Chapter 140- Taking Care of A Girl (Part 2)
"Hmm…" Thinking for a moment, Emilia tried to find any possible trouble that could happen if she left Sorophi with Rin, and in a moment… She found countless ones!
First of all, Sorophi wasn't an easy person to deal with so her staying with Rin won't guarantee that she won't do anything bad again. The second problem is that Rin is already a walking disaster in and out of himself. He is a trouble magnet that somehow can't seem to stay out of problems.
Now, if such a person was left with someone like Sorophi, only she could imagine what could occur in the next few days.
'This won't be a good ide-' Before she could finish her words, she remembered another person. Her eyes quickly traveled to Elise.
'Or maybe it's not that bad.'
From what Emilia had seen, it seemed that Elise was the more mature one out of the duo. She also seemed to be a very level-headed and smart girl who can deal with bad situations cleverly.
Besides, Emilia knew that she will only get even busier now since they will start the full investigation. She can't even have the time to follow Sorophi in case she did something troublesome.
'Sigh, am I even doing the right thing?' She asked herself. But, even if this was going to be troublesome, she really had no other choice but to accept.
"Fine… I will let her stay with you two. But, promise me one thing."
Rin tilted his head confusedly.
"You must NOT let her get out of your sight for even a second. I will deal with the matter of her getting into classes with you. She can sleep with Elise." Emilia said.
"Hmm, are you fine with that, Elise?" Rin whispered to Elise beside him.
The latter shrugged her shoulders and didn't refuse. She didn't see any trouble with that since either way, Sorophi was going to be following them from what she can see, they might as well entertain her until she leaves. They had lost any possible chance to evade Sorophi the moment she saw them.
"Fine by me."
"Good. I rely on both of you to keep her away from trouble." Emilia said. Then, she pointed at Elise and continued.
"You two, leave. Elise, I need you in an important matter."
Rin wasn't quite confused at first but then he quickly nodded his head and left along with Sorophi and the now back to a plushy form, Silika.
When they were far enough, Emilia looked at Elise seriously.
"Listen Elise. I know we don't know each other very well but I can see you are quite capable."
"Thank you?" Elise didn't know what to say except to accept the compliment.
"So, I know how troublesome Rin and Sorophi can be. So, can you take care of them?"
Elise kept gazing at Emilia's eyes for a moment before she opened her mouth.
"Rin is an important person to me. I always make sure to try and keep him out of trouble." She said flatly.
"..."
'This girl…' The determination Emilia saw in her eyes took her aback. She could clearly see how much Elise meant her words even if Elise herself wasn't aware of it. She cared for Rin a lot.
"Good. I am sure you can do that." Emilia nodded with a satisfied look before she vanished from Elise's sight in a second.
The latter didn't move for a while, her mind was occupied by something only she knew. Only when Rin called for her did she wake up from her daze and finally move toward them, her eyes not clouded anymore just like before.
****
"Where should we go?"
"Sorophi wants candy."
"Candy?"
"Candy!!!"
"Fine, fine, candy it is. Let's go to the amusement park since it's nearby until we are called for the investigation." Rin said.
Sorophi, who was by his side, grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the amusement park with Silika in her other hand. As for Elise, she walked behind them, watching the two casually while keeping an eye on the surroundings just in case. She knew that Rin was also careful with how his body language was. His body was always tense and ready for a fight at any possible second.
The three reached the amusement park and entered inside. Even though it was a Monday, there were many people inside since most of them just left the Appraisal session and were waiting for the second notification.
The trio took some tickets and started playing. There were many unique rides and games that didn't exist in their previous world. Magic was a great tool to create some great inventions that normal worlds without magic can't pull off.
'Don't we look like some married couple?' Rin thought as he looked at how they were walking.
A man and a woman with a little girl between them having fun in an amusement park. No matter how he looks at it, it could only create a misunderstanding in the eyes of people of how weird it is.
Sorophi seemed to be enjoying the session. Her face seemed to be sparkling cutely as she went from one ride to another, shoving her mouth with candy and ice cream. Her void-like eyes were also sparkling whenever she saw something entertaining that she wanted to try.
"Hey, Sorophi. Have you never tried rides before?" Rin asked as they sat down to rest for some time.
"No."
"Then, didn't your mama show you around before?"
"Rin…" Elise who was about to say something stopped and could only sigh.
"Mama? Mama is… dead."
Hearing the answer, Rin froze in his place for a good 4 seconds. His mouth opened and closed to say something but ended up deciding to only rub the back of his head.
"Oh, I see… I'm sorry for asking."
"..." Sorophi, on the other hand, didn't answer and merely licked the ice cream with her cute tongue as if this matter wasn't even that big of a deal to her.
Rin noticed that weird behavior and could only wonder.
'Isn't it any important to her that her mother is dead?'
For someone to lose their parents is a big deal and even for Sorophi who is an oddball clearly, she should at least show some kind of reaction when she talks about her mother.
'Am I just overthinking her reaction?' He thought as he touched his chin before he shook his head and tried to smile.
"Let's continue playing, shall we?"
"I was intending to tell you about the matter of her supposed mother but…" Elise pulled Rin to the side and said.
"It's fine… But, her reaction to her mother's death is weird."
"The whole matter of Emilia's sister being her mother is already extremely bizarre."
"Yeah, I didn't think that would be the case."
"In the original story, there was no mention of her or Emilia's sister. So, I can only imagine that the plot changed again." Elise said.
"However, there is something more to it than just an alteration in the plot. Sorophi doesn't seem to be thinking much about this mother of hers."
"Let's keep an eye on her for now. Emilia must have an idea why but she won't tell us."
"I am not surprised. She can't spout out every secret she has merely because she knows you, Rin."
"Hey! That's mean." Rin said with a pout.
"It is the truth."
"..."
Elise didn't continue the conversation any further and followed Sorophi who was standing a little bit far away.
The time passed quietly and finally, after an hour and a half, the notification came and they had to stop their fun time.
"We should go back."
But, as they were leaving the amusement park, Rin noticed someone, standing near the entrance, resting with his back on the wall and seemingly waiting for someone.
"Huh? isn't that…" He squinted his eyes to make sure he wasn't mistaking him for someone else.
The boy also noticed Rin and quickly came walking toward him.
"Hey… Rin." He said as he flashed him a weird gaze before giving a way-softer one to Elise who merely watched from the sidelines. Sorophi was the only one who didn't even look at Arthur at all.
"Can I have a moment, please?" He said in an eerily calm tone.
"Yeah, sure. What do you want?"
"I would prefer if it's only you." He added with a small frown. It seemed that saying that pained him a lot for some odd reason.
'Huh? What does he want now?' Rin blinked a few times before he nodded his head and released Sorophi before walking away with Arthur.
The latter followed behind him until they were slightly far away from Elise and Sorophi.
"So, what is it?"
Arthur averted his eyes under Rin's gaze and then took a deep breath.
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