Chapter : 133
Less than an hour after entering Miriel’s house to rest, Liriope came out with her eyes red and bloodshot, making Theo frown sharply.
“What happened?”
Theo quickly approached Liriope, who was coming toward him, and upon seeing her still-moist eyelashes, he quickly shifted his gaze to Gray.
“She was saddened knowing that the commoner child is living alone.”
Gray, meeting Theo’s gaze, quickly explained why Liriope had been crying.
“Lord Theo, I need to discuss something with you.”
Grabbing Theo’s arm, which was tense with anger, Liriope spoke firmly.
“Then let’s return to the palace first. I’ve set up the defensive barrier temporarily, so you don’t need to finish the Immovable Flame barrier right now.”
Theo had never been fond of Liriope being here in the first place, so he quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gestured to Gray to open a teleportation portal to the palace.
“Are you allowed to go to the palace too?”
Since earlier Theo had tried to send Liriope alone, she asked with a puzzled expression. Theo simply nodded and calmly replied,
“You said you needed to discuss something. The barrier has been restored, and I’ve stationed knights to prepare for monster attacks.”
Then, holding her shoulder, he quickly stepped into the portal Gray had opened.
“About the children’s welfare?”
Theo’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at Liriope.
He had been curious about the matter she wanted to discuss, but this was something he hadn’t anticipated, so he was a little surprised.
“Yes. Because of the Black Magician, a lot has happened in the North, and as a result, there were many casualties.”
“…That’s true.”
“There are many children who lost their parents and are left alone. Miriel, whom we met today, is only thirteen and is currently living alone in that house.”
“I know. That’s why I give them a monthly allowance.”
Liriope let out a small sigh, accompanied by a soft hum, at Theo’s words.
“That’s not proper help, Lord Theo.”
When Theo looked at her with a puzzled expression, Liriope immediately pointed out what she believed was the most problematic part.
“You don’t even know how old the youngest child who lost their parents is.”
“…Well. But the villagers will help the children.”
“That would be fine if every villager treated a child left alone as their own, but unfortunately, not all humans are that kind, Lord Theo.”
Theo stared at her intently as she continued.
“Of course, there are many kind and good people among them. Miriel met good villagers and has been doing well so far. But that doesn’t provide the child with fundamental stability. Some children may already be unknowingly exposed to danger, and there are bad adults who steal the monthly allowance sent from the Duke’s residence.”
“…Lipe.”
Calling Liriope, Theo seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before letting out a long sigh and speaking to her.
“I understand what you’re worried about. But every year, many people die from the harsh cold and monster attacks. That’s the life of the northern people. The fact that some humans would even take the money meant for the children left behind…”
“I heard it from Miriel.”
Interrupting Theo, Liriope spoke with a serious expression, making his eyes widen momentarily.
“There are already such bad humans.”
“….”
“Even if not, these are still children. I don’t think we should force the harsh life of the North onto them yet.”
Theo silently stared at her as she added that children deserve protection simply because they are children.
After a moment of contemplation, he let out a short sigh and said,
“But I can’t personally protect each of them, Lipe.”
Though he was working for the North’s welfare, he didn’t have the capacity to manage the lives of every remaining child individually.
The amount of work Theo and Adil completed daily was enormous, and part of it was indeed for the leftover northern citizens.
So living off what the North provides was entirely up to the individual.
They couldn’t spoon-feed them from start to finish.
“That’s why I’ve been thinking,”
Liriope said with a serious expression, looking at Theo.
When Theo looked at her, she began to speak with bright eyes, presenting the solution she had in mind.
“In my world, there were facilities called orphanages and dormitories.”
Liriope began explaining in detail about ‘orphanages’ and ‘dormitories’ to Theo.
In this world, there were essentially no facilities for children left alone.
The only existing institutions were training centers for commoners to become servants of nobles, which were extremely difficult to enter.
Since commoners were more exposed to monsters than nobles, they naturally wanted to work in noble households for safety, so it was normal that commoners sought employment there through these institutions.
In this world, noble servants were considered employees rather than slaves or mere attendants.
“So, I thought it would be good to create a place where children could gather and live, inspired by orphanages or dormitories. They would learn various skills there until they grew up enough to live independently.”
Because this world separated nobles, who could use innate abilities, and commoners, who could not, even highly talented commoners could only do work suitable for their status.
Thus, their options were mostly limited to farming or making goods required by the empire.
Of course, there was work for commoners, but the opportunities were not widespread, and people generally continued the work of their hometown.
“So, I propose building a dormitory near the Duke’s residence to teach skills to the children. They can learn to choose their own paths. And of course, finding jobs for children who acquire skills would be our responsibility.”
Theo nodded a few times at Liriope’s words.
“I understand what kind of institution you want to create. But each village has its own hierarchy, so getting jobs for children who lived in the dormitory won’t be easy. Finding a job is one thing, but whether they can overcome the local hierarchy is another.”
“That’s true. I’m also concerned about that. But shouldn’t they change too? Even for farming, or for tasks like crafting a raw crystal communication device, there will be people whose aptitude doesn’t match the work.”
Liriope believed it was wrong to limit people to the work of their birthplace simply because they were born there.
The world is vast, there’s plenty to do, and every individual has different strengths.
Those talented at creating portals should make portals, those talented in farming should farm—efficiency naturally improves.
“So I think children should have the freedom to choose their jobs.”
Theo, appearing thoughtful, eventually nodded to her.
“This issue shouldn’t be implemented only in the North. I’ll report it to His Majesty the Emperor.”
Liriope smiled brightly at Theo’s words.
“Thank you, Lord Theo.”
She then stood up suddenly and continued speaking.
“Then let’s go back to the village. We need to finish the Immovable Flame barrier quickly.”
“Lipe, you haven’t rested properly yet…”
“There’s no time. To install the Immovable Flame barrier across the North…”
“What?”
Theo, surprised by her words, widened his eyes.
“Why?”
Liriope asked, looking at him curiously, and Theo unconsciously groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.
“Lipe, you want to set up barriers across the entire North. What do you mean?”
“Exactly as I said. I’ve figured out how to create a barrier with Immovable Flame, so we need to put it up across the North. If possible… across the entire empire.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Theo removed his hand from his face, speaking seriously, making Liriope quickly nod.
“I said ‘if possible’ as a condition. Even with all the time in the world, we couldn’t cover the entire empire with Immovable Flame barriers.”
“Even covering the North entirely is impossible. Think of the magic you have, Lipe.”
“We can do it slowly, replenishing magic as we go. It will take time, yes…”
“There’s no need. I, Adil, and a few knights are already maintaining barriers regularly.”
The areas with the most frequent monster attacks were managed by Theo and Adil, and areas with fewer attacks by knights from the North.
“So if we use Immovable Flame for the barriers, we won’t need to constantly rebuild new ones.”
Liriope shrugged as if it was obvious, leaving Theo speechless.
In fact, for efficiency, using Liriope’s Immovable Flame for the barriers was very advantageous.
If she set up unending barriers across the North, one of the many tasks to manage would be eliminated.
Yet Theo couldn’t help but frown at the thought of Liriope exhausting herself, so he wasn’t entirely pleased with her idea.
