My name is
I'm one of the lucky ones — I have a beautiful wife named
Of the two, Mine resembles Effa but has even prettier features. That means she must be absolutely beloved by the gods.
The fact that Mine is sickly is also because the gods love her. After all, they're always beckoning to her.
Mine, who would immediately spike a fever if she pushed herself even slightly, started gradually getting healthier after a certain turning point.
Her behavior became a bit odd too, but she was clearly putting effort into building up her stamina on her own terms. The girl who once needed to rest just from leaving the house and stepping outside had, in a matter of only three months, become able to walk all the way to the Gate without taking a single break.
Amazing, right?
My daughter's quite the hard worker, isn't she?
And on top of that, Mine is supposedly incredibly smart... supposedly, because I don't really understand what makes someone "smart."
That said,
Her computational ability is apparently off the charts — she can spot miscalculations just by glancing at accounting reports. She picked up the basic alphabet in the blink of an eye after just a little instruction. And now she's already memorized document formats and standard phrases.
But more than anything, she has sharp eyes that notice even the slightest changes around her, and the logical thinking to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Apparently, every single one of these qualities is exceptional.
What's that even supposed to mean?
I only understood about half of what Otto told me, but the conclusion was clear: my daughter is so smart it even impresses Otto.
As expected of Mine. My daughter.
She really is loved by the gods, isn't she?
And today, that Mine went to the forest for the very first time.
Since I'm on the day shift today, I planned to meet Mine at the Gate when she came back, but I'm so worried I can't stand it.
"Squad Leader, please calm down."
"Hm? Oh, right."
She can walk to the Gate now, but can she really make it all the way to the forest? And even if she does somehow reach it, unlike the Gate, she'd have to stay outdoors the whole time if she wanted to rest.
What if she gets sick from too much sun? What if she collapses with a fever in the forest?
"Squad Leader, stop staring blankly outside and get back to work."
"Right."
"You'll disappoint Mine, you know."
"Otto, you... you shouldn't say things like that!"
"Then get back to work already. She won't be back until evening, right?"
What's infuriating is that Mine calls this impertinent Otto "Teacher" and adores him.
Well, I'm still the one she respects more. Heh heh.
When I made that crocheted hairpin for Turi's hair ornament, she even said, "Dad's the best!" No lie.
While everyone kept telling me to focus, I worked away, fidgeting the whole time, waiting for Turi and the others to come back.
Turi, who has a strong sense of responsibility, had promised to head back early. Considering Mine's frail body and slow walking pace, leaving the forest around midday seemed reasonable.
Midday came and went. Of course, they still weren't back. I knew that.
The sun started tilting a bit. Still no sign of them. Shouldn't they be here soon?
More and more people started leaving the city. Not yet?
"You promised to come back early, so shouldn't they be returning around now? And would you please stop glaring at every person who walks by? You're giving off a terrible vibe."
The number of people heading into the city — looking for lodging or heading home — had grown larger than the farmers leaving after selling their produce.
And yet, neither Turi nor Mine had shown up. It was getting close to the usual time now.
They're too late! Weren't you supposed to come back early, Turi!? Could it be that Mine collapsed on the way!?
Images of Mine collapsed on the path and Turi helpless beside her flashed through my mind, and I was about ready to lose it.
"Otto, I'm going to go check on them..."
"Don't you dare ditch your work! ...Wait, hey! Isn't that Turi!?"
"Where!?"
Otto, who's taller than me, stretched up on his tiptoes to look past the line.
"She just joined the back of the queue in front of the Gate. Come on, let's work through this line quickly."
"Right, on it!"
To let Turi and the others into the city, I threw myself into the work with renewed energy, ushering people through. Unlike before, the crowd was now flowing steadily, and I could finally see Turi and the others.
They were right there — about to join the back of the line!
Damn it! You tricked me, Otto!
But wait — Mine wasn't anywhere around Turi. I couldn't believe the responsible Turi would have left her behind. I scanned the area again and again, but Mine was nowhere to be seen.
