I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

“Okay, let’s check the documents.”

 

Before I came here, I had received and brought along the grant documents from Mariel. As expected, the documents were neatly organized in the director’s office.

 

“Wow, 200 Elso for a single carton of eggs… Did they make the eggs out of silver?”

 

The easiest thing to spot was embezzlement related to food expenses.

 

“Yesterday, they supposedly bought rice worth 1,000 Elso. Shall we take a look in the kitchen?”

 

Of course, in the kitchen, there was already a lot of old, sticky rice lying around.

 

As I clicked my tongue, the children who had been cowering began to gather around one by one and speak up.

 

“It’s been a long time since we had a proper meal!”

 

“The last time we had stew with meat was two years ago! That was when Lady Mariel came to visit.”

 

“Actually, there’s no hot water either.…”

 

When they saw the director being taken away, everyone seemed to decide that now was the time to speak up.

 

“Alright.”

 

I rolled up my sleeves and made a declaration.

 

“This is clear embezzlement, and it even amounts to child abuse. I will not let this go unpunished. I promise.”

 

Actually, it was a bit bitter. Mariel had quite a fondness for her estate.

 

So, she even reduced her assets and allocated a large budget to facilities such as orphanages and nursing homes.

 

The problem is that it only fills the bellies of the wrong people.

 

‘Mariel was born with a kind personality, but since she only lives in the mansion, she doesn’t know how a place like this works.’ 

 

I quickly wrote up a complaint on the spot and handed it over to the administrative staff who had come with me. 

 

Then I asked Runart.

 

“Are the other caretakers here the same as the director?”

 

“Almost all of them…”

 

Runart, who had been rolling his eyes nervously, whispered quietly.

 

“But Miss Lisa is a good person! She even secretly shared bread with us at night.”

 

“I see. Okay, I understand.”

 

I also asked some of the kids privately and found out that one young woman named Lisa cared about the kids quite a bit.

 

“You will be the director of this place for the time being. I will give you full authority, so please hire new caretakers as well.”

 

Lisa, looking around at the chaotic state of the orphanage, nodded resolutely.

 

Seeing the children’s happy expressions, it seemed like a good choice.

 

I raised my chin and gave instructions to the knight guarding my side.

 

“Make sure to spread the word to all the orphanages in Medes about what happened to this director.”

 

It was also a warning to Lisa.

 

It was as good as a declaration that I would ensure such a thing would never happen in Medes’s territory again

 

“Let them know that any other place behaving like this will face the same consequences.”

 

“Yes, Lady!”

 

Honestly, it wasn’t even a difficult task. The ledger was such a mess, it was evident how carelessly they had been living.

 

‘This is just the beginning.’

 

Since even the random orphanage I visited was like this, I thought that I would probably have to do a lot of work to raise Medest.

 

“Thank you very much.”

 

As I was looking around with a heavy heart, Runart bowed deeply in gratitude.

 

“There’s no need to thank me. My sister Mariel genuinely cares about the people of this territory. It’s just that some greedy people were exploiting her goodwill. So…”

 

I raised my hand and patted Runart’s head, smiling.

 

“Please don’t hate Medes.”

 

“How could that be!”

 

Runart shouted with his eyes sparkling.

 

“I will definitely become a great doctor and become the personal doctor of the Duke Medes family! I will study really hard so that everyone can stay healthy and live a long life!”

 

Then, with a faint blush on his cheeks, he added shyly,

 

“Of course, that includes you too, Lady Yurika…”

 

“Oh, thank you.”

 

In fact, I was more worried about Sienna’s health than my own, but I smiled at Runart and patted him on the shoulder.

 

“I noticed earlier when you were looking at the book up close—it seems your eyesight isn’t great. Let’s get some glasses on the way to the academy.”

 

“Yes, thank you!”

 

It seemed like everything was roughly organized.

 

Now, if I could just take Runart to the medical academy, I’d have achieved my current goal.

 

‘Runart Cardin, you clearly became the best doctor in the empire through self-study.…If you study properly, you surely become skilled enough to save Sienna.’ 

 

I let out a small sigh as I thought of Sienna looking at me and shouting, ‘Yurika!’. Before I knew it, the sunset was setting.

