The next day, in the late afternoon, Melinda was leaning against the main building of the orphanage, crossing her arms as she waited.
"..."
She glanced over at the silent girls lined up by the chicken coop.
The atmosphere was the farthest away from comfort that it could be…
Even the youngest of the girls that would always trot up to Melinda was now standing with the rest calmly… although that wasn't quite the right way to describe it.
The child was staring at her feet and holding her sides while her chin was trembling as she was tearing up.
The other girls also didn't even dare to look Melinda's way, which definitely was a far cry from what she was promised by Mister Jude, who apparently was in the middle of writing the report card for her.
Despite the fact that she made it clear that it should have been ready by that point.
Just before the afternoon turned into evening, a carriage climbed onto the small hill where the orphanage was, and a pair of youngsters emerged from it.
The red-haired boy with fluffy and curly red hair and a tall girl with long dark-brown hair. Both still in Jade Academy's uniforms, making it look like they rushed over as soon as the lectures for the day had finished.
"Young lady Fenrioette…!"
"G-good evening, young lady Fenrioette."
The pair timidly approached the gold-haired girl and greeted her, nervously awaiting her reaction.
"It's nice that you could make it. Those are the pupils of this facility. I leave them in your care."
"Gladly."
Melinda greeted them, raising her index and middle fingers together without unfolding her arms before nodding her head towards the line of girls, to which Richard gulped down his saliva and muttered.
After the pair walked over to the girls, they both introduced themselves.
It was rather cute seeing them blush as they informed the kids about them being engaged to each other and about the plans to run a clinic in the territory that Richard's brother will inherit.
Throughout the whole thing, Melinda remained in the same spot, not even trying to approach them.
It ended up being the correct choice. Even after warming up to Richard and Leona, the girls from the orphanage would often send fearful glances towards her.
While the red-haired boy was examining the girls with a serious expression, acting exactly how a medic should have, Leona was playing with the youngest girls to keep them occupied until their turn.
"..."
Melinda kept her eyes on Richard—not because she suspected him of anything, but rather because his expression was getting darker and darker with each girl he examined.
"...hnhh…!"
When it was the turn of the youngest girl, the child flinched and wheezed when the young medic put his hand on her back. The child even reached out to the dark-brown-haired girl, who hugged her reassuringly without hesitation.
"...can I take a look at your back…?"
Richard took a deep breath before asking, clearly holding back his emotions.
"Mhmm."
The child grabbed onto Leona so hard as if she tried to hide from the world completely but ended up letting out a consenting sound.
As Richard folded up the child's shirt, four deep red stripes of damaged skin across her back ended up exposed to the world.
"..."
At the same time, an angry vein bulged out on Melinda's forehead as she closed her eyes, trying her best to control herself.
"What happened?"
"..."
Richard asked, but the little girl didn't answer, burrowing her head in Leona's chest.
"Sweetie, it's okay. Could you tell us how did you get hurt like that?"
Leona exchanged worried looks with Richard before gently patting the child's head and asking softly.
"...I… I tripped and fell on… on a bench…"
In the end, the youngest girl sniffled and cried out, clinging to Leona with all her feeble might.
"..."
"..."
Once again, the pair exchanged grim looks before glancing at the other girls, of whom every single one averted their gaze.
"You too? That's a really dangerous bench you have around here… wouldn't it be in everyone's best interest to do something about it…?"
"..."
Richard pointed out and asked but got no answer, although in this case, silence spoke louder than words ever could.
"If that's the actual cause of the wound, it would not be affected by the healing spells during the encounter with a monster. Luckily, it's not anything gravely serious, so I will use a few spells to make sure it will heal up nicely over time."
The red-haired boy sighed while explaining before focusing and using the spells he mentioned.
Although the magic did not immediately remove the wounds, its effect was visible: the redness subsided, and the affected area soon began to look a couple of days old.
"Does it feel better?"
Richard asked, fixing the child's shirt.
"...yes…"
The little girl muttered as she nodded, not letting go of Leona.
"Haaa… that leaves you, Miss."
The red-haired boy let out a tired sigh, clearly deeply bothered by whatever the actual cause of the injuries that plagued the orphanage pupils was before he called out the last girl.
The ashen-haired Olina wasn't actually a pupil but someone who grew up in the orphanage and stayed to help out after reaching adulthood.
Olina hesitated but eventually approached the young medic, keeping her head turned so that the spot that bothered Melinda would not be visible.
"I believe you are the one young lady Fenrioette told me about. Are you comfortable with me using a spell that will let me recognize your affliction, or would you prefer to tell me about the symptoms?"
Richard asked gently, but the girl flinched regardless.
"...th-the spell is fine…"
She turned red and glanced at the other girls before muttering in shame.
"Thank you."
The red-haired boy nodded his head and raised his hands, concentrating on the healing magic he was about to use.
"...?!"
As the light-green light enveloped the clearly uncomfortable girl, Richard flinched and blinked a few times, making a distressed expression.
That was enough for Melinda.
The gold-haired girl left her spot and approached the group, causing all the orphanage girls—with the exception of the youngest one, who was clinging on to Leona—to back off fearfully.
Even Olina reacted the same way, forgetting to turn her face away and showing the shocked Richard the dark spot on her jaw.