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Pendragon Orphanage 

Satou here. I’ve heard that abuse and domestic violence only come to light if people around the situation notice it. Even in a place with social welfare like modern Japan, these things can still happen in the shadows. So in a parallel world like this one… 

“There she is!” 

Barely a second after launching myself into the air, I arrived directly above Pochi’s location. 

It was a bit dark in the shadow of the outer wall’s tower, but she was fine. 

Two men stood in front of her holding long rods, but the rods were tucked under their arms as they covered their ears with their palms. 

Her life didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, at the very least. 

I used “Warp” to land in an empty alleyway nearby, then used the skills “Invisibility” and “Spy” to head toward the area. 

While there was no one around, I used the “Quick Change” skill to turn back into Satou. 

“Masterrrrrr!” 

As Pochi continued to scream toward the sky, I ran over to her, careful not to use “Blink.” 

“What’s the matter, Pochi?” 

“Master!” 

Pochi looked up at me with glittering eyes. 

“Are these men bothering you?” 

“No, sir! They’re policemen, sir.” 

Looking more closely, I realized that their well-worn clothes were those of Celivera guards. 

“Hey, where the hell did you c—?” 

One of the guards reached out to grab my collar, but the other rapped him on the head with his rod. 

It looked like only a light tap, but the man clutched his head and held back tears and whimpers, so it must have actually hurt quite a bit. 

“I’m terribly sorry for my colleague’s rudeness, Sir Pendragon.” 

“No, no, I’m the one who should apologize.” 

The other guard seemed to have recognized me, which was why he stopped his colleague from saying anything rude to a noble. 

It seemed a little violent, but he probably had his fellow guard’s best interests in mind. 

“Master, come this way quickly, sir. There are little kids who’re dying, sir!” 

Pochi grabbed my hand and tugged me toward a shadowy hiding place. 

There were several children there who were even younger than Pochi. 

“The hell was that about?” 

“That’s my line. You didn’t realize who you were talking to?” 

The guards argued among themselves behind me, but it didn’t seem particularly serious, so I ignored them. 

Seeing me, one of the children opened his mouth, but he didn’t seem to have the strength to speak or move. 

Two of the kids had broken legs; their wounds were red and swollen, with insects swarming around them. 

According to my AR, the children had the status conditions Bone Fracture, Starvation: Severe, and Dehydration. 

“Please save them, sir.” 

“Don’t worry—I will.” 

I nodded reassuringly at Pochi. 

First, I used the Everyday Magic spell Bug Wiper from my magic menu to chase off the insects. 

“Yuck, bugs!” exclaimed one of the guards behind me. 

They seemed to be watching us from some distance away. 

I produced a handful of vials from my Garage Bag, intending to give the kids nutrition supplements before the healing potions. 

On my radar, I saw that the guards were coming closer. 

“May I ask what you’re doing, Sir Knight? Euthanasia is technically against the law here, I’m afraid.” 

“No, no. I’m just giving them nutritional supplement potions.” 

I took a sip of one to demonstrate their safety, and the guard apologized and stepped back. 

“All right, please drink these.” 

Murmuring gently to the kids, I gave each of them a nutritional supplement potion sip by sip, followed by some water. 

They seemed to be able to drink those without a problem, so next I gave them some watered-down magic potions to restore their health. 

“They moved, sir!” 

“Good. Let’s let Miteruna take care of the rest.” I turned to the guards. “I’m taking these children with me. Is there any paperwork involved?” 

“No, it won’t be a problem. We can just let our superior know. In fact, would you like us to help you?” 

It was pretty nice of them to offer. 

The viceroy’s wife must have told the guards, or at least their superiors, to cooperate with our orphanage work. 

“No, that won’t be necessary.” 

As I said this, my eyes were on Liza and Tama, who were running toward us from the main street. 

They must have heard Pochi’s cry and come running, too. 

“Pochiii!” 

“Tama! And Liza, sir!” 

“Pochi, are you hurt?” 

While I waited for their fussing over Pochi to subside, I contacted Arisa using Telephone to explain the situation. 

“…They were near death when Pochi found them, so we’re taking them in.” 

“Oh, goodness gracious! I’ll find a hidden alley to teleport home so I can help.” 