 

It would take years for Runart to finish his studies and return as Medest’s family doctor. Until then, I could only hope Sienna’s condition wouldn’t worsen too much.

 

‘At least one problem is resolved. And being the Lady of Medes definitely gives me the power to accomplish so much.’ 

 

If I were just an ordinary commoner girl, there’s no way I could have overturned the orphanage like this.

 

In that sense, the Medest family also owes me a favor, but I also had many things I could do in the name of the Medes.

 

‘For example, secretly investigating a temple.’ 

 

Since the temple came to take me, I have never let my guard down against it.

 

‘I have to be careful in the future. If they find out that I’ve become human, things could get really complicated.’

 

I watched the sunset turning crimson for a while.

 

It reminded me of the sunsets I used to watch from the Duke of Hyrad’s estate.

 

Every time the sun set and darkness came, I thought that now I could go see Yohan.

 

Although I started to do that to become human, at some point I started climbing the tower with the mindset of going to see a really close friend.

 

‘Did Yohan really solve it well? I’ll have to ask him why he told me not to worry at the end when we meet again.’

 

I smiled faintly as I thought of Yohan, who must be on the battlefield by now.

 * * * 

Sunset evening, a rear area of the battlefield. 

 

“Young Master, what are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat—!”

 

One of the cooks approached A boy but paused in surprise, his eyes widening slightly.

 

“Shh!”

 

A boy with jet-black hair and purple eyes put his finger to his lips, signaling for silence.

 

He was cutting up a piece of bread and leaving it on a rock, while a squirrel with a wary look on its face was scurrying around behind a tree.

 

After some time had passed, a squirrel, slightly less alert, came running over and picked up the piece of bread the boy had left behind.

 

A faint smile appeared on the boy’s face as he watched the squirrel put a piece of bread in his mouth.

 

The sight was so beautiful that the cook held his breath for a moment.

 

The boy, who is too attractive for his age, was Yohan Hyrad, a noble who had been brought in to replace the recently deceased Duke Hyrad.

 

However, Yohan Hyrad, who had been deployed after the death of Duke Hyrad, was now sixteen and still recovering from illness. Therefore, he had to retreat to the rear.

 

The cook sighed faintly and took a step back as Johan’s eyes, looking at the little squirrel, were so warm.

 

There were times when the boy’s expression, usually cold, would change to a more affectionate one, and it seemed like now was one of those times.

 

‘Momo, are you doing well?’ 

 

Yohan stared blankly at the squirrel, lost in thought.

 

‘Right now, I wasn’t doing much, sidelined at the rear and practically useless, but according to Momo, a magic suppressant would be developed by the temple within a few years.’

 

Once that happened, he would be able to control his magic even without a divine beast and use it to end the war.

 

As soon as the war is over, he will go find Momo.

 

‘I hope you are doing well somewhere.…’

 

The squirrel he had been watching ran off into the forest.

 

Behind the small creature, the sun was setting, casting a deep orange glow.

 

The soldiers said that after sunset, they all became sad for no reason, but Yohan liked the time of day when the sun was setting.

 

Yohan vividly remembers eagerly waiting for the coming darkness, for the squirrel running with the night on its back.

 

‘I miss you.’

 

Other soldiers, except him, often wrote letters to their families.

 

But, as would be expected, Yohan did not send a single letter to Duke Hyrad’s mansion.

 

Momo was his only family, so when the war ended, he had no other wish than to find her again and live with her.

 

‘Momo, I’ll give you everything I have. You just have to stay by my side and enjoy it all together.’ 

 

As Momo said, once he becomes a war hero, he will have everything. Starting with the Duke of Hyrad, all the wealth and fame.

 

‘I will give you gifts that are incomparable to the gold threads that Mariel gave you or the acorns that Tezen gave you.’

 

‘After Momo becomes human, she will have nowhere to go and no family.…I’ll be the only one who’ll be staying with her.’

 

Yohan thought as he watched the squirrel run away after eating all the pieces of bread.

 

‘That’s how we become each other’s only family. When we meet again.’

 

Light brown hair, warm, affectionate pink eyes. 

 

A quiet smile spread across his face as he thought of the cute girl who looked about his age.

 

* * *