Chương 32: The Snack Conspiracy

Niko held the remaining biscuits against his chest while arguing that precious supplies needed protection. Tessa stared at him.

"But you ate one!"

"Nuh uh! I just checked whether it was safe!"

"You protected it by making it disappear?" Niko opened his mouth to answer, then looked down at the biscuits in his hands. Lysa leaned closer.

"You ate the largest one too."

"It was the most suspicious!" Ren sat beside the crib and watched the argument take over the room. The children had forgotten whatever they had been discussing before Niko brought out the biscuits. Now every eye followed what remained in his hands. Ren looked from the biscuits to Tessa, and thought seriously about how to go about this. Repeated questions would require repeated rewards.

Useful answers could earn treats, and treats could keep the children focused long enough to finish one task before chasing the next interesting thought. The idea, however, had one immediate weakness. … Ren possessed no treats.

"Tessa," he whispered. She stopped watching Niko's hand and came closer.

"What?" Ren leaned toward her.

"Sweets," he whispered. Niko brightened immediately.

"You have sweets?" Lysa stared at Ren.

"Ren can talk?" Corin turned away from the wooden horse, while Pella and Davi stopped whispering beside the crib.

"He said sweets," Pella said.

"I heard him," Davi replied. Tessa pressed a finger to her lips.

"Shh. Hush, hush. It's a secret!" Corin lowered his voice at once. Pella covered her mouth with both hands, and Davi leaned closer as though whispering required less distance. Ren shook his head at Niko, then looked back at Tessa.

"Sweets. Where?"

"You want to know where to get sweets?" Ren nodded. Tessa drew her brows together and lifted one hand, ready to count. The other children drew closer. Lysa stared at the floor, and Corin began muttering names under his breath while Pella watched his fingers. Davi looked hopefully toward the door. Niko glanced between all of them with the remaining biscuits held against his chest.

"Mama gives us honey bread sometimes," Tessa said, raising one finger. That source belonged to the household and would invite questions if food began vanishing. …But it remained a possibility.

"Old Mavren has fruit candy too," Lysa said. Corin nodded.

"Oh, I like the red kind!" Pella shook her head.

"The yellow ones are better." Niko began lifting another biscuit toward his mouth. Tessa caught the movement and pointed sharply at his hand while Lysa glared at him. He stopped with the biscuit just below his lips.

"He might give us some, if we ask nicely!" Niko said.

"You only want more because we stopped you eating those," Lysa replied. Niko lowered the biscuit to his chest without surrendering it.

"Still not a bad idea!" The topic engaged the kids so much they completely forgot about Ren talking in the first place. Ren did not know how to feel about ranking below candy in importance, but it was certainly convenient. The group fell quiet again as they searched for another answer. Tessa counted the two possibilities on her fingers. Lysa frowned at the floor, Corin looked toward the window, and Pella tapped her cheek while Davi watched Niko's biscuit. Niko waited for every other pair of eyes to turn away.

Then his eyes widened.

"Oh right, Little Yara has herb candy!" Tessa's eyes sparkled and she raised a third finger.

"Yes! She does." Ren looked between them.

"Yara?"

"Little Yara," Tessa said.

"Who?" Tessa blinked at him.

"You do not know Little Yara?" Ren shook his head.

"She is a cool little Lady Witch who lives a little ways away from the village!"

"Which is why we're not allowed to visit her often," Corin added. Pella leaned toward him.

"Because you once tried to go without asking."

"I knew the way."

"You went toward the mill."

"It was almost the right way!"

"... I want some herb candy now," Davi mumbled from the side.

"And she's older than us," Tessa continued, ignoring the bickering.

"About this much taller than me!" She stretched her hand as far above her head as she could.

"And skinny," Lysa added. Pella nodded.

"She has a pretty face." Niko nodded.

"And she has jars full of stuff!"

"Everyone with herbs has jars," Lysa said. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"She also has bones."

"Chicken bones."

"They are still bones." Ren studied Tessa.

"Witch?"

"Lady Witch!" she corrected.

"Little Yara makes medicine, charms, and herb candy. The green ones make your tongue feel cold!" That answered some of his questions. And introduced a whole lot more. Little Yara was another person Ren had never heard of before, which wasn't surprising for a baby stuck in a timeloop. Ren still did not know what being a witch meant here. Tessa used the title as though it explained everything, while Niko and Lysa seemed more interested in jars and bones. Although… the charms gave Ren something firmer to work with.

Charms were magic, so Little Yara could use magic. Probably! And if she knew enough to make them, she might know enough to teach him. The herb candy she made was a great boon as well. Unlike sweets taken from home, candy from someone already known for giving it to children, living away from the village, would draw little attention. Maybe he could convince Little Yara to tell him more about the village, possibly even teach him magic, and provide rewards for the children. Like catching three birds with one stone!

Or three problems with one witch? The idea survived until Ren considered what happened after he obtained the candy. First, he had to carry it. His hands were small, and walking still demanded enough attention without adding a supply of sweets. Then he had to hide it. His clothing offered nowhere to conceal a pouch, while leaving candy in the open would make the treasury difficult to keep secret. Finally, he had to distribute it.

Passing out individual rewards while directing the children to do the questioning for him would require more hands and attention than his baby body could manage. Ren looked at Tessa.

"Yara. Go." Tessa pointed toward the door.

"You want us to take you to Little Yara?" Ren nodded.

"Sweets. Get." Niko's eyes widened.

"You want sweets?"

"So do I!" Davi said. Pella leaned closer.

"Which kind?" Ren shook his head and pointed around the group.

"For. Every-body." The room erupted with excitement.

"Yes!" Niko shouted.

