READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 10
The place I entered with the guidance was a small room that felt like a mix between a parlor and an office.
The wallpaper was faded, and everything inside was old and worn out.
I sat down on the sofa. Lena sat across from me.
We were staring at each other’s faces across the table.
Lena pressed her palms together and bowed her head with a very apologetic expression.
“I’m really sorry. My child was once kidnapped by bad people. They were rescued safely, but there’s no guarantee something like that won’t happen again. So I’m trying to prevent it from happening… Were you really scared?”
It was definitely quite a strong presence.
An ordinary child would surely be crying in that situation, and rowdy delinquents would be scared enough to tuck their tails and run.
But I was fine. So there was no need for her to apologize.
Admittedly, my outfit was also somewhat suspicious. If a shady person was lurking around, anyone would react that way. Safety first, right?
Being considerate, I nodded as if to say I understood.
“Is that so? You’re really brave. Usually, everyone else would be running away.”
Lena praised me, saying how amazing I was.
But within the compliments, I felt a strange sense of discomfort. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. Was it just my imagination?
“If you keep that on, it’ll be uncomfortable, so how about you take it off over there?”
When Lena pointed to my hood and mask, I shook my head.
“Is that so? Come to think of it, Red said you had a reason for covering your face. Is that right?”
I nodded.
“If there’s a reason, then it can’t be helped. If it’s because you’re embarrassed to show your face, don’t worry. There aren’t any friends here who would mock you for that. Well, if it’s a really funny face, they might laugh, but they won’t mean any harm, so don’t take it to heart.”
Heh, Lena was smiling.
It’s not like I’m keeping it on for any major reason.
No one knows that the Grim Reaper is a girl, so it wouldn’t be a problem to show my face.
I just have a really adorable face, and I don’t want to show it off for no reason.
They say beautiful flowers attract insects. And there are people with ulterior motives trying to pluck flowers too.
So I’m just completely blocking off any troublesome incidents beforehand.
“I heard you can’t talk. Is that true?”
I nodded again.
Lena looked at me with a pitiful expression.
‘Even that person has such eyes.’
Red does too, and the dessert shop owner did as well. I vaguely remember them having those expressions when I mentioned that I couldn’t speak.
Most people just reacted indifferently when I told them I couldn’t speak.
“It must be uncomfortable to keep moving your body to try to talk… Wait just a moment.”
Lena stood up from the sofa and walked to the desk, rummaging through the shelves and drawers.
After a moment, Lena returned to the sofa with something in her hand.
She placed it on the table.
It was paper and a pencil.
I understood what that meant.
“Can you write?”
I nodded.
I picked up the pencil and wrote on the paper as a test.
[Why. Orphanage. Security device. Not there?]
It wasn’t a properly formed sentence.
It was exceptionally lacking for something I confidently nodded about.
Yeah, I know. But what can you do?
This isn’t the world I used to live in.
Of course, the writing system is completely different, and no matter how long I’ve lived here, I didn’t receive proper education, so my skills are bound to be subpar.
Maybe it’s a perk of reincarnation; I have no problem hearing and reading.
But frustratingly, writing requires my full skill set.
This too is a result of effort through sweat and blood.
‘Damn. If you could let me listen and read, why can’t you make it easy to write? What’s this?’
I grumbled inwardly while glancing at Lena’s expression.
She was looking down at the paper with a somewhat sad look, then quickly changed her expression as she noticed my gaze.
And then, as if nothing happened, she responded to my question.
“Because I’m here!”
Even though the sudden change in her expression caught my attention, I didn’t pry further.
I redirected my focus to what she said.
I didn’t understand her words, so I drew a question mark on the paper.
Lena crossed her arms and puffed out her chest.
“Actually, this big sister is really good at fighting. Since I can protect the kids enough without it, I didn’t install any security devices.”
That was a level of confidence that felt a bit arrogant.
If an ordinary person said something like that, I’d assume they were just boastful. But she wasn’t merely posturing.
She seemed to have genuine skill, though she might pale in comparison to Red.
I could tell just by looking.
But that was that; didn’t she just say a child was kidnapped?
I thought, “You couldn’t protect them after all,” and in that moment, Lena’s mood changed dramatically.
The confidence that was pouring from her suddenly darkened, and her proud smile flipped to the opposite.
Her shoulders slumped, and she bowed her head, speaking in a very dispirited voice.
“…That’s what I thought. Hahaha…”
Not knowing how to comfort her, I flailed my arms in confusion.
Fortunately, Lena managed to pull herself together.
“In fact, even if I wanted to install some devices, the orphanage’s living expenses are tight.”
So it was tied to money problems.
A very practical reason.
Does it really cost that much?
I tapped the question mark I had drawn on the paper, and a lonely smile appeared on Lena’s lips.
Even when I gazed at her silently, she didn’t say anything.
Normally, I wouldn’t pry too deeply into something, but people tend to want to know more when told they shouldn’t. I think they call it reverse psychology.
Anyway, seeing her act that way somehow made me want to push back more, and I fixed my gaze on her.
About three minutes passed like that.
“Alright, I give up. It’s not really a secret anyway. I wasn’t going to share because it’s something kids don’t need to know, but if you’re that curious, I’ll tell you a little.”
