that I’m just not used to sleeping in a bed? Um… you see, I… I’ve only ever slept on the streets before, so this is my first time using one…”
“…Oh…”
Oh no.
Did I just step on a landmine?
“Uh… um… I see…”
I wanted to say something to comfort her, but the words wouldn’t come out.
What am I supposed to say here?
As the head of the orphanage, it’s my duty to cheer up one of my kids… but what should I even say?!
Oh, right. I know just the thing!
“Harp.”
“Yes?”
“Yesterday, you said you’d be happy if I hugged you like a comfort doll, right?”
“Yes…? Well, yes, but… why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”
“What about the opposite?”
“W-what?! What do you mean?!”
Harp, who had been rolling around in bed, froze at my words and then practically shot out from under the blankets.
Her pale face turned bright red in an instant, and her breathing grew noticeably quicker.
What an intense reaction.
Was there something shocking about what I just said?
“W-what do you mean by that?!”
“Nothing complicated. I mean it literally.”
“L-literally…?”
“When I had trouble sleeping in the past, I’d always hug a body pillow. It helped me fall asleep easily, and I think it even improved my sleep quality.”
“Y-yeah…?”
“So, I’m saying I’ll be your body pillow tonight.”
“Whaaaat?!”
Harp’s voice became louder and louder, enough to make the windows rattle.
“Yay! Hooray!”
“You like the idea that much?”
“Of course!”
Well, this is kind of embarrassing.
All I did was offer to let her hug me, but she’s acting like I just gave her the greatest gift in the world.
“Thank you so much, Teacher! I love you!”
“Mm, I love you too.”
I used to jump up and down in my seat, but now it’s just clinging to my body and making my whole body sweat.
Harp.
I feel like I’m showing too much affection.
I can’t help it. Even I can’t help but embrace this foolish harp.
I grabbed Harp’s body, which was squirming against my back, and hugged it tightly.
She’s a child, too, and I can feel her warm body and soft skin.
And the feel of her soft skin.
’Teacher?!’
‘It’s a trial of the attachment doll.’
‘Oh, wow.’
The harp’s eyes twinkle.
Then they melt away.
It’s not a metaphor, it’s real, and Harp’s body is draining.
So we, who had been cuddling in a sitting position, fell back on the bed.
We were lying on our backs, clinging to each other like magnets.
By the way, it was getting a bit hot.
‘Hey, Harp, don’t you think we should separate?’
‘I’ll stay like this for a little while longer.’ It’s a trial.’
-Harp.
‘Uh……, okay.’
Apparently, the harp was hungrier for affection than I thought.
It was about to fall off, so I gently pushed it away, and it tightened its grip.
Not.
‘More, more…………….’
Thanks to her, I was sweltering.
I have a high body temperature because I’m a baby, but the person I was with was also a baby, so we shared the warmth with each other.
With each other, so they become active in an instant.
The room felt like it had transformed into a sauna, as though we had become a self-sustaining power generator with all the heat we were generating.
Knock, knock.
“…Huh? A guest.”
“Ugh.”
Just as the heat was starting to make my mind go hazy, the sound of knocking from the front door snapped me out of it.
Someone was here.
“Harp, there’s a guest.”
“…I don’t want to go.”
“Harp…”
“Fine…”
When I insisted that we couldn’t ignore whoever was at the door, Harp finally loosened her grip on me.
Thank goodness. If she’d held on any longer, I might’ve turned into a roasted “Eve-on-a-stick.”
“Hmph, it’s a shame.”
“There’s plenty of time for us to hang out later. And there’s always tonight.”
“Oh! That’s true—tonight!”
“…Your eyes are kind of scary, Harp.”
“What? These are the most innocent eyes ever, Teacher.”
“Says the person who was just glaring at me like she was about to eat me alive.”
“Oh, that was just your imagination.”
Chuckling as we exchanged lighthearted banter, I pushed open the orphanage door to greet our early morning visitor.
Who could possibly be calling on us so early?
Curiosity piqued, I craned my neck upward to see who it was.
“Good morning.”
“Who are you?”
I had expected someone like Alex or Mrs. Gordon to be at the door, but standing there instead was a man I’d never seen before, dressed in a starkly unfamiliar outfit.
He wore shining white plate armor, and at his waist hung an equally white scabbard.
Just the sight of him made me instinctively tense up.
The man wore a gentle smile and had a kindly demeanor, but something about him didn’t feel right.
Was this what Harp always referred to as a “bad atmosphere”?
“Nice to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Leon, an inquisitor from the Holy Nation.”
“…I didn’t ask for your introduction.”
“Quite prickly, aren’t you? I understand. However, we don’t have much time, so let’s get straight to the point—”
As Leon spoke smoothly, his gaze suddenly shifted past me, toward something—or someone—behind me.
His expression instantly twisted into one of disgust.
It was as if he’d laid eyes on something revolting.
“A heretic.”
“What?”
“And if you’re with her… that makes you a heretic too.”
“A-a heretic?!”
The moment he noticed Harp, Leon’s tone and expression changed completely.
Gone was the polite, composed facade—replaced by contempt and hostility, as if he’d been wearing a mask all along.
“You are both impurities that must be cleansed.”
“H-huh?!”
Without hesitation, the man drew his sword.
The blade gleamed so sharply that even the simple act of unsheathing it sliced through the nearby weeds like paper.
If you get slashed with that thing, it’s going to hurt a lot.
“Prepare yourselves… in one swift—”
But that was it.
Leon, who had so dramatically unsheathed his sword, suddenly toppled over backward in a most unceremonious fashion.
The tense atmosphere dissolved in an instant, leaving me, who had been bracing for the worst, utterly bewildered.
What… just happened?
“Hmph.”
Was this some kind of slapstick act?
Cautiously, I approached Leon, who was lying flat on the ground.
Tap, tap.
I poked at him a few times to check if he was actually unconscious or just pretending.
He didn’t move.
“…Zzzzz…”
“He’s… sleeping?!”
Unbelievable.
Leon had fallen asleep.
What is this? This isn’t just ridiculous—it’s downright absurd.
All that tension for nothing.
“Teacher, are you okay? You’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine, but what’s up with this guy? He collapses and just decides to nap?”
“Ah, that’s probably because of my sleep ma—”
Before Harp could finish her sentence, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.
Far in the distance, a dark, billowing smoke began rising into the sky.
What now…?
“What’s that? Smoke? Did a wildfire break out?”
“…It looks like it’s coming from the village.”
“Wait, then could it be—”
A dreadful thought crossed my mind.
What if those white-armored guys were in the village, too?
It was lucky that this particular “white guy” turned out to be a sleepy fool who passed out, but what about the other inquisitors?
What if they’re wide awake after a good night’s rest and not sleepy at all?
They might be swinging those terrifyingly sharp swords of theirs, wreaking havoc everywhere!
Which means…
“The village is in danger!”