Thanks Guys

So, things were going smoothly for the time being.

It'd been about ten days since I got out of the infirmary and I was healing fairly well. I could even run now! Yeah, not really. I could walk around just fine though.

Which meant it was time to head back home and confront the Baracks. I wasn't alone of course. Rexy hung in my hair while Shia had the little kitty.

We hadn't really named the cat. "What was his mother's name anyway?" I asked.

"She didn't have one," Shia said.

"Right. He should though," I said.

"Yeah. But… I don't want to name him."

"Why not? You found him."

"No, that's not what I meant." She shook her head. "Have you… forgiven mom?"

"I don't think so," I said. "I can't really forgive her for what she's done. I do understand why she did it and why she has to. But… I can't," I said. Not because I was some saint who didn't forgive grave sins like child murder. But rather… I just- I just didn't know what to actually think about all this. I grew up in a world where murder wasn't this rampant or commonplace. Sure there were murderers and psychopaths but they weren't as common. In this world though, this was normal. Was it even okay for me to blame them when what they were doing was totally okay by social standards?

We were going to the church first. I planned on quitting today. I did need the money but, but I could no longer see myself working there.

Shia didn't say much. I suppose she couldn't. It was her mom after all. Even if Lin had done unspeakable things, I could never blame her. Heck, when she murdered that priest, I didn't even bat an eye. I just assumed the priest was at fault. I just-

We'd arrived.

The shady part of town. Some thugs. And a church. A little dusty on the inside. I guess they weren't doing a good job cleaning.

When Mrs. Alayla saw me, she came over and although she didn't say anything, her head hung with a rather crude self-deprecating smile. I guess she blamed my injuries on herself?

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning, Sol, how are you doing?" she said.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I'd like to stop working."

"Would you be taking another break? At this rate you might be losing the job, you know."

"True. I'm actually here today to get your signature Mrs. Barack," I said. "With this signature my employment would be terminated as per the guild's rules."

Her lips parted for a second but they didn't open. She looked at me for a couple more seconds. "I see. Very well then, you are here by relieved of your duties, Soler A. Barack." She smiled. "You don't have to come here anymore I guess?" There was sadness in her voice? The hell was she sad about?

"Guess so."

I knew why she was having children assassinated and I knew why the academy did nothing. And I knew this whole protecting the kids would be temporary and things would eventually be back to normal. Ordinary people weren't meant to exist in this world.

I knew all that.

Yet… I couldn't accept it. What was it the headmaster said? All because of my pet cat, right?

Huh.

Maybe. Maybe I really was doing all this for a cat. Dozens of children died every week and I didn't even care. Yet, just as a cat and her two kittens died, I went on a frenzy and… "I don't hold it against you," I said, before leaving.

Shia didn't follow me out, I guess she was talking to her mother.

She came out about five minutes later. Then we headed home; her home.

***

Barack senior wasn't in today. He'd gone somewhere with the men. They were plotting something.

The kids were here and Shia gave them some snacks we bought along the way. They really liked Shia and Shia liked them.

Couldn't say the same about me. I didn't like kids. Even as a kid, I couldn't bother to like kids. Particularly why I didn't know how a normal kid was even supposed to act like. I guess that made me somewhat of a failure.

You're a failure… Mom's words reverberated over and over again…. A failure.

"Here you go, Sol," one of them said, giving me something.

A crane?

A paper crane. Rather ugly with weird deformities but. "Thanks."

 She smiled, showing some teeth and ran behind Shia. Some of the other kids also gave me stuff. Mostly just failed origamis. No, to them perhaps these things weren't failures. Just a learning experience. "Thanks guys."

***

I went back to the academy.

I really liked the library job and honestly it was good. But considering the amount of breaks I was taking lately, I really didn't expect the librarian to even remotely consider keeping me around. The other helpers were horrible but at least they were around. Me though, I had my issues.

I'd skipped a good chunk of library duties in favor of exams. And then I went ahead and got myself killed and spent a week in the Infirmary and now although it'd been a week, I didn't have the courage to show my face to the Librarian.

I honestly didn't have any excuses.

So when I showed up at the library, it really shocked me that the Liberian actually hugged me, and quite tightly too. "You idiot," she said.

She was mad. She was disappointed. She was probably going to fire me.

But boy… boy was she worried about me.

Surprisingly, I didn't get fired. There was a minor break before classes for the next term started, so the librarian just increased my working quota instead, so I could make up.

Apparently, although the students had roughly three weeks of free time at the end of each term, most of them didn't go back to their homes. They just stuck here in this academy which made the librarian's life a drag. And there was a good reason for that. During the third and final week of the spring holidays (I'd slept through the last few days of winter) this town held a rather massive lantern festival.

 "Just so you know, if you skip even one day, you're fired and I'll ban you from the library too."

"Yeah, please don't do that."

"Better not skip then."

"Sometimes, I just forget you know."

"Better not forget then."

She was in her late teenager rebellious phase, I guess? Wouldn't she technically be an adult back on earth though?

Anyway… I somehow managed to keep my job but… wasn't I supposed to… history books!

That's right, history books!