Chapter 3
After landing a solid hit on Hans and heading back, the walk felt refreshingly light. The prickling stares boring into my back somehow worked like a digestive, easing the tension in my gut.
“It’s not like I should enjoy beating up kids, but…”
The original owner of this body seemed to have accumulated quite the grudge against that brat Hans. For some reason, it made the whole thing even more satisfying. Whatever. This is why everyone’s always screaming about power, power.
Even if that power was nothing more than the doting favor of a fat-bellied orphanage director nun. At least in this barren little world of Pancras Orphanage, her word carried more weight than an emperor’s decree.
……
I returned to my spot, flopped onto the rickety bed, and stared at the ceiling. Even the patches of mold looked vaguely artistic today.
Time to start thinking about the next stage.
I’d adapted to this life and was somehow scraping by, but I couldn’t spend the rest of my days rotting away here. Whether the bastard who’d dropped me into this world had done it out of consideration or mere whimsy, I had roughly eight years before the novel’s main story began in earnest.
In other words, the real plot would kick off once I turned twenty.
……
Some might say eight whole years was plenty of time to take it easy. Since I’d already fallen into a novel, why not enjoy the ride? But I shook my head. Clinging to that kind of sloppy thinking would only lead to the destruction barreling toward me. Time was limited and the future was fixed. So at the very least, I had to struggle to carve out some kind of foothold.
I had zero intention of dying quietly. If I was going to survive, I needed to thrash with everything I had.
Which meant making proper use of the protection I’d been given.
Protection of the Geumtaeyang… how the hell do I use this thing?
I toyed with the coin in my pocket, sinking into thought. I’d already confirmed the ability worked on the orphanage director. The next step was verifying whether it applied equally to major original characters like the saintess or the other heroines.
If it did, I might be able to live a life of luxury under their protection regardless of whether the world crumbled or not.
At least until that dogshit ending arrives.
I gave a bitter smile and gazed out the window at the sky. No matter how hopeless and dreamless the reality of this orphanage was, the sunset spreading across the horizon was so beautiful it felt almost unreal.
I stared at it blankly, mouth slightly open. Before I’d been sucked into this novel, the world I came from had been so polluted you could no longer see skies this clear.
……
But I knew. I knew this beautiful sky would eventually be dyed blood-red and become a screaming hellscape.
I need to build up strength no matter what. Even if I have to rob the director’s pockets dry.
Until I became an adult. By then I had to secure enough power to protect myself.
Eight years.
It wasn’t exactly short, but it might still be laughably insufficient preparation for surviving in this world.
If my memory served, the protagonist and his companions would defeat the demon king in the original story, but the demon king was immortal. Killing him was impossible. In the end the hero and his party gave up on everything, lost themselves in romance, and were wiped out once the demon king regained his strength. The world ended in destruction.
“Ah, fuck. Thinking about it again is making me mad.”
Picturing the damned author I’d never even seen, I flipped the middle finger at the ceiling. No matter how I looked at it, it was a garbage ending. All that suffering to defeat the demon king, only to be unable to kill him. In the end their mentality shattered and they had to abandon everything.
Anyway, first I need to put out the most urgent fires…
I was still weighing my priorities when—
Creak—
With an unpleasant scraping sound, the old wooden door opened a crack. A tuft of brown hair poked through, followed by a pair of eyes that darted around the room.
“Lucian. So this is where you were?”
The person who met my eyes as I lay sprawled out was Celine, a young nun in her early thirties.
“…Sister Celine? Today isn’t a visiting day, is it?”
“I came early just to see you kids!”
Unlike the money-obsessed director, she was one of the few members of St. Laurencia Church who genuinely cared for the orphans.
“But why me? Did something happen?”
I sat up from the bed. No matter what, I couldn’t stay lying down while talking to her.
In Lucian’s memories, Sister Celine was the type who nagged constantly but wasn’t a bad person. Her scolding probably came from a sincere wish for him to grow up properly.
“Well, the director asked me to bring you over.”
…Me?
“Me? Why is she looking for me?”
“How should I know? She’s been quiet around you lately, so maybe there’s nothing to worry about?”
“Maybe, but still.”
Thanks to the Protection of the Geumtaeyang she no longer pestered me, and the days of her tormenting me like she wanted to devour me were long gone. Still.
