"Teacher!"
Upon seeing the man, Daniela waved her hand excitedly, skipping and running toward him.
"Teacher, Teacher, have you already made up with Sister Aponia?"
"...Ah, of course."
"Then what are you going to teach me next? I've remembered everything you said!"
"Cooking."
"Huh?"
The man's black-gloved hand gently brushed through her hair as he whispered: "You can't date if you don't know how to cook. Making a good meal makes you very likable."
"Is it because Teacher is very good at cooking that so many people like you?"
"...No, my cooking is terrible."
Under Daniela's puzzled gaze, the man crouched down and whispered gently to her: "So you have to learn how to make food taste good."
...
"Hold the knife like this so you don't cut your fingers. You can go slower; no need to rush."
"Don't ignore the step of heating the pan before adding oil. Pay attention to whether the temperature is appropriate when adding oil, and watch the oil temperature carefully."
"Taste the saltiness yourself after adding seasoning. A chef cannot serve a dish they themselves aren't satisfied with."
The man meticulously taught Daniela how to cook. The person usually in charge of meals stood blankly at the door, watching as a big man and a little girl took his spot. But since he could get paid without working... that seemed okay too?
Daniela let out a sigh of relief as she covered the pot. The man handed her a towel to wipe the sweat from her face. She wasn't tall enough and had to cook on her tiptoes, sometimes needing a stool, so it was exceptionally tiring.
However, seeing the dishes she had made come out of the kitchen, knowing they would soon be eaten by her friends, Sister Aponia, Brother Kalpas, and Teacher, her heart was filled with nothing but satisfaction.
"Here, take a break."
The man gave her a bottle of soda, but Daniela shook her head upon seeing it: "Sister Aponia says drinking soda is bad for the body."
"...Do you listen to her or to Teacher?"
"Sister Aponia!" She puffed out her chest proudly, then waved a hand slyly. "But Teacher can definitely persuade Sister Aponia."
The man twisted the cap and handed it to her. She gulped down more than half in one breath. Perhaps she truly had never had soda before, as she looked even happier than before.
Daniela put the drink down, looked the man over for a while, and suddenly asked: "Teacher, you know so much. What did you do before you came here?"
"...Defended world peace."
"Hmph, that 'Ultraman' stuff again. It's fine if you trick Brother Kalpas, but I won't fall for it." Daniela patted her chest proudly, showing off her superior discerning skills.
"It's true."
"No way. How could a hero who defends world peace be playing with children in Sundown Alley?"
"Yeah. That's why I'm not a hero."
The man spoke leisurely: "The ones who want to defend world peace aren't just heroes. There are many people, using different ways... with different beliefs."
"Which type is Teacher?"
"...None of them."
"Pah, pah, pah." Daniela stuck out her tongue and hummed, "Then you're still lying to me. I've already learned Teacher's lying techniques, so I won't be fooled."
The man didn't argue, or perhaps he didn't know how to argue back.
"Teacher, will you stay at the sanatorium forever?"
The man paused and nodded.
"Right, Sister Aponia is here." Daniela lowered her head in slight disappointment. "But I want to leave Sundown Alley in the future."
He didn't ask why.
In Sundown Alley, the man saw only suffering. Wanting to leave was only human.
"I want to go see everywhere. The books say outside there are 'water grounds' wider than dirt floors, trees taller than houses, all kinds of little animals, volcanoes, peaks, canyons, the poles..."
"And cities made of buildings so tall I can't even see the top when I look up!"
"And a dream-like castle in the clouds that Sister Aponia told me about!"
"And a theme park made of candy..."
"And..."
Daniela yearned for the outside. As a child born in Sundown Alley who had never seen the sky outside of it, she longed for the world more than anyone.
Is the sky there a different color?
Will the people there be different?
The...
"Teacher, is everything in the books and everything Sister Aponia said true? You came from the outside, so you must know, right?"
"It's all true."
The man said decisively: "The castle in the sky, the candy house, the Fairy Forest... they are all real!"
"Then... where is the castle in the sky?"
"The castle in the sky is over a sea south of the Mu Continent. It uses an anti-gravity suspension system and light-refraction devices to hide high in the air."
"Sci-fi?!"
Daniela was clearly surprised by the man's explanation; it had "some" discrepancies with the fairy tales she knew.
"What about the candy house?"
"The candy house is a house where only woodworms live. After they die, all the woodworms that grew in the cavities of people who loved sugar go to the candy house to enjoy sweets to their heart's content."
"Why are woodworms enjoying the sweets?!"
The man glanced at her and said coldly: "Such is the cruelty of reality. Beauty is merely a fabricated lie, but there will always be someone brave enough to expose the lie and offer the truth to those who refuse to surrender."
"Oh..."
Daniela was intimidated. She hadn't expected the soul-stirring stories she had read in books and heard from Sister Aponia to be dark tales wrapped in a facade of false beauty.
Thinking of this, she admired Teacher even more. Teacher must be the person willing to expose the lies, right?
"Teacher! What about the Fairy Forest? Is that a lie too?"
"Of course. The Fairy Forest is..."
The man suddenly got stuck.
Under Daniela's suspicious gaze, he rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and then continued: "The Fairy Forest is a place where a group of fairies with long pink hair live. They are all exceptionally cute females whose voices end with musical notes and who only have one expression: a smile. Every time they meet someone, they say, 'Did you miss me?' We call them Miss Pink Elf."
"...Eh? Isn't that nice?"
"Not nice at all. The Fairy Forest is the most terrifying place."
"But Miss Pink Elf doesn't sound scary at all? Do they do bad things?"
"...Most of the time they just play pranks, but they also do good things."
"I want to meet a Miss Pink Elf in the future."
"Why?" the man asked in disbelief.
"Because the Miss Pink Elf that Teacher praises so much must be someone worth longing for."
She smiled, a light in her eyes.