Managing an orphanage in another world

It's been 2 weeks since I decided to build the orphanage. In a few weeks, it'll be Winter. In this region, it will snow during the coldest days. Usually it lasts for 10 days.

Recently, more people have been showing up to this region. As refugees, escaping from war regions or other things in their lives. Apparently, the word is that this region is a hot spot from future growth. I don't know how it spread around, but it's what people have been saying in the nearest towns that are a day or two away.

Since they can't take in refugees, they've been directed to this place.

It's fine if more people move here. But not right now. There is no basic infrastructure.

I've been tasked with creating water through magic. There are some people who are working with the silver wolf merchants to plan out the town. I looked at the blueprint and I thought it looked a bit too big to be called a town.

The adventurers' guild's temporary building was also built. The young men and women rushed to join in hopes of making a living. They promised not to hunt monsters unless necessary.

I'm sitting here outside the silver wolf merchant store today. Since Su invited me to tea and talk about the plant seeds she finally got.

"Hello, Miss Thea."

A adult around his 30s greeted me. He was wearing armor and holding a sword. A stoic face with a few small scars. Dark green hair.

"How's work going?"

This was Liyus. The captain of the patrol guards. Silas hand picked a few people to become the local patrol. Currently, there are about 6 people in the patrol. All are veteran guards who worked at other places before. More people are expected to join in the future since the number of people is increasing at a very fast rate.

"Everything is good. There have been no conflicts today."

"Keep up the good work."

Liyus doesn't smile at all. And he gives me a bad vibe. Not because he doesn't smile, but something else. But he was picked by Silas, so it should be fine.

Liyus left me and went back to his patrolling.

"Oh, did Liyus have something to say to you?"

Su came out from inside the store, bringing along with her a box and some cups. She had new yellow colored gem earrings.

"No, he was just passing by and said hello."

Su sat down in front of me and took out a lot of different types of plants.

"The earrings look nice on you, Su."

"Thanks, my mom gifted them to me."

Su's face was beaming with happiness.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Two things, one is trying out these teas. And the other is deciding if I should plant certain plants."

"Oh, I look forward to tea tasting. So what do you have here?"

Su was excited to share the things she had.

"Almost all of these are from a place called the Island of Mysterious Plants."

"Oh, that sounds like a very off-limit secret place."

"It is! It's the most secret place that we elves have."

"Oh?"

"Through the magic of the elves, plants from all over the world are kept there. Even plants that have been extinct in other places can be found there."

"That's amazing."

"Only the best of elves of our people are allowed to go inside."

"So you went inside to get these?"

"Eh...no. My mother sent me these, she's one of the best when it comes to horticulture."

Su looked a bit guilty. Feeling bad that she had to rely on her mother to get these plants.

"I see. Don't be sad, you'll be granted entry in the future since you work so hard. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so."

I tried my best to raise Su's mood.

"So what do you have here?"

"First one is this, it's called Glacier Lake Leaf. It takes 5 weeks to grow. It's effect is the best during hot days...."

Su talked about all the plants she had brought today. Most of them were different types of tea leaves. Of various colors shapes and sizes. They all had wonderful aromas.

"Let's move on to the more important plants."

From inside the box, Su took out a fewer amount of plants. These were different from the tea leaves. There were roots, mushrooms, and fruits.

"I'm thinking of planting meadow grass in your garden. Specifically this type."

Su held up a grass blade, it was yellow in color.

"Is there something special about this grass?"

I don't know much about grass, so I asked.

"Try to feel it."

"Oh!"

I put my hand on it and I could feel a lot of softness from the grass blade. It felt like touching a marshmallow in the shape of a grass blade.

"How is it so soft?"

"This is a special grown grass in the Island of Mysterious Plants called Fairy Cloudgrass. It got that name for it's softness."

"That's amazing, it might feel better to sleep on this than on a bed."'

"It's more amazing than that. It changes color with the seasons, always matching the weather to be the best color. It doesn't break easy so it doesn't get everywhere. Some say it even has special properties that help your body in various ways."

"Is that true?"

"We, the elves, have not been able to prove it but it doesn't hurt anyone to believe it. And it's not wrong that it improves your mental which can help you in the long run."

"That's true, being outside, be it in the grass or anywhere else, helps you a lot."

Putting down the soft grass, I point towards the other things.

"What about these?"

"These are medicinal plants, I like to plant these for when they are needed. You can dry them when they mature, and can be kept for a few years at least."

Su was really excited to tell me about the plants. We talked for a bit more until there was a commotion in the town which required our attention.

---

We walked into the town where a bunch of people were gathered. Almost all of them were young men and women. Some had armor and weapons, some wore robes, and others had books in their hands. There were a variety of people dressed differently.

