[TS] Became a Peach Saint – Chapter 205

─Chik, chik.

“Whew─ Baekseol, let’s eat.”

“Food!”

As soon as I opened my eyes, the bustling laundry area was empty, not a single person in sight.

Instead, the crisp air carried the fresh scent of grass, welcoming me warmly.

Ding!

Baekseol takes a white bellflower and slips it into her pocket.

“Whew─”

As I continue smoking, I sense movement behind me.

“Good morning, Ga-eul. You’re up early?”

“Hi, Anna.”

“Yeah.”

Anna, with a faint smile, starts sweeping the floor with a large broom.

“Why is it only kids working here?”

“Huh? Well, it’s because we’re being taken care of by the adults. We have to work to stay here.”

“What do the adults do?”

“They either supervise us or go out.”

“Tsk.”

Even as she answers, she diligently sweeps with a broom bigger than herself.

At best, she’s only around elementary school age.

Since I still don’t know the clear conditions, I wanted to gather more info, but maybe I should’ve just killed them yesterday.

Still, if I’m not planning to take responsibility for these kids forever, I can’t act too hastily.

“I’ll prepare breakfast for the kids. Gather them when they wake up.”

“That’s not allowed.”

Anna, who’s usually too timid and always cautious, answers firmly.

“Why?”

“Because we have to drink holy water during breakfast.”

“Holy water?”

“Yeah.”

Anna’s face, with dark circles so heavy it’s almost gross, trembles slightly.

“Do we really have to drink it?”

“Of course!”

“Why?”

“Huh? Well…”

Anna tilts her head. Seems like she doesn’t even know why.

Holy water. That word came up when I eavesdropped on their conversation last night.

“Drinking holy water gives us strength.”

“That’s it?”

“Umm… It makes you feel a bit dizzy and good.”

“Bullcrap.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

I wave my hand at Anna, and she nods before going back to sweeping.

Seems like Anna overheard the curse I accidentally let slip. Gotta watch my mouth around the kids.

“Whew─”

“What’s that?”

“Huh? This is something kids shouldn’t smoke.”

“Ga-eul, you’re a kid too. Speaking of which, did you grow taller overnight?”

“Kids grow a lot overnight, you know.”

“Huh?”

Anna, looking confused, goes back to sweeping.

Seeing the dry leaves on the ground, it seems like it’s the tail end of autumn.

The weather’s getting chilly.

“Haa─”

Only cigarette smoke comes out instead of breath.

The weather around here is so unpredictable, it’s hard to keep up.

Ding!

As I keep smoking while Anna sweeps the floor, a bell rings.

“Ga-eul, let’s go eat.”

“Okay.”

Tik.

Anna leans the broom against the wall, grabs my hand, and heads inside the building.

Thanks to the treatment, Anna’s hand feels smooth.

After walking a bit, I see the place where we ate bread. Inside, the kids I gave candy to yesterday are sitting in their spots.

The tables are mostly low, probably made with kids in mind.

Clink.

Sitting down…

Wait, the woman I saw yesterday places a tray in front of me.

On the tray is a chunk of dark bread, a thin soup, and a glass of water.

The soup looks like it’s made with beans and chopped leeks, boiled together. It seems hastily made, enough to make me lose my appetite.

“You.”

“Yes.”

Her freckled face is emotionless, scrunched up. She pretends to be calm, but it’s obvious she doesn’t like me.

“An important guest is coming tomorrow. Keep your body and mind tidy.”

As the woman whispers to me and moves to the end of the restaurant, the children bow their heads, clutching their tiny hands.

“O radiant light. Pierce through the darkness of this decaying world and descend upon us.”

—O radiant light. Pierce through the darkness of this decaying world and descend upon us.

As the woman chants, the children murmur along.

“We are your faithful servants.”

“We will fight for your will.”

“We will fight for your glory.”

“Ah— Great and lonely Santarus. We offer our prayers in this nightmare, and we complete the oath that gnaws at our very souls. Ulonda.”

—Ulonda.

Both children and adults stare blankly into the void with unfocused eyes.

An untimely silence fills the restaurant before the meal.

Well, if it’s about keeping body and mind tidy, that’s my specialty.

“This chant is so damn annoying.”

Thanks to the silence, my voice feels louder.

Every single person in the restaurant turns their gaze toward me.

Thud, thud.

Breaking the silence, the freckled, brown-haired woman approaches.

“What did you say?”

—Tsk, tsk.

“Phew——”

I exhale sharply, and the swirling cigarette smoke hits her face before dissipating.

“Did Santarus shove his dick in your ear? Is he your boyfriend? This?”

I wiggle my pinky finger at her, and her face turns red.

“What are you doing with these clueless kids? Your head seems useless, want me to wake you up?”

Even in this chaos, the children’s gazes remain fixed on the water glass after finishing their prayer.

As I lift the water glass from Anna’s tray, her dazed eyes follow.

“Drink.”

“…What?”

“If you don’t want to die, you drink it.”

—Smack!

Suddenly, the woman’s palm slaps my cheek.

