“Hello~? Anyone home~?” She humbly knocked on the door a few times. After a few moments of waiting, the wood-crafted doors slowly creaked open, and out stepped a brown-skinned young girl. Judging from her height, she was probably younger than Nanami, possibly around her mid-teens. Regardless of that, she projected a somewhat bewitching aura—a young girl of captivating beauty, to say the least.
“...Who are you, Sister?”
“Sister!”
Ohmigod, the first time I’ve ever been called ‘Sister’ by someone younger than me! Sure, it’s missing the ‘Big’ part, and there’s zero love behind it, but it’s a fantastic start! Ristia was excited, feeling she made the right choice in coming to the orphanage. Eventually, it occurred to her that the girl was giving her a weird look, so she quickly and cutely cleared her throat to compose herself.
“I’m sorry for startling you. I’m Ristia. I’m here because I want to work at this orphanage.”
“You want to work here...? Listen, I don’t know what the big idea is, but you better go back to wherever you came from right now.” Despite the girl telling her to buzz off, Ristia retained her smile.
“Why do you say that?” she asked with a perplexed tilt of her head. The brown-skinned girl’s face took a sour turn to that question, and she proceeded to scan the nearby area around her before bringing her face a little closer to Ristia’s.
“...You haven’t heard the rumors about this place, Sister?”
“By ‘rumors,’ do you mean...”
“Maria! What are you doing over there?” A rebuking male voice echoed. When they turned toward the source, they found a plump, middle-aged man glaring them down.
“...! Nothing. This girl was just asking for directions.”
“Not quite. I’ve come here because I want to work at the orphanage.”
“Darn it, you...!”
“Oh-ho, well, well. Aren’t you an adorable young lady? You’re saying that you want to work here?”
“Yes, Sir!” Ristia energetically nodded, and the portly man smiled.
“Oh, have you now?”
Next to her, the brown-skinned girl covered her face, saying, “...Oh, God. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” It was yet another comment that Ristia paid no heed to.
“Now, why don’t we talk in the back?” said the pudgy older man, inviting her in. She obliged and stepped foot inside the orphanage.
Traversing the hallways while being led by the man, they both entered the room at the very rear of the building. The rather old-fashioned nature of the building was apparent as soon as one stepped through the front door, but the room Ristia found herself in was in stark contrast to that. It was extremely tidy and in order. It made the gears in Ristia’s head turn. Was it kept this way out of consideration for any guests that would drop by? Or perhaps the director had spent the money so he would have a comfortable living environment for himself? It wasn’t clear which of the two it was.
“Please, take a seat over there.”
“Yes, thank you, Sir.” Ristia pulled out the chair for herself and rested down in an elegant fashion. Following in suit, the chubby middle-aged man took a seat in the chair across from her.
“Let’s start with some introductions, shall we? My name is Georg, and I’m the director of this orphanage.”
“Thank you for the courteous welcome. My name is Ristia, Director Georg.”
“Hmm. You seem to be quite a well-mannered young lady. Mind if I ask about your background?”
“I’m just a normal girl.” Ristia calmly proclaimed that she was a normal girl while basically being appraised by the older man. Despite what she insisted, even her mental fortitude alone was obviously abnormal. Director Georg naturally came to the same conclusion and started to look her over with a suspicious gaze.
“...And if I may ask about your past experience?”
“I just ran away from home a little while ago.”
“Oh-ho... You ran away from home. So, would that mean you’d like to work here since you have nowhere to go and nowhere to stay?”
“No, I am not after necessities. Of course, if I were able to work here as a live-in employee, that would be ideal. I wish to help children in need,” answered Ristia with a smile from ear to ear. It was one answer that Director Georg probably wasn’t expecting. His eyes widened in surprise.... followed by a throaty yet silent chortle.
“...Um, Sir?”
“Sorry, where are my manners? You’re so young, yet you have such a splendid mindset. I would love to have you work here.”
“...Do you mean that?” Ristia was taken aback at how easy it was to convince him.
“Absolutely. Someone such as yourself is more than welcome to grace our halls by working here. However, we cannot offer much in the way of pay if you will be a live-in worker... I hope that’s fine with you?” Director Georg prefaced the offer before giving the suggested rate... which Ristia was honestly clueless about, concerning whether it was a meager or significant amount. The pay, however, was not what was important to Ristia here, so she nodded and replied, “I have no problems with that, Sir.”
“Great, I’m glad to have you onboard, then.”
“I’m glad to be onboard, Sir!”
“Good to hear. I will be counting on you to serve this orphanage well, Ms. Ristia,” Director Georg said with a smile on his face as he clapped his hands. Immediately after he did, the brown-skinned girl Ristia met in the entryway walked into the room.
“...You rang?”
“Yes, this girl—Ms. Ristia here will be working here starting today. Introduce her to the children and show her the ropes, if you would.”
“She’s wha...? Sister, you don’t...” Maria looked at Ristia with a condemning look, until...
“Maria.” Director Georg grabbed her shoulder, which made Maria’s body tremble in surprise.
“...O-Okay, I get it,” the brown-skinned girl blurted out in a hurry before glancing at Ristia.
“Follow me; I’ll show you around,” she said as she practically ran out of the office.
“Hey, wait for me. Director Georg, if you’ll excuse me,” Ristia said before showing herself the door, chasing after the brown-skinned girl.
She thought that the girl may have just left her behind, but fortunately, the little brown-skinned was waiting just outside the room. However...
“This way.” Upon confirming that Ristia was there, the brown-skinned girl quickly started walking.
“...Hey, would you mind telling me your name?” Ristia asked as she walked beside the girl, only to be met with no response. “Hey, hello? I’m asking...” she tried asking once more, but before she had a chance to finish her thought, the brown-skinned girl stopped at the corner of the hall and looked up at Ristia sternly.
“I thought I told you to turn back, Sister. Why didn’t you do that?”
“Because I won’t. I want to help children in need.”
“...I see. Then I won’t say another word. I want to help the children myself,” the brown-skinned girl said in an evocative tone.
Her expression was tinged with gloom in a way rather unlike an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl. She gave off the impression that she had lived several times longer than that. Maybe she’s not a human being? Ristia thought to herself as she scanned Maria’s body with magic. The data she received back told her that she was one-hundred percent human, but it did reveal some other concerning information. There were several small abrasions on her lower body and, to make matters worse, they were all infected. Infections like these mainly afflicted grown adults, with rare cases occurring amongst children, but few symptoms would ever show up in girls. She probably didn’t even realize that she had an infection. Ristia reached out to cast a healing spell over the young girl, but as soon as she did, the girl screamed, “Don’t touch me!” and brushed Ristia’s hand away. The unexpected reaction made Ristia’s eyes widen.
“Umm... I’m sorry. I must’ve startled you by just sticking my hand out like that.”
“N-No, I should be the one who’s sorry. I just got a little startled.” The young girl said that she was just a “little startled,” but she still seemed wary of being touched. Ristia decided to give up on using any healing magic for the time being. She then tried searching for another topic, figuring she should lighten up the mood.
“Oh, right, I never did catch your name. Would you mind a little self-introduction?”
“...I’m Maria. I’ll be fifteen this year.”
“Maria? Such a sweet name.”
“Yes, Maria. And sugar is sweet; not my name.”
“...Uh, right. Duly noted, Maria.” The brown-skinned girl answered with just her name and age, nothing else. It was a very blunt, no-nonsense self-introduction, but once Ristia saw Maria’s expression, she realized that wasn’t the case. It was likely that this girl never had a chance to say anything else in the past.