Lopez quietly gathered up the cleaning supplies and limped away without a word.
Watching her retreating figure, Klein felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
“Ugh, this is so annoying.”
...Maybe I should've just helped her.
Should I go after her now?
But she's the one who told me to stop interfering.
The deeper he thought about it, the more restless he became.
Medina carefully called out to him.
“Klein?”
“Huh? Hey!”
Instead of answering, Klein suddenly shouted toward Chester, who was approaching from afar, and practically shoved Medina into his care.
“Keep her company.”
“You don't have to tell me. I was already planning to stay with Medina.”
“Damn it...”
After hesitating for a long moment, Klein finally turned around and ran after the steadily retreating Lopez.
Hearing the irritated footsteps behind her, Lopez looked over her shoulder.
“Hey, you!”
“Eek!”
Seeing Klein charging toward her with what looked like an angry expression, she startled and immediately started limping away even faster.
Watching her so blatantly avoid him, Klein eventually stopped running.
Then he shouted after her in frustration.
“Hey! I was trying to help because I felt sorry for you!”
But Lopez's hair disappeared around the corner before she could hear the rest.
A bitter taste lingered in Klein's mouth.
You could've at least acted rude like before.
Then I wouldn't be feeling this crappy.
Why are you suddenly acting all pitiful in front of me?
Damn it.
Unable to vent his irritation anywhere else, Klein kicked helplessly at the innocent ground.
Why is he always so determined to make my life difficult?
"Helping me because he feels sorry for me?"
He's kind, sure, but I'd really appreciate it if he'd keep that pity to himself.
Erasing Klein's frowning face from my mind, I turned to the three children from Class 3.
“If you're not going to help clean, then go outside and play.”
“Hmph! We're not leaving!”
“If someone should leave, it's you!”
Miles and Rodney immediately turned their heads away.
Seeing that none of them had any intention of getting out of their chairs, I started sweeping the floor.
There was dust everywhere.
As clouds of dust rose into the air, Miles dramatically began coughing.
“Cough! Cough! Hey! There's dust everywhere!”
“All this filthy dust! How can there be so much?!”
I deliberately raised my voice in alarm.
Miles instantly shut his mouth.
“We can't let our precious Class 3 friends breathe all this dust!”
That should stop them from complaining.
Dust inhalation wasn't good for children, after all.
I quickly swept the floor and dusted off every surface.
While I was at it, I casually brushed the dusters over the children's hair and clothes as well.
The shaggy-haired boy, Rodney, and Miles all stared at me in disbelief.
Rodney finally swatted away the duster.
“What are you doing?!”
“There's way too much dust. Do you know what happens if we breathe all of this in?”
The boys stared.
“It can seriously damage your bronchial tubes.”
Rodney immediately began stammering.
“W-What happens then?”
“Well...”
I deliberately built up the suspense.
By the time they were visibly frightened, I abruptly relaxed.
“Actually, never mind. You're all too young to understand.”
Rodney's face turned pale.
“W-What is it?!”
“W-What's a bronchial tube?!”
“It's part of your body. And if it gets damaged...”
“A-And then?!”
I paused dramatically.
Then I sighed.
“Well, if we keep everything clean, we'll never have to find out.”
Shaking my head gravely, I continued dusting them off.
Perhaps because they were scared, all three boys obediently sat still.
Using the opportunity, I cleaned every hidden corner and sent the dust flying out the windows.
After thoroughly scrubbing the sticky grime from the floor, the unpleasant smell finally disappeared.
By the time I returned the cleaning supplies, the sun was already setting.
Watching the evening glow paint the sky orange, reality suddenly hit me.
...Why am I working this hard cleaning?
I was supposed to be figuring out how to get back home.
Instead, every time I saw these children, I ended up helping them.
Maybe because I'd grown up in an orphanage myself.
I just couldn't ignore them.
Still, Class 3 is practically neglected. I should be able to sneak around without anyone noticing.
Tonight, I'll go out.
At the very least, I'd try to find the road leading to the village.
I didn't know the geography of this place at all.
And since there weren't any maps...
I'd better be careful not to get lost.
Then another thought crossed my mind.
Since we're already here, I might as well help with one more thing.
