Chapter 53

Chapter Twenty-Seven The Strange Stranger

Despite the Duke’s efforts to lower his voice and make it sound gentler, the children, being children, had never seen such a scene before. They all huddled together, trembling with fear, as if the adults behind them might chop off their heads at any moment for the slightest displeasure.

The only boy in front of them was more stubborn, staring at the Duke without uttering a word.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.”

Varal kicked the boy in the back of the knee, causing him to stagger. As he knelt on one knee, the boy immediately straightened up, looking even more defiant when he looked back at the Duke.

The Duke rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

“Varal… they are just orphanage kids, not criminals. You should leave now.”

Varal’s smile froze for a moment.

“Duke, they attempted to sneak into the workshop’s main warehouse. Who knows if they’re spies from another country—”

“Varal, you are the captain of the Shanter army. Your responsibility is guarding the most important warehouse. When judging something, don’t let your emotions cloud your judgment; this way, you can remain steadfast in your principles. Go out and think about it.”

“Duke—”

“Go.” The Duke waved his hand dismissively without even looking at him.

“…Yes.”

Seeing Varal walk out of the room with a look of resentment, I couldn’t help but applaud silently in my heart.

People like Varal were indeed hard to like. Compared to him, Duke Scarlaj was like a wise ruler. Even if the other party was an orphan with no support, he treated them as equals and would never use his power to oppress the weak.

Sometimes, the differences between people are reflected in these small details.

I silently gave him a thumbs up.

But according to the Duke’s words, the trembling children standing there seemed to be from the orphanage of the Winter City?

I remembered when I was in Silgaya, the two boys who robbed me. What was the name of the leader? Yes, Abergo.

And those ragged little girls hiding in the dark, damp abandoned buildings.

They were eventually sent to the orphanage, but I wonder how they are doing now.

Looking closely, the clothes the children wore were simple but clean, with no obvious patches. It seemed someone was taking care of them. They may not have enough food and clothing, but at least they wouldn’t worry about the next meal.

Carlos mentioned that there were people in the orphanage responsible for teaching these children survival skills. Once they learned, they would even be given jobs. These were almost unprofitable charitable causes, yet the church had invested heavily in establishing such places in every major city.

Thinking about this, I felt a bit of goodwill towards the church.

Whether it’s individuals or organizations, doing things without seeking returns is very commendable.

Of course, the Duke wouldn’t know what I was thinking. He was just looking at the boy who was staring back at him, somewhat troubled.

“Look, if you don’t tell me why, how can I find an excuse to release you? Let’s both take a step back, what do you think?”

He sounded like he was coaxing a child.

“Hmph. Don’t get too cocky! Since we’ve been caught, we never intended to leave here alive!”

The boy spoke firmly, turning his head away, like a righteous hero in a story, ready to face whatever fate awaited him.

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

This boy seemed to be around my age, frail as if a gust of wind could knock him over, yet he dared to speak boldly in front of so many hunters.

Are you reading too much knight fiction? Who said they wanted to kill you? Please, don’t take it so seriously.

Yes, you’re putting on a good act, but have you considered how your friends feel?

Indeed, after hearing the boy’s words, their tears suddenly rose several octaves.

“Wah—”

“I don’t want to die—”

“Don’t… don’t kill me—Ah—”

The room became chaotic, like a nursery. The children cried with their mouths wide open, like hungry infants.

But I won’t share my sweets with you, there are only two left.

Seeing this scene of sorrow, Lucas quickly realized he had said something wrong and tried to make amends: “No, release them! I was the one who encouraged them to come here. If anyone should be blamed, it’s me!”

“Uh… stop crying, you’re making my head hurt. We won’t harm you little ones.”

Pagos, who was still working at the desk, comparing drawings and materials, also found it unbearable and came forward to calm the children down. But the children, seeing the tall and fierce Pagos, who looked like a giant, were clearly frightened and started crying even louder.

The situation became awkward. Even the hunters standing in the room began to exchange glances.

