The whole interaction didn't last more than 5 minutes and when Ione left there was still some time to go eat lunch. Only, she didn't give a single shit about lunch, she needed Coranne to know what she found out.
She made it to the cafeteria and right before she went in she felt eyes boring into her head. A quick check of [Spatial Awareness] showed no one in her vicinity. [Prey Sense] didn’t tell her which direction they were coming from.
Shit.
Quite suddenly, she had a suspicious cramp that she went down to massage, which allowed her to take a peek behind herself. No Shadow. Nothing.
Double shit.
They were watching her from somewhere. She had to figure this out quickly because she couldn't live her life being stared at like this, knowing and being unable to do anything about it.
It made her angry. How dare they treat her like she was a potential murderer. Even though she was! However that didn't mean they could treat her like this!
She sighed, well, she guessed they had every right to.
If it isn’t the consequences of my own actions.
She decided all she could do for the moment was ignore the unwanted eyes, and went to Coranne, whose smile was nervous upon her arrival.
“How did everything go, Ione?”
Ione put on an exaggerated voice, hoping Coranne would get the hint if her words didn't set the picture enough, “It went horrible! I got yelled at because I tried to make an invisible friend, but they didn't want to be my friend! How rude!” The girl pouted, “but that’s okay, as long as I have you and Fellis.” She gave a wide smile, too wide.
Coranne’s hazel eyes widened slightly, and then relaxed, “Well, sometimes people don’t want to be our friends, and that’s okay.” She ruffled Ione hair, “how about you finish your lunch and then we can go for our homemaker lessons. How is your skill coming along?”
They talked about the mundane tasks that they did everyday, Ione going over her progress, only mildly upset about having such a skill since she knew she didn’t want kids in a world like this, but it might come in handy someday. Especially the [Homemaker] skill with detecting intruders. Regardless, she did stop paying attention to the doll except for when it came to a bare minimum, and when it would cry and poop she finished the tasks as fast as possible, not caring all that much about it. Coranne didn’t chide her lack of effort for reasons she could only assume. Ione was grateful for the blind eye.
A beat of silence passed.
“Sister Coranne?”
“Hm?”
“When will school start?.” It was something that had started to nag at Ione, with how cagey Coranne was about it. She suspected there was bad news.
The woman let out a loud sigh, “I guess now’s the time to tell you…” She started.
Oh for fucks sake.
“You’re going to have a special education.”
“What kind of special education?” Ione asked innocently.
“Well, you’re going to be separated from all the other girls, your education is going to be different because you’re an elf, and you require different things and different teachings.”
All Ione cared about was learning about the history of this world, classes, how leveling works and if there’s a cut off. She almost couldn't believe she was being segregated, although it was not surprising. As long as she receives the answers to her myriad of questions, then she’ll put up and shut up.
“So, I'll be the only one in class…”
“Think of it as having a private tutor! Then you'll have a more focused education.” Coranne tried to give a happy smile, but it came out as forced.
One thing Ione wished was that Coranne told her sooner, it wasn't as if Ione wasn't used to bad news, she had been the brunt of it for many of her lives. Ione knew the woman infantilized her sometimes, and she accepted it because her circumstances were different, but when it came to crucial information like this, it was something she had to know.
“When do I start?”
“About two weeks from now, it will replace your lessons on child care for the time being, which I'm sure you'll be happy about.”
“Yea…I guess. Will you be my teacher?”
Coranne cringed, shaking her head no.
Ione’s lips thinned in displeasure, “oh.”
“I’m sorry Ione, if it was up to me you would be in my class, I tried to talk to Belan but she refused.”
Ione sat there, seething. Her anger had grown exponentially after the interaction with Belan. Then came the knowledge that she was being followed, spied on, and now she will be segregated and separated from Coranne. That was nearly the shit cherry on top. She had to do something about one of those things. She had no choice.
Then, she had an idea.
DING! Quest Obtained! Please refer to the quest tab to get a detailed explanation.
Lose Suspicion
Rewards: 750 EXP, 25 attribute points, Vitamins of Vitality
~~~~~
It was a grueling 12 days. The only times when she wasn't watched was when she was in the shitter, or taking a shower. Other than that, day in and day out, she had the unknown person's eyes on her. Even when she slept! It was maddening and made her feel crazy.
Don’t they need to fucking sleep?!
However, today it will end. At least, it should, if her plan goes well.
Just so, it was time for recess; Ione started her daily walk into the forest, the same daily walk she had adopted ever since she had killed Sannie. Just like everyday, for the past 12 days, she resumed her exploration.
Those eyes were fixated on her.
Good.
Ione activated [Deception].
The white-haired girl, once again, was happy with the hot and muggy weather, as if fate knew she would need it in her ventures. She grabbed a stick, and used it as a walking tool. The little girl pretended to play with it, always knowing that she needed to keep up the act.
