Author's note: I forgot to write it in the last chapter. But this is a little holiday present. Have fun reading :) I will post a chapter every day till Thursday.

...

Shining Pepper Orphanage, Northern District, Wolfsteeth

Somewhere in the South of Wolfsteeth stood a house. It had two floors and was relatively cheap-looking. Some would describe it as abandoned, with the paint peeled off and scratches and dents all around. Those people would be wrong since inside the house was as lively as ever even though it didn't look much better: Broken and half-fixed furniture, no beds, patched-up bedding and clothes of those who lived were, but for some reason, most seemed happy and overly vibrant.

A young dog-kin boy ran after a cat-kin girl, "Muhaha! Look at me! I am the Silver-Tail monster, and I will squash you!"

They ran around a cat-kin woman dressed in simple garments, irritating her, "Hey, don't run around!"

After some more time, the cat-kin girl turned around and positioned herself, ready to fight, equipped with potholders as gloves, "Na ah! I am Fenrir! My fist will pulverize you!"

The boy came a little closer, trying not to let the pot fall off his head, "I learned [Martial Arts] and am already at level 2!"

"So what?! I learned it too and have also [Dash]! You will never catch me, you ugly mons..."

Dong! Bang!

"Ow!"

"Ouch!"

Behind the two little kittens appeared the cat-kin woman, who hit them on top of their heads, "Shut it! Now bring the things back!"

The girl and boy both frowned but listened to her and returned to the kitchen to bring back the things they took to play with. The woman sighed and scratched her head, thinking that the little ones had been too active for the last few days for some reason. She shrugged, thinking whatever the case was, having them be overly energetic was better than not.

She went to the kitchen to see if the food was ready but already instinctively knew it was the case, so she screamed through the whole house, "Dinner is ready! Live is uncertain, so come and eat!"

She was the Mistress of the orphanage named Shining Pepper. She always disliked the name, but her former husband, who died years ago, called it after her outward appearance because she had reddish and shining hair, remembering him of hot peppers. Now, all that was left was this building and their dreams, which she tried to hold onto.

They were both orphans themselves, and after being accepted as apprentices, they worked to help others who had less luck than they had. They saw it as their duty, and she mostly followed her husband in this endeavor, finding it fulfilling after some time.

However, her husband was a merchant and died in a robbery years ago while traveling through the West. Now, she was left alone and lived through the donations she received from former orphans and strangers with the promise that if she had someone competent, she would immediately notify them so they could take them in as an apprentice.

For now, she had around fifteen kittens who needed all her time and attention, but it became more challenging with time. Former orphans always turned their back on her when they started a family or traveled elsewhere. Regular donors sometimes had financial problems, and those who got an apprentice stopped immediately afterward. Now, she had to contend with barely anything.

Fortunately, food was the least of her problems since the rulers and Temple helped in that case. Yet, if food were all one needed, life would be so easy. She would need many more things, like clothes, furniture, repairs, and much more.

For example, every copper she had for now was saved for new bedding since some of her kittens would share theirs. Now, they were little, and it was fine, but in a couple of years, some of them would grow immensely, especially the ox and bear-kin ones. While nights weren't overly cold most of the year, there were occasionally weeks when it would become freezing cold. At such times, diseases would go around, and paying for healers was something she couldn't afford.

There were too many expenses, but even if the kittens lived a poor life, she knew it was much better than what she had to go through: Life on the street and later in the red light district while being premature. Fortunately, she could somehow crawl out and find an apprenticeship as a candlemaker. She wished for them to have a better path to choose from than to do what she did and be proud of what they would be doing.

Yet, for her conscience, this wasn't enough. It constantly nagged her that there were kittens out there on the street, but she couldn't take them in since her finances were already strained. But seeing them hungry and dirty always made her heart clench.

She heard how the soup bubbled, which brought her out of her thoughts. She tasted it, finding it bland, but there wasn't much left till the Temple would give out more, so she had to make do with what she had, 'Hm... good enough.'

Knock Knock Knock

As she was about to serve it, someone knocked, 'Is it someone former? Do they have some problems again?'

Besides feeding them, she also acted as a mentor for them. Many came back, asking for advice as they stood at a crossroads in their life or because of something personal related. She didn't like it much since she was not very wise and too young to give advice. She wouldn't even call herself intelligent, as the brainiac was her husband. She was good at finding and working toward a goal, primarily with her hands.

"Hey! Open the door!"

She heard some kittens running toward the door, opening it, and immediately started screaming, "Ah! Some weird stranger!"

"Run!"

"He looks scary!"

"A weirdo!"

