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Children that were starved for attention often trailed after adults, sticking to them like glue. The children at the Gilford Orphanage were no exception.

They did all sorts of things to try to grab the attention of adults, be it excessive pranks or screaming their heads off.

And although I knew that was just how children were, I found it difficult to restrain myself from lashing out. I often felt the impulse to scream at them, and it wasn’t just once or twice that I barely managed to hold myself back from doing so.

But all things considered, the children weren’t at fault. If anything, the fault lied with the adults who couldn’t give them sufficient love.

It was only after reminding myself of that truth, that I managed to calm down.

On the other hand, the Saintess showed an unexpected side of herself.

A feisty personality hid beneath her facade, and it revealed itself whenever we interacted with each other. I thought that with her true personality, she wouldn’t last long before she lost her temper or quit, but her smile never dropped from her face since yesterday.

In fact, while I struggled to handle the rowdy children, she knew how to clearly distinguish when to play along and when to scold them.

It was honestly quite impressive, and it made her truly seem like the Saintess. I guess that in the end, her chest wasn’t the only remarkable thing about her.

Yuren also seemed to have an innate affinity for children as he soon gained a large following of young girls.

Neither of them had any problems. Thinking back, the Saintess had indeed mentioned that they were used to handling orphans since they had also been raised in an orphanage.

But where there were paragons of good, there were also miscreants. At least, in this orphanage, Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie were such miscreants.

Even now, the behavior of one of the miscreants was on full display.

A young girl, who seemed to have been charmed by Senior Delphine’s beauty and charisma, was holding out a flower to her.

In turn, the pair of crimson eyes faced the girl, seemingly questioning the child’s actions. Having gotten Senior Delphine’s attention, the girl’s eyes twinkled in anticipation.

“It’s a gift for you, Teacher Delphine! A flower!”

“Hm.”

Senior Delphine wordlessly accepted the flower and started examining it before callously questioning the ‘usefulness’ of the girl’s gift.

“What use do these flowers have?”

“Huh…?”

Faced with such an unexpected reaction, the girl’s eyes went blank.

Senior Delphine asked once more in a drab voice.

“Like, will it get rid of a cough if you brew a tea with it, or maybe stop bleeding if you grind it up into a medical paste? I’m asking if it has any practical usage.”

“……I-I don’t know.”

The girl, stunned by the barrage of questions that were clearly out of her scope of knowledge, quickly became dispirited as she hung her head down and began dragging her foot across the soil.

Watching the girl in silence, Senior Delphine proceeded to infuse the flower with aura.

Her aura was capable of emitting a heat that even metal could not withstand, and yet, it was now being infused into a mere flower.

A golden glow traveled up the stem of the flower, quickly disintegrating it into white ash as the girl helplessly watched the ash rain from the sky.

“It’s not even tough… Look carefully, kid.”

As she brushed the ash from her hands, Senior Delphine slightly knelt down, locking eyes with the girl.

Overwhelmed by Senior Delphine’s intensity, the girl was rendered unable to speak.

“This is what happens when you’re weak and useless. You won’t be able to do anything as you helplessly disappear. So, take care, okay?”

As Senior Delphine stood back up with her usual composure, she brushed off the remaining ash on her hand onto the girl’s shoulder.

Although the girl was too young to understand, Senior Delphine had been genuine with her advice. The girl, looking at the ashes on her shoulder, began to tear up before breaking out into loud sobs

Even so, senior remained unperturbed, and the Saintess, unable to watch any longer, attempted to placate the child.

Then, the Saintess turned towards Senior Delphine, seemingly having something to say. However, even with her position as the ‘Saintess’, the opposition was the heiress to the Yurdina family, meaning even she had to tread lightly.

“Sister Delphine, the children will like you better if you are kinder to them.”

“I don’t care what these orphans think of me, Saintess. Especially if they’re too weak to even accept such advice.”

Perhaps due to being forced into coming here, her tone was harsher than usual as she gave a callous reply.

“Ahaha…”

With an awkward smile and feigned laughter, it seemed even the Saintess gave up as she determined she couldn’t do much else. Then, she turned to glare at me that seemed to say, ‘What’s with this bitch?’.

My lips twisted into a bitter smile.

What did she expect? Delphine Yurdina was the cold-blooded heiress of the Yurdina who didn’t hesitate to utilize her half-sister’s trauma—Someone willing to do anything to win.

Instead of responding verbally, I took a step forward.

Sensing my presence, Senior Delphine flinched and turned to me, her brilliant crimson eyes turning wide with fear.

