I have become stronger, but also shorter [comprehensive]

"Wait a minute, Emma, ​​and Norman, you better not get too close to those three strange people."

"Hey? Why?"

Emma was puzzled when she heard Lei's sudden advice.

"Three strange people", obviously, refers to the three people who have been in the orphanage for more than half a month.

The youngest baby Sage, and the friends who claim to be Sage, so they can only come to accompany outsiders who have nothing to do with the orphanage, Saitama and Eric.

It is worth mentioning that they also have a special layer of identity - Santa Claus, Santa Claus's reindeer, plus Santa Claus's sleigh.

"Why else, are you and Norman stupid?"

The black-haired boy closed the book in his hand, and the sound of "snap!" was very loud.

He who has been sitting under the tree lazily reading a book, together with Emma who came to talk to him temporarily, and Norman who was pulled over by Emma, ​​the three children stayed away from the large army that was playing around in front.

Speak here without worrying about being overheard by others - presumably.

"Don't tell me you really believe the rhetoric related to Santa Claus."

Emma: "No, isn't that the way to coax a kid like Connie?"

"Yes." Lei said, "So they are actually just dangerous elements of unknown origin, and there is a great possibility—"

"What is possible?"

"It's not possible for humans!"

As he spoke, the black-haired boy glanced over sharply, rather annoyed: "You two, you are really pretending to be stupid."

It has been more than half a month, and Lei seems to have no abnormality on the surface, but in fact, he has been observing the sudden appearance of unknown people, and it is during this period that he came to the judgment that "they are very dangerous".

The precocious and exceptionally intelligent boy couldn't understand why, except for him, no one seemed to feel the need to be particularly vigilant against those three people.

Even babies are no exception.Because the baby was the first to reveal the power of terror, and he was able to speak without opening his mouth, which was too unbelievable.

As for the other two people, just because they appeared miraculously in the orphanage without a trace, no one knew how they got in—there were too many doubts, and it was impossible for the young man to rest assured.

Ray also felt strange because of this.

No one, including the mother, raised any objections to this, but Norman, who should have been the first to notice the anomaly and thus sided with him, didn't respond at all.

This made him have to find a time to clarify his doubts.

Emma: "Ray, did you only mention Norman and leave me out..."

However, her good friend didn't blink: "No leakage, I don't wonder how you react, Emma."

"what?!!"

It seemed that before a few words were said about the serious matter, it turned into Emma's defense that she was not stupid at all.

There was a little fuss.

"Haha, stop arguing." The white-haired boy who was watching them with a smile finally interjected at the right time.

Norman was supposed to be the smartest kid of the trio.

His smile is very heartwarming, gentle and gentle, as if he will not be anxious about anything, let alone get angry.

The same was true of what Ray was worried about.

Norman thought of everything that Ray wanted, but Norman was not impatient at all about what Ray was worried about.

Want to ask why?

"Lei, you said it yourself, they are not ordinary people, whether it is superpowers, or freezing with bare hands, or other abilities... are not something ordinary people can do. At least according to our knowledge, ordinary people cannot do it. arrive."

"So." Norman spread his hands: "If Mom has no objections, and she hasn't told other adults about this, then we don't have to worry about it."

Lei Zheng opened his mouth: "But—"

Norman: "There is a simpler reason. We are just children with no abilities. Even if we add up, we are not the opponent of Sage. They want to harm us, and we have no way to deal with it."

thunder:"……"

Norman smiled: "And, maybe, Uncle Saitama and the others are really Santa Claus? It's amazing,"

thunder:"…………"

Several times I wanted to speak, but in the end I became hesitant to speak.

As expected, the overly worried boy was forcibly persuaded, and had nothing to say.

——Although he still feels that the current development is too imprecise, like nonsense.

For strangers who didn't hide their abnormalities at all, my mother tolerantly kept them.

Oh, Emma knows the reason.

The girl snapped her fingers and spoke seriously one by one: "Because without our help, Sage would be taken away by malicious adults outside, he would be destroyed, and he would be accidentally thrown into the river. They will be thrown into the pile of beasts as bait, and they will not be able to eat their favorite coffee jelly..."

