<23>

 

Hanna’s time passed quickly.

 

When I filled each page of my life with memories with the children, it quickly became a book of treasures.

 

They rushed forward and reached the beginning of the fourth summer after three summers.

 

“What about the children?”

 

“Outside.”

 

Cesar, who was cleaning the tablecloths, said as he glanced out the window.

 

For the last three years, Cesar occasionally eats at the orphanage.

 

As he said, he was an assistant to Hanna, and there were times when he almost starved the children while cooking alone.

 

Hanna, who was holding the soup at his words, looked outside.

 

“He’s riding the ostrich again today!”

 

“That’s not an ostrich however you look at it. It’s not even a bird.”

 

I think he said the opposite in a conversation like this one before.

 

Hanna has been calling Kkokko an ostrich these days.

 

This was because the melon-sized Kkokko grew to the size of the children in one year.

 

Its body covered in black shiny feathers, wings larger than the height of an adult when spread out, strong legs, pointed claws, and sharp beaks were even menacing.

 

Especially when it was still young, its horns that were soft became hard red horns, and I see them every day, but the first time I saw them, they have an overwhelming presence that can harden anyone’s body.

 

Kkokko was running while Marsha was riding on its back.

 

It was a scene that could make others faint, but it was the daily life in the orphanage.

 

“Then you call that big thing a chicken?”

 

“Just admit it. He’s neither a chicken nor an ostrich.”

 

Hanna walked over to the window and opened it.

 

“Kids! Let’s eat before you play!”

 

At Hanna’s loud voice, the children entered the building hurriedly.

 

“Huh. What is he doing that it’s grown that big.”

 

Hanna let out a low sigh as she saw Marsha now putting Kkokko in a cage that wasn’t even a chicken coop.

 

To be honest, it would be foolish to treat Kkokko as a horse. Lizzy*(1) and Kkokko could fly whenever they want.

 

Luckily, Kkokko didn’t leave the orphanage because he sees Marsha as a parent.

 

Cesar now sat on his chair familiarly and looked at Hanna, who was conflicted inside.

 

“I think I’ve seen something like that.”

 

“Kkokko? Where?”

 

Kkokko’s has now become an object of curiosity to the people of the temple.

 

“Something like the ancient beast you saw in a book embedded in the temple?”

 

It was an old book that ordinary people would not even dare to touch.

 

“You bet. You wouldn’t find an ancient beast anywhere in the world these days.”

 

The ancient beast was different from the ancient beast that people in this world know.

 

The only remaining beasts were beast-level monsters, but the ancient beasts in the legend were intelligent and high-level creatures that used magic.

 

“Above all else, it’s not smart.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Cesar quickly admitted.

 

“Didn’t I say that Kkokko was born from an egg?”

 

“Moisei-nim!”

 

Moisei appeared on the table.

 

At that, Hanna naturally took another plate out of the cupboard.

 

Moisei was accustomed to this kind of daily life because he sometimes ate at the orphanage when his training and Jeremy’s class overlapped vaguely.

 

“You seem to eat here every day?”

 

Cesar said to Moisei sarcastically.

 

“It seems that the high priest, who doesn’t even move a single step in the office, has come all the way here.”

 

Moisei replied with a smile.

 

Cesar had nothing to say in response to that.

 

“That’s right. Kkokko was found as an egg, but it hatched.”

 

“It is said that an enormous amount of magical power is required for the ancient beast to hatch. Since all the adults that can be hatched by pouring magic power have become extinct, it would be impossible for some archmage to hatch them from an egg, even if a few people hang on to them, wouldn’t it?”

 

“Then I’ll just have it.”

 

Cesar added to Moisei’s words.

 

“What are you saying! No matter how you look at it, it’s a beast that harms people!”

 

Kkokko’s too nice to be a beast.

 

“Hmm.”

 

Cesar’s languid gaze reached Kkokko.

 

“We’ll find out later.”

 

Kkokko’s black eyes, as he was looking at the building where the children ran into, reached Cesar.

 

“Teacher!”

 

“I washed my hands!”

 

“You’re here again.”

 

The children ran into the dining room, found Moisei and Cesar, and moved their heads to say hello.

 

Ian wrinkled his face as he looked at Cesar, who was sitting in his favorite seat.

 

“It’s good to share.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

Ian seemed to have reached puberty.

 

In particular, Cesar had frequent frictions with the children due to his stubborn temperament.

 

A noisy evening began.

 

“Did Jeremy improve his swordsmanship a lot these days?”

 

“Of course!”

 

“Jeremy is talented,” Moisei said after Jeremy’s answer.

 

“Aren’t you really going to become a knight like this?”

 

Hanna smiled warmly as she imagined Jeremy’s future.

 

Being a knight is better than being the boss of the underworld.

 

Hmhm.

