Chapter 139- Taking Care of A Girl (Part 1)
After what seemed to be a few minutes, Silika finally released Rin and put him down gently. At the same time, Sorophi also left his embrace. Her eyes looked weirdly dazed as if she was inside a dream or barely woke up from a deep slumber a moment ago. Her face was frozen in a calm state like a statue and her breathing seemed to be extremely quiet and rhythmic as if she was indeed asleep.
"Uh… So, is this over now?" He muttered as he looked at the huge bear behind him.
Silika, who seemingly understood what he meant, nodded her head and then with her giant paws patted him on the head gently. All the anger and ominousness of her eyes vanished like mist and even the red color of her eyes also disappeared. Now, she looked more like a bear than before. A grizzly bear to be precise.
'Wow, I made a huge magical bear like me.' Rin thought as he didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his weirdly effective charm. Even though being handsome was a perk, he never thought it would make a monstrously powerful beast like him.
"Sorophi?" He called the dazed girl after noticing her weird behavior. Her weird behavior was getting to him more and more.
The moment she heard the young man's voice reach her ears, her eyes flashed with a weird light before she shifted to look at him instead. Her void-like eyes were as hypnotizing as they were eerie but for some reason, Rin didn't see that emptiness inside them as before. She just seemed to have found something to fill that emptiness with.
Then, she opened her mouth and said.
"Friend…"
"Huh?"
"You are Sorophi's friend." She said before she jumped on him again, this time hugging his face on her small chest. Her thin yet beautiful arms latched on the back of his head and her chin was rested on him. Her cute nose moved slowly as if she was smelling him greedily.
"Woah!" Rin's nose was buried into her body, almost being crushed by mistake. He tried to pick Sorophi up before she breaks his neck by mistake but it seemed that she was now aware of how much strength she must exert not to kill Rin.
"Why is she acting like this now?" Emilia muttered with an exasperated sigh.
"Mrs. Emilia.." Elise approached her and asked.
"Hmm?"
"Who is she?"
"Oh? That's Sorophi, no last name… She's the ranked number 7."
"Number 7?"
"Yes. She is quite powerful even among the top 10 rankers. That brat would've been able to wipe half of the city off the face of Divine Sapphire if she threw a bigger tantrum than that. Luckily, she's still mature enough to recognize the consequences of her actions."
"How did she get this power at such a young age?"
"Young age? She's 18 years old."
"Wait… what?!" Hearing that, Rin quickly squeezed his face out of Sorophi's hug and looked at Emilia with widened eyes.
"She's 18 years old?"
"Pretty much. That child form isn't her true appearance."
"..."
Elise and Rin were taking one shock after the other. Especially Rin who was the more knowledgeable one of the two on these matters.
'Is she what they call…. A legal loli?' He muttered as he looked at Sorophi's face.
Since he consumed a lot of anime in his life, he knew that term very well. For Sorophi to actually be someone who hid her age with a childish appearance was something he never really expected. But, now that he knew, it was actually quite obvious that she might be altering her appearance as a child possessing such great powers isn't something possible even by Rin and Elise's standards who are both monstrous talents on their own.
"She just enjoys moving in that form since it's 'easier'. As she says. I can't be bothered."
"Mmm, Sorophi, you are suffocating me, can you go down, please?"
Even though Sorophi is now technically older than him, she still didn't try to act mature for some odd reason. Rin had felt that the way she was speaking and even down to her smallest gestures didn't seem rigid or fake. It was as if she genuinely is a child and merely was older in age.
"Mmm…" Nodding her head in a rare scenario, she jumped back and landed on her feet gracefully. Her face returned to the usual aloofness and apathy she always had.
"Anyway, Sorophi. Why did you kill that man?" Rin asked.
"Silika… She likes to eat food so I gave her food."
"But, it would be troublesome if you kill suspects isn't it?" Rin added.
He was sure that the man, whoever he was, had some kind of connection with the cult. No one would act in such a weird way and be normal. So, unfortunately, they had lost a potential lead that could've been crucial.
"Silika said that the human is bad… she eats bad humans."
"Why bad humans precisely?"
"Bad humans have delicious hearts… Good humans taste bad. Silika eats bad humans."
Instinctively, Rin's eyes turned toward Silika who was now sitting down and looking at the two talking as if she was protecting them from any possible threats.
The moment she saw Rin gazing at her, she nodded her head as if approving of her owner's words.
"I see…" Falling in deep thought, Rin didn't try to ask any further.
"Sorophi… I need you to do one thing." Emilia barged into the conversation.
"Don't kill anyone you deem 'bad'. Instead, send him to me, if he turns out to be indeed 'bad' then you can kill him AFTER we investigate him properly. Understand?"
"... Emi is always grumpy!" Pouting, Sorophi didn't look at Emilia anymore.
"Huh?! Who is the grumpy one, you brat!"
The little girl, as if scared by Emilia's glare, ran to Rin and behind him.
'She knows how to make Emilia angry and then acts as if she's scared. What an odd girl.' He thought.
"At least, promise me that, Sorophi?" She said with a calmer voice after breathing a few times.
"Mmm…" Sorophi didn't answer quickly.
"Mmm, can you do that Sorophi?" Rin asked.
"Ok…" In an instant, she accepted without hesitation.
"You…"
"I listen to Rin…" She said.
"Sigh… Fine, she at least listened." Emilia didn't try to complicate the situation any further and instead decided to leave.
"There is still the investigation part left. You will be notified soon so don't leave the vicinity of the place, ok?"
"Mm, master! wait a second." Rin called for her before she left.
"Do you have some kind of relationship with Sorophi?"
"..."
"Why do you think so?"
"No, I heard the way she addresses you as 'Emi' so I thought that maybe you are both friends or something like that?"
Hearing that, Emilia turned around. Her intentions to leave were now gone after that question.
"It's a pretty long story. But, basically, she's my niece."
"She's your nephew?!" Rin blinked a few times before he looked at Elise secretly. The latter shook her head as if she was denying whatever he was asking.
'So even Elise doesn't know too?' He thought to himself.
"Yes, we are technically not blood-related but she's still my sister's daughter."
"..." Meanwhile, Sorophi was busy patting Silika on the belly while the latter was laying on the ground, unbothered by anything in the world.
"Why did you hide this, master?" He asked.
"I didn't try to hide it. The academy did. They wanted to keep the top 10 rankers as secretive and unknown as possible so as to not make a huge problem out of nothing."
"Damn…" The weight of the information was quite heavy.
"Then, they sent her to our floor…"
"Yes, because she's my niece. They thought I can take care of her in case she tried to do anything reckless. But, I can't really deal with her at all. She's too unpredictable. One moment, she would be sitting in my office then when I turn my head for a moment, she vanishes somewhere."
"That sounds troublesome."
"It is. I'm having a huge headache trying to keep her away from trouble."
Rubbing his chin, Rin tried to think of something.
"Well, she seems like she likes me. More than you, at least."
Then, he smiled as he clicked his fingers together.
"How about we keep an eye on her in your stead?"
"You two?"
"Yes. She doesn't seem like she is going to do any harm and besides, she can be a huge help in many things."
"... Indeed, as much as I can't bear her attitude toward me, she's a good girl when she's satisfied," Emilia murmured as a flash of emotions appeared on her face.
(A//N: Some Fluff incoming. It's gonna be a good small arc for Rin and Elise.)
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