# 9
---
* * *
“I can't believe there's an orphanage in the mountains like this.”
The Rixian Knights, led by Duke Elad, arrived in front of Tezar's Orphanage.
As soon as they entered the entrance, a strange energy lingered in my mind.
Weeds grow uncontrollably.
An old hammock that is so worn out that it makes an annoying rattling sound even with the slightest breeze.
It was a place with such a shabby atmosphere that it was difficult to imagine it being a place for children.
The Duke looked at this with cold eyes and opened his mouth.
“Contact the manager.”
"Understood ."
And after a while.
“Hey, I didn't know there was someone precious here.”
A man dressed in shabby clothes hurriedly walked out of the orphanage.
The man couldn't even make eye contact with the Duke.
Hearing the Duke's words to check on the children, he moved quickly and gathered them into the snow-covered courtyard.
The children, who were almost naked, were shivering with their heads down.
Before the frowning Duke could say anything, the principal suddenly raised the arms of the skinny children and burst into tears.
It was an appeal that children were having a hard time surviving every day with only a small amount of government benefits.
Instead of responding to that stern look, the Duke quickly looked at the children.
As expected, Diana was not there.
Ever since I realized that the little girl's disappearance was the work of a kidnapping team, I thought it was impossible for her to be in an orphanage like this, but I still felt depressed.
Then the Duke suddenly felt a strange feeling of discomfort towards the manager.
A series of behaviors such as crouching down, acting like they're scared and blatantly asking
“You, have you ever seen a girl with silver hair and blue eyes?”
When the Duke asked, the children visibly shrugged.
The child, who raised his head slightly out of curiosity, blinked and looked away.
“Don't you ask a question? Answer!”
While the manager was greeting him, the boy who seemed to be the largest of the dogs spoke.
“I have never seen a child with such characteristics before.”
“If you lie, I will never forgive you.”
“I really didn’t—.”
The Duke's face became colder due to the child's trembling voice.
The manager got goosebumps when he saw this, but he wore a rude expression again.
I decided to purchase an anti-confessional artifact for half the amount I had earned so far and installed it in my attic and in my safe.
He was confident that even Duke Elrad and the Rixion Knights would not find evidence of the trade in children and slaves.
then.
Jingle—!
Before the search could begin in earnest, the mana in the air fluctuated dramatically, and Bianca, who was the first to feel it, jumped forward.
“I can feel the mana flowing.”
“I see, Director, can I take a look at the orphanage?”
As soon as the director nodded, the Duke looked away, and the search party moved in perfect order.
At that moment, an ominous feeling crept up the manager's spine.
* * *
". … What is this?"
Bianca, who had arrived first after reading the influx of magical power, froze at the unexpected scene.
I couldn't lift my finger when I saw the little girl lying on the ground.
"leader !"
The person who brought her out of her daze was one of the subordinates who came with her.
“I can feel the mana in this child.”
Hearing his words, Bianca felt mana so pure and powerful that she wondered why she hadn't noticed it until now.
Uncontrollable mana energy was flowing from the girl's body.
However, the magic power was twisted in its own way.
He added: “It appears that she fell from the upper floor because there are no other entrances nearby, but for this reason the injury is minimal.” Did she unconsciously use magic to protect her fallen body?
Although it is not common, there were such children.
Before you learn magic properly, there are instances where you can't handle your mana and it causes you to run away.
The problem is that if things continue like this, this little object might explode.
Bianca was obsessed with the idea that she had to save the child somehow, so she walked up to the child and held out her hand.
At that moment, the knights surrounded the backyard, and at the same time Duke Elad and his administrator arrived.
The director's face quickly turned blue when he found Leia lying down.
Clearly the window had been boarded up with several layers of boards, but how?
In addition.
"my dad !"
Duke Elad immediately raised his head at the unexpected voice.
After Leia jumped, Diana covered her mouth with her hand and watched impatiently as the strangers appeared.
This was the voice she had shouted when she saw the Duke.
The Duke stopped breathing in relief as soon as he found the daughter he had never dreamed of meeting here.
But even that only lasted a moment, and the impression hardened in a frightening way.
Diana was looking at her face through the broken window.
The Duke's mouth opened immediately when Diana, who was in a dangerous situation, was about to jump up and ask to receive me.
“Diana, stay still and wait.”
At that moment, the director's face, which looked like he could no longer get bored, turned into something almost suffocating.
“Kh-k-k-k!”
At that, Leia, who had calmed down her raging magic with Bianca's help, coughed.
Leah, who had barely come to her senses and blinked, froze when she saw the cold blue eyes.
Even though it was the same color as Diana, whom I had been with for a few days, my mouth moved with instinctive fear.
“Please save me.”
