CH 129

“I started a charity.”

Translated by Dawn

“I started a charity.”

After my talk with the king was over, I went to the market to see if I could find anything unusual. It was still a little past noon, and the market was still bustling with activity. The food stalls and eateries were especially busy and crowded, especially since it was lunchtime.

(Oh, he’s doing it again.)

As I strolled through the market, I sensed a familiar presence. The owner of that presence approached me casually and tried to get into my pocket as we passed each other, but I restrained him with one arm and grabbed his cheek with my free other hands, just as I had done the last time.

“Fwa, fwat awe fou foing.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

I guessed that he wanted to say “what are you doing,” but he couldn’t pronounce it properly because of my grip on his cheek. I removed my hand from his mouth as he made a protesting sound.

“Yo, nice to see you again.”

“W-what’s with you! I’m not giving you back that silver coin you gave me before!”

“What are you talking about? I want you to take me to the orphanage where you live.”

The person I grabbed by the cheek and restrained was the same boy who had tried to pick something of value from me when I first arrived in the capital. Apparently, he tried to pickpocket me again. He doesn’t learn.

When I told him that I wanted him to take me to the orphanage, he started to make things up in a faltering tone, his eyes clearly swimming.

“W-w-wh-what are you going to do? I don’t live in an orphanage! I live on the street—ouchh, w-what are you doing!”

“It doesn’t matter. Just show me the way.”

I didn’t listen to the boy’s attempt to deceive me. I dropped a chop on his head, skipped the entire process, and told him only what I wanted. But the boy would not follow my instructions honestly and continued to be defiant. …Should I kill him? No, no, that would make me a dark hero. I was a person who was about to start doing charity work. A person like that shouldn’t get involved in the path of evil…yeah.

“U-umm!”

“You know, I have some business at the orphanage…I’m pretty sure you guys were from there.”

There they were, the two young children I had given food to and a single silver coin too, just like the pickpocketed boy. I had noticed a sign that they were looking at me, but I had no idea that it was these two.

“Onii-chan, do you have business at the orphanage?”

“Yes, I do. Do you know where it is?”

“Yes, I’ll show you. Follow me.”

“Onee-chan, you’re acting differently than usual.”

“Y-you be quiet! Ah, t-this way.”

However, I was able to reach the orphanage with the help of the girl’s guidance. Incidentally, the boy who first guided me to the orphanage was acquainted with the siblings, and as it turned out, the boy was also a member of the orphanage.

The sister’s name was Chico, and the boy who pickpocketed me was named Bud. Listening to the girl and her friends as they talk about their life at the orphanage and what they usually do, it became apparent that they didn’t have a comfortable life.

Well, that was how I arrived at the orphanage, but what exactly I was going to do at the orphanage was for…charity. I told the king that I had checked with him before to see if someone had embezzled the money that had been given to the orphanage, and when he confirmed this, he found evidence that someone had misappropriated the funds that were originally intended for the orphanage.

Because of this, the orphanage could not operate satisfactorily, and the city was overflowing with orphans. Fortunately, the siblings and the boy I met were in an orphanage, but many orphans were still without the protection of an orphanage.

In my previous life, I grew up in a very average family and rose to a reasonable position in a company, but I was never involved in anything called charity work, such as fundraising. I felt that this was somewhat normal, as well as the fact that I had no interest in other people and was occupied with my own affairs.

In this life, when I could afford it, I developed a kind of greed that I wanted at least those within my sphere of vision to be happy to some extent. Rather than trying to help others, I wanted to create a situation where I could live a relaxed and comfortable life, where no one else would look back on me.

Of course, I wasn’t good enough or arrogant enough to help everyone in sight. However, I feel that it would not hurt to make at least one child happy who has the potential for the future.

These things could be a fetter, a fetter that pulls me down, but even so, I doubted that such a fetter would stop me from moving forward, and I knew that if I couldn’t solve such a trivial problem, I was only as good as the person I was.

