Chapter 17

<17>

“Jeremy!”

The first place Hannah ran to was the weapon shop.

But Jeremy wasn’t there.

“Jeremy!”

The next stop was an open-type bar with many men who looked rough.

Jeremy wasn’t there either.

She’s been trying to find Jeremy for a long time.

It’s hard to just run around, but it’s twice as hard to get through the crowd.

Hannah quickly had sweat wetting her forehead.

“Where the hell has he gone?”

She tapped her calf muscles, which she was surprised by running around too much, and paused for a while to catch her breath.

‘I hope he didn’t follow a strange person.’

Hannah was more worried than usual because there were many outsiders in the city.

She looked around slowly, suppressing her rather exasperated feelings.

Then she saw a familiar black hair in the crowd.

“Jeremy?”

Hannah ran to Jeremy in a hurry.

It was strange that Jeremy was staring blankly at the floor, even though people were bumping into Jeremy who was coming and going.

“Jeremy!”

Hannah, who ran immediately, grabbed his arm, and Jeremy looked up blankly.

“What’s going on?”

“…….”

Jeremy’s expression was dark.

“Teacher···.”

He looked helpless as if he had lost his soul.

“What, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

She thought earlier than when she finds Jeremy, she was going to scold him, but when she saw his sad face, Hannah couldn’t help but think about it.

Jeremy’s eyes, which looked blankly at Hannah, gradually turned red.

Then Jeremy hugged Hannah’s waist.

Just like Masha usually does.

“Jeremy ···?”

Hannah couldn’t even guess what’s with Jeremy’s sudden change was.

What in the hell happened?

“……it hurts.”

“Where were you? Are you hurt? How come?”

Hannah held Jeremy’s body with both hands and examined it.

Jeremy’s shoes were missing. His ankle was also swollen and red.

“What happened to you?”

“It hurts, teacher.”

Tears dripped from Jeremy’s eyes just like chicken droppings.

Frustrated, Hannah couldn’t say anything.

I’m sure this hurts so much!

Jeremy, who should have been joking around, is crying because he’s in pain.

“Do you want me to carry you on my back?”

Hannah quietly stuck her back out.

“……”

Jeremy, who was hesitating at first, agreed to be carried on Hannah’s back.

Jeremy, who was carried on her back, was too light even though he was supposed to be heavy because he’s such an energetic boy.

Hannah walked without saying a word.

And just waited until Jeremy opened his mouth.

“Teacher.”

“Hm?”

Every time Jeremy spoke, who’s leaning on Hannah’s back, her back rang because of his voice.

“I saw my dad.”

“Dad?”

“Yes, it was crowded, and I saw the father I remembered.”

“Ah···.”

Hannah was speechless.

“So I ran… I kept looking…”

I swallowed a sigh that almost came out without realizing it.

“It wasn’t my dad.”

I almost cried at the words.

“So did you run until your shoes came off?”

Jeremy nodded his head.

Jeremy’s sadness was conveyed with just a layer of clothing in between them.

“Did it hurt a lot?”

The word foot, or heart, was not included, but Jeremy nodded.

“I was chasing my dad like that, and when I turned around, there was no one there.”

“Us?”

“Yes, and it hurt me more.”

Jeremy quietly added ‘heart’.

“Jeremy, don’t be sad when you can’t see us. We’re a family. I’ll always be home when you come back.”

“Family? But we do not even share the same blood.”

“Do you have to share the same blood to become family?”

“Yes?”

It was noisy around, but Hannah and Jeremy were concentrating on each other’s words as if they were in a different world.

“We eat together, share warmth, laugh, fight, ····. And then the next day, we smile and eat again. That’s our family.”

“I don’t like that family.”

(tl/n: i’m certain jeremy’s referring to hannah and the other kids when he said ‘that family’.)

Hannah smirked at Jeremy’s stern words.

And she answered.

“Then let’s be friends.”

What’s the big deal?

If you don’t like your family, you can be friends, and if you don’t like your friends, you can just stay with them for a while.

“…That’s great.”

Jeremy’s cheeks dug deeper into Hannah’s back.

“My dad said he would come to see me when I grow up strong.”

Why do you make promises that you won’t keep?

I’d rather wish you a happy life.

It’s not even giving hope, it’s just torture.

Hannah hated Jeremy’s father, who didn’t even know his face.

And I had many thoughts.

Jeremy had memories of his paternal father.

Unlike Masha, who was orphaned from a very early age, Ian and Jeremy had memories of being abandoned.

