Chapter 32
Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: 4. The Most Conscientious Orphan Merchant
-----------------------------------------------------------------
3-Star Orphan, the fake orphan who followed Kyle.
The girl claiming to be an orphan gazed at me with bright, sparkling eyes.
Hmm.
"What's your name?"
"R... Riel!"
"Alright, Riel. You followed Kyle here?"
"Yes!"
I shot Kyle a look asking if it was true, and he looked extremely flustered but nodded anyway. She did seem to be one of the kids he'd been with.
Normally, I'd be thrilled that a product had walked in on its own two feet like Kyle, but this time, something felt off.
It wasn't like I had some orphan sensor that could distinguish real from fake.
'Feels like it'd cause trouble later if I sold her carelessly?' It was different from something used like Tricksy. This felt like the product type itself didn't match at all. It was what you'd call a merchant's instinct. A merchant fundamentally sells goods, but pulling problematic or suspicious items off the shelves ahead of time is also part of the job. And this prospective product named Riel gave me exactly that vibe. If I had to put it in words, she was like food with a questionable expiration date or soy sauce in a cola bottle. You can't tell just by looking if it's cola or soy sauce. You could pop the cap to check, but then you couldn't sell it, or you could close your eyes and sell it anyway—though that risks disputes with the buyer and potential refunds. Still, it was just my gut feeling, so for now, I led Riel inside the orphanage.
"Riel, have you eaten?"
"N-No, not yet!"
"Then let's eat first. Laila, could you prepare something?"
"Yes, Director."
For some reason, Kyle, who had been standing next to Laila, was breaking out in a cold sweat. I asked her to whip up a simple meal, and Kyle let out a sigh of relief like he'd been spared. Kyle then approached Riel and patted her head.
"Riel, what happened all of a sudden?"
"I just wanted to be with big brother Kyle..."
"When I asked who wanted to come to the orphanage with me, you didn't raise your hand."
"Th-That was because I thought you'd be back in a day... If I'd known you'd actually be staying at the orphanage, I would've come too! That's why I came!"
"...I see."
Kyle looked troubled but couldn't bring himself to be stern with her, clearly cherishing her that much. In the end, he turned to me. After all, whether Riel joined the orphanage was my call, not his. Under normal circumstances, I'd welcome her with open arms. 'But something...' Something kept nagging at me oddly. Was this pointless anxiety? Or the adventurer's intuition from my old life? As Kyle and Riel fidgeted while I pondered unusually, "It's ready, Director."
"Thanks, Laila. Riel, eat up for now."
"Y-Yes!"
Right on cue, Laila brought simple food. Leftover bread from lunch, broccoli salad, and stew. Even Kyle, who usually acted mature from leading other orphans, wolfed it down. And so, the orphanage's finest was laid before Riel.
"I'll eat well..."
But upon seeing the food, Riel picked up her utensils with a dissatisfied look. I watched her tear bread, dip it in stew, and use the salad as a palate cleanser—and that's when I knew for sure. No need to pop the cola cap for this one. Because right now, Riel was. 'An orphan... being picky?' She was meticulously picking out the broccoli from the salad and the carrots from the stew. Clear proof of a blatant fake orphan. *
Back in my adventurer days, I was just a tiny bit less capable in raw power compared to my party members. Not a huge gap—just enough to be treated like dead weight in fights.
That's why I relied heavily on tools. I could make up for my shortcomings with potions, magic artifacts, scrolls, and gear. Expensive potions and artifacts were basically my lifeline.
Even though I made decent money as an adventurer, that's why so little was left in my pocket. Some party members offered loans, but I turned them down since I planned to retire as soon as I saved enough.
And since I needed all those pricey tools, I was especially sensitive to fakes and counterfeits. Crudely enchanted fake scrolls, watered-down potions, magic artifacts that looked fine outside but were corroded inside, and so on. I'd nearly died once from a fake artifact, so I judged them very carefully.
And now, here I was dealing with fake orphans.
'Good thing I didn't sell her blindly. That could've been disastrous.' The real issue with selling a fake orphan isn't customer complaints. It's the original owner coming after her. They might claim she's been wrongly taken, but either way, it'd damage the orphanage's reputation big time. Better not to let counterfeits in from the start. The problem, though...
"Big brother Kyle, where do you sleep?"
"On the second floor."
"Then I wanna sleep in the same room as big brother Kyle!"
"No, that might be tough. We sleep separated by gender here."
"Nooo! I wanna sleep with big brother Kyle!"
"Riel..."
