Chapter 35: Chapter 32 – Poor and Hungry Orphans

"Miss?"

"Ah, oh, umm..."

The little girl pulled me out of my stupor.

"Well, we're here now. We're going inside Flix"

The boy let go of my hand and looked at the girl still hanging off of my other arm. Her tail's near constant wagging had slowed to a halt as realization formed in her eyes.

"Umm, hey, this place..."

"What? It's the orphanage we live in"

The boy didn't quite answered my question, yet it was enough for me to understand. These two kids didn't look alike in the slightest. They weren't even the same species, yet they acted like siblings. The answer to the question that hadn't quite surfaced in my brain until it was practically pointed out was given to me when I wanted to know something else.

"In that case, can I come in?"

"Huh? What for?"

"I want to talk to the one in charge"

"You..."

The boy glared at me and the girl looked down as she pulled harder on my arm.

"Is there a problem with having a little talk?"

"...no"

He turned away and opened the front door. The hinges screamed out and I saw something flake off one before I followed him inside with the girl still on my arm.

The little spirits followed behind as they flitted around in curiosity.

"We're back!"

Both kids tapped their shoe toes on the ground before entering.

The inside was worse than I imagined. The only light came from the open windows, but as it was pretty late, hardly any ended up inside after bouncing off of the opposing building's outer wall. There wasn't any traces of any dust anywhere, even the floor was pretty spotless, considering that the boy and girl were still wearing their shoes inside.

A bunch of kids were peeking from other rooms, but were nervously keeping their distance.

"Hey, call for Miss Philia"

A little kid ran off after being ordered by the boy and quickly returned pulling the hand of an older lady.

The woman's face was well ordered but creased with wisdom, and there were locks of grey mixed in with the shoulder length sky blue hair. Her well patched dress showed signs that it was once a vibrant red, but not only was it a shadow of it's former self, but it hardly did any favours to properly hide how poor her diet was.

Unrelated to her diet though, was her short stature. Why was it unrelated? Because not only was she shorter than me by a full head, but her body was built with a significant amount of girth. Way more than me at least.

"Oh my, a guest? I hope the children haven't been bothering you"

"Ah, umm, no. I just helped these two get home..."

"Oh, is that so? Come, we don't have much here, but at the very least we can provide a drink"

The woman turned and went through another doorway, several of the little kids following after while the rest stared at me. Without anything else to do, I ended up following after.

In the next room there was several large tables surrounded by chairs of irregular make.

"Please, sit. I will be with you in a moment"

The lady went through another doorway and I could hear her doing some work in the next room.

I sat down randomly at a convenient seat. The girl who was practically attached to my arm let go and pulled closer the seat next to mine and climbed on. None of the other kids sat down, but formed groups, some just watched me from a distance, some others from outside the room.

In the quiet room, the sounds of even more kids in other parts of the building reached my ears.

Soon enough, the lady came back with a tray, a cup, and a pot. She put the tray down and poured the hot liquid from the pot into the cup and placed it in front of me before sitting down.

I raised the cup to my nose and breathed in it's aroma. No, that was way too generous of a word. There was hardly any scent to it. If this was tea, then it was tea made from the tenth brewing. It smelled more like just hot water than anything.

But the lady's strained smile made me ignore that fact and I took a sip.

The taste was definitely hardly any better than water, and I struggled to swallow it due to my physical constitution, but did my best in consideration of the effort she made.

Once a third of the cup was empty, I put it down so we could have our talk.

"So..."

"I am thankful for the kindness you have shown in helping the children of our home"

"Ah, no, it was nothing"

"She saved us from some mean people!"

The girl beside me practically shouted out as her eyes glittered.

"Is that true Torii?"

"Yea. A bunch of scary guys tried to take us away, but that lady saved us"

The boy that I found with the girl answered.

"I see. In that case, I truly am thankful for your kindness and courage miss"

"Ah, no. It wasn't a big deal. But how come such a thing happened?"

"That's...I am sorry, but it is best if you don't get involved. We can't allow harm to come to our benefactor"

"But..."

The lady's kind eyes were stern. She probably really wanted me to drop the subject, and as an outsider, I really didn't have any right to press further on the issue. I wasn't some sort of wandering hero that solved everyone's problems. People wouldn't just open up to me just because I asked.

"That said, while we don't have much to offer, if there is anything we can do to repay your kindness, please don't hesitate to ask, for kindness and mercy are the mottoes of Scarlet's Sweet Home"

(Erk)

"...actually, if you don't mind..."

"Yes? If it's something within my power"

"No, well...what's up with that name?"

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand"

"The name of this place. It's an orphanage right? What's with the name?"

