“Sister Baal... haaah... Are you there?”

On a bed inside a temple, which was also a hospital-like facility in Yggildos, a young woman lay with her hand outstretched caressing the head of her newborn baby beside her. An elderly nun stepped out into the light from the corner of the room, having been called by the new becoming but dying mother.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

“May I ask you... for a favour?” The woman on the bed turned her head away from her sleeping child to look at the nun and continued, “Would you please... look after... Rina? … Please... at least only... until she can take care of herself... *cough**cough*”

“Of course, I will look after her as best as I can... You've done a lot for us after all.” The last part of Baal's response was barely audible, which prompted the mother to tilt her head in confusion.

“Don't mind it. As I said, I'll look after your child... at least for the first few years.”

“Thank you... *cough*” The young woman smiled, “That's enough... Now I can go in peace...,” and closed her eyes, this time for the very last time in her life.

“You know... about your husband...”

“...”

“He wasn't actually killed by a demon... he died because of a trap set by those good-for-nothing drunkards.” Before the young mother died, the nun wanted her to know the truth about the death of the newborn's father. But unfortunately, by the time she looked up, the woman had already passed away, so she will never know if the message had got through.

***

“I'm going to the Royal Capital.”

The smile on Rina's face as she said this was so bright that Baal could not help but think back to her last conversation with the girl's mother. So she responded with a smile of her own and asked, “Why do you want to go there?”

“I want to learn how to fight. With the demon invasion coming soon I need means to defend my surroundings and myself. As for how...,” the girl looked down for a moment, but continued nevertheless, “I don't know yet. Maybe I'll find someone who can teach me how to fight with the sword.”

“I see... Then why not come back? With the amount of meat you have brought with you, there should be no problem for a while. In a few days, some nobles from the capital will come looking for children with magical abilities. If you appeal to them then, they might hire you.”

“NO!... Ah, sorry for getting loud... but that's not an option for me...,” Rina thought for a bit, looking for an excuse, before she went on, “I don't have any magic abilities, there's no way they would take me.”

“Even without magic...” The nun looked at the cart with boar meat behind the girl, “You look capable enough to me...”

“And even if they someone wanted to employ me, I don't want to work for some selfish, high-strung nobles.”

“I see. But not all of them are bad people.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Even so!”

As someone who reached her old age, Baal had experienced much in the world, which also included countless human interactions. From an everyday dialogue to an audience between a king and his subjects, she had seen it all. Thus, over the years she had built up quite an amount of confidence in her ability to read people's hidden emotions. This, of course, incorporated the seven-year-old Rina, who had not even lived a fraction of her life. As a result, Baal came to a certain conclusion.

'She is hiding something. Maybe she does have a talent for magic?'

Even so, she did not mind, that the red-haired had some secrets. More important was, that Rina did not seem to have ill intent with it, so the nun left the matter alone.

“It's time for me to leave. Goodbye, Sister Baal.” Just as Rina turned around to leave, her hand was grabbed quickly by the nun.

“Wait! Do you really want to enter the capital like... ehh... this?” Baal inspected the little girl's getup.

The child in front of her was wearing a grey-brown one-piece that ended well above her knees. ... That was it. The holes in the one-piece for both arms and neck were so large that, at a certain angle, one could see the girl's more important body parts, especially as she was still too young and malnourished to develop curves yet.

Looking down at herself, Rina wondered what Baal had meant and tilted her head in confusion. “Is there something strange about my appearance?... Ah! Do you think my red hair will pose a problem?”

“Haaaah” The nun could only sigh in worry and rubbed her bridge of her nose with her index finger and her thumb. 'How can she be so clueless, even though, she seems to be so mature? Well, she's still a kid after all.'

“Listen, my child, the world is full of danger! You never know when bad men might attack you. Especially if they see you in your skimpy outfit.”

“Eeeeh? Sister Baal, p-please look at me! No matter how frustrated one is, no one will ever attack me. And I have no money, so there is nothing to steal from me.”

“Haaaaaaah.” For the second time a sigh, this time a much louder one at that, escaped Baal's mouth. 'This girl is not aware of herself at all.'

“Rina!”

“Y-yes!” The nun's sudden loud yell caused the poor, confused little girl to twitch and to jump up.

“Come. With. Me!” With that Baal pulled her into the orphanage. There were some problems that HAD to be solved first before she could let Rina go to the capital alone.

***

“Is it really okay for you to give me this?”

After one hour, both Rina and Baal stood in front of the orphanage again. This time, however, the girl was cleaned up, her shoulder-length red hair smoothed out and shiny, and she wore another dress-like one-piece. This time its length easily covered her knees. Even though the top of the one-piece was sleeveless, the holes were so small that only Rina's thin arms and small head could fit through.

Inspecting the girl once again, the nun nodded in satisfaction at the colour of this outfit, which matched the girl's hair well.

“Yes, think of it as my parting gift. And...,” The nun hesitated for a second, then bowed her head as low as her age allowed her to, “Also consider it an apology for the past three years.”

Since no one had ever apologised to her in her life, including the last one, let alone bowed their head, the girl didn't know how to react. So instead of saying anything meaningful, she just squeaked “T-thankyourforeverything,” before bowing her head in embarrassment and sprinting away.

'How cute, seeing her blush like that,' Baal thought as she waved at Rina's back, who was getting farther and farther away at an astonishing rate. Then, looking up at the clear sky, she murmured, even though no one was there to hear her.

“Your daughter has grown into a fine girl.”

***

At the edge of the village of Mousa near its exit towards the Royal Capital Valhale, a band of four grown men were hiding in the shade of some trees. Around them were several empty beer bottles, which indicated that they had been here since at least the day before, seemingly waiting for someone to leave the village.

And indeed, soon a certain girl with blazing red hair wearing a somewhat high-quality red one-piece appeared and left Mousa.

“Heee~, look at that, told ya, she's quite the looker for a brat *hick*!”

“Yes, yes, you're right. *hick* I can't wait.”

“How nice... *hick* ...she even cleaned herself up for us”

“Dammit, she really resembles that bitch... Shit, I'm getting horny thinking about her”

“Idiot! Why do you have to mention her? *hick* Now I'm popping a boner as well.”

“Hahahaha! *hick* Well, her daughter has to work hard for it then.”

“Don't go too hard, or else she'll die on the first round. She's still a child after all.”

“Guys, it's still too early, so keep your pants down. Let's just follow her for now.”

"""Alright/Yes, yes"""