<Elysia POV>
"O-Of course Elysia." Yumi's face turned bright red from me accidentally calling her little sis. I didn't want to say it out loud, but because I kept thinking of her as such, I ended up saying it unintentionally.
'At least she doesn't seem to hate it.' I was worried Yumi would feel uncomfortable, but it seemed to be the opposite.
"Is there anything you can tell me about your life before you got captured?" Curiosity was getting the better of me. Looking at Yumi, she didn't seem any older than 15, so she must have only been kidnapped recently.
"I-I was attending school in our little village, b-but it all came to an end when it was attacked." Yumi ended up circling back to how she ended up in this situation, and I couldn't help but feel bad. Just by the look on her face, every memory she tried to recall was filled with a pang of sadness.
On another note, it made me realise that Shaman and I never sent Silver to school, completely depriving him of that kind of experience.
'I can't believe it, can we really call ourselves mothers at this point… I guess we really need to have a regular child.' Silver was a great way to skip all the annoying parts about raising kids, but he was too good, meaning we barely got to experience actually trying to raise him.
'I should include that we need to have a child in my message to Shaman later… Actually, it might be too soon.' I was getting ahead of myself and got sidetracked from comforting Yumi, so I pushed those thoughts away for the time being.
"It's okay Yumi, Once we are out of here I'll find you a safe place where you'll never have to worry again." Once again I hugged Yumi, trying to distract her from tragedies that no child should have to go through.
*Sniff* "T-thank you." Yumi almost started to cry, but she tried her best to hold it in. I would have told her to just let it all out, but unfortunately, she needed to be strong, especially if she was going to survive this place.
"Let's ask a bit of a lighter question. How old are you Yumi?"
"13."
"...." My brain took a moment to process her age, but one thing was undeniable. My rage was beginning to get out of hand.
"I am seriously going to murder someone out of rage at this point. To kidnap a child and have her go through such horrible things at such a young age." I strained my voice and tightened my fists to the point of bleeding in an attempt to calm myself.
"E-Eliysia! Your hand!" However, Yumi realised what I was doing to myself as she saw blood seep out of my hand.
"Sorry." Hearing Yumi yell out, snapped me back to reality and loosened my grip.
"W-we need to treat it right away!" She quickly pulled away from the hug and headed for the door, but there was no need.
"Yumi, it's okay. See?" I lifted my hands and let my flames heal the small cuts showing it was okay.
"They're b-burning!" However, Yumi completely misinterpreted the flames, which made me believe she hadn't been told a thing about my family's abilities at all.
"Calm down Yumi, These are my flames and they are able to heal wounds." Dispelling the flames on my hand, the cuts were no longer there.
"Phew, I didn't realise you had that kind of ability." Yumi collapsed to her knees relieved that I wasn't hurt, but the shock of seeing me on fire must have scared her.
"You must have not seen magic often. Fire doesn't randomly appear for no reason dummy." Getting up from the bed, I walked to Yumi and picked her up from the ground in a princess carry. She was surprisingly light as if I were picking up a feather.
"Eeek!" Letting out a tiny squeal as she was lifted off the ground, Yumi was quick to wrap her arms around me for safety.
"Cute~."
"E-ehh?!" Yumi blushed again while staring at me as if to ask what the hell is cute about this.
"You'll understand one day, but for now it's getting late and I should head to bed." I placed Yumi in the chair and took a few steps back before clicking my fingers. My clothes glowed for a moment before transforming into an oversized shirt that covered my shorts, making it look like I had nothing underneath.
I usually wear my lingerie, but Shaman isn't here so I opted for my more casual sleepwear.
"Woah… Am I able to do that?" Seeing Yumi curious about the magic I was doing, she really must have come from a rural town that didn't rely much on mana. It was strange to think that there were still some areas where magic wasn't used.
'Although most people use mana passively, it would seem that most of the population doesn't actually use higher grade magic.' Even if most of the people we encountered so far did use magic, compared to the number of people that live in this world, it is a very small amount.
Magic usually requires study, so unless you put in the effort or are some kind of genius, you're gonna be as oblivious to it as the average person.
Surprisingly, I ended up gaining a perspective I never really thought about, but it made a lot of sense.
"If you study hard once we leave, then I am sure you can use all kinds of magic." I didn't want to discourage Yumi at all from trying, but before then, I needed to finish my business here.
'Hmm, maybe I shouldn't take my powers for granted. Since I've been blessed by Shaman with this system that makes everything so much easier, it seems I forgot the astronomical amount of effort needed in order to use magic.'
"Mhm, I will do my best!" A look of admiration sparked from Yumi's eyes, which hit my heartstrings and made me want to squish those cheeks of hers.
"Are you able to walk? If not, you can sleep next to me." It was a big ask for Yumi to stay in the same bed, but I didn't want the poor girl to sleep on a chair.
"Y-yep I should be okay." Yumi tried to stand up from the chair, but she instantly fell back down causing her face to redden in embarrassment.
"Haha, don't stress, plus my damn grandfather expects me to mess around, so it's okay." Although it wasn't a pleasant thought that it might be misconstrued as me taking advantage of a 13-year-old, I doubted the moral standards of this place were very high.
'Ugh! The thought alone disgusts me, but it might work in my favour as it will show to Teivel that I don't 'care' for keeping a moral compass.'
"Then i-if I may, I'll stay here tonight." Yumi seemed reluctant, which is expected since she has an image to uphold with the other maids. Although the one who'll be getting judging stares would probably be me.
"Alright, let's get comfortable." Lifting Yumi from the chair, we made our way under the covers of the bed. It was big enough for us to each have our own side, so if need be Yumi had plenty of space.
"Goodnight Yumi, and make sure you sleep well. Tomorrow it's back to normal duty." Using a little bit of magic, I turned off the light, enveloping the room in darkness.
"Yes Mistress." As if the bed had a sleeping spell on it, Yumi had already begun drifting off to sleep, showing how tired she truly is.
'What kind of shit does this house put them through? There must have been countless maids beforehand, all sucked dry and it's only a matter of time before someone finds a reason to kill them. Well, a small mistake is hardly a reason, but I suspect any excuse is more than enough here anyway.'
I looked at Yumi, hoping she would be able to survive on her own long enough. She is a 13-year-old girl being forced to be a perfectly trained maid, which is much too unreasonable.
'What a mess I've gotten myself into.' I hadn't expected to get involved with anyone else here, but it seems I've developed a soft spot for struggling children. Having gone through my own personal hell, I wanted to be the light that guided Yumi out of hers.
'I should write that message before I fall asleep.' Opening up the system menu and the chat function, it seems Clara has made some significant progress.
The screen was like a window with a small prompt to type my message. There was also this weird thing with letters on it, but I could use my mind, which was much more efficient.
**
<10 minutes later>
'Done!' After sending the message, I saw it pop up in the window, allowing me to read back on what I said. A little icon also appeared under the text saying that it was successfully sent, which was handy.
*Sigh* 'Finally, some time to rest.'
***
<Shaman POV>
*Ding!*
"Hmm?"
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