✯ Chapter 4 ✯
Near a dark alley, Chaison was wandering in front of a suspicious-looking building that didn’t even have a proper sign.
He was a low-ranking priest at the temple.
Since he was practically the High Priest’s errand boy, Chaison usually handled all the troublesome jobs.
Is he running another errand today?
The temple already had so many shady secrets that Hannah wouldn’t have been surprised no matter what he was doing.
She decided not to pay any attention to Chaison and lightly patted the full shopping basket in her hands.
This should make a wonderful dinner tonight.
Her wallet was empty.
But her heart felt full.
…But what am I going to do about the salary I borrowed in advance?
Thinking about next month made her expression darken.
“If we sell them as test subjects, the price doubles. But the requirements are strict. If they’re too young, it becomes a problem.”
“How much can we get?”
“About 500 gold for each one.”
“If there are three of them, can’t we get a little more?”
As Hannah walked past, she overheard the strange conversation.
Each one? Test subjects?
She glanced toward Chaison.
The person standing in front of him wore a black robe that practically screamed,
“I’m a villain.”
Hannah’s footsteps slowly came to a stop.
She quietly hid behind a nearby tree.
Then she listened carefully.
“Not yet. I’ll contact you after the inspection is over.”
“They can’t have any illnesses. Remember that.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Are they the children from the orphanage?”
The moment she heard the word orphanage…
Her heart nearly stopped.
Her grip loosened, and she almost dropped the basket before catching it.
No way…
Then the High Priest’s words came back to her.
“Chaison is looking for a place to send those children…”
No… No… No!
The place he had been talking about wasn’t another orphanage.
He was planning to sell the children as test subjects.
Her heart pounded wildly.
That temple is complete garbage…
No… it’s even worse than garbage.
She couldn’t stay still after hearing that.
Her shoulders trembled violently.
Rubbing her arms to calm herself, Hannah immediately ran back to the orphanage.
“Ah! Corn soup!”
“It’s bread!”
“Fish.”
The children happily found the dishes they had wanted on the table.
“Oh, Teacher. You didn’t have to make bread and fish too.”
A cute dimple appeared on Masha’s cheek.
Even though she said that…
She was clearly happy.
Masha walked over and hugged Hannah around the waist before rubbing her face against her.
“Let me make one thing clear.”
“Teacher doesn’t love one of you more than the others.”
“Hmph. My bread still looks the most delicious.”
Jeremy said while stuffing bread with apple jam into his mouth.
Thankfully…
The children didn’t bring up who Hannah loved the most anymore.
But although Hannah smiled at them…
Inside, she was filled with worry.
The conversation she had overheard earlier kept repeating in her mind.
“Sell them… as test subjects…”
Just thinking about it made her face stiffen.
She tried again and again to hide it in front of the children.
But she couldn’t stop herself from sighing.
I can’t leave things like this.
That night, Hannah lay awake in the small bedroom beside the orphanage.
The rough blanket bothered her far less than what she had heard earlier.
“Sigh… I barely earn any money… I’ll probably lose this job soon… and I don’t have any special skills…”
No matter how much she thought about it…
She couldn’t find a way to save the children.
“Should I take them and leave…?”
She had almost no money.
She had only just started working.
There was no way she could support three children by herself.
On top of that…
She barely knew anything about this world.
The only answer was to keep the orphanage running until the children became adults.
She calmly remembered the novel.
The children’s past had only been mentioned briefly.
Luckily, she had read it recently enough to remember.
The temple has been stealing money for years.
The temple received money from the believers’ donations…
Government subsidies…
And extra funding because it operated an orphanage and cared for the elderly.
Could I really remember all those financial records without a ledger?
“No chance.”
After all…
Villains always kept ledgers that could later expose their crimes.
If she left the children alone…
They would definitely be sold to those horrible people.
Even if they never killed her in the future…
She couldn’t ignore something like this.
Her conscience wouldn’t allow it.
But if she ran away with the children…
They would all starve.
There was only one answer.
Find the ledger. Threaten the High Priest.
She wanted to sneak into the High Priest’s office that very night and search for it.
But taking care of three children all day had exhausted her.
Forget it… I’ll sleep first…
Unable to keep her eyes open any longer…
Hannah finally fell asleep.
“Alright. Let’s think about something.”
“Yes!”
“What is it?”
Masha and Jeremy smiled brightly.
“What should you use on a rainy day?”
“An umbrella!”
“A raincoat!”
They answered very well.
“Why do we use them?”
“So we don’t get wet!”
“That’s right.”
Hannah gently smiled as she patted the soaking wet heads of Masha and Jeremy.
