This House Has A Delicious Restaurant - Chapter 19.5 - A Flower on the Parched Land (Past) - Part 3

Terisier.

The reason I was here, and the reason Zerdan was here.

“…Daddy?”

“Yes, Terisier. It looks like Mom isn’t here, so let’s go look for her. You can sleep a bit more if you like.”

“Isn’t Zerdan coming to dinner with us?”

“Zerdan has things to do here, so he can’t come.”

“Things? I don’t want to eat with someone like you.”

Zerdan glared at Terisier menacingly, as if he were a beast threatening him.

Terisier looked puzzled at first, but then his face started to crumple into a cry.

I looked at Terisier’s chubby cheeks and the tearful, round, innocent eyes and thought.

He really is a baby.

Since Zerdan is around seven years old, Terisier must be about three.

As the man tried to soothe the almost-crying Terisier, he shot a quick, sharp look at Zerdan. Though he didn’t say anything, his gaze was quite intimidating for a child looking up at him.

The man turned silently and walked away with Terisier in his arms.

As I watched Terisier being carried away, our eyes met. His round, curious eyes looked directly at me.

With his future cat-like demeanor, Terisier’s innocent appearance was both strange and adorable, making me smile. His cheeks flushed a nice pink.

“Zerdan.”

After the man left and I confirmed that no adults were around, I called out to Zerdan. He still looked displeased and turned to me with a stern face.

“It’s not good to show too much emotion. There’s nothing to gain by letting others know your feelings. Especially don’t show that you’re hurt. It only makes others underestimate and disregard you.”

“…What am I supposed to do then? I hate that guy. Because of him, I’m trapped here, and my parents have gone strange.”

“If hiding your emotions is hard, then smile, Zerdan.”

I smiled at Zerdan. The natural, almost artistic smile caught his attention.

“You need to hide your weaknesses and make others let their guard down. Don’t get angry or cry. In situations like this, showing emotions won’t make the woman care more. The kids over there can all do that. What you need to do is figure out how to get out of here. To get what you want, you need information, and you can only get it if the others are off guard.”

“Are you telling me to do it like you?”

“Well, for now, it might be hard for you to follow my example.”

Maybe the future Zerdan would handle it differently.

Thinking about it, I wondered if these conversations had influenced Zerdan’s current sly demeanor.

I had some concerns, but I couldn’t change what I’d said to Zerdan now that he was listening seriously.

I hoped this wouldn’t change the future too much.

“Are you coming with me?”

Zerdan, who had been deep in thought, looked at me directly. The distance between us that had grown before was now closed.

Though there was a glass wall separating us, Zerdan looked at me with serious eyes, as if there were no barrier.

I figured that I could use the help of Khan to get out of there before Zerdan tried to escape.

I hadn’t come here on my own volition, so I didn’t plan on staying long.

I planned to leave without any regrets once I understood how Liffree was manipulating Terisier. But looking at Zerdan’s earnest gaze, it was hard to respond indifferently as usual.

“…Alright. Let’s go together.”

So, I made a false promise that I normally wouldn’t have made.

Zerdan smiled with a genuine, pure smile, one I wouldn’t see in the future. Seeing that, I averted my gaze, feeling a strange pang of guilt.

* * *

As the distance between Zerdan and me grew oddly closer, the woman visited with Terisier.

The woman, somewhat irritated by the lack of progress, was trying to keep her composure in front of Terisier.

Terisier, without hesitation, came running to the place where Zerdan and I were confined. The little child with short silver hair trotted over on short legs.

Was he trying to approach Zerdan?

As Zerdan was about to frown again, I tapped his lips lightly with my hand, forcing a smile. He responded with a small smile.

Then I was taken aback when I noticed the person blocking the way between Zerdan and me. Little Terisier was looking directly at me.

“Sister!”

I didn’t expect him to come looking for me.

Startled, I widened my eyes, but then composed myself, smiling and tilting my head. I could feel the woman’s gaze shifting toward us.

Trying not to draw attention, I had deliberately behaved inconspicuously, but Terisier’s interest had disrupted my plan.

Terisier’s eyes sparkled.

Was it because of the good impression I made when I first smiled at him, or was it just curiosity about his peers?

As the woman started to lose interest and was about to turn away, Terisier’s next words made her quickly turn her head back.

“Sister feels similar to me! Do you also have various abilities?”

The area fell silent as Terisier finished speaking. Although I was smiling, I couldn’t speak up hastily. The woman’s approach grew closer.

“Terry, what do you mean by that? Are you saying this sister has abilities like yours?”

The woman’s eyes showed a mix of urgency, joy, and madness.

Terisier, oblivious to this, innocently tilted his head.

“She’s different but similar. Other older brothers or sisters have only one amazing feeling, but this sister seems to have a mix of feelings.”

“How many feelings do you think are mixed?”