"We know the way!" Corin said.

"We just have to ask Mama!" Tessa added, already pushing herself to her feet. Lysa caught her sleeve.

"We still need to decide who asks."

"Me," Tessa said.

"All of us," Niko argued. Ren lifted both hands until they quieted.

"But. Snack. Need. Rules." Tessa drew her brows together.

"Rules for the sweets?" Ren nodded, then pointed at her.

"Tessa. Treasu-rer." The words came slowly, but the meaning reached them intact. [Skill Level Increased: Language Lv. 14 -> Lv. 15] She pointed at herself.

"Me?" Ren nodded again. Lysa understood first.

"The person who keeps the money." Tessa looked between Ren and the others.

"You want me to keep the sweets and give them out?" Ren nodded. She straightened at once.

"As Treasurer of Snacks, I need rules." Of course she did. Tessa raised one finger.

"No taking sweets without permission." Niko frowned.

"Where are you keeping them?"

"In a treasury pouch."

"We do not have one."

"We will." She raised a second finger.

"Everyone gets the same amount."

"What if someone eats theirs first?" Niko asked.

"Then they do not get another."

"What if someone gives me theirs?" Lysa looked at him.

"Nobody will."

"But they could!" Tessa ignored him and raised a third finger.

"No stealing." Niko looked offended.

"I do not steal."

"You tried to eat another biscuit while nobody was looking."

"It was already mine!"

"You still tried to hide it." Lysa turned back to Tessa.

"We need to record who gets what."

"I can remember."

"How many biscuits does Niko have?"

"..." Tessa failed to answer.

"... You already forgot how many biscuits Niko had!"

"I was not counting them."

"Then you might forget the sweets too." Tessa considered that for a moment.

"Fine. We record them." Ren had chosen Tessa since she was smart, understood him well, could carry the sweets, remember the rules, and keep the others from grabbing their share early. He had not considered how quickly she would discover the privileges of office. Tessa raised another finger.

"The Treasurer tastes every new batch first." Ren looked at her.

"Why?"

"To make sure they are safe." Niko nodded solemnly.

"That is important."

"You just want the first one," Lysa said.

"I am protecting everyone." Ren pointed toward himself.

"Me. Taste." Tessa pulled the imaginary treasury closer to her chest.

"No. You are too little." Ren stared at the Treasurer he had appointed less than a minute ago. He had solved the problem of managing the sweets by giving all authority over them to his six-year-old sister. That might have been an error. … Though perhaps Ren should have expected nothing less. The discussion continued while Tessa searched the room for a suitable pouch and Lysa argued that they needed marks on the slate to record who received each sweet.

Niko kept trying to establish circumstances under which he deserved an extra share. The Snacks-To-Children Communication System was becoming usable, and that should have pleased Ren without reservation. Instead, discomfort settled beneath the satisfaction. He was building another indirect method of dealing with the goblins. The children would ask questions and bring answers, Tessa would control the sweets, and Lysa would track who received them while Niko followed his excitement toward whatever sounded interesting.

All of it existed because Ren was still hiding from Bren and Elna. For most of his life in this world, telling them had been impossible. He had lacked the words, movement, and any reliable way to prove that his choices carried intent. Those limits had changed. Ren could walk downstairs and approach Bren and Elna instead of waiting for them to carry him. He could point toward the road, the forest, the church, and the people involved while speaking in short phrases and answering questions deliberately.

Tessa could confirm that his answers remained consistent. More importantly, Tessa already knew he was strange. She had heard him speak and learned that he could see invisible writing, yet she had accepted both without pulling away from him. She had treated his secrets as something to protect rather than something to fear. Would Bren and Elna do the same? For the first time, full disclosure was physically possible. The thought pulled his attention toward the bedroom door.

Bren worked below, and the steady scrape of wood carried through the floor. Elna moved near the hearth while the smell of warm bread drifted upstairs. Ren imagined leaving the children behind and walking downstairs while Bren and Elna watched. Mama. Papa. Listen. Goblins coming. He could tell them that the danger would arrive within a month and explain that the village needed outside help.

Tessa could prove that he understood far more than any baby should, allowing weeks of indirect manipulation to end in one conversation and giving his parents ownership of the warning from the beginning. The possibility hurt because he wanted it. He wanted Bren to believe him and Elna to stop interpreting his fear through guesses. More than that, he wanted to stop arranging children and questions around the people he loved. Tessa had accepted him, and he wanted to believe his parents would too. …

The potential repercussions still worried him. Elna might think the fever had changed him or wonder whether the baby she loved had somehow become someone else. Bren might simply refuse to believe any claim that impossible. They could bring Mara immediately or take him to Little Yara before Ren knew how she treated children who revealed impossible things. After that, every movement might be supervised and every training session could end. Stealth would lose much of its value if someone watched him constantly.

The house routes he had built would close under adult attention, but more painful than any practical cost was the truth itself. Telling Bren and Elna meant telling them that Ren remembered their deaths. The memories had preserved every detail: Bren touching Tessa's hair before leaving the church, Elna holding both children while fear tightened her voice, the smoke, the blood, the broken doors, and the moments they had never lived and would never remember. Ren would be placing those deaths inside them.

His parents were not adults he needed to move through a plan. They were his parents, and the distinction had become impossible to ignore. Even if he could try again in the next loop, even if the worst came to pass, could he take them distrusting him? Endure the anguish? And cause them anguish in turn? He just wanted his family to be happy and safe. Why was it so difficult to choose? Shaking his head helped dispel the negative thoughts. Just a little bit. … Ren would have to consider this problem carefully.

After meeting Little Yara. Yes, that sounded like a plan. Ren just hoped it was a good one.