"...Is this all your own imagination?"

Emma: "Probably—but the reality is not so different?"

"It's too bad!"

However, it has no effect.

"Huh, this is too pitiful."

The kind girl with a sense of justice didn't seem to hear her. She clenched her fists and was full of vigor: "Didn't Mom say that? Sage asked us for help, so we can't sit idly by!"

"..."

So far, Ray has completely failed.

And Norman put his arm around his shoulder at this moment, as if to say, now you understand, it is useless to stop him.

Mother is kind, Emma is kind, and all the children in the orphanage are kind.

Therefore, they don't mind so much, and when they hear that someone needs help, they will lend a helping hand without hesitation.

"Tsk, forget it, that's all."

Ray chose to give up, not to struggle anyway, which was useless anyway.

Their side is full of fiery and sincere hearts. If they happen to meet a villain with a plan, it can only be the result of their death.

Of course, the premise-the one you meet is really a villain.

"Ray," Norman asked, "do you think they're bad guys?"

The young man's eyes were clear, and there seemed to be a little smile in it that saw through his friend's thoughts.

Lei didn't speak at first, but curled his lips slightly.

But it didn't take long before the noise finally spread from far to near, from the front to them under the tree.

"Haha~hahaha~"

Not surprisingly, it was the cheerful laughter of the children gathered together.

Two of the dangerous elements mentioned by Lei came into their sight.

That is, the most frequent picture in this half month.

A baby with magical abilities was slowly dangling in mid-air, with a bunch of little ones running with him on short legs falling underneath.

A bald man who still wears the title of "Santa Claus" is sitting cross-legged on the grass, surrounded by children who are deeply attracted by Christmas gifts.

That's right.

Although a man can't conjure up any Christmas presents, as soon as he appears, he can instantly become popular.

"Huh? Huh? Wait, I'm just here for dinner, not to visit Kusuo boy, and I don't have anything with me?"

Even shouting like that is useless, from the moment he became "Santa Claus", he couldn't avoid the fate of being surrounded by children under ten years old.

The children came one by one, and at the same time, they piled up one by one.

A man who can't fly in the sky sits here, even though he looks down-to-earth and masculine, the only disadvantage is probably that he cannot perfectly resist the "attack" from the ground.

"I understand!"

After a while, the man covered with children yelled, "It's just to pull me over as a shield, that's why you called me out, right! Bullying me can't fly or run, it's too cunning —— Saiki Kusuo!"

Whatever the truth, the super-powered baby has already flown away, and presumably won't come back to save his best friend.

Man: "Oh, oh, oh, oh, don't poke my waist, don't pull my pants, and don't touch my head, kids! Not allowed there! It's a restricted area... Puff!"

Doesn't seem to last a few rounds yet.

The second strongest man in the world failed to escape from the claws of little ghosts, and he suffered some "cruel" torture, and he fell to the ground.

Oh, and leave out the overly exaggerated ingredients.

The man fell straight on the lawn in a large font, as if he had given up on himself, his hands, feet, stomach, and face were covered with happy and screaming little dots.

The pseudo-Santa Claus Saitama, who has no hair or beard, has been defeated by human cubs whose combat power generally does not exceed 1, and there is currently no sign of turning defeat into victory.

"..."

"Um……"

——To such a person.

——It is easier to feel funny than to make people feel threatened, such a "dangerous person".

"It would be strange to be a villain—that's all I can think of!"

Also.

Judging from the current performance, at least two of the sudden arrival of the mysterious trio looked particularly harmless.

As for the third person not mentioned earlier...

"Reindeer—oh no, Eric?"

Emma said, the reason why her voice changed from louder to softer without knowing it is still unknown.

"He seems to be about the same age as us, at most a little older... Ah, but, there is a strange feeling."

Except for the first day, the silver-haired boy who appeared in the nursery had quite close contact with the children in the orphanage, and said a few words.

In the following days, although he also came to visit Saiqi with the bald Uncle Saitama every day, but whether it was a coincidence or something, the boy avoided contact with the children of the orphanage every time.

