Incompatible Interspecies Wives

3 – Childhood (3)

I had to hear the news from Flint.

Before I met Shien, while I was wrapping up a fight to avoid losing my position in the slums, Flint ran up to me and said,

“Berg!”

“Flint, hang on. Let’s finish here.”

“This is not the time, Berg!”

In response to his voice, he put down the wooden stick he was holding.

“…?”

“Yeah…Go back to your friend…! Their parents…!”

I sensed the seriousness of the situation from the urgency in Flint’s voice.

If it was a trivial thing, Flint wouldn’t be like this either.

I left everything behind and started running to Shien.

It wasn’t hard to predict what happened.

I hope I’m wrong.

I felt dizzy while running.

Death wasn’t far from me, but the thought of Shien getting hurt made my heart beat nervously.

Her heart breaks when she thinks of her gentleness.

I hope it’s no big deal, and I ran.

As Sien’s parents were doctors, they often emptied their homes from town to town.

There were times when I took Xian with me, but that seemed to be a story when Xian was sick.

Again, the two of them had heard from Shien that the village of werewolves, who were proficient in medicine, had come to learn medicine from her.

Has there been a problem in the process?

When I approached Shien’s house, there were a lot of people I hadn’t seen before, filling the place.

Muffled music was whispered here and there.

I can feel how good her parents are in the city.

The scene froze, and I held my breath for a while.

She saw Shien sitting down and weeping among the crowd.

“Awesome!”

Seeing that, my body bounced off on its own.

I didn’t even think about pointing fingers because I was from a slum.

We could no longer hide our relationship, which had been kept secret.

Cutting through the crowd, I ran to the crying Shien.

“What- what the f*ck? Are you a slum kid?”

“Take care of your wallet! That bastard steals!”

I can’t even hear the rising noise.

I wasn’t even offended by their insults.

My eyes were full of only the crying image of Xian.

Break through all the crowds and reach the place guarded by soldiers.

A dwarf adult in her expensive-looking clothes was comforting her by patting her on the shoulder of her shien.

Sien is frozen without any reaction.

I called her.

“…Shen…!”

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Her stiffened body responds in amazement to my voice.

The corners of her eyes and nose were red from crying so much.

Sien slowly takes a look at my face, then gets distorted. His expression is stained with sorrow.

“Huh…Berg…”

When he stumbles up.

“Berg…! Uhhh…!”

Then, with his arms wide open, he struggled to run and hugged me.

She started wailing in my arms.

“Mom and Dad…! Too bad…!”

People who used to hold on to me no longer stop me and express their questions.

I didn’t pay any attention to them.

I just hugged Shien tightly and was with her without saying anything.

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It is said that Shien’s parents were attacked by monsters.

There were many soldiers escorting them, but they all died at once.

Judging from the traces, it was said that it was unavoidable because a special monster attacked.

It was an unfortunate accident.

Shien had to be held captive by rich adults for a long time.

And that Shien didn’t want to get away from me, so I had to be with them too.

Unlike her neighbors, wealthy adults who cut her mourning for Shien’s parents short-lived.

Instead of condolences, they listed the complex issues left to Shien.

To keep my property, or to come in as an adopted daughter…

A story that sounds good when you hear it with one ear, but it just makes you feel anxious when you hear it.

I had to pick out the trap on behalf of Shien, who couldn’t come to his senses.

I didn’t have the qualifications to step forward, but I didn’t try to think about the qualifications.

It was a moment when I had to come to my senses.

There are many people who throw away morality in front of a lot of wealth.

Having seen the bottom life, I could be sure.

A long time passes.

Sien didn’t answer and just shed tears in my arms.

When she didn’t give any answer, her grown-ups made excuses for mourning and walked away.

Me and Shien had to sit in a large house.

Since there were only the two of us left, Shien’s cries and trembling intensified.

The more I hugged her, the stronger I held her.

I hoped that my sincerity would be conveyed at least a little.

