I Hate Them
I hate kids.
No—maybe “hate” is too strong. But I definitely don’t like them. Actually… yeah, maybe I really do hate them? The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced I do.
They’re loud, they cry, they’re selfish, unstable.
Honestly, I think I’ve hated them since my previous life. I grew up in a single-mother household with eight people, and I was the eldest son. My mother? Absolutely hopeless trash. After giving birth to me, she immediately divorced, remarried, had a kid, divorced again—rinse and repeat.
When I was in grade school, she even gave birth to the child of some host she was only sleeping with. And there were men who just left their own kids behind and disappeared.
Because of that mess, I ended up taking care of the six younger siblings that accumulated over time. And since my mother was the way she was, I had to work part-time constantly just so we could survive. I barely got to play at all.
After living like that for over ten years, I couldn’t even attend high school. I graduated middle school and worked from morning to night, and, well… of course the cause of my death was overwork. How could I ever end up liking kids after a life like that?
They knew we were poor, yet they always wanted toys, wanted sweets. Those brats did nothing but make demands—did they ever stop to think who was working themselves to the bone just to put food on their table?
When I died, the oldest of my sisters was just about to enter high school, I think? I have no idea what became of them now.
The only thing I can say for sure is this: those kids never even tried to understand a damn thing about me.
And yet… despite hating them so much, why am I panicking like this over one of them?
For the money. Even if she was only with us for about a month, she was still our product. Letting someone snatch her for free pisses me off.
“Hah… hah… damn it, this is killing me! My total lack of exercise is really biting me in the ass now!”
Wiping my sweat, I ran out onto the main street. Even if she’s just a kid, Riko is still five. Even if they knocked her out, carrying her isn’t light. And from the quick questioning I’d done around the area, no one had seen any suspicious figures. That means there were only a few kidnappers for sure—and I can’t imagine they’d gotten far enough to vanish completely.
But if it was planned, even ten minutes is enough to get her outside the city. They might have even… no, that’s the worst-case scenario. No point thinking about that now.
“Oh? My brother Ale, what’s wrong with you! Why so flustered—”
“—! Ah, the greengrocer…? Yeah, well, actually—”
After a moment of hesitation, I explained everything.
“... I see. All right, leave it to us!”
“Huh?”
The greengrocer—Graun, I think?—suddenly stepped out of his shop and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Hey! All of you, listen up!!”
Graun’s voice echoed across the busy street. Shoppers, merchants chatting idly, craftsmen pushing carts—everyone turned toward us in surprise.
“A kid from Ale’s orphanage got kidnapped! A girl around five! Anybody see someone suspicious?!”
Silence.
Then suddenly, voices started rising from all directions.
“I saw someone! Some guy running through the back alleys with a huge sack!”
“I think I saw a blue carriage loading weird cargo…”
“No, no, someone ran toward the south gate!”
“It’s the north gate! The guard there is lazy as hell, easy to slip past!”
Information burst out like fireworks, leaving Ale stunned.
An orphanage kid… orphans from the slums, kids from former slave families—normally people here would treat them like trouble, like nuisances. And yet… all these people were desperately trying to help.
“Hey, everyone, calm down! We gotta sort this out!”
Graun yelled.
“Riko’s still just a little girl! Don’t waste time!”
Merchants and craftsmen squeezed their memories, trying to recall anything suspicious.
“... Ah, hey.”
A small voice cut in. It was a little boy who’d been polishing shoes in the alley. His face was dirty, but his eyes were steady and serious.
“I saw the blue carriage. At the south gate. They gave the guard money. I thought it was weird…”
The street fell silent.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I was doing shoes there ’til a bit ago. There were three of them. They all had their hoods pulled down low. Looked shady.”
No hint of a lie.
People around them added comments—
“The south gate does have weird rumors…”
“And that forest nearby is said to have bandits…”
“... Thanks. You helped a lot.”
He had always assumed he had no place in this city.
An elf man running an orphanage for only little girls, appearing out of nowhere in a shady alley. Of course people would think he was suspicious.
“Ale! Quit worrying and go! We’ll handle the search inside the city! We’ll tell the guards too!”
Graun roared.
“You wanna save that kid more than anyone, right?!”
“... Yeah. I’ll leave it to you.”
Ale turned on his heel and ran.
Want to save her more than anyone? Please. We’ve barely had small talk. What a presumptuous thing to say.
I hate them. The useless kids at the orphanage who can’t do anything but worry me, and these idiots who try to help complete strangers like it’s normal—
“No. I don’t just hate them… I really, really hate them!”
And the one I hate most of all is myself, still twisted even in a moment like this.
What do you think about this chapter?
