“It’s a bit of a dilemma that I’m facing here. On the one hand, staying in the confines of this city feels decently secure, now that the immediate threat has been stamped down. Still, at the same time, remaining here, it feels like we’re stuck in limbo. What if another threat comes down here and we’re still here? I suppose all I can do is prepare for that case. Still, it sucks that there seems to be no rest for the two of us from now on. Those demons…I can’t lose to them.”

- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journal Entries.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Rousselot City

AUG 1, 1538 CE

“Morning, Lieutenant,” Adelyn sleepily said as she passed by him, with Hans still reading his early morning books about, well, everything really.

“Morning.”

Father Olbrich however arrived, and Hans could overhear the two talking on the hallways outside of the study room. Naturally, Hans sensed that it must be something important, and so he closed the book he was reading, and rose up, dragging himself straight into the hallways where Adelyn and Father Olbrich were.

“That girl, Captain Wittfield…” Father Olbrich said. “She can be taken by our orphanage instead if need be.”

“No, I was petitioning that she be under the direct care of the Countess,” Adelyn said. “Or something. You’ve seen how the other kids are bullying the girl, Father.”

“And we’re taking immediate action.”

“What seems to be the problem, everyone,” Hans said, as he stood next to Adelyn. His Captain turned to him and frowned.

“Bad news. The Countess isn’t confident at admitting her to her household, even as a servant or something…”

“What? Why?”

“She said she doesn’t want an unstable Vanus child near her home,” Father Olbrich said. “...See, the thing is, the Vanus aren’t the most safe kind in their childhood. Not especially orphans. They…they have a lot of magic at their age, magic they cannot control. What more of this girl? She’s not in the best state of mind since she arrived here.”

“Okay, maybe not,” Hans laughed. “But I swear, I was joking and laughing with her, and she’s already slowly understanding our language. The kid’s a damned kid. Harm? She displays no sign of instability. She’s fine. She’s not gonna blast out spells in a tantrum.”

“Regardless, the Countess isn’t taking care of her,” Father Olbrich said. “Which leaves our orphanage, or the streets.”

Adelyn turned red.

“That’s such a—”

Before Hans intervened.

“Okay, okay, maybe we can renegotiate this thing. Does the Countess need anything from us for a good deal? Actually, is there any other place where she can take shelter that's safe and not somewhere where she’d be picked on because of her race?”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. But there’s no other place in this city that’s any more secure than this church. Except for the Countess’ estate.”

“Father—”

“It’s up to the two of you now how’d you decide,” he said, not entertaining Hans’ pleas. “I’m sorry. But that’s just the reality for her. Have a good morning, you two.”

Soon, he turned around and left, leaving Hans and Adelyn to themselves. Adelyn breathed out deeply in a slightly pissed-off manner, while Hans sighed.

“Okay, first of all, I am absolutely not taking that girl with us. That’s the epitome of unsafe,” Hans said.

“I agree.”

“Second of all,” Hans now frowned. “Where the hell are we leaving her in?”

“That’s the problem. I can’t. I’d shoot myself first before leaving her in these kinds of places. Lieutenant, you and I know how that's going to end up long-term.”

“Exactly. This is a pain. I didn’t know saving one girl could complicate everything this hard.”

“Oi, oi,” she suddenly turned stern. “Don’t you dare say you now regret taking her in temporarily. A good deed isn’t ever bad.”

“Well, no good deed goes unpunished, now ain’t that the truth?” Hans said. “Still, I agree, yet, but damn it. When I picked her up, I thought I’d just drive her to a settlement and be done with it.”

“You’re quite naive in that way of thinking then.”

“I know.”

“...Should we go drive to a different city and find a better place that could take her in?”

“Well, that’s an option, but I’m still securing the patronage of the Countess.”

“Or not,” Hans said. “I mean, she’s a Vanus, so her position’s already shaky as it is. The only reason she’s still up there is that the Company is willing to tolerate some Vanus nobles to remain in control.”

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“Should we go to the Company then?”

“What, sell her as a wage slave?”

“Of course not,” Adelyn stammered. “Just…maybe, I don’t know. Is there anything we can do? The Amboise Family is nowhere to be found, and they’re probably already all dead.”

“Or not,” Hans said. “Just because the Imperium targeted them doesn’t mean that some didn’t slip through. Maybe we can still find some distant relatives or anything.”

“Yeah, that’s the long hard route. But at the same time, if we’re sending her back to an Amboise, assuming we even find one, we’re going to be associating her back again to a family declared enemy of the state.”

“Damn it, it’s like this world stacked the bad luck on top of her,” Hans shook his head. “Damned…I don’t understand why her family even tried to go all in at resisting the IYC takeover. They knew that was absolutely stupid. Should have just sucked on them instead, sure, the Principality will be out of the control of House Amboise, but I doubt they’d be this dead. Fools even tried to raise an army. Goddammnit…”

“Well, we can blame her father and mother for their fatal political maneuvering all day long, but that’s not something the girl should suffer from. And again, we weren’t even here when that all happened. What we can do now is figure out a way to fix her fate.”

