IBYPF~08

Chapter~08

Shockingly, the director had joined hands with a kidnapping ring and was regularly bringing in children to sell at the slave market.

Those large men who had visited the orphanage with Diana not long ago must have been members of the kidnapping ring as well.

The corners of my eyes grew hot with anger.

“I’m never letting this go.”

Trembling as I clenched my fists, I barely managed to regain my composure before taking a bundle of papers from the desk.

Then, using magic, I immediately began duplicating the ledger and transaction records.

My plan was to take the originals with me, just in case, and place the copies inside the safe.

They would eventually turn back into meaningless pieces of paper, but a brief deception was all I needed.

‘Because Duke Ellard will be coming soon.’

Thanks to the abundant mana I had compared to before, the copies were made much faster than I had expected.

‘Come to think of it, I also need to find out why my mana suddenly increased so much…….’

“Urgh.”

Just then, blood suddenly gushed up from my throat.

My frail body had been unable to withstand the sudden use of so much mana.

An overwhelming sense of exhaustion washed over me, but I quickly raised my hand and made every drop of blood disappear so that no evidence would be left behind.

At the same time, I staggered and collapsed onto the floor.

As I had feared, my mana was completely depleted, and my entire body began to tremble, starting from my hands.

But my eyes remained fiercely bright as I stared at the evidence.

—

“Are you slacking off again, you worthless vermin?!”

I was barely suppressing the urge to turn everything upside down as I recalled the night from a few days ago when the director’s voice suddenly came from downstairs.

“Vermin?”

“It’s nothing! He wasn’t talking to you, Dana.”

I hurriedly said this to Diana, who was innocently repeating the director’s words.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Last night, as usual, the director had gone out to drink, but he returned to the orphanage before midnight with a face as pale as if he had seen a ghost.

Then, without a word, he immediately began looking for Diana.

Perhaps because I had repeatedly warned her, Diana did not make a sound or even whimper when faced with the large director.

Knowing how frightened Diana normally was of the director, I gently kissed her cheek after he left and whispered in her ear.

“Your father will come to rescue you soon, so just hold on a little longer.”

If my memory was correct, the duke would visit tomorrow.

Thinking that we only had to endure a little longer now, I got up, hoping the day would pass quickly.

“Dana, I’m going to clean, so sleep for a little while.”

—

“Duke Ellard…… No way…… It can’t be him.

“Yeah, that’s right.

“His hair isn’t silver.

“It’s light gray!”

At the director’s anxious muttering as he paced around the room restlessly, my hand, which had been scrubbing the floor with a rag for quite some time, suddenly stopped.

Then the director shouted sharply at me.

“You.

“Bring that gray-haired girl from yesterday.”

“……Yes?”

“Do I have to tell you twice?!”

The director glared at me with his eyes wide open in intimidation, and I hurriedly ran outside.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

‘Should I run away even now?

“No.

“What if I end up missing the duke?!’

I nervously bit my nails before suddenly stopping.

Come to think of it, the director had shown this much interest before, in the past as well.

In the end, he had even locked her in the attic the day before the duke came.

Back then, I naturally assumed that he had punished Diana because she had failed to adjust to life at the orphanage, but…….

〈No matter what you hear, you must say that you know nothing!〉

When I remembered the words the director had said before gathering the children in the yard when Duke Ellard stormed into the orphanage, a lightning-like realization struck me.

He had already known.

He had been involved in abducting none other than Duke Ellard’s daughter, and if this fact were revealed, his life would end that very day.

Feeling as though my breath was being squeezed from my lungs, I raised my head and realized that I was already standing in front of the bedroom door.

“Dana?”

Diana, whom I had naturally assumed would be asleep, was standing beside the bed.

When she noticed me, she suddenly began to whimper.

“Sis…….”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

I hurriedly approached her in confusion, but Diana instead took a hesitant step backward and simply cried.

“I don’t know what happened, but it’s okay.

“You have your sister.”

“It’s okay.

“It’s okay.”

After I repeated those words in a calm voice several times, the child seemed to calm down a little and finally stopped crying.

Only then was I able to properly see the situation, relieved that she had calmed down.

“Ah……”

Diana’s clothes and bedding were soaked.

Realizing that she could no longer hide it, Diana sniffled while fidgeting with her fingers.

“Dana…… had an accident.”

“It’s okay.”

“Not okay……”

Judging by the way she contradicted my attempt to comfort her, clever and perceptive Diana seemed to have already realized how poor the conditions at this orphanage were.

“Sorry, Sis.”