 

“So, by the way, I’d Jeremy to attend a knight school.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Knight School?”

 

Hanna, Jeremy, and the children were surprised at Moisei’s words.

 

“If it’s a knight school…”

 

“Anyway, the age of protection at the nursery school is up to fifteen, and the age of thirteen to enter the knight’s school.”

 

The standard of adulthood in this world was fifteen.

 

So Hanna also had to leave the orphanage when she was 15 and became a teacher.

 

“Well…”

 

It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about my life after the children leave the orphanage, but when I heard it from someone else’s mouth, I felt disappointed.

 

“What’s the knight’s school like?”

 

“It’s no different from other schools. If you’re talented in swordsmanship, there’s no better place than that. It takes as much as three years to graduate, and up to 10 years, but if you get good grades in the dormitory system, you will get a scholarship, so it won’t be bad.”

 

“Can anyone enter the school?”

 

“They have a basic test. But if it’s Jeremy, you don’t have to worry.”

 

Hanna listened to the explanation and looked at Jeremy.

 

Twelve-year-old Jeremy grew up significantly different than when she first met him.

 

“Jeremy, do you want to be a knight?”

 

“I love it!”

 

Jeremy replied energetically.

 

Why am I a little lonely when he’s saying it happily?

 

“Well, we still have a lot of time, so let’s think slowly.”

 

It was necessary to slowly think seriously about the children’s future and separation.

 

“Let’s eat deliciously first.”

 

Hanna looked at the children one by one.

 

I didn’t know because I watched them change every day, but it seemed that the children had grown too much over the past four years.

 

‘Hey, Ian is already a teenage boy.’

 

Ian, who has a rough and dark background, has not spoken these days.

 

Hanna could feel that it was due to Ian’s puberty.

 

These days, the quiet daily life of the orphanage is gradually changing.

 

* * *

 

Hanna went for a walk outside late at night because she couldn’t sleep.

 

“Now that I think about it, there are only a few years left.”

 

The day the children left the orphanage was also the day Hanna quit the nursery.*(2)

 

The Temple of Remia decided not to operate a nursery anymore.

 

This was because Cesar handed over the children who needed an orphanage immediately to the central temple.

 

In fact, not only the orphanage but also this temple was slowly disappearing because there were many larger and better temples nearby.

 

“Hmm.”

 

So Marsha, Jeremy, and Ian, who are now in the orphanage, were the last children of the orphanage.

 

“Both the children and I should plan for the future.”

 

Hanna headed to the old tree in the garden, kicking the stone nearby her feet.

 

“Kkokko’s sleeping well.”

 

“I went into the chicken coop earlier.”

 

“Ah… the chicken coop must have been broken again.”

 

Huh? Who just said that?

 

“Cesar!”

 

Please, human, don’t talk to me suddenly after being silent in the dark.

 

Strangely, Cesar hid his presence well.

 

No, whether it was a person or not, it was often stretched out wherever the bench, under the tree, stone walls, and just the body could lean on.

 

“Isn’t it time for you to stop being so surprised?”

 

“How many times do I have to tell you to go to sleep and sleep in the room?”

 

“I’m an outdoor type.”

 

If you’re good at sleeping outdoors, you should do something like a treasure explorer instead of being a priest.

 

Cesar’s silver hair was shining in the moonlight.

 

Cesar’s silver hair, blue eyes, and white skin all seemed to sparkle.

 

Even the priest’s uniform is white.

 

Perhaps because of the combination of faint pigments, he was a ghostly image for Hanna.

 

“So, why are you sighing like that?”

 

“Just, thinking a little about the future of the children.”

 

Of course, my future as well.

 

When I get out of here, I have to think about what to eat and live on.

 

“If you don’t have anything to do, just take a test.”

 

“It’s done.”

 

Hanna immediately refused.

 

The dying extra position was rejected.

 

“If you can’t sleep, come and sit down. Here.”

 

When Cesar winked at the seat next to him, Hanna went to the seat next to him and sat down at a slow pace.

 

“Why don’t you go back to the central temple?”

 

In fact, when Cesar came here as head priest, I always wondered because I didn’t think he would sit down for this long.

 

Cesar did not respond to Hanna’s words.

 

He just looked at the hill as if I were asking something hard to answer.

 

Hanna was thinking about her future with the children, and now she is thinking about Cesar’s future.

 

How many years can such an amazing person rot in the temple around the border?

 

“There must be a reason why God led me here and made me stay.”

 

Ooh.

 

How long has it been since I heard this word?

 

Hanna looked at Cesar with curious eyes.

 

“God uses me very well.”

 

Cesar spoke profanely with a sour face.

 

I felt like I had to cancel the fact that it was a novelty.

 

After that, Hanna and Cesar continued to chat.

 

These are trivial stories that are not much to see inside a temple where nothing much is going on.

 

The moonlight was so beautiful that night.