Chapter 99

★The Exiled Saint's Climbing Life - Book Release on October 11, 2022★

I was prepared, but still, Rolf, you're really disliked, aren't you? Everyone, please watch over him with a warm heart.

After that, I was in a desperate situation.

Thanks to the connections of the Rois Trading Company, which had been very supportive, I was introduced to a skilled adventurer named Dust, and I registered as his apprentice. Being an apprentice adventurer was more profitable than doing ordinary jobs for children. Dust, who was hesitant to take on a 10-year-old as an apprentice, decided to take me in after seeing my size and agility. I learned swordsmanship while doing odd jobs for my master and sometimes completed quests with him, managing to earn a living somehow.

"Hmm. So you're Dust's apprentice. You're quite big for your age."

"I thought you were a kid since you're 10, but you're pretty solid."

I met Eider and Gray, my master's fellow adventurers, about three months after becoming an apprentice. My master is basically a solo adventurer but teams up with these two for big dungeons.

Compared to my master, who has brown hair and eyes and is rather unremarkable, Eider is a slender, handsome man with black hair and emerald eyes, while Gray is a sturdy man with red hair and brown eyes. My master is quiet, Eider is logical, and Gray is boisterous, but despite their different personalities, they work well together in battle and are a well-respected party in town. My master is a resident adventurer, but Eider and Gray travel to various towns and only come to town every few months.

"Rolf, you'd be better suited to combat like Gray. Try learning from him."

Following my master's advice, I started receiving training from Gray whenever he had free time. Gray's sword strikes were heavy, and as a child, I was blown away without mercy. Gray is a rough man who finds it troublesome to hold back when training children.

Drinking and other vices were also taught to me by my master, Eider, and Gray. They didn't care at all that I was a minor. They said that as a man, I would eventually learn these things anyway, and since I had a good-looking face, it was better to get used to women early to avoid being deceived by bad ones. They took me to the night streets, paying for all the drinks and expenses, so I had no complaints about that.

In this way, I managed to earn more than an ordinary kid, and I might have been getting a bit too cocky. Not only the kids from the orphanage but also the troublemakers in town called me 'Bro Rolf' and egged me on, making me feel good. I might have thought I was an adult, even though I was just a kid.

Perhaps the goddess wanted to punish me for being such a fool who couldn't see anything.

◇◇◇

The news came to me suddenly, without any preparation. It had been almost five years since I came to the orphanage, and I was finally of age.

"What did you just say?"

Bain, his face tear-streaked and breathless, repeated the same words he had just said.

"Michelle is dead. Mr. Rois said to bring Rolf here..."

I could hear Bain sobbing as I ran out, but I had no time to worry about it.

In a room at the church, Michelle was lying as if asleep. Michelle, who had reached adulthood three years before me, left the orphanage and married the heir of a merchant family a year later. It had been two years since I last saw her, as I hadn't been invited to the wedding. Compared to the last time we met, she looked much thinner, and her skin and hair had lost their luster.

"Why... Michelle..."

Her cheek, which I touched with trembling fingers, was hard. The lively scolding and the gentle smile that used to soften her lips were gone, like a clay figure, devoid of any warmth.

Weren't you supposed to be happy? You said you would definitely be happy after leaving us. You were so happy about the grand wedding.

I remember Michelle's sad face when she said, "My husband told me not to invite the kids from the orphanage." We told her not to worry about us, to forget and move on, and to be happy.

Why are you lying here alone?

"The in-laws said it would be bad for their reputation, so they can't bury her in their family tomb. They said the orphanage should take her."

Mr. Rois stroked Michelle's cheek. The kind merchant who had always cared about the orphanage was very happy when Michelle married into a merchant family. Michelle, who had learned reading, writing, and arithmetic at the church and worked at the merchant's shop, was chosen by the heir of one of their clients and asked to marry. Mr. Rois was delighted as if it were his own success.

"It seems she couldn't have children. She was blamed by her in-laws and turned to dubious medicines. She was told that drinking them would make her have a child... It was a very poor quality product, and she suffered immediately. The doctor couldn't save her in time."

I couldn't believe Mr. Rois's words.

There's no such thing as a magic potion. Only naive, sheltered girls would believe in such things. The lower town is full of fake items from fairy tales. Guaranteed profits, cures for any disease, gems that make any love come true... We used to laugh at them.