"Turi, where's Mine!?"
"She's coming with
Turi looked back too, but the two of them were nowhere in sight. If they were going to arrive just before the Gate closed, that meant Turi hadn't cut things short early after all.
"You promised to come back early, didn't you? This is way too late."
"..."
"..."
At my words, even the children besides Turi exchanged complicated glances with each other.
How to describe it — that atmosphere when a group of kids is collectively keeping a secret, that unspoken "Should we tell him?" "No, maybe we shouldn't" vibe.
"Turi, what on earth happened..."
"A lot of stuff. Can we talk about it later? We're running late, so Mom and the others might be worried. I need to get everyone home quickly."
I wanted to press further, but Turi dodged the question, cut the conversation short, and started walking. The children walking alongside her looked utterly exhausted as they filed into the city.
"Something must have happened, right? Otto, what do you think?"
"If something serious had happened, they would've asked for help."
Otto said it like it was nothing, but Turi — who normally didn't even need to be asked and would cheerfully recount her day — was actively avoiding my questions. That wasn't like her at all.
Of course I'm worried! What is Mine even doing out there!?
My worry spiraled into irritation, and I was pacing back and forth in front of the Gate when, right at the last moment before closing, Mine finally appeared — leaning against Lutz, her face pale blue.
"Mine!"
"...Dad, I'm sorry."
In a voice so small I could barely hear it, Mine uttered a single apology before collapsing into my arms.
Together with Lutz, I removed the empty basket — still holding just a scoop — and lifted Mine up.
"Lutz!? What happened!? What was that apology about?"
"Ah... I think Mine intentionally broke her promise? She started digging holes right away, then made clay tablets, then cried and yelled at
As Lutz rattled off the list of events while pressing his fingers to his temple, my eyes went wide.
"You didn't stop her!?"
"Look, I don't think either Turi or I could've stopped her, okay?"
When I snapped at Lutz with a biting tone, he gave me a deeply displeased look.
Right. It wasn't like Lutz or Turi wouldn't have tried to stop her. I'd entrusted them with the job of watching over Mine precisely because they had a proven track record.
Especially Lutz — compared to when Mine first started coming to the Gate, he'd settled so naturally into the caretaker role that you'd never guess he was the same age as Mine.
"Ah, no... sorry about that."
"Don't be too hard on Turi. She was really trying. Ah, but it's okay to be mad at Mine. I was mad too. ...Although I sort of just got swept along."
Mine, limp and boneless in my arms, seemed to be running an increasingly high fever — her pale face had turned red.
"Then I'll leave Mine to you. I need to hurry home too."
"Ah, thanks for looking out for Mine. I appreciate it."
I laid Mine down on the bench in the guardroom, where she lay flushed and breathing heavily. This spot was practically her permanent spot by now.
After finishing work as quickly as I could, I carried Mine home.
"Welcome back, Gunther. Mine collapsed, didn't she?"
Effa, who had apparently anticipated the collapse at the Gate, swiftly stripped off Mine's clothes, changed her into fresh ones, and put her to bed.
I went to the kitchen and sat down across from Turi, wanting to hear her side of the story.
"So, what happened today? I got the rough version from Lutz, but I want to hear it from you too."
Turi flinched, watching my expression with a fearful look. Being the responsible, serious type who always strived for perfection, Turi had a deep fear of failure and being scolded.
To put Turi at ease, I relayed what Lutz had told me.
"Lutz told me not to be angry with you. He said you were trying hard. He also said it'd be okay to be angry with Mine, but what exactly happened?"
Hearing she wouldn't be scolded, Turi's stiff expression slowly relaxed. Then, as if searching for the right words, her gaze drifted for a moment before she slowly began to speak.
"Actually, I don't really know all the details myself either. When we arrived at the forest, Mine was tired like usual and sat down on a rock to rest, so both Lutz and I went to forage. I was thinking I needed to hurry and collect as much as I could, since I'd be leaving earlier than usual..."