That was why I decided to start a charity project, something I could not do in my previous life, and something I would like to do in this life when I have some leeway in my life.

To be honest, it might be a self-satisfying or hypocritical activity, but if even one person in need could be saved by it, I would be fine with it.

The orphanage was in a state of disrepair due to the lack of funds for renovation. It looked as if it might collapse at any moment, but strangely enough, it hadn’t.

The interior consisted only of a church-like auditorium and a dormitory-like building used mainly as a place to sleep. The only other rooms were a small kitchen, a small office for clerical work, and a room for the person who managed the orphanage.

There was a little spare open space outside the building, and it was a reasonable size, larger than the Greg Trading Company’s land and smaller than my residence in the royal capital.

“Sister, I brought you a guest.”

Following Chico’s directions, I entered the orphanage and was greeted by a middle-aged woman in her fifties, dressed like a nun. She had a gentle, mild-mannered air about her.

“Pleased to meet you, my name is Sister Lelianne, and I am in charge of this orphanage. Um, have my children done something wrong?”

She immediately sensed that I was not a child who wanted to join an orphanage when she saw me, and she introduced herself in a polite tone. If that was the case, I had to respond accordingly.

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Rolando and I am an adventurer. I’m here to support this orphanage.”

“Support…?”

“Yes, that’s right. I heard that the country had cut off the aid that the orphanage was supposed to be receiving. I came here to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

“I see that was the case. Thank you very much. I beg your pardon, but even though you are an adventurer, dealing with a single orphanage is just—”

“I’ve thought about that. For now, please gather everyone together.”

I gave Lelianne those instructions and I started preparing lunch from Storage. She was skeptical, but she seemed to follow my instructions and started going around talking to the orphans. Then, someone approached me.

“Who are you? Do you want to join an orphanage?”

“No, I’m…wha!?”

I was astonished to see the person who approached me. She was a young woman in her 20s, dressed like Lelianne in nun-like clothing, but she was hopelessly different from Lelianne in one way. It was the two huge chests that pushed up her clothes.

Lelianne was also of a certain size for her age, but hers was incomparably larger and seemed as if it would break through the nun-like clothes she was wearing at any moment.

(No way, G…no, H…or even higher!? Chest armor level K…no way, right? Is she going to surpass all the innkeepers I’ve met so far!?)

In my mind, I measured the level of her breast level by visual estimation, imagining a depiction of alphanumeric characters beeping and moving like a machine, like a device for measuring combat power in a certain manga. Incidentally, I should add here that a male creature was born with the ability to automatically measure the size of a woman’s breast armor. Well, I’m just kidding.

Her chest armor was not only large but also well-shaped, unlike that of most women. The innkeepers’ breasts were also large and well-shaped, but hers were even more perfectly shaped and contoured. It was the ideal chest armor for a man.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m Rolando, and I’m an adventurer.”

“I am Sister Isha. I am Sister Isha, and I take care of the children in this orphanage. Nice to meet you, little adventurer.”

After the introduction with Isha, who had a huge chest armor, Lelianne finished gathering the children. Both Lelianne and Isha were bewildered by the sight but half-heartedly agreed with the sight of the children’s delight.

“Kids, my name is Rolando. I’m an adventurer. We’ll talk about the details after the meal, so don’t hesitate to eat.”

The children, who were puzzled by my words and seemed to have no idea what to do, began to put their hands on the food, starting with Lelianne’s crane voice, “Since he has been so kind to us, let’s have some of it.”

“What is this? It’s delicious!”

“Nom, nom, nom…”

“This is so good.”

“I’ve never tasted anything this good.”

The children were so absorbed by their first taste of food that they found they had all finished their meal. Some of the children were not satisfied, so I offered them some of my homemade bread.

After the meal was over and things had finally settled down, I decided to begin explaining my proposal to everyone present.