I Am Sought After by Everyone in a Different World Where the Power and Chastity of Men and Women Are Reversed - 18

Chapter 18: The Conditions of the Orphanage

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“””Thank you for the food!”””

Chomp chomp chomp

“””…..”””

Since we were already here, we decided to have dinner together with the children at the orphanage. But still, their appetite was incredible. Sure, I already expected the skewers would be gone, but I didn’t expect for them to devour the bread clean too. I had deliberately bought more bread, thinking that the bread should last for a few days. But it turned out, even the bread was devoured at an alarming rate. 

The three others who were with me were as taken aback as me too.

“I-I’m so sorry! It’s been a while since the children were able to eat until they’re full…”

“It’s fine. I’m glad to see them eating heartily. Everyone is so lively and adorable.”

Children should eat well so they can grow up healthy.

“But… I didn’t know the orphanage was in such a dire situation. I thought the orphanage receives donations from the Adventurers’ Guild and the city’s lord?”

“Yes. We do receive donations from the lord and the Adventurers’ Guild. However, the number of orphans has increased rapidly recently. That’s why we are barely able to feed them.”

“The director is too soft-hearted! This orphanage can only accommodate 8 children at most, but he keeps accepting more and more… Sure, we’re still fine now since the weather is still warm, but what should we do when winter comes? I’m not sure we can survive through the winter given how tattered the orphanage is!”

“Uuuu… I’m sorry, Mina-kun… I know I’ve caused you so much trouble but… I just couldn’t turn my eyes away from the children who came here, hoping they could get help. I couldn’t possibly leave them be and force them to fend for themselves outside…”

“Well, I understand. The younger ones won’t be able to survive on their own, but the older one should be able to manage somehow.”

The woman called Mina looked like she was in her 30s or 40s. She looked a bit thin too, probably from not having enough food to eat. I could tell that she had been through a lot.

“It sounds like everyone has it rough… I think I’ll make a small donation to the orphanage later.”

“Really?! Thank you so much!!”

Seeing how dire their situation was, it was hard for me not to do anything to help them. While the possibility that the two of them were deliberately trying to gain our sympathy was not zero, but I could tell that the orphanage was really struggling just from looking at them.

“By the way, how many orphanages are there in this town? And are they all in the same condition as this one?”

“There are two other orphanages in this town. While none of them are as bad as us, but they are also struggling…”

It seems the financial state of orphanages in this world wasn’t very good. However, if there were only 3 orphanages in this town, I should be able to cover the cost of their daily meals. Considering that I could receive 10 gold coins for treating one person, that plan sounded really feasible. I could use the excess money I had to support orphanages and other people in need. In this way, I wouldn’t be labeled as a greedy bastard like that notorious healer. 

That being said, just giving my money out to these children wasn’t a sustainable solution. There was a saying about giving a hungry person a fish versus teaching them how to fish. They needed to develop the skills to fend for themselves in the future. After all, there was a saying that went like,”He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”

I guess I needed to think of ways for these children to become self-sufficient somehow. 

“Souma Onii-chan,thank you so much for buying dinner for everyone!”

While Director-san was talking, Riche suddenly came up to me and hugged me. 

Souma Onii-chan, huh.. It sure has a nice ring to it. I don’t have any siblings, so I wonder if this is what having a sister feels like… 

Judging from her body, Riche should be in either fifth or sixth grade of elementary school. She was one of the older ones in this orphanage. She had brown hair and beautiful green eyes and… It seemed she had just started to develop in the chest area too.

“Yeah and if Riche can be a good girl, I’ll come again tomorrow!”

“Hooray!”

“….Kids are so innocently cunning… How unfair…”

“….Indeed. It’s not fair they’re allowed to hug a guy like that…”

Both flora and Ferris muttered. Even though I’d also welcome a hug from them with open arms…

After that, I played with Riche and other little kids. Most of the girls wanted to play adventurers with Elmie and the others, while the boys wanted to play house with me. After all, the dynamics in this world was the opposite of my original world. 

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“….What is this…?”

Today was my fourth day in this world and it felt like I was always surprised every day. Yesterday and the day before, I was surprised at the sheer amount of crowd gathering in the Adventurers’ Guild. And today as well, there were many people coming to see me just like before, but I had grown accustomed to it. Somehow. But now, there was another thing that surprised me. 

Next to the Adventurers’ Guild, there was an impressive building. Even though until yesterday, there was only a temporary framework of the building. 

“Oh! Souma-dono! What do you think? Pretty good, right? From today on, I hope you can practice your treatment at this temporary treatment center.”

“Umm… This magnificent building is the temporary treatment center….?”

A splendid building with a large wooden door. I went inside and there was a waiting room for the patients and beyond the waiting room, there was a spacious treatment room that looked brand-new. Then, further inside, there was a separate room for me to rest. 

Which part of this fine building is ‘temporary’???

“Well… You see… I asked for a smaller building to be made, but well… The craftsmen got excited and in the end, here we are. We get this splendid building instead. Don’t worry, I only paid the initial amount we’ve agreed upon, so it’s fine.”

Thalia-san chuckled before she continued on.

“It seems one of the people that Souma-dono treated was the boss of the workshop that I asked to build the treatment center. You know, that dwarf woman who came yesterday? She was ecstatic that she got to wield her hammer again and… She got really pumped and somehow managed to build such a splendid building in just one day.”

Aah, right. I remembered there was a female dwarf among the patients. I treated her injured arm. So she was the boss? I was really grateful for her effort, but I couldn’t help but wonder… 

Do we really need such a splendid building like this….?

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T/N: From ‘temporary’ to ‘permanent’ (ᵔ́∀ᵔ̀)