Bass and Toto
According to the director, the orphanage was currently housing a pair of beastkin siblings.
When I asked for details, she explained that one morning, while she had gone outside to clean, she found the two of them crouching there. Both had injuries on their wrists and ankles, were running a fever, and were malnourished. The fever had finally subsided, but they hadn’t spoken to anyone and seemed distressed.
“May I meet them?”
“Yes. I’ll show you.”
Orphanage children usually stay four to a room with two bunk beds. But these two were in the isolation room, where sick children stay until fully recovered. The isolation room was next to the sisters’ quarters. There were two single beds, each with a cord hanging down to ring a call bell, so a sister could come immediately if pulled.
When we entered the room, the siblings huddled together, looking at us fearfully.
“Hello. I’m Joan. I’m a friend of the director.”
“”...…””
“I’m sorry, Joan. They understand what’s being said, but they won’t speak.”
Observing the siblings, the boy had shoulder-length black hair and golden slanted eyes, with ears peeking through his hair that were unlike humans’. The girl had hair down to the middle of her back, also black, with the same ears, though her eyes were hidden under her bangs. As the director had said, there were worn wounds on their wrists and ankles, and marks on their necks. Their cheeks were sunken, their complexions pale, and dark circles under their eyes.
“I want to know about you two, so let’s do a [Search], okay?”
“”......”
—
[Bass］
From Ania. Catkin tribe. Street kid. 13 years old. Twin brother.
Condition: cold, malnutrition, aphonia from poison.
Note: Brought from Ania as a slave.
Forced to drink poison by slave traders, causing aphonia.
Abandoned due to fever.
—
—
[Toto］
From Ania. Catkin tribe. Street kid. 13 years old. Twin sister.
Condition: cold, malnutrition, anemia, aphonia from poison.
Note: Brought from Ania as a slave.
Forced to drink poison by slave traders, causing aphonia.
Abandoned due to fever.
—
!! Slave traders? What?!
To be abandoned just because they got sick!! Unforgivable!!
But first, let’s focus on these two.
“… Bass and Toto, right?”
“”!!””
“Director, it seems these children were brought here as slaves, and their aphonia was caused by poison.”
“Oh my! What a thing to do!!”
Antidote… should I use Aqua water?
I opened the storage through my bag and pulled out two cups filled with Aqua water.
“This is medicine to counteract poison. Try drinking this, okay?”
I handed each cup to Bass and Toto. They took the cups hesitantly. Bass sniffed it first to make sure it wasn’t strange, then drank.
Snowy says it’s sweet, but honestly, it’s just regular water—no taste or smell.
Sip… “… delicious…!!”
""!!""
“Oh my!!”
Bass was astonished that his voice returned. Toto and the director watched him. Bass nodded at Toto, urging her to drink too.
Sip… “… tasty…”
Toto’s voice returned as well. She placed her cup down and hugged her brother. Seeing this, a single tear rolled down the director’s cheek.
I asked the director to contact my father about the siblings. If the slave traders were still in General, they needed to be apprehended.
In the Exzaria Kingdom, slavery and human trafficking are prohibited. But I knew there was still a black market.
After the director left, it was just the three of us in the room. Pearl and Meteor were outside playing with the orphanage children.
“Are you two hungry?”
Both nodded simultaneously.
“Good. Let’s have some food. But you haven’t eaten in a while, so just a little first. If you eat too much at once, your stomach might be shocked.”
I pulled a small clay pot with egg porridge from storage, along with wooden soup bowls and spoons.
“It’s hot, so be careful. I put some water here too.”
I handed the porridge to them and placed the now cooler Aqua water on the sideboard between the beds.
“!!… delicious.”
“Mm… Bass… it’s delicious.”
After that, the siblings ate in silence. When finished, they lingered over the empty bowls.
“Hehe, was it good? Here’s some dessert too.”
I gave them Ripple simmered in sweet syrup with cinnamon—basically just the filling from Ripple pie.
They finished it cleanly, then exchanged a look and nodded.
""… thank you.""
“You’re welcome.”
Then I asked them about their past and the slave traders.
They explained that after being abandoned by their parents, they lived on the streets with other street kids. One day, Bass returned to an empty house where he slept and found Toto being forcibly dragged into a carriage by several men. He tried to rescue her, but was struck from behind. When he came to, he and Toto were chained together on a ship.
They were given only one meal a day, and the day before arriving in the kingdom, they were forced to eat poison-laced soup, causing the aphonia. Later, they were transported by wagon, but it rained and the cover wasn’t sufficient, so they caught a cold. The men who kidnapped them abandoned the sick twins in the forest, saying they were too troublesome. After that, they don’t remember how they reached the orphanage—just that they woke up in the isolation room, cared for by the sisters.
What do you think about this chapter?
