C24
The obvious fact that lizards shed their skin was completely forgotten.
What's the point of being a lizard? I know nothing about lizards.
"Oh, did my body not return to normal because of the shedding?"
I heard that shedding consumes a lot of nutrients, so it was clear that it was difficult for me to humanize.
"...Lizard?"
Albion muttered very quietly and approached me.
Seeing the traces of shedding on Richard's palm, he looked at me, very nervous, and let out a soft sigh.
"You... you're a Suin."
As befits a hero who has been on the battlefield for a long time, he quickly realized my true identity.
"I heard lizards are a bit strange... But are Suin lizards this small?"
He said as if he were puzzled.
"Certainly, I am very small."
Suin basically comes from the most dominant species of the same species.
In other words, even the same lizard was followed by larger and longer-lived powerful species.
"I've also seen a Suin lizard. It was much larger than 2 meters. Are you a hybrid?"
At that murmur, I smiled like a fool.
Apart from that, I don't know what else to say.
"Wow, director. What's he saying? Is this my BamBam?"
"Yes, she seems to be a baby who hasn't reached adulthood yet."
Albion said that and carefully wrapped the blanket around me and tied it like a cloak.
"BamBam is human..."
Richard's jaw seemed to drop.
After a long time of searching for something to say, I cautiously opened my mouth.
"...Are you really surprised? I became human, but not..."
"...Are you really BamBam?"
"Yep, I'm Eirin. I hope you get rid of a name as strange as BamBam."
"Those eyes... you are indeed BamBam."
Eirin...
"BamBam has become human."
Richard, with wide eyes, approached me as if he had never done what he did a moment ago, and suddenly peered at my face.
His sparkling eyes were like the eyes of a child who had learned that robots could also transform and merge.
"Your parents must be looking for you. Are you from the Komodo family?"
I shook my head slowly.
"Then where are you from? As far as I know, there aren't many Suin lizard families."
I pursed my lips and shook my head slowly.
I couldn't bear to say that I had run away from the Etham family.
"Because I won't see anything good even if I go back anyway."
I'll return Richard to Duke Collin and request to take Richard's vacant place and let me stay in this orphanage.
When I lowered my head and shook my head once more, Richard got in my way.
"He came all the way to the orphanage! There must be a reason. You can raise her here."
"A Suin needs a guardian."
"I can be her guardian. I picked her up, so she's mine."
Richard held my hand tightly.
I had a strange feeling when I saw the little shoulders blocking my way.
When Albion didn't respond, Richard growled and bared his teeth.
"She's mine, Director."
"Rich, I know what you mean, but a Suin needs parents to become an adult. Suin need to meet certain conditions to grow differently from humans."
"But..."
Richard put force into the hand he was holding. He had an expression that seemed about to explode with resentment.
If I'm kicked out of here, I'll have trouble too.
I shook my head slowly.
"I-I have nowhere to go."
"Could it be that you were abandoned?"
No, saying that really makes me feel like an animal.
No, of course, I'm half-animal, but...
As I nodded slowly, Albion's expression hardened.
"How dare they...?"
His voice broke.
"Oh, come to think of it, this person can't stand child abuse..."
Due to the trauma of losing his daughter, he was particularly sensitive to children.
"Director, I'll do well. I'll do well in class and participate in training. I'll eat everything without complaining about the food. I won't call the other kids stupid pigs."
Richard took a step forward from the director, with his hands together.
Albion shook his shoulders.
He's weak with children too.
Albion looked at Richard with bewilderment.
"If? I'll take good care of her. If she has nothing to eat, I can share mine..."
I didn't know whether to be happy or sad about Richard's actions.
"...Will you participate properly in training?"
"Yes! I will."
"...There's no problem with adding another child."
He looked at me for a moment, then got up quietly.
"Eirin."
He rolled the somewhat unfamiliar name on the tip of his tongue.
It was the same for me that the name I heard from others wasn't my real name and wasn't familiar to me.
"Yes."
"I'll bring you some clothes, wait a moment. Richard, you go out."
"Why?!"
"Because Eirin is a girl."
"...Ah."
