Managing an orphanage in another world

Su arrived in the afternoon. She was very excited to start working with me.

"Where are you planning to make a garden?"

"I'm thinking of turning a part of the backyard into a place for the plants."

"I see."

"Come with me."

I brought Su to the back of the orphanage.

"What do you think? Would this area be good for you?"

"Any place can be a place for horticulture."

"Horticulture?"

"The art of cultivating plants, for food, decoration, medicinal effect and such."

"Oh, I didn't know that word."

"People usually just call it gardening. But anyways, this place is good for cultivating herbs. I can feel that the soil has a lot of mana. Things planted in this soil will grow very fast and will have great effects."

"Oh, that's great."

"So, do you want me to choose some stuff to plant here? Or do you have specific things you want grown?"

"I went around the world some time back and I was...gifted a bunch of plant seeds."

"You were gifted seeds?"

"Yeah, long story."

"Ok, can you show me the seeds?"

"Of course."

I put my hand into my magical bag and took out the few seeds I had. They were stored inside of a red box.

"Here you have it."

"What seeds are they that they are stored inside of this fancy looking box?"

Was it fancy? The box had some engravings in the color of gold but that was it. I didn't think much about the box.

Su opened up the box and inside were various colors of seeds. With all the seeds having different shapes. There were a total of five seeds.

"What are these seeds? I've never seen them."

"The guys who gave them to me called them elemental dragon seeds."

"Elemental dra...ELEMENTAL DRAGON SEEDS?!!"

"You've heard of them?"

"H-heard of them? Everyone's heard of them!"

"Oh, are they famous seeds?"

"They're not just famous. These seeds are a legend."

"How so?"

"These seeds only grow on a dead dragon."

"A dead dragon?"

"Yes, and even then they don't always grow."

"Wow, so these seeds are some very rare items."

"You don't get it. They're not just rare, they're impossible to get. Once a dragon dies, the environment changes where it's body falls. It becomes impossible for humans to go in. And also, baby dragons smell these seeds' mana and get them before anyone else can. Who even gave them to you as a gift?"

"Don't worry about that. So are they hard to plant?"

"I can try, but the conditions to grow these are very strict. I don't think it will work."

"What are the conditions?"

"The most important one is that the soil needs a ton of mana. That's why the ideal condition is a dragon's nest."

"Is there not enough mana in this soil?"

"There's nowhere enough. When I was in my village, the ground there had more mana than here and it still wouldn't be enough to plant these elemental dragon seeds."

Since Su is an elf, the place she lived in was filled with various rare and high grade plants. From herbs like Pendragon roots to trees like Azure Willow trees. If she says that it's not enough, then it definitely isn't enough.

"Well, can you plant some other herbs then? Like medicinal herbs?"

"Of course, those types of herbs are the first thing you learn to grow."

"Oh, thank you then. I also want to have some greenery in the front of the orphanage. Could you also manage that?"

"Yes! A place filled with greens makes it wonderful. It'll be great for the people living inside and the people walking by."

"I know. It helps elevate your mood and reduce stress. It's such a great thing."

"Then I'll get started with planting medicinal herbs here in the back."

"Alright then. Good luck with your work, Su."

I left Su to do whatever she had to do with the plot of land in the back. She left in the evening while we were preparing dinner.

"No, you can't use the knife, Nem."

"Leaf, keep the ingredients separate. We're not mixing them before cooking."

I was preparing dinner while Nem and Leaf were having fun. More so they were annoying me and making messes.

"Achoo!"

Nem even got some white pepper on his nose.

'Thinking about it, isn't it time for the magic on Nem to wear off?'

The magic on Nem seemed to be a magic that conceals his features of a beast-person. It was probably cast on him for his protection.

'Well, if he wants the magic to be recast then I'll do that for him.'

"Alright, the preparations are done. You two can go sit at the table, I'll finish cooking the food."

I finished cooking the dinner. It was mix of chicken and vegetables on rice.

"Are you going to eat a lot again, Leaf?"

"I didn't eat that much!"

Even during yesterday's dinner, Leaf ate a lot. Nem already went to sleep so he didn't eat anything. So I cooked a lot in the morning for him.

Just like the days before, Leaf ate a lot. Nem ate a healthy amount.

"Alright, let's go take a walk around town. It'll help you digest and get familiar with the town. We'll be doing walks often from now on."

"Okae!"

Nem said in a cute little voice. He didn't say many words since coming here. The most I heard was when he was trying to go after his mother. There was not much I could do to help him with his mother. So I hope he can accept the orphanage as his new home.

