The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent – 6
EP.6 Interlude
“This is good, right, sister?”
The two people in front of her seemed kind.
Claire found it quite strange. Even though she was young, she wasn’t so innocent that she couldn’t tell how others felt.
From her earliest memories, she had wandered the back alleys. Being caught by alley thugs and forced to beg on the main street with a dented tin can was the first image Claire could recall of herself.
The thugs always frightened Claire, telling her that she’d meet a terrible fate if the police caught her. So, whenever she saw a police officer from afar while begging on the street, she would slip into the alley to hide.
Claire, being young, wasn’t subject to strict daily begging quotas like the older kids. These older kids had to beg a certain amount of money, or they’d be brutally beaten. The swelling from these beatings often made it easier for them to get more pity and money from people.
The reason the thugs didn’t give the younger kids quotas wasn’t because they felt sorry for them; it was because they knew the kids were too young to make enough money. If they had any compassion, they wouldn’t have sold Claire to an orphanage for money.
The old woman, who regularly visited the thugs, saw Claire and immediately handed over money, purchasing her. Even though Claire was still just a child, she easily understood that she had been sold. After all, she had witnessed the exchange of money for goods multiple times.
Of course, the orphans under the thugs received nothing more than moldy bread, no matter how much money they brought in.
“You’ll sell for a high price.”
Claire remembered the smile on the old woman’s face as she led her to the orphanage. It hadn’t been so long ago that she’d forgotten.
Life in the orphanage was better than living under the thugs.
The porridge might have had the texture of paper soaked in water, but at least she could fill her empty stomach at the same time every day. As long as she listened to the old woman, there was no fear of being beaten. And most importantly, even if she did get hit, it was rare for the blows to cause bleeding or leave scars.
Moreover, in the orphanage, Claire met a “good person” for the first time.
Sylvia.
She carried the surname “Black,” and she seemed to be the oldest among the children. But the age difference between Sylvia and Claire didn’t seem that large. At a glance, they could almost look the same age.
But since the old woman had said so, Claire decided to believe it. Even when Claire called her “sister,” Sylvia didn’t seem to mind.
She might have looked a bit startled, but that was the extent of it.
When Claire first heard Sylvia referred to as the leader of the group, she thought Sylvia would be like the others—someone who hit the other children. The “bosses” appointed by the thugs were always like that. To avoid being beaten, you had to follow their orders.
But… Sylvia was different.
“Are you hungry? Here, take this. Eat more.”
Although the food was served on time, the portions were too small for one person to feel full. Sylvia would finish her portion and then quietly share bits of it with the children who sat staring at their empty bowls. She never hit anyone, nor did she raise her voice. She didn’t get angry if someone laughed, and when the kids whined, she would try to calm them with kind words.
For Claire, who had never met anyone like Sylvia before, she found Sylvia to be truly fascinating. In some ways, Sylvia felt more like an “adult” than even the old woman, who had likely lived longer than the combined ages of all the children in the orphanage.
And it seemed the other children felt the same way.
They followed Sylvia.
Sylvia was usually quiet, but when the children became restless, she would awkwardly tell them old stories. Most of these tales were repetitive, with only the names of the characters, the ending, and the setting being different. However, with nothing else to entertain them, the children loved to hear those stories.
In reality, Sylvia hadn’t been the leader of the children for very long. Only about a month had passed from the time Claire arrived at the orphanage until it burned down.
But for Claire, that month was the happiest and most comfortable period of her life.
After the fire, after the old woman’s death, and after escaping with the other children, Sylvia led them towards the heart of the city. The entire journey had been nothing short of miraculous. They managed to avoid the notice of the countless police officers patrolling the main streets, and they didn’t have a single altercation with the thugs in the alleyways. Sylvia moved forward without hesitation, right to the city center.
And somehow, she had found her way to this place.
“The children’s condition is quite poor.”
The man with the splendid beard said as he lifted the sleeve of the child in front of him for a closer look.
“It looks like they haven’t eaten for days.”
The lady beside him said.
Claire had encountered people on the streets who, from time to time, would drop money into her tin can. Those people had looked at her with pity, but never before had she seen someone actively checking on her condition or speaking with such genuine concern.
“Where did you come from? Are there more children like you?”
“I don’t know.”
The child, whose hand was held by the man, said fearfully. The man nodded and let go of the child’s hand.
“Is there someone who brought you here?”
“Ah, that would be—”
Sylvia. It was Sylvia who had led all the children, including Claire, to this point.
“This is good, right, sister?”
The two people seemed kind.
Sylvia must have known this and brought them here, seeking a place of refuge. How she knew didn’t really matter. What mattered was that, from this moment on, they would be far safer than they had ever been in the orphanage.
“Sister?”
But the gentle voice that always answered Claire when she spoke didn’t respond this time.
She turned around.
Sylvia had been standing at the very back of the group—
But when Claire turned around, no one was there.
“Huh?”
Claire quickly spun around. There were people walking along the main street, carriages passing by on the road, and countless individuals going in and out of shops. But Sylvia was nowhere to be seen.
“Sylvia!”
Claire called out, but still, there was no response.
“What’s the matter?”
The lady, who had approached unnoticed, asked.
“Was there someone else?”
“My sister, my sister is gone!”
Claire exclaimed. Hearing this, the lady’s expression immediately turned serious.
“You mean there was originally one more person with you?”
“Yes, she was at the back of the group…”
Claire’s voice trailed off as the lady turned her gaze toward her husband, their eyes locking in silent communication.
“Don’t worry, we’ll look for her. We’re sure to find her.”
The lady said, kneeling down to meet Claire’s eyes.
“Really?”
Normally, Claire wouldn’t have asked such a question. Every adult she had encountered so far hated being questioned. That’s how anxious Claire felt. She was afraid that just as suddenly as Sylvia had come into her life, she might vanish just as quickly.
“Yes. We’ll definitely find her.”
Instead of yelling at Claire, cursing her, or hitting her, the lady was kind to her. She just gently patted Claire’s head with her hand.
Claire nodded.
From then on, everything seemed to go smoothly. It didn’t take long for Claire to learn that the two people were Baron Grace and his wife, the Baroness. Within the barony, there was a newly built orphanage, and the Baron and Baroness were more than willing to take in the group of orphans who had come to their doorstep.
And that wasn’t the end of it. As time passed, the number of orphans increased steadily. All the children wore clean clothes, lived in a hygienic environment, and had proper meals to grow strong and healthy. The education provided was thorough. Despite the fact that all the orphans originally came from the back alleys, some of them grew up to be smart enough to enter the Imperial Runedarium Academy, while others developed swordsmanship skills that were no less impressive.
One of them even grew so close to the Grace family’s eldest son that they became like siblings.
That one was Claire.
At the age of ten, Claire was adopted by the Grace family and became “Claire Grace.” With swordsmanship skills surpassing those of the Grace family’s eldest son, who was considered a prodigy, she was able to enter the Imperial Rundarium Academy at the age of fifteen, the age when all noble children began their higher education, as the second-highest ranked student.
However, even during those years, Claire never found Sylvia among the newly arriving orphans.