Soon, all five children entered the rundown house. They skillfully pulled out various plates and bowls from corners, then laid a faded, nearly white tablecloth over a dining table with a missing leg, propped up by a stick.
"Sit down! Don't be shy. This is your home now too."
Lilith scratched her head and obediently sat down, her eyes curiously scanning the surroundings. This place used to be quite a luxurious house—it only fell into disrepair later.
"Hmph, those breads and sausages were clearly about to be thrown out. But when we took them, they called the cops and said we were stealing. Too much!"
"Why were you just standing there like an idiot earlier? If the police had caught you, they'd have sent you to the pirates!"
The girl in the lead grumbled angrily as she placed a slice of bread and half a sausage onto a plate in front of Lilith.
"Here! Eat!"
She swallowed her saliva and added, "Right, I forgot to introduce us. I'm Isabella, she's Alisa, the one across from you is Tim, and the one stuffing his face with bread is Bilt. What about you?"
The girl called Alisa was tiny, dark-skinned, and short. The boy named Tim was staring blankly with a silly grin. The last one, Bilt, was relatively tall.
Lilith thought for a moment.
"I'm Lilith."
Isabella reached out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Lilith!"
"Ah? But…"
"No buts! As long as I'm around, I'll make sure you never go hungry again."
Isabella sat down and declared loudly, "By the way, this house used to be my dad's. He's a Loen man. He went back to Backlund on business. When he comes back for me, I'll take you all with me to Loen to live the good life! See this dress? He gave it to me before he left! Pretty, right?"
Bilt muttered between bites of bread, "He's been gone almost two years…"
"Shut up!"
Isabella shot him a glare before turning back to Lilith, "Lilith, you're a half-blood too, right? Like us—one of your parents must be Loenese!"
Lilith thought for a second and said, "Ah? My dad…he's from Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts? Where's that? Is that another city in Loen?"
Lilith shook her head.
"Did your dad go back to Loen for business too?"
Another shake.
"That's okay. When my dad comes to take me back to Loen, I'll have him send someone to…Hogwarts to find him for you. He's got a lot of power in Loen! Eat up, finish eating and I'll take you to pick a room to sleep in—or you can sleep with us."
Lilith hesitated, glancing at the empty plate in front of Isabella.
"Aren't you eating?"
"I'm not hungry! I snuck some food outside earlier, so don't worry about me."
Lilith tilted her head, looking at her.
"You're pretending not to be hungry so I can eat, aren't you?"
"…"
Isabella froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"W-What are you saying! I'm really not hungry!"
"But you swallowed just now."
"…That was because I was thirsty."
"And your stomach growled too."
"When? I didn't hear anything."
"I have good hearing," Lilith replied.
"You…You talk too much. Just eat already!"
With that, Isabella turned and walked out of the house.
Lilith looked at Bilt, who was licking his plate, and offered hers.
"Are you still hungry? You can have mine."
"Huh?"
Bilt quickly shook his head. "No, no! You eat it. I only need this much food a day!" He even flexed his thin arms proudly.
"See? I'm super strong!"
"What about you guys?"
The boy Tim also shook his head, and Alisa pointed at the bread still on her plate.
"I haven't finished mine. I'm good."
"Alright then."
Lilith jumped down from her chair and followed Isabella outside.
Isabella was sitting on the doorstep, chin resting on her hands, staring blankly at the moonlit sky.
"Why'd you come out?"
Lilith didn't answer. Instead, she efficiently gathered a few sticks of firewood from nearby, stacked them together, and lit them with a snap. Then she pulled out five dried rats, skewered them with sticks, and began roasting them over the fire.
"Eh? What's that?"
Isabella came closer.
"Where did you get that from?"
Lilith, focused on the dried rats, turned them slowly with her small hands.
"I had them hidden on me. These are dried rats."
"Rats?!"
Isabella recoiled in surprise, looking at Lilith with pity.
"Wait…have you been living on rats?"
"Yep!"
"That's…so sad."
Lilith glanced at her with confusion.
"Why? Rat meat is delicious."
"No way!"
But the moment she said it, a faint savoury smell wafted over. Looking again, the dried rats were sizzling with oil, looking quite appetising.
Then Lilith pulled out a pouch of seasoning powder and sprinkled it evenly over the roasting meat. The aroma grew even stronger.
Before long, the three kids inside the house had followed their noses outside.
"Whoa! That smells amazing! What is it?"
"Rat meat."
Little Alisa's eyes widened.
"Wait…you can eat rats?"
Lilith nodded.
"Of course! Rat meat is the tastiest meat in the world…"
Her voice trailed off slightly. After becoming human, she wasn't so sure anymore if that was still true.
The three kids immediately sat down around the fire, staring at the roasting rats and gulping uncontrollably.
"Rat meat isn't for eating!" Isabella shouted.
"I—I'll definitely find you guys something better to eat tomorrow!"
