CH 130

“The world may be different, but the world's principles remain the same.”

Translated by Dawn

“The world may be different, but the world’s principles remain the same.”

“Alright, you guys, you’re all full. Now I’m going to tell you something important, so listen up.”

After finishing my meal, I began to talk to the others as soon as they had calmed down. The orphanage had been forced into a situation in which it was difficult to procure funds to repair the building, clothing, and other necessities of life, and even food, which was their lifeline, due to the current lack of aid from the government.

The children, as well as Lelianne and Isha, who were taking care of the orphans, had somewhat thin cheeks, indicating that they were not getting enough to eat. Even in such a skinny state, though, Isha’s chest was outrageous…

The reason for this situation was simple: the orphanage itself had no source of income. Normally, there were two ways to run an orphanage: either the country or some other appropriate organization would provide support money to maintain and operate the orphanage, and the person who managed the orphanage would use the support money to maintain the orphanage, or the orphanage would use the money calculated from the income generated by the orphanage itself to operate the orphanage.

In this case, the orphanage was being operated with the former type of aid money from the country, but since the aid money had been embezzled by someone else, the orphanage was no longer able to operate.

If this was the case, I thought that if the orphanage itself had something to generate a certain amount of revenue, it could at least manage to get by on its own, even if the country’s support was temporarily cut off.

“You’re all full from all the food I’ve given you, but you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. There is no guarantee that I will continue to serve you food forever, or that someone will come to your rescue. You are on the brink now. You understand that, don’t you?”

Everyone in the room turned their faces down when I threw the question. Apparently, even as children, they understood that the current situation was not good. As if to dispel such an atmosphere, I declared in an irreverent manner.

“But rejoice! There is someone in front of you who can help you in such a critical situation. That’s right, me!!”

When I said this to myself, the thought “What the hell is this guy?” came to mind, but since I was the one who was actually trying to do something about the situation, I continued on with my story.

“From now on, I would like to ask you to do a few jobs for me. I’m going to prepare you for those jobs, but if you work diligently, you will be paid well.”

“I-is that true?”

Lelianne asked in response to my words. As the person in charge of the orphanage, she must be clinging to straws. That was how tight the situation was at the moment.

“Yes, it’s true. But as I said before, I need you to do some preliminary work before I can get you guys to do the job. I’d like to do that preparation now if that’s all right with you?”

“W-what will we do?”

Instead of answering Lelianne’s question, I took out three items from storage.

One was an ordinary-looking tea leaf, nothing out of the ordinary, just like you would find anywhere. The second was a bundle of string wrapped around a wooden stick, also nothing special. Finally, several fresh vegetables, freshly colored and very ordinary, except for the fact that they were fresh.

“Um, what are these tea leaves?”

“This is [Magic Chamomile], a tea leaf that is not only a popular item but also a versatile tea leaf that is used as an ingredient in medicines among pharmacists.”

“And this one?”

“This is processed from the thread spit out by the [Yarn Mite] monster that lives in the dungeons in Orargrand, and is famous as a high-end thread that is traded at a very high price.”

“Then, what about these vegetables?”

“These are just vegetables. As you can see, they are fresh but ordinary vegetables you can find anywhere.”

I explained to Lelianne and the others one by one about the items I had taken out, but they seemed to have no idea why I had taken those items out.

As I mentioned earlier, it would be difficult to restore the orphanage’s operations without some kind of revenue from the orphanage itself, as well as from the country’s assistance. So I turned my attention to these three items.

First, Magic Chamomile tea leaves were often found growing wild in areas that contained a lot of magic power, such as the forests in dungeons and in untouched areas that few people have ventured into.

The tea leaves were mainly effective in calming the mind and relieving fatigue, and the medicines made from them have similar effects.

Next, Yarn Mite was used to make the yarn for the stuffed toys sold by Greg Trading Company, and it had a high level of strength, durability, and all other aspects of performance.

Therefore, the actual price of the stuffed toys sold at the Greg Trading Company was of a certain level, which was the reason for the slightly higher price.

The third item, vegetables, was included in the lineup because it was a common ingredient that was in high demand and inexpensive, but if we could be self-sufficient, we could eat it ourselves.

“I want the children to do these three jobs: growing this Magic Chamomile, collecting the yarn from the Yarn Mite, and growing vegetables in the field.”

“Eh!? Even if you ask that so suddenly…”

“There is nothing to worry about. I’ll bear the cost of producing them, and the children will only be responsible for managing and harvesting the vegetables, not creating them from the start.”

“B-but…”

Lelianne was puzzled by my words, but she did not deny it too strongly, as if she really thought that the orphanage might be able to do something if that were to happen. At any rate, I asked her to show me around the garden of the orphanage, because I thought that the best thing to do would be to hurry.

“Alright, let’s start with the Magic Chamomile. [Earth Control]”

I came to the garden and immediately set about preparations. First, I cultivated the ground in the garden with Earth magic and converted tea leaves into seeds using alchemy. Then, I planted the seeds by sprinkling crushed magic stone powder on the raised soil like ridges in a field and let them grow to a certain size by using tree magic while watering them with Water Magic. The tea leaves quickly grew into full-grown, bright green foliage.

Next was the Yarn Mite, but the Yarn Mite was already secured because there was a magic called [Dimension Room] in the Conversion Magic, and this magic could be used to store objects, including living creatures, in a separate space.

All that remained was to create a place with many trees using tree magic in a way that matched the environment of the dungeon where the Yarn Mite lived, then remove the Yarn Mite from the dimension room and set it free in its place.

The last vegetable was ready in no time because, as with the tea leaves, all I had to do was make ridges in the field, convert them into seeds with alchemy, and grow them with tree magic.

“Alright, we’re done!”

“…..”

The adults, Lelianne and Isha, and the other children were stunned by the sudden appearance of fields and trees where none had existed before. But soon the children start fussing over the scene that had happened right in front of them, to which Lelianne rebuked them to be quiet. I waited until everyone had calmed down and decided to ask them again about their willingness.

“Attention all! Listen, I ask you again, what do you want to do? If you don’t want to do this, I won’t force you to do it. But there is a saying in my hometown, “If you don’t work, don’t eat. It means that those who do not work are not qualified to eat, which is the act of living. You are alive. If you are alive, then you must work. To live, to eat. Now, choose! Either you work and live, or you do nothing and live in poverty!”

The answer was obvious from the beginning. As if to say so, all the children present unanimously said,

『Work!』

To eat, you have to work. It seemed to be the same in this other world. The children’s decision was right on target.