“Gift making? I thought we were only doing a chorus?”
“Jack. Did you not hear the explanation properly?”
Even though Carl knew I hadn’t heard the explanation properly, he didn’t get angry and asked with a smile. Seeing him full of concern made my conscience prick.
“If we were only doing a chorus, there’d be no need to divide roles, right? Unless we’re dividing the chorus parts.”
Come to think of it, that was true. Unlike me who was convinced, Belly stood blocking my way and spoke to Carl.
“This is the first I’m hearing of this.”
“Well, of course. It was decided a few days ago.”
It seemed he had suddenly decided this on his own, not that I hadn’t heard properly. The only reason we didn’t know about it was probably because we weren’t close with the other kids. He should have at least posted a proper notice.
Belly looked at Carl coldly. It seemed like he could summon winter with just his gaze. Since he extremely disliked Carl, the very idea of working on the same team would be repulsive to him. Three years had passed, but Belly hadn’t forgotten the kidnapping incident.
Even I wouldn’t be able to forget such a terrible incident, but for now, I needed to mediate appropriately. Since Carl already had a good image as the center of all the children, even if Belly’s claim was true, he would be ostracized. Being treated like an invisible person was just about right.
“Belly, calm down.”
“…”
“Carl, you should have let us know about that earlier.”
“Sorry.”
Carl only apologized but didn’t seem to have any intention of reversing his decision. Like Belly, I also didn’t want to be in the same space with Carl for long. If we had to be together, I only wanted to be far apart in a spacious area.
But there was no way gift making would be done in a space as wide as a playground. Since we’d be making it together cooperatively, we’d probably work in a space where we could see each other’s faces and talk.
While I was troubled by this predicament, before I could say anything, a child suddenly appeared from the end of the corridor and spoke to Carl.
“Why aren’t you coming?”
“Ah, sorry. Coming now!”
Carl walked over with an apologetic smile, and thanks to that, I missed my timing to speak. I let out a sigh watching Carl walk ahead and gripped Belly’s hand tightly.
“It’ll be okay.”
“…”
Belly’s words decreased in places with many outsiders. Not only did he not like talking with people other than me, but also because I had asked him to refrain from using the title ‘Master’ in public.
It might be different if I were a noble. From any angle, it was strange for someone who was merely a commoner like me to be called Master. Moreover, Belly was, at least on paper, Rose’s ward just like me. Since the dormitory was crawling with children in equal positions, there was even more need to refrain from that title.
Though I had gotten used to it, I did have thoughts that I wished Belly would stop calling me Master. But Belly’s stubbornness was like steel wire. For the year after we started living together, I would mention it in passing, but it didn’t work at all. I had almost given up by now.
We moved our feet toward where Carl had gone without letting go of our firmly held hands. A bit more strength went into Belly’s hand holding mine. It was an action due to his unstable emotions.
Belly, the victim, always stayed wary of and avoided Carl. Unless the fundamental cause was resolved, Belly’s state couldn’t improve.
“We’ll gather the letters we write and make them into a book. If you have any better ideas, please speak up.”
The people gathered in the gift preparation group were a total of six, including me, Belly, and Carl. It seemed they judged that not as much manpower was needed compared to the chorus.
Though Belly and I didn’t say much, the other children competed to present their opinions. One of them even made the tremendous suggestion of having a custom-made outfit. Of course, it was rejected due to the cost of custom production.
Carl both accepted their opinions and cut them off at appropriate points. The gift list decided during the one-hour meeting was the book of compiled letters Carl had mentioned first, a handmade origami flower bouquet, and a scarf.
Making a scarf was more realistic than making clothes, but it was still a selection that seemed a bit difficult to make in just two weeks. Well, someone other than me would make it.
“I’d like you to do the scarf, Jack.”
“What? The scarf?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem?”
Carl asked me kindly with an innocent face. There were many problems. First. I didn’t know how to knit a scarf. That was the biggest problem. Even if I learned right away, knitting a scarf in the short period of two weeks would be difficult.
“I don’t know how to knit a scarf.”
“I’ll teach you.”
