The Orphan Rescue Project
A talented orphan emerges from hardship and adversity, and the strong salvation that binds them to our territory also arises from that same intense hardship and adversity.
Therefore, we must crawl into a gutter even worse than our own territory.
It had been about a month since I reached that brilliant conclusion.
I was now heading to the eastern part of the empire together with Alfred, the chamberlain my father had personally assigned to me.
They said a woman known as the Madam operated there.
She was the nationwide slave trader who collected orphans across the empire—and indeed the entire continent—before supplying them to the empire’s underground auction houses.
I planned to rescue orphans from her who had been managed just enough not to be completely broken.
If the orphans we had already excavated from the Arnold Barony were roughly R-rank, then purchasing talented orphans who were under pressure to be sold as slaves from the Madam would…
Almost guarantee SR ranks, and with a bit of luck, leave room to awaken them all the way to SSR.
To put it in gacha terms, it was no different from going to buy an SR guaranteed pull or an SSR selector ticket.
“How many people can this carriage hold?”
“If we want to travel comfortably, four including you, Young Master, is the limit.”
“Three, then.”
I wouldn’t ask for too much.
As long as one out of the three showed the potential to become an SSR orphan, that would be enough.
That was how urgent the state of our territory was, and how much I worried about my own retirement.
In this romance-fantasy world, I had no choice but to play the aggressive card of slave rescue.
“How much farther until the meeting point with the Madam?”
“About two more hours. I’ll hurry.”
“No need to rush. Just make sure we’re not late.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
I wondered what kind of orphans the Madam would show me.
And just how much talent I could secure with the financial power of a mere barony.
Various questions floated through my mind as the carriage sped toward the rendezvous.
The journey didn’t take long. The moment we arrived at the remote village serving as the contact point, a man slipped up beside the carriage.
“Alfred. Beside me.”
“Understood. It seems he intends to guide us, so let’s follow for now.”
“Fine. I’m leaving the driving to you.”
We followed the guide who had naturally taken the lead, and after a few more minutes we reached a cabin where several covered cargo wagons were parked.
“Please disembark, Young Master. This appears to be the place.”
“Yes, this must be it.”
And inside those wagons would be the orphans waiting only to be picked up by me.
Before proceeding with the deal, I first turned my gaze to the guide who had led us here.
“Where’s the Madam?”
“She is inside. This way, please.”
The guide gave a small bow and gestured for us to enter the cabin. I stepped inside under Alfred’s protection.
There was no reason for the Madam to try assassinating the young master of a minor barony like mine, so there was no need to be overly wary of an ambush.
I had nothing to fear.
“Would you care for some tea?”
“Thank you. I’ll have a cup, Madam.”
I didn’t suspect the tea she offered, either.
Hesitating over a gesture of goodwill in a place like this would only make me look petty.
It would make the vessel of Fabian Arnold appear small, ridiculous, and affect the negotiation.
I had to push forward boldly.
“You’re quite bold.”
“A woman who manages so many business partners like yourself has no reason to be wary of someone as young as me.”
“By saying that, you might just make me start being wary of you.”
“I doubt that. After all, I didn’t come here to spend just a few coins.”
“Haha.”
It seemed my attitude pleased her. The Madam let out a small smile and spoke again.
“There are many clients I meet at the auction house, but very few who request a direct meeting like this. May I ask why you wanted to do business in this manner?”
“I have enough wealth to offer you the value you desire, and as the young master of a barony that supposedly looks after orphans, there’s nothing to gain from frequenting an underground auction. If I can buy them and grant them freedom with the power I have, that’s one thing.”
“That makes sense. After all, you are currently running quite the charity project, Young Master.”
The Madam chuckled softly and covered her mouth with an elegant purple-feathered fan.
“Is this an extension of that project? Rescuing unfortunate orphans caught by an underworld Madam. You truly are a saint.”
“I’m not doing it for public opinion.”
“You don’t think I would have skipped investigating a client, do you?”
“Don’t most people? What you call ‘investigating.’”
“There are prettier terms like ‘understanding a potential client’s needs’ or ‘market research.’ In any case, I looked into you to understand your needs, Young Master.”
And then.
“What did I find? You really are a perfect saint. You’ve embraced every orphan, even those already seventeen and practically adults, without exception until they turn twenty. You’ve even arranged marriages between them.”
“I simply saw that orphans who lost their parents had trouble fitting in with the territory’s residents, so I took measures.”
“Thanks to that, the birth rate in the Arnold Barony has set new records every year since you took full authority over the orphan project five years ago. Your skill is remarkable.”