At those words, the Duke of Elad, who was as beautiful as a statue, frowned, and my heart sank in a moment of terror.
“Save you.”
There was no one in the Empire who didn't know the rumor that Duke Elad was cold-blooded, but Leia knew better than anyone that the rumor was true.
It was because I lived it myf.
In his previous life, Duke Elad summarily disposed of the director and returned to his estate, leaving behind the children of an orphanage, who witnessed Diana's danger and never spoke up.
With Jack who was the only one who protected his daughter.
The orphanage children who have nowhere to go become vagrants and wander, eventually ending up in a gang of ars.
It was the same with Leah.
It was a daily routine for them to shiver in the cold, have their money and food taken from them by their leader, and starve to death.
One day, I was faly accused of stealing something.
I hated the next day so much that I ran away, gasping until my lungs exploded.
'I can't do that again.'
This time I definitely won't go against his will.
But what you need to do now is.
“Jack is upstairs... my friend is sick, help him.”
“Did this guy make it like this?”
When Bianca, who was next to her, asked, Leah's eyes widened.
The woman with brown hair held high looked strong and gentle.
Leia felt more at ease after seeing her, so she subconsciously nodded and said.
“He locked us up the whole time and said he would l us all into slavery!”
"slave?"
The circumstances of the abuse now revealed leave me speechless.
When Bianca made a shocked expression, the manager's face also turned pale.
“It's a lie!”
He quickly reached out his hand to cover Leia's mouth.
As the large hand approached, Leia closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to appear.
"Yes !"
At the same time, a scream erupted from the manager.
Leia stared blankly at the large back blocking her path.
At first glance, it seemed that the manager's wrist, which the Duke held, was completely bent in the opposite direction.
The tears that formed at that moment suddenly fell.
Leah blushed and wiped her tears
I wasn't surprised.
I wasn't afraid.
The Duke's anger was not directed at her.
but . …
I couldn't be completely reassured.
"Oh, my God !"
Leah started running towards the orphanage courtyard, ignoring Bianca's voice calling from behind.
As happened a long time ago, I saw children standing in a row, almost naked, as if they were being punished.
Feeling her heartbeat, Leah began digging with her bare hands under the tree where she had left a mark in advance.
“Noona!”
It was then, shortly after, that the Duke appeared holding Diana, along with Bianca, the knights, and the bound Primate.
Leia was relieved to see Jack being carried by the knights.
Looking at the children's blue faces, I felt a heavy sense of responsibility.
"What is this?"
“It is a secret notebook that records the director’s dealings with children so far!”
The Director, who thought he would never be able to find proof, looked at the familiar cover of the document Leia had handed to the Duke, and began to scream and go crazy with embarrassment.
In the end, he was gagged by the knights.
The children's eyes were filled with confusion as they saw the principal, who was exercising absolute power, being helplessly suppressed.
Leia, who had already experienced this feeling, screamed fiercely.
“There is a lot of data not only about the slave trade but also about embezzlement and corruption! The director never treated us like human beings, the children may have pretended not to know about Diana, but they were all threatened...”
The longer Leah explained, the more Bianca's expression stiffened, and not just those present.
In particular, the Duke's eyes were frighteningly cold and terrifying.
“Yes, like you said, the kids told me they had never seen someone like Diana before, so you're saying the kids aren't wrong, is that what you're saying? For whatever reason, those kids lied to me.”
Hearing the cold voice, Leia felt her heart freeze with fear.
But I didn't avert my eyes.
How can we turn a blind eye when we clearly know what situation the children will be in and how they will live in the future and the outcome?
“Please believe it, it's because they're afraid, we did something wrong!”
Leah quickly got down on her knees and ed for forgiveness.
I burst into tears without realizing it.
One by one, the children followed Leah and knelt down, as if they had not gone without warning.
He cried and ed them not to kill them.
When she saw the skinny, naked children crying and ing for their lives, Diana also began to cry, and her lips trembled as if her emotions were being absorbed.
The Duke lightly pressed his forehead and spoke in an indignant voice.
“Please save me, when did I say I was going to kill you?”
“...Hyuk Hyuk.”
“I won't kill you, so stop crying.”
". … What?"
“It means I will forgive you.”
Only after hearing that all the children were being transferred to another orphanage did Leia finally stop crying.
Even after I stopped crying when the problem I was worried about was resolved, my whole body felt weak.
“Noona!”
At that time, Diana got down to the ground, hit her father's arms with her fist like a cotton bat, and ran towards Leah.
“Noona, what’s wrong?”
Diana, with big eyes filled with tears, looked at Leia's face and body.
Only then did the Duke and the knights realize that the reason Diana was crying was because of that child.
I don't even know who's been watching their precious girl all this time.