The First Day of Vacation
The outskirts of the empire held a place called Haven Orphanage. It was hardly a revelation, but even orphanages had their own hierarchy. The closer they were to the imperial capital, the higher the chance of receiving subsidies and the greater the likelihood of adoption.
In that sense, Haven Orphanage’s poor location left its situation far from ideal. The children had no proper clothes of their own and always wore hand-me-downs from their older siblings. The only book they had for study was a tattered, well-worn imperial language primer covered in fingerprints.
Eileen had requested aid from the empire several times, but her pleas were never answered. In her heart, a quiet hatred for the empire had begun to bloom… or so the novel had described it. That was the version of events Askal knew.
“Are you the volunteer here as a one-day teacher?”
“Yes. I’m Ray, the one who contacted you.”
Askal had hidden his identity and applied to Haven Orphanage as a one-day teacher. In truth, the role wasn’t anything grand. All it required was playing with the children and reading them books. In the worst case, he might have to change a diaper or two.
“I feel like I’ve seen your face somewhere…”
Eileen’s eyes brightened with recognition as she looked at Ray—or rather, Askal’s—face.
“You were a regular at our sandwich shop! What a coincidence… I’m sorry the shop suddenly disappeared. Things got busy at the orphanage.”
“I understand. Your main work should always come first.”
Following Eileen’s guidance, Askal stepped inside Haven Orphanage and immediately sensed something was off.
The Haven Orphanage he remembered from the novel had been an absolute hellscape. The children were so malnourished they were skin and bones. Their bedding was infested with bedbugs, so they tossed and turned every night, unable to sleep properly from the itching.
Children raised in such misery naturally grew to harbor deep resentment toward the empire, becoming excellent anti-imperialists. It had all seemed perfectly logical.
But the orphanage Eileen showed him was nothing like what he remembered.
Contrary to the novel’s description, the building was clean and surprisingly respectable. It even resembled a prestigious academy.
“The building looks very clean.”
“We recently expanded it.”
Expanded? Where did the money come from?
Ah. I gave it to them.
Up until now, Askal had anonymously donated most of the bribes he received to Haven Orphanage.
There had been a wicked motive behind it. By sponsoring the children who would one day become anti-imperialists, he planned to earn a pardon even if the empire fell. Besides, if these sprouts were destined to become rebels anyway, wouldn’t they grow even stronger in a comfortable environment?
After all, a one-star rebel might evolve into a three-star rebel, right?
But this…
Whoosh.
A ball flew toward him.
“My ball! My ball!”
“Nope. That’s offside. Not your ball.”
“Kids! We have a guest. Be careful! If you keep doing that, I’m confiscating the ball!”
“Sorry, Miss Eileen.”
Askal picked up the ball. It wasn’t the ragged, peeling thing that looked ready to scream please kill me. This was a shiny, brand-new ball.
“Mister?”
When Askal stood there holding the ball, lost in thought, the children playing nearby stared at him curiously.
He looked at them. Their cheeks were plump, clearly well-fed with balanced meals of protein, carbohydrates, and fats three times a day. Their clothes were clean, and their faces glowed with health.
They seem to live better than most noble children…?
Something had clearly gone wrong.
“Everyone, this is Mr. Ray, who came today as a one-day teacher for volunteer work. He is actually an imperial official.”
Eileen gathered the children and introduced Askal.
Maybe I should have lied about my job.
Recently, a regrettable social trend had taken root in the empire: unemployed men past a certain age were treated as less than human. He couldn’t say he was jobless. Moreover, the unemployed weren’t even allowed to volunteer at orphanages. Since he couldn’t think of a suitable profession, he had said he was an imperial official, but now Askal regretted it.
These children had been abandoned by the empire. If he claimed to be an imperial official, their reaction would surely be—
“Wow, that’s so cool!”
“I want to work for the empire too!”
“What do I have to study to become an official?”
A flood of eager questions poured out.
What is going on?
The children didn’t seem to hate the empire at all.
Still flustered, Askal answered their questions.
“If you thoroughly study and review the foundational subjects, you can become an official.”
“But our tutor said something different?”
Wait, a tutor? You guys get private tutoring?
“Once a week, we invite outside tutors so the children can learn whatever subjects they want.”
Askal was speechless.
