“They’re orphans, looking out for each other because they have no families and no other place to go...”
The children calling out the boy’s name looked to be in the same shape he was. They were gaunt and covered in grime, wearing rags. Even though my first life as an orphan had been rough and I’d sometimes survived on sheer willpower alone, even I’d had it better than them.
This world was harsher to orphans than the one I’d come from.
“Please don’t leave us...”
“Theodore!”
He was likely their leader and big brother figure. Theodore was curled up on the ground, muttering, “So cold...”
“Let’s all warm up Theodore together!” The children all snuggled against him, their faces etched with worry. I couldn’t stand by any longer.
“What’s going on here?” I called out.
The children immediately jumped to protect Theodore from me. “Don’t come any closer! We won’t let you get away with it if you try to hurt him!”
“Yeah, he didn’t do anything wrong!”
Some were shaking and others had tears welling up in their eyes, but none of them ran. Theodore must have been very important to them.
“I just want to know what happened. I might be able to help.”
“L-Liar! You’re a noble, aren’t you? Nobles don’t help! They only ever take from us!”
Their words hit me like a slap in the face. But that just made me even more determined to get the title away from Albert as soon as possible.
I knelt down beside Theodore. “He’s burning up. Has he had any water or food?”
“Don’t touch him! We don’t need your help!”
A slightly older boy pushed through the younger ones who were still trying to shield Theodore and answered me. “There’s no clean water here, and barely enough food.”
“I see. In that case, let’s bring him back to my estate.”
“Y-Your estate? So you are a noble?”
“Luckily it’s not very far from here. I just moved in, though, so I don’t have much.”
“You’re really going to help Theodore?”
“I’m not a doctor or a god. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can.”
Now that I’d seen these kids’ plight, I couldn’t just ignore them. I’d never forgive myself if I abandoned them and this young boy died.
Suddenly the children clung to me.
“W-We’ll do anything! Even steal! Just please help Theodore!”
“Listen. You shouldn’t say such things so easily,” I cautioned them. “Someone might take advantage of you, and nothing good will come out of that.”
That was something I’d learned in my past life. Living on your own meant keeping your wits about you. If you let your guard down for even a second, someone would take advantage of you. You had to be strong to protect yourself, cunning when you needed to be, and charming to get where you needed to go. No one survives on righteousness alone.
But I didn’t want to be a villain either. I lived between those two extremes, all while trying to uphold what I thought was right.
“Give me a hand, Professor.”
“Fine, fine. Just this once, though. I can carry him on my back.”
Professor emerged from the shadows where he’d been hiding, and the children all shrieked.
“A big wolf!”
“It’s a monster!”
“I-Is he gonna eat Theodore?!”
“Hey, who are you calling a monster?! I don’t eat people, thank you very much!”
“Settle down, they’re just kids. Go easy on ’em, okay?” I soothed Professor, and then we made our way back to the estate. As soon as we stepped inside, I turned to the group. “All right, everyone needs to get a bath.”
The kids just stood there, blinking at me in confusion. “A bath?”
I led them to the bathhouse. It was large enough to fit all of them with room to spare. The space was far too extravagant, honestly. But thanks to the sorcerer’s stone Siegfried gave me, hot water was never an issue.
“Hold on a second,” I said. I held out my hand and aimed my ring at the bath. Hot water gushed out of it in an instant. The children all stared at my hand in astonishment.
“Hot water...”
Hot water was a luxury to the people living in town. Some kids muttered they’d never even had it before. That really compounded how harsh life in the Louboutin marquisate really was. At the same time, I felt ashamed for once thinking they might’ve had it better than I did.
“Are you a mage, sir?” one kid asked.
“Don’t be silly! All nobles can use magic!” another kid said.
“Wow!”
The sorcerer’s stone Siegfried gave me had done all the work, but the praise felt too good for me to bother with correcting them.
“Well, well. What’s all this commotion about, Lord Kreis?” Karina had heard the racket and came in. A few of the other servants curiously peeked in behind her.
“I’m leaving these children in your care,” I said.
They all looked surprised.
“You brought home a group of orphans?!”
“I didn’t intend to, but it just kind of happened. One of them is sick; Professor has already taken him to a room. Karina, will you get the children into the bath? The rest of you, find something clean for them to wear, and call a doctor.”
“Yes, my lord!”
The servants all scattered to carry out my orders while Karina rolled up her sleeves with a strangely mischievous grin on her face. The kids sensed danger and began to back away.
“I’ve been waiting for a challenge like this! All right, you little scamps! I’m going to scrub you from head to toe till you shine! So get ready!”
“Eeeeeeek!” The kids tried to run away, but Karina was on them in an instant.
“Trying to escape won’t do you any good! You’ve got to get up a lot earlier in the day to escape me!”
She’s enjoying this way too much...
With the shrieks of the children echoing behind me, I left the bathhouse, knowing that Karina would get them squeaky-clean in no time. She was very thorough.
“Well, I need to go take care of the other boy.” I made my way to my room, where Theodore lay in bed with Professor keeping watch.
“He’s running a pretty high fever, and he seems to be suffering from malnutrition.”
The boy’s face was flushed deep red and twisted in pain. He’d clearly been underfed for a long time, and the illness had pushed him over the edge.
“First of all, we need to get him cleaned up.”
I took off his filthy rags and dressed him in one of my nightshirts. Wiping all the sweat and mud off him was more work than I expected, but once he was clean his breathing grew quieter and steadier, which made it worth it.
“He’s so young. It would’ve been such a waste for him to die in a place like that.”