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Managing an orphanage in another world
Chapter 27: The future arrives fast

Chapter 27: The future arrives fast

It was now two weeks after Rennet had taught Janna the Berserk King's breathing method. It was the middle of November now. In the living room, all of them except Janna and Nem were together.

"It's starting to get cold."

Said Thea.

"Look at you! You'll be a big fluff ball by next month."

She was rubbing Gwyn's head. He was enjoying it quite a lot.

"Is it gonna snow, Unnie?"

"Here? I'm not so sure. There's no record of people living here before so I can't say it won't either."

If someone travels a bit to the north of here, it starts snowing. And even further, the kingdom of Idavoll is forever covered in snow all year which only gets worse during winter season. So when the weather gets cold, it might snow here in winter.

"You'll get to see the snow up north next year, Leaf."

"Why?"

"Because we're going to travel to the Idavoll Kingdom to use the portal there."

"Why do we have to use the portal?"

"To get to the academy. It's the fastest way."

"The academy has a portal? I thought only the Kingdoms had one."

That's what Leaf was taught in the books.

"Actually a lot of places have portals. There's around 20 portals in the world currently with most being in the kingdoms. The academy has one such portal. It's why the location of the academy was settled there."

"Is it to allow the kingdom's people to travel fast across the land?"

"That's right. The kingdoms find it a waste of time to travel for months. But because of the portal it works out."

"But don't the kingdom's have drakes they can ride on? Isn't that faster?"

"It would be fast to travel on drakes. But those are monopolized by merchants. And they're still not as fast as portals. There's also the problem of there not being enough beast tamers."

A tamer was a very sought after class of mages. Every kingdom would want one. But when even a normal mage is rare, only finding one in about five hundred people, a tamer is ten times harder to find. For this reason, being a tamer is great but also a quick way to find death as people will want them dead.

"Taking a portal is just the fastest and most cost-effective method. If we went by horse-drawn carriage, it would take around fifty days. Do you want that?"

"No!"

Leaf instantly put her hands up in a cross and shook her head.

"Hmm? What's that noise?"

At this point, many voices could be heard outside while they were laughing.

"Let's check it out."

Opening the door, it was like a sea of people. It ranged from little babies to old retired grandfathers and grandmothers.

"W-what's happening?"

Leaf asked in shock. She had seen something like this before.

"It's the people that Silas mentioned."

Over a week ago and also a few days ago, Silas had come to tell Thea and the others about a possible flood of people. There had been a battle somewhere to the south in Zatiax and it had covered the region in blood. And forced many people out from their homes, like Leaf.

"C-can we help them?"

Leaf asked nervously. She had been through a similar situation where she left her home. Although there were issues at her home which made her want to leave, it was still a battle between the kingdoms that allowed her an opportunity to escape. So she didn't want these people to suffer and wanted them to receive help like she had from Thea.

"Don't worry. Silas should have prepared something in advance."

As if he had heard Thea talking, Silas came running to her through the crowd of people.

"Miss Thea!"

"Catch your breath first. What's wrong?"

"I...we need your help."

"With what?"

"There's too many people. We didn't think there were this many people coming."

"How many are there?"

"There's at least a thousand here. We thought there would be around half as many."

"Where did the extra people come from?"

"Don't know, but we're low on water and food. And there's not enough material for tents and clothes."

"I see. You want me to cast a water spell now and gather some people to go find more food together with in the forest?"

"Yes, I've sent a message to the nearest city with available supplies to send more but it'll take a few days at the minimum. There's also the issue of repayment but we can deal with that later. Water, food and warmth are the most important right now."

"Get some young men and women to come to me. I'll cast barrier spells so we can go to the forest together."

The forest near the village was a vital resource generator. The problem was that there were many monsters that couldn't be dealt with by the already struggling people of the village. They were healthier than a few months ago but they weren't even strong enough to fight a common kobold.

"Will they be alright?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll keep them safe."

"I'll get straight to it."

"Ask the guild to send some people for protection."

"Yes."

Silas ran off as soon as he came.

"You stay here, Leaf."

"No, I'll help Su-Unnie with serving food."

"That's good. Find Nem also and have him stay close to you."

"Yes, Unnie."

"What about you, Gwyn?"

"Woof!"

Gwyn was staying close to Thea. It seemed he wanted to help Thea with gathering.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I see. With your fast feet, it'll take no time to gather things."

A dozen minute later, a group of thirty or so people aged fifteen to thirty showed up to Thea. Many of the people didn't come because they were scarred of the monsters in the forest.

