Their Sense of Duty

"Hurry, we have to run!" Jessie urged, tugging at my arm.

Through the clinic window, doctors were frantically glancing in our direction while clutching magitech communication devices, reporting our presence to someone on the other end.

"Come on, quickly!"

Honestly, Jona and Leaf weren't bad people.

"I know a place to hide!"

Still, the word "hide" flipped a switch inside me.

Skill proficiency grinding.

The Hide skill.

On an airship, a rare venue to practice in under normal circumstances. Wasn't this a golden opportunity to power-level my proficiency through the roof?

"Mmh... fine. But Leaf will be worried sick if we take too long, so just one hour, okay?"

The moment I tried to negotiate, Jessie's face darkened into a terrifying scowl. She looked like a hardened mother winding up for a full-swing slap to the back of a daughter spouting utter nonsense.

Before I could even flinch, the clinic doors burst open and two nurses rushed toward us with practiced smiles.

"Now, now, sweetie, how about having some candy with us aunties until your guardian arrives?"

"What flavor is it?" I asked.

"It's strawberry~"

"Orknodi! What kind of idiotic questions are you asking right now?!"

"There, there, little lady. It's not nice to stay out playing with friends so late at night. Your guardian must be terribly worried, don't you think?"

It's that guardian she doesn't trust, you know.

Jessie glared venomously at the nurses. Then, without a word of warning, she pressed a button on her wristwatch.

Pfft-pfft.

With an adorable little pop, tiny darts whistled through the air. The nurses' eyes widened in shock before their limbs gave out completely. They slumped to the floor, leaning limply against a hospital bed as deep slumber claimed them.

"This way! Hurry!"

Jessie grabbed my hand and took the lead, pulling me toward the back exit. Her sheer audacity left even an experienced veteran gamer like me thoroughly stunned.

"Wait, are you a playable character or something?"

"Will you stop saying weird things?! Get in here!"

Jessie shoved my back, tumbling me headfirst into a wheeled laundry cart piled with sheets. Moments later, the urgent, frantic footfalls of doctors and nurses thundered right past us.

"What was that thing back there?" I whispered from beneath the linen.

"Darts enchanted with sleep magic. My father bought it for me. He said that even if we're only a humble baron's household, a noble daughter never knows when shady people might try to kidnap her."

"Whoa. Self-defense gear, huh?"

"He told me it was crazy expensive."

"Does it work on monsters too?"

"Probably not. Monsters are way bigger than ordinary beasts, so tranquilizers and chemicals rarely affect them."

"Tch. Then I'm not buying one."

If it didn't work on monsters, it wouldn't work on the kinds of superhumans capable of easily beating monsters to death either.

After abandoning the cart, we managed to slip into a pair of oversized promotional mascot suits meant for airship events.

My skill proficiencies shot up at a frightening clip, as if I'd swiped a credit card on pay-to-win growth boosters.

"Jessie, you've got serious guts."

"You're the crazy strong one, Orknodi! There's no way I could carry someone on my shoulders and still walk around inside a mascot suit."

"Heheh. It's nothing, really."

It felt like just yesterday I was grumbling about how inefficient it was for a pint-sized kid like me to have absurdly high physical stats. But seeing it pay off like this filled me with a deep sense of accomplishment. Efficiency aside, high stats were always king. All that diligent grinding had been worth it.

"Here! If we activate this emergency escape pod, we can get off the airship!"

Having cleanly shaken off the guards, Jessie and I had actually managed to reach the cusp of a successful breakout.

Then, as though he had been waiting in the shadows all along, a figure stepped forward from beside the escape pod.

"Have you had your fill of amusement, my lady?"

"Jona."

Exuding the sinister aura of a veteran mob enforcer, the all-purpose head butler, Jona Waihiemhai, blocked our only way out.

Jessie saw it.

She watched the light drain from Orknodi's eyes, her small face falling into solemn shadows.