I stayed where she was without a word until she stopped crying.

She also stopped crying with difficulty, as if her heart was gradually subdued by my comfort.

So she stayed up all night with her, and she finally opened her mouth.

“Berg…”

“…Tell me, Shien.”

“…I want to live with you in the slums.”

“What?”

The suggestion that Xian made after thinking for a long time was enough to surprise me.

“…I just need you. Huh?”

Considering her earnest voice and our relationship… It was a very difficult request from her to refuse.

“…No.”

But I had to be firm.

“What?”

Sien feels betrayed and starts to cry again.

Still, I shook my head.

“No. The slums are too dangerous. It’s not a place for you to come.”

In particular, I couldn’t bring her back because I felt with her own skin how harsh her slums were to live as a human.

I wanted to protect her innocence.

The dirty things she didn’t see she did.

“…Berg…Please…I’m by your side-“

“-I will always be by your side, Shien.”

“…….”

“Then go to the orphanage. Stepdaughter or what… Ignore all that dangerous looking stuff… Go to the orphanage. I heard there is a good orphanage north of town.”

As if she was relieved to hear that she wouldn’t fall, Shien hugged me again, wiping away the tears that had filled up.

“…Are we still best friends?”

I nodded in spite of her sudden question.

“Yes. I swear.”

Shien was blank for a moment, she looked at my expression. Then she said with a determined face.

“…Okay, then. I will do as you say.”

She believed in me more than anyone else.

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.

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That’s how Shien started her orphanage life.

She had to give up all her possessions, but this was the way for her.

You shouldn’t waste money.

Not one or two would put her in danger for her fortune.

In the past, I wouldn’t have thought this way, but since Shien’s life was at stake, my thoughts have changed.

What about her changed me so much?

Shien lost everything about her, but my heart for her only deepened.

I gradually reduced the amount of time I spent living in the slums.

She always hovered near the orphanage to be a pillar that Shien could lean on.

Because of her human race, if anyone bullied her, he would go and fight her, and if she cried, he would wipe away her tears.

As Shien leaned on me like that, she got used to the orphanage, and gradually she got along with everyone with her unique sociability and continued her life courageously.

“…It would have been very difficult without you.”

When she was four months old after entering the orphanage, Shien said.

“Thanks, Berg.”

Every time she said these words, I felt her life worthwhile.

“Anytime.”

Three years passed just like that.

I am 16 years old and Xian is 14 years old.

Our bodies have grown rapidly.

Your breasts will fall out and you will grow taller. The differences between men and women began to stand out.

But nothing has changed in my relationship with Shien.

After overcoming the death of her parents, Shien returned to her old self.

She is a storyteller, so the conversation never stopped.

I learned many things about her world through her.

The trivial conversations always brought us happiness.

But if there is something that has changed…It is that the physical distance has become closer.

I used to hold her hand, but now I hold her by the pods, and whenever I take a break, she always sits between my legs and leans on my back.

It was so natural that I couldn’t remember when it started like this.

We still cherished each other the most.

But because of that, feelings of jealousy gradually developed.

“…Annoying.”

Shin said.

“What?”

“Why do you keep getting handsome?”

“What?”

I smiled, but Shien didn’t let go of her expression as if she was seriously thinking.

“…There are kids who keep getting entangled just by looking at your face. I’m bored to death I’d rather be ugly.”

“You are the only one who thinks I am handsome.”

“Isn’t it? Oh, why don’t you just cut all your hair off?”

“…What are you talking about? And, I am only with you anyway.”

“…A lie.”

Shien’s expression cools down.

“…What?”

“-Bell, you talked to Haley earlier. What did you say then?”

At some point, she called me by the nickname ‘Bell’.

“With Haley? I didn’t say much.”

Haley was a girl in the same orphanage as Shien.

“You didn’t say anything, but you smile like that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“…Are you going to keep running away?”

“It’s because I really don’t know.”

“You made Hailey smile. And I don’t want to do that in the future. Do you know how many times he tells you that you are handsome at the orphanage?”

