Chapter 8
“What’s your name? Where are you from?”
Eva’s voice was warm and kind.
Even before my regression, when she first met me, she had been just as gentle. Seeing her again after coming back to the past made me feel even more relieved.
“My name is Crescent. My parents… they passed away, but they left a will telling me to come here.”
“Oh my goodness…!”
Eva covered her mouth with both hands.
I wore an expression that looked on the verge of tears.
I did feel a little guilty for deceiving her—but it was true that I was an orphan…
And now, I no longer needed to use the alias “Dallas” that I’d gone by in my first life.
Thanks to using the Patron’s Wish Ticket, I no longer had to hide my real name.
Eva quickly ushered me inside.
“Come in, Crescent. You must have been through so much. You don’t have to worry anymore. Our Ebony Orphanage will take care of you from now on.”
“Really? You mean it?”
“Of course.”
Yes!
Entry to the orphanage—success!
I had been a little worried, but as expected, she accepted me without hesitation.
Eva personally brought me inside, washed me up, dressed me in clean clothes, and even served me a hot meal.
And not just any meal—my favorite, rich and creamy corn soup.
Delicious.
It felt like I was eating a warm home-cooked dish for the first time in ages.
While I ate, I could feel the curious gazes of the other children flickering toward me, their eyes sparkling with interest.
“Ahem…”
“Eat as much as you want. You must be hungry.”
“…Yes.”
In truth, I wasn’t that hungry—I’d had some bread before leaving the mansion. But Eva’s warm welcome made me feel like I really was famished.
The food she served wasn’t overly extravagant, but it wasn’t lacking in the least.
It’s not easy to be this generous even if you receive steady donations…
Besides, this was the countryside. The amount of sponsorship they got couldn’t compare to orphanages in the capital.
Even before my regression, the 100 million sien Leaerwin had given them was the largest donation they’d ever received.
Luckily, this time I was in a position to repay the kindness I’d received.
After all, she had looked after me with such care for four years—it would be wrong to come empty-handed.
I carefully took an envelope from my pocket.
“Oh, and Director—my parents asked me to give this to you.”
“Hm? What’s this?”
Eva opened the envelope with a curious expression.
Inside was 100 million sien, converted from my reward cash.
In this world, that sum was unimaginably large—the monthly salary of all the orphanage’s staff combined was only one million sien.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“My word… this much money… for me?”
“It’s a donation. Thank you for taking me in. Please use it well for the orphanage. It was my parents’ entire estate.”
“Oh, heavens…”
Eva was at a loss for words. After a moment, she finally managed to speak.
“Are you sure… we can really accept this?”
“Of course. You accepted me, didn’t you?”
“Oh, thank you… truly…”
Her eyes glistened with tears as she pressed her palms together in something like a prayer.
“Thank you so much, Crescent. Thanks to you, our children will be able to live in comfort for a while. I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t lack anything either. Truly, thank you.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
I smiled brightly.
Tears welled in her eyes, and suddenly she stood up and shouted toward the kitchen.
“Bring out some more fruit! And give the children extra snacks! No—let’s throw a big welcome party! Beef! Let’s have beef, everyone!”
“Waaah!”
The children who had been sitting quietly leapt up, running around and cheering.
I watched them with a pleased smile—
<Divine Power has increased!>
<Divine Power has increased!>
<Divine Power has increased!>
A flood of system messages appeared before me.
My divine power was skyrocketing.
…As expected.
Donating 100 million sien to an orphanage wasn’t just a good deed—it was an exceptional one.
Good deeds raised divine power.
I hadn’t given the money purely for that reason… but if I got a bonus out of it, it was a win-win!
Objective one—complete!
And the result of donating 100 million sien at level 10…
<‘Holy Knight’—Level increased to 16!>
<Divine Power increased to Level 17!>
<Swordsmanship remains at Level 10!>
…Pretty satisfying.
That evening,
The Ebony Orphanage held an unplanned party.
In the front yard, all the children and staff gathered to enjoy a feast—juicy beef and lamb steaks, expensive fruits, and sweet drinks made from herbs and fruit that they rarely got to taste.
“In all the years since the orphanage was founded, we’ve never had such a grand banquet,” Eva said tearfully.
The children were too busy eating to speak, and I enjoyed the meal to the fullest.
Holy Knight, Level 16…
As I ate, I considered my level.
I’d boosted my divine power, but without improving my swordsmanship, there would be a limit to how far I could raise my Holy Knight level.
That’ll be taken care of once I become the Pluto Ducal House’s ward.
The Pluto family was one of the Empire’s most renowned Holy Knight lineages, after all.
There were only a few months left until the great surge of magical beasts.
Until then, I needed to strengthen myself as much as possible.
Of course, I couldn’t just keep donating my entire fortune to the orphanage—there was a limit to how much divine power I could gain from simple good deeds.
And the higher my level, the harder it became.
Still… I’m confident.
Resolving myself, I spent my first night at the orphanage.
There were still two weeks until Marchioness Leaerwin Pluto would visit.
Meanwhile, under the night sky above the orphanage party…
A man stood atop a tree branch, his blue hair rippling in the breeze.
He was tall, lean, impossibly handsome—his black eyes shone brighter than the countless stars above.
A straight, high nose and well-shaped lips completed the flawless face. Those lips curved in a smooth arc.
Well, well.
His gaze found a single child among the others.
The rest of the children blurred in his vision as if erased—but not the little girl with doll-like golden hair and pink eyes.
A faint smirk tugged at Cyril Lotte’s mouth as he watched the eight-year-old.
“When did she get all the way here?”
She had vanished overnight, only to be found nearly on the other side of the Empire.
It wasn’t teleportation—could that child even do something like that?
His pitch-black eyes grew colder, his smile sharper.
“Heh… strange kid.”
Two weeks later—
I had spent my time at the orphanage diligently.
The day for Marchioness Leaerwin Pluto’s arrival finally came, though nothing seemed different from usual.
That was because she had shown up without any prior notice, on a completely random day.
Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t prepare.
I had to become her ward!
I was just about to enter an empty room when a boy slightly taller than me appeared in front of me.
“What are you doing?”
“?”
Blue hair, black eyes—Cyril.
He was the boy who had entered the orphanage a day after me.
Strangely enough, during the tutorial in my first life, he had also arrived one day after I did—and now it was exactly the same.
I had come to the orphanage months earlier this time, yet the timing matched perfectly.
Coincidence?
I glanced at him.
Back in the tutorial, I hadn’t noticed it, but Cyril had an odd air of composure.
He carried himself with a maturity unusual for an orphan.
Even when food was served, he never got excited. While the other children gobbled up everything in a flash, he always ended up with only scraps—and didn’t seem to mind.
And for a child living as an orphan, he was far too strikingly handsome—enough to tempt kidnappers.
Just then, the clatter of a carriage echoed from outside the building.
