Late at night.
While a certain young man was asleep, a group from the Old School Building gathered in the confectionery and baking practice room.
“He said it like that?”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t that mean not to eat it?”
“It means to eat it. If he’d simply said ‘never eat it,’ then yes, we absolutely shouldn’t. But saying ‘absolutely-absolutely-absolutely do not eat it’—that’s a different story.”
“…So what, if he says ‘absolutely-absolutely-absolutely-absolutely’ don’t eat it, then we really shouldn’t?”
“Enough.”
Instructor Esta, looking visibly exhausted, raised her hand.
“The fact that he didn’t explicitly say ‘go ahead and eat it’—that’s to test our will. And to ensure he has the upper hand later depending on how things unfold.”
“The upper hand…?”
“If Phoenix appears in the form of a young boy, could you resist him?”
At Instructor Esta’s words, the students from the Old School Building started glancing nervously at each other.
“If a little boy looks up at you and calls you ‘Big Sis…’ can you hold back?”
“…Tsk.”
Ludmila bit her lower lip, while Evangeline hugged the doll in her arms tightly, as if embracing someone in place of herself, offering a sheepish smile.
“We have to hold back. If we don’t, we’ll get arrested.”
“What if someone tries to wriggle out of it, saying there’s no such rule in the Old School?”
“That’s…”
“Even if the Academy is a supra-legal institution, that’s a clear-cut crime against human decency under imperial law.”
Instructor Kadisha held out her hand, mimicking putting on handcuffs.
“Even Silverstar wouldn’t go that far. Right, Yurha?”
“….”
“Or would they?”
“There are… certain things about Silverstar. But if I may defend myself, I personally oppose such matters.”
Yurha raised both hands and shook her head firmly.
“There’s nothing more inefficient than sending children to work sites.”
“Ah, in that sense?”
“That too, yes. But if you’re referring to those rumors—then I’d like to think they’re untrue.”
Yurha moved her hand with a blatantly disgusted expression.
“A child… Ugh. Enough. This topic’s too much.”
“Which brings me to my point. Especially you, Yunia.”
Instructor Esta turned her eyes toward Yunia.
“If Phoenix were to appear in the form of a young boy, are you confident you wouldn’t act inappropriately?”
“Of course. I would treat him like a younger brother—just the way an older sister might act if she had a much younger sibling.”
“And your true feelings?”
“Even if I did have feelings… I’d tell myself, ‘Just wait ten years.’”
At Yunia’s words, others flinched in surprise, but Instructor Esta let out a long sigh and pointed at the cake.
“Fine. You’ll be held to that statement.”
“Yes! Then, I’ll take responsibility—”
Yunia carefully scooped a thin slice of cake with a teaspoon.
“Everyone’s curious, honestly. What was Phoenix like as a child? Especially… Miss Seia and Senior Yurha, I bet you’re even more curious.”
At Yunia’s loaded words, the two fell silent for a moment, then slowly picked up their teaspoons.
“…I just want to confirm something.”
“Me too. Though what each of us wants to confirm might be different. Isn’t that right, Instructor Esta?”
“Mhm.”
“U-Um…”
One by one, they began lifting their spoons. Even Shuri, caught up in the atmosphere, took a bite.
Nom.
In the end, everyone tasted the forbidden fruit—the cake.
But calling it delicious would be too generous. It tasted like something leftover from a run-down bakery that couldn’t sell out its stock and was just about to toss it out.
“…Phoenix made this?”
“Weird. It shouldn’t have been this bitter or tasteless…”
Creeeaak.
The door to the practice room opened.
“What are you doing?”
Before the door opened, the voice had been unmistakably Phoenix’s. But the moment they recognized the voice as Phoenix’s, everyone who had eaten the cake looked toward him.
“I told you absolutely-absolutely-absolutely-absolutely-absolutely not to eat that—”
“Kyaaah!!”
Yunia’s scream triggered the panic.
“Phoenix, what’s going on?!”
“Y-Yeah, I didn’t think it would turn out like this…!”
“…What is going on here?”
Ludmila approached Phoenix with a serious expression. The others furrowed their brows or covered their mouths in shock.
“Like I said… You weren’t supposed to eat it.”
In the eyes of Yunia and the other women—stood Phoenix, reflected in their gaze.