“I barely laughed-“

“-Then shall I laugh and play with the other boys?”

“…”

At her point, I laughed again. Certainly giving an example makes me hate it.

“…That’s right. I’ll be careful.”

It wasn’t until I agreed with Shien that she loosened her expression and showed her smile.

Because of her, I became jealous just like her.

As Shien entered the orphanage, she began to believe in God.

Hea, the god of chastity, was her god.

She wasn’t even faithful enough to say… But there wasn’t a day when she skipped her prayers.

“Can we stop praying?”

I asked one day. I was always with her, but I didn’t like her taking time away from her.

However, Shien was adamant about this.

“No. You must pray.”

“What do you always pray for?”

“I want you to be happy.”

“…Isn’t that kind of mean? If I say that, what am I going to be?”

“But is it really?”

I couldn’t beat Shien in an argument.

When I see her voice, her words, and her beautiful smile, I am always at a loss for words.

Even though I was angry, I let go like an idiot.

****

We also started talking about the future.

“Do you have a dream, Bell?”

“A dream?”

I thought about dreams for the first time through C.N.

It was awkward for me, who always lived in the present.

“Yes, a dream. How do you want to live in the distant future?”

After thinking for a while, I listed the positive things I could think of.

“I just…Want to live. I don’t really want to live rich.”

“Be a little more specific.”

“I want to save enough money and eat moderately. I mean, it’s a little bit calmer. I don’t want to live with tension as if I’m in a slum every day. Do you want to live away from the city?”

“Are you going to live alone?”

“Ah. It would be nice to have friends by my side.”

“…Who is your friend?”

I burst out laughing as I pressed the cheek of Xian, who was starting to protrude.

The joke ended here.

I already knew what answer she wanted from the middle.

“And you have to be.”

At that answer, Shien smiled and pretended not to.

“You?”

I also immediately become curious about Xien’s dream.

Sian leaned her head against me and said.

“…I want to travel the world.”

There was a dreamy atmosphere in Shien’s voice as she uttered those words.

“It was fun when I traveled with my parents. To you…”

Shien glanced up at me, then she whispered.

“…I want to show you the things I saw.”

Seeing Shien’s shy face, I laughed for a long time again.

Since I laughed, Shien added as if to make an excuse.

“…Yes, you don’t believe me sometimes…! So that’s what it is…”

When Shien tells the amazing stories of her world, her eyes twinkling, I often make fun of her for lying.

She must have caught it in her heart.

But in fact, even if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes, I already knew that everything Shien told me would exist.

I can’t stand Shien’s lies.

If she lied, she would be spotted.

And like her dream of Sien, I thought it would be fun to see everything she’s been saying with her eyes with her.

A light story about the day’s dream awakened me.

The moment comes when you have to get out of the slums.

It becomes difficult to live by stealing like when you were a child.

From my age, people from slums are looking for a new way out.

I should have done the same.

There was no way he could have obtained a future with Xien by stealing. There was no way she could travel the world with her. Income is too low

In the end, I informed Xian of the answer I came up with after a long thought.

“Shien, I’m afraid I will join the organization. Even so, offers have been coming in lately.”

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Shien frowned in fear. Although it was cute for me.

“…You decided not to be associated with crime anymore.”

“What can I do when there are only these options. If you don’t like anything illegal, you can become a mercenary. They were recently recruited.”

There are not many paths that people from the slums can choose.

Anyway, it was natural to fall into the path of using power.

“No more mercenaries…!”

Shien shouted.

Her expression trembled with anxiety.

“How dangerous is mercenary work…! You have to fight monsters, right!”

When she was associated with monsters, she was always the one who intensified.

Of course she couldn’t forget the things that took her parents away.

So I knew, but I didn’t hide my feelings.

“…It is inevitable if you want to make a living.”

Shien sits on my leg and holds my face with both hands.

The weight she put on her legs was lovely.