They were standing in front of a building. It had a sign at the front of a helmet with a sword and staff. It was the building of the adventurers' guild.

At the front, you could the people talking.

"Is it true?"

"Has the information been confirmed?"

"Why is there such a monster in this area?"

"Everyone should run away, it's not worth dying here."

It was chaos.

"What happened?"

Su walked to the front and asked.

"The elf girl from the store."

Everyone instantly recognized Su. Though some didn't know Su's name, she seemed quite popular.

"What's got everyone riled up?"

"Haven't you heard? A 3-star monster was just spotted."

A young blonde women spoke.

"There's no one in the guild who can take it down."

There is one reason for the adventurers' guild to exist. It is to kill monsters. Monsters are different from beasts, but similar. There are two types of monsters that are commonly known.

One is beasts that have been corrupted. It happens because of the mana of demons that exists alongside normal mana. It drives the beasts insane and turns them violent.

The other is creatures born of mana. We don't know why these creatures suddenly get born from nowhere. But they always seek destruction.

Monsters are assigned stars based on their strength, starting from no stars.

A 3-star monster requires a group of D rank adventurers to kill. Since this town doesn't even have a name on the map, how could it have any strong adventurers? It's just refugees that have come together. Almost all of them are non-fighters.

"This is serious."

The young men and women wore looks of fear. They had just had a big change in their life and found this place to maybe call their new home. But now even this new home was threatened by something they couldn't go up against. It would make anyone despair.

"What are we gonna do?"

"Everyone!"

At this moment, a girl in a white shirt, a brown vest and a black tiered skirt shouted. She was wearing a white hat that went from ear to ear. Her hair was a soft pink color. She looked like a 16 year old. She wore a ribbon around her shirt's collar. And a badge could be seen on her chest.

This was the outfit of the guild's receptionist. Everyone quieted down to listen to her.

"There's no need to worry, everyone."

The girl spoke up.

"Help is on the way. We've just received a message."

Everyone was waiting in anticipation for the next few words that the girl had to say. Everything depended on these words.

"The hero's party is on the way to deal with the monster!"

The people took a moment to understand what the receptionist had just said. Then cheers erupted from them.

"If it's the hero, we don't have to worry."

"It's easy for the hero to kill any monster!"

Things like these were said. But while everyone else was cheering up, I saw that Su had a face full of doubt.

"What's wrong, Su?"

So I asked her.

"Actually, there's something bothering me."

"What is?"

"Let's move somewhere else first."

We went back to the silver wolf merchant store where there were fewer people around. It was only a few dozen steps away from the guild building.

"I didn't want any of those young folks to hear this."

Su turned to me as she talked softly so as not to let other people hear.

"I heard a while ago something very important. But first, you know what the hero is right?"

"Yeah, it was in the books at the academy."

The hero is someone chosen by the gods of this world to defeat an oncoming threat. One appears every few centuries. It's a big deal that the whole world pays attention to.

Now how do they ascertain the hero was born and is the real deal? They have something called the hero's sword, Requiem. It was bestowed to the first emperor of the sun empire. Legend has it, it was crafted by the god of smithing himself.

But that's just a legend. The truth has been lost to the flow of time.

Requiem, the holy sword will shine when a hero appears. And only the hero can hold up the sword.

"Only the hero can hold the sword. You know that a hero appeared last year, right?"

"I didn't know that."

"What? How did you not hear about such a huge event?"

"If it was such a big thing, then I should've heard about it. So it means it wasn't that big..."

"Well you're not wrong...but still..."

"Say what you were saying."

"The information was received recently to the silver wolves. It hasn't been confirmed yet. But the gist of it is that the hero ceremony was fake."

"The ceremony was fake? Then that would mean...the hero was fake?"

"Exactly."

"But why would they do that?"

"I can only guess it's because of the fight for the throne between the two sun princes. The second prince was the one who found the hero."

"He hopes to gain the support of the people through faking something like this?"

"Keep in mind, this hasn't been confirmed. The possibly fake hero hasn't done anything in the past year. They always gave the excuse of secret training."

"So why is the hero here to kill a 3-star monster?"

"I can answer that."

Suddenly, from the wall, a voice came out.

"AAH!"

Both me and Su got scared. From the wall a figure of a person appeared. At first it was invisible and then the figure gained color and appeared before us. It was the guild receptionist with the light pink hair.

"My name is Sophily."

"You work at the guild right?"

Having calmed down, I asked the girl.

"Yes, being a guild receptionist is my full-time job."

Sophily said with a straight face void of emotions.

"I'm not an espionage expert."

For some reason she also added this sentence.

"Why are you saying that?"

"Because I'm not one and I have to let you know."

"...ok, I guess?"

