When we arrived at Old Woman Farla’s farm, we were immediately greeted by the sight of Sherry working hard on the fields. It seemed she was busy watering the crops, as she was carrying a large steel watering pail with her. And by large, I meant “half her height” kind of large. And yet, she could carry it with no problems whatsoever, though she had to carry it on top of her head thanks to her not being tall enough to carry it normally.
“Hey, Sherry!” I shouted to her, waving my arms.
She looked up towards me, and a flash of a smile came to her face. It quickly disappeared when she noticed Marina however.
“What do you want? And who is she?” She glared towards her.
“Hello.” She returned with a smile. “I’m Marina. Hugo’s sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yeah. Sorry for not telling you beforehand.”
She seemed to not appreciate me forgetting to tell her about Marina, judging from her frown. But then again, she’s always frowning, so who could tell?
“Thank you for playing with my little brother.” Marina gave a little now. “He doesn’t have many friends, you see, so I’m glad he can have a playmate of his age.”
“I-I’m not his friend though…” She averted her gaze, blushing a little. What’s this? Did I just witness a genuine, honest-to-goodness tsundere moment? Now that I thought about it, she fit every stereotypical tsundere characteristics out there! Bad temper, super strength, no hesitation to punch people she didn’t like–the only difference was her long black hair, which usually belonged to a prim and proper Yamato Nadeshiko type instead.
“Hmm?” Marina’s smile turned into a smirk. “Hugo always talks about you though.”
“H-he did? What did he say?”
“That you are really cute and he wants badly to become your best friend.”
H-hey, Sis, I never said that! Don’t make up things just because you wanted to matchmake me with her!
Her face reddened once again, and of course, I was the one who earned her glare.
“T-then he should say it himself! Not hide behind his big sister like this! I-I don’t like cowardly little boys, you know!”
See, Sis! Now I ended up looking bad in front of her! Hey, don’t just laugh!
“Alright, alright.” She finally stopped, wiping a tear off her eye.
And then, all of a sudden, her expression turned all serious.
“Hey, Sherry.” She looked at her straight in the eyes, bending her knees. “Do you like working here?”
“H-huh?”
“Here? In that old hag’s farm?” Holy hell, did she just straight up call her an old hag?
Sherry didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked down, almost as if she was too scared to answer.
“I… I do not…”
Her answer was uncharacteristically weak for such a strong-willed girl.
“Then, I have a better offer for you. What do you think about living together with Hugo?”
Wait, what?
“We can adopt you, you know. Take you in, and raise you like you’re Hugo’s sibling.”
Sis, what? You hadn’t even talked about it with Father and Mother yet! You couldn’t just give her empty promises!
“R-really?” O-oh God, her eyes! They’re like a puppy’s eyes when you tempted them with a biscuit they loved very much!
“Really! Here, why don’t we talk to her now right away?”
With a smile on her face, she took her hand while gesturing towards me to follow her.
Oh Sis, sometimes, I couldn’t figure out what you were thinking in the slightest.
—-
Old Woman Farla’s house was on top of the hill overlooking her farm. It was smaller than ours, yet it still was a nice house, certainly a reflection of her upper middle class status.
Big Sis didn’t hesitate. She walked straight to the front door and knocked on it. Loudly, I might add.
“What in damnation? Who is that?” I heard an old woman’s voice coming from behind the door.
The wooden door opened, revealing the most stereotypical looking witch-like old woman that I had ever met. Really, if she just wore a witch’s robe and hat instead of a normal dress, she would be perfect for the role.
“You? Who are—Sherry, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be working right now?”
“Hello.” Big Sis gave her the most polite smile she could muster. Yet, at the same time, said smile didn’t reach her eyes. Whoa, scary. “I’m Marina Greenwood, and I’m here in Father’s behalf. We are interested in taking in Sherry here, and we wish to ask for your permission first.”
“Marina… Greenwood? You mean, you’re the daughter of those Greenwoods? Hmph, I see. Just as uncivilized as your parents.”
What the—what’s up with the snide remark? Hey, we were the guardians of this region, you know. Or at least, my Father was.
“Of course, Mrs. Farla,” my sister replied. “We are certainly less civilized than you, who are a descendant of King Marchen The First. Even if that lineage is really, really distant from the current King.” The way she said it was full of venom. I could tell straight away that she was offended by her remark about our family, and that she was striking back by mocking her bloodline.
Eh? I never knew Old Woman Farla was of nobility! Was this another thing our parents told her but not me?
“Better than being a child of adventurers to be sure.” She wrinkled her long, crooked nose. “A bunch of ruffians, those lot. To think that Lord Eriol would employ them to be his knights–Hmph, unbelievable.”
If I remembered correctly, Lord Eriol was Father’s boss. He was the Baron of the region. Actual nobility, unlike our father.