"Come now, step this way, my lady. While this was a rather lively commotion, taking my hand will ensure it concludes as nothing more than a harmless little incident."

"I'm sorry, Jessie," Orknodi whispered softly. "I really... don't want to make things difficult for my butler."

"No, Orknodi! You can't!" Jessie screamed, her voice trembling. "If you surrender to bad people like them, your future will only become more miserable!"

International identity registration magic was practically universal. Any child over five years old—even those from impoverished commoner households—was voluntarily brought in by their parents. Some families were so desperate to secure its benefits that they would even give fake names just to take the test a second time. It was a basic right granted even to orphans in state-run asylums.

The only children barred from that magic were those whose identities were intentionally hidden from the eyes of the world for sinister motives.

Throwaway child operatives raised by criminal syndicates.

Young girls withheld from the registries by predatory brothel keepers, exploiting their lack of legal protection to sell them into bondage.

Dirt-poor commoners who pretended their children didn't exist simply to evade head taxes.

Vile, abusive parents who stripped away every basic right so they could sell their legally nonexistent offspring into slavery.

And worst of all... noble houses that acquired such children in secret, forging them into living weapons.

Orknodi has to be a child of one of those noble houses!

Even as the daughter of a minor baron, Jessie was still a noble. She had heard plenty of hushed whispers regarding high society's darkest, most depraved scandals. Orknodi wasn't being raised as a concubine or a plaything—there was no reason to subject an ornamental pet to brutal, relentless training, making her unnaturally strong and agile for her age. A runaway plaything was a liability, but an assassin needed deadly physical prowess.

They intended to throw this child into the entrance exam of Gift Academy, the greatest educational institution in the world, mold her into an elite talent, and pull her strings from the shadows to serve the house's bloody ambitions.

It was a terrifyingly calculated scheme to control a person's entire existence, from childhood straight into adulthood.

"Orknodi! A noble girl doesn't have to train until her hands are raw with blisters! You don't have to live a life of grueling misery for someone else's agenda!"

"Jessie. Thank you. Seriously," Orknodi replied, offering a faint, gentle smile. "It's the first time I've ever made a friend this young."

Tears welled thick in Jessie's eyes.

Why was she acting so weak? Why was she giving up?

She was so powerful, so quick on her feet. If she truly wanted to, she could dive into the escape pod this very second.

Then, the horrific realization dawned on Jessie.

The butler with the terrifying, murderous eyes. A trained handler disguised beneath a servant's uniform. That dangerous man was watching their every breath.

If Orknodi tried to flee, she might make it—but Jessie never would. The butler would strike Jessie down in an instant.

Orknodi was abandoning her own escape just to protect her.

Whatever the objective reality was, that was the tragic truth Jessie cemented in her heart.

"So, I'll be honest with you," Orknodi said. Instead of reaching for the pod's release hatch, she gently patted Jessie on the head. "I'm going to enter the academy. Jona, Leaf... they both did their absolute best to help me get here. I don't want to run away and render all that time and effort completely meaningless."

"Are you really okay with that, Orknodi...? *Sniff.* Those wicked people won't even let you live like a real child! Your poor hands are so rough and calloused from all that agonizing training, and..."

"It's everything I ever wanted," Orknodi stated firmly. "If I don't get into the academy, someone like me is doomed to live a miserable life. I won't be able to collect food to my heart's content, and my stats will be completely trash."

"I don't understand... *hiccup*... I don't understand a single thing you're saying...!"

"All I have to do is graduate from the academy with top marks. Once I do that, everything will be fine."

Orknodi gently let go of Jessie's hand.

Turning around, she walked toward the tall butler who was looking down at her with a complicated, unreadable expression. Reaching up, she grasped his gloved hand.

"Let's go, Jona. Leaf is probably worried sick."

"And yet you caused such a commotion knowing full well she would be?"

"I'm sorry. I only meant to play hide-and-seek for a bit. I had no idea the guards would be this utterly useless."

