An Unusual Boy in the Main Building
The whole affair with the Mountain Dungeon that had thrown both my orphanage and the city into chaos was finally wrapped up without any further trouble. After that, peaceful days continued for a while.
Maybe it was because I had just gone through the most intense battle since becoming the director of this orphanage?
For the past few days, no matter what happened, my heart felt strangely at ease.
Even the sight of Serelda and Epia going at each other in what looked like a full-blown UFC match seemed like nothing special.
Carmela, whose long-suppressed murderous impulses were starting to creep up after killing the invading mercenaries, had been licking her lips while staring at wild animals with a look that said, *If there are no villains, then these will have to do…* But even that felt understandable for the time being. (Of course, I still stopped her.)
Even the days when Chloe declared she wouldn’t touch even the carrots she usually ate, shocking me, had become part of a tolerable daily routine.
That was how intense the battle that had me sweating for the first time in a long while had been.
Now that I thought about it, he really had been strong. The Sumyo Knight.
…I really didn’t expect his consciousness to remain inside the jewel.
Two days after the dungeon incident had been settled.
I went down to the basement and was shocked when I heard it from Eseldra. His consciousness had remained?
Thankfully, I confirmed that the power he possessed had greatly deteriorated.
There was nothing he could do on his own with just the consciousness left inside the jewel.
At best, he was treated like the youngest by the other ego weapons stored in the treasury, listening to their stories and playing along. Once I confirmed he was harmless, I felt relieved.
In the end, I had unintentionally added another fitting piece to my collection in the vault.
If he hadn’t been in a typical dungeon boss format and had instead secretly observed humans like the corpse dragon before attacking, the damage would have been far greater.
For several hundred years while guarding the tomb, he had never experienced real combat.
The fight with me must have been practically his first real battle, yet using only the memories and experiences of the grudges, he had shown skill enough to match me.
The judgment and decisiveness he displayed at the end.
Even the thrust that momentarily surpassed the Master rank, born from the will to advance in the face of fear.
If his dungeon had appeared somewhere else, if he had continued to grow while fending off human interference…
Wouldn’t he have become even stronger than the two dragons I had killed?
In a way, it was fortunate that his dungeon had appeared close enough for me to intervene. Though Susan probably wouldn’t agree.
“Alright, eat up and let’s start today with full energy!”
Anyway. Time to put the memories behind me.
And so, another day began at the annex of Hope Tree Orphanage.
When I gave the usual morning meal greeting, the children each picked up their utensils.
“Wow! It’s that sausage today! I’ve been wondering when I’d get to try it!”
Epia licked her lips as she stared at the large, thick sausage in her bowl, coated in a spicy-sweet sauce.
It was one of the premium sausages Susan had given us after the dungeon raid, finally cooked and served on the table today.
Like all the other children, our kids loved sausages.
Not just Epia, whose mouth was practically drooling.
Even Serelda, who always wanted to eat gracefully like a noble, couldn’t hide the star-like sparkle in her eyes.
The other kids were reacting the same way, even if they weren’t openly drooling.
“Director, here.”
“Hm? What’s this for?”
Zia, who had handed a handkerchief to Epia, now offered one to me as well.
“You’re drooling.”
“Eh? Wait, I really am?”
I wiped my mouth and found that I was indeed drooling like someone who had dozed off.
Unbelievable.
Was I really so weak that a single sausage could make me lose control of myself?
To make a Master drool… this sausage was clearly no ordinary thing.
I carefully cut into it with a knife. With a crisp *snap*, juicy meat juices burst out.
When Zia cooked the sausages, she used the method I had taught her.
Blanch them in boiling water, then grill them directly over the fire. It allowed even dry sausages to stay surprisingly moist inside.
Of course, even then, it couldn’t quite match the crunchy, juicy sausages I remembered from Earth.
After all, even though magic existed, the setting of this game was closer to the Middle Ages.
But this sausage was different from the very sound it made when sliced.
The senses of the modern person who had been hiding inside me for so long were sending clear signals: *This is delicious.*
I stabbed it with my fork and brought it to my mouth.
“…Wow. It’s good.”
The casing had no off-putting smell at all and gave a satisfying *crunch* when chewed.
It was followed by a rich, savory meat flavor, and then the perfect harmony of honey and chili-based spicy seasoning.
If all the sausages I had eaten as Aren so far scored a 50 out of 100…
This one easily deserved a 90 or higher.
The children’s reactions were the same.
“Wow, this is insanely good! This sausage!”
Epia had already abandoned her fork and knife, grabbed the sausage with her bare hands, and taken a huge bite. Her cheeks puffed out as she smiled with pure happiness.
“…It is tasty. Still, don’t eat in such a sloppy manner. When are you going to fix that habit?”