“If your father truly wants that wild, ungrateful child—” Uh, I could see Sherry’s temper rising at this. “—then he must come here himself. I have no interest in talking to his brat. Good day.” She then slammed the door in front of her.
Marina sighed. “Well, that’s that. Let’s go back home, sha—”
CRACK
“Wild and ungrateful?! How dare she?! I have worked so hard for her! Day and night! And yet she never gave me a single gratitude! She’s the ungrateful one!”
CRACK
CRACK
CRACK
Holy hell! D-did that just happen? In her anger, Sherry just destroyed the stone pathway she was standing on! Just by stomping on it! Every time she did, pieces of rock flew off to all directions—luckily not hitting either of us—and we could even feel the tremor!
“C-calm down, Sherry, calm down!” I grabbed both of her hands from behind.
Only to end up with my world turned upside down as she threw me over her head as if she was some kind of a pro wrestler. I would’ve landed on the hard stone, if not for Marina running straight at me and catching me mid-air.
When she regained her senses, she looked at us with a horrified expression on her face, before looking down at her own, shaking hands as if she was looking at a smoking gun that she just fired and killed a person with.
And then, she ran away. With her speed, there was no way for any of us to catch up to her.
Marina sighed, patting me on the shoulder once she let me down.
“You got a hard road ahead of you, Hugo, if you really want to be friends with her.”
—-
Sherry
Ooh, I couldn’t believe it! I was so stupid! How could I have done that? And to him, too?
He had been kind to me, all this time! He was the only kid who wasn’t scared of me in the slightest! He would go out of his way every time to visit me each time he went to the village!
And now I screwed it up! Terribly! Ooh, he must hate me now! And his sister would never allow me to go near him ever again!
Before I knew it, I was already far away from the farms. My feet had taken me to the edge of the Merti Forest.
I was all too familiar with this place. It was the only place where I could vent off my frustrations in what I considered to be somewhat of a constructive, even positive way.
—-
I was born in an orphanage in Dearth, the only decently large town in this Sheffield Region. They said they found me on the front door one morning, crying my eyes out.
I was an abandoned child.
Of course, there were many like me out there–babies dumped by their parents for all sorts of reasons, from poverty to simple unwanted pregnancy. I never knew which category I belonged, not that it mattered. I didn’t receive love from my parents either way.
I never got along with the other kids, nor with the nuns working there, as the orphanage was affiliated with the church. I quickly terrified the former, and the latter thought I was a demonspawn for having such an unnatural strength.
As such, I was always alone ever since the day I was born.
Hmph, who needs friends or family? I am fine by my own!
At first, I believed those words wholeheartedly. I believed I could go through life by my own hands and feet, without needing to rely on anybody or anyone except for myself.
But then, I realized–that I was merely lying to myself. I wanted friends. I wanted to have a family.
My pride, however, never allowed myself to admit it. I insisted on my isolation, too scared on ever truly reaching out to others. They are going to hate me anyways, was what I always told myself.
One day, I was summoned to the head nun’s room. “Congratulations Sherry! Madame Tennyson has decided to adopt you!” She said with a dishonest smile. I knew for a fact that she never liked me, and wanted me gone as soon as possible.
Well, I couldn’t blame her. I was a troublemaker after all.
That was where I first met her. And at that time, even though I was bothered by how grumpy and straight up hostile she was looking, I swore to myself that I would behave and act like a good child for her.
As you might expect, my resolve did not remain untouched for long, as the moment we climbed up the carriage that would take us to her home, she declared, “You will work as my servant. You will tilt my farm and clean my house. If you act good, then perhaps I shall consider sending you to school afterwards.”
Not as her granddaughter? I immediately felt anger bubbling in my stomach. I was betrayed!
But then, I remembered what the nuns always said. Always be grateful, Sherry. Count your blessings the same way our Saint counts her children. So I kept it inside me. I still endeavoured to be my best in front of her. I did all my work without complain, even though I found it terribly dull and boring. But then…
“You lazy, idiot child. What kind of cleaning have you been doing if there is still a speck of dust around? Hmph, my old maid could do a much better job than you and she’s already 50!”
“You imbecile! That’s not how you plant the seeds! stYou have to spread them out evenly! And you didn’t even dig up the holes right! They have to be perfectly round!”
“What is this?! You call this tea? I can’t believe this, you can’t even brew a proper tea, you miserable little whelp!” She then threw the entire pot at me, making me scream in pain for the water there was still boiling.
It was like that day after day, with me continuously being scolded for the littlest mistakes that I made. And she would not hesitate to hit me either—slap me on my hand or even on my face, with such force that I was thrown to the floor. And she would also lecture me constantly, especially when we were having our meals together, saying how I should be more grateful to her for “lifting me up from such a wretched place”, referring to my orphanage.
I finally realized the truth.