“Sorry about this, Arisa.” 

“Don’t worry about it! If you want to make it up to me, you can always do so physically.” 

I could practically see her winking at me. 

After that, the beastfolk girls and I carried the children to our mansion. 

 

“You picked up some kids, too, Nana?” 

“Larvae protection is of the utmost importance, I declare.” 

When we arrived in front of the house, I saw Arisa talking to Nana. 

The latter was accompanied by a bunch of small children. 

“We’re back.” 

“Welcome home, master. Are they the kids in question?” Arisa peered anxiously at the children we were carrying. “We’ve got beds ready for them, so hurry and get them inside for some rest, please.” 

Arisa led us into the house. 

“It’s him!” 

“Yeah, I saw them together.” 

“…Larvae?” 

Turning around, I saw Nana’s group of kids running off somewhere. 

I wasn’t sure what had happened, but they were probably just following a random impulse, as kids do. The orphanage wouldn’t be ready for a little while longer anyway, so we could assemble them again when the time came. 

For now, I brought the children we’d rescued into the house, laying each of them down in their own bed. 

“These are some nasty wounds…” 

Arisa’s brow furrowed as she saw the kids’ broken bones and swollen joints. 

“Yeah. I’m going to do some healing that I can’t really have other people seeing. Make sure nobody else comes in, okay?” 

“Yes, of course.” 

I had the beastfolk girls take turns watching the door while I used some careful magic manipulation to repair the children’s bones via “Magic Heal.” 

I’d used similar techniques to patch up the kids we found collapsed in our barn—the same kids who were our current maid staff. 

Wait a minute. 

They’d had the same kinds of injuries back then as these children did now. 

Who in the world was perpetrating such awful violence toward these little kids? 

As I was lost in thought, my “Magic Heal” finished restoring the kids’ limbs to their proper state. 

“Amazing! Was that a spell?” Arisa asked. 

“No, it’s the ‘Magic Heal’ skill.” 

“Huh, maybe I should pick that up, too… Geh!” 

Arisa was speechless for a moment after that. 

Eventually, she told me that the “Magic Heal” skill required far more skill points to acquire than any normal magic skill. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single skill that costs so much. Master, if you keep picking up these specialized skills, you’re going to regret it, you know.” 

“Thanks, I’ll take that warning to heart.” 

I appreciated Arisa’s concern, but I was able to pick up any skill I wanted for only one skill point, so that wasn’t going to be a problem. 

Not that I intended to waste my points, of course. 

“A man in green clothing?” 

Entrusting the care of the rescued children to Miss Miteruna, I went to the young maid girls whose legs had been broken when we found them and asked them what had happened. 

“I was sleeping in the corner of an alley, and a weird, scary man stomped on me.” 

From the sound of things, the green-clad noble—also known as Counselor Poputema—had been abusing homeless children in secret. 

“Green Man kicked me, too.” 

“Mr. Indeed. I hate him…” 

The other young maids all had similar experiences. 

“Green Man” and “Mr. Indeed” seemed to be the children’s nicknames for Poputema. 

“Master, death to abusers!” 

Nana was still expressionless, but she clenched her fists tightly in rage. 

“Bullying’s baaad?” 

“That’s right, sir! You can’t pick on little kids, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi were livid, as well. 

It seemed to come from a place of pure morality, even without projecting their own past experiences onto things. 

“Master, is that man not a high-ranking noble? I am not sure it is wise to put yourself at risk in such a way, even for children…” 

“Yeah. Liza is right.” 

Arisa normally had a strong sense of justice, so that was a surprising statement from her. 

“…But you’ve got to use your power to protect the weak, no matter what!” 

Arisa’s eyes glinted, and the other kids around her all gazed at her admiringly and burst into applause. 

Now, that’s the Arisa I know. 

“Master!” 

As I smiled, Nana latched onto me pleadingly. 

“All right. I’ll take care of it somehow.” 

So stop pressing your breasts against me, please. 

As it stood, I was going to the viceroy’s wife’s tea party the following afternoon. I could confront the green-clad noble about the truth of the matter then. If it really was him, I would deliver some justice. 