Serelda, who had dipped thinly sliced bread into stew and added the cut sausage on top, continued her meal with a satisfied expression befitting someone savoring fine cuisine.
*Chomp! Crunch! Gnaw! Crunch!*
“Ah, it’s already all gone… slurp…”
Carmela had simply picked up the sausage with her fork and devoured the thing that was practically the size of her mouth in just four bites.
She licked her lips and stared longingly at Chloe’s sausage.
“…I’m not giving you any.”
Chloe, who had been cutting hers into small pieces to savor the flavor, answered by picking up the thick novel she had neatly placed beside her and setting it on her lap.
“Hiiiing, just one bite…”
“…I said no.”
When Chloe lifted the book like a blunt weapon and tapped her knee twice…
Carmela, who didn’t want a book slammed into the top of her head, sulkily went back to eating her remaining bread and soup.
“Ah, then Carmela, you can have some of m—”
“…No, Zia. Here, have some of the Director’s.”
“Wow!”
When Zia tried to cut off a piece of her own portion to share, I stopped her and instead cut off a piece about the size of my thumb from my own bowl and gave it to Carmela.
As the director, I occasionally needed to show this kind of benevolent side so the children would listen to me bett—
“Me too, Director! Me too!”
Epia, holding her own sausage in one hand, reached out with the other and snatched the remaining sausage from my bowl in one swift motion.
My eyes widened without me realizing it.
“—Eh.”
Epia blinked. She stared blankly at the sausage that had vanished, leaving only enough for two bites.
She quickly used her knife to cut precisely at the spot she had grabbed, then placed the rest back into my bowl in an instant.
“Wow, that was so fast I couldn’t even see it. Director’s technique is the best.”
Carmela watched the spectacle like it was a show, chewing on the sausage I had given her.
“…Something this delicious, you shouldn’t easily covet what belongs to others. Be satisfied with the amount that fits in your palm.”
“—Hic.”
“Answer me.”
“Yes…”
Epia, eyes round as saucers, quietly returned to her seat.
Her slumped shoulders were quite a sight to behold.
“Puhahaha. Ah, that’s hilarious.”
Serelda, who had been holding it in, finally burst out laughing so hard her shoulders shook even as she covered her mouth with her hand.
“You— you’re laughing? Then I’m eating yours!”
The provoked Epia reached for Serelda’s bowl.
As if she had expected it, Serelda countered by stabbing the back of her hand with her fork without hesitation.
“Ah! Ow! That’s all you’ve got?!”
In the end, Epia still managed to snatch the sausage and shove it into her mouth.
“Ah, hey, you— you actually ate the whole thing, you demonic little wench!!!”
And Serelda, who finally exploded after seeing that.
As always, it was an incredibly peaceful breakfast.
****
“Then, Zia. Shall we do some light training today?”
After receiving confirmation from my master about Zia’s potential and carrying her back, I had listened to her worries and given her my own answer.
From then on, I began teaching Zia in earnest.
Right after that, the dungeon incident had kept me busy, so I had only been able to correct her very basic sword forms until now.
But once the matter was settled, I started setting aside proper time each day.
“Here.”
“Yes! I’ll work hard today too!”
I handed her a practice wooden sword I had made by trimming scrap lumber left over from building the annex. She had been so happy when I gave it to her, since I had put real care into making it durable enough to last a long time.
“Alright. Continue with the movements you’ve learned from me so far. Finish with a thrust.”
“Yes!”
While I may not have been an outstanding teacher, I wasn’t ignorant of the basics. The reason the training period had been so short was simply because she learned them incredibly quickly.
It reminds me of when I first learned.
At six years old—in this game world, that was still basically toddler age—I had first learned swordsmanship.
When my older brother, who was two years older than me, had just begun training under our father,
Anyone could have predicted that a girl with the spirit of a Korean boy from the modern era wouldn’t grow up to be a quiet, well-behaved young lady.
Back then, my head had been filled with thoughts like *I’m going to stop the world from being destroyed!* and *I’m going to become the director!* and I had acted like a gorilla on a rampage.
It was still difficult to gauge exactly how much potential this body had.
At least when I was five, a visiting mage from the family had said my talent for magic didn’t stand out particularly, so I had accepted it with, *Ah, so I’m a physical type.*
Naturally, I had wanted to confirm my physical talent, but a five-year-old was simply too young for that kind of testing.
So I had thought, *Building stamina and strength is always the right choice,* and spent all my time outside doing nothing but physical training.
Tree climbing was incredibly effective.
The novel about a villainess who enjoyed tree climbing and farming from a young age had been right. You could really feel yourself getting stronger.
It was just a shame that, as the eldest daughter, there were many eyes on me, so I couldn’t do it as often as I wanted.