She quickly put the pot aside, extinguished the fire, and went to the door. What she saw astounded her. It was a relatively young rabbit-kin with purple hair and pinkish eyes. He looked like a noble or wealthy man but also seemed very casual. She immediately spotted the dagger hidden in his expensive suit. She had a knack for fine details such as this after her time in the brothel.

She feared the worst and stared at him, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

He smiled at her, which she disliked immediately, and slowly came in, "No worries, mam, call me Quill. I am serving Mr. Alexander n' here for a lil' chat."

She didn't move and was worried that he was just some thug. While being a sex worker, she had occasional customers who were servants of nobles or servants of them, and they were never like this. She glared at him, "Proof it."

He shrugged, "Of course, mam, " and pulled out the Leonandra plaque. She immediately recognized it as an uncanny demonic aura emitted from it, much more potent than what was in the air around them. It reminded her of when the Lady held a speech at the central square. She had the same aura, only a notch more potent, which made all her senses ring in fear.

She nodded, "Fine, Mr. Quill, what do you want?"

He chuckled as he put the plaque away, "Hehe, only Quill. You use Mr. for nobles only, sugar."

She raised an eyebrow, finding his thuggish word choice weird as every other servant or noble would never talk like this, "Sugar?"

He sighed, "Do women in Moorgrel really don't like it? I swear that in High-Town, I could get any with that."

She looked around and saw how all her kittens were full of fear, trying to hide and spy from far away. She looked back at him and bowed, trying to imitate the manners of nobles she had heard about, "My name is Marisa, and would you give me a minute before I talk with you?"

He whistled, "Wow, almost the same name as the Lady?..." He shrugged, "...fine with me."

He walked casually inside and looked curiously around. Marisa feared the worst. She heard terrible stories about nobles and how they were. However, for this reason, she moved to Wolfsteeth as this territory was the friendliest to poor commoners.

Regardless, it didn't mean there weren't bad apples who would act like they wanted, especially the younger ones. It could be that the Leonandra household wanted to buy the house, and they were only here to throw her out and give her some coppers as compensation. It could also be that they wanted to do something to her kittens or worse.

She suddenly recalled what he said, 'Mr. Alexander?'

She remembered that the household had a son with a weird nickname, Archmage Puppy, which came from the fact that he could do magic. It was one of the more popular gossip topics at some point, and her kittens began to try to do magic, too, which was cute but obviously impossible. Now, it became weirder, though, 'How old was he again? What does he want?!'

A dread suddenly invaded her, thinking of the worst as she heard horrific rumors about mages and how they use others for terrible experiments. Something inside her wanted to kick him out immediately, but worse things could happen, and she decided to at least listen to him first, 'If he dares to... I don't know what to do...'

She was ready to fight but knew it would be impossible and readied herself to beg if needed. It wasn't the first time in her life she kneeled and begged for mercy. However, she would soon find out.

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She quickly turned around and sent all her kittens to the second floor to wait. As she counted them, there were only 14, though. She looked everywhere for the last one, only to hear something weird.

"Fenrir is the strongest!"

"Nah! Did you see the drawing of Huxian? She is stronger and far more beautiful!"

"You are stupid!"

"Hehe, am I though?"

"Yes, Fenrir was the one who saved us and became the greatest knight of all time!"

Marisa's heart stood still as she heard a girl and the weird visitor fight, but the moment she came to the dining room, she saw how he smiled at the kitten while she was angrily stomping her feet, trying to argue something nonsensical. It was weird.

She screamed out of fear that something worse could happen, "Naza! Come here! Immediately!"

Quill turned toward her and laughed suddenly, "Haha! You were the one who screamed, huh? I thought someone was raped."

Naza looked at him with childish hate and stuck her tongue out, "Beh! Fenrir was better!" and ran towards Marisa, who quickly sent her up.

Afterward, she came over and stood before him, not knowing what to do, sweating and waiting for him to say anything. The worst thing she feared was to insult him, which would result in him using his dagger.

However, Quill only raised an eyebrow and smiled cheekily at her, "Why standing? Just sit down, Mari, not like I will bite."

She nodded and sat down on the other side of the dining table. She gathered her courage and asked, "What do you want, M..." She corrected herself quickly, "...Quill."

He pulled something out of what looked like a very expensive spatial pouch and laid it before her. It was some kind of weird parchment, "Do you know how to read?"

Marisa nodded and prayed to whatever being was looking over her. She already understood that he wanted to buy the house, and they would become homeless. The worst would be that they would need to find a new home. However, the moment she read, even though very slowly, it became even weirder.

She looked at Quill after she was done, and he only sat there, completely bored out of his mind, "Excuse me? I don't quite understand?"

He turned his head lazily toward her, "So, you can't read?"