While obviously it didn't refer to me, the name was plenty embarrassing.

"Allow me to tell you the story of how the name came to be"

I nodded and urged her to tell it to me.

"Long ago, there was a man that would only drink all day and get into fights all night. But one day, he had gone too far and killed a man in a drunken brawl. Wanted by the guard, he fled the city and was forced to wander. As he lay beside the road, starving, a woman appeared out of nowhere, and offered him some food and drink. In the hopes of getting enough food to reach the next city, he tried to rob the woman, but she easily stopped him, like an adult stopping a child. So completely overwhelmed, the man feared for his life, but rather than ending it, the woman simply asked what had happened.

"He resisted at first, but eventually explained what he did and why he was alone on the road with nothing to his name. After listening to his story, the woman offered her hand, and said she would not only forgive him for attacking her, but even help him reach the next city and get a job. The man was skeptical, but the woman was true to her word. She walked with him along the road, shared her food and drink, convince the guard to let him inside the city, and once inside, she even helped convince a person to give the man a job.

"After that, all she said was that now all the man had to do was to forgive himself however he felt fit, and left him. Those words stuck with the man for the next few years. He was given a second chance, a third chance, but the weight of the mercy given to him drove him to not squander the chance he was given.

"But despite that, no, because of it, he couldn't forgive himself. Simply living an honest life wasn't enough to make up for the crime he committed, so he used his savings and bought a plot of land in that city and had a large building built on it. He then used that building to shelter those who were were unable to receive the kindness and mercy that they deserved, and named it after the woman who gave him mercy so many years before"

"Is this person by any chance..."

"That is right. She was Scarlet, the kindest person to ever live!"

I hadn't heard this story before, but I was confident that it told of the same person Alicia often told stories about.

This Scarlet really got around. It made me wonder just how many more stories there were about her.

That said, it felt weird talking about a person with the same name as myself, though I was named after her.

Looking around, several of the kids were nodding, and they all had smiles on their faces. It seemed like they were often told this story.

(...)

"Does this mean that this is the same building that was build all those years ago?"

"It is. Long ago, the founder had this building built strong and sturdy, and we successive directors have done our best to maintain it"

Considering it was over a hundred years old, maybe even several hundred, the building was in remarkable shape. But only remarkable considering how old it was. I could see a few cracks even on the inside of the walls, though there had been an attempt to fill them in with dried mud.

"I see. It really is impressive how well it looks despite it's age"

"We've done our best to do what we can with what we have"

I didn't like it.

Not the part about how well the building's condition was despite it's age, but how they obviously couldn't afford more than whatever maintenance they could do themselves. With just a bit of magic, those cracks could easily be sealed, and it shouldn't have been expensive to replace the missing and broken window shutters.

And even more than that, these kids all looked malnourished, just like the director. And everyone was practically wearing rags. Most of the kids were simply wearing a bunch of scrap cloth sewn together in the semblance of clothing.

So I didn't like it.

"I've been meaning to ask, but how is this orphanage funded anyways? Does the city pay for it?"

"...The lord does not. We are not the only orphanage in this city. There is a much larger one on the eastern side of the city which the lord pays for. This one takes in all the excess children that the other one can't or wouldn't accommodate"

"Wouldn't?"

"The children of non-citizens. The city orphanage doesn't take in anyone who isn't a child of a citizen of the city"

"And there's this many of them?!"

Just in the last few minutes, I had seen at least two dozen children here, and there were at least another dozen or two elsewhere in the building.

"Most of the children here are the orphans of adventurers. Most adventurers don't have citizenship, and if they leave behind a child, they often end up here. Kind travellers would bring children who their local orphanages wouldn't take for similar reasons here"

"I see"

That was a pretty raw deal, but I could see how administrators would've thought it might've been a good idea to balance the books. A pretty cold hearted and naive idea, but one nevertheless.

"Another question. If the lord doesn't pay for everyone here, then how do you pay for everything? Food, clothes, taxes?"

"We rely on private donations from other citizens. Coin from merchants, food scraps from butchers and grocers, cloth scraps from tailors, wood scraps from carpenters. The land itself we don't have to pay for, as the founder managed to negotiate a tax exemption in return for not asking for funds"

It kinda figured that if no central authority was paying for the orphanage, that they'd rely on private donations. The tax exemption was a bit of a surprise, and might've been the only saving grace. A plot this big must've been pretty valuable, though it might not have been when the orphanage was first built.

But one look told me how little these private donations were, and how far they were forced to go.

Things weren't good, and these people were pushing against their limits.

"...In that case, I suppose you wouldn't be opposed to me making a donation as well, would you?"