“It’s annoying.”
“Just get up. You know how scary she gets when she’s angry.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I had no idea what she could want from someone who was resting, but regardless of the annoyance I rose from the bed. She would forgive me no matter what I did, but I wasn’t stupid enough to deliberately provoke her.
“Let’s go.”
If she was calling, I had to answer.
Causality is twisting.
Saintess Elysia is heading to Pancras Orphanage on the outskirts of the capital.
The threads of fate are being reconstructed.
The existing sub-scenario 'Hero's Salvation' has been deleted.
New sub-scenario 'The Saintess's Childhood' has been added.
The hallway leading to the director’s office still carried that stale, musty stench. It wasn’t limited to the corridor—the entire orphanage reeked of it.
Can’t be helped when no one maintains the place.
I lowered my head so Celine wouldn’t see my grimace and hurried to keep pace with her.
We soon reached the director’s door. Before entering, Celine took a short breath and knocked carefully.
Knock, knock.
“Director, I’ve brought Lucian.”
“Lucian? Send him in.”
The voice drifting through the door sounded strangely excited, far more animated than usual.
Did something good happen?
Still puzzled, I followed Celine inside. The plump director nun sat in her chair, and at her feet a small shadow was crouched.
“…?”
Had she gotten a pet? What was that huddled thing?
“Oh my! Our Lucian came to see me?”
The moment the director saw me she shot up from her seat, beaming. Anyone watching would have thought I was her cherished son. I nodded with an indifferent expression.
“Yes. You called for me.”
“Indeed, indeed! The reason is that a new child arrived today.”
She pointed at her feet, and only then did I get a proper look at the child crouched there.
Skin so pale it was almost translucent. Platinum-blond hair that looked as if it would shatter into silver the moment sunlight touched it.
…Huh?
Even in the murky air of the director’s office, the child looked like a fragment that had fallen from another world. The filthy, ragged clothes and torn shoes did nothing to hide the strange aura radiating from her. If anything, the shabbiness only made her unreal beauty stand out more sharply.
What is this doll?
“She’s our newest family member. Her name is Ria. She seems to have suffered quite a shock—she won’t open her mouth.”
“……”
“So~ could our Lucian help her adjust? You’re so kind and dependable, after all.”
Excuse me?
Kind? Dependable?
Celine, listening from the side, wore an expression that screamed What kind of nonsense is this woman spouting? but the director didn’t even seem to notice her. She was staring only at me, eyes full of hearts.
“It’s not difficult.”
But.
Ria?
The name sounded familiar. Where had I heard it before?
Tsk… where was it?
I rummaged through my memories for a moment before cleanly giving up. Nothing came to mind, and besides, there was no way a major character would be dumped in a place like this orphanage. I stopped thinking about it. With the world facing total destruction in eight years, the name of one new kid hardly mattered.
“Lucian? Are you listening?”
“Yes, please continue.”
“Oh ho ho. How can your speech be so mature? In any case, this child is very timid. Please look after her.”
The director seemed overflowing with absolute faith in me. Hearts practically floated in her eyes as she spoke. Celine’s face had gone completely blank, as if she had achieved enlightenment.
“…Well, I understand. Taking care of a kid isn’t hard.”
I scratched the back of my head with an annoyed sigh and walked over to the child. Up close she was even more unreal. Dust-smeared cheeks, wrists so slender they looked like they’d snap if flicked. Above all, the fundamental difference in class hidden beneath it all—like a diamond buried in a pile of dirt.
I took one step closer, knelt to match her eye level, and the girl—who had been hanging her head in fear—trembled as my shadow fell over her.
Any normal person would have offered gentle words like It’s okay or Don’t be afraid, but unfortunately neither the original Lucian nor I had any taste for such cringeworthy lines.
“……”
“……”
I stared at her with emotionless eyes. When she cautiously lifted her head and our gazes met, I awkwardly wiggled one hand.
“…Hey?”
It was a completely half-hearted greeting. I probably would have been kinder to a stray cat in the neighborhood.
Saintess Elysia
Mental State: Emotional instability, distrust of humans, self-abandonment
Pollution Rate: 45%
If the pollution value reaches the critical point, the story will proceed along the predetermined path of destruction.