Chapter 327

Chapter 327

The headquarters of the Rotary Club was located in the southern part of the capital. The area was sparsely populated, and the grounds were quite extensive, which made it an ideal place to stay hidden and relatively isolated. It wasn’t the perfect place to disappear completely, but if one was determined, they could survive without being noticed by outsiders.

“You’re asking me to take care of someone?”

“Yes. She’s my senior. Her name is Adriana.”

“Oh, hello...”

Adriana bowed her head slightly towards Loyar.

Adriana hadn’t grown up in luxury, nor was she from the capital. She had gone about her life quietly in the Temple, so it was unlikely she had heard of the Hound of Irine. Olivia was also seeing Loyar for the first time.

Even though the organization wasn’t entirely criminal, only those who knew about such places would know that. Both of them were seeing the boss of the Rotary Club, with her disheveled white hair, for the first time in their lives.

Even though Loyar looked human, she had a beastly aura about her, which chilled Olivia and Adriana. They were even more surprised to learn that I had such a person as my boss.

Loyar was one of the main culprits of the incident that had most recently shaken the capital.

The main perpetrator of the attack on the holy knights, the Demon King Baalier, and his accomplice, the lycanthrope Loyar... Of course they would not recognize us as such. Loyar had also never met these two before, as it was Sarkegar who had rescued them.

“Because of some circumstances, she will need to stay here for a while. Is that okay?” I asked.

“... It’s not impossible, but...” Loyar looked Adriana up and down, and Adriana flinched as if she had been electrocuted by that gaze. “There aren’t any empty rooms at present, but we can create one. However, there are only men here.”

The club members had recently improved their circumstances and were now all dressed like regular folk, although Loyar was still dressed like a vagrant. Even so, the headquarters was filled with rough people who had weathered the storms of life, so Loyar seemed particularly concerned.

“There’s no need to worry. She can take care of herself.”

“Well, she does look a little frail, but if she’s from the Temple, she should be able to handle herself in a fight.”

Loyar didn’t bother to ask for details. Just by looking at my eyes, she could tell that Adriana was involved in yesterday’s events. I looked over at Adriana. It was entirely possible that she might find it difficult to endure living in such a place, as Loyar mentioned. After all, I didn’t know the exact nature of every member of the organization.

“If you find this place uncomfortable, I can look for another place for you.”

Adriana shook her head, as if she couldn’t bear to impose on me any further, without asking about the place or what it was for.

“Oh, no. It’s fine... Thank you, Reinhart.”

Loyar understood that Adriana was staying with them in order to lay low.

“Hmm... Which room should I give her...”

Loyar seemed deep in thought, as if it was a huge bother. In reality, Loyar wasn’t particularly kind-hearted, and often snapped at me as well.

She’d said there were no empty rooms but that they could create one, which sounded like she intended to evict someone from the room that they were currently occupying. This seemed like a rather awkward situation.

After a moment of contemplation, Loyar gestured for Adriana to follow her and opened a door behind her office.

Click.

“Use this room.”

“...?”

Loyar had suddenly offered Adriana what was clearly her own room. Olivia, Adriana, and even I were surprised by this sudden decision.

Adriana hadn’t expected a secluded attic room, but she was naturally intimidated by Loyar’s wild and prickly appearance. When Loyar suddenly offered her own room, Adriana couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Um... I don’t know what to call you... but isn’t this your room, unnie...?”

“... Unnie?”

“Oh, um... is that inappropriate? Then how should I...”

Loyar’s eyes widened at the word “unnie,” and she grabbed Adriana’s hand, pulling her into the room.

“No, I insist use this room.”

“... Pardon?”

“If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll get it for you right away.” After saying that, Loyar placed her hands on Adriana’s shoulders. “And from now on, always call me unnie.”

Loyar seemed very pleased that Adriana had called her “unnie,” unlike Ellen, who always rudely called her “ahjumma.”

“Ah... yes, unnie.”

“Heh.”

It almost seemed like Loyar’s non-existent tail was wagging furiously. It was clear that Ellen’s constant “ahjumma” remarks had trained Loyar’s behavior in a strange direction.

***

Ellen’s constant teasing meant that Loyar was completely won over just by being called “unnie,” but that was a good thing. Although I was worried about leaving Adriana alone in such a place, it was the best option we had at the moment. For the time being, Adriana could not live out in the open.

We left Adriana at the club headquarters and headed back. Along the way, Olivia looked blankly up at the sky.

“What is happening to the world...? I didn’t think everything would be fine just because the Demon King died.”

“...”

“But I thought that his death would at least mean that the senseless deaths of countless people who were dragged onto the battlefield would stop...”

Having seen the horrors of war firsthand, Olivia knew better than anyone how terrifying war was. Olivia didn’t know about the Revolutionary Forces.

However, she knew that the Church of the Five Great Gods and the empire were igniting the sparks of conflict by creating another point of friction.

