Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 10
>Chapter Title: These Orphans Need Their Director (3)
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*
In the end, Ivan was the one to give in.
It meant he was carefully starting to release information.
After all, he had to save the life of Priscilla, who was being held hostage. (Of course, it wasn't just Priscilla's life. Ivan had no confidence he could beat Enrique.)
“…I heard you were raising an apprentice.”
“Oh?”
Enrique tilted her head, a deep smile on her face.
For a moment, Ivan gripped the handle of his axe tightly before forcing himself to relax.
That was the expression that monster made when she was displeased.
“Go on.”
“I was told they’re scheduled to enter Saint Yansk University this year.”
“Hmm… and?”
“‘Someone’ was concerned. That it would be a great loss to the nation if they were to get hurt.”
What Ivan meant was this:
-Elizaveta was worried about your apprentice, so she told me to protect them.
>-That’s what I’ve been up to lately. You know how Elizaveta is.
>-But if you don’t understand this… I’ll have to assume you've sided with Aleksandr.
On the other hand, this is what Enrique heard:
-I’ve already identified your apprentice—their location, their personal details.
>-I was paid a hefty sum.
>-It would be… a shame if they got hurt somewhere. So, you’d better watch yourself.
How dare he.
How dare he stab his own venerable master in the back?
Whose request did he take? Aleksandr? Is that bastard finally trying to get rid of me?
No, and this guy…
If I'd received a request to kill him, I would have refused or at least warned him beforehand!
But he just shows up out of the blue, threatens me, and now he's using my apprentice to blackmail me?
And he calls himself a ‘disciple’…? What kind of monster did I raise?
If guys like this are the only apprentices of mine who survived the last war, then I…
Enrique nodded, a broad smile covering her face.
“I see. So that’s how it is.”
“Right. It’s no big deal.”
“Hmm… Not a big deal… you say?”
“Mm.”
Short replies were exchanged in the chilling atmosphere.
But Ivan relaxed a little. Though she seemed displeased for some reason, it looked like she fully understood the situation.
In that case… the problem was solved.
With a warning of this level, Enrique's apprentice wouldn't be in any great danger even when the ‘tutorial’ began. Enrique herself would protect them.
‘I’m in luck.’
I ended up meeting her because Priscilla was kidnapped, but I've gained more than I expected, and quite easily at that.
‘Three of the ‘protagonists’ tutorials are left, and the earliest one is still more than two weeks away…’
“Lucia!! Lucia! Come in!!”
“Yes, Master!”
A bright voice answered as someone opened the drawing room door.
She was a young woman in her late teens, with lustrous, chestnut hair that swayed as she moved.
Enrique smiled, looking at Ivan with what seemed to be a testing gaze.
“Now, greet him. This is your senior.”
“I've heard so much about you, Sir Petrovich! Master always told me to try and be at least half as good as you!”
*No, don't praise him. This bastard is ungrateful.*
Enrique gritted her teeth and forced a smile.
“You’re… human?”
“Huh? Yes. Of course…?”
“Of course…? Do you know your master’s race?”
“My master is a person!”
Lucia said, puffing out her chest with a confident expression.
“My master may have to live with a rather unique diet, but she cares for me and is a true hero who protects this country! If you were to ask me what defines a race, I would answer that it is ‘humanity,’ Sir Petrovich!”
“Oh…”
Ivan was impressed in spite of himself.
After the war with the demon race, the Allied Kingdom had become extremely hostile toward ‘demihumans’ and ‘non-humans.’
It was only natural. Most citizens walking the streets had lost a direct relative to the demons. (Elves are an exception. That long-eared race is part of the Allied Kingdom, yet they are ostracized for their abominable personalities.)
In such a climate, her open-minded view that the condition for distinguishing a ‘race’ does not lie in the species itself was a way of thinking one would expect to see on 21st-century Earth, not in this godforsaken otherworld!
And upon hearing this novel answer (which was extremely ‘radical’ by this world’s standards), the tension on Enrique’s face melted into a fond smile.
“There, you see? I've taught her everything I know. It'll take her some time to master it all, but she's learned the basics. If there's a Hero's Party in the next generation, she'll be the perfect fit.”
*That certainly seems plausible. Since she can walk freely under the sun, she'd be an even better fit for the Hero's Party.*
On top of that, her words—‘I've taught her everything, but it will take time to master’—also gave Ivan a certain conviction.
‘Is she talking about a skill tree?’
In a typical game, when a character grows, they often automatically acquire skills along with leveling up.
It’s clearly strange. It means that whether you're adventuring or whatever, the idea just pops into your head out of nowhere.
But it seemed this game worked differently.
The phrase, ‘Already learned, but lacking experience and mastery.’ What could be a more fitting expression?
Ivan nodded.
“She's an apprentice to be proud of. A better person than me—no, than ‘us.’ She's precious to me, someone I found in my later years. So… I don't want to kill you, Ivan.”
“Hm…?”
*Suddenly?*
Ivan flinched and placed his hand back on the handle of his axe.
Enrique alone was a handful, but could he guarantee victory in a two-on-one fight that included her apprentice, inside her own dungeon, and with a hostage in the mix?
It would be a grueling fight. Ivan groaned inwardly, watching her hands carefully.
“I'm asking you this for the sake of our memories. Wash your hands of this business. This is my territory.”
Enrique spoke with a sincere voice.
She meant that she alone was enough to run an assassination organization in this city.
Don't earn blood money in the back alleys of the city. That's not why you retired, is it?
Aleksandr is not to be trusted. If you're going to get involved in politics, you're better off siding with Elizaveta.
She conveyed all this with great earnestness.
And.
“So it's come to this.”