"Alright, Nem. Give me your hand."

We left the orphanage and I asked for Nem to hold my hand. I tried to hold on to it as I walked but Nem was incredibly small and I had to bend my back to hold his hand.

"Leaf, you hold onto Nem's hand."

"Okay."

Leaf held onto Nem's hand tightly.

"Don't let go of his hand."

"Yes."

We walked around the town for half an hour. The town was looking much better than before. The silver wolf merchants had been helping the people.

The town's streets were cleaned, temporary tents for homes were built until people could build their own homes. Existing houses were repaired to accommodate people.

On the streets, everyone was heading towards the same place. It was mostly men walking together.

"Where are you guys heading?"

"Oh, orphanage owner. We were heading to the pub. It was just opened today."

"Oh, the pub? It was built really fast."

"Yeah, the boss at the merchants said the pub is important. So he quickly built it."

"Well then, I won't hold you any longer. Enjoy your time at the pub."

After the men left, we continued our walk.

"Ah, that's where I found you."

I looked towards Leaf.

"Please don't remind me."

"Haha. I meant to say I'm glad I found you."

"..."

Leaf looked down to the ground. Perhaps she was shy about hearing that from me, so I patted her head to lift up her mood.

"You're not mom?"

The always quiet Nem suddenly asked.

"What, Nem! She's not my mom."

The red-faced Leaf immediately answered back.

"Haha, I don't know what gave you that impression but I'm not her mom. Leaf is just like you. Someone I promise to take care of."

"Like me?"

Nem looked towards Leaf with new found interest. His big eyes were extra round and shiny as he looked at Leaf.

"So try to get along, okay. Otherwise, I will have to give you to Silas. You know how scary he is."

It is true. Not that I would give them to Silas, but that Silas is scary looking. He has a scar on the side of his neck running down from his ear. I don't know what happened, but he looks like a seasoned warrior and it makes him look scary.

I noticed it before. When Silas came, Leaf stood behind me. And Nem wouldn't look at Silas when he was found. Both of them were a little frightened by him. Even though Silas seemed to me like someone who cares about his friends.

(Call me big sister Leaf, Nem.)

Leaf whispered to Nem.

"Big sis!"

"I love my brother Nem. He's the cutest."

Seems they were trying to put on an act of being close and friendly in front of me.

"Hmm."

"W-what's wrong, Unnie?"

"I sense some insincerity in your voices."

Well, they have their childlike mind to think that would work.

"Maybe I should call Silas..."

Both of their faces were pale.

"I'm just kidding. I wouldn't do that. Haha."

"You're so mean, Unnie."

Leaf made a pout. Which slowly turned into a smirk.

"You also made Nem sad."

'Maybe I went too far with my joke.'

"Soo....Nem demands ice cream."

"Is that so?"

"Uhh, yes. He just told me."

"He told you? But I didn't hear anything."

"It was when you looked away."

'Though I haven't looked away.'

"Alright, I'll buy you ice cream when it's available."

"Yes!"

"Have you never had ice cream before?"

"No..."

"How about Nem?"

Nem tilted his head in response.

"Do you know what an ice cream is?"

Nem shook his head. It seems where Nem used to live, ice cream was not available.

"You'll love ice cream. Alright, let's head back now."

We started to walk back towards the orphanage. We talked on our way back.

"Silas is not a scary person. You can trust him."

"But he looks so..."

"Looks are not everything that a person is. I mean, do you think I'm scary?"

"No, Unnie is very pretty and kind."

"Thank you, Leaf. But what if I was an evil person with this face?"

"That..."

"The same thing applies to the opposite. Silas just has a scary look all the time and the scar doesn't help. But deep down, Silas is a patient, nice and kind guy."

"I see....so does Unnie like Silas?"

"What?"

Thea's face blushed at the sudden question about her romantic interest in Silas.

"Unnie talks about Silas like you like him. You two make good friends so it's not weird to like him. But the question is if he likes Unnie back. Unnie should just tell hi-"

Thea smacked Leaf on the head. She was having too much fun rambling on about that.

"It's not like that. I have no interest in him. He's not my type."

"Hehe, sure~"

"You!"

Leaf was smiling mischievously. Nem was on the side not understanding the things Leaf was saying. This was when the person of the topic showed up.

"Miss Thea, there you are."

"Ah, Silas?!"

"Yes, I am Silas. I was looking for you but you weren't at the orphanage."

"Oh that. I took the kids out for a walk."

"I see that, I have something to discuss with you."

