Managing an orphanage in another world

I opened the door slowly. Outside stood a woman.

A very fair skinned, black haired women. She had a wolf cut hair style that went down to her neck. She wore a black leather jacket that was open in the middle. A white shirt under the jacket. Dark blue denim shorts. And a pair of black ankle high leather boots. Between the shorts and the boots were a pair of long snowy white legs.

She was quite fit. She had well-trained muscles on her arms. There was a sword on her belt. She was a swordswoman. She stood slightly taller than me.

Thea's gaze met with the woman's. Her silver eyes were alluring and enchanting. Her dazzlingly stunning face matched flawlessly with her eyes.

"Huh?"

Thea voiced out a voice of disbelief. On the woman's face was an enormous smile. It went from one end of the ear to the other.

Thea's light blue eyes stared at the woman's silver eyes. A smile formed on her face also.

"THEA!!"

"JANNA!!!"

Thea threw herself at the woman and the woman threw herself at Thea. They came into each other's arms and hugged tightly. The both of them jumped up and down at the same pace. All the while laughing happily.

This continued for a while. Leaf and Su, who were talking in the kitchen, heard the two's shout and came over to see them jumping in each other's arms.

"Unnie?"

Leaf had never seen Thea this happy before. Normally, Thea seems happy as you can see her smiling all the time. But right now, there was a smile she had never seen before.

Thea and Janna stopped as they came out.

"Who is that, Unnie?"

Leaf asked Thea.

"My name is Janna Everlotte. Nice to meet ya."

Instead, Janna answered and stretched her hand out in a handshake gesture. Leaf extended her hand to shake in response.

"She's my best friend."

Thea added.

"Your best friend?"

Leaf asked as she was looking at Janna and shaking her hand.

"I've known Thea for over a decade."

"For over a decade?"

"Yeah, I made her my friend on the first day of the academy."

"The academy?"

"Didn't Thea tell you? She went to the Solhaven Academy."

"Solhaven?"

It was Su that spoke up. There was a surprised tone in her voice.

"What is Solhaven Academy, Su?"

Leaf asked Su.

"I've heard of it before. Almost everyone who has gone to a school has heard of it before. Solhaven Academy is the goal of every learner. It's the best academy in the whole world."

"The best academy?"

"Only the best of the best students can get into there. And everyone who goes there is usually royalty too. It's said that each year only 30 students get in."

"You're wrong there."

Janna interrupted Su's explanation.

"What did I get wrong?"

"You said only the best of the best students get in. It's never been like that. It's always been a place for the heirs and children of royalty to mingle."

"So Unnie is royalty?"

"No. No. Don't get it wrong. Thea got in because she's a monster."

Janna was laughing as she said it.

"A monster?"

Thea and Leaf questioned Janna's word choice.

"Haha! She got in because she beat every other kid up."

"Unnie was a bully?"

Leaf misunderstood Janna's words.

"A bully? Haha! You're not wrong!"

"Stop saying false things. I never bullied anyone."

Thea defended herself against the allegations.

"Really? I remember quite a few of our classmates hating you because you beat them up."

"Those were practice matches and competitions. I won fair and square."

"But you always made them feel like they were trash in front of you. That's why they felt you were humiliating them and hated you."

"It's not my fault they were weak...wait, that's not it. It's more accurate to say you bullied them. Didn't you drag out a match just to learn a new technique? I remember feeling pity for the guy who was against you."

Thea and Janna were having a banter. Leaf was fascinated to learn about Thea's past.

"W-what was Unnie like?"

She asked Janna this question with eyes full of curiosity.

"Oh, you're interested in that? I'll tell you all about it later. Right now, I need a room."

Janna pointed towards her back. There were a few bags of luggage.

"Oh, so you're accepting the job?"

"Yeah, the one you said in the letter. I wasn't gonna accept before because you know what I want to be."

"So did you give up on that dream?"

"Of course not. I just hit a wall....a big wall."

"Oh, tell me all about it later. Leaf, guide her to the room across from my room. Nem and Gwyn are waiting for me to give them a shower."

"Yes, Unnie."

Thea left Janna and Leaf alone and went to clean up Nem and Gwyn.

"How long have you been Unnie's friend?"

"Hmm, I think it's been 11 years now. We met on the first day on the academy."

"How did you meet?"

"Umm, it's a bit embarrassing. I broke into her room on the first day."

"You were a thief?"

"Do you always jump to conclusions this easily?"

"...yes, Unnie always says that too."

"Haha. It's fine, you can at least speak your mind. You don't need to be careful around us. But in the future if you meet someone that is strong, you should be careful."

"Yes, I'll be careful."

Leaf felt a bit embarrassed to get advice from someone she just met.

"Don't worry. Whatever happens, you can always ask Thea and me for help."

Janna put her hand on Leaf's head and patted her.