I looked at Su, who was also as confused as I was.

"Wait, that's not it. Why were you hiding in the wall?!"

Remembering what she had just done, I took a step back and asked.

"I wasn't hiding in the wall."

Sophily calmly said.

"Don't lie, we clearly saw it."

"I was hiding against the wall."

Me and Su were dumbfounded. She did not just correct me on her hiding position.

"Aha! But you were hiding!"

Su said as she realized what Sophily's sentence meant.

"You are right."

Both me and Su were again dumbfounded. She just admitted like that, without trying to refute.

"If you want, I can pay with my life."

Sophily took out a knife and held the handle side towards us.

"No, no! Why do you need to do that?"

This Sophily girl was so weird. Who offers to pay with their life so nonchalantly?

"I can pay with..."

Sophily was about to lift her shirt up.

"You don't need to pay!"

But I stopped her. What is up with this girl?

A moment of silence later. Su asked Sophily a very important question.

"Sophily, do you always offer that to everyone?!"

"No, that was a test. My master said to test people by saying that."

"A test? Did we pass?"

"Yes, you passed."

I wonder what kind of test that was...

"Anyways, what did you mean by you can explain?"

"The reason the hero is on the move."

"What's the reason?"

"Because he's bored."

Yet another flabbergasting sentence from Sophily.

"What do you mean bored?!"

"I don't think I misspoke...do your ears not work properly?"

Sophily touched her mouth to make sure her mouth didn't disappear and then asked me something like that.

"No...my ears work fine. I asked if you're certain that's the reason."

"Please don't doubt my information, I am the best when it comes to esp-"

"To espionage?"

"Being a receptionist! I am a full-time receptionist! I hear a lot of rumors."

Sophily slipped up and revealed her real occupation....even though we already knew.

"So the reason the hero is out is just something like that?"

"Yes. The fake hero is really dumb. He was confined inside of the second prince's estate for a whole year so he got bored and demanded to be let out. Or else he would tell everyone that he was not the real hero but a fake one."

Sophily explained.

"Wait, why did you come to find us? Actually how did you know about us?"

Since her explanation was over, another explanation was need.

"I came to find you because the hero's party cannot deal with the monster alone this time. Since the fake hero is very dumb, he demanded that no one follow him. So he only has a few people secretly following him. But they are not strong enough to defeat the monster."

"But since it's the second prince of the sun empire, should there still be someone strong among them following him?"

Su made a very reasonable conclusion. The second prince can't afford to have the hero die. It would mean his road to the throne would disappear.

"About that..."

Sophily's face turned a bit red.

"Wait..."

Su and I looked at each other.

"They sent you!"

"No! No, they didn't. I mean! I work as a guild receptionist! I'm not tasked with doing something like that! I don't even know them!"

Sophily quickly tried to explain that she had no affiliation to the hero or anyone behind him. But it was too obvious.

"Ok ok, we'll believe you. You had nothing to do with the hero or the second prince."

But since Sophily was trying to hard to hide the fact, I let her believe she convinced us. Sophily sighed a breath of relief and seemed happy at the fact that she successfully hid her real occupation from us.

"So you came to us because you want us to deal with the monster?"

I asked Sophily.

"Yes, you're the only strong person here who can deal with a 3-star monster."

"Sure, I can deal with the monster but how did you know about me?"

Thea generally tries to hide her power. She let's people know that she is a mage and that's all. Up until now, the only human in this town who really knows about her power is Silas. Not even the kids at the orphanage know how powerful Thea is.

"What do you mean Miss Thea can handle it?"

This included Su, who thought Thea was just some VIP customer of the silver wolf merchant group. A very nice and kind customer.

"Oh, you didn't know?"

"What do you mean?"

Su looked at Sophily and then looked at me.

"Who are you, Miss Thea?"

Su scarily asked.

"Why are you suddenly talking like that? I'm the same person you've known till now."

I explained to Su that I was just a bit stronger than an ordinary mage.

"You should've told me sooner..."

"I don't like to tell people. I don't know how Sophily here even knows about me. Wait...where's Sophily?"

The girl was gone. I didn't even hear her walk away.

"Miss Thea, she left a note."

Su picked up the note on the floor. It was the location where the monster was last seen.

"I'll head there immediately. I don't care about the fake hero, but I don't want to see him die just because he's doing something dumb that puts his life in danger."

"Wow, you're so kind."

"Stop it. Su, can you go to the orphanage if there's nothing for you to do?"

"Yes, of course. By the way, Miss Thea."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a favourite flower?"

"I don't think so?"

"I see, I see."

I don't know why she asked that at the end. But we separated after that. Su went to the orphanage and I went to the forest where no one was and flew towards the location of the 3-star monster.

A lindworm.