Marquis Barrington recalled a story he had heard recently about an orphanage from an informant in the village of Hertin.
'So now, in this estate where nothing is intact, only that building remains intact.'
An orphanage built on the outskirts of the Grand Duchy.
It was built 20 years ago, and since there weren't many orphanages in the territory, most abandoned children ended up there.
However, when Marquis Barrington went to check it out himself, he found that the facility was quite old and small, not befitting a place that would accommodate so many children.
The Marquis of Barrington saw the Grand Duke of Illeston.
“I heard that the Illestons support orphanages within their territory.”
Grand Duke Illeston nodded.
“It’s been passed down from generation to generation. You must know this because you’ve seen it. This estate is not an environment where you can raise a child and eat properly.”
That is why the heads of the Grand Duke's family understood the feelings of the people of the land who abandoned their children and did not blame them.
They have been consistently supporting orphanages where children from poor people, exhausted from the hardships of life, gather, feeling guilty for not being able to protect them.
Barrington nodded.
“That orphanage was also one of the facilities supported by His Highness the Grand Duke of Illeston.”
Simone drank the tea Anna had poured for her and focused on what the Marquis of Berrington had to say.
“But that place was suddenly closed a while ago.”
Orphanage. This facility is also closely related to Simone. Considering that the place where she lived did not even have basic food, it seems that the orphanage did not receive support from the Grand Duke.
“The source believes that the sudden closure of the door is related to that phenomenon-”
“Oh, I closed down that orphanage.”
"...Yes?"
Marquis Barrington, who had been speaking with a serious expression, looked at the Grand Duke of Illeston with a blank expression.
Simone also looked like she had no idea what he meant.
Grand Duke Illeston said it as if it was nothing.
“I cut off support there. So I closed it down shortly after and sent the kids elsewhere.”
“...Why are you like that?”
“Because I knew that the grant money I was sending there would be useless.”
The Marquis of Barrington's brow furrowed further. What could he mean?
Does this mean that the current Grand Duke of Illeston, unlike his predecessors, is stingy with the budget for orphanages?
When the Marquis of Barrington seemed to want a more specific answer, the Grand Duke of Illeston sighed deeply and said.
“It was revealed that the support money sent from the family was filling the stomachs of the director and his teachers, not the children.”
“Is that true?”
“Duke Barrington, why did I lie to you? I cut off support because I thought it would be better to send the children elsewhere.”
He recently learned from Simone's background check that there are quite a few facilities where the director and teachers divide the amount of money given to the children according to the number of children, hoping that the children will eat well and live well.
A place where the Grand Duke's support money was not used for children.
He plans to gradually eliminate such places in the future.
Of course, in places where the subsidy is used directly on children, the plan was to increase the amount so that more children could be accepted.
When everyone's attention turned to him, Grand Duke Illeston nodded to Marquis Barrington as if he had said all he wanted to say.
Marquis Barrington, who had been looking at the Grand Duke of Ileston in a dazed state, only then hurriedly continued speaking.
“So... that orphanage was closed down a while ago.”
Grand Duke Illeston. As the Marquis felt when they spoke earlier, it seems that he wasn't just sitting here and letting go of this territory.
“The problem is that they say they can’t demolish that empty building.”
“They can’t demolish it?”
“Furthermore, they say that no one steals materials or other items from that building. If they try to steal, they say that they either run away in a daze or are found unconscious.”
The Grand Duchy is such a poor territory that any building that is not inhabited quickly becomes a target for the people.
But at some point, strange rumors started to spread among the people and no one started going there.
There were rumors that something other than a person was living inside the closed building.
“I heard the story from an informant and went to the orphanage that was closed. And that’s what I saw.”
The Marquis of Barrington washed his face repeatedly as if he didn't even want to think about it again.
“A woman who eats dirt like she’s possessed.”
“A woman?”
“Actually, I couldn’t tell if she was a man or a woman. I just thought she was a woman because she was wearing a tattered dress.”
Simone tilted her head.
“They might just be people who have been starving for a long time. I think it’s too much of a stretch to call that a strange phenomenon. It’s a poor place to begin with.”
