I make my way to well, few people glance at in my direction, probably surprised seeing a new face in the village. Behind the well, I spotted Alexia playing with dolls made out of mud. "Do you have fun sitting in dirt?"
My voice startles the girl as she quickly turns around and hides her dolls. "You! What are you doing here?"
"I came to find yo-" Alexia stands up and tries snatch Kela from my embrace.
I take step back. "What are you doing?"
"Taking my little sister away from your filthy hands. Give her back!" Alexia dashes at me.
Sensing the distress, the poor baby starts tear up. "*Hic* UWAAAHH!" I gently hold her and sway her in a rhythmic motion. "Here. My girl is strong. She doesn't cry." My efforts are clearly not working as Kela is not calming down.
"Give her here!" Alexia takes her away from my hands. She puts Kela on the edge of the well and hands her the mud dolls. Seeing the cute dolls which slightly resembles Mel and Helen, Kela's attention is diverted. "Buhh! I am big brother Mel!! I only know have to yell at Alexia!"
"Oh, here comes, big sister Helen! She will teach him a lesson."
Kela starts to chuckle as Helen's doll hits Mel's doll in the face. "Oh. Big brother Mel is asking forgiveness."
The chuckles soon turn into laughter and the Kela stops crying. "Heh! Even I can do that." I mumble while looking away.
Alexia turns to me with a smirk on her face. "Oh, sure you can."
I click my tongue. "Just shut up. Go inside the house and start cleaning."
"And who are you to tell me what to do?"
I glare at into Alexia's eyes. "Listen here. Your big brother has told me to look after you all. So, you have to listen to my words."
Just as Alexia was about to say something, we were interrupted by Kela's cry. We both turned only to see her leaning deeper into the well. "Kela!"
"Woah! Woah!" I quickly grab the baby and saved her from drowning in the river. "Maybe don't put Kela on the edge? Or anything at all?"
Alexia genuinely looks relieved as she didn't snap at my comment. She walked closer to the well and leaned in dangerously.
"I won't save you."
"I know. Look she dropped one of the dolls, there! Look closer!"
I leaned into the well and spotted the doll at the bottom of the well. The well itself was pretty deep but the water was scarce as well, so much so I could clearly see the doll on one the rocks below. "Alright. Hey. Hold Kela." I hand the crying Kela to Alexia and stand on the edge of the well.
"You don't need to do this."
"I don't know much about kids. But I know one thing that they can incredibly stubborn….. Just like her sister." I answer without looking back.
With the help of the bucket and rope, I slowly descend down. Once down, I gently pick up the doll, the water was around my knee level.
"Shit." The impact of the fall shattered the doll, it is now missing a head and right arm. "A little bit of earth magic should do the trick."
I stretch my hands and hold it directly above the doll. "Huu.." I inhale deeply, slowly directing mana into my fingertips.
'Yes. I can see it. Mana traveling through my veins. Yes… Just a bit more.' I began fabricating the most basic magic circle on my hand.
"UGH!" A sudden cramp obstructed the mana flow which sent uneven amount of mana to my fingertips that shattered the magic circle. "Fuckkk. Hahh…" My hand had turned red and it felt like it was burning from the inside.
'Something's wrong with this body.' I thought.
"Hey!! Did you found the doll?" I look up at Alexia.
"Y-Yes. I got it." I couldn't possibly hand Kela a broken doll…. I scratch the rocks beneath my feet to gather some gravel in my hands. Now I carefully attach the hand and the head of the doll with gravel. 'There we go! A brand-new doll.'
I put doll in my shirt and grab the rope. Mana slowly enters my body, I redirect it to my arms to strengthen my muscle fibers. 'At least body strengthening spell works.' I began to pull myself up.
After an intense struggle, I somehow managed to get out. While I was lying on ground, gasping for air. Alexia leaned in to take a look at me. "Where's the doll?" She asks.
I took out the doll and hand it to her. "Where. Is Kela?"
