Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Fruits of Effort
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Four days had passed.
After cleaning up the filthy streets and stepping in to warn people against littering carelessly, the district regained its cleanliness faster than expected.
Some grumbled about the hassle of hauling trash all the way to the dump instead of just chucking it out the window,
but none dared challenge me.
"Good."
The only other minor issue was the adults eyeing the daily wages I'd been paying the kids.
But that wasn't a big deal either.
As long as I was around, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on the children.
To adventurers, I was that foul-tempered punk under silver-rank protection.
To the locals, a madwoman who snapped bones at the slightest offense.
That was my reputation now.
No one in the city wanted to make an enemy of me anymore.
I held a position far higher than I deserved in this place.
Perhaps it had gone a bit to my head.
"If you've finished cleaning today, come get your copper coins."
"...Yes!"
In just four days with me, their timid whispers had turned bright and lively.
Children's emotions swung so wildly it was exhausting at times.
I handed out the pre-portioned copper coins, and their beaming smiles were adorable, but their future weighed on me.
I'd be leaving the city in two months—now just over a month away.
Off to the capital for new quests, then somewhere else.
So who would look after these kids once I was gone?
They were too young to work as laborers.
The best outcome would be if the wall repairs finished while I was here and support for the kids ramped up,
but the progress suggested at least four more months.
During the ogre raid,
all the city's laborers had been conscripted as soldiers, and too many died.
Labor was in short supply.
"The inner city's safe anyway. Why not hire workers with the money they're wasting on pricey adventurers there?"
Every city housed the elite in the inner walls, so it felt like overkill just to show them the city was secure.
Not my problem, but it hurt the kids I was watching, so it nagged at me.
"What will you all do when I leave?"
I asked because it bothered me.
These moments, voicing my worries beat brooding alone.
Bottling it up just burned me out and solved nothing.
"Uh, probably... look for new work...?"
The girl sitting beside me, munching the bread I'd prepared as a snack, let out a sigh at the bleak prospects.
Her world-weary exhale didn't sound like it came from a girl not yet ten.
"Won't be easy, huh?"
"...Yeah? Even before we met you, we kept trying, but they wouldn't hire us 'cause we're too young."
This world expected even kids to earn their keep, but there were limits.
Child labor usually started at double digits.
Meaning ten years old.
But the girl leading them had just turned nine, and the other four were seven or eight.
"Should I line up jobs for you before I go...?"
They'd already been touched by my hand, so abandoning them irresponsibly worried me.
If I hadn't gotten involved, maybe.
But since I had, I needed to wrap things up neatly before leaving.
I'd avoided asking names to keep distance, but this was basic humanity.
The simplest fix: shove a few silver coins in their hands to last a year.
That was the worst option.
Orphaned kids with that much cash? They'd be robbed the moment I left.
I acted like I knew everything, but I was green in every way.
Best to swallow pride and borrow an elder's wisdom.
I'd talk it over privately with Shan later.
I watched the kids as they tore into their bread with tiny mouths.
They looked like a cluster of scrawny hamsters.
Did they sense my gaze?
The girl looked up and offered me her precious bread.
"...W-want more?"
"Nah, I'm good."
She thought I was staring because I was hungry?
No matter how mature she acted, these offbeat moments screamed kid.
"Sis!"
I turned at the familiar voice and saw Tori running over.
"You'll fall! What's the rush?"
"...Here!"
"A flower?"
"Picked it 'cause it's pretty!"
"Don't pick them randomly, but thanks—it's lovely."
I gently stroked the head of Tori, who'd brought some nameless pink flower from who-knows-where, and her blushing face was hilarious.
These past few days, she'd kept picking flowers as gifts. I'd clocked that she saw me romantically.
I knew firmly rejecting her was for her own good—no chance I'd reciprocate, dead or alive.
But when she kept showing these cute reactions, the urge to tease was human nature.
"Hey."
"...Y-yes?"
"No need to jump. I said the flower's pretty, right?"
"Yeah, isn't it pretty?"
"Sure, but aren't I prettier?"
At my question—better than some flower—Tori made a flustered face but nodded, unable to deny it.
"If you wanna win my favor, bring something prettier than this flower next time."
I flashed a grin and kneaded her cheeks; she yelped and backed away several steps. I burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha... so cute. But your mom—doesn't she hate me? Okay if I keep dropping by?"
"She doesn't hate you. She's just... kinda scared."
"Fair enough. Adventurers are scary on average."
"No, not adventurers. You, Ellie sis."
What had I even done?
"Ugh..."
Cleaning was done, and with me around, security was solid—no issues till quitting time. I could slack off.
At this rate, zero crime rate on the quest was in the bag.
Time flew with the kids till sunset and quitting time rolled around.
Much as I hated making Shan foot the bill for six meals straight, I sent the kids home and headed to the inner city alone this time.
I had stuff to discuss anyway.
"Shan."
"...Sigh."
She sighed the moment she saw me. Guess that meant I'd become pretty comfortable to her.
I grinned and approached; she furrowed her brow and pressed her temple hard. Was I that much of a headache?
"No kids this time, so ease up. Your haggard mug's already hard to look at."
Shan was thirty-five, but looked early forties—hardship carved into her face.
"Looks like I'm comfortable around you now."
"No?"
Still burdensome.
"But no harm in getting friendly."
Her probing my skills felt iffy, but she was a good person at heart.
So it was fine to befriend her—that was my call.
Shan clicked her tongue at my reply, took a sip of wine, swished it, and swallowed.
"All the adventurers who could make it have arrived. Tomorrow, we sweep the nearby monsters."
"Figures."
With the ogre dead after rampaging around, monsters were creeping back into its ownerless turf.
Hiding from the ogre before, now they swarmed to claim it—numbers were hefty, I'd heard.
Recruiting adventurers was for city security, sure, but also to cull the local beasts.
"I'll be in the vanguard. Normally, you'd be rear guard by rank."
"Yeah."
Put high-ranks with breakthrough power up front—obvious.
Low-ranks upfront just slowed things with weak piercing power.
"But I pushed to shift your position a bit."
"...Pardon?"
"You're vanguard too. I'd like to see you fight up close by my side."
Moving from rear to front wasn't "a bit," but whatever.
"...If that's what you want."
Just small fry spawned post-ogre anyway.
Not charging solo—three silvers, forty-seven bronzes.
Like that goblin village I cleared; we'd wipe 'em in a flash. What was there to worry about?
"I'll give it my all."
Lately, my confidence in my skills was building.
Time to taste the fruits of that effort.