Chapter 16
08-16 Being Called a Brother
After bathing, the two had a meal at a time that wasn’t quite breakfast nor was it quite lunch .
“This time I’ve done the cooking . ”
Laozi said . He appeared to be in high-spirits about making food for Jin for the first time, so the portions were on the larger side but because of their hunger the two ate it all without problems .
“Thanks . ”
Jin’s stomach swelled out and his eyelids began to droop .
“Father, please have a brief rest . ”
Reiko worried about Jin’s health .
“Ah, right . I suppose I’ll take a short nap . Elsa must be sleepy too . ”
“Mm . ”
Then, he guided Elsa to the mansion . Due to it being spring, despite Hourai Island being north of the Northern Tropic it was rather warm by midday .
“Make yourself at home . ”
“What’s, this . I’ve never seen a building like this before . ”
Elsa was wide-eyed in wonder at the Japanese-style tiled roof architecture .
“Well, let’s just have a short rest . After that I’ll explain everything . ”
“Mm, I’m looking forward to it . ”
He laid out a futon in a room facing south and called Elsa there .
“This also has tatami mats . I’m glad . ”
Elsa said and threw herself on the with a whump . After that she rolled around all over the place and towards the futon . Almost like a child .
“So, I’ll be going to my own room to sleep for a bit . ”
Jin said and was about to close the sliding screen when,
“…Wait . …Please, just stay by me for a little while . ”
He was held back by Elsa’s heartrending voice .
“Got it . ”
Jin once more went back to Elsa’s room and lay down on the tatami .
“I’ll be here, so you can rest easy . ”
“Mm . Thanks, Jin-kun . ”
This time Elsa closed her eyes looking calm from the bottom of her heart .
“…Lonesome, isn’t she . ”
Jin reminisced of the past .
During his orphanage days, there was a time when they had taken custody of a girl who had lost her parents . She was a student on the third year of elementary school and could never sleep unless she had someone next to her .
Starting with Jin, the older children had slept by her in turns . Jin was nostalgic as he thought about those days .
“Father, it’s about time for you to wake up, please . ”
And just like that, before he knew it Jin had also fallen asleep . He was woken up by Reiko’s voice .
“Yawn, I slept well . ”
Jin got up and stretched . Reiko looked to be in a bit of a bad mood .
“Father, if you don’t sleep properly in a futon you won’t get any less tired . Besides, what if you caught a cold?”
“Ah, sorry . But I was worried about Elsa . ”
He apologized, and Reiko looked reluctantly accepting .
“It’s soon 3 o’clock . If you don’t contact Reinhardt-san he’ll get worried . ”
“Ah, you’re right . I had already been considering telling Reinhardt about this place sooner or later, but…”
Jin said to Reiko who nodded and,
“I will follow whatever Father thinks is the best . ”
She said .
Jin quietly left the room, and tried asking the same thing about Laozi through his terminal in the mansion .
“Yes, if My Lord thinks it is a good idea then please carry on to do so . I shall support you with my full capabilities . ”
Laozi also said something similar, and Jin finally decided to bring Reinhardt along with him here .
Then, the pitter-patter sound of running steps were heard from the hallway . Jin wondered what was going on and went to take a look, and there was Elsa, running .
“Elsa?”
He said to Elsa’s back as she had passed him by, and suddenly she stopped and slowly turned around .
“Jin, kun?”
“Elsa, wh-what’s wrong?”
In Elsa’s eyes enough tears had gathered that it looked like they would fall any moment now .
Leaving behind the finally calmed-down Elsa, Jin warped back to the carriage in Tellurs .
There he realized . There was a time difference between Tellurs and Hourai Island . It seemed to be a difference of about three hours and a half . Therefore it was still before noon .
“I suppose I’ll first go check how Mine’s health is . ”
Without going into the hotel, he headed towards Sally’s healing clinic .
At Hourai Island the skies were clear but here it was cloudy . Jin walked downtown while feeling the vaguely moist spring winds .
The clinic was at the end of a curved alley near the riverbank .
“Good day . ”
He opened the door and stepped inside where there were three patients .
“Oh, it’s you . Wait a moment, please . ”
Sally looked at Jin and said, then once again began examining the patients . After waiting for about 15 minutes, Sally who had finished viewing her patients said,
“The woman –Mine, was it?– has recovered consciousness . ”
“Really now! That’s good . ”
“However, even though she hasn’t recovered her strength yet she’s already tried to leave the hospital and I’m at a loss with her . You warn her too, please . ”
Then Jin entered the sickbay with Sally . The resting Mine saw Jin’s face, sat up and,
“Jin-sama! Elsa, Elsa is!”
She yelled agitatedly and so Jin waved at her to sit down and,
“Mine, it’s okay . Elsa’s already out of trouble . She’s not hurt anywhere and she’s safe, so you can relax . ”
He told her so and all strength seemed to leave Mine’s body .
“Oh, uh…Is that so…You saved her, right? Thank you very much, Jin-sama . ”
She said and once more lay down on the bed .
“Mine, you’re Elsa’s real mother, right? Right now, Elsa’s hidden in a place where she absolutely won’t be found . I don’t have any intention of telling about it to anyone of the Randol house other than Reinhardt . So you can rest easy and recover . ”
Jin said, tears welled up in Mine’s eyes and,
“So you knew…I…nearly brought her great misfortune . ”
She said .
“It’s fine as long as you acknowledge that . Think well upon what you’ll do from now on . To begin with you need to get healthy . But I’m glad . Now Elsa can also rest easy . ”
Jin said, then,
“Jin-sama, I have a request . If possible, please don’t tell Elsa that I am alive . ”
“Eh?”
“After going through this I’ve finally realized it . I only bring misfortune to that child . It’s better if she doesn’t have someone like me . ”
Maybe being close to death changed her worldview, as Mine was almost like a completely different person . However,
“You idiot . By now, Elsa has lost all her relatives . Mine, aren’t you her only blood relative? And her real mother at that? If you don’t protect her then who will?”
He said to cheer up Mine . Still however,
“Is that…right? Can someone like me be a good mother?”
Mine kept saying things like that . Her troublesome nature hasn’t changed, Jin thought with a strained laugh in his heart .
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