Chapter 5: An Innocent Eleven-Year-Old

My name is Crow. I’m an innocent eleven-year-old.

I was an orphan completely alone in the world and could barely obtain food each day. Then I heard a wonderful rumor that the very, very kind Sapojira Family would give me work, so I came here.

All right!

Ah, of course, that was merely my cover story.

In reality, I’m an executive in a yakuza organization.

Reality is painful, isn’t it?

“Listen up, all of you. A newcomer joined us today. Make sure you treat him well.”

The intimidating young man brought me into a building filled with children.

It was an orphanage operated by the Sapojira Family—or, more accurately, an institution for managing child labor.

Most cities had three types of orphanages, but the reality of every kind was rather questionable.

Orphanages operated by nobles only accepted children with high mana grades, who would eventually be used as covert knights or nobles’ lovers. Children raised in temple orphanages spent their lives as disposable soldiers or menial servants beneath the priests. The remaining private orphanages—most of them operated by yakuza—varied widely. However, children were generally forced into harsh labor from a young age, and most eventually became adventurers or prostitutes.

For children without relatives, this world was an extremely difficult place to survive.

Truly.

Now then, approximately fifty children lived in the yakuza orphanage to which I’d casually allowed myself to be brought. The oldest were fifteen, while the youngest were still nursing infants.

For children their age, they all seemed strangely listless…

Well, they were probably tired from their daily work.

It couldn’t be helped.

Once the intimidating man left, a boy who seemed to be the oldest immediately approached me.

“My name’s Golji. I’m fifteen. You?”

“Crow. Eleven. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. Same here.”

Incidentally, this institution had no children aged sixteen or older. Once they turned sixteen, their future course was forcibly decided and they left.

Anyone the Sapojira Family favored became a member of the Family. Everyone else became either an adventurer or a prostitute.

Unfortunately, the reality was that they were never offered any other choices.

“You’ve only just arrived and probably don’t understand anything, so I’d like to explain various things… Sorry. Work will begin soon.”

“Already? You begin working rather early.”

“You carefree fool. We work from morning until night almost every day. Prepare yourself.”

As Golji and I discussed various things, everyone left the institution and walked away in a long line.

The group included babies who obviously couldn’t contribute to the work. Apparently, the older girls looked after them while everyone traveled together.

According to Golji, when they graduated from the institution at sixteen, they were charged for the cost of raising them as debt. Once they finished repaying that amount, they would finally become free.

However, only a handful blessed with talent and luck, who maneuvered intelligently, ever accomplished that. Most couldn’t even pay off the interest. Their debt continued growing, and they spent their lives having money extracted from them endlessly.

In the first place, if someone were that capable, a member of the Family would draw them into the organization early. Apparently, almost no one ever became free of the Sapojira Family in the true sense.

“Once I leave the orphanage, I’ll become an adventurer. I hear it’s hard, but if you’re lucky, you can earn money.”

“You’ll be exempt from the poll tax too.”

“In exchange for risking your life.”

Adventurers weren’t subject to a poll tax…

Or rather, people unable to pay their poll tax were punished by being made adventurers and sent to monster-infested lands like the frontier.

It was an occupation one could describe as the lowest rung of society, the final destination for former orphans and ex-convicts.

Even when they risked their lives in combat, they earned one copper coin for a goblin and only a few copper coins for stronger monsters. Merely paying for food was difficult. From whatever remained, they needed to save gradually, repay their debts, and purchase weapons and armor.

There was no humane system resembling social security, so an illness or serious injury would immediately leave them destitute.

“It’s improper to say, but if you distinguish yourself during a monster disaster, you can earn a sizable reward from the lord. Living on the frontier gives you regular chances to make money.”

“Is it all right to say that so openly? Some of the children here probably lost their families and became orphans in monster disasters.”

“Hmm? That’s how I became an orphan too. But you just have to accept it. If you want to survive somehow, you have to shift your thinking and keep going.”

I see.

He was remarkably resilient.

“Are there no choices besides becoming an adventurer?”

“I hear there are illegal jobs in the underworld, but unless your mana grade is high, you won’t survive long in those. None of us can even afford to attend the temple, so most can barely read, write, or calculate. Honestly, plenty have sticky fingers too… Respectable places won’t hire orphans. In the end, becoming an adventurer is the most realistic option.”