As soon as people come, the boy disappears.

Emma was very curious about him, and wanted to go up to him a long time ago, talk to the magical boy who can make ice sculptures by hand, and ask him something enthusiastically.

Unfortunately, however, there is usually no one to be found at all.

I can see it at dinner at night, because Uncle Saitama said that the two of them just came to have a meal—ahem.

And after dinner, the two guests who came at a fixed time had to leave on time, and there was no reasonable time to talk to them.

"You don't want to talk to us because you're shy?"

"How is it possible, he doesn't look like a shy person."

"Hmm, why is that..."

Emma has spontaneously begun to think about the other party's affairs when she is not familiar with the person in question at all, has not spoken a few words, and the first meeting is quite unfriendly.

The silver-haired boy Eric, at first glance, is a person who has nothing to do with "shy" and "introverted".

Putting this kind of words on him will inexplicably create a terrifying effect.

The first impression he gives people is "scary" without accident.

The moment Emma met the boy's eyes for the first time, her body froze involuntarily, and the fear from the cold to the bottom is still fresh in her memory, even though it may not have been deliberately done by the boy.

"There is a terrible feeling about him." Ray said, which was one of the reasons why he decided to remind Emma and Norman before.

"Yes." Norman also whispered, "It's a bit strange to say, but I don't seem to dare to look him in the eyes."

The frosty appearance became secondary, and the root cause of the children's instinctive retreat was the eyes of the silver-haired boy.

It was obviously a bright color like the sun, but when it fell into the eyes, for some reason, a layer of ice cold enough to cover the pupils appeared.

For a child who is only ten years old now, being able to resist the erosion of the cold is already quite good.

No matter how precocious they are, they can't be expected to completely distinguish between the strange emotions and fears in their hearts.

"Are we afraid of him? No, Connie isn't afraid of him at all, and neither is Emma."

"I don't know if you have noticed, um, those younger children thought that Eric was Santa Claus at first, and Kony and Anna, who had met him, didn't seem to be afraid of Eric."

This is a rather important discovery.

Because, after Norman proposed, Emma broke away from thinking and suddenly realized.

"I seem to understand—"

"what?"

"It's not so much that we are the ones who are afraid... I don't know, I don't know why I have such an idea, I think it's incredible! But!"

The sunlight suddenly pierced through the gaps between the branches and leaves above the head, and fell suddenly, covering the blond hair of the girl who stood up quickly, making her eyes sparkle even more.

"I think it's because he's afraid of something."

"Huh? Wait a minute, Emma, ​​do you know what you're talking about? The object is completely reversed!"

"No? No. Should, maybe? Ahhh, I can't tell, but somehow—"

Can't tell, really can't tell.

After all, saying that the boy is "scared" is hundreds of times more terrifying than saying that he is "shy".

Emma couldn't explain it clearly, and other people might not be convinced after hearing it.

"Scared? Is there anyone or anything here that could make him afraid?"

At a glance, it seems impossible.

This is an ordinary orphanage, with only blue sky and white clouds, green grass and woods, a kind mother and lovely children.

Threats simply do not exist.

Unless, with the young man, the pure and lovely child is what he subconsciously does not want to get close to——

..."Scared", exists?

No.

wrong.

What he "fears" is not such a superficial thing at all.

*****

The wind picked up.

Just at this time, some clouds drifted over, blocking the bright sun in the sky and dimming the light a bit.

Perhaps it should be said that the wind came at a very bad time, and there was no warning in advance.

Isabella had just put the washed clothes on the clothesline, but before she hung them up, a gust of wind rushed from behind.

"Hurrah—"

The long rope shook violently, just avoiding the woman's outstretched hand.

The clothes that had just been hung up were still not dry, but the lightest coat was still lifted up in the air by the gust of wind.

The woman on the ground was blinded by the wind while turning around, and when she looked again, the coat had flown to an impossible place.

"Ah, bad..."

That's what she said.

The piece of white flying like a butterfly on the roof suddenly stopped.

It was someone who had been on the roof basking in the sun before reaching out at the right time and grabbing a corner of the white coat.