Marquis Barrington nodded.
“Of course, I thought so too. I couldn’t conclude that it was a strange phenomenon to this extent. But after going in a few more times, I realized that more than one or two people were living in that building.”
One day a man with his skin flayed, another day a woman with just disheveled hair, another day something bloody that looked like it had nine feet of arm length, another day a child with a pale face as if it had been strangled.
When the Marquis asked the townspeople, they all said they saw the same thing the Marquis had seen.
The appearance, gender, age, and behavior of those witnessed are all different.
They said that some appeared and disappeared, others called out someone's name, others stared at them, and some even cried out for food or for help.
“So I’m going to call this a freak phenomenon and ask you to investigate the orphanage.”
“Are you going to do it?”
The Grand Duke asked Simone.
Simone nodded after thinking for a moment.
“I’ll give it a try. If I can’t solve it myself, I’ll give up.”
Simone won't be struggling to solve something that doesn't work.
“It would be good to go there once to do a preliminary inspection.”
Marquis Barrington nodded.
“It is up to you whether or not you will carry out this request. For reference, the fee is this much.”
Barrington handed over the request. The amount written on the request was 5,000.
Simone, who had lowered her head to check the amount, froze immediately.
‘...I guess I should do this?’
The amount was quite large.
In gold, it's 5 won. It's the price of one expensive everyday dress for a noble lady, so it's about 5 million won in Korean currency.
Simone nodded with a big smile.
“Okay, I will. Where? There.”
“Ah, that place-”
Grand Duke Illeston answered instead.
“You know the place well. I’ll call a carriage for you.”
For some reason, he looked quite happy.
***
After the Marquis of Berrington finished his conversation with Simone, he left, and Louis and Abel naturally surrounded Simone's bed.
“What did you say? What did the Marquis say!”
“Tell us too. What is it?”
Simone chuckled at Abel and his party's urging and told them about her conversation with the Marquis of Barrington.
“Lady Simone, you really do like money.”
Simone nodded at Louis' words.
“I need to prepare for independence slowly. I don’t have that much time.”
“...Are you ready for independence?”
What independence?
“Don’t you live here?”
“I’m just renting a room for a while. On the condition that the curse be lifted.”
This mansion looked very familiar, and the Grand Duke and his wife were very considerate and seemed like her guardians, so they thought she was just part of the mansion.
'I guess I don't know anything about her.'
Abel, who was watching Simone and Louis' conversation, made a strange sound with his lips and then said,
“I want to go too.”
Simone looked at Abel, who was standing expressionless, and Bianchi and Orkan, who seemed to want to follow him.
“When are you going on your adventure?”
By the way, why are these people here when their work is done?
Then Abel said as if it were natural.
“Aren’t we colleagues?”
“We were colleagues? You don’t mean just collaborators?”
“If you promised to help each other earlier, then you’re colleagues. If you don’t like it, then change the words to friends.”
As Simone remained speechless, Orkan nodded his head with a haha, embarrassed smile.
“Haha, understand, Simone. He is a very friendly person. And as Abel said, please let us go with you. It will definitely help. I am also personally curious.”
“We have something to wait for, so we can take it easy until then.”
Bianchi also said with embarrassment.
Waiting?
'Ah. That's it.'
At the beginning of their journey, Abel and his party stop by the Kingdom of Fredis before arriving at the Empire of Luan.
And then, from a collaborator there, he is introduced to another collaborator, Elle, who knows the location of the Demon King. He came to the Luan Empire to meet that collaborator and got entangled with Louis and Simone.
In the novel, the collaborator, a scholar named Elle, does not meet them easily and follows them secretly for a while to check if they can truly defeat the Demon King.
Perhaps, by waiting, he means his collaborator, Elle, who is currently following Abel and his group to determine if they are the right people to give information to.
When Simone remained still without any response, Louis sighed and explained the situation further so that Simone could understand it.
“As a thank you for your assistance in this matter, the Grand Duke has allowed them to stay in his mansion during his stay in the Empire.”
'...'
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