Lilith, unfazed, finished roasting the rats and handed them out to the three children.
"Eat."
"Thank you, Lilith!"
After saying thanks, the children didn't even care that the meat was hot. They immediately began gobbling it up.
"Wow! It smells amazing! And it tastes so good!"
Lilith handed a skewer to Isabella as well, but she quickly backed away.
"No! I'm not eating rat meat! I…I'm a noble of Loen, how could I possibly eat…I'd rather starve to—"
Before she could finish, Lilith tore off a small piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth.
Isabella's eyes went wide—so fragrant, so tender, so delicious!
"Here!"
Lilith placed the rest of the roasted rat meat in her hand, then picked up the last one for herself and took a bite.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Soon, only the sound of chewing remained around them.
Watching them eat the roasted rat meat she had prepared, Lilith felt a growing sense of satisfaction.
She had picked the largest rat in her stash, so after finishing their food, the children were all a little too full. One by one, they either sat or lay on the ground, contentedly rubbing their bellies and letting out burps.
"That was so good. I never imagined rat meat could taste this amazing."
"So can we stop stealing bread now and just catch rats?"
"You think you can catch a rat?"
"Right…"
Lilith said at that moment, "No worries. Miss Lilith can catch them."
"Really?!"
"That's amazing!"
"So does that mean we can eat rat meat every day now?"
The kids lit up with joy.
Isabella looked at Lilith and asked, "Can you teach us how to catch rats too?"
"I can…but you all…"
Lilith looked them over—no claws, no sharp teeth, they were slow too…
But she didn't say any of that aloud. She just nodded.
"I can."
"Great!"
Isabella beamed.
"Lilith, from now on, you're part of our family!"
"…"
Lilith hesitated.
But I came here to play the part of a witch, didn't I…? I still need to go back and find Edward…
"Come on, it's time for bed!"
Isabella grabbed Lilith's small hand and pulled her back into the house.
"Our bed's super soft. It's really comfy to sleep on. Come!"
Lilith let her pull her into a faded, worn-out bedroom and sat down on the bed.
Isabella carefully pulled out a photo from beneath the bed.
"Look, this is my dad, this is my mom, and this little one is me!"
She held the photo to her chest and said longingly, "When my dad comes back, I'll get to live just like the nobles do! Then I'll take you all back with me!"
"Oh."
Lilith looked at the photo. It was a family portrait of three people, the parents smiling brightly, a picture of pure happiness.
Outside the room, Edward stood invisible in the doorway, silently watching for a while before teleporting into the house. Phoenix appeared shortly after, hovering in front of him.
"I don't know how things ended up like this either."
Phoenix was a little puzzled too. The truth was simple: Lilith had gone out to act as a witch and help a few runaway children…but ended up being mistaken for one of them and dragged back here.
After watching Lilith through the window for a moment, Edward said thoughtfully, "Alright, Phoenix. Stay here tonight and keep an eye on Lilith."
"You're not taking her back?"
"That's up to her. If she wants to stay, she can stay. If she wants to come back, then she comes back." Edward smiled. "It's rare to meet a few kids around her age. Probably more fun than being stuck with me every day."
"…Fine."
"Do me a favour and go let Lilith know."
Suddenly, Edward had the strange feeling of an old father marrying off his precious daughter.
A few minutes later, after hearing what Phoenix had to say, Lilith didn't feel like going back just yet.
Truth be told, this was the first time she'd had an experience like this—and she was curious.
Especially lying there with the other kids, chatting away, half-understanding each other's stories—it was actually kind of fun.
Still…not having Edward around felt a little weird.
———
[Pelican Street, White Rose District, Pritz Harbour]
The Next Day
"The Warrior and the Sea" Tavern.
Xio had changed back into her knight training outfit. Her signature shoulder-length messy blonde hair was a bit frazzled, and she sat at a table, polishing her tri-blade dagger.
Fors was scribbling furiously beside her. Ever since the last Tarot meeting, inspiration had struck, and she'd begun outlining a novel starring a common girl who stumbled into the mystical world and accidentally ended up among a bunch of powerful big shots.
Only…she still hadn't decided who the male lead should be.
Should it be the cunning and freedom-seeking Mr. Hanged Man? Or the cold, brooding, silent Mr. World? Or maybe…
Forget it. Someone like Mr. Tower—so bizarre and unpredictable—there's no way a common girl could handle him!
"Fors, when's the help you asked for supposed to arrive?"
Just as she was wrestling with this dilemma, Xio's voice snapped her back to reality. Fors turned and replied, "Be patient, Xio. I asked them for help, so we should wait politely, right?"
"Didn't you pay them?"
"…"
Well, sure, I did pay…300 pounds.
But the ones coming were a Gatekeeper who housed three angel-level evil spirits…
And the other was Miss Hall—a top heiress among the Loen elite!
You'd think I paid them 300,000, not 300.
———
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