Managing an orphanage in another world

Sophily slowly walked out from the back of the guild building from the shadows.

"Sophily, where did you go?"

A short hair black women called out to Sophily.

"Sorry, sorry. Miss Lexx."

Sophily always tries to look good in front of the guild's master of this location, who is the person in front of her right now. Lexx Nylore. Wearing a uniform like Sophily but yellow in color.

Sophily hopes to get a higher position and get better pay, so she's trying to be a good employee in front of Lexx. Today, she had left for extra long because she had to talk to Thea.

"Whatever, whatever. I don't wanna hear your excuse. I'll let you go this time. We have more important things to do."

Lexx handed Sophily a small cube that fit in her hand. This was a magic tool called camera. Created with a rare material acquired from crown whales. Giant whales that have long appendages coming out from it's head. Like tentacles. Giving the illusion of a crown.

Their numbers are very small. It is said only 200 hundred or so exist. Crown whales fly in the sky, looking majestic as they fly above you high in the sky. Almost all cases of a living crown whale being seen have been when something historic was about to happen.

The crown of these whales periodically falls off and is used in the making of cameras.

"You need to go out and take pictures of the hero's victory!"

'What? Me?! But why me?'

Sophily wanted to stay away from the hero as much as she could. She followed the hero around at the order of the second sun prince, and she hated it very much. To her, the hero was obnoxious and unpleasant to be around.

"Can I...not?"

"I see. I get it."

Lexx nodded her head. Seemingly understanding the feelings of Sophily.

"I know it can be hard to do this job at first..."

Or not.

"But everyone has something they must do. Something they are born to do."

"But someone else can do this. I can work at the desk."

"It has to be you. There is something that you have that others don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Because you have a perfect body."

"What?!"

"We've all seen them. In the changing room, when you're changing into your uniform. All those beautifully sculpted muscles of yours. On full display for everyone to admire."

Sophily's face turned a shade of red. She was very weak to someone complimenting her fit body as she took pride in her body.

"That's why!"

Lexx pointed at Sophily's face.

"I need you, the most athletic of the guild, to go and capture the glorious moment of the hero defeating the danger looming over us. Be sure to get some good angles for the pictures."

Sophily was too red to respond in time. And Lexx kicked her out of the guild. Sophily could only run towards where Thea was. Hoping to get there in time, to stop Thea from killing the lindworm.

If Thea killed the lindworm, it would mean that the fake hero doesn't get to do anything. And that would further mean that Sophily would disappoint Lexx, which meant her guild career path would be a bit rough. Sophily didn't want that, so she had to rush.

It didn't help that Lexx was a very vocal supporter of the second prince.

---

Thea was flying above the forest and passed onto a grass field. She stopped above the grass field and took out a paper from her magic bag.

"Exiting the forest....a stone structure...."

It was the map Sophily gave her. The guild gives these maps for quests. So other people didn't have this map because the hero would take care of it.

"Ah, there. A sword shaped stone structure."

Thea landed and observed the stone structure.

"Doesn't it look more like a dagger though?"

It was called a sword, but it was short for a sword. Thea wondered if they should rename it.

"I can sense the lindworm. But I can't see it anywhere."

Traces of the lindworm's mana could be felt from the surroundings. But there was no clue as to where it was. There were no changes in the land to indicate it's direction.

"Can it hide itself?"

There are monsters that have the abilities of invisibility which conveniently also doesn't leave any marks when they move around. Most famously the 3 eyed snakes are masters of it.

"It's moments like this I wish I could use mana detection skills."

I stood there and looked around for a few minutes for any clues. I noticed something in the distance, but it wasn't traces of the lindworm like I wanted.

"Who are you?!"

It was a group of people. The person who asked me this question was a man. He wore green colored clothing like a terlig. His head was shaved except for the middle. It was kind of like a mohawk but the hair length was short.

In his hand was a silver colored spear. Currently pointed at my face.

Behind him was another man. He had long silver colored hair. A pretty face with jewelry. He wore bright golden colored clothing and had a bow and quiver on his back.

There was a women besides them. She covered her face. There was a red outline over her eyelids. The wore a skin tight long-sleeved black shirt. She didn't seem to carry any weapons. The most eye-catching thing about her were her legs.

Long white legs. She wore booty shorts and leather shoes that came up to her ankles which made her legs look extra long. And very captivating.

And lastly, standing behind these three was a man. He had long dark blue hair pushed to one side. His wavy hair flowed down just behind his shoulder.

His clothes looked very fancy. White and blue. It seemed like the type to get dirty easy, but there was not even a speck of dirt on it. It was immaculately clean.

On his waist was a white colored sheath. A sword was sheathed in it. A ocean blue handle that slowly melts into a golden hilt. You couldn't see the blade, but you can imagine a nice shiny silver surface that complimented the hilt and the handle.