The boy's silver hair swayed in the wind, but because the length was too short, the scattered hair could not cover his eyes.

He stepped on the eaves, and the pair of golden eyes looking down seemed to have no warmth.

"..."

The roof is a dangerous place. Seeing a child going up, Isabella's first reaction was that her heart stopped beating for a while.

But then, she recovered and realized that she didn't need to worry.

While staring at the boy, Isabella thought several times that he only intervened because the coat happened to fly over and disturbed the boy's rest.

She thought he wouldn't come down.

In the end, the truth was that the boy only looked down at her.

The next moment, a figure fell lightly.He was still carrying the coat that almost flew away.

"just."

I thought the boy would not take the initiative to talk to her, but in fact, he really did.

Eric raised his hand, and the jacket that was trying to escape returned to its original place, and was no longer provoked by the wind.

It seemed that he was reluctant to come down for this little effort.

Not for anything else.

By no means to come down in person and ask a seemingly nonsensical question:

"Are you singing?"

"...I heard you."

Isabella was a little surprised, she didn't expect that the singing voice she hummed softly would be heard by the boy.

She also didn't mind smiling and answering, "Yes, is Eric interested?"

Because the object of the conversation was a "child", the nun subconsciously adopted the usual tone for children, and leaned forward, wanting to bend over and listen.

But she misjudged again, this way of speaking did not apply to Eric.

The silver-haired boy ignored her.

After throwing back the clothes he picked up casually, he disappeared from the spot.

He couldn't see anyone, so there was a high possibility that he had returned to the roof where he was the only one who would not be disturbed.

It is really confusing to come and go so casually without explaining the purpose of coming.

Fortunately, Isabella doesn't mind it.

After waiting for a while, the wind gradually stopped, and the clouds that blocked the sun spread to both sides. After the dark clouds receded, the earth finally saw the sun.

No longer disturbed by external forces, women can continue their previous work and dry their wet clothes to dry.

The water dripped down from the corner of the crumpled clothes and submerged into the wet grass. The advantage is that it will not arouse the sound.

The wind and the small things of clothes being blown away and picked up are just small episodes that enrich the day.

To take care of more than 20 children in the entire orphanage, even if there are slightly older children to share the daily work, Isabella's workload is quite heavy, and she has to be busy here for a long time just to dry the clothes.

The details seem to be forgotten as soon as they pass by.

Isabella kept busy.

Compared with the previous busyness, the subtle difference is that the voice of the woman humming a soft tune seems to be inadvertently much louder.

On the bright side, only she can hear it.

As for whether another person with excellent hearing happened to hear the singing, only that person knows.

Although, there are no lyrics, only tunes.

But, it's really beautiful.

There are some songs that have the ability to calm the mind.

And there are also some people who just need this kind of ability to calm down the irritability that arises inexplicably and is difficult to subside.

It has been a few days since Eric recalled a certain fragmentary experience of "him".

A few days have passed since Eric mentioned some information about himself to his friends.

The nuns in the orphanage, and the children raised by the nuns—this is the catalyst for restarting memories.

Because the characteristics coincidentally coincide with the "past", it seems that there will be such a step sooner or later. They just follow the development and find this suitable time to collide violently.

Eric said that he had raised a child himself, so he would not do such a stupid thing again.

What exactly happened...

do not know.

I haven't remembered the key content yet, anyway, the great regret that will appear when I think about it is right.

The part he remembered now should belong to the first half.

The "protagonist" in this part is not only "he", but also a woman.

In the beginning, she was a young woman.

The girl has a clear and melodious singing voice like an oriole. Her singing voice is soft and moving, and it can make the man who happens to hear this singing get the long-lost peace.

On a certain day long ago, the girl was in danger, and the place of the accident was so coincidental, just under the nap place specially chosen by the man.

Because it is very noisy.

Because "he" likes this girl's singing voice very much.

So, "he" saved her casually.

—It is both coincidence and fate.

This ending is hard to imagine the story covered with blood and tears, and it starts here.

The author has something to say: Eric's story begins again