Orphanage

"What's your name?" a 40-year-old woman asked the boy who wandered into the orphanage.

She was one and a half meters tall, but her proud bearing gave a different impression. She had a hooked nose, cloudy blue eyes, high cheekbones and slightly sagging cheeks. Her face was lined, and there were gray streaks in her neatly folded hair. She was wearing a simple gray dress with no special distinguishing features, but she still exuded the aura of an authoritative adult.

"I don't remember," the boy honestly admitted, swinging his legs while sitting on a chair.

"Do you have any guardians or close relatives?" the mother superior of the orphanage asked.

"No," the boy shook his head, looking at the woman with his big eyes.

"I see," she nodded, turning to the other woman in the room. "Sheila, ask the older kids to get the bed out of the warehouse."

Sheila, a plump lady in a white kerchief and apron, nodded quickly and left.

The room they were in now was small and made of wood, like most of the orphanage itself.

"Get up, let's go to dinner," the woman said, offering the boy her hand. He took it with a little delay.

***

"Father, we got what was required of us," Sam said, kneeling with the others in front of Bill in his tent.

"Stand up," Bill announced loudly, "and show the results."

Sam stood up, two dark spheres levitated near him, one small, the other larger.

They flew towards Bill, hovering over both of his palms, after which they burst, showing their contents.

It was a small fragment of the soul, which contained at most three small dots – memories –, and a piece of living flesh that moved and tried to grow, but did not dare to act under Bill's gaze.

He locked these two objects into golden colored spheres that began to hover around him.

"What about the mage himself? Have you managed to find out anything about him?" Father asked.

"No, unfortunately we haven't found him, nevertheless I feel that a part of me is in Baldem, but I can't pinpoint exactly which part of the city he is in."

"We were able to get a piece of soul and biological material during the battle, but it was a trick. Most likely, he left his clone in the forest, inside of which there was an artificial soul. He was able to do magic and created even more clones, but during the battle we were able to win," Sam reported.

Bill looked at Seracin, who was standing behind Sam, but he just nodded his head, confirming his partner's words.

"Anything else?" asked Bill.

"Yes, two participants in the operation, archer Veronica and telekinetic mage Gwanrom, were seriously injured, but they are all right now."

"I see," Bill nodded, turning his attention to the three volunteers, but afterward he swept his gaze over all five of them again. "You have performed very poorly, failed to deal with one decoy, lost three of Count Velgri's soldiers, endangered his children, nearly lost two more, and achieved the most modest of results. It's a disgrace."

Everyone except Maximilian lowered their heads, ashamed. Bill looked at the guy, chuckled, and turned back to all five of them.

"Such words would be fair if we were talking about a level five mage, however, I am more than certain that our opponent is a level six mage of flesh, bone, and possibly blood. I mean, a demigod. In that case, it is the truest miracle that you only lost three."

There was a slight surprise on the faces of the team members, but not because they learned about the strength of the enemy, in fact, they assumed that the enemy was strong, because he was able to destroy a huge city with a population of 100 thousand people.

What really surprised them was that they were able to deal with a clone of this creature.

"You have shown yourself very well and earned the right to become part of the Order of Confectors, but you should not give your consent right now. Get some rest first," Bill said.

The three volunteers who agreed to participate in this mission nodded gratefully as they went outside.

Bill looked down at Sam. That look made Sam want to lower his head and never look at the Holy Father again.

"You, Seracin and Agnes will go in search of the second one infected with your darkness," he said, putting a fatherly hand on Sam's shoulder. "Don't disappoint me again."

"But Father, how will you find the flesh mage without me?" Sam asked without looking up.

"A fragment of his soul will serve as something like a magnet, but that's not your concern anymore, go," Bill sent him off, looking in the direction of Seracin.

When Sam left, Bill asked, "what about those two who were injured? Were there any complications?"

"Gwanrom was captured by the tentacles of the enemy and dragged underground, he was there for almost a whole minute and was probably injured. The bullet pierced his left lung and heart, but it did not affect his soul, he may need to be examined by a soul mage."

"After the battle ended, I healed and examined him, but I did not find the influence of the parasite, however, if the enemy is really a six-level mage, then my observations may be wrong, he needs to be monitored and any changes in behavior should be noticed."

"As for Nycterian, I was able to heal her despite her serious injuries, except that a mark resembling a black dot appeared on her abdomen. It's clearly not a mole, for I didn't create that when restoring her body. Also, there was an embryo developing inside her, but she was conscious and forbade me to examine it, yet it was clearly very unusual."

"I think it's also worth noting the emotional instability of the third volunteer, Maximilian. During the Disaster, he lost his slave, Anji. During the battle in the forest, the flesh mage somehow understood his affection for Anji and recreated her image, which caused him to fall into a stupor. Perhaps this demigod was closer to us than we thought?"

"We've already checked the Baroness's guest lists and searched among the young people. There were children of the Baroness's invited friends from aristocratic circles, children of honorary citizens and a member of one of the teams of Defenders, but now, with this information, we can say that our enemy was a magician named Yakov."

Seracin nodded at this statement.

"Father, may I ask what measures we will take next to stop Yakov?" He asked before Bill sent him away.

"I have notified His Majesty the Emperor and the other Holy Fathers of the Order about what happened," Bill replied. "An order has been received from the Emperor, which I must keep secret until it begins, the Holy Fathers will soon arrive in the city to fulfill it. But it doesn't concern you anymore, you already have a job," Bill replied, signaling to his subordinate that he could go.

***

Night had fallen in the city, but patrols from the local guards, police forces and the Defenders militia were just beginning. Even in the evening, when one of my clones became a pupil of an orphanage, a curfew was announced.

But even so, passions continued to heat up – an armed military detachment consisting of at least 500 soldiers arrived in the city, among whom were soldiers in green camouflage and knights in latticed armor and cloaks divided into 4 sections.

By this point, my decoys had already more or less settled in the city, leading a simple life.

The girl met a guy, bought some tobacco, used the remaining money to rent a cheap room in a tavern for several nights.

The man got into conversation with a regular at a local bar, who advised him a relatively cheap place to stay for the night with good rooms, where the man subsequently headed.

The little boy had dinner with the orphanage soup and began to make friends among the orphans, getting ready for bed.

The city could have fallen asleep by now, but because of the commotion, everyone was on edge.

***

"Hey, look, look," a little girl of about 11 whispered, beckoning to two boys of the same age, one of whom was her younger brother.

"What's there, what's there?" The boy asked. "I don't see it, Alice."

Alice had black hair and blue eyes, her face had not yet had time to suffer due to her transitional age and she could be called a nice child. She had plump cheeks and lips, as well as a large forehead. She wore an old blue dress with patches and a white apron, and had a small black bow on her head.

"These are soldiers, Martis," the girl replied. "Look how brave and courageous they all are. When you grow up, you'll be like that too."

Martis was wearing a brown sweater covering his neck, which was a little too big for him in size. He was also wearing light-colored tweed trousers. His eyes and hair were the same color as his sister's, but his forehead was smaller, his cheekbones bulged, making his cheeks look thin, and his red lips looked cracked.

"Wow! Cool!" The boy exclaimed. "And you? Will you become like this when you grow up?"

"Nah, I want to be as beautiful as our Lady or even better," the girl proudly declared.

"And you? Who do you want to become?" Martis asked the new pupil of the orphanage.

"I..." he stammered, not knowing what to say, "I don't know. I think I've already become what I wanted to be."