"This is not enough people. Listen, you'll only be gathering firewood and whatever fruits and berries you find."

Thea started talking to the group that did show up.

"I have a question. Aren't there monsters in the forest?"

A young kid held up her hand. She had long messy brown hair and wore a normal villager's clothes. Just a plain red shirt and black pants.

"What's your name?"

Thea asked the kid.

"It's Tandy."

"Aren't you too young to be here?"

The little girl Tandy was much younger looking than the others.

"I'm thirteen already!"

"That's too young to go to the forest. Go back."

Thea and the other people around were worried about her.

"No! I can help. I'm really good at finding things."

Tandy was only a year older than Leaf so Thea was reluctant to let her come with them.

"Please!"

"Alright, you can come. But you're sticking close to me."

Thea couldn't turn down Tandy with her big round eyes staring at her. It would be safe as long as she was close to Thea.

"Yes!"

Thea took around twenty seconds to cast a barrier spell on each of the people. As she had become a four star mage, she could cast a different spell that didn't need constant supply of mana. It only needed to be cast once and the person could go any distance away from the caster and the spell would still function.

Thea also went to the center of the village to fill the water tank twice. She also left one of her prototype water producing magic artifact. Janna was left behind to help with the cooking for the newcomers.

Leaving the town with the thirty people drew a lot of attention. On the way, they walked past the farm field that was used to produce food for the people that already lived here. The quality was low and the quantity was even lower. It could feed around 500 people, the population before the flood of refugees.

The land was not good for farming as the water source was far and there were low level monsters like goblins that were causing trouble. The farm mainly produced carrots and potatoes. Not the best, but it's enough for now.

"Wish there was a water source running along right here."

The people wished for a nearby source of water that could make their life easier.

As Thea and the others went to the forest to gather food and firewood, the refugees started to settle down in the village. The center area of the village was a big square. Thea had wanted it to be like that for social reasons and thought it was a nice addition to the village.

The people from Silver Fox Merchants were busy moving their stocked food out to give to the people. These were mostly dried fruits and potatoes from previous harvest. Janna was helping with the cooking. Her taste buds were amazing at producing the most mouthwatering dishes.

It was mostly rabbit stew with potatoes. The children were also given candies.

"Here, we'll provide more in a few hours."

Janna handed a bowl to a mother and a child.

"OW!"

Janna's attention was suddenly drawn by a shout. At the edge of the center, someone had shouted. Janna rushed over to see what had happened.

"Stop moving or say goodbye to your arm."

"Argh! Let me go."

It was a scene of someone holding down another person. Their arm was on the back and put under pressure.

It was Sophily. She had put someone under her and sat on them.

"What's going on?"

Janna walked up and asked.

"Janna. This person is suspicious."

"Loosen your grip first. You'll break that bone."

"You've got it wrong. This person is flexible. Trained like a spy to get into places. This arm can bend even more than this. Believe me."

"Really? So they're a spy?"

"Yeah, though not as good as me."

"You're a spy?"

"Ah."

It was a slipup from Sophily.

"Please don't tell anyone else."

"Alright, I won't. But I want an explanation later."

"I will and thank you."

"Thankfully people have scattered away. So no one heard. So who are you?"

Janna lifted up the robe the alleged spy was wearing. It was a young man around eighteen years old. Deep red color hair. A darker skin complexion.

"I won't tell you."

The man angrily said.

"He's from Zatiax."

"What?! How do you-"

Sophily suddenly said where he came from which shocked him.

"He was sent here to gather information."

"Grr."

Sophily was spot on with her knowledge.

"Though I don't know for what reason."

"Haha. And you'll never know."

"We'll see about that."

"AH!"

Sophily put pressure on the man's back. It seemed to hurt him a lot.

"This method used by you has a flaw I noticed."

Sophily put her finger in the middle of his back.

"It allows for great flexibility, but leaves this spot extremely vulnerable."

"How could you have noticed?"

The man was in disbelief. This was a major flaw of his infiltration technique that no outsiders should ever know about. And the school he was taught at took great efforts to hide it.

"Heh. I'm just better than you."

"OW! OUCH! STOP! PLEASE!"

Sophily continued to push the guy. She wasn't using much force.

"Can you stop being so dramatic?"

"What do you mean?! It hurts so much."

"I'm not even touching the weakpoint and you're screaming?"

"Uuh..."

Sophily's hand was in the air when the man was screaming.

"Can you just say your objective? Or I will put more force into it."

"Fine, fine. Just put your hand away."

"And don't think of escaping. Everyone here is stronger than you and I have your smoke bombs."

