The Extra's Return

The electrifying sounds of destruction had disappeared into the air. The atmosphere in the orphanage became calm again.

Building debris dotted the vicinity of where I was. Only Jeanne and I were spared from the debris of the orphanage.

A few centimeters beside me, there was many building debris scattered around.

Roof tiles, logs, building stakes, and the debris from building walls were piled up haphazardly. All the signs of destruction that I mentioned earlier made this place look really depressing.

This place could no longer be called the orphanage, but a historical ruin. Especially historic for Colby, Nina, and the other orphanage children.

I was wondering how the children would feel when they saw the devastation of the orphanage where they grew up together.

Those who previously lived here must have had complex feelings when they saw the place in ruins.

I saw Colby and the other children.

"What are you worried about?"

"Ah- nothing, sir."

Colby and the other children who had broken through the rubble of the orphanage just to see the condition of me and Jeanne were now making worried expressions.

Their eyes kept looking towards all sorts of debris in the orphanage. Their anxious faces could not be faked. Especially for children who were still very young, a little teardrop cannot be blocked from their eyelids.

I'm not good at comforting children. So, even though some children's noses turned red, their eyes shed tears, and some children kept shaking their heads like they couldn't accept reality, I could only sympathize in my heart.

"Why are all of you like that? Shouldn't you be grateful that none of you died or were made slaves today?"

My words were cruel, but it was also a logical reason for them not to be sad anymore.

Then I told them to take care of the slave trader's men in the front yard of the orphanage. At the very least they should have some things to do so that they wouldn't be stuck with sadness.

Since the slave trader's men were unconscious, then I was sure they could handle them. I only told the children to secure them, nothing more.

After that, because I can't let Jeanne lie in this place full of ruins, I put her on my back. Then I stood up.

I approached the body of the slave trader who had collapsed on the ground not far from the center of the orphanage ruins.

It was fortunate that he was outside the orphanage, otherwise, he would have been buried by the orphanage building.

I looked around and saw that he was still unconscious in a pitiful state.

I put Jeanne on the ground for a while.

The ground outside the center of the ruin didn't have too much debris, so it was still better than in the ruined center of the orphanage. Even so, there were still fragments of wall debris flying out here. I can only pray that her back can hold out for a while.

I quickly disassembled the slave trader's body to find out what magic item he used to survive Jeanne's blow.

I didn't want to linger by undressing him neatly, so I simply tore off the neat robe he was wearing. Speaking of which, he no longer had the elegant appearance that he had previously maintained.

The beryl glasses he was wearing were already shattered into pieces. The hat that was on his head had flown somewhere due to Jeanne's punch. And the command stick he was holding earlier had also been broken in half, lying on the ground beside him.

Without further ado, I immediately stripped him of his clothes. Until finally, I found what I had been looking for.

"Looks pretty good."

I smiled when I saw something that was attached to the slave trader's body.

***

After taking care of what I needed to do, I quickly met the children in the front yard of the orphanage.

When I got to the courtyard, I could see that the children had almost finished taking care of the slave trader's men.

Some of the children were still trying to pull out the head of one of the slave trader's men who was buried in the ground. Looking at their painstaking struggle, it seemed that the head of the slave trader's men was buried very deep in the ground.

After being satisfied seeing the struggle of the children who were finally able to pull out the head of the slave trader's men, I told some of the children to retrieve the slave trader's body that was in another part of the orphanage ruins.

"Where are we going?" Colby said. He asked a little nervously. Or rather, he seemed to be asking himself, not me.

"Don't worry. We'll go to my inn. That's the place you stole from earlier."

"Is it okay?"

"Where is your rebellious nature that Jeanne once said? Weren't you a troublemaking child? Why did you suddenly become polite?"

"Um. I actually did that because-"

"No need to tell me. I know why you did it."

There was only one reason why he stole, and that was that he and the other children were not being fed enough.

So, was the destruction of the orphanage the fault of Jeanne, who had destroyed the orphanage accidentally while receiving the blessing?

No.

It's their nanny's fault.

After everything was done, I took the children to the inn.

Of course, it was the inn that I had just bought.

I walked while carrying Jeanne on my back. Earlier, I had been carrying her on my back.

Although she was not in a conscious state, her hands were holding onto my shoulders. And for some reason, every few moments, she would grip my shoulders a little more firmly.

I thought she was still experiencing the side effects of diving too deep into her past.

It wasn't like I minded or anything, about her gripping my shoulders, instead, I felt comfortable because my back was being pressed by soft foam. It felt like I was in heaven.

Her weight wasn't too heavy either, so I felt fine carrying her.

If you were imagining that I was making a lewd face, then sorry, you're wrong. Even though my back felt like it was in heaven, I still maintained a straight face.

"??"

"Hup!"

When I turned my head, the children immediately covered their mouths and turned their faces to the side quickly.

"Hey, it seems that spring has arrived for Sister Jeanne?"

I don't know how those kids can already say such things.

Scratch, Scratch...

The sound of something being dragged through the streets was heard.

When you were looking at the origin of the sound, it came from what the children were dragging in their hands.

What they were dragging of course was the bodies of the slave trader and his men.

Perhaps it was because the people they were dragging were the ones who had hurt them, so the boys dragged them without mercy.

Two children held one leg of the slave trader's men. Then they dragged the slave trader's men away.

Due to the difference in body size, the children struggled a bit even though they were dragging them by holding the slave trader's feet or hands.

Even so, they looked excited while doing so. Moreover, this was a good time for revenge.

"Die!"

"Hit hard!"

"Ah, this is our revenge punch!"

They continued to shout as if they were playing. They continued to beat up the slave trader and his men. Of course, the person they hit had already lost consciousness so there was no reaction that the slave trader's men showed.

Apart from the other kids who were busy taking revenge, I paid more attention to Colby who was walking beside me.

He carried Nina in his arms. Nina was a severely injured child that I managed to heal. Colby held Nina in a position similar to how I held Jeanne. However, he seemed to be having a hard time holding Nina's weight.

"Do you need help?"

"Uuhhh! I-I... Strong."

"Okay."

'Is he in love with that child named Nina?'

That was the only conclusion. That was the reason why he didn't feel like he needed my help.

He wanted to do things his own way. Or perhaps, did he want to make the most of the opportunity at hand?

When I saw the struggle he was making, somehow, I suddenly remembered a moment I had on earth, in my previous world.

Both orphans, both at that age, both girls and boys, and both helping each other in trouble.

'...'

"Tsk."

What was I just thinking? I must have gone crazy. I shouldn't be thinking about it. I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my head. I bit my lip and shook my head.

Keep yourself busy when distractions come into your mind. I heard that quote a lot, and it didn't seem wrong.

Not long into our walk, we arrived at the inn.

However, I soon left again. I left Jeanne in the hands of the children. I let the children take care of her. Of course, I gave them access to all the rooms in the inn.

I also gave them the rest of the money I had to buy food. It was only a little and not much, but it was enough to keep them all full.

It was already getting late. Despite today's chaos, they still had to fill their stomachs. In fact, because of this tragedy, they had to fill their stomachs quickly so that they wouldn't get sick.

'It's time to replenish the money in my Inventory.'

There was another money mine that I had to dredge up. I had to grab it quickly before the gold mine escaped.