'Is that the hero's sword? It has such a strong holy aura around it despite being a replica.'

All these things looked high class. Except one thing.

His face.

It was an average face, not handsome, but also not ugly. Just in the middle. But he had a really long nose.

"Answer immediately."

The man with the spear asked me again.

"Wait, Jiro."

Before I could say I was just passing by, the fake hero spoke up.

"Let me handle this."

He took a step forward. But still stood behind the man named Jiro.

"You there, peasant!"

He called out to me in such a rude manner. It made me instantly angry.

"Do you know who I am?"

'I have to calm down...'

"Of course you know who I am."

I didn't answer him in 2 seconds, so he presumed I knew him. How does one come to such conclusions?

"I am Erox of Ozipius, the hero. Born with the destiny to save your world."

He struck a pose. He put his hand on his face, and lifted his face high up. I couldn't see half of it because he was blocked by the one holding a spear, Jiro. I think he put his other hand on his sword, but I couldn't see it.

"It is dangerous here, miss peasant. There is a strong monster around. Leave this area at once so that we are disturbed by your presence."

'What the hell is this? This guy is so insufferable to listen to.'

"Are you really the hero?"

I asked him in annoyance. I don't know how, but Erox misunderstood and thought I was showing interest in him.

"That's right!"

He pushed Jiro aside.

"I am the hero. I was officially recognized by the Zatiax empire. The second prince is one of my closest friends. This sword here is proof of my heroship."

He pulled out the sword on his side. It was a shiny silver blade. There were no imperfections or anything on the surface. At the end of the blade, there a small triangle on one side.

The sword had a holy shine and aura around it. It truly gave the feeling of a holy sword.

Erox stabbed the sword into the ground.

"I shall allow you to try lifting up the sword."

Only the hero can lift up the sword.

"Sir Erox!"

The man with the bow spoke up. He walked close to Erox and spoke in his ear.

"What's wrong?"

"You cannot just allow anyone to hold the sword. What if more people like her demand to see the sword? What will you do then?"

"You're right as always, Shun."

They were whispering or something. But I could still hear them. They weren't that far away from me or talking that softly.

"Ahem. I think you misheard me. Jiro will show you that only I can pick up the sword. Go on, Jiro. Use all your strength and try picking up my Requiem."

Jiro did exactly as he was told. He put down his spear and used all his strength to pick up the sword. His muscles were bulging. His veins were also bulging along his neck, head and hands. He was clearly using all his strength.

Yet the sword didn't budge.

"See. This is the real power of the hero."

Erox put his hand out and easily lifted up the sword. Then he struck his pose again.

'Is it really the real Requiem?'

I really wanted to try picking it up myself. But I couldn't do it. Because I saw something.

In the forest that was behind the hero's party, I could see Sophily waving at me.

'Why is she here now after sending me here?'

"I won't take up your time, Sir hero. I'll be on my way..."

They let me go easily since they think I'm just a normal person. Or rather, a 'peasant'.

'I don't wear fancy or expensive looking clothes. But I don't look like a poor peasant...do I?'

I wondered.

What Thea didn't understand was that to Erox, anybody who didn't seem strong was a peasant. Since he couldn't feel any power from Thea, he deemed her a peasant.

I walked into the forest and found Sophily.

"Why are you here? I thought you didn't want to come here."

"The situation changed. The guild master asked me to take pictures of the hero fighting the lindworm."

"Fine, fine. So you want the hero to fight the lindworm alone. I have nothing against that."

Thea was still salty about being called a peasant multiple times. So she wasn't against the hero suffering a bit.

"Uhm, actually..."

Sophily's expression looked a bit tired.

"C-can you protect them instead?"

"Protect them?"

I was kind of taken aback.

"You'll see why very soon."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember the rumor Su told you about?"

"The one about the hero being fake?"

"There's a reason it exists."

"Is he really a fake? But that holy sword seemed real..."

"That's because it is the real one."

"Wait, I don't understand. Only the hero can pick up the holy sword. That's what the legend says, right? If he's able to use the sword, that would mean he's the hero."

"You'll understand when they fight."

After that, we waited for the lindworm to show up. It was hiding underground.

"There!"

We heard a loud sound in the distance. Following the sound, we found the hero's party about to engage with a giant worm like creature. It had two short legs and stood at a height of four and a half meter. It's two legs had sharp claws.

It's skin was a grey color with green strikes all over.

The hero's party had it surrounded. Jiro, the spearman, was furiously thrusting at the lindworm's legs. Jun, the archer, was shooting his arrows towards the head. Specifically the eyes of it.

And running around it was the women. She would jump at some point and launch a quick attack on the body of the lindworm. Before quickly jumping off and doing the whole attack from another angle. It's not supposed to give time for the lindworm to counter attack.