'Same as Unnie.'

The sensation Leaf felt from Janna's head pat was the same she got from Thea.

"What did you mean you broke into Unnie's room?"

"Oh, I tried to talk to Thea during the day. But she just kept ignoring me. And there was something I really needed to talk to her about."

"Couldn't you just try another day then? Why did you break in?"

"Yes, I could. But I was a 12 years old at the time, I couldn't think straight."

"So what happened after you broke in?"

"I saw Thea walking on the roof. Upside down."

"On the roof?"

"Haha. It was really funny to see. Her hair was longer than her body at the time, so she was mopping the floor at the same time."

"Really?"

"And then I burst out laughing. Thea's face turned red and she finally decided to talk to me. Then somehow we became friends after that."

They came to a stop as they reached the room for Janna.

"So what was Unnie like in the school?"

"Well, you know Thea pretty well now, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then you know everything. She's the same as she was 11 years ago."

"I don't believe you. No one stays the same."

"You can choose to not believe me, but she really hasn't changed. Well, except us becoming best friends. The way she looks at the world hasn't changed."

"The way she looks at the world? What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe you'll figure it out one day and tell me about it."

Janna left Leaf and headed into the room. Leaf still had questions but she didn't want to disturb Janna anymore.

"Did Su leave yet?"

Leaf wondered as she left to find Su.

---

In a bath, there was a wolf being washed by a woman. A young boy stood at the side.

"Alright, you're done too. No more playing in the dirt! You hear me?!"

Thea finally cleaned up the two bad boys.

"Now I'm gonna have to wash myself too."

There was dirt on Thea as well since catching the two of them and cleaning them spread the dirt on her.

"Oh, did I get dirt on Janna too?"

Thea was thinking. She had hugged Janna since she hadn't seen her in over a year. She probably got her dirty too.

'Should I get Silas to try and find a hot spring spot around here?'

Thea wanted to enjoy a relaxing hot spring bath with Janna.

"I'll ask him later."

"Unnie."

"Yeah, Leaf?"

Thea stood up to talk to Leaf who was outside the bathroom door.

"Janna Unnie said some things about you."

"I hope she said good things."

"Is it true that you tried to sleep upside down on the ceiling but fell down and hurt your head?"

"What?! Nothing like that happened!"

Thea's face was flushed. Janna was sharing embarrassing moments from her past.

"So you can walk on the roof?"

"It's not that hard."

Thea put her feet against the wall and walked. Both her feet were on the wall but she did not fall down. Then her feet moved again and she was upside down. Her feet were on the ceiling.

If someone were to take a picture upside down. It would look like she was naturally standing on the floor.

"Woah!"

To Leaf, this was very cool.

"How are you doing that?"

"It's a form of mana control. I'll teach it to you in the future."

"But Janna Unnie said your hair would touch the ground?"

"My hair?"

Thea was upside down, so naturally her hair should fall down to the ground. But that wasn't the case. Her hair was flowing up. Almost as if gravity was pulling it up instead of down.

"Hah."

Thea sighed.

"Only this one time."

Thea's hair fell down to the ground, as if they suddenly realized that gravity existed. Her hair touched the ground.

"Pfft."

Leaf chuckled a bit. Actually it wasn't only her, there was a sound from behind her as well. It was Nem and Gwyn. Peaking their heads from the side of the door.

Thea immediately came down from the ceiling. Feeling only a bit embarrassed.

"That's enough now. Get out now. I need to shower also. You guys go annoy Janna instead of me."

The kids left Thea alone. Thea locked the door. She slowly took off her blouse to reveal her slender, beautiful body. Thea's height was 174cm. Quite tall for a women of this world. Some would say that it was unnatural for women to be this tall, it was unsightly. But Thea's height only added to her charm.

Thea had white skin like Janna but it was not as illustrious as hers. But it still attracted the attention of people.

Thea took off her long skirt. On her lower back, in the middle, right above her hips was a tattoo. It was two cats, in a yin yang pattern. Both were chasing each other's tails. One was black, and the other was blue. The cats seemed happy and had smiles on their faces.

Thea used a magic spell to clean the bathtub. She usually doesn't do this as she wants to feel the joy of effort. But when she's alone, she becomes too lazy. She turned the faucet to pour warm water. She got into the filled hot tub.

"Right, I have to research the teleportation magic and the holy sword."

Thea remembered her past goal. And the new goal she acquired today.

"And improve the water making tool. Don't forget that, Thea."

Thea reminded herself. She had promised Silas that she would try to improve the complex tool she made that would create infinite water. Though she didn't really promise it, she felt like she had to do it.

"One thing at a time...hah..."

Thea took a half an hour long relaxing hot bath. She came out of the bathroom to see Janna carrying Nem and Gwyn on her arms. Or rather, the two were hanging from her arms.

