~Chapter 33~
At Jin’s question, the director clamped his mouth shut again.
His expression was still bad.
Not that Jin cared.
He just kept going, talking like a smooth con artist with that slippery attitude of his.
“Aha, the way you’re holding back your words… I think I get it now. Must be a pretty big organization, huh? I thought I offered quite a hefty sum, but since you’re not biting right away…”
Jin leaned lazily on the desk with a wink and rested his chin on his hand.
“So… let’s see…”
He tilted his head and gave a charming, Casanova-like smile.
“Is it an underground group? Or someone more official?”
Then he leaned back and pointed toward the door.
“Judging by the kids you brought, most of them are scrawny and clearly not strong. And from what I heard inside the orphanage, most of the voices were little girls.”
The director’s face changed drastically.
He looked like Jin had hit the nail on the head.
“Sure, maybe orphan kids are usually underdeveloped… but not having any boys with average or above-average build? Seems like someone’s been selling them off for military purposes.”
At that, the director finally jumped up and shouted,
“Do you even know what you’re saying right now?!”
Without thinking, I snapped my fan closed and said calmly,
“Director. Please mind your manners.”
“…”
“A man who’s a head priest of a Leton Church orphanage should at least know basic courtesy. Or do I just look like some weak little noble girl who came here for fun?”
My words made his face turn red, and he clamped his lips shut.
Then, out of nowhere, he stepped up to me with this threatening tone.
“Do you even know who’s behind me? What bad luck! Who the hell are you people, making all this noise? You think I’d be scared of that?”
“Oh really? And do you know who’s behind me?”
I held my chin high as I answered.
I was the only actual noble in the room.
No matter how bold Jin was, he was still a commoner.
Even if this priest was low-ranking, he still belonged to the temple, which meant Jin’s words wouldn’t carry much weight.
“But really, where’s your sudden confidence coming from? You should think harder. Why would a noble lady—who should be quietly playing piano or sewing—come all the way here with just one servant to speak with you?”
Honestly, I had nothing solid.
But I knew from experience: in shady negotiations like this, confidence was 80% of the game.
I lightly tapped the director’s shoulder with my fan, channeling every arrogant noblewoman I’d ever seen in dramas.
“Think about it. In secret. Just the two of us. Why would I, a woman, come to talk to you about kids no one even cares about?”
He fell totally silent.
I didn’t even really know what I was saying at this point, but I just kept bluffing.
Still, I did understand the gist of Jin’s earlier hints.
All the boys we asked to see—aged six to eight—were small and weak.
And when I remembered the shady conversation we overheard earlier, it wasn’t hard to put things together.
Someone is secretly taking strong boys from the orphanage.
That Sir Carlton guy must be part of it.
I slowly brushed the director’s shoulder with my fan and asked softly,
“They’re just orphans no one cares about, right? So why not tell me? It’s not like I’m asking for free.”
“…Where exactly are you from? Who are you?”
The director finally spoke, and I froze.
Crap.
I should’ve been ready for this, but I didn’t have an answer prepared.
There was no way I could let him find out I was from House Estella.
My main goal was to find the male lead—the illegitimate son of the crown prince.
Which meant, in the bigger picture, I was aligning with the imperial side.
Even though the crown prince didn’t even know I existed.
But House Estella was a major noble family—and firmly in Prince Endymion’s camp.
If this priest reported back to Estella after I told him my background… I’d be totally screwed.
So I decided something.
I didn’t need to give a real answer—as long as I looked like a noble, that should be enough. Why would I have to prove anything more?
“I think this should be enough of an answer.”
I reached out and picked up a half-wilted daisy.
Then I used my magic—completely useless in noble society—and restored the flower’s freshness with a quick spell.
The priest’s face twisted even more.
Powerful magic was mostly reserved for nobles anyway.
So this was enough proof that I was one.
I used my fan to lift the director’s chin and said,
“You’re acting like you’re hiding something important—but it’s really not, is it? Everyone knows orphans have been secretly sold off to the military for years.”
Jin gave me a surprised look and a thumbs-up behind the director.
It seemed like my guess had hit the mark.
“I won’t ask for names. Just tell me where the supply goes. If you share the location, I’ll reward you handsomely. That shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?”
Even as I spoke, my brain was working overtime.
Stealing orphans for military use… yeah, I’d seen that in movies.
Secret government units kidnapping orphans and training them into elite soldiers? It was a classic.
No identities, no one to miss them.
Then once the main character’s dog dies or something, they blow up the entire organization.
Total cliché.
“No one really cares what happens to orphans. Whether they’re trained for war or sold off as slaves—it’s considered normal, right? So I don’t get why you’re acting so cagey. I’m just asking you to share info about an orphanage that regularly provides kids. That’s all.”
I was starting to see the bigger picture.
Someone was building a private army.
I didn’t know exactly who, but considering this world’s politics and morals, it wouldn’t even be illegal or taboo to steal orphans for that.
Still, the fact that he was hesitating this much meant something was seriously rotten underneath it all.
“Bring it,” I said, nodding toward Jin and gesturing at the money bundle.
Jin played the role of a servant perfectly and handed it to me politely.
“One word from you, and all this gold is yours.”
Honestly, even if I asked who was behind it all, he probably wouldn’t tell me.
Unless he’d taken a blow to the head, he wasn’t going to open up to some random noblewoman he didn’t even know the background of.
I just needed to know one thing.
“Just give me the list of suppliers.”
This orphanage was under the Leton Church’s control. If every Leton orphanage was secretly sending off kids?
Then the answer was obvious.
Either Prince Endymion.
Or Lawson.
There was that abandoned monster lab near the Leton Church territory… and now orphans from these orphanages were regularly being sent somewhere.
Whoever was behind it had to be someone with serious power inside the church.
And the only ones directly tied to the Leton Church right now… were those two.
The original story didn’t explain all of this in detail, but I remembered the important parts—like how the empire got destroyed by monsters.
These monsters were more like parasites.
Sure, they could attach to animals, but they preferred to live inside human brains.
Because humans are the most intelligent hosts.
And someone was clearly using that to their advantage.
Suddenly, I had a gut feeling where the male lead might be.
If everything I guessed was right—
“…There are actually a few other orphanages that send kids out too.”
Then there was a high chance… that the male lead was at one of those places.
