Chapter 8: Abandoned Child

Achlys carried the little human child inside the orphanage, and asked Mirage and Betty to look after her while she goes to get a bucket of water.

"So we have a new person now... looks like you are not the youngest anymore Mirage."

"... If you are aware of being older than me, you should act like it."

"Hey! I am acting like an older sister! I go get vegetables with Lady Achlys everyday, and help her set up the table, and help her clean the house, and-"

"Okay, okay, my bad. You do act like an older sibling."

"Hmph! It's good that you know."

'Ay, it is indeed my bad for trying to quarrel with a child... I can feel my mentality degrading day by day...'

Achlys soon walked in with a bucket full of water, and some clothes to help clean the child up.

The child had already quited down thanks to Achlys coaxing them, and stayed still as Achlys took their clothes, or rather rags off and wiped them clean.

'Hmm... a girl is it? In my old world, some people in the past used to abandon girls and keep the boys after they are born, but this girl seems to be at least a year and a half old. They can also be older considering they are malnourished, but I don't know if they are even able to communicate their age considering their condition.'

"Ms. Achlys, is there anything me and Betty can do to help?"

"Oh- yes please let us help too! I want to be a good older sister."

"Haha, thanks, you two. Can you bring me some clean clothes for our new member?"

Both Mirage and Betty went to the room with the clothings in it, and grabbed some that looked like the little child would fit in.

"See there is no need to cry, everything is alright now. Can you talk?"

"I-I dalk."

The child answered back with a broken language, but was still able to deliver the meaning behind her words.

"Good. I am Achlys, and these two are Betty and Mira. We are all a big family here. Do you know your name?"

"Ye-yewsh. Zena ish cawled Zena by mommy... waaa mommy! Where did you go? *cries**

"It's okay, it's okay."

Achlys hugged the crying child, Zena, and coaxed her to sleep. Betty too started to cry after hearing Zena cry, so Mirage took her to another room and hugged her until she stopped crying.

"D-dank you Mira... I just couldn't shtop myself..."

"It's nothing, rather it's rare to see you not calling me by my full name. Did seeing her cry make you feel sad too?"

"I don't know..."

After getting Betty to stop crying, the two walked back into the room to see that the child had fallen asleep.

"Thank you for helping me you two, let's go prepare some food while little Zena rests for a bit."

"Okay."

"Yes, Ms. Achlys."

Three of them headed tk the kitchen and helped prepare food for dinner, and some porridge for little Zena to eat.

"Ms. Achlys, did Zena say anything else after we left? Anything about her past, her parents?"

"Now, now, Mira. It's still early to ask her about such things. You have seen how she cried after mentioning her mother... we must give her some time before we can ask her without making her sad."

"I see... you really are kind, Ms. Achlys."

"Haha, what came over to you? Mira is a really kind boy too."

"Ooh- ooh, what about me? Betty is kind too!"

"Yes, yes, Betty is a kind girl too."

"Heehee~"

...

Four more months had passed after little Zena had joined the orphanage, and Mirage was able to learn a bit more about her past.

'So, from what I understand from her words, Zena's parents used to be travellers, but apparently her father passed away for some reason.'

'Well, she says her father just had an important job to do, but considering how her mother had to abandon her, and her malnourished physique, I assume that her father passed away and her mother couldn't look after Zena by herself anymore.'

'It is good that our orphanage isn't short of resources, so adding another member like this isn't causing any problems.'

'And it really seems like Zena's mother was desperate, as the traces near the orphanage only showed a single person's footprints, and even those footprints seemed to be from broken shoes.'

'Still, having to abandon one's child to guarantee their survival, looks like this world isn't much different from old one when it comes to problems humans face. Of course, the people of this world also have to face harsher environment, and monsters which are abundant in numerous locations.'

'In the first place, we are lucky to be in an area without any monsters at all. Even the village the main character of Danmachi, Bell Cranel, lived in had monsters nearby. Zeus used that to trick Bell into thinking that he died, mildly manipulating Bell to go and pursue his dreams of being a hero in the city of Orario.'

'Zeus' fake death in the hands of some monsters also plays a major role in how Bell's character develops too.'

'Well... that stuff doesn't have anything to do with me for now. I do not even know what is happening in Orario now, as there aren't a lot of information from outside coming to these parts.'

'The only relevant information I heard was the kingdom of Rakia waging wars to several other countries and cities, to satisfy their god, Ares' vane thirst for battle.'

'Since we are in the elven lands, one of the places Rakia has caused a lot of destruction to, the people here pay attention to the movements of that kingdom. I hope war doesn't ever spread to these parts... but I really can't be certain as I have never even heard of this village in the original story.'

'Let's just hope that this village remains the way it is, without any disturbance from monsters and war.'