I looked at the three filthy children.
“Hey guys. How about taking a bath before dinner?”
Silence.
“We're not bathing!”
“A real man doesn't bathe!”
Miles and Rodney declared proudly.
“Even real men aren't popular if they smell bad...”
“Everyone hates Class 3 anyway.”
“So you're deliberately making yourselves smell worse?”
“Yep! Makes people stay away!”
Why are they proud of that?
I stopped in front of the shaggy-haired boy.
He deliberately avoided my gaze.
“Come on. Get up. We're all going to the showers.”
“No—!”
Seeing another refusal coming, I pulled a cookie from my pocket.
It was one Megan had given me.
When I'd asked for cookies because I was cleaning the classroom—and cleaning was a good deed—she'd happily handed some over.
And I knew children loved cookies.
There wasn't a kid alive who hated cookies.
Besides, these three had probably spent years watching children from other classes enjoy treats they never got.
Naturally, they wanted some too.
Just as expected, all three stared at me with shocked expressions.
I tucked the cookie back into my pocket.
“If you wash up properly, I'll give each of you two.”
Rodney was already halfway convinced.
Miles, however, stubbornly resisted.
“L-Like we'd fall for something that cheap...”
Not enough, huh?
Fine.
Time for intimidation.
“You sat in that classroom all day while I cleaned. Which means you're covered in dust.”
I lowered my voice ominously.
“And if all that dust gets into your bronchial tubes...”
The boys immediately cracked.
“F-Fine! We'll go!”
“Just don't forget the cookies!”
“And bring Mr. Don't-Talk-To-Me with us!”
“I—”
“Come on.”
Cleanliness was important.
Especially because I simply couldn't ignore the grease coating the shaggy-haired boy's hair.
Dust had literally clumped into it.
I brushed some of it away.
The boy immediately flinched and recoiled.
“W-What are you doing...?”
“Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you.”
I awkwardly withdrew my hand.
Then I smiled.
“If you wash up properly, I'll give you more cookies tomorrow.”
“H-Hmph! We're not doing it for the cookies!”
“Y-Yeah! Definitely not!”
Being twins, they really were perfectly synchronized.
I grabbed the reluctant shaggy-haired boy's wrist and started dragging him along.
Come on.
To the magical land of showers.
The boy startled again and hurriedly stopped me.
“W-Wait! You're going to get dirty!”
“Huh? What?”
He looked between my hand and his own.
“Y-Your hand...”
“Oh! You mean because I was cleaning earlier? Don't worry. I washed them.”
“That's not what I meant...”
“Well, let's go!”
The boy stared at me strangely.
Then, without another word, he allowed himself to be led away.
The twins and the shaggy-haired boy stood hesitantly outside the shower room.
At that moment, Champ and Darwin emerged from inside after finishing their baths.
The instant they spotted the three boys, they froze.
The Class 3 children immediately stiffened.
Seeing their frightened expressions, Champ and Darwin openly laughed.
“Oh wow. It stinks.”
“Hey! Didn't we tell you not to show yourselves?”
“W-We were going to bathe too...”
Miles gathered his courage and answered.
Champ and Darwin exchanged glances.
Then they burst out laughing.
“There isn't a shower here that you're allowed to use.”
“Since when did you guys care about bathing? If you use it, won't it get contaminated? That's disgusting.”
The surrounding children snickered.
The three boys lowered their heads.
This is exactly why we didn't want to come...
Tears began gathering in their eyes.
Then—
“Hey.”
At the familiar voice, Darwin and Champ instinctively flinched.
They quickly straightened themselves.
After all, they weren't afraid of the current Lopez.
Not anymore.
No matter what she said, she didn't lash out like she used to.
The two boys raised their chins defiantly.
Their bravado lasted only a few seconds.
“Contaminated?”
Lopez pretended to adjust a pair of nonexistent glasses and opened an imaginary notebook.
“What kind of contamination are we talking about exactly?”
The boys blinked.
“Water pollution? Soil pollution? Air pollution?”
She looked up at them seriously.
“Could you explain precisely what kind of contamination these children are causing?”
Caught completely off guard by the unexpected question, Darwin and Champ could only gape helplessly.
“Uh...”
“W-Well...”