“If the Demon King hadn’t died, maybe humans wouldn’t be killing each other.”

Olivia seemed to hope that the rumors about the Demon King were somewhat true. The presence of an external enemy always quenched the fires of internal division. Olivia seemed to grudgingly acknowledge the necessity of the Demon King.

Olivia smiled at me. “I’ve just said something very strange. Don’t go around telling anyone I said this.”

“What good would it do for me to tell people that?”

Adriana would only be left at the Rotary Club temporarily; I would have to find another place for her soon. The capital wasn’t absolutely safe.

Some place far away.

Somewhere like the Edina Archipelago, for example, where Airi was. That would be reassuring.

If I sent her there, though, how would I explain my connection to that distant island nation? It seemed difficult to make sense of today’s events in the first place.

“By the way, Reinhart, what exactly was that place today?”

Olivia shared the same curiosity as Adriana, but was willing to ask me about it.

“It’s like a home base for those who came from the streets. Though it's no longer located on the streets now.”

I gave Olivia a brief explanation about the Rotary Club, detailing how it had evolved from a beggars’ organization to its current state.

Their looks said it all, even if they didn’t speak it out loud. ‘Who the hell are you, you bastard?’

“Who are you, hyung?”

“Do you go to the Temple too?”

“Are you good at fighting?”

The boys’ hostile gazes left me in a rather difficult situation.

Even though my classmates were already kids by my standards, these children were even younger. Unlike Olivia, I neither liked nor knew how to handle kids. Children were strange creatures to me. As I stood there, frozen and silent, the children began to whisper among themselves.

—He looks like he might be good at fighting.

—He looks scary.

—Nah, guys who look like that usually can’t fight.

.

.

The whispered comments made me dizzy.

‘I didn’t come here to see the kids!’

It wasn’t just the boys; the girls were whispering too.

—That guy is totally my type.

—Are you going to live off his looks? He looks like a thug. Guys like that just suck women dry and then dump them. Money is the best.

—He might have a lot of money.

—No way, he’s broke. You can tell by his face.

—So, would you marry a bald, fat old man if he had money?

—That would be even better. He’d die soon, and all the money would be mine.

—That’s true.

—Then you can snag a handsome guy like him, you idiot.

—Would you get married again?

—Why not? Why can’t I get married three times?

The girls, who seemed unusually mature for their age, were saying things even my classmates wouldn’t say.

‘What’s with these kids?’

—Still, that guy is totally my type...

—Forget it, he’s our unnie’s guy.

—Unnie said she doesn’t like him.

—Of course she’s lying, you idiot.

What was this? What had these kids seen and heard to become so jaded already?

However, I wasn’t there to play. Ignoring their whispers about me as much as possible, I observed the children’s appearances. Their clothes were worn out. They weren’t wearing rags, but it was clear they didn’t have many spare clothes.

Overall, the kids were all skinny and they seemed poorly nourished. It was evident that this orphanage was in dire straits.

Seeing this, I fully understood why Olivia was so desperate to continue offering sponsorship. Any reduction in funding would have a significant impact.

“Oh, Olivia, it’s been a while.”

“Ah, yes, director.”

As the children swarmed around, a middle-aged woman in a white dress came out to greet Olivia, curious as to who had arrived. She had a kind appearance. After greeting Olivia, her gaze naturally turned to me.

“Oh, Reinhart, let me introduce you. This is Ms. Bell, the director of Sunlight Haven.”

“Ah, hello. Are you Olivia’s friend...?”

“Yes, I’m Reinhart.”

She extended her hand to me, and I shook it. Her hand was soft.

It was obvious that she wasn’t managing this place alone, as there were a few adults coming and going.

’The director of Sunlight Haven...’

I neither liked nor knew how to handle children. I didn’t know how to interact with them and was just glad if I didn’t make them cry.

I wasn’t here to see the kids. I wasn’t here to give sponsorship money either.

I looked at Olivia. “Senior, could you take the kids over there for a bit?”

“... Huh?”

“I have something to discuss with the director.”

Olivia seemed slightly puzzled by the seriousness of my expression, but she led the children away. Like the Pied Piper, when Olivia moved, the children, both boys and girls, swarmed after her.

The director, who introduced herself as Ms. Bell, turned to me.

“Oh, Mr. Reinhart. Do you have something to discuss with me?”

“Yes. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

Since this wasn’t a conversation to be had in public, I followed Ms. Bell to her office, where no one could overhear us.

“What is it you want to discuss, Mr. Reinhart?” Ms. Bell asked with a kind smile, which I returned with a smirk of my own.

“Explain yourself,” I said.

“... Pardon?”

“Which hole are you siphoning the funds into, leaving the kids in this state?”

After the Great War, the imperial family had immediately started providing maximum support for orphanages for war orphans.

“With the amount of money pouring in, the kids should be worrying about obesity and not living like this.”

Lack of funding? I already knew that such a thing couldn’t happen to an orphanage in the imperial capital.