As I gradually drew closer to her, she looked down at the ground while biting on her lips.

Her faintly trembling shoulders reflected her emotions.

I sighed inwardly, thinking this really shouldn’t go on anymore. It was clear that Senior Delphine wasn’t cut out for taking care of children.

Instead, there were a few other things she could do. One was to chop firewood so we could cook, and the other was to fetch water.

The firewood was something I should do since I had a hatchet.

Therefore, there was only one thing Senior Delphine could do.

“Senior Delphine, if you can’t work with children, could you fetch some water from the well instead?”

“……W-why should I.”

It was a small attempt at defiance. As I silently stared at Senior Delphine, she seemed to have resolved herself to glare back at me.

Or rather, she tried to.

As soon as we locked eyes, she became discouraged and averted her gaze.

“……Y-you think I’m your errand girl? I-I’m not going to do any of that menial work!”

Even while desperately avoiding my gaze and speaking with a quivering voice, she seemed determined to hold her stance. I had no choice but to accept the fact that she wouldn’t help.

Instead, I was going to have her go on a hunt later. I had recently gone into the forest to look for the monkeys, but it was without success. It seemed investigating the demonic beasts was going to take longer than expected.

And although I’d yet to work out the details with the group, I figured it’d be a good idea to hunt down some animals and feed the children some meat since we had to enter the forest anyways.

Resigned, I heaved a deep sigh. Instinctively flinching, Senior Delphine continued to sneak glances at me.

“Do as you please.”

There was a lot of unfinished work, and as I still had to chop some firewood, I didn’t have any more time to waste.

As I reached towards my waist to grab my hatchet, Senior Delphine screamed.

“……I-I’ll do it!”

When I looked over at her quizzically, she seemed to have already lost it as she dropped to the ground and bowed her head, trembling.

“I-… I’ll do it, P-please… Not into minced meat… hik… Please f-forgive me…”

She even began sobbing.

Dumbfounded by her actions, I turned to look at the Saintess, but instead of her usual averse reaction, her eyes were filled with interest as she nodded knowingly.

Then, she walked over to me and tiptoed to whisper in my ear. At first, I tried to avoid her, but as she stuck close, I felt a soft, supple feeling pressed against my shoulder and decided to stay put.

Her sweet voice brushed past my ear.

“You’re quite useful.”

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

What the hell was going on?

**

If Senor Delphine was problematic because she couldn’t understand the children, Senior Elsie was the complete opposite.

Perhaps due to her youthful appearance, she fit in too well.

She reacted to every joke, leading those children to often cross the line.

It would have been fine if she had brushed off the jokes with an adult’s maturity, but Senior Elsie wasn’t one to hold back just because they were children.

Rather, she threatened them with a scowl.

“Hey, do you think I’m a pushover? Do I look easy just because I put up with you? You commoner brats, just because I was ……!”

However, she was still an adult, and they were orphans that needed protection.

Not to mention, as a high noble with the authority to actualize her threats, she had to be more careful with what she said.

‘One word from the powerful weighs more than ten from the powerless.’

It was an Imperial aphorism and one that every noble was expected to take to heart.

And for that reason, I met up with Senior Elsie privately at the wall at night.

I wanted to speak to her. Much like I had with Senior Delphine, I had the option of exempting Senior Elsie from taking care of the children, but the children had already grown fond of her, and exempting her wasn’t going to keep them away from her.

Letting out a quiet sigh, I pondered what to say.

“Senior Elsie… they’re just children.”

I decided to reason softly with her and request her to hold back.

While there was no need to let them run free just because they were children, there was also no need to threaten them. No matter how much they looked down on her, the fact remained that she was strong. She could gently punish them or even use her mana to softly suppress them.

I couldn’t understand why Senior Elsie was obsessed with threatening them.

It would have been somewhat understandable if she was a muscle-brained swordsman like me, but there was no way she couldn’t think up any alternatives when she was at the top of her Magic Department class.

However, Senior Elsie was wearing a discontented look on her face.

“But, they’re acting so annoying……!”

“Just gently scold them. There’s no need to hold them down while cursing at them.”

She went silent and judging by the fact she hadn’t retorted, I thought she had accepted my point.

However, she suddenly made a dissatisfied sound as her sapphire-blue eyes lit up the darkness with their radiance.

“……You don’t even know.”

“Don’t know what?”

I asked out of curiosity, but Senior Elsie refused to answer.

“You don’t even know!”