Orknodi asked nothing.

She did not ask why her identity had never been registered.

She did not ask why they were sending her to the academy.

And Jona explained nothing.

He told her none of the things she hadn't asked.

Nor did he question why she kept silent.

Even so, the two walked side by side, their hands firmly clasped. All that remained was to explain to the flushed, panting security guards that it had merely been a child's game, slipping them a generous sum of hush money to compensate for their trouble.

"Jessie! Your parents are worried sick! What in the world are you doing out here by yourself?!"

Max Montblanc, her childhood neighbor, came running down the corridor, panting for breath. Jessie rubbed her red eyes with her sleeve and looked up at him, her gaze hardened with solemn resolve.

"Max. I've made up my mind."

"About what? Becoming a runaway delinquent?"

"Orknodi. I'm going to save that poor girl."

Jessie began recounting everything that had happened.

As he listened, the same fierce determination burning in Jessie's eyes ignited within Max's.

"Your older sister is at the academy, right?" Max ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asked.

"Yeah."

"When break starts, we tell her. We tell your sister, and I'll tell my older brother too."

A tragic, helpless child with nowhere to turn.

An unregistered ghost, forced back into the clutches of a sinister noble house, denied legal existence and stripped of all basic human rights.

If that pitiful girl managed to enter the academy, their older siblings had to become her shield.

"When my baby sibling yanked her hair, she didn't even yell or get mad," Max gritted his teeth. "She's so kind and gentle... there's no way I'm letting wicked adults drag her around and torture her like that!"

"You're right, Max! We'll save Orknodi with our own two hands! We might be too weak to do anything right now, but somehow, someday... we definitely will!"

"It's unjust. Orknodi deserves a much better life than this."

"What admirable children."

"Eek?!"

Jessie jumped out of her skin, whirling around in sheer terror. She braced herself, fearing the murderous butler had returned, but the man standing before them was someone entirely different.

He was a handsome young man sporting a neatly trimmed beard, his features softened by a gentle, reassuring smile.

"You are not the only ones who wish to help the young lady Orknodi," the man said smoothly. "I desire the very same thing."

"Who are you, mister?" Max asked suspiciously.

"The leader of the Ticket Hunters. A black market ticket peddler. In the underworld, people usually refer to me as Giselle the Peddler."

Children of baron households.

Max Montblanc of the Montblanc family.

Jessie Mille-feuille of the Mille-feuille family.

Individually, these children possessed little influence, but their older siblings had received premier educations under loving, devoted parents and possessed exceptional martial and arcane talents.

One was already attending Gift Academy, widely hailed as the world's greatest educational institution, while the other was a prime contender for admission this very year.

Jessie's older sister, Jessica Mille-feuille, was a rising second-year student.

Max's older brother, Maximus Montblanc, was challenging the entrance exam alongside the current cohort.

Both possessed the pedigree, motivation, and capability to serve as valuable stepping stones to protect and aid Orknodi.

"Waiting until the next academic break to speak with Lady Jessica will take far too long," Giselle said, his voice dripping with smooth persuasion. "Nor is there any guarantee that young master Maximus will pass the exam ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on his own."

"Well, that's true, but..."

"Do you have another way to contact my sister?" Jessie asked eagerly.

"I shall assist you," Giselle bowed with theatrical elegance. "I will aid young master Maximus in securing his admission. And I shall personally deliver your handwritten letter directly into Lady Jessica's hands."

The children's faces brightened with pure, unadulterated hope.

The smile playing on Giselle's lips grew equally radiant.

Yet his sharp, squinting eyes remained cold and calculating.

This is merely one small piece on the board. On its own, it will hardly be enough to rescue Lady Orknodi from the Foundation's clutches.

Even so, it was a vital foundation for the future.

Giselle resolved internally that this single step—the desperate crack pried open by a young girl's brave defiance, and the connection forged through that very breach—would never be allowed to go to waste.

No matter what it took, he would see her saved.