Only then did Richard nod with a flushed face.
The tilted head looked like a ripe rice grain.
(Translator's note: The phrase "the tilted head looked like a ripe rice grain" is a Korean idiom that means someone looks very adorable and cute when they tilt their head.)
"First of all... Establishing myself securely in the orphanage was a success, right?"
I never thought an unexpected escape would turn out like this.
"Also... I have money."
I tapped my wrist twice. Then, the hidden banking bracelet was revealed.
"It's good to know this function exists..."
I remembered seeing it in a book.
"However..."
I wanted to stay a little longer with the Etham family.
After a while, I was about to change and put on the clothes Albion had brought me when suddenly...
"...Oh?"
The tail has grown back.
"...Oh?"
Moreover, even after humanization, the tail didn't disappear. It was only then that I realized why Albion had immediately recognized me as a Suim.
"Why the hell did no one point this out?"
I opened my mouth as I looked at my tail in the mirror with a puzzled look.
I barely managed to get up when I tucked my tail into my skirt.
The tail doesn't disappear.
No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't disappear.
I was humanized, but only partially, making it difficult to leave the orphanage.
"It's amazing that BamBam can talk."
"...I'm Eirin."
Of course, I was grateful that Richard and Albion didn't seem to mind at all.
Perhaps that's it; when I made a face that looked like I was about to cry because my tail wouldn't disappear no matter how hard I tried, Albion knelt down and looked me in the eyes and even consoled me earnestly.
"Children can be clumsy in humanization by nature. I'll go to the capital soon and get some information."
Of course, it didn't help.
"Yes, but since I called you BamBam, you're BamBam. I saved you."
Seeing the child showing his teeth and smiling happily, I just kept my mouth shut in silence.
Richard had been saying the same thing for the past three days.
He seemed to have a wild temper from a young age.
"Come to the back mountain with me."
"But Richard needs to go train."
"...We can go after training. I'll finish first, and then we'll go."
"After that, you have to eat your food."
"......"
Richard pursed his lips in disgust.
However, since he had promised, he wasn't stubborn.
"Bam-Bam, would you like me to show you something beautiful then?"
"Something beautiful?"
"Yes, sometimes I pick these up when I go for a walk."
Richard took a worn wooden box from the deepest part of his desk drawer.
"Now, come and see."
Sitting on the unopened soft blanket, Richard carefully opened the wooden box.
When the wooden box was opened, something inside it sparkled.
It was filled with things that glittered in the sunlight.
It was full of colorful little pieces of crystal, shiny stones, and shells.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
The things that shimmered inside it boasted their own light enough to definitely be called a small group of stars.
"Yes."
"If there's anything you want, I'll give it to you. Because you're my BamBam."
As if I were possessed, I ran my hand gently inside the box.
"This..."
And I found a bright blue piece in it.
"Why is this here?"
I reached out carefully and squeezed it lightly. It became even more certain as I put the piece right in front of my nose.
"Is this really what I think it is?"
As I looked at the piece for a moment, Richard suddenly approached me.
"Why is this here?"
His face's expression became strange with a slightly incomprehensible feeling.
"Do you like it? Do you want it?"
At Richard's words, I involuntarily widened my eyes.
"This... I would prefer to have it."
I nodded slowly.
"Alright, what would you do for me if I gave you this?"
"You won't give it to me...?"
"Of course, I can, but that's my favorite... What can you do for me?"
What can I do...?
There was only one thing like that here.
"I'll let you meet your parents..."
"...What?"
"I'll find Richard's parents!"
When I opened my mouth with all my might, Richard widened his eyes and slowly opened his mouth.
"Are you worried about me?"
I nodded.
How could I not be worried when he held his breath and cried sadly in front of my eyes?
"Okay."
It was a satisfactory transaction.
After all, his parents originally intended to find him.
"If you fail, BamBam will stay by my side for the rest of her life, okay?"
It was going well, but the story somehow fell into a strange place.
Richard laughed mischievously.
"Since you and I are alone, how about we be a family to each other?"
Upon hearing that sad voice, I nodded involuntarily.
"I promise!"
Richard's face lit up.
