Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Let's See What Kind of Place This Is (1)
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The room I was led into was small, like a mix between a reception area and an office.
The wallpaper was faded, and everything inside was old and worn.
I sat on the sofa. Rene sat across from me.
We stared at each other across the table.
Rene brought her palms together and bowed her head, her expression full of apology.
“I'm so sorry. One of our children was kidnapped by some bad people before. We got her back safely, but there's no guarantee it won't happen again. I was just trying to make sure it didn't… Were you very scared?”
It was certainly an impressive display of force.
An ordinary child would have burst into tears on the spot, and even arrogant thugs would have turned tail and fled from the sheer force of her presence.
But I was fine. There was no need for her to apologize.
To be fair, my outfit was suspicious. Anyone would react that way to a strange person loitering around. Safety first, right?
Being the considerate person I am, I nodded in understanding.
“Oh? You're very brave. Most people are too busy running away.”
Rene praised me, saying I was impressive.
But I felt a strange sense of unease in her praise. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Was it just my imagination?
“It must be uncomfortable to keep wearing that. Why don't you take it off and leave it over there?”
Rene gestured to my hood and mask, but I shook my head.
“Really? Come to think of it, Red did mention you have your reasons for covering your face. Is that right?”
I nodded.
“If you have your reasons, then that's that. But if you're hiding your face because you're embarrassed, don't worry. None of the kids here would laugh at you for something like that. Well, they might laugh if it's a really funny face, but there'd be no malice in it, so don't be upset.”
Rene chuckled.
It wasn't for some grand reason that I kept it on.
No one knew the Grim Reaper was a girl, so it wouldn't be a problem to show my face.
It was just that my face was incredibly lovely, and I didn't feel like showing it to others.
Beautiful flowers attract bugs, as they say. And there are always those who would try to pluck the flower with ill intentions.
I was just preemptively blocking any potential trouble.
“I also heard you can't speak. Is that true too?”
I nodded again.
Rene looked at me with pity in her eyes.
*'She has those eyes, too.'*
Red, the dessert shop owner... I vaguely remembered them looking at me the same way when they heard I couldn't speak.
Most people just react indifferently when they hear I'm mute.
“It must be inconvenient to have to keep moving your body to communicate... Wait a moment.”
Rene got up from the sofa, walked to a desk, and rummaged through its shelves and drawers.
A moment later, she returned to the sofa with something in her hand.
Rene placed the items on the table.
It was paper and a pencil.
I understood what she meant.
“Do you know how to write?”
I nodded my head.
I took the pencil and, as a test, wrote on the paper.
[Why. Orphanage. Security system. None?]
It wasn't a proper sentence.
For someone who had nodded so confidently, it was pathetically crude.
Yeah, I know. But what can I do?
This wasn't the world I used to live in.
The writing system was completely different, and no matter how long I'd lived here, I'd never had a proper education, so of course my skills wouldn't improve.
Maybe it was a reincarnation perk, but I had no problem listening or reading.
Annoyingly, writing required my actual skill.
Even this was the result of blood, sweat, and tears.
*'Damn it. If they were going to let me listen and read, they should have made writing easy, too. What is this?'*
Grumbling inwardly, I glanced at Rene.
She was looking down at the paper with sad eyes, but when she noticed my gaze, her expression quickly changed.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she answered my question.
“Because I'm here!”
The sudden change in her expression bothered me, but I didn't press the issue.
I turned my attention to her words.
Not understanding her, I drew a question mark on the paper.
At that, Rene crossed her arms and puffed out her chest.
“Truth is, I'm a really good fighter. I can protect the children just fine without any of that stuff, so we didn't install it.”
Her confidence was so great it bordered on arrogance.
If an ordinary person said that, I'd think they were just boasting. But her confidence wasn't empty.
She seemed less skilled than Red, but she was definitely capable.
I could tell at a glance.
But that aside, didn't she just say a child was kidnapped?
The moment I thought, *But you failed to protect them*, Rene's demeanor changed completely.
The confident aura she exuded instantly darkened, and her triumphant smile turned upside down.
Her shoulders slumped, her head drooped, and in a deeply dejected voice, she said,
“...At least, that's what I used to think. Ahaha....”
I was flailing my arms, not knowing what to say to comfort her.
Fortunately, Rene managed to pull herself together on her own.
“The truth is, even if we wanted to install a system, the orphanage's budget is too tight.”
So it was a money problem.
A very realistic reason.
Does it cost that much?
When I tapped the pencil on the question mark I'd drawn, a lonely smile appeared on Rene's lips.
I stared at her, but she didn't say anything.
Normally, I wouldn't be so persistent. But when you're told not to know something, it just makes you want to know more. Reverse psychology, I think they call it.
Anyway, her attitude made me want to be stubborn. I fixed my gaze on her.
About three minutes passed like that.
“Alright, you win. It's not really a secret anyway. I just didn't want to talk about it because it's not something a kid needs to know, but if you're that curious, I'll tell you a little.”
Rene gave me a rough explanation.