Although they were decisive Shanter warriors, facing these orphaned children and the Duke’s inscrutable smile, no one knew what to do.

What a dilemma.

At this moment.

“Hey!”

I clapped my hands and let out a short cry, which immediately startled the crying children and made them look over.

Seeing that I had their attention, I slowly took out a gold coin from my pocket, pinching it between my thumb and index finger, and then showed it to the children.

The tear-streaked faces of the children revealed curiosity, not understanding what I was going to do. Seeing this, I immediately raised my other hand to cover the coin and blew on my palm lightly.

When I moved my hand again, the coin had vanished.

The children’s eyes widened in disbelief, their cries turning into soft sniffles.

When I blew on my hand again, the gold coin reappeared between my fingers.

“Woah—how did you do that?”

“Sister, you’re amazing.”

Of course, humph.

But it was just a simple magic trick, using sleight of hand to hide the coin in my fingertips. In my previous life, I could easily find tutorials online for this. It was a bit tricky to practice, but I learned it to cheer up Xiaoxi. Who knew it would come in handy here.

Regardless, I successfully diverted their attention. They seemed to have forgotten their fear, even Pagos scratched his bald head in amazement.

Tsk, narrow-minded bumpkins.

Secretly looking down on Pagos, I smiled at the children.

“Do you want to learn?”

They nodded eagerly.

“Tell me why you came here. Then I’ll teach you. Okay?”

After a brief hesitation.

“I’ll tell!” The girl spoke up after finishing her snack, raising her hand high. “Sister, we came to steal weapons.”

“Aili! You traitor!” The boy who had been silent until now suddenly gritted his teeth and glared, his eyes filled with betrayal, “How could you do this! You betrayed my trust! This is so disappointing!”

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help laughing again.

This boy was so interesting!

“I’m not a traitor! This pretty sister isn’t a bad person. Maybe she can help us!”

“Coward! It’s all your fault we got caught because you were slow. We all stood by you, but now you want to betray us!”

“But stealing is wrong…”

“Wrong? If it’s for justice, I’d die willingly!”

“Lucas, stop talking.”

“They don’t seem like bad people…”

The other friends couldn’t help but speak up.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I know nobles are all bad. They’re rotten to the core! Humph, don’t think you can fool me like the others.”

“But they really don’t seem like bad people…”

“She even did magic tricks for us.”

“Let her help us?”

“I already told them to let you go…”

Lucas, the boy, looked indignant, as if betrayed by everyone, almost crying.

He seemed so strong earlier, but his weakness was right here.

Seeing them about to argue further, I stepped forward and clapped both sides of his face, pressing hard to make his mouth form an “O”.

Leaning close, I looked into his eyes seriously and said, “Don’t fight.”

Lucas was stunned for a moment.

“You…you…”

He stuttered, nervously looking around, unable to meet my gaze, his face as red as a monkey’s butt.

I released him and turned away.

Hmph, little boy. Dealing with you is as easy as dealing with Carlos.

I turned to the little girl, thinking she seemed smarter.

“Why steal?”

“We want to save our friend!”

“Save a friend?”

“Yes, the orphanage director is a bad person! He wants to hand our friend over to an even worse person. Sister, can you ask these hunters to help us?”

The girl looked at me sincerely, not seeming to be lying.

“Can you tell me more?” The duke, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up, watching me calm the children.

“We found out the director has been secretly sending our friends to some strange person.”

“It was me who found out!” A child immediately claimed credit.

“You stay quiet…anyway, someone comes to the orphanage every month to take people away!”

“This time it’s our friend’s turn…”

After all the chatter, I finally understood the situation.

These children discovered that the director of the orphanage in Winter City periodically takes several children away under the pretense of adoption, handing them over to a strange person.

Those children disappeared afterward, no one knowing where they went, and tonight it was their friend’s turn.

So they came up with a plan: steal powerful weapons from the workshop first, then go rescue their friend.