At that moment, the counseling room door opened, and Shile and Mana emerged, both sniffling.
Megan followed behind them.
As I stood up, the two children hesitated before slowly approaching me.
It seemed Megan had done an excellent job talking to them.
Shile and Mana offered me sincere apologies.
“...I'm sorry, Lopez.”
“I thought it was okay because the old you was so awful... and because you framed someone. I hated you. I'm really sorry.”
After seeing such a complete change in them after only two counseling sessions, I looked up at Megan with newfound admiration.
Megan smiled softly and patted both children on the head.
“You did well. Now it's Lopez's turn.”
To begin with, I'd already intended to forgive them if they apologized.
They were still children.
There was plenty of room for them to grow and change.
So I answered readily.
“Thank you for apologizing. And if I treated you badly before I lost my memories, then I'm sorry too. I won't do that anymore.”
When I thanked them and even apologized for the mistakes of my former self, Megan looked at me as though she were proud.
“...We won't do that anymore either.”
The three of us shook hands and made peace.
See?
Children didn't need beatings to understand.
Most of the time, talking worked just fine.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
As I bowed politely, Shile and Mana immediately copied me.
We all headed downstairs together.
As we walked, Bill trailed after me and suddenly pointed at Shile and Mana.
“Bad kids.”
The two of them flinched.
I shook my head.
“No. They apologized, so they're good kids now. You said something mean, so you should apologize too.”
Bill obediently turned toward them.
“...Sorry.”
“It's okay.”
Shile and Mana shook their heads.
After exchanging a brief nod with me, they hurried into Class Two's classroom.
Bill grabbed my hand and looked up at me.
“I apologized too.”
“Yeah. Good job.”
I patted his head.
Then my nose suddenly began to tickle.
“Achoo! Ngh.”
I sniffled.
A chill crept through my body.
It's a cold.
Earlier, Megan had given me medicine and warm water during counseling.
Apparently, it hadn't done much.
“Aaachoo!”
A long string of mucus immediately followed.
“Eww! Gross!”
Bill dropped my hand and fled.
The kid was surprisingly cold-hearted.
Lopez fell sick.
Lisa and Sally immediately volunteered to take care of him and marched straight toward the infirmary.
Unfortunately, Nurse Gail kicked them out almost instantly.
Watson had strictly forbidden anyone from spreading the cold to other children.
As a result, a large sign reading NO ENTRY was now taped to the infirmary door.
While the infirmary remained unavailable, Megan agreed to treat any children with minor injuries herself.
And so Lopez found himself isolated completely alone.
Megan stopped by briefly to check on him.
Watching him struggle by himself made her heart ache.
“...I wish she'd phrase things more kindly. Why is the principal always like that?”
“It can't be helped,” Gail replied. “You should be careful for a while too, Teacher Megan. What Teacher Anna did was wrong, but because of that incident, you've fallen out of favor with the principal.”
Before leaving, Anna had made sure not to go down alone.
She exposed Megan's actions as well.
As a result, Watson discovered that Megan had secretly been spending her own money on snacks and lessons for the children in Class Three.
Watson hated spending resources on what she considered the orphanage's weakest class.
Naturally, she found Megan's behavior irritating.
Megan sighed.
“It was all paid for with my own money.”
“I know, I know. But for now, keeping your head down is probably best.”
“...Sigh.”
“I don't understand the principal's methods either. But if both of us leave, what will happen to the children here? Honestly, the reason I've stayed this long is because you're here.”
Gail smiled warmly.
He genuinely admired Megan's sense of justice.
Hearing that, Megan smiled back.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“Don't mention it. I'll take good care of Lopez, so you should get back to class.”
The two parted with bright smiles and returned to their duties.
Lying in bed, half-awake, Lopez silently nodded.
Youth really is beautiful.
At that exact moment, a stubborn stream of mucus escaped his nose.
HOOONK!
“Good heavens!”
Gail, who had been gazing dreamily at the door even after Megan left, nearly jumped out of his skin.
