A Feast of Suspicion
"Huff... whoo..." Once again, the smoke from the mana herb—not quite a cigarette—crept beneath the mask. "Look, my lungs aren't exactly in great shape. The smoke is a bit..."
"Ah, my apologies. Force of habit."
Damn it. What kind of smoking etiquette is this? Even if mana herb smoke is supposed to make everyone feel good, doing this in front of someone you've just met—especially a noble—is pushing it, isn't it?
"I thought I must have misheard, so without realizing it..."
"You heard correctly."
"....?"
Ayla's expression shifted into something far from pleasant. She was staring at me with that same menacing look that used to terrify me back in my school days.
"You mean I heard you correctly?"
"Yeah."
"About wanting to buy me...?"
I immediately corrected what I'd said. "More precisely, I'd like to hire you for our side."
"...Ah."
At the word "hire," Ayla furrowed her brow as if trying to read my true intentions. Still, her face looked better than when she'd heard "buy you."
Man, did she seriously think I was some pig of a noble who came here lusting after her body? Well, I guess it makes sense.
The Ayla standing before me now possessed a beauty so striking that it took my breath away the moment I saw her. Even after training my mind with Ren's face all this time, the fixed damage still punched straight through.
Thank the rofan gods. It was all thanks to this damn rofan world's attention to detail.
Anyway, my words were correct.
"If that's the case, I'll have to refuse."
"Ah, refusal is fine too."
"?"
Ayla looked at me like I was insane. Ren, unable to tolerate the rudeness in that gaze, stepped forward.
"Commoner, I will not overlook any further insolence toward His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Ha, and if you don't overlook it?"
Ren's eyes turned menacing. My own gaze naturally swept the surroundings. The Ashen Cradle. Though it bore a name like the final fortress protecting the children's safety, it was really just a crumbling church and the broken system inside it. Everything was already so ruined that there was nothing left to break further.
And from that, I realized something.
Ah, so that's how it is.
Ayla was currently running a bluff. This was a place where nobles like us had nothing to gain, so she figured we could do whatever we wanted. In the end, we would be the ones wasting time and money.
...But, but here's the thing.
"I suddenly got curious about something."
"...."
"Do you really need to be this hostile toward us nobles? Do you even know who we are?"
These were commoners with no backing, and to them we must look like the ultimate rich patrons. Even in this hell called the slums, they couldn't possibly be unaware of how overwhelming wealth could be. So why was this woman—this Ayla who had to protect the children—choosing such a dangerous path?
Probably, if I had to guess, she had some decent card hidden up her sleeve. Something strong enough to stand against us.
"S-Sister..."
Just then, I noticed a child trembling with fear and clinging to Ayla's legs.
"I told you to stay inside. Why did you come out?"
Ayla's agitation was obvious. She was doing her best to appear strong and not show us any weakness. Because the moment she looked truly vulnerable, these uninvited guests would surely seize the opening.
"...Ugh."
But what she overlooked was that children whose minds weren't fully formed yet were extremely sensitive to adult conversations and atmosphere. Besides the kids clinging to Sister Ayla's feet, there were more anxious eyes watching us through the gaps in the old doors.
"Hng..."
Even the child who had cheerfully guided us earlier was now watching with a tearful face.
"I didn't mean to create this half-threatening atmosphere. I came here purely for a proper conversation."
"...A proper conversation."
Ayla shot me a deeply displeased look. "You people, from the very beginning—"
Her eyes made it clear she was holding back everything she wanted to say because we were nobles. For a moment, I saw the same emotion I'd once glimpsed in the mirror reflected in her gaze. Something that had endured long years of contempt and patience, now stirring. And she knew that staying like this wouldn't improve anything.
In the end, I spoke first.
"What I'm trying to say is this! I want these children to know what it feels like to have a full stomach."
"...?"
Ignoring Ayla's question mark, I pulled back the cloth covering the cart Ren had been pulling. On top of it...
"...Wow."
The children who had been anxiously watching the situation were momentarily entranced by the mountain of ingredients piled high. Ah. When I'd bought food for the kid who guided us earlier, I'd grabbed some extra on the side. I had money to spare, and this level of generosity was nothing to me.
"Let's feed the kids first. They all look so thin, it's pitiful."
Leaving behind a now blank-faced Ayla, Ren and I casually wheeled the cart of ingredients inside.