As we spoke, we walked leisurely out through a collapsed section of the city’s outer wall.

Once we left the purification barrier’s range, the miasma immediately became dense. We arrived at something resembling a ranch, surrounded by a low fence and constructed beside the dangerous forest.

What was this?

Strange, fluffy white objects, each approximately as tall as a child’s knee, wandered around while absorbing the miasma.

“Golji, what are those?”

“What, you’ve never seen them before, Crow? Magical cotton grass. Apparently, it’s a valuable resource supporting the cotton industry. Our job is to yank out the cotton growing on top of their heads. But when you approach, they swing their leaves and cut you. Prepare yourself.”

Looking again, I saw that the arms and legs of the boys among the orphans were covered in wounds.

Alchemical medicine capable of healing wounds like these cleanly existed, but naturally, no one would supply it to orphans.

This was the situation I’d expected.

“Collecting cotton is the boys’ job. Removing the debris and loading it onto the cart is work for the girls and the little ones. Now then—everyone, let’s begin today’s work.”

Golji began gathering everyone.

I see.

When I glanced around, there was only one yakuza guard. He looked bored and had begun dozing…

So I immediately approached him and swiftly stored him inside my subspace.

Don’t worry.

There were still plenty of empty individual cells.

“H-hey, Crow! What did you—”

Golji was quite flustered, but—

That was enough.

I understood now.

I’d learned more than enough about how the Sapojira Family treated the orphans. There was no need to remain silent and watch them suffer any more wounds.

I extended Mage Hands and stored the cotton bolls on the magical cotton grass inside my subspace. The remaining grass immediately withered, spilling seeds, so I collected those too. Those seeds would absorb miasma and grow into more magical cotton grass by the following day.

That must have been the system.

The plants in this world had rather mysterious ecologies. Once I had time, researching them all might be interesting.

Afterward, I invited the dumbfounded children into my subspace. At that point, my objective was largely complete.

I destroyed the cotton ranch’s fence and lured in several goblins.

The site of a mysterious mass disappearance was complete.

Excellent.

◆　　　◆　　　◆

When I visited the rear entrance of the spinning factory alone, three yakuza were eating breakfast and chatting.

Apparently, every morning, the children handed the harvested cotton to these men, then spent the rest of the day making thread inside the factory until late at night.

They truly had no time to rest.

It was horribly exploitative labor.

“Good morning, gentlemen.”

“What’s this, brat? Are you an orphan? Where’s the cotton?”

“Well, you see… The fence around the cotton ranch broke, and goblins overran it. It happened so suddenly that everyone fled in different directions, so I don’t know where they are now. I came to consult you for the moment.”

At my words, the three hurriedly interrupted their breakfast and began discussing what to do next.

One would visit the site to confirm the facts. Another would enter the factory. The remaining man appeared to intend to take me to the Sapojira Family’s office.

And so, we came to the Family office.

Before several intimidating men, I repeated the same explanation as before. The yakuza looked confused, but if a child like me suddenly told them such a story, they naturally wouldn’t believe it easily.

Then the intimidating man who’d gone to inspect the scene returned in a panic.

See? The cotton ranch had been destroyed.

Yes, yes.

“What’s wrong with all of you? You’re making a racket.”

“Boss, thank you for your hard work. Something terrible has happened.”

The head of the Cineraria Family’s Silva branch.

Yes. He was exactly the person I wanted to meet.

This man was head of the Sapojira Family and an influential figure who controlled the city’s underworld. He was also responsible for the cotton business.

Their enterprise was quite successful.

By working children mercilessly, they harvested cotton cheaply and made cotton thread of various colors and thicknesses from the fibers. That thread was transported to workshops throughout the city and used by many employed residents to weave and knit cloth. The finished clothing, bedding, and similar products apparently sold for fairly good prices as trade goods.

I see.

If the cotton ranch were destroyed, their stock of thread would soon run dry, causing every part of the business to collapse—

As the discussion grew heated, a portion of my shadow silently separated and moved toward the boss’s shadow.

No one present noticed the excellent investigator concealed within it.

I’m counting on you, Kiko.

Once she confirmed the information she’d obtained, we needed to act as quickly as possible.

The Sapojira Family’s conduct was evil on a scale that could potentially develop into a war with another country.

We would probably have to respond extremely harshly.