She shook her head, "No, I can, but it only says that you give us gold and that we should report to you for what we used it... but I am not an accountant, and I don't think I can pay such a sum back."

He sighed and mumbled, "Damn it, again. I knew there would be a ton of misunderstandings, but no, Aurum wouldn't listen to me..." and became a little frustrated, "...you don't pay anything back. We are a charity that was created by the fourth kit of the Leonandra household, Mr. Alexander, and we want to help the..." He showed his index finger for her to wait.

Quill grabbed into his spatial bag again, bringing out another weird parchment. He nodded, "...ah, here we go. The impoverished who need help to become an adult and work with honor and pride. Away from the shackles of poverty." He put it back while visibly cringing.

She raised an eyebrow and didn't understand a word, "I don't get it?"

He sighed and pulled out a fancy cigarette case, taking one out of there. Then, a mana item to light up the cigarette while continuing, "Short: We are a charity that helps the poor. We give you gold, and you report back with your exact expenses. If you need more, we give you more. No need to give it back."

She was slightly shocked and didn't understand anything, "What was that about Mr. Alexander? Isn't he a noble and around five or something?"

Quill shrugged, "Beats me. He wants to help and, in my opinion, take the coin as long as he is nice enough to give it."

"For what?! He can't just give it away? Right?"

He puffed once, "Fuuu, so, you think nobles are all greedy bastards?"

She quickly shook her head, "No! I didn't mean it like..."

Her panic was interrupted by laughter, "Haha! Don't worry. I thought the same, but it looks like the Archmage Puppy really wants to help. Oh, right." He pulled another parchment out, "...he wants to educate the chil... I meant kits, and yes, for free."

"Education? Free gold? I... am confused..." She didn't get it. It sounded like a scam. Too good to be true. Even though she could read and do simple calculations, it was expensive to buy an education. She knew how to calculate, read, and write only because she had a friendly Mistress who would teach her much more than she needed.

"Do you need an explanation?"

She nodded, and he continued, "Well, look at it like this. What is the difference between someone educated and not?"

She immediately said, "Better pay and better jobs."

He nodded, "Pretty much, and what is less likely to happen?"

She didn't know and shook her head. After some moments of Quill visibly thinking about something, he leaned forward to her, "I see it in your eyes. You are like me..." He leaned back and puffed again, "...we are trash who barely escaped the underworld. One wrong step and I would probably be a pretty good guard for some fuckers in the underworld, and you..." He sniffed the air, "...you would be a cheap whore."

She stood suddenly up and hissed at him, "Call me this again, you asshole, and I will show you who is a cheap whore!"

Quill smiled at her while holding his hands up in peace, "Woah there! Calm down, you know what I mean, doncha'? We are fucked and only through luck made it out, amarite?"

She frowned, "Sadly..." She looked at his eyes and knew what he meant. He had the same eyes as those hardened thugs she had sometimes as customers, "Yes..."

He shrugged while gesturing for her to sit down again, "For me, it was a broker who saw that I was good with numbers, and you have probably your person. So why not have a noble as such a person?"

She sat slowly down again, "I... don't know, but..."

He interrupted her by knocking on the table, "Listen here, if we gave them clothes, a not leaky roof, food which isn't only bread and water, and education, they would thrive. Mr. Alexander only wants to help them like you do right now. This is also why I am here with some contracts and gold."

She nodded, "Fine..." She gulped down, "...are there truly no strings attached? Like slavery or something weird nobles do?"

He chuckled, "Hehe, nah. If you want you can read it and I will come again tomorrow. While we want to help, we don't want you to steal the gold. As such, we make a contract."

She nodded as she couldn't believe what was happening. They would give her 100 average gold coins, enough to feed her kittens for three to four years and buy some adequate clothes. The repairs could also be done immediately, but something irked her, especially that they were even ready to pay for education, which was something even the kittens of lower merchants couldn't afford.

She looked at him, "Can you wait?"

He shrugged, "Do your thing. I can wait, ah!..." He pulled more parchments out and lay before her, "...so, there were more things obviously, I totally forgot them, hehe."

She knew it, 'High interest? Do they want to take the kittens as test subjects if I don't pay?'

He gave her the first one, "If you decide to accept our help, you will be obviously employed, and depending on how many kits you have, you are allowed to have employees, which you will pay. However, we will give you obviously the coin for it, but they need to sign the same contract."

She immediately read it, and the first thing she saw was the number written down, "Two large silver coins per month?!"

He leaned forward and shrugged, looking at it, "I think it's not too little since we pay for the food 'n stuff."

