The road to the unexplored regions of the West was a difficult journey to reach.

There was a difference between the roads in the Perdalos Territory that could be reached by wagon, and the roads leading to the unexplored regions of the West were barely accessible by wagons.

Thanks to this, almost no outside wagons or retailers headed this way, and the already isolated western town of Wedle became even more isolated.

As a result, I was still greeted by a road that was difficult to travel by carriage.

“Haaa… .”

A vibration that made it impossible to sleep to relieve fatigue was resonating throughout the body.

In order to forget the unavoidable rumbling of the wagon, I was quietly absorbed in other thoughts.

‘Let me check one last time, student Konrad Perdalos. You are visiting the Cherry Field Orphanage for this winter vacation dispatch practice activity, right?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘It’s true that Conrad’s students visit the Cherryfield Orphanage, which has a low score, even though he can be dispatched to the Northern Great Plains or the Madman’s Fortress, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘… OK, I’ll take care of it.’

When I applied for dispatch practice at Cherryfield Nursery School.

The sad expression of the receptionist at the academy dispatch training office flickered before my eyes.

Although I reluctantly repaired the dispatch training papers because I had shown a firm attitude several times.

If possible, I would have liked to send it to a place where I could use my powers better.

No matter how high a magician can defeat a monster of the highest rank, there will be no need to use that power when volunteering at the nursery school.

It doesn’t matter if you think so.

After all, after this winter, you’ll think it was the right thing to do by sending me to an orphanage far away from the ecliptic.

Waddle Village and Cherryfield Nursery.

Stella’s hometown, and the place where the tragedy began.

The small, peaceful village was slowly revealing itself on the horizon.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Welcome, are you from Alexandros Academy?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I am Hermia Cere, the director and director of this orphanage. Feel free to call me Hermia.”

Hermia, the director of Cherryfield Orphanage, was an old man who looked quite old.

The half-counted red hair and the wrinkles on her hands, as if pointing to the signs of time, made it possible to guess how old she was.

“It is an honor to meet you. This is Conrad Perdalos.”

In the hands held together in the sense of friendship, I could feel the strength uncharacteristic of an old man.

Since she was running a nursery school of this size alone, no matter how old a woman was, her basic muscular strength must have been strong.

I’ve heard that he once worked as a mercenary, so it might be an influence.

“Did you just say your name was Conrad?”

As soon as Mr. Hermia heard my name, she tilted her head as if wondering.

“Yes, it is.”

“… Are you, by any chance, the Ministry of Magic?”

“you’re right.”

Upon hearing my answer, her expression crossed with various emotions.

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Just looking at the reaction, it was as if he had heard my name and information somewhere.

Even if I had become famous within the academy these days, there would have been no reason for rumors to spread to such an unexplored valley village.

He must have heard the story through someone else’s mouth.

Someone else could have guessed who else was talking about me to Miss Hermia.

“Director!”

I heard that even the dragon will come when I say it.

A blonde young lady appeared in front of me from behind the wall, holding a laundry basket.

“All of the white laundry has been washed, Director! Today is a sunny day, so I thought I could hang them out in the yard… Eh, huh?!”

“Hi, Stella. It’s a surprise to meet you here.”

“Ko-ko-senpai Conrad?!”

The laundry basket in Stella’s hand almost fell to the floor.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“I didn’t know that the senior from the Ministry of Magic, whom Stella talked about just yesterday, was the person who would come to volunteer service today.”

“Yeah, that’s right… . I can’t believe Konrad-senpai is sleeping… Ah, no, I didn’t expect you to come to the Cherry Field Nursery School for training! .”

In the old drawing room of an old nursery school, I had a three-way meeting with Hermia-san with Stella in between.

Maybe Stella was afraid that someone would find out that she was from an orphanage.

Anyone could see that he was blatantly restless.

Aristocrats are familiar with the culture of adopting useful talents and nurturing them as successors in order to maintain the family lineage to the end.

Stella, who was born and raised in an orphanage, would not have known that fact.

It must be that he has a reluctance to reveal that his hometown is here.

Perhaps, if they were to interrogate Stella here and now, it wouldn’t be that difficult to uncover the secret she was hiding.

“stellar.”

“Yes Yes!”

“Are you also sent to Cherry Field Nursery School for training?”

“… Yeah?”

But getting an answer like that, as if forced, wasn’t the way I wanted it to be.

The purpose of my visit to this orphanage is not to hear the truth from Stella, but to protect this orphanage from the tragedy to come.

After all, there was no need to squeeze the truth out of her mouth now that Stella would confess first anyway.

The problem was how quickly Hermia noticed and matched the rhythm.

“Yes. Ms. Stella arrived two days before Mr. Conrad, so she was helping out with the dispatch practice early on. Right, Miss Stella?”

Fortunately, as I had heard from Stella in my previous life, she was a woman who was both aware and considerate.

He even changed the title he called Stella right away and seemed to match my rhythm.

“Ah yes… . That, yes.”

Although Stella was briefly taken aback by Hermia-san and me’s sudden consideration.

She hurriedly agreed with Hermia’s words, probably because she thought she might be able to hide the truth she didn’t want to confess.

“If Stella had known that he would be dispatched here for practice, it would have been better to come in the same wagon.

When we go back to the academy, let’s go back together. There is no need to pay twice as much for the wagon.”

“Muh, of course, Senior Conrad!”

In her unnatural and awkward reaction, a temporary life under one roof began.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Hermia-san replied that the situation at the nursery school was not very good.

There are many reasons for this, but the most fundamental reason must have been the lack of operating funds.

The money coming in to run an orphanage on this continent could be largely classified into three categories.

First, support funds received from the imperial family or church.