I was not adopted to become her daughter.
I was adopted to become her slave.
—-
“Get lost!”
Another wolf whimpered as I drove my fist into its stomach. It was sent flying afterwards, crashing onto a nearby tree. And just like the others, it fell just after a single hit.
Around me was the whole pack of wolves, completely obliterated by the mere power of my kicks and punches.
I really am a monster…
This was my way of releasing pent-up stress—beating up monsters inside the forest. None of the villagers dared to go here, knowing how dangerous it could be for them, thus making it a perfect place for me to be alone, all on my own.
If only I was older, I would’ve become an adventurer. With my unnatural strength, it would be a very easy job. Beat up a bunch of monsters, go back, and then get the reward from the guild. Unfortunately, you had to be at least ten years old to be able to register with them. Such a silly, stupid rule, really. If you were already strong enough, why not just accept the person? It’s not like they cared if their adventurers got hurt or died doing their quests. It’s a common occurrence after all. Or at least, that’s what the nuns told me, to scare me off from becoming one.
I saw a forest boar in the distance, easily thrice the size of me. It saw me back and It immediately snorted furiously, as it readied itself for a charge towards me.
“Come here, you oversized pig! See if you really can take on the demon child!”
It did just that, and, right before it could hit me, I jumped upwards and gave it the strongest kick I could right on its head.
With a pained roar, it lost its balance, falling down to the side with a tremor.
It was still alive however.
“Take this! And this! And this!”
I kicked it in the stomach, over and over and over again. I put in all my hate, all my rage, and all my fury into it.
You stupid… stupid Sherry! How could you do that to Hugo? He’s been so nice to you! He’s your very first friend yet you treat him like that? How could you?
I didn’t care that the pig was squealing for mercy. It was better than hitting myself in the head, for being such a high-tempered idiot.
No one will like you if you can’t control your temper, you know. I remembered those words now. One of the nuns always said that to me. She was the kindest of them all.
The pig was no longer squealing. Blood poured out of its head and its soft belly that I had been kicking in. If only I knew how to cook, I could’ve had a feast with its meat. And if I brought it to the village, it would only cause panic.
Sorry, Mr. Pig. I guess you had died for nothing, just like those wolves I just massacred.
I returned back home afterwards, but not before washing myself off any dirt and blood that might have splattered onto me in the nearest river. It was getting dark, and I knew better than to frolic inside a forest in the dark.
I didn’t bother asking for dinner. I didn’t even come from the front door. I simply jumped to the balcony on the second floor and then sneaked inside from there. I knew for a fact that the room was empty, as the old lady slept downstairs. In fact, all the bedrooms in the house were empty, with the exception of her own room. And yet, I was still forced to have the attic as my room. “You are my servant. And servants don’t use the beds of their master.” She told me her reasoning when I asked.
I threw myself onto the hard bed, hoping that I could fall asleep right away.
All I had were nightmares.
—-
“Father, Mother, I have something that I’d like to ask of you.”
It was right after dinner. I stood up, announcing my intention to my parents. From the side, Marina was watching me with a smirk on her face.
“You have to be the one to tell Father and Mother by the way,” she had said to me when we returned. “You’re the one who wants to save her after all.”
“W-what? But you’re the one with the idea!” I quickly protested.
“Oh, don’t be such a scaredy-cat.” She suddenly scolded me. “You’re a man, aren’t you? Then this is your job. Tell Father and Mother how badly you want her to be by your side.”
Judging by her smirk, I could really tell just how much she was enjoying this. Sis, I’m still six years old, you know! Six years old!
Well, I had no choice. I actually agreed with what she was saying. Ultimately, I was the one who brought up Sherry after all. I could just have ignored her plight and go along with my life as usual. In fact, that’s what my old self would do. He would say something like, “Other people’s family drama isn’t my business”. I was done being a selfish, apathetic bastard though. So I ended up bringing up Sherry’s case to Marina. And I felt that even if I didn’t bring it up with her, I would still end up telling Father or Mother in the end.
“So, there’s this girl named Sherry, and—”
“WHAT?! A GIRL?!”
“SINCE WHEN?!”
Both Father and Mother immediately jumped out of their seats the moment I mentioned a girl. Especially Mother, whose boobs bounced wildly in the process. Daaamn woman, calm your tits down. And now, they were staring at me with bewildered looks that honestly wouldn’t be out of place in a comedy sketch.
“N-no, it’s not—”
“TELL ME ALL ABOUT HER, DEARIE!” She now took my hands while awkwardly reaching over from her seat, giving me an all too nice view of her large breasts pressing onto the table. Father on the other hand was smiling all goofy and proud on the side.
I sighed. What was wrong with my family? Everyone just immediately thought a six year old like me would have a girlfriend the moment I mentioned anything about a girl.
A/N:
Another picture for Sherry.
