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Vol 01 Chapter 03: Children

「What is this…?」

「It’s obvious, isn’t it? These are your kind.」

The Griffon brought me to a nearby cave. Inside, there are about thirty children. Five are very young, twenty should be between seven and nine years old, and the remaining five are about the same age as me now.

「Why are there so many children here?」

「I don’t know. Recently, humans have been abandoning their children in my forest for some reason.」

There is probably a famine around these parts. The reason I was in the forest, starving, must be because I was abandoned by my parents too.

「So, you want me to take care of these children?」

「That’s right. You catch on quickly.」

The Griffon nodded vigorously. 

I don’t dislike children; in fact, I quite like them. I grew up in an orphanage, so I can empathize with these kids who were abandoned by their parents. So helping them is not a problem. But…

「I can’t do anything without food.」

「I will provide you with food for three years. Use that time to make yourselves self-sufficient.」

Surprising… I thought he would tell me to eat bugs or something. Is this guy actually nice?

「Why are you helping them?」

「If you saw a starving puppy clinging to you, wouldn’t you pick it up? After that, would you irresponsibly throw it away? There’s something called responsibility for what you’ve picked up. That’s all.」

I see.

Indeed, that would leave a bad aftertaste. If I had the means to help them and chose not to, letting them starve, I’m sure they would haunt my dreams.

But people and Griffons are quite different. Probably, this guy doesn’t know how to raise humans. That’s why he is troubled.

I decided to help. First, I have to introduce myself to the children.

「It has been decided that I will be your leader from now on! Nice to meet you.」

As I said this…

「Búttítu, bratrús magús.」

I got an alien language in response.

◇

Bad news. Yours truly doesn’t understand the language of this other world.

If you think calmly, it is obvious that a language from another world wouldn’t be the same as Japanese. Such convenient coincidences don’t exist in reality. With this, being a leader is the least of my problems; even living and interacting with people here will be difficult.

Wait a second. Why could I talk to the Griffon earlier?

「My apologies. Now that I think about it, Lost Ones can’t speak the language of this land. I had forgotten.」

「Why can I talk to you?」

「I have the [Blessing of Divine Speech]. It’s only natural.」

Blessing… sounds very fantasy-like. As expected of a Griffon. They really do have such mysterious powers.

「But this is a problem. Alright, I will lend you a blessing for a while.」

「Can you do that?!」

「Normally, it’s impossible. But I also possess the [Blessing of Lending].」

As expected of Griffon-senpai! The absurdity of his existence isn’t for nothing.

「But won’t that mean the other children won’t be able to talk to you?」

「Fool. As if I would give you such a precious blessing. I will give you the [Blessing of Language].」

「How many blessings do you have?」

Just from the conversation so far, three are confirmed. Are blessings so easily available?

「I have twelve. However, only a few of them are useful. For example, the [Blessing of Language] is worthless to me due to my vocal apparatus not having vocal cords.」

Either way, that’s still a lot. This guy is a real cheat beast. Or maybe those are the average specs for a Griffon? How many Griffons are there, including this one?

Well, it doesn’t matter.

「Sorry about before. Let me say it again, nice to meet you all.」

A foreign language came out of my mouth naturally.

I see, this is convenient. With this, there’s no need to study English.

「Yes… nice to meet you… Onii-chan.」

A brown-haired girl answered like that.

Onii-chan… sounds nice.

「Hey you, what’s your name?」

A cheeky kid asked me.

「You should name yourself before asking others’ names.」

I replied with the usual cliché, and the kid introduced himself after clicking his tongue.

「I’m Ron. I was the leader until now. Hey, I introduced myself! Now name yourself!」

「My name is…」

I started to say, then paused. 

What should I call myself? Should I use a Japanese name? But I’m not Japanese anymore. Using a Japanese name feels somehow wrong. Well, it’s not like the name matters that much.

「What name should I use here? My original name would sound weird in this world.」

I tried asking the Griffon.

「How about ‘Almus’?」

「What does it mean?」

「It doesn’t mean anything. I just thought it sounded good.」

I see. Well, maybe it’s fitting, I’m a being that was thrown into a world like this without understanding anything. A meaningless name fits me well.

「Then I’m Almus. Nice to meet you, Ron-kun.」

I extended my hand, but Ron-kun turned away. 

Why?

「Hey, how old are you?」

「Twenty.」

「Liar!!」

Well, it’s the truth, though…

I sent a glance at the Griffon, hoping for his help.

「What he says is true. It seems he suddenly turned into a child.」

「I see. If Griffon-sama says so…」

Ron suddenly became meek and then glared at me, declaring,

「I still don’t acknowledge you as our leader!!」

Well, that’s expected. I understand how he feels. Suddenly, a strange child appears and claims to be their leader.

「I’m sorry. Ron-kun doesn’t mean any harm. He’s just a bit… of an idiot.」

The girl who called me onii-chan earlier tried to defend Ron-kun.

「What’s your name?」

「I’m Soyon. Ron-kun and I have been childhood friends…」

I see. Childhood friends. Ron-kun is lucky to have such a cute childhood friend.

「Hey! What do you mean by ‘idiot’?」

「It’s the truth though.」

「You know, the one who calls others idiots is the idiot one!」

「Then you’re an idiot too, Ron-kun.」

「「Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!」」

Suddenly, they started to argue. 

It’s a good thing they are close enough to argue like that. 

Watching the exchange between the two, the other children began to laugh. It seemed quite lively.

At least on the surface. To be precise, they need to be lively to endure. It makes sense. They have been deceived by their parents and abandoned deep in the forest. It is impossible not to be shocked. Some of them might still believe in their parents.

They are trying desperately to forget. The burden Ron has been carrying as their leader must be immense.

Soyon-chan’s warm welcome to me wasn’t just because she took a liking to me, but probably because my arrival lessens Ron-kun’s load.

Their current quarrel helps to brighten the atmosphere around them. They must be doing silly things like this every day. Whether they are doing it consciously or unconsciously, I can’t tell. But either way, it isn’t normal for children to have to do this.

「I will definitely help you.」

My muttering was eclipsed by the laughter of the children.