I thought Jeremy wouldn’t have any childhood memories since he came to the nursery for a long time now.

That wasn’t it.

“So I wanted to grow strong…”

Maybe that’s why Jeremy is obsessed with swords and weapons?

I came to a thought that the strength of the 9-year-old child’s wish is not limited to physical strength.

“You are the strongest child in the world.”

“I guess Dad doesn’t think so.”

“Do you remember jumping into the alley to save me?”

“Yes.”

The day I got the honey bread.

“Jeremy is the only nine-year-old who can muster up that courage.”

“Last time, you scolded me for doing that.”

“The heart is stronger than anyone else. What’s dangerous is dangerous.”

“Tsk.”

Jeremy’s voice had become lighter.

“Jeremy.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll let you learn swordsmanship when you get back.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

It was something that stopped Jeremy from worrying about his future, but the more he couldn’t do it, the more he craved and didn’t know where his unsatisfactory curiosity would go.

Hannah was thinking that it would be better to teach him properly and safely.

After hearing Jeremy’s story, I couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Jeremy, remember this. The next time you go after someone,”

“What?”

“That the house you’re coming back to is over there on the hill.”

Jeremy’s gaze reached the part where the nursery was located.

It was visible from far away.

“Never, ever to forget.”

“I’m glad it’s easy to find.”

When Jeremy smirked, a gentle smile rose around Hannah’s mouth.

* * *

“Hey! Jeremy!”

When Jeremy came on Hannah’s back, Masha shouted and called Jeremy.

He probably got nervous because he had to wait a long time.

When Jeremy came down from Hannah’s back, Masha ran over.

“Your bread almost cooled down!”

Instead of blaming him, Masha pushed in the bread with the most sugar on it.

Receiving the bread, Jeremy stared down at the bread.

Then he slowly took the bread to his mouth.

Unlike Masha’s words, the bread was already cold.

It was bought too long ago already.

But Jeremy pushed the cold bread into his mouth.

His eyes became moist.

“Oh, my! Is it that good? Anyway, I cried because I thought it was a pig!”

Masha turned around, holding a bag of bread and Jeremy’s arms.

“Let’s go, Ian! The ladies said that’s the best place for fireworks!”

Then, he grabbed Ian’s hand and dragged him.

Ian made a face because of Masha’s hand touching his glove but was still dragged away.

Thanks to this, no one saw Jeremy shedding tears.

* * *

“Oh, good.”

Hannah was warming up in the hot spring.

After many twists and turns, she was exhausted when they came back from watching the fireworks.

But today seems to have been easier than any other day.

“Well, did having Cesar help?”

The children whined that they were sleepy on their way back from the fireworks that lightened up too late.

Since Jeremy had already occupied Hannah’s back, Masha had to turn on Cesar’s back.

Hannah smiled as if she was satisfied.

Normally, I should have woken up the sleepy Masha, but isn’t it comforting to have one more person?

When I went to find Jeremy, he seemed to be in a bad mood because he had two children with him.

“I don’t mind taking him again next time.”

It had to be acknowledged that he was unexpectedly useful.

So instead of looking up to the temple and the imperial people, Cesar was on the verge of becoming Hannah’s good assistant teacher.

“By the way, Jeremy is ····.”

Hannah’s expression changed worriedly.

Above all.

Jeremy’s leg is on his mind.

“Well.”

Jeremy says he’ll get better after a good night’s sleep, but if he’s swollen tomorrow, he’ll have to see a doctor.

“Should I give him a foot massage while in the hot spring?”

Wouldn’t hot spring water be good for his leg and relieve fatigue?

“Good. Foot-bath.”

Hannah put all the water in a glass to take to Jeremy.

“Let’s add some cool herbs.”

Coming out of the hot spring, Hannah approached the herbs she had planted at random to improve the bath scent.

As I said, there were grasses and trees here and there because it was an outdoor bath connected to the back mountain.

“It’s as cool as peppermint, oh. This smells good, so let’s put it in.”

Then, she wiped her nose and picked herbs and flowers that she liked.

“That’s perfect.”

The cool, chilly scent of herbs and the sweet scent of flowers combined to create a pleasant scent.

“Oh, let’s get dressed first.”

As long as I was concentrating on making mineral water naked, I quickly wiped the water off and got dressed.

Hannah’s cheeks, which came out of the steam and bath with a hot spring basin, were reddening.

She had a towel on her head.

“It’s refreshing.”

She headed to Jeremy’s room, feeling refreshed.