Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: 2. Orphan Gacha Probability-Up Event
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“Mm.”
A time close to midnight.
Normally, even I would be heading to bed by now to prepare for tomorrow morning, but tonight, bedtime was running late.
If I ended up oversleeping tomorrow because of this, it’d be a disaster, but I couldn’t just go to sleep right away either.
After all, this was the once-a-month check of the business’s account ledger.
‘At least I’ve got a talent for desk work. Small mercies.’
If I had to name my one real talent, it was this—things like accounting and paperwork. Even the skill that lets me see talents and aptitudes? I only discovered that by chance after getting isekai’d, when I happened to pick up a pencil.
Of course, it barely gets me out of 1-Star territory. Bottom of the 2-Stars, really—just a cut above average. For reference, the least skilled receptionist at the adventurer’s guild outshone me by several times. Probably high 2-Star. You can’t underestimate education levels just because it’s medieval fantasy.
No one was going to hire a guy like me with no proper status or background for accounting or clerical work anyway. With tomorrow’s survival hanging by a thread, I scraped by day-to-day as an adventurer.
Old memories bubbled up for a moment, but even so, my hands kept moving.
And this month’s finances were the same as last month.
‘Overwhelming surplus.’
Simple reason. Donations from the Beril Count Family, eternal light, savior, gods themselves. Without that, I’d still be burning through my savings to raise up the merchandise.
Thanks to those donations, we’re posting massive surpluses every month... but complacency is the enemy.
‘To be blunt, no telling when the donations might dry up.’
It’s been over a year since I took Laila to visit the count’s family. Count Richard still seems interested in her and keeps the donations coming steadily, but that’s people for you. Distance breeds indifference.
Some new orphan could catch his eye over Laila one day, or he might just lose interest entirely. We send letters once a month at least, but how long will that last?
That business uncertainty alone made me want to offload Laila as fast as possible.
‘But she won’t go...’
To repeat myself: Laila is precious noble pension material. Force her on the Beril Count Family and earn her resentment? Game over.
That’s why I’ve been gaslighting her with noble propaganda for the past year, but she’s still immovable.
‘No choice. Keep up the gaslighting, and if worst comes to worst, pay the Beril Count Family another visit.’
With the orphanage’s biggest revenue stream so unstable, what’s an orphanage director like me to do?
Cut expenses, obviously.
‘Food costs are the issue. Eating too much... tch, just halve it.’
I eyed the food budget line item closely, then slashed it in half. So what if we skip a few meals? No one to complain or protest anyway.
It was my food budget.
‘Lately, playing with the merchandise and helping out has upped my activity level? Eating more than in my adventurer days.’
So, halved it. Swapping my share of meat for cabbage at meals would save a bundle. The merchandise’s meals? Cutting those would be idiotic.
Any merchant tightens their own belt before skimping on investment and care for their goods. The goods are the merchant’s future, after all.
Various other expense cuts later, I finally wrapped up the accounting. Sitting so long wrecked my back.
“Ungh.”
Maybe because Laila’s helped with paperwork over the past year? I caught myself thinking it’d go faster with her help, then shook my head. Fine for petty expense logs, but handing her core orphanage docs? Feels like...
‘Treating her like actual staff.’
I’ve got no intention of giving up that noble pension.
Misc thoughts swirling, I was about to hit the sack to prep tomorrow’s breakfast when—
Knock. Knock.
“...Who is it?”
“It’s... me, Director.”
I know all the merchandise’s voices, but this one from beyond the door? Unforgettable.
Irritation at the sleep interruption faded fast as I plastered on a smile and opened the door. Can’t afford to upset Laila, but a 4-Star Orphan? Even less.
Especially one. Just looking at her makes me grin. Think of the cash she’ll bring in.
“Karen, huh. Still up?”
“Couldn’t... sleep.”
“Come in for now.”
Karen was in pajamas. One of the sets I bought her for magic practice, too.
She clutched the bear plush I’d given her and sat on the sofa.
“…………….”
“………….”
Heavy silence stretched. What’s this about?
I was debating speaking first when Karen piped up.
“Does it... hurt?”
“What do you mean? Oh, the hand?”
