I Need Sponsorship

***

A child’s meal is important, even if they’re in a situation where their lives is at stake. They need to eat and grow taller into healthy adults. This situation made me think about my previous orphanage. Even if its financial situation was not good, they always served good meals there.

This orphanage had 2 floors, which were neither small nor large. The director’s office and dining room was located on the first floor and the children’s room was on the second floor. I hurried across the hallway. Thankfully, the structure of the building was simple so it didn’t take me long to figure my way around.


‘But are there no employees here?’

It was quite surprising to see no one around. Considering the size of the orphanage, it should’ve at least a handful amount of employees. And because it had been a long time since I did any physical labour, it would be difficult for me to do everything alone.


I arrived in front of the dining room, deep in thoughts. That’s why I didn’t realize the place smelled like soup.


‘So soup is on today’s menu?’


I tilted my head slightly. In my previous orphanage, there was always a menu in the director’s office, but because all of this orphanage funds were used for the lavish lifestyle of the previous owner of this body, there was no such thing here.

Anyway, I need to go feed the children. As I opened the door with a nervous expression, a child suddenly, who was walking quickly with a tray in her hand, bumped into me.

“ …… ”

“Are you alright!?”

Upon realizing that she had fallen over, I quickly reached out and grabbed her forearm to get her up while also grabbing the tray.

Shocked, the girl regained her balance and looked up at me. I gently smiled at her.


“Are you hurt…”

“I’m so sorry, Director!”

Not letting me finish, she quickly apologized while fiercely shivering. After seeing her attitude, I looked at her in bewilderment.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that the director was here!”

“No, no, no, no, It’s alright. It’s really alright!”

I tried to recall the child’s name but failed to remember it. But I knew for sure that she was not the female protagonist, so she definitely a supporting character. Even without being the main character, she made it obvious that this book wasn’t all glitters and rainbows.


“Don’t worry it’s fine, I’m just glad that you didn’t get hurt.”

“Yes..!”

As soon as I was done speaking, the child ran as fast as if she had been struck by lightning.
I tilted my head Looking at the child’s back.

‘Looks like she was going to eat outside since she was going outside with a tray…’

She had what looked like a delicious meal on a tray, including a soup delicious-smelling soup.

‘I knew it! Soup was indeed on the menu. I was expecting it to smell bad but it doesn’t so I’m now looking forward to it.’


Since her tray looked full, I concluded that there was plenty of food and that the previous owner of this body must have fed them better than I thought.


As I entered the room, I realized that I was utterly wrong.

***
When I suddenly entered, Upon seeing me the children were quite surprised, so I tried to close the door as quietly as possible. I suddenly stopped when I heard someone screaming.

“Rodi! Do you know how much this costs?! You can’t even clean a bowl properly! You are useless!”

“I’m sorry, Romanda.”

“Don’t you already know what’s going to happen when the is going to find out about it?! Especially, since the plate you broke was something she cherishes a lot!”


The child, who had dropped the plate while washing it, bowed and apologized. But it seemed that it did not do anything to appease Romanda’s anger. Taken aback, I was about to step in and reproach her about her action, but a black-haired boy approached the two and exclaimed.

“Rodi apologize!”

“Cloran! Don’t meddle!…


“… I’ll let it go this time, but you’ll be in charge of the dishes from now on!”


“Okay. Are we done now?”


At Cloran’s attitude, Romanda raised her hand. She then swung her arms with what seemed all her strength. Suddenly, a brown-haired boy came out and hugged Rodi and Cloran and other children in a protective stance. Horrified about what was going to happen, I stepped in and grabbed the woman’s wrist.


“What do you think you’re doing?”

When I suddenly appeared and spoke in a cold voice, Romanda looked at me with embarrassed eyes.

At my sudden appearance and cold tone, Romanda looked embarrassed. After letting go of her hands, I immediately checked the children’s condition. The moment I could see their faces properly, I immediately recognized them.