Thanks to that, the cigarette I was holding falls to the floor.

“Did everyone see that? This is what happens when you don’t listen to adults. I hope you all behave properly.”

After glancing at the children, the woman walks out of the restaurant without looking back.

“Tch.”

My mouth stings. Tastes like iron, so my lip must be split.

“Autumn, are you okay?”

“Yes.”

As Anna tries to get up, I wave her off, and she sits back down with a worried expression.

“Kids, stop moving.”

As the woman leaves, the children stop moving their hands toward the tray.

“Did you like the candy you had yesterday?”

The children nod in unison. They look like little chicks, so cute.

“Today, I’ll give you something even tastier. But first, clean up the trash on the table.”

“Can’t we just drink the water?”

As Anna speaks for them, the children’s gazes turn to the water glass.

“That’s bad for your health. Go throw it away.”

I say firmly, and the children pout.

If you drink it…

There’s no way there’s holy water that makes you feel all tingly and good.

I’ve tried the real holy water a few times, but it just tasted like plain water with no flavor at all.

“It’s way, way tastier than candy, so what are you gonna do? Only friends who throw away water can have it.”

It might seem like I’m pushing the kids to make a tough choice, but there’s no other way.

I don’t know what that water is, but judging by the kids’ behavior, it seems like some kind of addictive drug. There’s no way that’s holy water.

*Clink.*

When I openly pull out cooking tools from the storage space, the kids’ eyes go wide.

It probably looks like magic to them.

I place an onion on the cutting board and start chopping. The rhythmic thumping fills the restaurant.

*Sizzle—!*

Even though I’m just stir-frying finely chopped onions in an oiled wok, the kids’ necks bob as they watch.

For kids, showing is way better than telling a hundred times.

*Sizzle—! Sizzle—!*

Every time I flick the wok, the golden-brown onions jump, and the kids’ eyes follow.

Using my fire-handling cooking skill, I stir-fry the perfect golden fried rice. Then, I top it with a sunny-side-up egg.

Kids usually hate veggies, so making it like this will get them to eat it.

Finally, writing something with ketchup will probably make them happy.

“Anna.”

“Yes!”

After writing “Anna” on the first completed omelet rice and handing it to her, her eyes sparkle.

“Wow, my name’s on it!”

“Anna, did you throw away the water?”

Anna, who couldn’t take her eyes off the omelet rice, quickly nods her head.

“Good job. Go ahead and eat it.”

While Anna picks up her spoon, I make another omelet rice and wait.

Here, Anna is the leader, so if she moves, the other kids will follow.

All the kids in the restaurant are staring at Anna. She’s too focused on the omelet rice to notice.

Anna scoops up the omelet rice, avoiding the part with her name. It seems she feels it’s too precious to eat that part.

“Mmm!”

After taking a bite, Anna puts her hand on her cheek, savoring it. Her cute reaction shows she loves it.

“Is it good?”

“Yes!”

As Anna starts eating the omelet rice with delight, the kids’ eyes sparkle as they look at me.

“Good kids who threw away the water, come up one by one.”

“Okay!”

When I call them one by one, they all rush forward.

“Lydia.”

“Yes!”

A cute girl with dark brown hair smiles brightly as she receives her omelet rice with her name on it.

“Edric.”

“Yes!!”

Edric, missing a front tooth, looks like a little rascal.

“Kids who put their food in the right place can take one of these too.”

It’s a detox potion I made using alchemy, based on what I overheard yesterday. It’s the same potion Man-wook drank, so it should work.

I mixed it with fruit juice and put it in juice bottles with cute animal pictures for the kids.

There’s grape, apple, peach, and more, so they can pick their favorite flavor.

“Hannah.”

“Yes! I’m here!”

Hannah, whose name is similar to Anna, is also missing a tooth, making her look extra cute when she smiles.

“Nose, blow.”

*Sniff!*

I wipe Hannah’s nose with a tissue, and she giggles.

“Eat as much as you want, and let me know if you need more.”

“Thank you!”

“Meow.”

The boys suddenly start eating faster.

Guess they wanna eat a lot.

***

Leaning against the wall, waiting, a faint light and voices flow from the same room as yesterday.

『·········』

One is the woman who slapped me, and the other is a man.

『Holy Water····· sell it fast·····』

Judging by the occasional swearing, they seem pissed about what happened at the restaurant earlier.

─Tsk, tsk.

“Phew─ Shadow····.”

Bam!

Suddenly, the door I was eavesdropping on swings open, hitting the wall with a loud noise.

“Who’s there!”

The stench was so strong I tried to gather more info, but instead of two people, three come rushing out of the room.

One of them is wearing blindingly shiny armor.

“What? This is gonna get me kicked out.”

Creak.

“Eek!! Ah, a demon·····!!”

“It’s the Saint.”

“A demon! A demon!!”

“I said it’s the Saint.”

***

“Gol Gola.”

Thud!

“Kill.”

***

“Happy New Year·····♡”

***

“My babies, have a blessed New Year♡”

***