“...Yeah.”
“That’s all better now. Healed clean...”
“It hurt, though.”
“Hm?”
“It must’ve hurt. A lot, really, truly... getting burned and all.”
Rambling, but I got the gist. My burn-scarred hand from her magic must’ve stuck with her.
Fair enough reason to worry from her side, but I stroked her head and replied softly.
“Of course it hurt. Hurt a lot. But I’m fine now.”
“Why...?”
“Because it was my fault.”
“No, it was mine───”
“A parent’s fault for their child’s mistakes, you see.”
Karen froze for a beat, but I pressed on.
“I told you to learn magic, hyped up how useful it was, but never warned you about the dangers. My oversight, my fault—so I took responsibility.”
“……….”
“So it’s not your fault I got hurt, Karen. It’s mine.”
Not empty words—this really was on me. Hurt handling the goods? User error, not product defect. Sure, she glitched in a very un-4-Star way back then, but that’s because I skipped the user manual and hazard labels.
If anything, it confirmed her 4-Star specs. Solid. Even in my adventurer days, flame mages that strong were rare. Hella mocked them as clueless elementals. Said real mages dig into lineages or whatever.
‘Hella did say true mages need to awaken to their lineage.’
Anyway, I didn’t want Karen awakening to any lineage. Locks her into a build, shrinks the buyer pool compared to a versatile all-purpose good.
A 4-Star like her going weird build and turning into trash? Disaster. Best to keep showing off that genius vibe, pump her value, then sell.
“That’s.”
“Hm?”
“That’s... a sacrifice? What you’re doing for me... a sacrifice?”
“You could call it that. But I don’t see it as sacrifice.”
“Huh?”
“More than sacrifice... it’s because I love you.”
“...Ah.”
How could anyone not love a 4-Star Orphan? Especially the payday from selling one.
That said, Karen seemed appeased, staring blankly as she left. I checked the clock after.
Thirty minutes past when I’d planned to sleep.
“……….”
Tomorrow was gonna suck.
──More than sacrifice... it’s because I love you.
“………….”
Around the time the orphanage director grumbled himself to sleep.
Karen slipped out of the orphanage and gazed quietly at the moon. A habit for her. A memory.
Back when it was just her and her mother in the mountains. On nights Karen couldn’t sleep, her mother would sit with her on a tree stump and watch the moon together.
Warm, soft, gentle memory for Karen.
So after her mother died, she never did it again.
Watching the moon just brought back that happy time with her mother—then the cold reality hit.
“...Director.”
But tonight was different. Warm like mother memories, without the chill afterward.
Thinking of the director didn’t leave her cold.
Was it because he was just a caring ‘orphanage director’?
Or.
“Fa...ther.”
Saying it alone filled her with disgust—the target of her hatred and resentment, a position an orphan like her could never reach... was it because of that word, ‘father’?
To Karen, mother was good, father was evil. Her lived experience made ‘father’ a curse word.
Yet someone was volunteering for the role.
He cared for her.
He gave her many gifts.
He awakened her talent, even prepared a teacher.
He sacrificed for her.
He loved her.
He...
──Parents do that much for their kids. That’s love, sacrifice, fatherhood.
Her teacher Hella’s words resurfaced. They overlapped perfectly with the director.
So Karen couldn’t understand.
Why ‘father’ of all things? Why that label? Why claim the bastard who abandoned her and her mother?
“………….”
Karen stared at the bear plush beside her, utterly baffled.
The reason she’d hidden in the mountains with her mother? All to escape that ‘father’ bastard───
Rustle.
“...?”
Lost in worries, thoughts, confusion, Karen whipped her head toward the sudden noise. No attempt at stealth—someone stepped out.
Tricksy.
“There you are, Karen.”
“...What do you want?”
“You’re so chatty now. Not like before, calling everything meaningless.”
“...So what do you want?”
“Contact... came.”
Contact.
Karen flinched. She knew what that meant.
Wouldn’t have fazed her before. But now?
“They want you back at Happy Orphanage now. Says they’ll free you.”
From Happy Orphanage’s director, of course.
...Meaning Karen had to leave this orphanage.