“When I grow up, I want to be a musician!”
The children’s clothes had name tags. This was Crina. In the original story, she had become the deputy commander of an anti-imperial guerrilla unit.
“I’m going to be a chef!”
The child who just spoke was Stefan. Later, he would carry a bomb into an imperial office and carry out a suicide bombing.
“Hmph. How trivial. I will become a minister.”
And this last one was Sirius… in the novel, he had been the leader of the anti-imperial army.
“What rank are you, sir?”
“Sixth rank.”
“Hmm. Not bad.”
Sirius crossed his arms and nodded, his expression clearly saying, You are worthy of speaking with me.
At this rate, it seemed impossible for these children to grow up as anti-imperialists.
Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Askal asked,
“By any chance, don’t you ever think about it? Like wanting revenge on the empire that ignored you all this time, or blowing up buildings where they suck the blood of the common people with a nice big bomb…”
“Sir, are you a communist?”
“Kids, report him to the empire right now!”
One child dashed off. Askal hurriedly grabbed the child’s leg. It took quite a long time to explain that it had only been a joke.
In the end, Askal realized the truth.
He had donated far too much money to the orphanage.
Because it had been annoying, he had simply tossed every bribe he received their way, and it had come back to bite him in the worst possible way.
The children who were supposed to grow up as anti-imperialists had instead become the empire’s loyal little helpers…
“Mishter. Look at thish. I drew it.”
A child who looked about six years old held out a drawing with great pride.
Askal examined the picture. It was clumsy, but it showed a black-haired man wearing a cloak. The man was smiling and carrying a sword. It was a picture full of earnest effort and surprisingly charming.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Uncle Karl.”
“Uncle Karl?”
“He’s a really wonderful adult who sponsors our orphanage!”
Uncle Karl. Now that he thought about it, he remembered. When he donated to Haven Orphanage, he had used the alias Karl. So this drawing was of the imaginary version of himself.
“Oh. Is this Uncle Karl?”
At that moment, Stefan approached.
“You drew it well, but my Uncle Karl is way cooler.”
Stefan pulled out a handmade doll from his pocket. The man wearing formal attire and holding a conductor’s baton looked like an unyielding strategist.
“Is that all for Uncle Karl?”
“? There’s one in the frame over there too.”
Stefan pointed at the wall. A large framed portrait hung there, depicting a black-haired handsome man Askal had never seen before, standing with an aloof expression.
— Created by Sirius —
I’m going to lose my mind. Seriously.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Yes. The children are so bright that I don’t think there’s much I can teach them.”
“Hehe. Did it seem that way? But they’re all quite spoiled. They only pretend to be strong.”
Before leaving, Askal had a brief talk with Eileen.
In the original story, Eileen was supposed to awaken as a saintess amid hatred and despair toward the empire. But would it be the same now? Perhaps she would simply live an ordinary life teaching children.
“If the person who sponsored the orphanage under the name Uncle Karl actually had some other, darker purpose, what would you think?”
“Hmm… Even if it started with bad intentions, if the result is good, wouldn’t it ultimately be a good deed? That’s what I believe.”
“I see.”
“Above all, we are happy right now thanks to him.”
There seemed to be nothing more to hear. Askal left the orphanage amid the children’s farewells.
“Goodbye, sir!”
“Come again next time!”
“Bye-bye!”
But because he had turned his back, Askal never noticed that Eileen continued to watch his retreating figure for a long time.
She whispered a small word of gratitude. No one heard it; it was carried away on a light breeze and vanished.
The first day of vacation had come to an end.
When Askal returned home, he found an appointment letter and a sealed missive bearing the crown prince’s personal stamp on his desk.
When the hell was this delivered… and how did they even open the door?
It felt like he had glimpsed a fragment of a horrifying truth.
The flowing cursive handwriting seemed to carry the crown prince’s own voice.
I don’t know how hard it was to push through those old fossils’ objections. In the end, I used my imperial authority to promote you to the fifth rank. You don’t need to thank me. The massage I received in the lounge that day was worth this much. When your vacation ends, let’s go riding together sometime! Hahahahahahahahaha!
Askal fed the letter to his pegasus. He had recently named it Per.
“Hiiing!”
Per ate the letter with relish. It seemed to enjoy the high-quality paper.