"W-Wait a moment...!"
Ayla hurried after us in a panic, but I only acted more confident.
"These are at their freshest right now. We should eat them while they're good."
"...No, what exactly are you doing?"
"If you don't accept them here, I'll just take them outside and scatter them on the street. Your choice."
At the orphanage entrance, one step forward would mean a rare full meal for the children. I could see Ayla wrestling with a heavy internal conflict. Was it more important to stop these suspicious people, or to help the starving children right now?
Ayla can't refuse.
But if she was the same person from the original novel I knew, Ayla would never be able to turn down this offer. It had been the same when I first received information about the Ashen Cradle from Ren, and experiencing it firsthand now gave me the same impression.
The orphanage she was protecting was already pushed to its absolute limit, with every administrative system paralyzed.
"Here."
Crunch!
I grabbed a random ingredient from the cart, lifted my mask slightly, and took a bite. Only after personally demonstrating that I hadn't done anything shady to the food did Ayla, looking somewhat reluctant, finally let us in.
"...What the hell is this, really."
With Ayla's thoroughly bewildered reaction as the finale, a miracle of full bellies descended upon the children of the Ashen Cradle for a while.
.. ... ....
"W-Wow...!"
"I told you, right? This noble is an incredibly kind noble...!"
The excited voices of the children filled the Ashen Cradle. It was a liveliness the place hadn't seen in who knows how long.
"...."
Ayla still wore a dazed expression as she looked at the brightened faces of the children. Just when supplies had been critically short, two nobles had appeared like ghosts and provided the most important thing. That fact alone threw her into an unprecedented identity crisis. Because in her memory, nobles were greedy creatures who hated giving to others and only cared about lining their own pockets.
"Not eating?"
When Ayla turned her head, she saw the man who had brought all this chaos and confusion. Dressed entirely in black, high-quality attire, with his face hidden behind a mask that looked like it belonged at a masquerade ball—an unidentified man.
Swish.
And beside him, the woman who looked like his wife—a beastkin.
"Take it already. My arm's getting tired."
Without a word, Ayla accepted the bowl he offered. Inside was freshly made meat stew, steam rising and stimulating both her sight and smell.
"...You suddenly show up and do all this. What exactly is your goal?"
"If I say it's like a charity event... would you believe me?"
"...."
Her eyes answered for her. Absolutely not.
Well, this much was within expectations. In this dog-eat-dog world, the gap between social classes was clear, and the lives of those not chosen were bound to be miserable. My experiences in the slums so far had proven that.
"Then, what you said earlier..."
"About hiring you?"
"...Yes."
After the somewhat chaotic children's food festival, Ayla, who had been organizing her thoughts for a moment, finally asked about the original condition. It was the very reason we had come here in the first place. We had come to hire her. To somehow deal with this damn constitution of mine.
A dog-like extra.
Arzen von Eternia was truly a famous weakling living on borrowed time. Even in the memories left behind by him, his innate frailty was strangely severe compared to others.
A curse.
A concept that often appeared in the original novel I'd read. And the Ayla standing before me possessed the solution to break this curse.
She used to suck up all the sweet benefits with it, after all.
Of course, that was something the original protagonist got to enjoy. There probably wasn't anyone else as fitting for the phrase "loved by the world" as that crazy woman. So before she started moving in earnest, I had to snatch up as much as possible.
"I know that the nun at this orphanage possesses a special healing ability."
What came out of my mouth next was—
Blood Healing.
"...How do you know about that?"
For a moment, Ayla's expression hardened. She looked like she was asking how on earth I knew about it.
"There are ways to know everything."
Of course, the source of the information was inside my own head. So let's skip the roundabout talk and get straight to business.
When I looked at her with that intent, a resigned sigh escaped her lips.
"Haa... I suppose I knew this day would come eventually."
"So, what's your answer?"
"Did I ever really have a choice?"
I didn't bother answering that.
"...I'll do it."
After giving me the answer I'd wanted so badly, Ayla continued.
"However, you must keep the fact that I'm a Jinjo a secret."
"Oh, Jinjo."
Jinjo. At that word, my thoughts momentarily froze.
"Wait, Jinjo?"
"Yes."
Why was that name coming up here? The name of one of the main culprits who ruined the original novel had suddenly appeared.