"Eh? I didn't mean to impose on you further after helping some our children already!"

The director waved her hands in front of her while shaking her head.

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"It's fine. I've got more food than I can eat on me. Which way to the kitchen?"

"I believe you really have done more than enough for us"

"You run an orphanage. It's your job to take the charity of others to help raise the next generation, just like it's the duty of people like me to offer it"

I wasn't really one to go out of my way to help others, but if they were already in arm's reach, I generally stretched out my arm. For example, I religiously gave a few dollars to the Legion and Salvation Army every time I walked by one of their donation stands, but wouldn't cross the street to do so just because I saw one.

It was a very small act of kindness, but I thought that sort of thing was what made the world a better place, not preaching and ranting about how other people could better the world.

"I see, if you're so adamant about it, we graciously thank you for your generosity"

I followed the director, Philia I think her name was, though the doorway into the kitchen.

Although I called it a kitchen, it was mostly just a room with a large preparation table and a stone wood burning stove. I looked around and tallied up an inventory of equipment. While they were all well used, it was still all in good condition, as best as I could tell.

With the equipment that I could see and the food I could remember I had in my bag, and considering how many mouths I was going to feed, it really limited what I could make.

"Miss...uh, Philia was it?"

"That's right"

"Could you fill a large pot with water for me?"

"Understood"

She quickly went out with several of the kids while carrying buckets. As they worked, I quickly went on to fill another bucket with [Aqua Magic]. The reason why I asked for water as well was because I wasn't sure what would happened to the magically conjured water in the long term. It would be bad if it suddenly changed back into mana while inside a person's body.

But if it was for soaking or washing, then there shouldn't be any problems.

I took out a large quantity of potatoes from my bag. Originally I harvested a large number because I often used them for Alicia's meals, but once her health had gone south, I refrained from using them much. Potatoes were supposedly incredibly healthy as long as you didn't deep fry them, but they also contained alkaloids, which were a mild toxin. In theory, just soaking them in water should get rid of it, but I was worried about the possibility of even trace amounts being harmful to Alicia when she was already sick, so I switched over entirely to sweet potatoes which didn't contain any alkaloids in the first place.

The potatoes were quickly washed, then as I was about to skin them with my claws, I noticed I was being stared at.

"Hey, is there a good place to dump this water?"

One of the kids nodded and pointed at a drain hole in the corner of the kitchen.

With a quick thanks, I carried the bucket of dirty water over and dumped the contents, then quickly rinsed the inside before filling it up with water once again and placed it back on the preparation table.

This time, I pulled out my knife from it's belt sheath and I quickly went though the process of skinning the pile of potatoes.

Thankfully the kids didn't seem to think my actions were strange at all. I was glad I stopped myself from using my claws, as it was a dead giveaway that I was a vampire. I had no idea how they'd react to such a discovery, but the likelihood that it wouldn't have been good was enough of a reason for me to hide that fact.

Strangely, skinning the potatoes went really quickly. It was like I instinctively knew just how to work the knife and move the potato to efficiently cut away the skin. Maybe this was the product of my [Knife Master] skill? If it was true, then it was a much more convenient and versatile skill than I thought.

As the potatoes were skinned, I diced them into bite-sized pieces and tossed them into the bucket of water.

"Here's the water you asked for"

Just as I finished with the potatoes, the director came in leading a small procession of children, all with buckets of water. Philia filled a large pot on top of the stone stove using the buckets as the kids passed them to her.

"Alright, right on time"

With a smile and a nod, I went and placed a pan on the stove as well, then filled the stove with magical fire.

"Wow! Was that magic?"

"Magic?"

"Really?"

"Wow!"

The kids all looked surprised and amazed as the stove lit up without anyone touching it.

"Yup. It's something I'm good at"

Turning back, I pulled out a few onion heads and quickly diced them up, then poured some oil on the pan and added the onions. As that sizzled, I brought out the star of the show: a large cut of some monster called a Furybull. Several large cuts to be exact, as there were quite a few kids here.

"That's all meat?!"

"It's so big!"

"And there's so many!"

"I've never seen so much meat before!"

As expected, the kids responded well to my surprise.

"Ummm...is it really fine for us to receive such a thing? Those cuts look especially expensive"

"I don't know if they are or not. It's something I just gathered in the past"

"Something you just gathered...?"

I mean, especially the meat I just got while farming for other things. If you spent a lot of time hunting for various materials in a dungeon and could easily carry anything you got your hands on, it was inevitable that you'd get a ton of meat in my experience.

Frankly, it was too much meat, but once I got my magic bag, I never stopped grabbing whatever I found. Until the bag reached it's capacity, there was no point in not taking what you found. Though I've yet to discover what the capacity was.