"Mhm, that makes sense."
I understood the situation at the forest and what Turi had been doing. I urged her to continue, and she made a troubled face.
"I was thinking, 'Maybe we should head back soon?' when I heard Mine screaming. I ran over in a panic and found Mine crying and furious. She said Fey and the others had destroyed something she'd made. She was genuinely furious — we couldn't calm her down at all, she kept saying she'd never forgive them... Then Lutz said he'd help her make it again, and only then did she finally stop crying."
I closed my eyes lightly at Turi's clumsy explanation and tried to picture the scene.
I didn't really get it.
Mine made something, Fey broke it, and she cried and got angry?
"What did Mine make?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Something called 'nendoban,' I think? ...We were all helping her remake it, and that's why we got delayed."
Even with my limited understanding, one thing clicked.
"So basically, Mine broke her promise not to do anything in the forest?"
"Huh? ...Oh... probably."
She broke her promise not to do anything in the forest, made something on her own, had it destroyed, dragged everyone into helping remake it, got home late, collapsed, and spiked a fever.
There's a limit to how much trouble one person can cause.
"I'm not letting Mine go to the forest anymore."
"Huh!? You can't do that! Mine will be angry!"
Turi, her face drained of blood, objected for some reason.
Mine's anger is irrelevant. The one who should be angry is me — the one who made all those promises, only to have them broken.
"There's nothing wrong with it. A child who can't keep promises doesn't get to go to the forest."
Mine needed to be properly scolded too.
If you can't follow the rules for when children act on their own, or the promises parents need to feel safe letting them out, then you're too dangerous to be allowed to go unsupervised.
When I stood up to go into the bedroom to talk to Mine, Turi clung to my arm and followed, desperately trying to stop me.
I felt bad for Turi, who doted on her little sister, but I had to make Mine understand properly.
"Dad, please. Think again!"
"No. Mine isn't going to the forest anymore! It's only natural — she broke her promise."
Perhaps Mine heard my voice. She turned her face toward me.
Her fever must have climbed higher — her face was flushed, her eyes glistening with moisture, and she opened and shut her mouth several times as if struggling to breathe.
"...Dad, just one more time. ...Make a 'clay tablet.'"
But what came out of that mouth was neither the remorse nor the apology I'd been hoping for. It was a demand. She was apparently still planning to make something in the forest.
Blood rushed to my head in an instant.
"What did you say!? Absolutely not!"
When I scolded her, Mine let out a small breath and turned her eyes toward Turi.
"...Then, Turi. I'll do it at home, so..."
"O-okay. I'll bring the stuff back."
Wait a minute, Turi. Why are you accepting this so naturally!?
Mine, what exactly are you planning to do at home!?
And you're just going to ignore my anger!?
"That's what caused Mine to collapse in the first place, isn't it!? I won't allow you to bring something like that into this house!"
The instant I declared that, Mine's eyes narrowed and her face went completely blank — terrifyingly emotionless. As if some switch had flipped, her entire aura changed in an instant.
I thought I saw a complex, oil-slick-like sheen flickering across Mine's golden eyes.
"...Dad, are you serious?"
Even though her voice was quiet, the oppressive weight behind it made me shudder. The sheer intimidation coming from my own daughter made me involuntarily take a step back.
"Of course I'm serious!"
"I see..."
Mine lowered her eyes once, as if she'd lost all interest in me.
"Then... I'll have to make Fey and the others like that clay tablet... Heh heh..."
With her golden eyes flickering with that strange, complex light and a cruel smile on her face, a chill ran down my spine.
Swallowed up by the eerie atmosphere, I gulped hard.
"...Mine?"
"Dad! Tell Mine she can go to the forest!"
Turi, who must have heard Mine's laugh, turned pale as if she'd seen a ghost and started slapping at my arm.
"...Mine, what are you thinking?"
