Chapter: 325
“Today’s tasks: Done! I’ll be on my way now…!”
“Hehe, alright. Be careful not to get hurt while running.”
“Yes!”
The girl finished her work faster than anyone else and rushed out with a face full of anticipation.
When did it start?
When did the girl begin waiting so eagerly for this time of day to be over?
Of course, she had wanted today’s tasks to end quickly before, but back then, it was just because she wanted to rest.
But unlike before, the reason the girl started to look forward to this time was…
“I found you!”
“Oh no, I’ve been discovered!”
Just like now, she would finish her tasks and run to the promised place to hide, and Evangeline would always come to find the girl.
“Well, since I found you, that means it’s over! That was fun today too!”
Originally, this game of hide and seek had started as a way for the girl to avoid Evangeline.
So, there was an unspoken rule that if Evangeline found her, the day’s game would be over.
“Ah…”
However, at some point, the girl began to think.
It was such a pity that her time with Evangeline always ended so quickly.
“Uh, um…!”
“Hmm? What’s up?”
“How about we end the hide and seek today and play a bit longer…?”
That was the reason the girl had asked Evangeline to play a little longer.
What if she got rejected?
With trembling heart, the girl thought that.
“Wow! Really?! I love it!”
Evangeline nodded with a smile that seemed to say she’d been waiting for such a response.
Just as the girl felt relief and joy seeing Evangeline like that, Evangeline grabbed the girl’s hand and asked.
“So what should we play? Other than hide and seek, anything else is fine?”
“Ah, yeah…!”
“Then follow me for a moment! I want to show you something!”
And so, the girl was led by Evangeline into a small cave located a little distance away from where people lived.
“What is this…?”
“Hehe, it’s my secret base! Isn’t it cool?”
A space filled with various trinkets of unknown origin.
Evangeline proudly introduced it as she spread her arms wide, directing her attention to the girl.
“Since it’s a secret base, you must not tell anyone else, okay? I’m telling you because you’re my friend!”
“…Friend?”
“Hmm? You don’t know? Wait! Look at this!”
Friend.
When the girl tilted her head at the unfamiliar word, Evangeline pointed to something neatly placed in the corner of the cave.
“It’s written here. It says when you play together, you’re called friends.”
The girl didn’t know that the thing Evangeline was holding was called a book, nor did she understand the letters inside it.
“Since we decided to play together from now on, you and I are friends, right?”
But looking into Evangeline’s eyes as she asked this, and hearing the word “friend” from her lips felt oddly joyful, leading the girl to nod and reply.
“…Yeah, friend.”
“Hehe, I’m so happy to have a friend for the first time!”
And as the girl answered like that, Evangeline laughed joyfully and, suddenly realizing something, turned to ask.
“By the way, now that we’re friends, I don’t even know your name yet?! What’s your name?”
“…Name?”
“Yeah, your name! Just like mine is Evangeline!”
What Evangeline was asking was the girl’s name.
But the girl couldn’t respond to her question about her name.
“…I don’t have a name.”
The girl had no name.
“Oh, you don’t have a name either. Well, that’s the case for everyone here.”
However, Evangeline didn’t seem to find it surprising.
Not just the girl, but most of the slaves living here had no names.
To be precise, it would be more correct to say they had been discarded.
Giving up one’s name was like a sort of rule made by the owner of this mine, Davis.
Not all slaves shared the same status.
Some were born slaves, while others were nobles who had committed crimes and become slaves.
Thus, conflicts occasionally arose among the slaves.
For instance, someone who once was a noble might resent those who had been slaves from birth trying to stand on the same level as them.
But regardless of who they were outside, once in here, they were all slaves doomed to work for the rest of their lives.
Davis made the slaves give up their names to instill that fact in them.
At first, there was resistance, but at some point, the slaves accepted it and even began to recommend it.
Those who retained good memories from outside realized that being called by their names only reminded them of their miserable past.
Even if that weren’t the case, they came to understand that shedding names could actually prevent unnecessary conflicts.
So, most of the slaves here had no names because they gave them up.
In the girl’s case, it wasn’t that she discarded her name, but rather that in this environment, no one had given her one.
In that sense, Evangeline was very unique.
Having been born and raised here, she could use a name given by her parents, and nobody would scold her for it.
The girl had never thought about not having her own name since everyone else lacked one.
But her newly made friend had a name.
Perhaps for that reason, the girl felt oddly out of place, and for the first time since she was born, she thought about how disappointing it was not to have a name.
But then, Evangeline asked her.
“Hey, can I give you a name?”
As if she had read the girl’s mind, she asked if she could give her a name.
“Uh…? My name…?”
“Yeah! You know? My name Evangeline is in this book too, and it means good news! When I learned that after learning to read, I was really glad! I don’t remember much about my mom and dad, but I feel like they thought about me when they gave me that name. So I thought having a name would make you happy too!”
Hearing Evangeline’s words made the girl nod as if enchanted.
“I got it! Then I’ll give you the coolest name! Just wait a moment? Hmm…”
With that, Evangeline stared intently at the book for a while as if asking for her leave.
After a long moment of contemplation, Evangeline pointed at a part of the book, her eyes sparkling as she exclaimed.
“Ah! How about this? Beatrice!”
Beatrice.
The girl, unable to read the letters, didn’t know what kind of meaning this name had.
However, seeing Evangeline call it out with such confidence made the girl think it must surely have a wonderful meaning, so she asked.
“Beatrice… What does it mean?”
“Um, it means… blessed person. Uh… but what is blessing again? Anyway, something like that.”
But the answer Evangeline returned left the girl with an expression of disbelief.
After making such a grand statement, how could she pick a name she didn’t even understand the meaning of?
As the girl glared at Evangeline in amazement, Evangeline shook her head vigorously, as if refuting that notion.
“Wait, wait! Don’t look at me like that! There are still many words I don’t know! Plus, this isn’t a name chosen based on its meaning!”
“…Then?”
As if to invite her to explain, the girl inquired, and Evangeline pointed to herself with her finger and replied.
“My name is Evangeline, right? But if I want to be called Evangeline every time, it’s a bit long. So I thought if I got a friend later, I could have them call me Eva for short!”
“Sure.”
“Look: Beatrice is a long name too, right? But what if we shorten it like before?”
At that question, the girl seemed to realize something, staring blankly and murmuring.
If Evangeline is shortened to Eva.
Then if Beatrice is shortened…
“…Bea.”
As the girl murmured that, Evangeline smiled as if that was exactly it.
“Right! Shortened to Eva and Bea! It feels just right, like friends! Doesn’t it? So that’s why I decided on that name.”
Looking at Evangeline, the girl thought.
That it was a name with far more significance than a name with a good meaning, one that felt like a bond of friendship.
The girl repeatedly murmured the name her friend had given her inside her head.
Bea, Beatrice.
At that moment, as the feelings of fullness blossomed in her heart, she was touched, but then Evangeline asked, looking a bit worried.
“Did you not like it… ? Should I change it to a different name?”
Did she not like it? Would she change it to a different name?
Startled by this unexpected question, the girl exclaimed.
“No! Absolutely not! I love it, Beatrice! I really like it!”
Hearing the girl’s response, Evangeline smiled.
“Really? Hehe, that’s awesome! Then I’ll call you Bea from now on!”
“Yeah! Thanks for giving me a name, Eva!”
And with that, Beatrice, who was no longer a nameless slave girl, smiled with the happiest face she had ever shown.
Unaware that she would soon lose that happiness.
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