Orphanage (part 2)

We stayed in the orphanage until afternoon, and right before sundown, we had company.

"I am from the guild, and here to deliver a message."

A man in a hood and mask said while slightly bowing. 

We are now in front of the church's front door, with Rake standing right in front of the mysterious guest. I stood behind him, standing between Rake and Miss Rina who was stopping the children from watching through the door.

"You followed us?"

"It was not out of any negative intentions… The guild master has regarded our relation with you as an S rank partnership, and will always serve you the best services we can do for you."

"How interesting… for sure I erased our presence when we ran. Your Lionade adventurers guild is quite a capable one, huh…?"

Hearing this taunt, the messenger stayed silent. He then bowed slightly once more and spoke again.

"I can promise dear customer… that our guild has nothing negative towards you."

"You think I will believe the promises of people spying on us from behind?"

Rake then stepped forward, and he held the collar of the messenger. I was about to stop him, but the aura around Rake was so heavy that I couldn't step forward.

So this is… magical pressure…

I can't come close to him at all. It felt like suffocating the more I got closer, and I know it's definitely much heavier for the guy being held right there.

"Stay away from us… don't spy on us anymore. If we want to find you, we will go to you. Call your spies off."

"… Will do, dear customer."

Rake let go of the grip, and the messenger held his neck from the suffocation.

"Now, speak. What message did the guild master want to tell us?"

"Y-Yes… the two actors suitable to your liking have been found. One is a tall male with blonde hair, and he has the ability to use light magic. The other is a black haired short female, with a height similar to the person behind you."

The messenger said while turning his gaze at me, and I can't help but feel worried.

Can we truly… trust the adventurers guild?

"Both of them are quite capable in their abilities. Would you like to meet them first before advancing the mission?"

"No need. Just tell them to leave Lionade as quickly as they can while attracting attention. Go to Clouren, and bring all the knights hunting us on Lionade there."

"Understood, dear customer. And since you requested us to take away our members from following you… how do you expect us to be able to contact you?"

"Don't need to. Just do the mission, and once you're done, that's it."

"… Very well."

The messenger then turned around and was about to leave, but then Rake lifted his presence again.

"I have to warn you… if the adventurers guild are messing with us even just by a little bit--"

"The guild master is aware of your existence, Paladin hero. You do not need to worry about us betraying you."

Hearing his title getting openly called like that, Rake got taken aback. His aura fluctuates, and his presence is no longer making things heavy to breathe.

The messenger then lifted his mask slightly, showing us only his mouth and nose.

"Rest assured… our adventurers guild offers… the best services in the entire world."

He showed us a really mad grin as he spoke. Then he wore the mask back on and began leaving the orphanage.

"How bold…"

Rake mumbled, and he turned around.

"You're really… overly confident in yourself. You know that…?"

I said to him slightly out of breath as he walked past me, but he only chuckled upon hearing it.

"True, but it's not like it's baseless."

He beat me there… he is the strongest hero and somewhat. 

Rake then returned back inside and was immediately barraged with questions by the children. As a result, we now have a QnA session with Rake and the children.

While they were talking, I talked with Miss Rina about a couple things, such as what it means to live here, and is there a possibility about me living here.

"Here in the church…? I-I'm afraid it's not possible…"

"N-No, I meant in this area. I see that this place is rural enough and far away from the reach of knights. It's a perfect place for me to stay in. Are there any buildings that are abandoned? Or maybe a house being sold?"

"People don't really sell houses in the slums… The owners simply left the house if they went elsewhere, and other poor people could just stay in that house if they wanted to. There's no genuine house business here, people even fight for houses sometimes."

"I see… that's tough."

"But, I do know of an abandoned house…"

Miss Rina then told me about an old abandoned house in the middle of the woods, rather far from the church but is still near the slums area. She said the house was famous for being haunted, and that there are actual ghosts inside them.

Oh lord… how scary.

But if those ghosts were in fact fake, I could probably use that place as my temporary place to live.

Because in case you haven't noticed, I am homeless. I will need a place to sleep, and we can't just go around buying houses or whatever with Rake's money. And also I'd like to use as little help as possible from that guy.

I still don't accept him. I will need to find a way to work things out myself.

"In that case… I'll check the place out later."

I said to the young nun, and she looked quite surprised knowing how brave I am for going to a haunted house.

The thing is…

I am scared of ghosts.

Dad is a bitch for telling me all those scary stories about an undead general haunting an ancient castle. It was like an old story that has been going on with the young knights, and he somehow heard of it and told me about it as a fucking bed time story.

Who the fuck tells a horror story as a bed time story???

Rake then appeared not long after and joined the conversation. We then decided to try and take a look at the place after sundown, since that's the time when the kids will have to go to sleep.

Not sure why people sleep at sundown. It's such a waste that they don't experience night life. Then again, it's understandable since the nun is alone, and handling eleven wild children when you can barely see anything is simply hellish.

The three of us then talked about various events that had happened in the past with the church. The children sometimes casually came in and joined in on the story telling, and that became our source of entertainment until sundown.

After sundown arrives, comes the departure.

"Will you come see us again, sis?"

Luca asked with teary eyes, and I kneeled right in front of her.

"Honestly, if possible I don't want to leave this place. But… the longer we stay, things might get dangerous for you."

"Huhhhh???"

The girl doesn't seem to understand, but she accepted my hug anyway.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm going away forever. If that place is good, then I might just stay there forever and see you any day."

"Really!?"

"No promises, though! Remember, the place has to suffice first."

"Huhhhhh????"

Luca is so cute. She is wild and pretty, a bit like me, I guess.

I messed her hair once again and turned to Miss Rina. She nodded at us, and we both waved our hands at them.

The kids can be heard shouting to us from behind as we gradually leave the area. It's a long step down the hill, but we reached the bottom in no time.

Miss Rina already told us where it is, and all we have to do is not get lost in the slums and make it safely.

We arrived on the outskirts of the slums, right by the entrance to the forest. According to Miss Rina, the house is in the middle of the forest, so we need to go quite deep in order to reach it. As for where it is exactly, she only said we just need to follow a certain sign that is placed all around the forest.

'HAUNTED, DO NOT ENTER'

Yep. Sounds very… friendly.

Also it's sundown. It's dark as hell, and how the trees looked so scary doesn't make it any better.

I turned to Rake, and I could see him opening his mask.

"I'm… not good with the dark."

From his expression, it does seem that he is genuinely disliking the eerie feeling. Well…

"… Same here."

I'm starting to regret coming to this place…