A high-ranking noble like him was unlikely to listen to a much-lower-ranking noble like myself, so I’d probably end up having to lean on the viceroy’s wife’s authority, but that was exactly what friends in high places were for. 

But of course, I did intend to try to negotiate with the green-clad noble first. 

 

Then, late that night… 

“So the rumors are true. I didn’t want to believe it.” 

I called out to the green-clad noble, who was raising his foot to stomp on a child sleeping in an alley. 

I had intended to only investigate the truth today, but I couldn’t just let a child get injured, so I acted without thinking. 

“You are quite good at concealing your presence, indeed, Sir Pendragon.” 

With his skill makeup, he shouldn’t have been able to detect me with my maxed-out stealth skills firing at full blast, but somehow he didn’t seem surprised when I revealed myself. 

“What…?” 

Right before my eyes, the green-clad noble stepped on the child’s leg without a flicker of emotion. 

A dry crack filled the air, along with the child’s scream. 

“What are you doing?!” 

I pushed the green-clad noble away, set the child’s broken leg back in place, and forced her to drink a magic potion. 

The girl’s cry had woken the other children sleeping nearby, who scattered into the darkness like baby spiders. 

“I should ask you the same, indeed. What sort of gentleman suddenly pushes another person, indeed?” 

There wasn’t a trace of guilt in the green-clad noble’s voice. 

What the hell is he talking about? 

“You don’t feel any remorse about breaking the leg of a sleeping child?” 

The question slipped out before I could stop myself, and the green-clad noble smirked. 

“I was just on an evening stroll, indeed. I merely stepped on some garbage along the way by accident. That’s the fault of whoever left their garbage on the streets, indeed.” 

The green-clad noble’s wicked grin widened as he looked at the child trembling in my arms. 

His expression made my stomach churn, as if I were looking at a monster in human form. 

Hoping against hope, I checked his detailed information in the AR, but unfortunately, he didn’t appear to be possessed by a demon or anything of the sort. 

Hard as it was to believe, this was apparently his true personality. 

“Horror, hatred, the fear of the unknown… All quite delicious, indeed.” 

The green-clad noble looked up at the moon and cackled. 

His words reminded me of something the lesser demon who made the Seiryuu City labyrinth had said. 

“That’s something a demon might say.” 

“And now you call me a demon, indeed? Sir Pendragon, you are in dire need of further education as a noble, indeed.” 

He spoke like a wise elder advising an inexperienced youth. 

Admittedly, I shouldn’t have said that out loud. It was probably an insult of the highest order to accuse a noble ranking far higher than myself of wrongdoing. I could very well lose my position as an honorary noble for that. 

“Well, that’s all right, indeed. It’s a lovely evening. The perfect weather for a stroll, indeed.” 

“Lord Poputema—” 

I called out to stop the man from continuing his rampage. 

“Would you like to join me, indeed, Sir Pendragon?” 

“Certainly, if it pleases you.” 

Once the child whose leg I’d healed had fled safely in the other direction, I accompanied the green-clad noble on his walk. 

My goal was to help any other children escape from his path before he could harm them, of course. 

It was no easy task. 

He would say things like “I sense grief and terror from that direction, indeed,” suddenly change his course, slip into passages that seemed too narrow for his portly body, pretend he was turning back only to suddenly walk along a wall, and so on. 

Each time, I had to run ahead of him and move the children or sometimes use my map and Magic Hand to hide them on rooftops. 

The green-clad noble seemed to be enjoying my frantic state. 

But I couldn’t leave him to his own devices. 

The green-clad noble’s walk continued until dawn, and I stuck with him until the very end. 

“Your confusion and unease were quite delicious as well, Sir Pendragon, indeed.” 

With another laugh, the green-clad noble returned to his mansion. 

I’d managed to keep the kids safe this time, but I couldn’t do that every single night. 

“I’ll have to call in a favor.” 

Speeding up my plans, I headed to the viceroy’s mansion without any prior contact. 

Miss Miteruna and the rest would have to take care of the morning’s soup kitchen. 

 

“Sir Pendragon, whatever brings you here? The tea party isn’t until this afternoon.” 

Despite my showing up without an appointment, the viceroy’s wife welcomed me in with a smile. 

