Chapter 76 Children's Despair

~Some of the time before Mesties and Jeanne came to the orphanage~

The bright sun in the late afternoon illuminated the orphanage that Jeanne was in charge of.

Like the story in the picture book, the children were still playing happily in front of the orphanage.

A famous painter might get inspired when he saw that happy scene.

The green grass was stepped on by the girls. They were running and playing chase.

The tree in front of the orphanage was climbed by the boys. They were hanging on the tree.

While some of the slightly older ones managed to keep the children from getting too excited.

What they all had in common was that they looked very happy.

Unfortunately, their happiness had to come to an end.

They could never have guessed that they would experience a horrific event not long after.

The story begins with Jeanne's arrival.

As usual, Jeanne came and gave money to their nanny to use for their needs.

But, from the moment Jeanne left, their nightmare began.

"Who are they, nanny?"

The children who had gathered as a result of welcoming Jeanne's arrival pointed at the horde of burly men holding various weapons in their hands.

"Children, let's go inside."

Without giving an explanation for the children's curiosity, the nanny who was guarding them gave instructions to go inside.

Once they had all entered the orphanage, things got even more confusing.

"Stay here, okay."

Their nanny said in a tone full of nervousness. It was different from the happy faces that their nanny usually showed.

It's just that none of the kids noticed their nanny's nervousness. They just nodded obediently.

After giving instructions to stay put, the nanny left as fast as lightning through the back door of the orphanage.

Due to the innocence of the children, they could only follow their nanny's instructions, which were instructions to stay still.

They stood up and stared at the friends beside them with confused faces.

Until…

Crash!

Bam!

Crack!

The front door of the orphanage suddenly shattered. A large hole formed in the wooden door. After the hole formed, the entire door collapsed as dust flew out.

Not only the front door of the orphanage, but the wooden windows of the orphanage were also suddenly shattered.

The people who caused the chaos were burly men carrying various weapons such as swords and whips in their hands. They were the ones the children outside had seen earlier.

As soon as they smashed the entrance, they entered the orphanage.

As the well-built men walked in, the children could see their appearance more clearly.

The most striking thing was that their clothes were so revealing. They wore strange clothes that were not suitable for normal men.

Their bellies, chests, thighs, and some other body parts are visible. Only underwear and a few pieces of cloth wrapped their bodies.

It was very scary in the eyes of the children. The children immediately shuddered in fear. They gathered around and embraced each other.

Although most of the children in the orphanage just cowered in fear, one of the children tried to come forward and ask a question bravely.

"Who are you? Why did you come here?"

The one child who dared to stand alone in front of the other children was a child who looked the most mature of all the children. Even so, she still looked like an ant in front of the elephants.

Despite being an ant, she still stood up and even dared to glare at the one person who stood at the very front of the line of burly men.

The person the child was glaring at was an old man. The man was holding a waist-high stick in his hand. The stick was similar to a command stick. There was also a beryl glassess and old hat that he wore.

Looking at the old man's distinct appearance alone, it was obvious that he was the one leading the burly men behind.

"What's your name, Kid?"

"I won't tell my name to a stranger."

That kid managed to checkmate the old man's words. With just that one rebuttal, she won the psychological war.

However, the other innocent children did not understand that there had been a psychological war.

"Hey, what are you doing, Nina?"

The kids behind her called out to her.

Eventually, her name was recognized by the old man because the children behind her said her name.

The little girl named Nina glared at the other children, but she couldn't do anything about the innocence of the children.

"Oh, so your name is Nina, huh. Have you seen your nanny?"

"...."

"If you don't say anything, then you've been dumped."

The old man smiled slyly. It was obvious that the old man already knew that the children's nanny had disappeared somewhere.

"W-what do you want from us?"

Nina was clearly confused.

Was there any connection between these people coming to the orphanage and the nanny?

She began to wonder inwardly.

Only she could think of such complicated things. The other children still couldn't possibly understand what had happened.

Finally, Nina's confusion could not be answered.

"Hehe, from now on, you'll be my merchandise. Just obey, I'll treat you well until you find your owner."

Nina, who heard the old man's words, immediately realized the situation they were in. She was about thirteen years old. An age that was enough to know one's evil intentions.

From the words she had just heard, she realized that the old man in front of her was a slave trader.

Only a slave trader would say that he would hand over the children to the owner.

A slave trader was not a common profession, but she had heard stories that there was a slave trader who liked to kidnap children.

Thus, she strengthened her resolve to fight back.

She bit her lip hard and whispered to the children behind her.

"Hey, I'll distract him. You guys should run away while he is busy with me, ok!"

Indeed, not all the children understood that they were about to be made slaves. However, they all realized that they were in danger due to Nina's words.

They were soon so encouraged by Nina's heroic actions that they stopped shuddering in fear. At least, that's what some of the older children experienced.

While helping the younger children, they prepared to move. They waited for Nina's signal to move.

"One, two..!"

Nina started counting the signals. She counted quietly so that only the children could hear.

"...NOW!"

Nina screamed as loud as she could.

The children, who had gathered their courage, immediately stood up and encouraged the other children who were still frightened to run away.

At the same time, Nina ran as fast as she could to the slave trader. She opened her arms wide and immediately hugged the slave trader's stomach.

"What? How dare you rebel!"

Perhaps because the slave trader didn't expect Nina to dare to fight back, the slave trader didn't have time to dodge when Nina came forward and embraced him suddenly.

Instead of an affectionate embrace, Nina embraced with hatred. She strongly embraced the slave trader's body as if she wanted to squeeze the slave trader to a pulp.

She was smart for just hugging the slave trader. If it was to buy time, then it was the right course of action rather than throwing an uncertain punch.

"Hey, let go of me!"

"I-I'll never let you go!"

Although she looked so serious when she said that, she had to suffer as she was continuously beaten by the slave trader using a commanding stick.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? Hurry up and help me. Get this kid off me!"

The slave trader asked his men for help.

His face looked pale and pitiful.

Pow!

Splash!

As soon as some of the slave trader's men helped beat her up, bright red fresh blood came out of her nose and mouth.

They continued to beat and pull her.

Despite the difficulty, she managed to still stick like glue.

However, it didn't last long.

Thwack!

Suddenly, one of the slave trader's men hit her back using a wooden block. As a result, she was able to let go of his two hands that had been hugging the slave trader.

On the other hand, the slave trader glared at his men, who attacked using a large wooden beam.

"W-What if your attack hits me too, dammit!"

"S-sorry, boss. But, shouldn't we hurry up and catch up to the kids who ran away?"

"What? Did you just teach me? Are you smarter than me now?"

Despite the slave trader's awkward outburst, he still ordered his men to catch the kids that ran away.

"If they resist, feel free to use force. Although their grades will drop, it's better than us wasting time here."

On the cold floor, Nina was slowly losing consciousness.

A river of blood continued to flow from the wound on her back. She could only pray that the other children would survive.

The situation she was in now was similar to a dog that was no longer wanted by its master. Thus, the prayers she said unknowingly, were only laughed at by the slave trader and his men.

However, before Nina completely lost consciousness, she managed to smile. That was because, through the door that was opened wide, she caught a glimpse of someone who had come here.

The person she saw was still far away, but she was sure that the other children would be safe thanks to that person's presence.