Simply put, with orphanage expenses, taxes, and other costs, there was no room in the budget, even with Red's support.
“We're running the orphanage in the outer city specifically because of money issues, and it's still tight.”
Rene sighed.
She looked exhausted.
But she quickly wiped the tired look from her face.
“Come to think of it, I haven't heard why you came here. What brings you? Just to see Red?”
Her expression and voice were very gentle.
But why did I get the feeling she was testing me? Was it just my imagination?
She was smiling on the outside, but was she actually wary of me?
There was no sign of it. What was it, then?
Well, no point overthinking it. I should just tell her why I'm here.
Having made up my mind,
I started writing, doing my best to make it understandable for Rene.
[Red. Offer. Refused. One time. Tour. Possible?]
*'Even I think this is ridiculous. This is supposed to be an explanation? It might be better to just use gestures.'*
I was so embarrassed I had the urge to rip the paper to shreds.
I was about to scribble it out and write again, but...
“Aha, so you refused Red's offer, but you were curious about the orphanage and came to have a look.”
She understood that?!
Rene waved her hand as if it were nothing.
“Red gave me a heads-up that a certain kid might stop by, so I shouldn't be too on guard.”
No wonder she'd let her guard down so easily after I just showed her the terminal.
There was a reason for everything.
“Red would have been so happy if she were here. Come to think of it, we haven't been properly introduced. Let me introduce myself again. I'm Rene, the director of this Sunshine Orphanage.”
Rene offered me a handshake.
Wait, she's the director?
Suppressing my slight surprise, I accepted her handshake.
*'What was that? It felt like she squeezed my hand.'*
As I was wondering about it, Rene spoke.
“I'd love to show you around right now, but it's time to make snacks for the kids. Do you want to wait here and go with me, or would you like to wander around and have a look on your own?”
I was curious about the snacks, but I chose to look around by myself.
***
While the Grim Reaper was visiting the orphanage, Red was on a job.
The job's rank was quite high—the kind that would make even an experienced and skilled Fixer nervous.
But Red handled it with ease.
This was only natural, as for a Fixer of Red's caliber, this job was a piece of cake.
Considering the pay, it would have been better for her to take a job suited to her level.
Normally, she would have. But there was a special reason she hadn't.
*'Another dead end. I'll look around a bit more, just in case there's a clue.'*
Red began to slowly walk through the scene where the situation had concluded.
Her eyes scanned the scattered corpses as if searching for something, and she shuffled through documents written by the now-dead criminals.
*'Hm? What's this...?'*
Her busy hands stopped.
A strange light flickered in Red's eyes.
It wasn't the information she was looking for, but it was too intriguing to ignore, so she began to skim it.
Just as she was about to read the third document, a phone rang in her coat pocket.
Red stopped reading and answered the call. It was her colleague, Stal.
“Yeah, everything's taken care of here. Uh-huh, I get it. I'll be out in a minute.”
Red gathered the documents, tucked them under her arm, and went outside.
When she left the scene, the area outside was bustling with the Fixers who had participated in the job.
Red looked around and spotted an orc sitting on a distant bench.
Even from a distance, the orc looked exhausted and worn out.
She walked toward the orc, and sure enough, up close she could see his body was covered in scratches.
“What happened to you? Did sitting in an office all day make you go soft?”
Red chuckled teasingly, and Stal frowned at his colleague's behavior.
“You think everyone's like you? More importantly, did you find what you were looking for?”
“No, but I found something else.”
Red tapped the bundle of papers under her arm.
“What is it?”
“A list of people the Cult of the Grim Reaper is keeping an eye on.”
“Was Lena on it?”
“No. But someone I know was....”
Red gestured for Stal to move over.
Stal scooted aside, and she plopped down in the newly available space.
Stal said,
“Anyway, are you sure the Cult of the Grim Reaper was involved in Lena's kidnapping?”
“Skull masks and crosiers. Lena said the people who kidnapped her were dressed like that. Who else but the Cult of the Grim Reaper wears such a bizarre outfit?”
“I don't get it. Why would they kidnap Lena? I'm not even sure it really was the Cult. The outfits are easy enough to get. Couldn't someone have disguised themselves to frame the Cult?”
“That's possible. It's suspicious to carry out a kidnapping in such a conspicuous outfit when you should be trying to hide your identity. It's too blatant.”
“There's something else I don't understand. How did they get past Rene?”
Red fell silent, lost in thought.
Rene.
Director of the Sunshine Orphanage, and her dependable younger sister, who protects the children all on her own.
Rene's ability is special. She uses that special power to constantly watch over the children, ensuring no harm comes to them.
Evading Rene's surveillance to kidnap a child is no easy feat.
Not unless you know a lot about Rene.
The problem was, the only person who knew the full extent of Rene's ability was Red herself.
“I don't know. To be honest, I'm also puzzled as to how they managed to kidnap a child right under Rene's nose. It should be impossible unless they know her well.”
Red looked up at the sky.
The dreary sky seemed to reflect her current situation.