Lena casually revealed the reasons.
To put it simply, it was due to orphanage expenses + taxes + various issues, so there was no room for devices. No matter how much Red’s support there was.
“It’s really tight running an orphanage in Outskirts City, even with money problems.”
Lena sighed.
She looked tired.
But soon after, she wiped the tired look from her face.
“By the way, I just realized I didn’t ask why you came here. Did you come to see Red?”
Her expression and voice were overly gentle.
But why did I feel like she was testing me? Was it just my imagination?
Though she seemed to be smiling on the surface, was she actually wary of me?
There didn’t seem to be any signs of that. What was it?
Well, first things first, let’s just tell her why I came here.
Thinking that, I began to write down my reasons as clearly as I could for Lena to understand.
[Red. Proposal. Refusal. Once. Tour. Possible?]
‘Even I find this funny. Is this really explanation material? It might be better to express myself physically.’
Feeling embarrassed, I had an impulse to tear it up right away.
I jotted it down hastily, then tried to rewrite it.
“Aha, so Red refused your proposal, but you were curious about what the orphanage was like, so you came to look around.”
Did she understand this?!
Lena waved her hand as if it was no big deal.
“Red told me not to be too wary since a little kid might come to visit later.”
Given that she easily relaxed her caution just by showing a device, there must have been a reason behind it.
“Red would have really appreciated you being here. Come to think of it, I don’t think I properly introduced myself. I’m Lena, the director of Sunshine Orphanage.”
Lena offered me her hand for a shake.
Wait, she’s the director?
I steadied my surprised heart and accepted her handshake.
‘What is this? It feels like she’s gripping my hand a bit hard.’
As I was inwardly bewildered, Lena spoke.
“I want to show you around immediately, but I have to make snacks for the kids right now. So, do you want to wait here and go together? Or would you like to wander around alone for a bit?”
I was curious about what kind of snacks, but I decided to explore on my own.
*
While the Grim Reaper was visiting the orphanage, Red was in the middle of fulfilling a request.
The request level was quite high. It was a request that even experienced and skilled solvers would have to be on their toes for. But Red dealt with it very easily.
That was to be expected since this request was a walk in the park for a solver of Red’s caliber.
If you think about her fees, it was better to receive requests that matched her level.
Normally, that would have been the case. But there’s a special reason why this time it wasn’t.
‘Is it another bust this time? For now, let’s look around a little longer, to see if there are any potential clues.’
Red started to slowly roam around the scene of the event.
Her eyes swept over the scattered corpses as if searching for something, and flipped through documents written by the criminals in their lifetime.
‘Hmm? What’s this…?’
Her busy hands came to a halt.
A strange glimmer flickered in Red’s eyes.
It wasn’t the information she was looking for, but it was information she couldn’t overlook.
By the time she was about to read the third document, her phone rang from her coat pocket.
Red stopped reading and picked up the call; it was her colleague, Stal.
“Yeah. Everything is sorted here. Oh, got it. I’ll be out soon.”
Gathering the documents, Red tucked them under her arm and went outside.
Upon exiting the scene, she found solver colleagues swarming around outside.
Red glanced around but quickly spotted an orc sitting on a bench in the distance.
Even from afar, the orc looked exhausted and worn out.
She made her way toward the orc, and up close, she noticed several scratches all over his body.
“What happened to you? Did sitting in the office make your body stiff all of a sudden?”
Red teased with a smirk, but Stal frowned at her antics.
“Do you think everyone is like you? By the way, did you find what you were looking for?”
“No, but I found something else.”
Red patted the stack of documents tucked under her arm.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a list of people that the Cult of the Grim Reaper is interested in.”
“Was Lena on it?”
“No, but there was someone I know on it…”
Red gestured for Stal to move aside.
As Stal stepped aside, Red plopped down into the newly freed space.
Stal asked, “So, is it really true that the Cult of the Grim Reaper is involved in Lena’s kidnapping case?”
“The scull mask and the priest; Lena said the people who kidnapped her were dressed like that. Who else would wear such outrageous outfits but the Cult of the Grim Reaper?”
“I can’t make sense of it. Why would those guys kidnap Lena? I mean, I’m doubtful that they’re really from the Cult. It’s easy to get those kinds of costumes; wouldn’t someone have disguised themselves to frame them?”
“That might be the case. But it’s odd to kidnap someone in such eye-catching clothes when they’re trying to hide their identity. It’s too blunt.”
“Plus, there’s something that doesn’t add up. How did they avoid Lena’s watchful eye?”
Red sank into thought, falling silent.
Lena.
The director of Sunshine Orphanage, and the sturdy little sister who protects the kids all alone.
Lena held a special kind of ability. And using that special power, she keeps watch over the children to prevent any incidents.
Kidnapping a child while evading Lena’s gaze wasn’t an easy task.
At least, it shouldn’t have been unless someone knew Lena really well.
The issue is, Red was the only one who truly understood Lena’s abilities.
“Well, honestly, I’m just as puzzled about how they managed to kidnap the child without Lena noticing. It shouldn’t be possible unless they knew a lot about her.”
Red looked up and stared at the dark sky.
The gloomy clouds seemed to reflect the current situation perfectly.