Chapter 57

Chapter Thirty-One: The Children’s Fate

“Director, is David leaving soon…”

“Yes, they will all be going with Uncle Charles to Isenbel.”

“Then, will we…will we see him again?”

Elle sniffled, her voice slightly choked up as she tried hard not to cry.

I looked at her innocent little face.

For people like them, dreams were meager. As long as they could stay in one place, have enough food, and relatively stable work, just being able to live safely was already something they would fight for.

They were ordinary people, too ordinary to ever afford a horned beast in their lifetime, or save up enough money to travel to another country. If they were unfortunate enough to be separated from their loved ones, it would be truly worlds apart, and they might never see each other again.

Elle was too young to fully grasp these things, but she understood them to some extent.

She was very smart and mature.

Surely, she must have gone through disasters that others couldn’t even imagine.

“Yes,” the Director said, lowering his hat brim.

“Elle, don’t worry. You and Lucas will—”

“David.”

The Director rubbed the child’s hair, squinting his eyes and smiling, then pulled him to Charles’ side.

“Director Charles, I entrust the children to you.”

Charles nodded, “Come on, kids. Let’s sit in those horned beast carriages over there first.”

“Director…”

David clung tightly to the Director’s bulky body, burying his face in his belly, tears and snot smearing everywhere.

The Director showed no disgust, still smiling and patting their heads.

“Be good. When you get there, don’t cause trouble for Sister Teresa.”

“Okay!”

David nodded vigorously.

“Go on.”

“David! We’ll miss you!” Elle shouted loudly.

“Yeah! Lucas, Elle, we’ll meet again!”

“Yeah! We definitely will.”

“Alright, Lucas, you all should head back now. It’s already late, so no more mischief when you get home, go straight to bed.”

“Yes—”

“About the matter of Cataoloma and what happened tonight, you can’t tell anyone.”

“Huh? Why?”

“There’s no need for so many questions. Do you want to listen to me?” The Director pretended to be annoyed.

“…Okay…”

The children’s responses were somewhat listless, clearly planning to use this as a boastful capital to brag to the other kids.

To them, tonight’s events were probably considered a remarkable adventure.

The Director waved at a nearby caregiver, gave a few instructions, then had him lead the children back to the orphanage.

“Sister,” Elle followed the caregiver for a few steps, then turned around and called to me suddenly.

She grinned at me sweetly.

“Thank you. And Hunter Uncle, thank you both. Sorry.”

The little girl’s earnest apology was quite endearing, and the two hunters smiled.

“Little sister, goodbye.”

At this moment, Lucas walked over hesitantly, stopping in front of me.

“Um, the woman who uses ice, I have something to say to you… I’m always clear about my debts, today you helped us, I shouldn’t have said those words, sorry. Let’s make amends.”

He stretched out his hand, his gaze slightly evasive but sincere.

I found it amusing inside, but there was no need to deliberately embarrass him; it would hurt a child’s self-esteem greatly. So I extended my small hand and shook his lightly.

“Uh-huh.”

Then I saw his cheeks flush.

“You, you noble, I don’t dislike you, so from today onwards we’re friends. I, Lucas, am a man of honor. If you ever run into trouble in the future, you can come find me anytime!”

Even though he knew this girl was of high status and very powerful, he still said it.

If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

“Hey—, Lucas, let’s go back.”

A voice came from behind urging him.

Lucas didn’t dare look me in the eye anymore.

“Umm… okay.”

He turned around and chased after Elle and the others.

Really…

It turned out to be just a misunderstanding after all.

So it’s settled?

Whether it was Lucas or Elle, even the hunters changed their attitude towards Cataoloma immediately, which made me very curious.

“Little Shir, aren’t you going back?” Carlos asked.

I ignored him and looked up at the Director, “Director, where is Cataoloma?”

“Don’t you know?”

The Director’s expression made me feel like I was an ignorant fool, and I felt a slight heat on my face.