"What are you guys doing?"

Thea asked Janna.

"These little guys wanted to know how strong I was. So I was showing them."

Nem and Gwyn were laughing. Both of them were little kids. Nem was seven years old. I learned that he wasn't eight years old. He just skipped over the number four and counted to eight. So he was actually seven years old. Gwyn was just a month old.

So they liked being carried and swung around. Janna was spinning and to them it felt like a theme park. Children like theme parks.

Sadly in this world, there was nothing like a theme park. There wasn't even the idea of playgrounds for children...wait!

"Another great idea, Thea."

Thea applauded herself. She would later tell Silas the idea she came up with, rather the idea she stole from someone else.

'I think they already planned the construction of a school.'

"Janna, are you done getting your stuff?"

Thea asked her. When Janna came today, she only had a few bags with her. Thea had known her for a long time, she knew that Janna always had several times more bags than before.

"How about your training equipment?"

Janna carried her weights and other equipment with her. It always created a problem.

"I was in a hurry and couldn't get them."

"In a hurry?"

"Yeah, you remember the job I got?"

"Yeah I do. It was...vice-captain right?"

"No, I was assistant to the vice-captain."

"Right, right. You got that job in the Idavoll kingdom to the north."

Opposite the Zatiax Kingdom, the kingdom of Sol which was in the middle of the continent stood the youngest kingdom. It was formed after the previous kingdom had a rebellion. A little under hundred years of history, it is called Idavoll. The meeting place of gods.

A little note about the north. Idavoll might exist is the north but not all of the north belongs to Idavoll. Idavoll is situated at the bottom of the north. It doesn't get that cold in Idavoll. Further north from Idavoll, one would freeze from the temperature in seconds.

It is said not even demons would want to go there.

"You know, I tried to visit you in Idavoll but I was denied entry to the capital."

Thea had gone to the north part of the continent during the last year. She went further north than Idavoll's territory. On her way back, she had gone to the capital in hopes of meeting Janna. But she was denied entry for being a 'suspicious person'.

"That's not weird. Idavoll only lets verified people in."

"So I asked them to deliver a letter to you. They almost didn't accept it. They were so strict with their rules."

"It's for safety. Just forget them."

"Earlier, you said you didn't come here because of the job offer."

"Yeah, I wasn't gonna accept this job. I didn't want to spend my time taking care of children."

"I know. Your dream has always been to become the world's best knight."

"And you've never held any expectations about the future. Always just going along the flow of time. Is that still the same?"

Janna looked Thea deep in the eyes.

"I'm the same as always. I'm happy doing small things."

"Taking care of these kids is a small thing?"

"Of course not. I meant-"

"I know, I know. It's just a small thing compared to the whole world."

Janna wanted to be someone important, well known throughout the world. While Thea wanted a calm, quiet, peaceful, tranquil little life. Two mentalities. One was the hot-blooded nature of a person who had just come to the world and wanted to make a name for themselves.

The other was the wisdom of two life. It didn't matter if one made a name for themselves by going through hardships. The only thing that matters is living life being happy.

"Janna, I gave you that letter because I wish to see you happy here with me."

"..."

Janna was speechless. Janna had a lot to think about emotionally. And It's not easy to talk about one's emotions.

"So why did you come here if not the job?"

"Well...I kind of pissed off some people..."

"These people are?"

"Umm....the Idavoll royal family..."

"Janna?! Those were your employers! And they're royals! What exactly did you do?"

Thea was a bit distraught.

"It wasn't my fault, okay! That Idavoll King's idiot son was the one messing with me. I just did what you always told me to do! He deserved it."

"What I always told you?"

"You always said, 'if they try to do anything to you, then kick them in the nuts.'"

"You...you did that?"

Thea was flabbergasted. Janna had kicked a king's son in the nuts.

"What happened after that?"

"I don't know. I ran away as soon as I could."

"Hah. Why did you come here and not go to your family?"

"Well, I trust you the most to handle any situation. And you know how my family is."

"Fair point."

"By the way....this won't stop me from taking the job right?"

"Why would it?"

"Like...I'm bringing trouble to you. You probably don't want that..."

"If it was anybody else, I would be mad."

"But...you'll make an exception for me?"

Janna made a face like a cute yet sad and begging little cat.

"Anything for you."

"Yes!"

Janna made a victorious exclaim. Thea gathered the kids who were around the room.

"Listen up."

Leaf, Nem and Gwyn stood straight. They could feel the situation was a serious one.

"Let me introduce you again. This girl is Janna."

Thea gestured at Janna. Janna waved her hand and smiled.

"She'll be in charge of all the cooking from now on. And hopefully for a long time."

"Wow! How good are you at cooking, Janna Unnie?"

Leaf asked.

"Umm, I've had a lot of practice."