And finally, Erox was standing at the front with the holy sword in his hand. He was standing still.

I think he's gathering energy in the holy sword for a big attack.

"Do they really need protection? They seem to be doing just fine."

"That's just what you think. Wait a moment, you'll understand."

Half a minute passed. Sophily was furiously taking pictures with the camera tool.

"Do you have another one of these?"

I asked her. I had never seen a camera tool before. Correction, I had never held one in my hands or had ownership of one before. I've seen a camera when I was a kid.

"This isn't even mine."

"So you got it from the guild?"

"Yes, which makes it guild property."

"Say....could you ask them if they have extras?"

Sophily turned to look at me with disbelief.

"They wouldn't have extras."

"Doesn't hurt to ask."

I was asking politely.

"Nevermind that. Look."

Sophily told me to look towards Erox.

"He's done charging."

Sophily said as Erox raised Requiem. It shone bright. And released a gust of wind.

"AAAA!!!"

Erox shouted as he charged towards the lindworm. He jumped and launched himself towards it's head. He swung his sword straight down from the top.

A direct hit. Erox fell down to the floor in a cool manner. A smirk on his face.

"What..."

"Do you see now?"

There was no damage. Only a small mark was left on the lindworm's skin. It was barely the size of my hand.

The attacks from the other three had no effect at all also.

"Look at them. They don't have any stamina left either."

What Sophily said was true. Jiro had sweat all over his body. The women was on the floor from running around too much. And the archer...his fingers were swollen somehow, unable to shoot anymore. All their attacks had done nothing.

At this moment, the lindworm let out a cry.

Illusory green wings appeared behind it.

"It's a poison attack!"

Sophily quickly warned me.

"Shield."

I quickly put a mana shield around the four useless fellows.

The lindworm attacked. The green wings transformed. Multiple projectiles shot out to the surrounding. Turning the area into a dark murky green color from the original grass field.

"Who goes there?!"

The shielded hero shouted out.

"Let me go immediately!"

Does he not understand that if I did he would end up dead?

"Release me!"

He kept hitting my shield with his holy sword, but it didn't have much of an effect.

"I'll deal with you later."

I flew towards the lindworm. Unlike when facing the hero's party, the lindworm was vary of me. It showed it's twisted fangs to me.

It shouted a loud roar and the illusory wings appeared again. But this time, there was a dark air around them.

"That's..."

I recognized this darkness around it. I had felt it in the past year when I went to the northern region of the continent.

"What's it doing here?"

The lindworm launched itself towards me. It tried to bite down on me, but was blocked by my mana shield.

"You're strong. But not strong enough."

"FIREBALL!"

I conjured a fireball from my mana and launched it towards the lindworm. A scorched hole formed in it's body where the fireball passed.

It should be dead with that. But it attacked one last time before dying. It swung it's tail at my barrier. It was covered in the dark aura from before.

It put a dent in the mana shield. This was just a weak dying attack. But the power of this dark aura was to be feared.

"I'll found out what it is one day."

I didn't have any clue of what this darkness was. All I knew was that it was dangerous.

"Now..."

I turned to look at Erox.

"HA!"

He was doing the same attack he did against the lindworm. His sword struck the barrier and bounced off. Landing outside the barrier.

I slowly flew down in front of the sword.

"Oh."

The area around here was still covered in the dark green things that the lindworm shot out. But the area around the sword was clean.

'It purified it?'

That was my guess.

"You! Give me back my sword!"

Erox demanded. I didn't really pay any attention to him.

"Don't let him get it."

Sophily appeared besides me.

"You!"

"Yes! It's me!"

Sophily shouted. She seemed angry.

"You're supposed to be working for me! What are you planning with that woman?! Wait till the second prince hears about this!"

Erox shouted.

"Who said I work for you? You fucking asshole!"

Erox's words only made Sophily angry. I had to hold her back and calm her down as she kept shouting curses at Erox.

"And you hero, you're in no position to demand anything. So keep your mouth shut...or I'll let her loose."

Erox clicked his tongue but kept silent.

"So this is the legendary holy sword. Requiem."

I looked at the sword with curiosity. This is a mythical artifact, said to have been bestowed to humanity by the gods themselves.

Any magic researcher would be dying to have a chance to learn more about this sword. Of course, this included me.

"Too bad I can't move it."

Only the hero can move.

"Wait no. Is this really the real sword? Why did it do no damage when Erox swung it?"

I was asking Sophily for an answer.

"That's because Erox is weak and not the real hero."

"Not the real hero? Are you certain?"

"Of course, there is no way this pillock is the real hero."

"So this must be a fake sword then."

I was hoping to see the real sword. The real sword would've been able to deal with a monster of this level even if the hero was weak.

"It's not a fake!"

The silent until now Erox spoke up.