Second, the private expense of the head of the nursery school that runs the nursery school.

Third, donations from nobles who adopt children.

In all three ways, if sufficient funds were not met, the nursery school would not operate properly.

Before explaining the financial situation, Cherryfield Nursery School was a building built by Hermia herself.

Originally, as a wizard, he worked as a mercenary at various parties for over 20 years, and the building he built by collecting retirement funds was this Cherryfield Nursery.

Hermia’s sacrificial spirit deserves to be imitated, but in the long-term operation, being a private nursery school was a kind of poison.

Since it was a facility that was built without interference from the imperial family or the church, of course, support from there did not come in either.

In particular, the biggest problem was that the church did not dispatch volunteers.

That meant that Hermia-san had to manage the entire large building alone.

You might be able to hire staff at your own expense, but you said that most of Hermia’s wealth has already been used to build an orphanage.

Hiring employees was a dream come true, unless it meant accelerating the financial crisis.

If so, is the only place where money can come from is the cost of adoption that nobles hand over in the name of ‘donation’?

For many aristocrats to have a talented child as their heir.

Or, she visited an orphanage to train her as a trainee butler, maid, or mercenary.

There were also aristocrats who often visited Cherryfield Nursery School with that purpose, but that alone was not enough to solve the management difficulties.

First of all, the first reason was that there were very few people who came to the nursery school since it was located in a remote area.

Most nobles often had orphanages or nurseries in their estates, so if they needed a child to adopt, they naturally visited the facilities in their estates.

Besides, if it was a child in a facility in one’s territory, there might be some blood mixed with the family.

I didn’t move to another village to find a child to adopt.

The case of Professor McDowell was only a rare case that could be counted on one hand.

Of course, the more private soldiers, the better, so taking a child to raise as a mercenary would have been a sufficient reason to visit other territories.

Hermia-san said that she had rejected all the nobles’ offers to take her for that reason.

Occasionally, in the case of a butler or maid, who would raise them as professionals, there were often cases in which the child was sent away after asking the child’s doctor.

If the purpose was to raise them as private soldiers or mercenaries, they would reject them and send them back.

“You can’t make children who aren’t even thick-headed wield spears and sacrifice them to become chess pieces in the battle for power among the aristocrats.

Even if someone does that in the future, I don’t want to make my children’s futures predetermined.”

He was a man of strong convictions in many ways.

When Professor McDowell tried to take Stella, he must have refused several times for this reason.

However, it was too much to overlook Stella’s talent, and there was a high possibility that he would have brought her to the superpower of adopting her as an adopted daughter.

Of course, since the conversation between Hermia and Professor McDowell was shrouded in mystery, it was only speculation.

Anyway, for that reason, all corners where funds could come out were closed, so Cherryfield Nursery School was always suffering from financial difficulties.

Eating and drinking was somewhat solved because there were farms and vegetable gardens.

Hermia Nursery School’s biggest problem was, of course, the clothes and buildings.

Every time I saw children wearing the wrong size clothes and cracked walls and stairs here and there, a terrible feeling rose in my heart.

I thought something like this would happen, so I handed the gold coins I brought to Hermia, but she waved her hand and refused to accept my favor.

“I requested the dispatch of volunteers, not that I wanted to receive material support from the students.

If you ever misunderstand my true intentions, I’m sorry, but I have no choice but to ask you to return.”

Hermia also valued her own principles and principles, so it seemed that she would not accept unconditional financial support.

If he was kicked out, it would be difficult to complete the purpose of visiting the orphanage, so he had no choice but to quietly put the gold coins he had brought back in his backpack.

The only thing left is to focus on helping out at the Cherryfield Nursery School, as written in the dispatch practice papers.

“Guys, it’s dinner time, everyone, prepare your meal~. Bring the children who are not at their seats!”

“yes~!”

Despite poor facilities and meager meals, the children here always did not lose their smiles.

Stella’s positive and bright personality is probably also the personality she acquired while growing up with other children in this orphanage.

A lively personality was not the only advantage, most of the children in the nursery school had already learned how to take care of themselves.

Cleaning duty, laundry duty, meal duty duty.

In order to carry out various other tasks necessary for living, I was living hard in this remote nursery school, sharing work on my own.

I was grateful for the fact that there was a roof that could cover the rain and snow even though it was shabby.

I was satisfied with the fact that I could eat three meals a day, even if it was shabby.

It could be said that it is a tough reality for young children to deal with, but if we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have been able to live.

Also, compared to other nurseries with good financial resources, this nursery school’s facilities and meals were on the better side.

There was also a class of people who viewed the child care facility as a business and substituted orphans for labor.

Even if only the humans within the kingdom were counted, the number would have been uncountable.

Rather, it was quite a contrast to Hermia-san, who tried to put even one more potato on the children’s table even if she herself starved herself.

A deep respect rose in her heart for her who had been silently practicing herself for over ten years.

After the children’s meal distribution is over to some extent.

I sat down in a corner of the restaurant with Stella and ate a decent meal of leftovers.

“Senior Conrad.”

“yes?”

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to Cherry Field Nursery School for training.”

“… … .”

“If I were alone, I would have been out of my strength. The Cherryfield nursery school at this time is always short of workers.”

Why was she thanking me when we were sent to practice together?

How did they know that the Cherryfield Orphanage at this time was always understaffed?

What would be her reaction if I questioned her now?

At the words of Stella, who is not very good at lying, I pretended not to know and returned my thanks to her.

“There is something to be grateful for between those who came out of the same dispatch practice. It’s even easier and better because I have Stella.”

“still… . I am more grateful.”

The soup in the bowl was flat and cold, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy my hunger.