DING! Deception Tier 1 LVL 9 -> Deception Tier 2 LVL 1
She eventually made it back to the fabled pond area, almost akin to a swamp with how many insects were flying around and how tropical it felt.
Sweat dripped down her back as she mumbled to herself, picking at rocks and holes in the grass with her stick, until eventually she made her way to the body of water, oohing and aahing.
She poked into the water and startled some fish-like creatures and she laughed. It actually wasn't funny to her, but she imagined to a kid it might be.
Kine’s body was nowhere to be found. Good.
Using the stick, she kept poking and prodding at the water until eventually, she found what she wanted. Making a show of the stick getting stuck, Ione pulled until she was ‘able’ to wrench it out of the water, causing the object attached to the end to tumble out into the clearing. The little girl went to investigate, and upon seeing what it was, she screamed as loud as she could, causing a few bird-like creatures to scatter from the trees.
It was Kine's eyeless skull, with a few bits of hair and muscle attached, but otherwise, no huge chunks of flesh were visible. That bode incredibly well for her, in that, the surface level knife wounds would have been either eaten away or sloughed off.
Stolen novel; please report.
She knew relying on the critters was a good idea.
Then, she ran away, still screaming. Ione made sure to slow her run speed down to a level that was more appropriate for someone her age, and she made it back to the orphanage. With no hesitation, she jumped into Coranne’s arms, crying, with snot running down her mouth and chin. The woman, obviously confused and alarmed, immediately questioned Ione and comforted her, shushing her and asking what had happened.
“I- I was playing in a pond I found,” Ione hiccupped, “a-and I had a big stick a-and I found a body part!” She wailed. The surrounding children stopped playing and crowded around.
“A body part?” Coranne’s eyes narrowed, then quickly widened.
“A head!” She shrieked. “With no eyes!” Then tumbled back into sobs.
“In a pond?”
“Yes!”
Ione was actually having fun acting like this. It certainly helped that she knew it was definitely a traumatizing event, and she knew the appropriate responses an actual child would have. [Deception] was saving her soul, otherwise she would be laughing at her own performance.
Coranne walked into the orphanage and took her to Belan’s office, loudly knocking on the door before a muffled, “come in,” was heard.
Upon entering Coranne tried to explain what happened, but it proved difficult with Ione’s loud whimpers.
“Ione, honey, you must be quiet, I have to tell Mother Belan what happened. Can you do that for me?”
Ione nodded her head and hid her face in her black head covering, her warbles muffled. She wore a cunning smile.
Coranne informed Belan on the events that transpired and before they left, the older nun promised to take care of everything, then instructed Coranne to put the elf to bed.
As they left the room, Ione smiled against Coranne’s shoulder.
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Lose Suspicion
You have received rewards. Check your inbox to review
INBOX
Blanket of Warmth and Vitality x 2
Mana Necklace
750 EXP
30 Attribute Points
Vitamins of Vitality
Accept Rewards?
As always, she accepted the attribute points and EXP.
Ione whispered into Coranne’s ear while she walked.
“When we get into the dorm room, can you close your eyes when you put me down? I just want to be sure of something.”
She felt Coranne give a surreptitious nod.
As they passed the room's threshold, Coranne put Ione down on her own two feet, shut the door, and did as she was asked, closing her eyes, then waited. Ione’s dramatic whimpers immediately subsided.
With a quick check of [Prey Sense], she was glad to find out that she was no longer being watched.
“Okay, you can open your eyes now.” Ione smiled.
Coranne did so, and then leveled a stare towards the young girl. “No one else is around?
“Nope.” She answered.
The older woman put a hand on her hip, “Ione, what was that?”
She sighed, “sorry for the language, but I had someone on my ass these past 12 days and I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to do something.” She then went to sit on her bed.
“So you found Kine’s body and pretended it was just happenstance?”
“Exactly, if I was the one that found him, and then acted the way I did, I had hoped it would tell whoever was following me that I was innocent. I was just playing in the water, and as far as they’re concerned? I'm a child. They have no idea who or what I really am, so when I fished his head out, and acted the way I did, they should’ve realized that I had no idea what happened. The likely story they’ll come up with is that he snuck out, went too far in the dark, fell into the pond, and then drowned to death. An accident. Then, coupled with the hot weather and whatever scavengers are around, his body would be eaten and any evidence of what I had done would be gone.” Ione shrugged.
Coranne’s brows raised as she sat on the bed across from Ione. “When did you think of all this?”
“The day that I found out I was being followed.”
“That…I truly have no words, Ione. I have to say kid, you’re scary.”
“I’m not a kid, though. I’m an adult in the body of a child. Which brings me to something else. Why didn't you tell me about the whole class situation?”
“I was nervous. I’m sorry Ione. I knew you wouldn't like it and I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Then, when I told you and saw your disappointment, it crushed my heart. It’s not fair what Belan does to you.”