“Then why are both of you completely soaked when you have umbrellas and raincoats?”
“But it’s fun to jump in muddy puddles!”
“That’s right! They make splashing sounds!”
“Hm…”
Hannah looked at Masha.
Her pink dress had turned completely brown from mud.
Then she looked at Jeremy.
His shirt had disappeared somewhere, and he looked like he was wearing a mud pack.
The dirty dress is one thing…
But where did your shirt go?
“If you do that, you’ll catch a cold.”
“And if you get sick… Teacher will feel very sad.”
Hearing her sad voice…
The children’s excited expressions slowly disappeared.
“We shouldn’t get sick…”
Masha answered quietly.
She looked so discouraged that Hannah became flustered.
Wait…
It doesn’t have to become this depressing!
“Ahem.”
Hannah quickly cleared her throat and gently rubbed their arms.
“Next time, don’t play in the rain, okay?”
“Now let’s go wash with warm water.”
Masha and Jeremy nodded.
“Ian, you should come too.”
Ian looked at the muddy Masha and Jeremy with obvious disgust.
But Hannah firmly urged him.
“Hurry.”
Being clean was good.
But being too clean only made life difficult.
She really hoped Ian’s obsession with cleanliness would improve someday.
“Alright.”
“Jeremy and Ian, go to the men’s bath.”
“Masha, come with me.”
She handed soap and towels to Jeremy and Ian.
The boys blinked.
Masha also stared blankly at Hannah.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Do they need something else?
Hannah searched through the bath basket.
“…Teacher…”
“Even if you don’t want to bathe, you still have to.”
“Especially you and Jeremy.”
“You’re both covered in germs.”
“Come on.”
Hannah grabbed Masha’s hand.
“Jeremy!”
“You’d better wash yourself properly!”
“If you don’t, Teacher will scrub you herself!”
“Teacher, but—”
“Hurry inside!”
“You’ll catch a cold!”
Thinking the children were simply trying to avoid taking a bath…
Hannah quickly pulled Masha into the women’s bath.
Jeremy stood there blankly, staring at the entrance.
He wasn’t the only one.
Ian looked equally stunned.
“Masha…”
“…That idiot.”
Jeremy and Ian sighed softly.
Then they shook their heads and walked into the men’s bath.
Behind the temple was a natural hot spring.
Wow… I get to enjoy a hot spring in this world? That’s so luxurious.
Hannah hummed happily as she arranged the bathing supplies.
“Masha.”
“Take off your clothes.”
Masha stood there awkwardly.
Hannah walked over and started untying the ribbons on Masha’s dress.
Masha and Jeremy are just like cats that hate taking baths.
Come to think of it…
This was the first time Hannah had helped them bathe.
The children were used to washing themselves, so they had never asked for help before.
Smiling to herself…
Hannah took off Masha’s clothes.
Then immediately pulled them back up.
…What did I just see?
She rubbed her eyes.
Then lowered Masha’s clothes again.
And quickly pulled them back up.
“…”
“…”
Their eyes met.
“…Masha…”
Hannah slowly collapsed onto the floor.
Why…
Why does Masha have that?!
Her eyes shook violently.
What… what did I just see?
That cute little…
No…
That’s an elephant!
“Y-You…”
“Um… Teacher…”
Masha scratched behind his ear awkwardly.
His cheeks had turned a little red.
“You’re a boy?!”
Hannah’s loud voice echoed through the bathhouse.
It probably reached the men’s bath next door.
“Haha.”
Even then…
Masha only smiled innocently.
Hannah stood there with her mouth hanging open in complete shock.
Masha loved pink dresses.
Masha had cute twin bun hairstyles.
Masha adored dolls.
Every time they played house…
Masha always chose to be the mother.
And now…
She had just discovered Masha was actually a boy.
Excuse me, Mr. Author?!
“L-Let’s go.”
Still unable to recover from the shock…
Hannah took Masha to the men’s bath.
Watching “boy” Masha walk toward the men’s bath while his long pink hair bounced behind him…
Her feelings were incredibly complicated.
…Why are you dressing like a girl?
Hannah sat alone in the hot spring until her face turned bright red.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Masha.
“Maybe… he’s still young… His gender identity hasn’t fully developed yet…”
“No!”
He was even described as a woman after becoming an adult!
She suddenly jumped to her feet.
The hot spring water splashed everywhere.
“The insane dark magician with deadly beauty!”
“He was even described as seductive!”
For some reason…
Hannah felt completely betrayed.
He was such a cute little girl…
A cute little girl…
Then…
The image of that “elephant” flashed through her mind again.
W-Wah… I’ve been fooled.
This world had far more secrets than it seemed.