“Hmm… Two?”

Terisier held up two small fingers. The woman’s face brightened, and she immediately started circling me.

Sensing the subtle shift in the atmosphere, Zerdan hurriedly tried to speak, but I waved my hand to signal him to stay quiet.

The woman came closer to me for the first time since I was confined here. She gently placed her warm hand on my shoulder and spoke to me in a kind tone.

“Little one, what’s your name?”

She’s asking quite quickly.

It seems my name has caught her interest, given her certainty about me having two abilities.

Could it be that my existing abilities… or was this body originally endowed with abilities?

It was probably because of that that Terisier mentioned there were two feelings.

“It’s Ding.”

“Ah, Ding. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to take good care of you while you’ve been here. Have you experienced any discomfort while staying here?”

“Aunt.”

At my call, the woman’s eyes softened as she asked.

“Yes? What is it?”

Since Terisier had already mentioned something about it, I had no intention of letting the woman waste time and effort trying to figure out my abilities. It wasn’t something as impressive as Terisier’s spatial manipulation anyway, so it was better to just reveal it quickly.

I reached out, and the ends of the woman’s bright blonde hair stood up. She widened her eyes in surprise.

I spoke calmly.

“I discovered it while playing with Zerdan. What kind of power is this?”

“Oh……! This is a very rare ability. Ding……. Yes, Ding! You could even become my daughter. I’m so grateful you came to be with me.”

As she embraced me, she spoke as if entranced.

It was simple, but it was significant as it was the first ability to manifest among the orphans.

Moreover, if the child had not one but two abilities, how delightful it would be. Although, it might be a useless ability.

I glanced at Zerdan, who was frozen in her embrace. His expression was troubled. Although he was concerned about me, there was a strange sense of jealousy, which made me smile wryly.

Looks like it’s hard to manage your expression, huh?

I lightly tapped his lips with my hand. Only then did Zerdan start to force a smile and try to erase his hurt expression.

With me leading, the children began to become aware of or manifest their abilities.

Most of it was thanks to Terisier. Whether it was due to his still-immature spatial manipulation affecting them, I wasn’t sure.

One injured child could prevent wounds from festering.

While it was a convenient ability, it would not benefit others. It seems the woman had a different opinion on it.

In the child’s room, objects began to appear. Unlike the empty rooms of the other children, toys, and stationery started to appear.

The child was happy, and the surrounding kids were envious, but did they know it was part of an experiment?

With the appearance of obstacles in the previously space, children who had been running and playing started getting injured more frequently. It seemed that their clumsy nature contributed to this.

The woman comforted the injured child and examined the wounds but did not treat them.

Thus, the child’s wounds slowly increased without their realization.

When real knives were placed in the room for the child to play kitchen with, it was absurd. The woman seemed curious about how useful the ability range was.

The child’s wounds didn’t fester even after being left untreated for a long time. However, the bleeding control was similar to that of ordinary people, so the child was growing weary.

Eventually, the toys in the child’s room were removed, and it began to transform into what looked like a laboratory.

The floor was littered with pointed objects, and the walls were decorated with weapons to prevent leaning.

The child could no longer run or move properly; any wrong move would result in injury.

The room started to reek of blood, and the once-red floor became stained.

As other children’s abilities began to manifest slowly, the woman, no longer considering them as living beings but as experimental subjects, began conducting inhumane experiments.

It was no different for me.

In front of me were various animals. The woman seemed to be testing whether I could simply make the fur of living animals stand on end or if I had other abilities, perhaps applications.

‘If it’s about applications, I already know quite a bit…’

I couldn’t let that be discovered.

I struggled to make the fur stand on end as if that was all I could do, putting on a pained expression.

After doing this a few times and pretending to be exhausted, the woman frowned and started to change her method.

Starting with small animals like rabbits and birds, she soon released a large hunting dog. It seemed to be a wild, extremely hungry stray.

As the number of children screaming increased, the glass walls became thicker. As a result, I couldn’t hear Zerdan’s voice from the other side, which seemed to be yelling and banging on the glass.

I sighed at Zerdan and made a gesture for him to turn away, but he was not one to listen.

As the hunting dog charged at me, many thoughts flashed through my mind, but I took no action, remaining as stiff and terrified as an ordinary child.

The stray dog bit down hard on my shoulder. It hurt twice as much as when Zerdan had stabbed me in the chest with a knife.

Perhaps it was because of the sharp teeth or the way it shook me, or maybe it was because of my small child’s body.

Looking at Zerdan, I saw tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at me helplessly.

Ironically, someone who had hurt me just recently was now looking so sorrowful for me.

“…It seems that the remaining abilities aren’t going to manifest, and the current ability is of no use. There’s no application.”

Since I hadn’t yet revealed my remaining ability, I thought the woman wouldn’t kill me.