Alexia takes the doll and examines it. "Oh, it's her lunch time. So, aunt Meloni took her away…. What did you do this?"
I barely manage to stand up.
"Where is the hand? And oh the mighty emperor! Why is the head all blackened out?"
"It's gravel. It broke when it fell. I tried to fix it."
Hearing reply, Alexia didn't argue but put the doll in her pocket. "Don't worry about it. I will fix it later. Afterall, you can't do a thing correctly."
I get offended by her tone. "Listen here, you brat! I am Altaris! The court magician and personal aid of the emperor himself! I fight against entire armies, conquer lands, I don't know how to fix these…. mud dolls."
Alexia laughs at my words. "Altaris? The legion commander? Pfft! Such holy name is wasted on you."
I suppress the urge to slap this girl right here and now.
"Conquer lands! Hahaha! Such a kid." Alexia begins to mock in a sarcastic tone.
I chose to ignore her and walk away.
"Wait. Where are you going?" Alexia asks me as she follows me.
"Why do you care?" I answer coldly.
"Are you angry? Okay, I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that much."
I remain silent.
"Okay. I am grateful that you brought the doll back. Now come back home with me so I can apply some ointment to your hands as a repayment."
I stop and take a look at my hands. They all are blistered with some bleeding here and there.
"Come. Please?"
I sigh inwardly.
As we walk closer to the house, a funny smell enters my nose. But I don't think much of it. I open the door and my eyes pop out of my sockets. "What the hell are you doing?"
The kids had literally started a fire in the house itself. Few kids are dragging sharp substances into the fire. While the remaining ones are throwing away every cloth. Rushian runs up to me with smiles. "You said to clean everything. But we can't throw all of this outside as the villagers will get mad at us. Then I thought 'Why don't we start a fire and throw everything inside!' just like the mothers did in the orphanage, right Alexia?"
I glance at Alexia who was too stunned to speak anything. Through the door, a wind comes through and spreads the smoke everywhere. "That's why I closed the door."
I grit my teeth and grab Rushian's face. "Stop the fire."
"Huh?"
"Stop this damn fire."
"I-I can't! we need water from the well."
"Look the fire's spreading out!" Alexia points it out.
"Shit." I release Rushian's face and yell on top of my lungs. "Everyone! Drop everything and come on this side! Alexia go and grab that rug over here! Rushian lead the kids outside but don't make any noise. I spank you if any of the villagers got to know of this." Rushian nods in a hurry and leads everyone out.
Me and Alexia got to work.
The noise of thunder shook the entire house. "UWAHHH!" Kela started crying.
"Now, don't cry. See big sister Alexia is here. See?" Alexia is calming the baby down as I glare at the remaining kids.
"Do you understand your mistake?" I ask.
"Yes…" Everyone of them answered.
"Will you do it again?"
"No…"
"Good. Now go and face the wall for an hour."
"Ehhhh?"
"Go now!"
Everyone turned to wall and the house finally become peaceful. "Well, who knew an old rug could put out fire, huh?"
I glance at Alexia. "That was bad. They could have gotten injured or even worse died."
"Yeah, if it wasn't for your quick thinking-"
"I wonder when Mel is coming back." I purposely cut Alexia. 'I knew I wasn't good with kids but this was a disaster. If Mel comes back, then I can leave. The last thing I want is that these brats develop a connection to me.'
"Yes… it is night now and he still hasn't returned."
We both sat there in silence, looking at blackened walls and half burned things.
After some time, Rushian calls out. "Can I go to pee?"
"No."
"Please it's an emergency."
"Do that after an hour."
Suddenly someone knocks on the door. Alexia passes Kela to me and gets up to open the door. I carefully put Kela in my embrace, careful not to get any ointment on her.
Alexia opens the door and screams. "Mel!"
I quickly put Kela on the floor and dash to the door.
Outside, stood Mel.
All beaten up. Eyes swollen. Smelling very bad despite being wet. Nose bleeding badly. Clothes all tattered.