“I simply approached it from the perspective of strengthening the territory. To make the land prosperous, we must cherish the people who form its foundation.”
I was by no means a good person.
There had been times I drank myself into a stupor, lamenting why no SSR orphans ever appeared in our territory and why no real talent ever emerged.
It wasn’t something to say in front of someone who was already overvaluing me, but still.
“Strengthening the territory. In that case, you would have no need for slaves—pardon, orphans—who lack combat ability?”
“As expected of a professional. It’s rare to find someone who understands my intentions so well.”
The Madam smiled faintly, took a sip of her black tea, and pressed the jewel ornament at the center of the brooch on her clothes.
“Customer wants to inspect the goods. Bring the wagon around to the back door.”
The gentle, courteous demeanor she had shown while speaking with me vanished completely, replaced by the typical commanding tone of a career woman looking down from above.
I knew even this was an attempt to intimidate me, so I remained unshaken and waited while focusing on her smallest gestures.
“They’re ready. Shall we go out?”
“Alfred, bring the safe from the carriage and wait. I’ll pick out the goods and return. We shouldn’t keep the Madam, who has prepared such a fine seat for us, waiting.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
So as not to be pushed back by the Madam’s momentum as she moved to show me the goods, I told him to bring the payment and followed behind her.
The moment of guaranteed SR pickup was near.
Please, let there be an SSR orphan.
*
When we opened the back door and stepped outside, the same guide who had approached our carriage earlier bowed deeply while holding lanterns in both hands.
“Madam, please use this.”
“Thank you. Young Master? Please follow me up.”
“There are three wagons… Do you have some classification criteria?”
“There are three standards. The first is children with no magical or technical talent. Their only merit is being somewhat pretty. However—”
It seems you’re not particularly looking for children like these.
The Madam tilted her head as if to say exactly that, so I readily nodded.
“No need to look at the left wagon. Pull it forward again. I’ll only look at the center and right ones.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“The center wagon contains goods with outstanding physical ability. I selected them with your preferred age range of fifteen and under in mind.”
With a clank, I climbed the simple stairs attached to the cargo wagon and looked inside.
A large woman who looked like a barbarian, a human woman with a vacant expression, another human woman with a terrified face, and so on.
It was a heartbreaking sight in many ways.
I expected this, but it’s still not easy.
Once my position becomes solid, should I start an emancipation movement for slaves?
Well, if I become someone who can feed three generations without ever starving and whom no one in politics can touch, then doing charity for the world instead of myself wouldn’t be so bad.
I doubted whether I could actually secure such a position, but just deciding that made me feel a little lighter.
But…
“Why are all the slaves female?”
“Oh, was that your preference? Then next time I’ll prepare male children as well.”
“Madam…”
“It was a joke. I know that’s not what you’re after, so please stop making that scary face.”
“…Enough small talk. Why don’t you give me a recommendation, Madam?”
“If I were to recommend one, it would be this child.”
As I approached the iron cage to see who the Madam was recommending—
—Clang!
The sound of iron bars snapping echoed.
When the Madam held out her lantern toward it, a reddish light illuminated the dark interior of the cage, revealing something with ash-gray hair.
Pointed ears rising sharply above her head, a tail standing straight up and trembling violently, and even though an iron gag had been forced into her mouth, she was grinding her teeth hard enough to drool, soaking the floor of the cage.
She was unmistakably a wolf beastkin.
“Wolf beastkin?”
“You have a good eye. She’s also an Alpha with golden eyes. As a beastkin, she’ll give birth to twins as the baseline, and there’s no better child if you’re hoping for a second generation.”
Leaving the second-generation talk aside, beastkin were fundamentally specialized in close-quarters combat.
If any demi-human races ever tried to plunder the territory, she would take the vanguard position and perform admirably.
Moreover, beastkin were basically a guaranteed SR lottery ticket.
If the jackpot hit, she might even go beyond SSR and become a human-rights-level SSR.
“I’ll take this one for now.”
“An excellent choice. How does seven million gold sound?”
“I’ll be taking three. Put her down as six and a half million for now.”
“Hmm, yes, very well.”
I absolutely had to take this wolf beastkin with me.
The problem was how to break through those ferocious eyes, tear down her wariness, and turn her into one of our territory’s people…
That was something I’d have to solve little by little.
“Now, let’s leave this one here and move on to the right wagon. The children in there are quite interesting as well, you know?”
For now, I’d fill the shopping cart as much as my budget allowed.
Wolf Beastkin Alpha (Potential: SSR+)
Golden eyes. Twin birth trait confirmed. Close-combat specialist.