“Haha, Miss, your status is high, I understand you wouldn’t pay attention to such things… Cataoloma, that’s the orphanage in the Order City, and also the oldest one. The Sacred Church invested a lot of manpower and resources, treating it as a cradle for nurturing talents. Many church knights, priests, and even some bishops were born in Cataoloma. These unfortunate children in the orphanage…

“Son, only by going there is there a chance to change their fate.”

As the words were spoken, there was some emotion.

I understood why the Dean had gone to great lengths to send the children there. But this was a good thing, so why do it in secret?

“Why hide it from them?”

“Because… I don’t want to see their disappointed expressions. I have no power to choose, I can only send a small number of children based on the list. Most of the children… I can’t send them.”

He smiled bitterly.

“Miss has also seen those children, they are really simple. In fact, every day I just watch them, and find everyone very cute. If possible, I hope they all have a good future. So how could I bear to let the children feel the difference in treatment? But this is not something I can decide. Since I cannot do it, then it’s better not to tell them.”

“Mr. Dean, you don’t need to blame yourself. I also like children, but this is something we can’t help.” Charles patted the Dean’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

I could understand his feelings.

The Dean’s idea was simple. Since it was destined from the beginning that not everyone could be sent, he might as well not let those who couldn’t go know about it.

Nothing is more heartbreaking than disappointment after hope.

This Dean was rather simple yet kind.

“This is indeed… quite a farce. It seems we were indeed too hasty.”

The hunter who used the saw-toothed knife walked over and picked up his weapon, putting it back on his back.

“It’s fine, I understand that you had good intentions. But I don’t understand how they convinced you?”

“Haha, let’s not talk about it. You should ask them later.”

The hunter smiled awkwardly, then turned his gaze toward me.

“I’m sorry, Miss Peyalo. This is just my personal curiosity. There’s something I want to confirm. Are you… no, you are the young Papal Knight Sirviga recently ennobled in Silgayia, right?”

Hearing his words, I frowned.

“How did you know?”

This was already an indirect admission. The hunter looked relieved.

“Mr. Carlos just called out your name, and this.”

He raised his finger to point at his chest.

What does this mean… Ah—

Realizing what happened, I lowered my head to look. The medal necklace that had been hidden under my clothes had long fallen out, unbeknownst to me as I was too focused on being angry with Carlos.

“Haha, now I’m relieved. I was just thinking that maybe I was too weak, turns out I just lost to the Papal Knight.”

“What? This beautiful lady is the hero who killed the Abyss alone as reported in the Church gazette recently?”

“Is she Miss Peyalo? Not called Sirviga?”

“Incredible—”

Voices suddenly became noisy, and my frown deepened.

…Church gazette? So I’ve already made it to the newspapers?

Does this count as fame? Will I encounter paparazzi in the future?

No, there are no cameras in this world. They shouldn’t know what I look like.

But, the name Sirviga probably won’t be easy to mention casually from now on. I don’t want to be stared at like a monkey wherever I go.

After saying that, the hunter turned around and bowed to the Dean and Charles: “Sorry, everyone. Today’s incident has caused trouble for you. We will take our leave now.”

“Hunter sir, please stay.” Charles hurriedly stopped them, “Today’s incident was a misunderstanding. There are still matters we need to discuss with you all. We hope that the Central Workshop and His Grace the Duke will pay attention to this matter.”

“What matters?”

“Let me explain.” Carlos’ eyes were despondent, always appearing indifferent, “Recently, I found Kusokusa grass among the supplies bound for the Winter City Orphanage.”

I immediately rolled my eyes.

Come on, I discovered it first, isn’t it embarrassing to take credit for it?

How shameless.

“Kusokusa grass? That hallucinogenic substance?”

“Yes. The merchants involved are currently detained in the underground prison of Winter City. The results of the interrogation came out this afternoon, and someone confessed, confirming that these supplies were indeed intended for the Winter City Orphanage. However, no one knows who the employer is. They only had to ensure that the items were safely delivered.”

Carlos paused, looking at the Dean without any emotion.

“In other words, there must be someone in your institution who received the goods. Mr. Dean, do you have anything to say about this matter?”