Apologizing for my sudden visit, I explained what had happened the night before. 

And her answer… 

“Poputema is quite a troublemaker, isn’t he?” 

…was far lighter than I had expected. 

Evidently, the plight of poor, orphaned children was entirely unremarkable to a noble. 

“I know you have a kind soul, Sir Pendragon, so it pains me to tell you this, but a noble cannot be punished for harming commoners unless the commoners themselves bring their accusations forward. And since vagrant children have no citizenship, they unfortunately cannot make such accusations.” 

The viceroy’s wife pulled me in close, as if she was scolding a child. 

“Just for you, I’ll tell Poputema to stop his violence, but there’s no guarantee that he will actually do so.” 

This time, she patted my head in a show of comfort. 

“No, I don’t suppose he will,” she added with confidence. “If you wish, I can have him expelled from Labyrinth City?” 

“No, that—” 

“—wouldn’t solve anything, would it?” she interrupted. 

Her eyes watched me thoughtfully. 

“There is one way you could stop him. Haven’t you thought of it yet?” 

The viceroy’s wife’s tone was like that of a teacher. 

What way? 

If I had any idea, I wouldn’t have come to make a request like this first thing in the morning. 

Obviously, she wasn’t telling me to assassinate the green-clad noble. 

“I believe you should already be aware of this method…” 

The viceroy’s wife smiled without stating the answer. 

Something I’m already aware of…? 

I thought back on everything she’d said and all the events of the previous day. 

“…Ah!” 

“Looks like you’ve got it now.” 

The viceroy’s wife looked satisfied even as I told her I wouldn’t be able to attend today’s tea party and rushed home. 

 

“Everyone, listen up!” 

I gathered not only my companions but also Miss Miteruna, the maids, and the Saga Empire samurai pair who guarded our mansion and told them all about my encounter with the green-clad noble and my desire to save the children. 

“You do have a plan, don’t you?” 

“Of course.” I nodded firmly at Arisa. “The green-clad noble tramples on the children because they’re in the streets. Since they don’t have citizenship, they don’t have the right to submit accusations.” 

The viceroy’s wife had told me as much. 

“So we simply need to make sure they’re not sleeping in the streets. Then I, a noble, can become their guardian.” 

It was all so simple, now that I thought about it. 

I’d been planning to bring all of Labyrinth City’s vagrant children into the orphanage anyway, so I would just be speeding that plan along. 

“Now, let’s begin Operation: Assemble All Orphans!” 

Our slogan was: “Until the number of abused children is zero!” 

“Aye-aye, sir!” 

“Roger, sir!” 

“Understood. We will gather the children at once.” 

“Master, I shall accompany Liza and the others, I report.” 

The beastfolk girls and Nana were first to volunteer, rushing outside as soon as I gave them permission. 

“Mia and I will help gather them up, too.” 

“Mm. Let’s go.” 

“Miss Miteruna and I will start preparing food and clothing for the children, then.” 

Arisa, Mia, and Lulu all went into action next. 

“Please let Sir Kajiro and me pick up the supplies.” 

“We’re borrowing a cart. Ayaume, you drive.” 

The samurai pair headed out. 

Through the window, I saw Arisa addressing the kids who were gathered in one of the empty fields waiting for work. 

She was probably planning on a human-wave strategy. 

With the help of the young maids, I started setting up tents in the garden of the orphanage’s construction site. 

It might not be much better than sleeping on the streets, but at least if they were on my land, Poputema couldn’t claim to have stepped on them by accident like yesterday. 

 

“…Hmm.” 

We hadn’t gathered as big of a group as I’d expected. 

It was almost noon, but we had only about thirty kids. 

Including the kids Arisa and company had hired, that was still only fifty or so. 

“Lulu, I’ll leave you in charge here. I’m going out to invite more kids.” 

“Master, let me come with you, please.” 

It was probably safe to leave Miss Miteruna in charge. Rosie and Annie could take care of the cooking, and the maids were here for serving and odd jobs. 

“All right, then. Let’s go.” 

Lulu and I walked into town on foot. 

“Doesn’t it seem as if they’re avoiding us?” 

“You think so, too, Lulu?” 