But as if he didn’t understand my feelings, Shien explained with a worried expression.

“Belle… Let’s not do anything dangerous… You won’t have to live with me for long…”

She left her parents and was always afraid of losing me.

“Is it because I want to travel the world…? Don’t you notice that you are the first priority…?”

“…”

“I like your dreams too…”

At some point, there was something only Shien could do for me.

When I hear her earnest voice, all of her firm resolutions are shaken.

He has a stubborn personality, but he is too soft in front of Shien.

Maybe her words touch my heartstrings.

So I said, holding Shien in her arms.

“…Okay. I won’t do that.”

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A few days after that conversation, I left the slum.

I didn’t have to be there anymore, which had been a shelter for a long time.

It was after Flint and Max had already exchanged warm greetings and left to find their way.

I got out of the slums and wandered around the city, looking for work.

When I was looking for a job, some people kicked me out with verbal abuse just because I was from a slum, but everything was fine.

I wasn’t even angry.

I was able to do it because I thought it was for Shien.

Walking around town like that, I saw flyers for recruiting mercenaries.

‘Recruit men who want alcohol, meat, money, fame, and women. Excluding the human race.’

There are mercenaries that accept Humans, and there are mercenaries that don’t.

That’s how much the Humans were ignored.

But it didn’t matter much to me anymore.

The mercenary corps was an option that I had been thinking about deeply, but now I didn’t even pay attention.

After walking around the city for two days, an opportunity came.

The place I visited this time was a pub.

“Aren’t you from the slums?”

The dwarf tavern manager asked after seeing my scars and hands.

“That’s right.”

“- Go away. How can you trust someone from a slum?”

“….”

I swallowed the insult as usual and turned away.

But before leaving the store, the tavern manager opened his mouth again.

“Wait. You…”

“?”

With a bulging belly, he looked me up and down.

“Isn’t that the guy who takes care of Asger and Hilda’s daughter?”

I expressed my doubts.

“Who is Asger and who is Hilda?”

“The two human doctors who died after being attacked by monsters a few years ago. Are you…What…Shien…? Anyway, I’m not the one taking care of that child.”

It seems that Shien’s parents’ names were Asger and Hilda.

I learned something new.

“Cien is my friend.”

“Ha, this is really…”

He asks scratching his head.

“What, is he doing this to take care of that Shien? Why did someone from the slum crawl out to the sun?”

“…As you think. I am here to take care of Shien.”

“I won.”

“Are you going to work or not?”

“…”

The man pondered for a long time. Then he sighs deeply and says.

“I am not doing this for you. You two have treated my son in the past, so I’m paying off the debt. Come out tomorrow I will teach you the work.”

A smile spread across my lips.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The one who was most delighted with this news was Xian.

She bounced in place, blessing me out of her perilous slum.

“Really? Really, Belle?”

“Why am I lying to you? You will be working at a bar in the future.”

I caught her jumping up and down by the legs and hugged her.

A smile more beautiful than any other flower bloomed on her face.

To see this, I have been humiliated and bowed my head. Could do so in the future.

I said.

“It’s all thanks to you, Xian.”

“You did well-“

“-No, Shien. The person who gave me the job…Was an acquaintance of your parents. So I was able to get a job.”

“……”

“Thank you.”

Tears began to well up at the corners of Shien’s eyes, who had been smiling brightly.

“…Me too, Bell. Thank you for working hard for us.”

She bent down and hugged me again.

After several months passed, I was able to gain the approval of the bar manager.

It was only possible because I worked hard while thinking of X.N.

Accordingly, I was able to rent a small room.

It was the right size room to be with Xian later.

When she gets old enough to leave her orphanage, this is where she’ll start.

In this way, I was gradually establishing myself.

So I believed that the news of that day had nothing to do with me.

“Did you hear the news?”

While working at a bar, the sound came from a table.

Even if I didn’t want to hear it, the sound that I could hear pierced my ears.

“What news?”

“I heard that the demon tribe elected a king?”