“It’s just… a child who grew up without parents endured a little more pain than most.”
The boy had blond hair, blue eyes, and pale white skin. And that white skin revealed things that were undeniably shocking.
Bruises and wounds.
And layers upon layers of white bandages wrapped around his body.
“I only recently developed this in a new experiment, so it’s still a bit unstable. What does it look like to you?”
“It looks like… a child who’s been abused.”
“Ah, really? Then… hmm.”
Phoenix folded a few fingers and nodded to himself.
“Probably around five? No—six years old, maybe.”
* * *
At some point, back in the Demon World, there had been a conversation like this.
“No shotas allowed.”
“…What.”
Countless ideas had been considered on how to most efficiently boost faith in Kyun-Kyun-ism, but the situation arose where the very Demon God who was supposed to be the object of that faith outright rejected it.
“You’re saying that while taking the form of a boy, soaking in a bath with me, and washing my hair?”
“Double standards~ Double standards~”
Changyeom tousled my hair as she laughed, though a trace of bitterness lingered in her smile.
“Be honest now.”
“When it comes to dealing with children, you can’t act carelessly. Maybe it was fine in the past, but nowadays, one wrong move and the whole world could blow up.”
I see.
So this is what people mean when they talk about affairs of the high and mighty.
“That’s unfortunate for Hydra then.”
“It’s a mistake to assume Hydra’s into that kind of thing. Just because someone likes children and founded Children’s Day doesn’t mean they’re like that, right?”
“True enough.”
That kind of dangerous talk is a line not to be crossed.
Some things must be handled with care.
“But then doesn’t that mean there’s no way to summon Jiryun?”
“We’ll have to think of another way. If we want to successfully summon Jiryun, then we need to recreate the image people held of her when she was on the surface.”
Changyeom snapped her fingers.
In a blink, her outfit transformed into that of a gracious maid, while I became a young child, like one who might’ve grown up in a medieval orphanage.
“…Wait. I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere.”
“Aaaaah~”
“Not that background music. Never.”
“Pfft. Fine. But you know, with this, we can protect the heroines’ mental states and drive out the darkness lurking in Esdinas Academy.”
Children played across a lush green field surrounding a quaint orphanage.
Their faces were full of joy, as if they knew nothing of the world’s cruelty. But on the backs of their necks, barcode-like numbers had been tattooed.
Sequences of numbers everyone might’ve seen at least once.
To a modern person, they might look like unfamiliar serial codes. But in this world, they held ominous significance.
983.03.31
What could it be?
It’s not something easy to take lightly. And when you see the child with that tattoo being celebrated among the others with a birthday cake, your thoughts naturally arrive at one conclusion.
“Question. What do these numbers mean?”
“Production date.”
“Correct. The system used by that shady organization from your memories… [Thieves’ Guild].”
Snap.
Changyeom flicked her fingers.
A glowing red “19” appeared before me, then began to branch off in multiple directions.
“There are countless adult-only stories that can’t involve children. Sometimes you’ll see scenes like that in a family home setting, and people call it art. Other times, it’s so blatant it gets slapped with ratings and warnings.”
“And then there’s the true darkness of the world—things only adults are even allowed to know about.”
“Exactly. For example… child exploitation.”
The genre shifts.
We had been talking about Kyun-Kyun-ism, but now the tone transforms—from ‘Big Sister Experience: Old School Edition’ to ‘This You Must Know.’
And it wasn’t just due to the nature of the industry.
The twisted creators of this world called Esdinas Academy had subtly embedded such settings throughout.
And I planned to use that—to provoke a certain emotional reaction in those at the Old School Building.
Not something base or lecherous aimed at a young boy, but to elicit sympathy and compassion—to make them face the world’s darker truths, and shine a light on its hidden cruelties.
“Technically, we could talk about it in that direction, but some things just can’t be discussed openly.”
“That’s true.”
* * *
Thus—
“So… you’re saying there are children outside of Esdinas Academy who have grown up suffering abuse like this?”
“That’s right.”
“…”
“You’re all from good families. That’s why it doesn’t hit you the same way.”
With everyone’s worried eyes on me—even if it was an illusion—I covered the injuries on my body with my hands.
“There are kids out there who didn’t just come from the dirt—they had to eat it to survive. Kids who could only see the stars reflected in muddy puddles, never the actual night sky.”
