I Asked The Orphanage To Take Care Of Liza
“Headmistress, and what about the children here?”
“Oh, there is nothing like that here. After all, we watch over them closely. And besides, most of the children here have unfortunate backgrounds…”
“Hmm… In that case, I suppose it is best to leave Liza here?”
If the adults watched over them carefully, then it was unlikely that she would be bullied.
And as Ms. Anna said, this was an orphanage, and all of the children were here due to some circumstance.
Those who know pain are kinder… I had heard something like that before… Of course, it was still better to not know pain at all.
In any case, I agreed with Mr. Ekenhart that Liza should be kept in the orphanage.
Unless the slums changed, then Liza would meet the same fate there. And it was difficult to see what was happening in such a place.
At least in the orphanage, she would not lack for company, and Ms. Anna and the others would take care of her.
“Ms. Anna. Perhaps I am being presumptuous to ask this of you… But could you take care of Liza?”
Thinking that this was the safest solution, I bowed my head as I made the request.
“Mr. Takumi! Please raise your head! You are the one who helped us when the children were suffering from the illness. If you have a request, then I will do what I can to help you!”
“However… I am sorry. We cannot take Liza…”
Ms. Anna looked frantic when she saw that I had bowed my head.
And then she said that she would do what she could to help. So I thought she would agree to it…but she did not.
“Why is that, headmistress?”
“I am sorry… But we have so many children here already… There are not enough rooms and beds… And so we will not be able to take her in…”
Ms. Anna answered Mr. Ekenhart’s question apologetically.
Indeed, when treating the illness with the Ramogi, I had seen how many children were in each room.
Sometimes, there were two sleeping in a single bed…
Perhaps they could get more beds.
But the rooms were also quite full…
“But didn’t Milina leave?”
“As she is an adult, she was separate from the children. Those who do not leave sleep in a different place… Sometimes, that means sleeping in the hallways…”
“Mmm… So there are that many… We will have to do something about that…”
So Milina had slept in a different place from the children before coming to the mansion.
According to Ms. Anna, the children took up all the rooms and beds. And the people who worked here who were adults would sleep in the hallways when there wasn’t enough space.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Ekenhart was deep in thought.
As the lord of these lands, the management of the orphanage was his responsibility.
Not enough rooms. Even if the place was to be rebuilt, it could not be done immediately…
Besides, it might not always be . And it was possible that after a larger building was constructed, then the number of orphans would decrease.
I wished that I could help, but there was nothing that I could do… And I didn’t know if they would listen. But if I could think of something helpful, I would make a suggestion.
“Still, what should we do… It would be a shame to have to return her to the slums after she has washed up…”
“Yes. As long as they don’t look kindly on beastkin, it will just happen again…”
“Now that I think about it, why did Leo go over to where Liza was?”
“Indeed. It did seem like she was searching for Liza from far away. Perhaps there was a reason for that?”
“Indeed… Leo. Do you have a minute?”
I suddenly remembered that Leo had guided us to Liza.
Even before we entered the slums, she seemed to be anxious about something.
And so I called Leo, who came over while having ten children stuck to her.
…They really did like Leo…
“Leo. Were you searching for Liza from that far away?”
“Wuff? Wuff-wuff. Wuff.”
“Uh, she says she smelled something that was like her own kind. And while it wasn’t her kind after all, she sensed that it needed help…”
“Hmm… Because she was a beastkin…”
“Wuff-wuff. Wuff-wuff!”
According to Leo, while they were not monsters, beastkin were important for beast-type monsters.
And so she felt a kinship towards them, and thought that she had to help…
I then relayed this information to Mr. Ekenhart and Ms. Anna.
“Important to good Leo… I have heard that many beastkin have beast monsters as familiars. Perhaps that is related…”
“…Do you mean, like silver fenrirs?”
“No, Mr. Takumi. Even beastkin do not have silver fenrirs as familiars. Well…maybe they would have fenrirs thought.”
So, even beastkin couldn’t have silver fenrirs.
But they could have fenrirs. So beastkin might find it easier to have beast familiars compared to humans.
…Though, there was a fenrir living leasurely in the mansion, who was a human’s familiar…
Regardless, this connection might be why Leo could sense that someone was asking for help…