Marisia stared at him like he was an idiot. She made as an candlemaking expert with skills at the intermediate levels around four small silver coins in an excellent month. Now, she was about to get paid two large silver coins for looking after kittens while everything else was paid, 'Is Mr. Alexander insane?!'

She looked again at the contract. The next thing was something about compensation for not taking vacations and her new title, which she audibled, "Social worker? What's that?"

"Oh yeah, that's your new job. You will look after the kits and ensure they are healthy until they go through their first mating season. By the way, there are some asterisks."

She looked at him, "What's an asterisk? Some kind of weird potion?"

He chuckled, "Nah, something like that we will have to look for, you know? Since we pay for the kits well-being, sometimes, someone will come over and ask 'em and control what's going on, you know? Check your work."

She wanted to think again about some out-there scenarios, but it was reasonable. If they gave her the coin and employed her, they obviously wanted to ensure she did everything correctly, which also made her nervous, "I... I never had such a job."

He laughed, "Haha, nobody had. Mr. Alexander invented it. You are like an administrator but for kits and the orphanage, and if there are problems, don't worry. We will help you, but you get fired if they persist and you don't do your job. Sounds fair, right?"

Marisa didn't know what to think as it became bizarre. She was about to get employed by a nobleman, a dream scenario for many, which made her overly nervous, "I... I guess..."

Quill visibly rolled his eyes, "Listen, here..." He knocked on the table to get her attention, "...I come from trash like you, and this is an opportunity for you to work and do something good for people like us. Don't throw it away because you think nobles are scum since there is at least one who isn't."

She nodded and read it again, but now more slowly. There was nowhere written down that she would need to pay anything back. Though they could cancel the contract at any point, there were no penalties except if she stole the coins. Worst, she would be back where she was right now, 'It's... it's a chance...'

The kittens she had deserved better. She could always work again as a candlemaker without any problems, but if it came to them, she wanted to give them more, much more than what she had. It was a hard life for her, breaking her almost at some points, and when she saw them, it would crush her heart if they would go through the same as she did.

Marisa was visibly sweating as her nervousness got the better of her. She wanted to risk it, "Fine, give me a feather and ink... I will sign and hope you don't try to trick me."

He chuckled and pulled out the gold, "Here, three months, 100 average gold coins. Remember to get the bills for what you paid. If you can't find anyone for repairs 'n stuff, just come to us. At the moment, we are at the Wintersleep Hotel. Just ask for me, Ariana, or Aurum."

"Su..." She suddenly stopped and looked at him, baffled, "...100 average gold coins for three months?!"

He nodded, "Good food, good clothes, reasonable home costs, so go wild..." He smiled sadly, "...if you knew how much gold we have, you would think that we shit it."

"Can you stay and explain everything?"

He nodded and smiled cheekily at her, "Sure, but only if I can call you sugar, deal?"

She started laughing hysterically, "Haha! I can't believe that you are actually a servant of a noble!"

He leaned back and put out his cigarette on his shoe sole, putting it in his spatial pouch and pulling another out, "I am that good, sugar."

...

Wolfsteeth, Northern District - Somewhere else, before a house for widows and the homeless

"B... But I am about to give you gold! Free gold!"

"Go away!

The door slammed before Ariana's face as she stood baffled but suddenly became angry, "Fuck you!"

She turned around and went back into her carriage and plopped down. She suddenly heard Maurice's voice, "This was the fifth, huh?"

She looked at him with hate, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!..." She stood up, grabbing his shirt, "...They are all stupid! I can't believe that I found my dream job in a territory I love, and now nobody wants to get help! Fuck them! I hope they all suffer and die!"

The coachman asked, "Is everything alright?"

Maurice smirked, "Yeah, drive back to Wintersleep hotel."

The carriage started to move, and Ariana plopped down, all exhausted and frustrated, "Damn it!"

Maurice sighed, "Listen, we have a meeting in a couple of minutes, so calm down. I bet the others have the same problem, all right?"

She nodded, "I hope so... I really want this to work."

Ariana had an ego and pride like everyone else. She finished the school as best of her year, even though her grades didn't reflect it since they were pushed down to appease the nobles. This wasn't important, though, as she knew that she was better than all of them.

So, after the long talk with Ocilia, she envisioned how everyone would look at her in awe and thank her for her help. However, when she started enthusiastically, nobody trusted her and even less wanted help.

She understood it, though. The distrust commoners had against nobles and their so-called charity projects was big. The Leonandra's would give out food two times a week for free, and she now knew why this worked so well, and their concept didn't: They could see it and immediately get it, and there was no contract involved.

However, they would give so much more for nothing. They only needed reassurance, and this was for the most who could barely read a giant red flag they wouldn't touch.

She bit her lip nervously, 'I hope I am not the only one with problems.'