“That’s good, right, sister?”
The two people in front of her seemed nice.
Claire found it quite fascinating. Although she was still quite young, she wasn’t so clueless that she couldn’t sense other people’s emotions.
From her earliest memories, she had wandered through back alleys. The earliest image Claire could recall was begging on the street corner with a crumpled tin can, having been caught by the alley thugs.
The thugs always threatened Claire that if she got caught by the police, she’d be in deep trouble, so whenever she spotted the police in the distance, she’d quickly duck into an alley to hide.
Since Claire was still young, she didn’t have a quota, but if someone was just a bit older than her, they would have one. If the thugs didn’t receive the required quota based on age, they’d beat them until their faces were swollen. And that bruised face was often quite helpful for begging.
But it wasn’t because the thugs had any minimum compassion for a child that they didn’t set a quota for her. It was simply because even if they did set one, she clearly wouldn’t be able to meet it.
If they had any minimal sympathy, they wouldn’t have sold Claire for money to the orphanage.
An old woman who regularly visited the thugs saw Claire and promptly handed over money to buy her. Although Claire was still young, she could easily recognize that she had been sold. After all, she had seen that process numerous times.
Of course, the orphans under the thugs were given nothing more than moldy bread for all the money they handed over to the thugs.
“You’ll sell for a high price.”
Claire remembered the old woman’s face as she smiled while taking her to the orphanage. To be honest, it wasn’t such an old memory that she could forget it.
Life in the orphanage was still better than being under the thugs.
The porridge had the texture of paper soaked in water, but at least she could fill her empty belly at set times every day. If she listened well to what the old woman said, she wouldn’t get beaten. And most importantly, even if she did get beaten, it was rare that she got hit hard enough to leave a mark or scar.
Besides, it was in the orphanage that Claire met her first ‘nice person.’
_Sylvia._
The person with the surname ‘Black’ seemed to be the oldest among the children. Though really, she didn’t look much older than Claire. No, at a quick glance, they almost looked like the same age.
But since the old woman said so, Claire decided to just believe it. Even when called ‘sister,’ Sylvia didn’t seem to mind at all.
She did make a somewhat flustered face, but that was the end of it.
When she first heard that Sylvia was the leader of the group, Claire thought she would be someone who hit the other kids. The ‘action leader’ designated by the thugs always was. To avoid getting hit, you had to listen well.
But… Sylvia was somehow different.
“Are you hungry? Here, eat more.”
Although it was a small portion for one person, she would share a bit of her own share with the kids who only stared at their bowls, having already finished theirs.
She didn’t hit anyone, nor did she shout.
She didn’t even get angry when someone laughed, and when the kids whined, she soothed them with the nicest words she could find.
Claire had never met someone like Sylvia before in her life; she found Sylvia to be truly fascinating. In a way, Sylvia seemed more like an ‘adult’ than the old woman who might have lived longer than all the kids in the orphanage put together.
And it seemed the other kids felt the same way.
They followed Sylvia around.
Though she was usually quiet, Sylvia would share old stories with the kids, even if they were just a bit raucous. Most of the stories were nearly the same, only differing in names and endings, but the kids had no real playtime and wanted to hear those tales.
In fact, Sylvia hadn’t been the kids’ leader for very long; it was barely a month since Claire arrived at the orphanage until it burned down.
But Claire felt that month was the happiest and most peaceful time she had ever lived.
After the orphanage burned down, the old woman died, and they escaped together.
Sylvia led the children straight into the city center.
And the process was really… a series of unbelievable miracles.
Without ever being noticed by the police anywhere on the streets, and without even a single confrontation with the alley thugs, Sylvia moved confidently right through the heart of the city.
And somehow, she knew they had made it this far.
“The children’s condition isn’t very good.”
A man with a splendidly groomed beard said while rolling up the sleeve of the child in front of him.
“It seems like they haven’t eaten anything for days.”
A lady next to him said.
Occasionally, people passing by would throw a coin into Claire’s tin can, giving her pitying looks. But she had never seen anyone actively checking their condition and expressing concern like this.
“Where are you all from? Are there more kids like you?”
“I don’t know.”
When the child caught by the man’s hand replied in fear, he nodded and released it.
“Is there someone who brought you here?”
“Ah, that is—”
_Sister._
The one who had brought all the children here, including Claire, was her sister, Sylvia.
“That’s good, right, sister?”
The two seemed like good people.
Perhaps Sister Sylvia had known this and brought the kids here. To find a place to rest.
How she knew was unclear, but… that wasn’t what mattered.
From this moment, they would likely be much safer than they had been in the orphanage.
“…Sister?”
But the kind voice she always heard when she spoke wasn’t there.
She looked back.
Surely, her sister had been at the very back of the group—
But there was no one behind Claire.
“Uh?”
In a hurry, she spun around.
There were people walking along the street. Carriages were passing by, and many people were coming in and out of shops.
But Sister Sylvia couldn’t be seen.
“Sister!”
Claire shouted, but there was still no answer.
“What’s wrong?”
A lady who had approached asked.
“Was there someone else?”
“My sister, she’s gone!”
When Claire spoke, the lady’s face turned serious immediately.
“Are you saying there was originally one more person?”
“Yes, she was at the very back…”
The lady instantly turned her gaze to her husband and made eye contact.
“Don’t worry.”
The lady knelt down to match Claire’s height and said,
“We’ll search for her. We’ll definitely find her.”
“Really?”
Under normal circumstances, Claire wouldn’t have asked that way. All the adults she had met until now hated being questioned.
She was that anxious.
Worried that Sylvia would suddenly leave her side, just like she had suddenly appeared.
“Yes. We will definitely find her.”
But the lady didn’t scold Claire, nor did she curse her for being bothersome. She didn’t even hit her.
She simply gently patted Claire’s head.
Claire nodded.
After that, things went well.
It didn’t take long before the couple learned that they were Baron Grace and Baroness Grace.
In the baron’s territory, a newly built orphanage awaited them, and the baron and his wife gladly welcomed the group of orphans who had come all the way to their estate.
And that wasn’t the end. As time passed, the number of orphans gradually increased.
All the orphans wore clean clothes and grew up healthy, eating proper meals in a clean environment.
Education was also assured. Although the orphans came from back alleys, some managed to grow smart enough to enter the Imperial Academy, which only admitted the best and brightest. Their swordsmanship skills were commendable as well.
In fact, one of them could develop a close bond with the baron’s eldest son, verging on sibling-like.
That was Claire.
Adopted by Baron Grace at the age of ten and becoming ‘Claire Grace,’ she had superior swordsmanship, surpassing the baron’s eldest son, and at fifteen, she gained admission to the Imperial Academy as the top candidate, where only the most outstanding students could enroll.
Yet, during all that time, Claire had yet to find Sylvia among the newly arrived orphans.
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