"Hmm? ...How do I make sure Fey and the others can never go to the forest again...? 'Trauma-grade terror'... 'Banchō Sarayashiki'...? ...Or maybe something in the 'Sadako style'?"
She was muttering in that breathless way, her words coming in fragments as if the fever was talking for her, but her mind seemed to be working as usual — little bits of speech kept dropping from Mine's lips.
I couldn't quite make everything out, but somehow every word carried an ominous ring. Maybe it was just because Mine's voice sounded a bit hoarse.
There was no way my Mine could be this terrifying.
"...Fey came out of nowhere, right? He has nothing to do with any of this."
"Nothing to do with it? He has everything to do with it. ...Anyway, I understand the situation now. ...I've fully comprehended it."
Despite sounding short of breath, Mine nodded slightly several times.
The atmosphere had been a little unsettling, but as long as Mine understood, that was fine. She was a smart girl — she must realize what she'd done.
"So, if you understand and are going to reflect—"
"With everything I've got, I'll make them cry... Now, I'm going to sleep."
"Mine, wait! You haven't listened to a word I said! How did you get to that conclusion!?"
What kind of understanding leads to the words "with everything I've got, I'll make them cry"!?
Make who cry!? Dad!?
I couldn't make heads or tails of what Mine was saying! I'm the one who wants to cry!
"Shut up. ...Get out."
"Dad's on my side! Stop making Mine any angrier!"
It seemed the two daughters reached the conclusion that I should be ejected from the bedroom, and I found myself dragged back to the kitchen by Turi.
"Turi... that was Mine, right?"
"The angriest Mine, probably. Her eyes were glowing weirdly and it was scary. When Fey and the others broke the nendoban and Mine was crying and yelling, she was weird too. Everyone said it was scary."
Of course it was. I was scared too. A kid would be even more scared.
"When we started remaking the nendoban, Mine's mood improved, but no one could quite bring themselves to say we should stop halfway and head home..."
"Right."
With that level of intensity, I couldn't blame them. Even I wouldn't have wanted to get in her way.
"Since it was getting close to the Gate closing, I begged Mine while crying. I told her Lutz would help and we'd finish it next time, and only then did she finally stop. We all promised to help, and we came home."
"..."
So they'd managed to get home by promising a next time, but when I banned Mine from going to the forest, Turi panicked and tried to stop me. Now I understood Turi's reasoning.
"Dad, can Mine go to the forest just one more time? I'm scared of Mine's anger being directed at Fey and the others. Making them 'like a nendoban' — what does that mean?"
"What do you mean, like a nendoban?"
I didn't even know what a nendoban was in the first place. What is it?
What kind of thing?
"I think she means making Fey and the others like the nendoban they crushed. But what would she do? Squish Fey and the others flat? She said she'd make sure they could never go to the forest again — what is Mine planning? What do you think she means by 'making them cry with everything she's got'? What'll happen to Fey and the others?"
At Turi's words, the blood drained from my face all over again. Hearing it laid out like that made it sound even more terrifying.
What exactly was Mine planning to do? If anything, I wanted someone to tell me.
What!? My daughter is a criminal-in-waiting!?
"Turi, how can I stop Mine?"
"I don't know. ...Ask Lutz. He was the one who stopped Mine in the forest, too."
The next day, I caught Lutz at the Gate before he headed out to the forest and decided to ask him about what Mine's words really meant. Maybe Turi was just overreacting and it was nothing serious.
But Lutz, in his usual casual tone, cheerfully smashed my faint glimmer of hope to pieces.
"Ah, well... she was definitely going to take all her anger out on Fey and the others, that's for sure. Once Mine's eyes go all rainbow-colored like that, there's no stopping her."
"Huh?"
"She goes after her goals like a magical beast — a magical beast that pounces the moment it spots an opening. Mine always achieves her objective, no matter what. No matter what methods she uses, no matter how long it takes."
Impressive, right? Lutz puffed out his chest, admiration gleaming in his eyes.