“It’s moronic anyway,” Hans turned even more frustrated. “Back in our country, someone would have taken her in. The government, or…friggin something. Here the only ones doing it is a goddamned church that’d probably neglect her anyway once we’re out of the picture.”

“Yeah…that’s why we can’t be out of the picture.”

“This place…can’t believe it’s us Lotharingian foreigners willing to do something for a poor kid.”

+++

Hans wasn’t going to let any crap happen to that girl.

Quite frankly, it had been something plaguing his mind this month, even when he was focused on the demonic threat. Sure, she was in no way related to him, and quite frankly, Hans really only planned to give her a ride to safety, but still. The girl was already someone he had long interacted with, and in a way, he knew the girl looked up to him as some sort of guardian.

…But Hans had watched her die multiple times under his care.

But then what the hell was this place offering to her in comparison? It was almost overrun without him and Adelyn. It was the difficult part. Leaving her meant her safety would be out of his control. The safety of a child he briefly took responsibility for. But keeping her with him would mean she would eventually face the same threats he would face, and his responsibility would increase.

He opened the door to one of the balconies, finally finding the little girl standing on the railings, merely watching the stars in the skies. She was hugging a stuffed toy, a bunny one, that Adelyn gave her. Quite frankly, it was a unique thing out here, where such toys didn’t exist, as far as he knew. And naturally, being soft and cute, the kid liked it.

Hans slowly approached her and kneeled to her level.

“Hey, kid,” Hans said. Actually, she didn’t turn back to him for some reason. She simply stared off at the sky. “Hey…hey. Are you okay?”

“No.”

That little answer from her absolutely devastated Hans in more ways than one. He really didn’t expect all of it to turn this way. He was really hoping that there would be something, somewhere in this place where he could leave her in and be safe. Nope. Just earlier, Hans could only watch as the other human kids absolutely rejected her from their quarters.

Alizée had no place here, and she knew that. Without Hans and Adelyn, she would have been functionally out in the streets.

“Um…” Hans struggled to say anything reassuring to her. “We’ll find something. I swear. Okay?”

No answers.

“There will be something, Alizée. It’s just…taking a little extra while. Just a little bit more time, you know? But the adults are trying. We’re not leaving you in the hands of bad people. I’m sure of that.”

Still no answers.

“You know, one thing I know about you, is that you’re a good, smart girl. Okay? You study hard. You’re well-behaved. You don’t start trouble. That's very nice. Don’t let them say that you’re ever evil just because your mom or dad wasn’t a good ruler. Don’t believe them when they say that you’re a danger.”

She still made no moves, preferring to simply hold the plushie Adelyn gave her tighter.

Children. Damn it. They’re such a difficult type of people to appease. Hans breathed out. But I have to do this. Even if she barely understands me.

“Your horns, it doesn’t mean anything. Just like them, you’re a person. And you’re someone with…with value in this world. So, yeah.”

Okay, screw this. If empty platitudes don’t work…

“Look, I’m just saying, those kids are stupid, scrawny, morons, and they’re absolute little devils for bullying you off. Or not playing with you. Or not accepting you. Yeah, that’s right. I’m on your side, okay? Hell, I’d cheer you on if you beat ‘em to a pulp. That’s a joke. What the hell am I saying to a child? Someone should punch me.”

The girl then finally turned to Hans, and well…

Crap, she really is crying.

There were tears that spilled down her cheeks. It seemed that she really had been crying in this place for a while. Hans probably should have kept a closer eye on her. Leaving her this way ever since that fiasco with the excuse of “giving her space” was probably not the brightest idea.

But he couldn’t speak. He really made a child cry just by fumbling so hard.

“I…”

“Is that true, Sir Hans?” This time, her words were clear, as if she practiced just that phrase endlessly. “You both…wouldn’t leave me?”

What?

Expectation. Desperation. A silent plea for hope and salvation.

It was all in her red-ruby eyes.

Eyes that were crying just moments ago.

Did…did Father Strobel tell her everything already? No…the nuns must have. That was why…wasn’t it? She knew. She knew what was happening. She really wasn’t as blissfully ignorant as Hans wanted to believe. He knew it already. That was why she was studying so hard and making such extreme progress for a ten-year-old child in a span of a mere month.

She didn’t want to be abandoned.

But…but I can’t.

Hans couldn’t tell her anything. Not leave her? Why? That would imply that he would have to take her in with his and Adelyn’s journey. That wasn’t the safest option for her. But…at the same time.

What other safe option did she have?

But to take responsibility for the safety of a child long-term?

Hans was no damned adult who could do it. He could barely even take care of himself. What more of her?

“Sir Hans?”

This time…it was he who had no answer to her.

What could he even do now?

What solution could he even find for her?

He didn’t know.