Diana continued fidgeting with her fingers before lowering her head.

It was then that I quickly wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and picked her up.

“What the hell are you doing?!

“Do you think I’m joking?!”

The door suddenly flew open, and the director, who had come all the way up to the second floor, glared at Diana and me with a menacing look.

My heart instantly began pounding like mad.

When I first joined the guild, Terenchium accepted requests in a shabby tavern in a dangerous back alley.

Everyone from nobles and lower-ranking knights to mercenaries and commoners could come and go, and it was not uncommon for large men like the director to get drunk and make a scene.

I had tried not to show it, but I had been terribly afraid.

Fortunately, not long afterward, due to the master’s whim, the headquarters was moved to a café located in a busy area.

After that, I was no longer exposed to the threat of large men, and I had forgotten this fear.

Perhaps I had even thought that I had overcome it.

It had been a foolish thought.

“S-Sis…….”

When I froze in surprise, Diana called out to me.

But I had no time to answer.

The director had spotted Diana and was reaching out toward the child.

It was exactly the same situation as before.

Back then, I had been unable to step forward.

But this time was different.

I quickly wrapped my arms around Diana and curled my body around her like a hedgehog.

“Urgh.”

But the one who let out the dying groan wasn’t me.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise, and what came into view was Jack’s gray hair.

—

“Hic…….”

How much time had passed?

I opened my eyes with a start at the sound of small sobs beside me.

In the pitch-black darkness, I soon realized where I was.

It was the attic at the very top of the orphanage, the place the children hated most.

I had thought that since Diana hadn’t angered the director this time, there would be no reason for us to be locked in the attic.

I had been mistaken.

The reason Diana had been locked in the attic in the first place was that she was Duke Ellard’s daughter.

I felt pathetic for not realizing it sooner.

“……Dana.”

“Sis!”

As if she had been waiting for me, the child threw herself into my arms.

Her tearful voice twisted my expression.

My voice threatened to tremble from the surge of emotion, but to reassure her, I forcibly cleared my throat and spoke.

“Dana, I told you, didn’t I?

“Your father will come to rescue you soon.”

“Mm-hm.”

“You trust your sister, right?”

“Mm-hm.

“Dana trusts Sis.”

My eyes grew hot at the child’s gentle words.

I was grateful and heartbroken that a child who had only just met me relied on me so much.

“Okay.

“Dana, just a moment.”

After stroking the child’s back several times, I quickly checked the mana inside my body.

Perhaps because I hadn’t properly rested or eaten since using magic yesterday, I could barely sense my mana.

I knew my body was in poor condition, but I managed to raise my hand and conjure a small flame.

Soon, I could see the face of the little girl covered in tears and mucus.

And then.

“Jack…….”

When I saw Jack lying there with his eyes closed as though unconscious, I was rendered speechless.

Even in the past, Jack had been locked in the attic alongside Diana after shielding her from the director.

But this time, he seemed to be much more seriously injured than he had been then.

‘This is all my fault.’

Because I…….

Because I had returned from death.

I wanted to cry from the horrible feeling, but when I noticed that the flame at my fingertip had become noticeably smaller than before, I quickly forced myself to calmly examine Jack.

Judging by Jack’s condition, he seemed to have been unconscious for at least a day.

By now, Duke Ellard had probably arrived at the orphanage.

And after a long search, he would discover this attic.

“I can’t wait.”

I didn’t want to leave these children trapped in the darkness for even one more second.

And just then, the precariously flickering flame finally died out into the silence.

Without hesitation, I turned toward what I had noticed earlier, when the flame had been lit—a place that seemed to be the attic window.

“Urgh.”

I had no idea how many layers had been used to block the window, but even after desperately trying to pull away the boards with my bare hands, it was difficult.

But even when the delicate skin of my fingers was pierced by wooden splinters and began to bleed, I couldn’t stop.

Then, one of the boards came loose slightly, allowing a thin ray of light to enter and giving me a narrow glimpse of the outside.

Only then did Diana realize what I had been doing in the darkness, and her face turned deathly pale.

“S-Sis.

“Your hand…… it’s bleeding…….”

“It’s okay.

“I’m fine, so…….”

I reassured Diana, who didn’t know what to do beside me, and pushed with all my strength several more times.

Once I had torn away enough of the boards, a hole in the already-broken window was revealed.

If we shouted from here, our voices seemed as though they would easily reach outside.

But my brief hope soon turned into disappointment.

No matter how loudly Diana shouted, “Dad!”, the outside remained completely silent.