Rubica-san squinted her eyes and glared at Opika with annoyance, but our daughter doesn’t seem to mind.
What was that?
I had wondered why my daughter was acquainted with this scary lady but looking at it now, it all makes sense.
「…..Rubica-san, allow me to thank you. Thank you very much for bringing my daughter to Torquiva.」
「Please accept my thanks too.」
「You don’t have to. I would have died myself if Opika wasn’t there.」
Rubica-san crossed her arms and nodded her head in agreement.
「Rubika-chan and I are sisters, she is my adopted little sister as we had shared a cup.」
「That’s how it is.」
Shared a cup!?
TN: It’s basically using the same cup in a drinking party of some group of people.
They even think like a gang!
「Maa maa! Then, that makes Rubica-chan our daughter too. Do you want some candy?」
「No thanks」
Well, I can’t keep up but my wife suddenly patted Rubika-san’s head.
As expected, women have more guts in things like this, aren’t they?
Or is it that she seemingly doesn’t think much of it?
Well, either way, she is my daughter’s benefactor and whether she’s a gangster or a thug, we still must be thankful.
I can’t pat her on her head but I will pray for her in the same way I pray for my daughter in the future.
-0-
After seeing Rubica-san off to her work, we and our daughter walked around the city of Torquiva again.
There was a terribly splendid magic academy, an animal café with many adorable animals, and a small theater where one of my daughter’s friends was performing. All the glamorous places you don’t see in our place.
The next day, my daughter went out to work but I toured various places with my wife and shared dinner with her in the evening.
Each time, she would bring a different friend and introduce them to us and I was amazed at the strangely broad range of her friend circle.
-0-
The time of fun flew by and the day we had to leave arrived.
The state-run horse-drawn carriages that we use are far safer than ordinary horse-drawn carriages but they are relatively expensive and reservations are hard to come by.
If we miss today, we will not be able to return to our hometown for a while.
And we can’t extend our stay here, that’s not possible.
「Don’g gooooo～!!」
「Opika, you’re an adult now so stop acting like that.」
「Stop that Opika. It’s not like we will never meet again.」
「 But I have yet to take you to other places! And there’s also the incoming festival!」
「Opika, shut up」
「Ouch!」
Rubica-san, my daughter’s adopted little sister, smacks her butt.
She was dressed in black even though it was summer, equipped with a long sword, and had eyes as sharp as ever as if she’s a hungry wolf.
She, too, had been sold here as a slave and she must have been through something that I, for one, could never have imagined.
We were able to meet our daughter again but I wondered how many of the Schenker family slaves in the city would ever see their parents again.
Or perhaps many of them don’t want to see their parents again.
It is something that we, who are leaving today, have no control over and there’s nothing we can do about it.
As if to shake off my bitter thoughts, I pulled my sobbing daughter’s hand and held her tightly into my arms.
The only thing that matters is that she is safe and sound right here in front of me.
I hugged my daughter’s body, which was hotter than the summer sun, tightly and firmly.
I prayed for my daughter’s health, for her safety. I held her as tightly as I could and can’t help but regret that I don’t have more arms to hug her even more.
Will this prayer even reach her from the far away east?
I looked up feeling as if something was about to spill out.
I watched intently as a flock of blue birds flew toward the morning sun until I felt someone pull me behind.
