In front of him stood a small figure, just over a meter tall, trembling and looking around as if he was about to do something wrong.
"Manny?" Zack exclaimed as he opened the door.
"D-Doctor Mathew. Help, Sister Sally, Sister… Waaaa," said Manny before throwing himself at him, starting to cry.
(What is happening today? Why does everyone want to tackle me?) he asked himself bitterly as he held the child.
Unlike Titan, he was not a dog, and his weight was much greater. If it weren't for holding onto the door, Zack might have lost his balance.
"Calm down. I can't understand what you're trying to tell me. Come in, I'll make you something warm," he said, somewhat frustrated.
"Woof."
Once they entered the house, Titan, seeing the little one crying, got up and started howling while approaching Manny and brushing against his leg, which made Manny calm down a bit. After a brief moment, Manny crouched down and began petting him, to which Titan responded by licking his hand.
"Stop. You're tickling me. Hahaha."
Zack would have liked to say that a surge of warmth flooded his chest upon seeing this image of a child being comforted by a small dog, but that wasn't true.
Since adopting Titan, with the exception of the first day, he had never behaved like this with him. If he hadn't been in the living room the whole time, he would have thought someone had swapped his dog with an identical one.
It was undeniable that he felt envious.
(Traitor!) he thought as he went back to the kitchen. Let's hope this is the last time today. He'd had enough. If it continued like this, he'd end up developing cooking skills.
This day seemed endless.
…
"Do you feel better now?" he asked as he watched Manny finish the soup.
"Mmm," the boy nodded, somewhat embarrassed.
When he arrived at the doctor's house and opened the door, he patiently tried to understand what Manny wanted to say for almost two minutes, but every time he started, he would cry. In the end, there was no choice but to bring him into the house and wait for him to calm down.
When he thought about how he had behaved, a sense of shame washed over him. He didn't know how he had acted so immaturely. He was very grateful that the doctor didn't hold it against him. Anyone else would have kicked him out for much less.
Zack, for his part, didn't blame him at all. In his opinion, the only thing he had done was act like he was, a child.
Although he knew that children here matured faster, it was undeniable that Manny was still too young to act like an adult. According to the standards of his world, Manny should behave just like any child in his world would.
"What are you doing here at this hour?" he asked again, trying to understand what had happened for him to show up at his house so late.
Manny had calmed down enough, so without a minute of suspense, he began to explain what had happened.
…
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"So, Sally still hasn't returned?"
Once he started explaining his story, it was easy to understand.
After Zack parted ways with them, Max and the others returned to the orphanage. Without Sally's help, tasks that were once simple became more difficult.
Sally is the core of the orphanage. She not only takes care of the children but also handles most of the responsibilities: waking the children, dressing them, preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner, requesting donations, applying for subsidies, teaching them to read, providing learning opportunities under a teacher... She gives the children everything they need.
In comparison, Max and Rea only bring some money to the orphanage occasionally and watch over the children.
Fortunately, for one night the orphanage wouldn't fall apart. After Max and Rea gave them dinner and put them to bed, they were exhausted.
Unfortunately, children have more energy than adults would like.
In their rooms, most children couldn't sleep after the day they had. It's not every day there's a festival where they can do what they like all day. The only reason the two adults hadn't noticed was that the children were sensitive and knew something was wrong, so they decided not to make noise to avoid disturbing them further.
Manny was also resting, but he was more aware of things than the others. After all, he was the oldest and had to take care of them.
He knew that a noble had taken Sally and that the adults were waiting for her to return. Although he had never seen a noble, the stories he sometimes heard were rarely good. That's why he decided to stay awake until Sally returned to make sure everything was okay.
A couple of hours later, Manny got out of bed when he heard a noise and went to see what it was. At first, he thought Sally had returned, but as he got closer, he realized it was something else.
In the dining room, Max and Rea were arguing about why Sally hadn't returned yet. Rea wanted to wait a little longer before doing anything, while Max wanted to go to the mayor's house to confront him about the situation. They couldn't reach a solution.
While they were arguing, many words were exchanged, including what might happen if Sally didn't come back soon.
In the end, Max ran to the mayor's house to see what was going on, and Rea stayed at the house waiting for Sally to return.
Manny wanted to go back to bed and wait, but some of the things Max and Rea mentioned kept resonating in his head. The idea of never seeing Sally again terrified him like few things could. Without thinking, Manny opened the window and in the middle of the night, left the orphanage to go find Zack.
When he finished the story, Manny hung his head and didn't dare look him in the face for fear of being punished. He knew what he had done was wrong and that something could have happened. Especially with all the mercenaries roaming the town so late. A lost child was the last thing Max and Rea needed.
After listening to the story, Zack did not comment, he just started thinking.
He didn't think Sally would return home alone. It was very late. If she could have come back, she would have done so earlier. And he didn't think Max would achieve anything by going to the mayor's house.
The old man had promised to bring Sally to the orphanage personally. That she wasn't back meant he couldn't keep his promise.
That young noble had been drinking since very early, so he didn't think he was still at a bar. No matter the level, people have a limit to how much they can drink.
Most likely, the noble had gone to the inn where he was staying and had 'convinced' some girls to 'help him sleep.'
If he had come to this conclusion, Max would have too. Knowing how impulsive he was, if he found that Sally wasn't at the mayor's house, he would go to where the noble was to rescue her, and then...
Zack rubbed his temples. He could already see how things would unfold without being there, and he only saw misfortunes.
(Why do these things happen to me?)
He got up from his seat and approached Manny: "It's very late. Let the adults handle these problems. Come on, I'll take you to the orphanage. Wait while I change into something different."
Zack went upstairs and entered his bedroom. There was a travel suit and a large backpack with many things inside.
(Fortunately, I have everything ready.)
He could have ignored everything. Gone to sleep and waited for tomorrow, but Zack knew he couldn't do that. All the education he had received from his parents and his own sense of duty prevented him. He knew that if he ignored what was going to happen, he would regret it all his life.
It's not the same as when he fled the castle alone. There, he couldn't do anything; the chances of his escape were already slim. Helping others would only get them killed.
Here it's different. He has a chance to save them. To not be a mere observer.
What kind of friend would he be if he let them suffer when he could prevent it?
(It's a shame I won't see them again.)
"I'm ready. Let's go. You too, Titan."
"Woof."
When he went down, he quickly grabbed Manny and took him out of the house. The child didn't even notice that, at some point, a small flame had appeared in the middle of the room.