Ivan stood up, gripping his axe handle tightly.
*Enrique, have you finally sided with Aleksandr?*
Facing a member of the Hero's Party was clearly overtime, but it seemed unavoidable.
“What did Aleksandr offer you in return? People? Blood? Territory?”
“…What?”
“If you still stand with the Krasilov royal family, then I too will ask for the sake of our memories. Where does your loyalty lie?”
“Eh…?”
After staring into Ivan's eyes for a long moment, Enrique spoke, a cold sweat beading on her brow.
“Weren't you working with Aleksandr?”
“What are you talking about? I've never even met the man on pleasant terms.”
“Me neither.”
“Hm…?”
A brief silence fell.
“So, um… you haven't been gathering orphans and teaching them assassination techniques?”
“Our orphanage's curriculum adheres to the standard educational program.”
“Then what about that kid? She had mastered the art of the ambush!”
“That is a result of the children's own efforts. They've been training hard in various fields, looking for places to work after graduation.”
“You didn't teach them?”
“I did not.”
Another brief silence fell.
*So, she was just some ten-something-year-old orphan kid who was good at sneaking around?*
*And I just... kidnapped her, summoned this guy... and threatened him...?*
*Wait a minute.*
“Then what was that about my apprentice? Why did her name suddenly come out of your mouth?”
“Elizaveta asked me. A large number of the 'Hero's Party's' children are enrolling as freshmen this year, and she wanted me to guard them from the shadows. You haven't heard?”
“No! That little brat! Why would she ask you! I'm still alive and kicking! Who is she calling a washed-up has-been!”
Enrique shouted before slumping onto the sofa, completely drained.
“I'm so exhausted. It's always like this when I talk to you. Why must the gods be so fair? It would've been nice if they'd given you a bit of eloquence. That's the only thing you're missing.”
“That is not true.”
*How dare this pre-modern crone spout such nonsense to someone who completed a 21st-century essay writing course?*
The Kim Seon-woo within him roared to the surface, only to be suppressed by Ivan and submerge once more.
“See, kid? This is your senior. He spits out his words in halves, so a conversation can't even get going. Honestly.”
“Uh… um.”
Lucia hesitated, seemingly flustered by the atmosphere in the drawing room, which had suddenly intensified only to deflate just as quickly.
“I think you get along great!”
“We do not.”
“What are you talking about!”
With a nervous laugh, Lucia carefully closed the door and slipped out.
A moment of silence passed before Enrique picked up her black tea and spoke.
“Tea? Should I get you a fresh cup?”
“This is fine.”
It was cold, but it still tasted good. Besides, Ivan, having come from a country where people drank espresso filled with ice, didn't mind the temperature of his drink.
The parent-guardian meeting for the prospective Saint Yansk University student concluded successfully.
*
“Directoooor!!”
The moment the door opened, Priscilla rushed out and threw her arms around him.
Ivan gently patted her on the shoulder a few times before separating from her.
“From now on, do not look for work in deserted places.”
“Yes, yes! I was so, so scared!!”
“It's all right now. Don't worry.”
He took a handkerchief from his coat, wiped Priscilla's cheeks, and then started walking.
Leaving the drawing room, Enrique's dungeon, they passed through the sewers and back to the surface.
Out of the back alley and straight toward the main street.
After walking for a long time without a word, they suddenly stopped.
“Um, Director.”
“Hm.”
“Are you, just by any chance.”
Priscilla spoke under a glittering mana-light streetlamp, clutching the hem of her skirt.
“Are you... preparing to leave... somewhere?”
“Perhaps.”
Once preparations were complete and the new semester at Saint Yansk University began in earnest, he would inevitably have to leave the orphanage.
Under a new identity, as a ‘gardener,’ to protect the children of the Hero's Party.
About three years. For him, it wasn't such a long time.
But for the children, it was different.
For those who had lived their entire lives as war orphans, they couldn't bear to lose this home they had only just managed to find.
It was a family they had finally made. A bed they had finally earned. A ‘home’ they had barely managed to secure.
For the children who had only ever been abandoned, even though it had only been two years, this orphanage was the last bastion they never wanted to be cast out from again.
Priscilla continued in a tearful, stammering voice.
“Please don't, *sob*. I wish you wouldn't go. If you... *hic*. If you disappear, Director, we'll be... alone again. *Hic*...”
“Umm…”
Ivan took off his coat and draped it over Priscilla's shoulders.
He fell silent for a moment.
He had no memory of comforting a small child.
He certainly had no memory of comforting a little ‘girl’!
It was the same even when he rummaged through the old memories of Kim Seon-woo. Kim Seon-woo had been an oddball who spent all day reading webtoons and webnovels, posting 5,700-character malicious comments every single day.
And after that, it went without saying. Ivan, who had dedicated more than half his life to military service, couldn't easily recall how to speak to someone in a way that didn't involve an axe or a bullet.
“Don't worry. I will visit often.”
“Where... where are you going...?”
*It should be fine to tell her this much. She's like my own 'child,' and it's not sensitive information.*
Flustered by Priscilla's tears, Ivan answered.
“Saint Yansk University.”
“You have to promise you'll come back… right?”
“I am not leaving right away, nor am I leaving for good.”
*After all the effort and affection I've poured into this orphanage.*
The orphanage was no different from a home to him. The director's office was the only sanctuary in his heart.
He made a firm resolve, patted the sniffling Priscilla's shoulder a couple of times, and turned away.
And then,
*‘Saint Yansk University. I heard the entrance exam is difficult... Next year's exam is this November, so...’*
All the children of the Vasilisa Orphanage.
Began their lives as examinees to enter Saint Yansk University!
Ep4. These Orphans Need Their Director.