The thin girl sitting next to Carl spoke to me. It was Fortuna, who was so skinny that she sometimes looked like a skeleton. The fact that she had a knack for thievery and the thieves’ guild had offered to recruit her was famous enough that even I knew about it.
“But…”
“What. Do you have a complaint or something?”
The short kid sitting next to Carl spoke bluntly. He was Von Lute, a year younger than me. He was a guy who followed Carl around. For some reason, he was a bit strange, pouncing on anything related to Carl.
“Jack, since you’re close with the guild master. It seems right for you to do it.”
“Hmm…”
What does that have to do with anything? Though I was close with Rose, it was a bit strange for that to be a reason why I should make the scarf. It would be better for someone who could do it better than me, who couldn’t do it at all. But Carl was firm.
“Since you’re close with the guild master, you know her tastes well. Right?”
“Can’t someone who’s better do it since I’ll be taught? I’m really not confident about knitting.”
But Carl drove the point home without erasing that picture-perfect smile.
“If you do it, the guild master will like it more, right? So Jack, I’d like you to do it.”
Carl was smiling and his tone was soft, but the content within was heavy. Because the subtext of his words contained ‘aren’t you receiving favoritism.’
That was true, and as long as that fact existed, I couldn’t help but become a sinner among the other wards. Because affection should be equal.
We were all in a position of being rescued by Rose. Everyone craved Rose’s affection. They believed Rose’s affection directly led to comfort in life. They thought if they lost her affection, they’d be thrown back onto the streets, and so they were more desperate.
Rose did favor me. She gave me conveniences without others knowing and sometimes slipped me spending money. However, she didn’t reveal that outwardly. I lived in the same place as the other children, ate the same things, and received equal education.
However, at some point, a rumor spread. A rumor that Rose favored me. Due to that rumor that spread as an established fact, the children firmly believed that was the reason I wasn’t kicked out. Some even said that even Belly was deliberately assigned to me by Rose.
Surely Carl was at the source of all these rumors.
Everyone who heard Carl’s words fell silent. Denying it or pretending not to know only worked when it would be believed. Already in their sidelong glances, distrust toward me was implicitly laid out.
Not knowing what to answer, I could only keep my mouth shut. The space that had been vigorously exchanging opinions just minutes ago sank heavily.
“Then it’s decided with this, right?”
In a situation where no one could open their mouths, Carl spoke as if nothing was wrong. The others, who had been sick of the stifling atmosphere, nodded as if they’d been waiting.
Because the situation had turned out this way, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse any further. I was someone who could read the atmosphere. Belly looked at me like that and tried to say something to Carl, but I hurriedly grabbed his hand and stopped him. There was no need to sink the atmosphere again.
Fortuna taught me knitting step by step. But what everyone, even I, didn’t know was that I had less dexterity than expected. It could be called catastrophic.
“Wow…”
“…You can be honest.”
“No. I think it’s fine.”
At least Belly tried to package the result, which was close to a rag, nicely. But even I could see this couldn’t be called anything but a rag. At best, it was a dishcloth. Thanks to that, the praise made me a bit depressed.
“Hey, that’s not it.”
Fortuna spoke seriously to Belly. But Belly didn’t bat an eye and placed the knitted piece, barely the size of a palm, on his shoulder and smiled brightly. Seeing his genuine smile, it seemed he truly liked what I had made.
“I really like it. Could you give me this?”
Fortuna let out an incredulous laugh and glanced at Belly. There was no way a good reaction would come toward someone who ignored her words. Belly gave equal disregard to all children except me, and thanks to that, he always received such cold treatment.
In fact, it was remarkable that Fortuna even spoke to Belly. That gave me complicated feelings. Emotions of thinking he should make other friends, and at the same time, satisfaction bloomed at receiving special treatment.
“Belly, I’ll try harder later and knit something pretty for you. Fortuna, please teach me one more time.”
“Okay!”
At my words, Fortuna answered happily as if she had never rolled her eyes. She was a guy with good social skills. However, even such Fortuna looked at my knitted piece this way and that, then let out a deep sigh as if at a loss.
“Wow… But this is really too much? I can’t even add patterns or anything.”
