I Invaded a Town and Saw a Perplexing Orphanage

The boy was quite surprised to hear the hobo offer to help. In fact, this prompted the boy to reexamine his first impression of the man:

This "hobo" in the middle of the woods looked to be a slightly pudgy man in his early 30s. He wasn't very good-looking and his head was shaved, though red-brown stubble was still visible. He wore a loose set of dull gray, white, and black clothes that looked very worn out. His blue eyes were a little beady. There didn't seem to anything special or magical about him.

And yet, this man had easily turned Teddywumpus into a pile of rice without even saying an incantation or using a wand. That was magic far more powerful than the boy could imagine.

So if this stranger was offering to help the boy improve his life and get out of the orphanage, he might as well take him up on his offer.

The boy offered a handshake. "My name is Little Orphan Ronaldo."

The man took his hand. "I'm just gonna call you Ron. My name's Frank. Now show me this orphanage."

***

Ron led Frank through the forest, making casual conversation as they went. He told Frank about the army of homeless people who used to live in the vast forest which surrounded town. They'd been all kicked out when the Emperor decreed that it was now illegal to be without a job. The homeless people didn't all come from this town, but from cities farther to the West. This town, as it happened, had a pretty understaffed guard force, so they used orphans with Pocket Mans to cull the homeless population.

And since the children did such a poor job of it, the homeless stayed in the area instead of migrating even farther East.

Meanwhile, Frank told Ron the very short story of how he'd arrived in this world. "I really wish the dragon had asked me before sending me," he said. "Even if I had to get this stupid power, I think I'd rather have stayed in my old world. I had a few friends there, at least."

"At least you had friends," said Ron. "The people who run the orphanage make us fight in Pocket Man tournaments where the winner eats the loser's Pocket Man. That means they get all the experience from the loser, and then the loser has to start over. It's humiliating. They pit us against each other so we don't rebel against them."

"Very much not cool," said Frank. He pointed ahead of them. "Hey, that must be the edge of your town."

Indeed it was. A wooden stockade rose up high, though nowhere near as tall as the monstrous trees of the forest. A pair of bored-looking guards with sharpened sticks as weapons stood beside a small opening that only looked big enough to let a couple of carts and horses through. Nobody except for Ron and Frank were trying to get through now, though.

"Hey!" Ron called as they approached.

One of the guards squinted his eyes in suspicion at the two of them. "Welcome back, Little Orphan Ronald. I see you caught a live one. Planning on selling him to one of your little orphan friends so they can get his experience? You're a better businessman than I'd thought."

"Sure," said Ron. "Whatever."

The guards let the two of them pass into the town without another word. After they were a bit of a distance from the gate, Frank leaned in and whispered, "They're not very good at their jobs, are they? Didn't even try to search me or anything."

"No," said Ron. "They really don't do anything. Basically the mayor just gives them money to stand there so they're not classified as hobos. They're all related to him."

Frank frowned. "If there really are a bunch of homeless people in the woods, I bet some of them would happily do actual guard work for the same money."

"Yeah," said Ron, "but the mayor doesn't care that much. This way at least he can help his family. There's never any trouble here so guards aren't necessary anyway."

"Your mayor is a terrible person," said Frank.

Ron shrugged. "Come on. The orphanage is this way."

Frank turned and looked in the direction that Ron was walking, then stopped and stared in confusion.

Most of the buildings in this town were small, made either of boards or simply of logs. That's what Frank had expected from a town in the middle of a forest.

But there was one exception to this rule.

A stone pyramid, large at its base than several of the other wooden buildings put together, rose in the middle of the town. Strange runes seemed to be carved into its surface, and it was capped with a smaller pyramid of shiny white metal.

"Uh," Frank stuttered.

Ron gave him a glare. "Yeah, that's the orphanage. And the mayor's office, also. We get the coolest building in town, but I'd rather just have a real house and not be an orphan. Come on, we're almost there."

Frank followed. He thought to himself, 'It seems there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. I wonder if the dragon sent me to this location on purpose. I'd best keep my eyes out for any clues as to what the hell's going on."

And with that thought, the two of them reached the base of the stone pyramid.