Her voice cracked as she yelled. Her frustration was palpable, seemingly disappointed that I hadn’t taken her side.

Huffing, she turned away.

Watching her act like a child, a wry smile crept up my face.

Honestly, this whole matter could be easily settled with a flash of my hatchet, but I still wanted to talk with her because there seemed to be a reason for her behavior.

Whether it was at the academy or here at the orphanage, her way of automatically reacting by making threats was consistent. It was as if it was a defensive mechanism deeply ingrained in her.

It wasn’t something I could solve by simply shutting her up with the hatchet. We had already developed a strong bond over the past month and I couldn’t bring myself to resort to that.

I frustratedly scratched the back of my head before calling out to Senior Elsie.

“Be careful! You never know what might appear at night!”

“Mind your own business……!”

.

Annoyed, I clicked my tongue and turned away.

It was pure coincidence that I happened to see a silhouette on the wall right at that moment.

Time came to a standstill and held my breath as my heartbeat seemingly stopped as well.

I instinctively knew the identity of the 2-meter figure sitting on the wall.

I could only vaguely make out its appearance, but its arms were unusually long, reaching far below its knees.

And while I couldn’t see its eyes, it was clear from its posture that it was watching someone.

But who?

My eyes slowly traveled along its line of sight, where a girl with brown hair and a large-brimmed hat was slowly walking away with her back turned.

It was Senior Elsie.

She was a mage, but at the moment, she didn’t have a shield cast around her.

My mind became blank as I braced my foot against the ground.

Only the thought that she might die if I didn’t do something filled my head.

Just like that time when I couldn’t do anything for Emma.

As my heart raced, mana surged through my body, increasing the bloodflow to my legs. My veins started aching from nearly being torn apart by the sudden torrent of mana. Then, as they finally exploded from the pressure, a sharp pain shot through my legs.

The demonic beast was crouching, preparing to attack.

I hurriedly cried out right before it charged.

“Senior Elsie!”

Senior Elsie snorted scornfully as she turned to glance at me.

Or rather, she attempted to do so, if not for the giant shadow quickly occupying her vision.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she quickly moved her hands while rousing her mana.

She attempted to cast magic chantlessly with hand signs as it was the fastest, but the beast was even faster.

It quickly charged at her without a sound, and in the split second she blinked, it had already almost reached her with its nails extended like the blades of a silent assassin.

I was too late. Neither my blade nor my hatchet would reach in time.

An imaginary trajectory appeared in my sight as a line stretched out to pierce through Senior Elsie’s shoulder, rendering her unable to resist.

Then, it was likely going to use its mobility to escape over the wall with her in tow, making it virtually impossible to save her.

I didn’t have time to worry about the best course of action. No, I was left with only one option.

Gritting my teeth, I focused and heightened all my senses.

My sight penetrated through the space as twisted lines appeared like routes. I pulled on the entangled lines with all my strength, causing a crack to appear in the space with an ominous sound.

The space distorted, and I threw myself into the crack as fast as I could.

The time to draw my sword had already long passed, and the only thing I could do was use my body as a shield.

–Puk!

Its fingernails effortlessly pierced through my abdomen.

A foreign sensation spread out, and while I couldn’t pinpoint the injury, I still felt blood flowing out of me.

In my waning consciousness, I could only pray it hadn’t hit any vital organs.

My vision was filled by the faint glint of the beast’s nails, and the sight of Senior Elsie frozen in place, blankly staring at me.

The beast also seemed to have been taken aback as it abruptly drew in a breath. In that short gap, I squeezed out the last of my strength to draw my hatchet.

Gritting my teeth as blood gushed out, I grabbed at the fingernails piercing my abdomen. At some point, the strange flow had disappeared from the nails.

–Kwajiiiik!

With a crack, the hatchet sliced down on the beast’s arm.

Although there wasn’t much power behind my strike as I was already weakened from its attack, its arm was so long that I still somehow managed to injure it.

Blood sprayed through the air and a pained howl burst out as the beast hurriedly ran away.

Watching it flee, I finally lost consciousness.

When I next came to, I was lying on the ground as an inexplicable chill coursed through every inch of my body.

It was cold. I saw Senior Elsie through my blurry vision.

Her tiny hands were trembling, and her sapphire-blue eyes were brimming with tears as her lips formed inaudible words.

‘Are you okay?’

Just from reading her lips, that seemed to be what she was asking.

I replied with a faint smile.

“Just… call…the…Saintess…….”

Because it fucking hurts.

My consciousness faded once more before I could finish my sentence.