"Tssk."

The man was indeed planning to use the smoke bombs to escape. But the plan was thwarted by Sophily.

"Now speak."

"...recon mission."

The man spoke softly.

"Recon of what?"

"...enemy strength level."

"Enemy strength? Wait-"

Sophily realized suddenly.

"He's a scout!"

Someone sent to scout ahead of the real group.

"We're under attack."

Sophily said to Janna.

"How far away is the enemy? And how many?"

"It's a company led by a captain named Jeanne."

"Where are they?"

"They stopped near at the bottom of the mountain."

To the southwest of the village was a mountain. It was around thirty to forty minutes away. Around five km away from the center of the village.

The path there was covered in trees, so it was a perfect cover for the army to slowly creep up to them.

"...Janna?"

Sophily was scared of this information. So she looked at Janna. But Janna was equally terrified.

"We need to find Rennet first."

But Janna quickly came to her senses when she saw Sophily looking at her.

"If it's a captain, then they're a four star martial artist. Rennet is a five star martial artist, so it'll be fine for us."

"That's what you think."

The deep red haired man suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"The Empire sent an 'advisor' for this mission. A five star martial artist who mastered the Imperial Eight Armed Guisarme Art."

"A what?"

"It's a polearm."

"Rennet should still win. And we also have-"

Janna was about to say that they had Thea, a four star mage. She would be able to turn the battle herself. But then she remembered that she had gone to get food and firewood just now.

"Thea's not here!"

There was no knowing when the enemy might attack. Without Thea here, it would be a difficult fight.

"Sophy, you go find Thea right now. I'll go find Rennet."

"Yes."

Sophily rushed off into the eastern forest.

Janna found Rennet being bullied by tens of little kids. She quickly explained the situation to him and they rushed off.

"Did that guy really reveal everything?"

Rennet asked.

"I think so."

"There's only two scenarios here. One is he's hiding something still. Second is that he did reveal everything and wants us to win."

"Want us to win? I don't understand."

"There can be many reasons for him to do something like that. But that's not important right now. The fight ahead is going to be difficult."

"With Thea around, it won't be difficult."

"You can't be certain that Thea will arrive in time."

"I'm sure she will."

"You're gonna have to fight against the captain yourself while I fight the stronger one. Even if Thea arrives."

"What? You know a captain is at minimum a four star."

"You don't think you can win against a four star?"

"I know I can't."

"Then just think of it as training. Take the blows from the enemy and learn."

"Fine."

Rennet thought that Janna has the quality to become a four star at any moment. She just needed that one push to make her tip over the edge of the gap between three star and four star swordswoman.

It didn't take long for the enemy to show up. They had moved up in the forest and were waiting for the spy. But when he didn't show up at the appointed time, it meant that he had been caught or killed.

An adventurer fast on his feet came rushing in to where Janna and the others were gathered.

"T-they're here."

"Get ready."

In front of the village, the villagers and adventurers from the guild had gathered. Janna and Rennet were at the front.

On the other side were two hundred or so people. Slowly marching forward. At the front were two people on horses. One had long blue hair that was tied in the back. A man in his late thirties. Wearing light armor that was golden color. He held a long guisarme that was red in color.

And the other was a much younger female. Blonde hair with ruby eyes. A perfect figure. She wore silver armor that covered her whole body, except her head. She had a beauty face which could charm a thousand men instantly.

In front of all their armor was a big sun. The symbol of the Zatiax Empire.

"Halt."

The female shouted. The whole company game to a stop.

The village's forces and the enemy's forces stared off each other.

"Are you in charge here?"

The women shouted at Rennet.

"No."

Rennet only spoke the truth.

"How dare you lie?!"

Rennet clearly had the strongest energy of anyone here. So the women thought he was making fun of her.

"I really am not though."

"Quiet!"

The women drew her sword from her sheath. A red and black sword.

"I am Jeanne of the Leblanc family, serving the holy Zatiax Empire as captain of the fourteenth company. Under order of Emperor Hyrovan, you are to move away from this region immediately."

The girl was the captain of the company. It seemed that she had received an order from the emperor himself that made her come to this place.

But this was weird. This region called Laefaz wasn't on any map and wasn't claimed by any neighboring kingdoms for some reason.

"We're not leaving."

Janna shouted back at Jeanne.

"Are you sure? Please don't fight us!"

Jeanne voice changed a bit. It sounded a bit shocked and stressed. She totally didn't expect this response from Janna.

"We're not afraid of fighting you."

The village's people had come up with a plan already to fight the enemy.