Why did you believe in such things? You used to laugh at people who fell for such scams. You were the most reliable and smartest among us. Why?

"People will cling to anything when they're desperate. Even if it's a silly story, they'll try it if there's a slight chance. Michelle's husband had a mistress... and the mistress had a child."

◇◇◇

"Hey, you probably know, but I like you."

The night before Michelle left the orphanage, I received a sudden and completely unromantic confession.

"Huh?"

She said it so casually that I couldn't understand what she was saying. She didn't change her expression, show any embarrassment, or even act like it was a big deal, just like talking about the weather.

"I like you, but I don't want to be with you. You're three years younger than me, and you don't look 12 at all. What's with that charm? You're already dating older women, right? If I got involved with you, I'd probably go crazy with jealousy. But I can't hide my feelings, so I thought I'd confess."

Blunt and straightforward. Was I just rejected? I wondered.

"What am I supposed to say to that..."

"Hmph. I don't know. I just said what I wanted to say. You knew, right? My feelings. You knew but pretended not to, didn't you..."

"Ah..."

I felt exposed and let out a silly sound.

If asked if I liked Michelle, I would be at a loss. She wasn't like that. She was always there, scolding us when we were being foolish, and we had grown up together. She was too important to me to look at her the way I would look at other girls.

That's why I always pretended not to notice her feelings. No matter how cute and important she was, she wasn't someone I could touch. She deserved to be happy with a man who would cherish her, not someone like me.

"I know. You're only 12, so it's too early to decide on one girl. That's fine. I don't expect you to respond or reject me. It's just a memory from leaving the orphanage. A confession is a good memory, right?"

I grimaced, realizing that Michelle was missing the point, even though she thought she understood. Still...

"A memory, huh..."

"I'll catch a good man and become the happiest woman in the world. Then you can brag in a cheap bar that a great woman once confessed to you, even if people get annoyed!"

"That's a low goal, and don't assume I'll be a failure."

I grumbled, and Michelle giggled.

"It's not low. It's hard to be considered a good woman by you."

"You're already a great woman, Michelle."

At my honest words, Michelle raised her chin confidently.

"Foolish, I'll become even better, someone you'll fall in love with."

Michelle's smile was more beautiful than any gem. She was so beautiful that I couldn't even joke about being infatuated with her.

◇◇◇

"Yeah, Michelle, you're too good for that rich kid."

I stroked Michelle's hair and held back my tears. There was no time to cry. I had to bring Michelle back, mourn her, and then...

Let's go home, Michelle. I'll bring you back properly.

You laughed at me when I told you to come back if you were having a hard time. You were always so reliable, confident, and stubborn.

But because you were like that, I should have told you more firmly that you always had a place to come back to, a place where you would be protected.

You might have felt guilty for betraying your orphanage friends, but we didn't care about that. We were proud of you, we cared about you, and we loved you. If you had come back, we would have welcomed you with open arms, punished those who made you suffer, and never let you go.

I should have held on to you that night when you looked like a treasure. If I had stopped you and told you to stay, would we have had a different future?

I picked up Michelle to place her in the coffin prepared by Mr. Rois. She was surprisingly light, and seeing her thin arms and legs, I realized how much weight she had lost, and my heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

When we returned to the orphanage with the coffin, the children surrounded it, crying.

"Michelle! Michelle! Why! Whyyyyy! Waaaaah!"

The loudest cry came from Yuse. Yuse, who used to be small and quiet, had grown up under Michelle's care, learning to express various emotions. He idolized Michelle like a sister and a mother, always following her around the orphanage. When Michelle left, he cried and threw a tantrum but eventually held back his tears and saw her off.

"Bro Rolf! Michelle said she would be happy! I held back my loneliness for her! Why! Liar! Liarrrr!"

Even as Yuse hit and accused me, I couldn't say a word. I was the one who told Yuse to endure for Michelle's happiness. It was my responsibility.

"Yuse, stop it!"

"Waaaaah!"

Yuse's small, light punches gave me a sharper and deeper pain than any I had ever received before.

☆☆On October 11, 2022, "The Exiled Saint's Climbing Life" will be released in book form. The convenience store print original SS is already available. Please give it a read.