After spending every free moment wandering outside, climbing trees, and scaling rocks,
At six years old, I had clung to the old exclusive butler—who knew about my usual antics but often turned a blind eye—and begged him to teach me swordsmanship. That was how it started.
Was that too much rambling?
Anyway, the words I had heard back then when I first picked up a wooden sword could be passed on to Zia exactly as they were.
— Oh, my lady. To grasp the stance so accurately in just one try!
My master’s eye had indeed been accurate.
Weight balance. Simple footwork. An upright posture when swinging the sword. Downward slash, upward slash, horizontal slash, thrust. The method of connecting the sword path in a straight line.
I had only taught her these basics, yet Zia had copied them perfectly after seeing and hearing them just once, just like I had.
“Hup! Ha! Hah!”
Zia diligently followed the sword path I had taught her.
In wuxia terms, it was on the level of the basic Three Talents Sword Technique.
But she was executing it exactly as I wanted, without a single flaw I could point out.
Even though I lacked confidence as a teacher, if it looked good enough to a Master like me, the old Sword Saint would probably have the same reaction if he were here.
“Phew, I’m done!”
Zia finished with the final thrust and smiled brightly.
“…Mm. Well done. It was exactly as I taught you—precise, clean, without any unnecessary movements.”
Even I, who usually only praised what deserved praise and pointed out what needed fixing, crossed my arms and nodded in satisfaction.
“Waa! Thank you!”
Zia smiled happily at my compliment. How cute.
She hadn’t received any criticism yet, but not needing any was a skill in itself.
When I had her do it one more time, she performed it exactly the same as the first.
“If I teach you one thing, you seem to understand five. Our Zia. I’m really looking forward to your future.”
When I praised her again, Zia smiled shyly and said,
“Actually, when I used to stay at the Director’s family mansion a long time ago, I would sometimes watch the soldiers and knights practicing from far away.”
“Oh? And what does that mean?”
“I watched a lot of basic training, so I analyzed it in my own way. I never actually practiced it there, though.”
As she spoke, Zia demonstrated what she had seen.
She almost perfectly replicated the basic training movements of the Silver Wolf Knights, which were very familiar to me.
Whoa, she learned this much just by watching over someone’s shoulder?
“Wow… Zia, that’s amazing. If you had received proper instruction from the family knights back then, it would have been incredible. I’m actually starting to regret it.”
“I’m fine with this. Hehe, learning directly from the Director like this is much better.”
This kid really knows how to say the sweetest things!
“Ah, you’re too cute! Come here!”
“Uwaa!”
I pulled her into a tight hug and ruffled her hair all over. Zia’s face turned bright red in an instant.
After petting her thoroughly and letting her go, she glanced up at me shyly.
She stayed still even though she was embarrassed. So adorable.
****
After finishing Zia’s training for the day, I headed to the main building because I had some business there.
The boy who arrived two days ago is that unusual?
The orphanage’s reputation had quietly grown, so new children came in through various routes from time to time.
This time, Cassel had personally come to tell me to come see the new boy.
While I usually checked on every child who arrived, if Cassel was going out of his way to say this, it meant the boy really was no ordinary case.
I walked leisurely, enjoying the flowers that had bloomed even more in the past two days, until the main building came into view.
Let’s see just how unusual he is…
I waved at Blanche, who greeted me as I entered, then sat down on the sofa in the vice-director’s office and waited. Soon, Cassel arrived with the child.
“Nice to meet you, Director!”
“…Gordon?”
Wait, why does this kid only come up to right below my eye level?
Short-cut brown hair.
Broad shoulders and bulging muscles. I would have believed it if someone told me he was an adult man.
No, what was harder to believe was that he *wasn’t* an adult man.
When I gave Cassel a look, he explained.
“His name is Gordon. He’s eleven. He came from beyond the mountain range. He was caught by a slave trader and worked as a labor slave. The trader was caught in Drakanscale, he was rescued, and after passing through a few hands, he ended up here.”
“Thanks for the summary. Sigh, so there are still people doing slave trading over there. I guess if they don’t get caught, it’s still profitable even after we pulled out the roots.”
As I clicked my tongue, Gordon’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me.
It seemed he had something to say. Gordon… even his name sounded strong.
“D-Director!”
“Yes. Gordon, do you have something to say?”
With his face flushed red, Gordon spoke with eyes shining as if he had gathered the resolve of a lifetime.
“…Please marry me! I will make you happy for the rest of your life!”
“…Wow.”
Receiving a completely unexpected marriage proposal, my eyes narrowed into slits.
I looked at Cassel.
It was the first time I had ever seen that guy open his eyes that wide.
I really hadn’t expected him to be *this* unusual…