What a wonderfully old-fashioned exclamation.
After blowing his nose, Lopez collapsed back into bed.
The curtain shifted slightly.
Gail peeked through.
Sweat dotted his handsome face as he stammered,
“L-Lopez... how long have you been awake?”
“Just now. My nose wouldn't stop running.”
Only then did Gail visibly relax.
It wasn't that they'd said anything inappropriate.
Still, adults preferred keeping certain conversations away from children's ears.
“Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when Teacher Megan brings your porridge.”
“Good night.”
Lopez gave a sleepy nod.
Gail looked flustered.
“N-No, I'm still working—”
Using Gail's muttering as a lullaby, Lopez drifted back to sleep.
Watching from outside the infirmary window, Medina covered her mouth and giggled.
She was worried about Lopez.
Unfortunately, entry to the infirmary was forbidden, so she'd resorted to secretly peeking through the window.
Fortunately, he didn't seem seriously ill.
After all, he still had enough energy to joke around.
“Medina, let's go.”
Klein grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away.
Suppressing another laugh, Medina asked casually,
“You were worried too, weren't you? Don't you want to check on him?”
“Worried? As if!”
Klein shouted so loudly that Chester immediately covered one ear.
“The whole infirmary can hear you.”
“That's why I said it that loud!”
Watching the two boys start another argument, Medina sighed deeply.
Immediately, both Klein and Chester stiffened.
“We were just talking, Medina. Not fighting.”
“Y-Yeah! That's all!”
“Really?”
Medina narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
The two boys frantically nodded.
The sight was so adorable that Medina couldn't help smiling.
Hooking an arm through each of theirs, she pulled them away from the infirmary window.
“Let's pray Lopez gets better soon!”
As Medina dragged him away, Klein glanced back one last time.
His face was really red.
Then he shook his head.
Whatever.
He can take care of himself.
I kept tossing and turning.
No matter what I did, I couldn't fall asleep.
“Haaah...”
Eventually, I gave up trying.
I opened my eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.
The wind outside was fierce.
In the otherwise quiet infirmary, the only sound was the constant rattling of the windows.
As I gazed outside, a faint smell drifted through the slightly opened window.
Something was burning.
Are they burning trash...?
I tried to dismiss it.
But something felt wrong.
Today isn't trash-burning day.
My brow furrowed as I watched the shaking window.
With winds this strong, burning anything would be dangerous.
Then I heard it.
A faint voice.
“...Please! S-Someone help me!”
The smell of smoke grew stronger.
My sleepy eyes flew open.
“Help?”
I scanned the grounds outside.
In the distance, I spotted a thin plume of gray smoke rising into the air.
At that moment, a forgotten scene from the novel slammed into my memory.
The fire!
I'd completely forgotten because I'd been sick.
Something this important!
Why am I only remembering now?
I jumped out of bed.
Immediately, dizziness overwhelmed me and I nearly collapsed.
After sitting down for a moment, the spinning finally stopped.
The instant it did, I stood again.
If someone's calling for help, they're already trapped!
The fire had been caused by Carrington, the teacher in charge of Class Two.
He was one of the people actively involved in the orphanage's illegal adoption scheme alongside the principal.
At the same time, he'd secretly collected documents exposing Watson's crimes and used them to blackmail her.
In the original story, the incident began when Carrington sneaked off to smoke near the incinerator.
Afterward, he carelessly discarded the cigarette butt.
Unfortunately, that same day, Chester and Medina had been assigned trash duty.
Medina became distracted spending time with Klein and forgot about her responsibility.
As a result, Chester went to the incinerator alone.
While Chester was throwing away the trash, the fire spread rapidly.
He became trapped.
Medina rushed over afterward and managed to save him.
But she charged into the flames without even pouring water on herself first.
Both of them ended up suffering burns on their arms.
Every crisis in this novel existed for one purpose:
To make the male leads become even more obsessed with Medina.
But just because that's how the original story went doesn't mean I can sit here and watch it happen.