For some reason, whenever the kids sitting on the side of the road saw us, they disappeared into the crowd. 

I’d thought that the soup kitchens would make me more popular with them, but if anything, it seemed like quite the opposite. 

“Master…” 

When we met up with Nana in front of the west guild, she seemed despondent, despite her emotionless face. 

There was a strange empty space around her. 

“How’s it going?” 

“The larvae are avoiding me, I report.” 

Wow, even Nana? 

“Is there something strange about me, I inquire?” 

“No, not at all,” I assured her. 

I had a feeling that there was some outside reason for this. 

“Masterrr?” 

I heard Tama’s voice and turned around to see the beastfolk girls appear out of the crowd. 

“Something is very, very strange, sir!” 

Pochi’s serious expression was very cute. 

I turned to Liza to ask for more information. 

“The three of us have been going around inviting children to the orphanage, but…” 

“They’re running away from us, sir.” 

“Mysteryyy?” 

Tama and Pochi knit their brows, posing like detectives trying to solve a mystery. 

“I would understand if they were running away out of fear of my face, but…” 

“That can’t be it.” 

Liza blushed a little at that. 

I could see why villains might fear Liza if they’d crossed her before, but certainly not children. 

“So what exactly happened when you invited them?” 

“At first it seemed to be going well, but then a child with an unpleasant face saw us and whispered to the others, and they all ran away in a panic.” 

“Like spideerrrs?” 

“They go over fences or through cracks in the walls, sir.” 

That was the same reaction we’d been getting from the kids. 

“Do you have any idea what might have been whispered?” 

“Greeeen?” 

“They said ‘Mr. Indeed,’ sir.” 

Those sounded like the nicknames associated with the green-clad noble, aka Poputema. 

Somehow, the green-clad noble seemed to be the reason the children were running from us. 

Is it because I’m a noble like Poputema? 

“Ahhh, there he is! Master!” 

Arisa waved at us from across the crowd, with the group of little girls she’d initially had in tow. 

We moved away from the guild to meet up with Arisa. 

“Looks like you’re not faring any better.” 

“You too?” I asked. 

“Yes, it’s been just awful.” 

Arisa sighed. 

“Do you have any idea why?” 

“I do, as a matter of fact. I was about to go back to the mansion to tell you.” 

As usual, Arisa worked fast. 

“It sounds like someone’s been spreading lies among the children.” 

Specifically, the rumors Arisa had heard were: 

The young noble is friendly with Mr. Indeed. 

He’s a creep who likes torturing kids, just like the green man. 

The young noble is only giving out food to get stupid kids to like him. 

All completely untrue, of course. 

Seriously, when was I ever friendly with that awful man? 

More importantly, what should I do now…? 

“Why don’t we start by questioning whoever’s spreading those rumors?” 

“We can’t do that. The ones who are spreading them are the same kids we’re trying to help.” 

“Then we should ask them where they heard—” 

“I tried, but they insisted they couldn’t say because you or Poputema might kill them.” 

Well, that’s not good. 

I didn’t want to get violent with kids, of course, and there would be no point in forcing them to go to the orphanage only to have them escape in the night and get attacked by the green-clad noble anyway. 

As I stood there at a loss, a voice called out to me. 

“Hey, Mr. Noble, what seems to be the trouble?” 

Turning around at the sound of the suspicious voice, I saw a familiar punkish man standing before me. 

It was Skopi of the Mud Scorpions, the man-about-town who I’d met as Kuro yesterday. 

“It’s Skopi, right?” 

“Heh, glad you remember.” The man ducked his head and grinned crookedly. “I’ve got some information for ya.” 

I started to hold out some money for him, but he shook his head. “Nah, this one’s a freebie. Consider it my thanks for the other day.” 

So he wanted to repay his debt. 

“All right. So what’s this information?” 

“I dunno why, but some guys from the Street Rats and the Gutter Frogs have been spreading nasty rumors about ya with the kids.” 

The rumors Skopi described matched up with the ones Arisa had heard. 

“Why would they do that?” 

“I told ya, I dunno why. Knowin’ them, someone’s probably payin’ ’em off with chump change, but I couldn’t track down who hired ’em.” 

The green-clad noble appeared in the back of my mind. 