"Let's head back to the orphanage."

From the distance, we heard people shouting.

"What's happening there? Let's go check it out."

We arrived at a scene where a bunch of people were gathered. There were men and women, the people we met before heading towards the pub were also standing there.

"This must be the pub?"

A building made of hardwood. Just one story tall but the area it covers seemed to be huge. Easily able to house a hundred people inside.

"Yes, it's named the White Wolf pub."

"The white wolf? I know that from somewhere."

"It's a local legend. In the story, it says the white wolf is the guardian of this region. Only appearing when there is danger to the people living here. It comes and defeats all the enemies in one fell swoop."

"I remember now. It's that puppy I met before."

"P-puppy? And you met it?"

"Oh yeah, when I was walking to this place before. It suddenly appeared before me and showed it's fangs to me. It looked angry."

"You didn't kill it, did you?"

Silas looked troubled.

"No, I didn't. I don't go around killing animals like those adventurers."

"Adventurers kills beasts, they are different."

"Well whatever. I thought it was cute and it was intelligent. I just hit it a few times and it went away. It was quite understanding in the end."

"Hah, you beat the white wolf? How can we even believe that?"

Some of the bystanders overheard Thea talking about her fight.

"In the first place, the white wolf isn't even real. It's just a story that people made up."

Two people showed up together in front of the group. One tall and one short. Both of them were wearing bandana headbands.

"The white wolf is a mighty being, said to have the power to destroy whole castles in one blow. How dare you lie about beating one?"

The short bandana wearing person said.

"Yeah, there's no way a weak and frail girl like you can do that. At least try to come up with a better lie next time."

The taller one said.

"I'm not lying."

"Yeah, Unnie doesn't lie."

"Mmm."

Nem simply nodded his head vigorously.

"Tsk tsk tsk. You've even lied to children. How despicable of you."

"Stop you two."

Silas stepped in to defuse the situation.

"Miss Thea is not one to lie. And you have no idea who you're talking to."

Silas gave them a scary glare.

(Close your eyes, Nem. Mister Silas is being very scary.)

In the front, I saw Leaf whisper to Nem and cover his eyes. Are they really that scared of Silas?

"And who are you to tell us?"

The two of them were picking a fight with Silas.

"I'm the guy who can ban you from ever entering this place ever again."

"Haha, you think I'll believe you? Only the boss at the silver wolf merchants can do that. You think you're the boss? The boss is a muscular old man in his forties with grey hair. He exudes the aura of a seasoned merchant. You're nowhere near that."

"You're talking to the boss of the merchants. You can ask anyone here."

The two of them asked the other people around.

"Yeah, that's him."

"Yup."

"He built the pub right here."

"He's the boss."

The faces of the two changed. I could hear their thinking.

"We're sorry! We messed up."

"Please don't kick us out. We won't cause you any trouble again."

They immediately dropped to the floor. The sincerity in their voice was high.

"Don't mind that, I think you should apologize to the lady there."

"We're sorry, Miss."

They turned and apologized to me.

"You guys did nothing wrong. What are your names?"

"We're the Jesper brothers. We came to this town on the orders of the guild to secure a building for the construction of the guildhall."

"You guys were supposed to arrive during the day."

It seemed Silas had already been expecting these two.

"Yes, we know that. But there was a situation that kept our attention."

"Report the situation to me later."

After telling the Jesper brothers about what they needed to do, we finally went back to the orphanage.

"Alright, you two. Go to your rooms and sleep."

"Yes!"

Leaf immediately moved to her room but Nem wasn't budging.

"What's wrong?"

I asked him. But Nem wasn't saying a thing.

"You can tell me, Nem."

"Uhhm, I..."

"He doesn't want to sleep alone."

Silas, who hadn't left because he was originally coming here to tell me something, told me suddenly.

"Oh, is that true? You don't want to sleep alone, Nem?"

I had forgotten since I always slept alone since the first memory I can remember. I had grown used to it. But other children didn't sleep alone like me.

"Okay Nem, have this."

I took my magic bag from the table and took out something. It was a dragon plushie. I had bought it because it looked cute.

"This will keep you safe during the night. It's a mighty dragon that will deal with all the bad guys."

"It will?"

"Yes, you trust me don't you? I would never lie to you."

Nem was tricked by Thea and went to his room. That night, he slept with a dragon plushie in his arms and a smile on his face. During the night, the magic cast on him also faded away. And a pair of wolf-like ears appeared on his head.

Like that, the day went by.

"So what did you want to tell me, Silas?"