‘Black hair is Cloran, and pink hair is Ren.’

Some of the characters’ appearance was so detailed in the novel that it would be difficult for me not to recognize them.

‘That child……’

The brown-haired boy who was trying to protect Rodi and Cloran…

‘That child……’

It took me a while to figure out his name.

‘ Jake Purite.’

The eldest child of the orphanage and the one who, in the future, will no longer be a part of the novel.

Seeing the three protagonists of the story with my own two eyes made me feel strange. It’s true that it was fascinating to read about them since the story ended on a good note, but being there with them and watching everything made me realize that this situation is unacceptable!

Taking in the children’s appearances was enough to make me feel angry so I looked at Romanda instead, and realize that she was wearing an apron. She must have been a maid. If so, why was Rodi doing her chores?

“Madam……”

“Wait! So instead of working not only, did you make them do your chores but you were also going to hit them?!”


Romanda looked older than me, which means that in a normal situation I would not yell or talk to her in a casual manner but I couldn’t bring myself to be respectful towards her. At this moment, I was glad that, hierarchically wise, I had more power than her.

Noticing my cold demeanour, she tried to explain herself.

“Madam, actually what happened was…Rodi…Rodi broke the plate that you cherished the most. And so I was trying to lecture her a bit, but instead, this little bastard interfered and was rude… so…so I tried…”

“You should’ve been cleaning the broken plate before even thinking of lecturing her. Most importantly, why was she doing what you’re paid to do?!”

“Well… That…”

She stuttered.

Since it was the first time criticizing her, Romanda looked confused. It’s true that the previous director gave her the responsibility to look over the children. But how could she not only make the children work so badly but also try to slap them out of anger?! Must have been the previous Director’s fault.

‘Come to think of it, I think I read about that in the novel’

When Ren and Cloran were young, there was a maid that bullied the children since the director seemed to not care about them. And so, she would use the Director’s title to force the children to abide by rules. The maid got then fired because the orphanage was facing some financial difficulties, and that was when the Director started abusing the children herself.

“You’re fired, Romanda.”

I stated coldly.

“What do you mean, I’m fired, madam? I haven’t done one thing that could get me fired! You were the one, who told me to take care of the children and never even bat an eye when I reprimanded them. So why am I being fired all of a sudden?!”

Astonished, Romanda approached me while shouting.

“I told you to take care of the children, not to abuse them. And you’ve made the children do all of the work you’ve been paid to do!”

“That’s!-”

Romanda’s face darkened and her lips quivered, but she couldn’t deny the facts.
It was true that the Director never stopped Romanda’s antics nor explicitly told her to stop, so she took it as a green light. I’m not the novel’s original Director and I won’t tolerate this kind of behaviour. Romanda was now clenching tightly her clean apron, as she didn’t move I looked at her and said.

“This is the last time I repeat myself, get out of this orphanage this instant.”

“…You’ll regret kicking me out!”

Romanda, who looked at me with bloody eyes as if she would kill me, left the dining room wildly.
Romanda finally left but not before giving me a blood-shotted deadly glare.
After her departure, an unknown girl, who was about to enter the kitchen but stopped at the door, looked at me with a frightened expression. When our eyes met, she quickly glanced away. I then proceed to look at all the children but all I could see was fear. My eyes landed on Jack who was still hugging Cloran and Rodi and ren in his arms. His eyes were full of loathing and fear, so I did not hold his gaze for long. Their glare felt suffocating but I also understood them, even if it wasn’t directly, the previous Director also partook in the abuse since she never stopped Romanda. Therefore in their eyes, I’m just as bad as her.

Trying to avoid their eyes, I started to look at their appearance, that’s when I noticed that they were much smaller and thinner than the other children of their age. My heart sank, and the fact that I was now in the body of one of the people who inflicted their pain broke me in so many ways.

I lowered my head and murmured softly.

“I’m sorry……”