No, no — think about this carefully.
If that determination is aimed at hurting people, that makes her incredibly dangerous.
More importantly, why does Lutz look so proud of her!? Mine is my daughter!
"The nendoban too, yeah. She said the whole reason she wanted to go to the forest, and spent three months building up stamina to get there, was because she wanted to make nendoban. So once Mine decides to do something, she never, ever gives up."
"...Was the nendoban really that important...?"
I hadn't realized the depth of Mine's attachment to the nendoban and her sheer tenacity. Maybe I shouldn't have banned it so casually.
Just as I decided to have another talk with Mine, Lutz dropped yet another bomb.
"Ah, and here's the thing — she finally finished the nendoban only to have it destroyed, the remake got cut short by time, she came home and collapsed with a fever, got banned from the forest, and got banned from taking clay home too... All that anger is going to be directed at Fey and the others. I just hope they survive."
"Don't say such frightening things! Are you trying to turn my daughter into a criminal!?"
She had said she'd make them cry with everything she's got, but she never said she'd kill them. It's fine!
...I want to believe that.
"Huh? But you're the one who did all that, Uncle Gunther."
"Me!?"
"The nendoban, the forest ban, the clay ban — you're the one who banned all of it. Mine's 'everything she's got' — I'm terrified of it, honestly. I'll support her, but I'm not getting in her way. Banning stuff? No way. Nope."
"Terrified?"
I blinked several times at Lutz's words.
Looking at her, Mine was about to turn six but appeared to be three or four at first glance. She was frail, sickly, tiny, with no physical strength to speak of. In practical terms, even if Mine came at me with everything she had, it shouldn't pose much of a problem.
But Lutz simply shrugged and began describing just how terrifying Mine was.
"Thing is, Mine's brain is wired differently from ours. You never know where she'll come from, what method she'll use, what she'll hit you with. If she came at me with a weapon, sure, I could handle it — she's way too weak for that. But Mine would never use that kind of method. You never know what's coming, but she's guaranteed to go straight for your weakness. That's what makes it genuinely terrifying."
Looking at Lutz's dead-serious expression, I groaned.
I never imagined that Mine's "everything she's got" could be so different between me and Lutz.
Since I couldn't imagine what Mine's true resolve looked like, it was indeed frightening. The unknown itself was scary.
"Last week she even beat Brother Sig. She really made him beg for mercy. She was saying 'Don't think strength is everything,' you know? I've actually been winning against my brothers a bit more often lately too."
Hold on! This is the first I'm hearing of this!
She beat Sig!? How!?
What's happening with my daughter!?
"Ah, Lutz. Serious question — how do I suppress Mine's anger?"
"Easy. Just pile up a bunch of clay in front of her. Once she gets focused on finishing the nendoban, that'll be all she can think about."
After our discussion, in order to protect the city's safety and keep my daughter from becoming a criminal, I reluctantly gave Mine permission to go to the forest once her fever subsided.
Upon receiving permission, Mine puffed out her cheeks in a dissatisfied huff and said: "...I had all sorts of plans figured out, you know... Isn't it a waste?"
"There's nothing wasteful about it! Throw those plans away immediately!"
"Tch..."
Despite being delirious with fever, she already had plans in place to utterly demolish Fey and the others.
Whether it was because Mine was too smart or because her anger ran that deep, I couldn't tell, but we had dodged a bullet.
At the very least, I'd managed to prevent Mine from becoming a criminal and shielded Fey and the others from becoming targets of her wrath. I had protected both my family's happiness and the peace of the city.
I owed Lutz my deepest gratitude for teaching me how to defuse the situation.
After everything was settled and I let out a sigh of relief, I suddenly realized something.
Wait... whatever happened to reflecting on breaking the original promise?
Father Gunther, completely off track.
Well, he's not wrong, though.
Mine was the one who broke the promise, after all.
...Somehow, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. (lol) Next time, we'll continue with the clay tablet-making.