“Anyway, I enjoy the work I’m doing now. Don’t pretend like you don’t know. All of the tools and furniture I’ve made have been well-received by the townspeople. In a way, I’m still helping increase the Orcus Workshop’s fame.” Oscar spoke cheerfully, trying to dispel the gloom that had settled into the room.
Karg realized this was as far as he’d get with today’s conversation and nodded with a sigh.
“Haaah... You’re right. Neither the Limster Workshop nor the Vagone Workshop even bother making things for the average citizen. Even though it’s their hard work that lets us focus solely on our craft. They’re the ones who provide us with the ore we use and the food we eat.” The workshops Karg had named were the other two big workshops in Velnika. Both of them only took orders from nobles, royalty, and rich merchants.
As that was what they’d chosen to specialize in, no one could blame them too much. Still, that didn’t mean the townspeople liked it. In fact, most of them were quite angry with the other workshops. While everyone else helped each other out, they only looked to make a profit.
On the other hand, the Orcus Workshop had no restrictions on who could place an order. As a matter of principle they were forced to prioritize the nobles’ requests, but if there were craftsmen free, they were put on orders from regular citizens. Furthermore, the current Orcus had begun donating the workshop’s excess funds to various orphanages.
Most importantly, though, the workshop now had a craftsman whose sole task was to handle the citizens’ requests. Because of that, the Orcus Workshop was well-respected among the peasants.
That craftsman was, of course, Oscar. He was known for being fast, skilled, and able to adapt to the needs of any request. Thanks to that, the townspeople often helped out the workshop during crunch times. They’d bring the craftsmen food, sell them raw materials at discounted rates, give them priority for wholesale deals on supplies they were low on, and even bring them spare uniforms and blankets.
Though Oscar’s work didn’t stand out, he was doing a lot to help the workshop. In fact, it was precisely because it didn’t stand out that so few people appreciated it.
“Gramps, I still need to deliver my orders.”
“Alright, alright. My lecture’s over. Go deliver your stuff... Actually, wait. There is one thing.”
“Huh?”
Karg stopped Oscar, suddenly remembering something.
“You’ve heard the reports of people going missing from the less prosperous parts of town in the past few months, right?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“Try and keep an eye on the kids at the orphanage. Most of the people who’ve gone missing were very young. They were all from the slums, so people are saying they likely went off and tried to strike it rich somewhere, only to end up dead in a ditch.”
Karg had a feeling it was much worse than that. His serious warning reflected his foreboding.
“You can take the rest of the day off. Go see how everyone is at the orphanage.”
“That’s what I was planning on doing anyway. I’ll be careful. Alright, see you later, Gramps.” Oscar bowed to Karg and left the room. He felt bad for always making Karg worry about him.
“If you have to keep up that fake smile all the time here, you should just go off and do something you actually like. Dumb kid...” Karg muttered those words to himself, quietly enough that they couldn’t be heard on the other side of the door.
Once he finished delivering the day’s orders, Oscar headed back to the orphanage. It was located on the outskirts of the capital, so it was a long walk from the workshop.
Oscar was already an independent adult, and he had his own place closer to the center of the capital. For him, a trip to the orphanage took quite a bit of time. However, he still considered the orphanage his home. Oscar was just as worried as Karg about the recent disappearances, and he’d been coming back to the orphanage more often these past few months.
The outskirts of the capital wasn’t a very safe place to begin with. Many of the buildings were dilapidated and abandoned. In a word, his orphanage was in the slums.
The orphanage housed a lot of children, so it was bigger than all the surrounding houses. Still, it wasn’t in much better shape than any of them. A run-down wooden house like this wouldn’t even be allowed to exist in the capital’s center.
Fortunately, it was much sturdier than it looked. By the time Oscar arrived it was already evening. The setting sun cast deep shadows among the alleyways.
He stood in front of the building for a few minutes, then circled around to the back.
“Looks like the alarm’s working.” Oscar placed his hand on the ground as he said that. After a few seconds he took it off. He walked around to every corner of the building and did the same thing. Finally, he closed his eyes and placed his hand against the building itself.
“The strengthening’s... holding up pretty well. The barrier and mana accumulator are working just fine, too.” Oscar breathed a sigh of relief.
Though his actions seemed random, whatever he had discovered appeared to relieve him.
Pleased that his security measures were working, he walked back up to the entrance and knocked on the door.
Moorin had told him the orphanage would always be his home and that he didn’t need to be so formal, but since he’d moved out, he felt it was still better to knock.
“Hmm...?” Normally, one of the kids would have answered the door, but nobody came.
Maybe I knocked too lightly? Oscar tried again.
Still no response. He couldn’t even hear the sound of the kids playing.
“Ah!?” Oscar had a very bad feeling about the situation. Something must have happened. To him, the orphanage and the people in it were more important than anything else.
“Mom! Guys!”
Some small, rational part of his mind told him he needed to calm down and assess the situation. However, his body moved on its own. Every second mattered.
He wrenched open the front door and rushed into the living room.
“Dylan! Corrin! Ruth! Katy! Mom! Anyone!” He yelled the kids’ names as he barreled toward the dining room. It was around their usual time for dinner.
His heart lurched when he heard no reply and he practically ripped the dining room door off its hinges. Inside, he found—
“Welcome back, dear~ Would you like dinner, a bath, or... me, Miledi-tan?” A girl he didn’t recognize. She was wearing a frilly apron and looked to be around maybe fourteen or fifteen years old.
Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, and it almost seemed to defy gravity as it swished back and forth. She had slender legs that were covered by knee-length socks. She had one leg bent back at a cute angle and was standing on one foot. Underneath the apron she wore a sleeveless shirt, and in one hand she carried a cooking ladle. She made a peace sign with her free hand and winked at Oscar.
He could have sworn a star flew off from that wink.