This fake orphan didn't seem like she'd give up easily. She was disguised as an orphan just to infiltrate one. Sure, our place is different, but considering the typical image of orphanages, she was one tough nut. Rejecting her here would be simple. But the 3-Star Orphan seemed pretty attached to this fake, and in the worst case, he might leave the orphanage over having to babysit her. But I couldn't waste my hard-earned money housing a counterfeit I couldn't even sell. So, in this situation...
"By the way, Kyle, what's your exact relationship with Riel?"
"What do you mean by relationship...?"
"I'm just curious how you two met."
Best to change the subject for now. From the looks of it, they'd been hanging out in the back alleys, and I was wondering how a real orphan like Kyle ended up with a fake one. At my question, Kyle glanced at the fake's face and spoke up.
"Honestly, us back-alley orphans don't have any special origin stories. We're all just abandoned somewhere or wander into the alleys. Those kids get beaten daily or vanish one day. I couldn't stand by and watch, so... we banded together to try something."
As expected of a 3-Star Orphan. The group I'd seen with Laila back then looked tight-knit. They all followed Kyle as leader without much complaint. He had talents perfect for running an orphanage in every way.
"I met Riel during that. She joined suddenly while we were gathering kids to build our group."
"I came after hearing about big brother Kyle!"
"Thanks, Riel. That's how it happened."
"So you've been together since?"
"Oh, no. Riel has some real talent."
Hm?
"Talent?"
"Yeah. Truth is, Riel held a key position in our group. She's got an amazing knack for finding things!"
"Hehe."
"Finding things?"
"Exactly that. From sturdy sticks good for weapons or discarded tents, to trap parts, half-eaten food people tossed, potions—you name it, she found it and it helped a ton. Honestly, we survived the early days thanks to her."
"...I see."
"She wanders outside a lot because of it, but she's never gotten in trouble, so no one worries anymore."
"But big brother Kyle has to worry about me!"
"Of course, Riel."
A 7-year-old girl who could scrounge up food, tools, even medicine. Honestly, no need to suspect blindly. In a medieval fantasy world with monsters and magic, the real danger is jumping to conclusions. But I had a way to verify it. 'If she finds anything and everything, maybe Handicraft talent like Tricksy, sharp eyes, or Magic talent.' Ah, and she roams the alleys without issue, so some combat ability too. Maybe Magic-related like Karen? No need to agonize—I took Riel to the orphanage's talent testing room. Needed to check Kyle's other sellable talents anyway.
"Go ahead and touch whatever you want here."
"Wow! So much stuff! Big brother!"
"Riel! Uh, Director. Sorry."
"No need to apologize. Go on, you touch some too."
It was a waste of time for a fake, but for our 3-Star Orphan, I'd do it gladly. As Kyle and Riel wandered the room touching everything, I quietly activated my ability. And... 'No reaction.' Neither Kyle nor Riel lit up. Kyle made sense—Leadership isn't the type triggered by touching objects. I'd already confirmed it in the alleys anyway. But the fake was different. Contrary to my guesses, no Handicraft or eyesight talent. The magic book glowed faintly when she picked it up, but nothing compared to Karen's. Barely 2-Star level. 'That seals it.' No idea how the fake sourced all those items, but it wasn't purely her own ability. As a fake orphan, she likely had outside help. I'd hesitated to call her fake just from picky eating, so I checked talents—and yep, confirmed. Selling counterfeits in a shop dealing only in pure, natural-born orphans like ours was absurd. 'But sending her off casually might just bring her back stubbornly.' Especially since she was so into our precious 3-Star Orphan. Needed some strategy. As I pondered what to do...
"Wow! A violin!"
"Hm? Riel, you know this instrument?"
"You don't know, big brother Kyle? It's a violin! Makes beautiful sounds!"
"Well, I've never seen a musical instrument... Riel, have you?"
"Uh? N-No, not really! Just heard of it somewhere!"
"Yeah, figured."
Glow. Not as strong as 3-Star, but a definite intense light. And it came from the fake orphan. But I wasn't focused on the light itself. 'That grip...' She claimed she'd just heard of violins, but her fingers said otherwise. She wasn't fumbling the strings—she held the exact posture for playing. Totally different from how other products handled the violin. Talent aside, it meant she knew how to play it. And conveniently, I knew someone who played violin. 'Same grip as Hella.' Back when I first partied with Hella. I'd seen it when she brought a violin to the dungeon and played. Monsters swarmed because of it and we suffered, but I remembered it clearly. Hella, whom I'd just met, bragged it was a fingering technique 'lowborns like you couldn't know, only for people like us.' "Huh."
Riel, this fake counterfeit orphan... Was a noble.