The assumption that Coranne infantilized her vanished. It seemed like Ione still had her own growing to do.
“I get it. I had…assumptions about why you did what you did, but I’m glad to know the real reason. And you’re right, it’s not. But I can't do anything about it, and neither can you. So I’m just going to lay low for a while. Keep my head down and hope things work out for the best in the meantime.”
“That sounds good to me.” Coranne changed beds and sat down next to Ione. “So, no more being a mastermind?”
Ione laughed, “maybe. You never know.” She shrugged. “Something always seems to happen nowadays.”
“You’re right about that.”
They sat in companionable silence until Coranne took a breath.
“Do you think I could ask you more questions about your previous lives? I’m sorry, I’ve just been wondering out of my mind, about everything.”
“Is that why you’re still hanging around me?” Ione teased her.
“Of course not!” She sputtered, “you- you can’t expect to tell me that you’re reincarnated, allow me to ask a couple of questions, and think that that’s all I'm good with. I have so many!”
Ione tilted her head back in amusement. “Well then, ask away,” she said, with a wave of her hand.
~~~~~
It was about an hour later when Coranne left, and Ione learned from the nun that reincarnation did exist in this world. It was a known fact. Although extremely rare, and certainly not in the same category of Ione’s experiences; it was dictated by some sort of unknown cosmic karmic scale based on past, present, and future events. The God of Reincarnation, Jorin, was the first person to successfully turn into the aforementioned God, and their class was theorized to be based on the cycle of life and death. Which made sense.
Reincarnation in this world was: one lives a few lives, gains advantages from those lives, then one ascends to become a god, and then they fuck off to the astral plane where no one sees or hears from them again.
She had lived an incredible amount of lives; much much more than just a few. If that was their version, then what reincarnation crack was she snorting?
Coranne alluded to Ione, that she would most likely being able to ascend at some point, yet the young girl was annoyed. Jorin better hope they weren’t the cause of my eternal life. All she could focus on was the growing suspicion her reincarnation was dabbled with by some asshole in the astral plane that had too much time on their hands.
She shook her head and then sighed. Now was the time to relax, and she was doing the complete opposite by focusing on the ‘what ifs.’
Ione debated having a nap, but decided to stay awake. For once, she had no one watching her. Just blessed aloneness that had her kicking her feet in happiness.
About damn fucking time.
Her thoughts went to the events that occurred earlier in the day; it seemed her plan went off without a hitch. She had established a pattern to her behavior that wouldn't look out of the ordinary, and reacted how a person normally would to a dead body. Kine was mainly decomposed, so they wouldn't see the knife marks and thankfully she had the foresight to bury the knife where she had stashed the pencil and pillowcase. They would see it as an unfortunate accident; he fell into the pond, didn't know how to swim, and then drowned.
She knew it was risky for them to find the body, there could be skills or a class that allows one to talk to dead bodies or see their last moments of death. Ione had to hope Belan either didn't have access to those skills or those with those skills or classes were too busy to worry about an orphan kid. Which sounded bad, in retrospect, but if it worked in her favor, then so be it.
Ione wondered if she could use this to her advantage with schooling, by making it so that she appeared too traumatized to leave Coranne’s side and that she had to be in the same class as her.
She instantly squashed that Idea. Ione was tired of playing pretend, and pulling a stunt like that would most likely push whatever good grace she had with Belan right out the window.
As long as she didn't have someone watching her every move, then she would be fine with the arrangement for the time being. She sure hoped there were no other elven children in human orphanages, they wouldn't stand a chance if someone died in their vicinity.
Ione did eventually decide to nap. Lately, her sleep had been terrible because of her unfortunate hanger-on, which resulted in her being a bit more moody and irritable.
With that, she laid down under her light covers, closed her eyes and dreamed of lives long past.
~~~~~
She was eventually woken up by Fellis bouncing onto her bed, the little girl was excitedly telling her what happened after she was left in the dorm room.
Kine’s body was found. Of course, he had no lasting family so there was no one to come pick up the remains, which were just bones and bits of flesh. It was listed as an unfortunate accident and the wake would be held on the morning of the first day of school, which Ione thought ironic, as she imagined how Kine must have had similar questions regarding classes.
Guess he won’t get those answers.
Ione decided to withhold her excitement. While she had completed the quest, and it had made her believe she got away with it, she was too paranoid to actually enjoy the victory. She couldn't celebrate too early otherwise it might bite her in the ass, and she didn't want her ass bitten.
However, Ione was proud of herself. Her intelligence stat was sitting at a good 562, which she couldn't help but think was a key factor in how her plans kept working. She wasn't naturally smart. She wasn't a genius whose plans were always good, especially on Earth. She was a certified idiot on the good ole’ pale blue dot.
At least here, she felt smart. Kind of.