As the onions browned nicely, I transferred them to the large pot, then started to sear the meat as I cut them into bite-sized chunks. At the same time, the potatoes went in to the pot as well. As the beef seared, I transferred them to a large plate. I cut up some carrots and added them to the pot, and once the meat was all seared, they joined the pot as well.

With the remaining meat fat in the pan, I blended a roux using some flour.

I stirred the giant pot slowly as I added in some chopped herbs, salt, and crushed pepper. As the pot simmered, I occasionally skimmed off the scum as well. I had learned the hard way in my previous efforts that if you didn't do that, the taste of any soup you made dropped down considerably. At first I thought it was because of the cheap cuts of meat I had used, but later discovered that it happened regardless of the quality of meat you used. It was something more fundamental about meat that caused this.

Finally, as the stew looked like it was getting close to being done, I added the roux a little at a time to thicken the soup.

"Alright then..."

I turned my back to the simmering pot to clean up, but to my surprise, the entire kitchen was filled with people from the orphanage. There were even kids looking in from the other rooms, and everyone was trying their best to hold back their drool, but quite a few of them had failed spectacularly.

"Umm...it'll be done soon, so how about everyone help prepare the table?"

With my words, the kids all hurried out of the kitchen. I could hear the clattering of bowls and cutlery in the next room before the crowd quickly returned.

They were fast. Too fast. At this rate, the kids would be left hanging for a while longer as the stew wasn't ready yet.

I wracked my brain, trying to come up with a way to distract the kids for a little while longer rather than wait and stare at me and the pot.

"Oh right. Did everyone wash their hands already?"

For orphans, they were certainly pretty clean, but there was still dirt and grime visible on them. If I could see it on their faces, then their hands were most likely even worse off.

"Wash?"

"What for?"

"Wash our hands?"

"What's that?"

My face cramped up.

"Nobody here washes their hands before eating?"

"No, is that a custom you do where you come from?"

I was astonished at the director's words. The degree of unsanitaryness was appalling. Then again, it took me a while to realize that Alicia wasn't washing her hands either, but once it became habit, I forgot that she didn't originally.

"Alright, line up! We're all going to wash our hands. Nobody gets to eat until it's all done!"

"Awww!"

"Why?"

"What does it matter?"

"We're hungry!"

"Now now, she's being kind enough to not only give us her food, but to prepare it as well. The least we could do is do as she says"

The director quickly got onto my side, though it didn't look like she was convinced as to why.

I lead the kids to the kitchen drain and pulled out a bar of soap.

"Now, one by one, I'll help you wash your hands"

As the kids lined up, I quickly scrubbed and rinsed their hands with conjured water.

"My hands are so clean!"

"They feel weird"

"It smells nice"

"They do!"

"It smells so sweet"

Once one of the kids noticed the scent of milk and honey, all the rest of the kids started to sniff their hands as I finished washing them.

"This scent. Is it really fine for you to use such an expensive soap like this?"

"It's not expensive. I made it myself. Doesn't it look pretty dirty?"

Even the best soap I could make still was a bit grey and had black specks in it. There was no way I could consider it sanitary looking if I didn't already know that it was soap.

"You made this? That's really incredible. Not only are you strong enough to hunt such splendid meat easily, but you are capable of making things like this nice smelling soap"

"Eh, it's not that amazing"

"Excess humility is equally bad as hubris you know"

"Eh?"

"Talented people become great sources of inspiration and awe, but just like how hubris makes people detestable, so too does excess humility make those around them feel incompetent. It is important to strike a balance, or else you will invite ill feelings in those around you"

"I...see"

Her words did make sense. I probably was a pretty impressive person by the standards of this world. No, even by Earth's standards, if you purely judge by my combat strength. I was way above average here, maybe even in the top 5%. I most likely could take on a modern squad of soldier and win hands down thanks to my stats and magic. Maybe even an entire battalion. I could probably tear open a tank, maybe even with nothing but my claws.

By those standards, I really was an impressive person. It just didn't really feel like it. I didn't really do much to get strong. I just screwed around in the dungeon for two years. It was like selling drawings or handicrafts just for fun, then suddenly realizing that the sales from your hobby made you rich.

But being too humble about it denied one's value and deflated others who aspired to be similar.

Thinking about it, it really was bad.

"Thanks for that life lesson Miss Philia"

"No problem at all. Ah, I believe I haven't heard your name yet"

"Ah, right. My bad. It's one you're pretty familiar with: Scarlet"

"Well then, Miss Scarlet, it was my pleasure. And I hope that one day your actions would have your name be sung just like your namesake"

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