Now that Sokell was out of the picture, I couldn’t think of anyone else who would have reason to antagonize me. 

“Skopi, I have a request for you. Do you mind?” 

“’Course. I still owe ya one.” 

I handed him some money and asked him to pay the Street Rats and Gutter Frogs to stop. 

While I was at it, I had him hire them and some other groups to spread the word that my being friends with the green-clad noble was a misunderstanding and that I actually wanted to protect kids from the green-clad noble with my orphanage. 

I figured I might as well use the green-clad noble’s bad reputation to my advantage. 

Just in case, I asked them to use the code name “Green Man” instead of “green-clad noble” or “Poputema.” 

That way, it wouldn’t come back to bite me later. 

 

“Now, that’s a pretty big crowd.” 

By that evening, the homeless children of Labyrinth City had largely gathered at the soon-to-be orphanage. 

Skopi’s work must have been effective, because by the time the sun started to set, the rate of kids arriving had risen exponentially. 

Even the kids who were hovering nearby uncertainly were enticed through the doors by the aroma of the dinner Lulu and the maids were cooking. 

In the end, the garden of the orphanage wasn’t enough space, and we had to add more tents in the empty lot next door, creating a makeshift wall to protect them. 

I’d paid some bored-looking earth mages near the west explorers’ guild to make the wall with magic. 

It had looked a bit thin and breakable, but I secretly reinforced it with my own Earth Magic once the mages left, so it would stand up even to cannon fire. 

That should be enough to keep the green-clad noble from coming in on one of his “walks.” 

“Whew, that was tooough.” 

Arisa slumped on my lap and starting rambling about all her hard work. 

“Mrrr, guilty.” 

“C’mon! What’s the big deal? I gotta stock up on a little masterium once in a while.” 

Even Mia’s go-to accusation wasn’t enough to stop Arisa today. 

This so-called masterium substance sounded a little fishy, but I figured I could indulge her every now and then. 

“So what was so tough about today?” 

“Well, some of the kids were insisting that they wouldn’t stay with a friend of Mr. Indeed.” 

“A friend?” 

“Well, he did hang around at the soup kitchen that one time, and then the next day you walked downtown with him to keep him away from the plaza, remember?” 

Oh yeah, I guess that did happen. 

“Lots of kids saw him in the plaza, so there were quite a few who were convinced that you guys are friends.” 

The kids who had seen this with their own eyes were very stubborn about coming to the orphanage, even after Skopi had spread the information for us. 

Thinking about it now, I figured the green-clad noble might have done those things as a precaution against this exact kind of situation. 

Maybe I was being overly paranoid, though. 

“I’m impressed you were able to get those kids to come here, then.” 

“I didn’t. It was all them.” 

Arisa nodded toward the young maids who were chatting happily with the orphanage kids. 

“They explained that you gave them expensive medicine to save their lives and even hired them as maids afterward. I think that’s what finally won them over.” 

“I’ll have to reward them, too, then.” 

“Oh, then you should make hamburg steaks for them!” 

“Hamburg steaks?” 

“Yeah, they’ve been wanting to try it since Tama and Pochi told them all about it.” 

“Sure, I’d be more than happy to.” 

In fact, I could make it for all the kids to celebrate the opening of the orphanage. 

Most of them probably still had weak stomachs right now, so I’d have to wait until they were ready. 

“So what are you making now?” 

“Oh, these are nameplates.” 

I tried to make them simple enough for the kids to understand. 

The base of the plates was made of diamond-hard scales. They were big, I had plenty of them, and most importantly, they were tough and durable. 

The plates would have the child’s name, the mark of Pendragon Orphanage, and three runes engraved on the back: Lucky Charm, Health, and Safety. 

They wouldn’t work as well as a magic tool, but I included them with the hopes of keeping the kids safe and happy. 

The scales were fairly valuable, but they were the best surface for engraving three runes. 

I covered the surface with white paint, so hopefully no one would notice. 

There were a lot of kids, but I intended to finish the nameplates by the next morning. 

As Mia played a lullaby to help the children sleep, I spent the night keeping an eye on the radar for any troublesome visitors. 

> Title Acquired: Guardian 

> Title Acquired: Protector of Children 





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