Love Letter From The Future chapter 115

2. The Lord is with you (36)

The orphanage’s utility room had long since become a temporary headquarters for operations.

The scattered documents were handwritten by Leto. In it, the progress of the search and various pending issues of the orphanage were organized.

Among them, the most notable document was the orphanage’s financial statements.

As it is a place that receives support from the Holy Land, Guilford Orphanage also has its own ledger. However, the ledger written by Mr. Guilford, who had not received the proper training for a non-specialist, was full of inaccuracies.

So, temporarily, Leto decided to take charge of the orphanage’s financial statements. At least while we were staying at the orphanage.

In the process, Leto realized one thing.

“This orphanage is doomed anyway.”

It was a cold assessment, but Leto’s assessment was never wrong. He clicked his tongue and slammed the papers on the table.

“I don’t have a lot of sources of income. Rather, it’s strange how I’ve endured so far. If it was ruined, it should have been ruined a long time ago… … .”

“It’s not something we care about anyway, is it?”

It was Delphine-senpai who stopped Leto from continuing. As always, she was sitting in a lofty posture, and said that with her legs crossed.

The expression on her face was unbearable. It was the attitude that one of the orphanages was ruined, what was the problem.

“Remember, Ainstern. The request we received is only to subdue the demons attacking the orphanage. At least now, the target might become a Mine.”

The words of senior Delphine, who had been locked in his ear, had a strange power of persuasion. That was the innate charisma of a human named Delphine Yurdina.

Words that are simple yet always point to the core.

It was the language of Delphine Yurdina and the language of the strong. Even boredom could be felt in her crimson eyes as she continued her leisurely speech.

Leto, who had been listening to those words without a word, immediately nodded and agreed.

“… … That’s not wrong. Alright, as you said, let’s start with the story of Delphine, who led the search team.”

Senior Delphine opened her mouth right away as if she knew that. Unlike before, when he felt somewhat relaxed, his voice was a little strained.

“We continued our search, centering on the spot where the monkey monster often appears. Then, I found out that the monkey monster attacks more aggressively the further you head in a certain direction. And at the end there was a cave.”

It was a brief testimony. However, all the necessary information was included. A groan escaped from the mouths of those who were listening.

Listening to that with a serious expression on my face, I threw a question that naturally came to my mind.

“Have you tried entering the cave?”

Hearing my voice, Delphine’s body trembled. Her eyes glanced at me, then to the ground.

She was haughty, and then muttered in a timid voice.

“… … no.”

I didn’t have any intention of blaming it, but Delphine began to glance at me. I asked again in a nonchalant voice.

“Was there too many dangers around?”

“no.”

The answer came from a place other than Delphine. While Delphine hesitated, Seria spoke first on behalf of her.

She spoke in a cold, haughty voice, as always. Come to think of it, even though they were half-sisters, I thought they were sisters.

They were sisters who resembled each other in their arrogance, their beautiful appearance, and even their pride towards the Yurdina family. And secretly care for each other.

“But my sister judged the potential risk too high. If Mine were really staying there, I thought it would be impossible to respond with the power of the search team at the time.”

As if agreeing with that point, Yuren, who was a member of the search team, raised his hand and spoke.

“That’s right, Mine is really no joke. The guy who even manipulated the beasts and kidnapped the children made a hideout? This should never go in.”

It was the saintess who gave her last opinion. Since the search team had a total of 4 members, it was as if all of the opinions of the search team came out after her.

“Saving the poor lamb is the right thing to do as a servant of the Lord. But beyond that, don’t overlook the fact that the burdens on each of our shoulders are by no means light. Saving the children is important, but more than that, fulfilling your individual responsibilities is also important.”

In other words, even if they cooperated to fulfill the request, it meant not risking their lives.

It was a bit cruel, but it was also a common sense decision. Even if there were hundreds of orphans in this world, if you were to weigh it against one academy student, you would most likely choose the latter.

To that extent, the talents of the academy were a valuable resource. Not to mention, all of the people gathered here were nobles or dignitaries from the Holy Land.

They were the people who had to protect even if it meant sacrificing dozens of orphanages, let alone one. It was a cruel and pitiful story, but the saintess’ words were taken for granted.

Even that benevolent saintess said that, and there was a feeling that it couldn’t be helped. Because there are many orphans in the world and there are not enough academy students.

Delphine was still watching me. She cautiously opened her mouth.

“… … that, yes Hatchet Confucius.”

It was me who had no intention of blaming it in the first place. My head was gently nodded.

“Good judgement. If he died then, it would have been a serious mistake as the dog would have died and the power would have been leaked.”

When I said that, Delphine finally regained her momentum. Seeing her return to her arrogant and arrogant attitude at once, Elsie-senpai clicked her tongue once as if she didn’t like it at all.

However, the situation was not relaxed enough to take care of even the smallest complaints of senior Elsie. Senior Delphine continued her remarks.

“And even if it’s just the demons that were caught, there were at least dozens of them. I don’t know how many I’ve already cut down to get to the cave, but that means there may be more demons left than I thought.”

“… … is that possible? Even if the forest is large, there won’t be enough food to feed hundreds of monsters.”

In response to my reasonable question, the sound of palms touching echoed.

The party’s gaze turned to the epicenter at once. It was Leto who organized the remarks.

“That’s why you have to explore the cave. If there is a secret, that’s the only place.”

Then, Leto glanced at me. All the information I needed was given, so I meant to look at it and decide.

There was a leader who led Delphine-senpai and Elsie-senpai, and Seria and Celine also practically followed me. Even if the saintess wanted to come out uncooperatively, she couldn’t.

You should know better than anyone that it is not good to jump out alone in a situation like this.

However, the saintess added one more at the end. That was serious advice.

“Brother Ian, do you know? Don’t overdo it… … .”

“… … I know.”

He knew what the saintess was worried about. It must be the pressure to set an appropriate level of action, considering my temperament to be so reckless.

I really had no intention of taking any more risks. I had no desire to deal with the Mine, who was plotting a secret plan by leading a number of monsters and kidnapping children.

It was enough to secure physical evidence. Then the troops could be moved. There were Delphine-senpai and Elsie-senpai here, and there was also a saintess.

“First, we will aim for reconnaissance. I don’t know if it’s a single demon, but if we join together with a few monsters, it’s impossible with our power alone. I don’t know if there is no demon, but the moment I recognize the existence of the demon, I secure physical evidence and retreat immediately.”

It was the most sensible choice. Everyone in the party nodded their heads as if in agreement.

Nonetheless, I did add a few words.

“As you all know, no one knows what will happen there. There is not a single person who has ever dealt with Mine here. First of all, I will do my personal maintenance as much as possible today, and I will leave at dawn tomorrow.”

Like demons, demons become stronger at night. Therefore, it was the best choice to start at dawn and fight from around the morning.

If I left in the afternoon like now, I could have been disappointed. It was a very common sense judgment, so the party expressed their agreement as if it were natural.

With that, the meeting was over. The target had been set, and as of now there was no more information to mine.

All that remained was a showdown.

After the meeting, Celine came to me. she asked me with tears in her eyes.

“Ian oppa, are you okay?”

She had a soft heart since childhood. Suddenly risking her life to hunt demons, as she had the least practical experience among the group, she had no choice but to be scared.

I patted her on the shoulder and comforted her.

“Don’t worry, it’s enough to run away when it’s really dangerous.”

I don’t know if that will work, but it’s better than being scared more than necessary.

After Celine, it was Leto’s turn. He sighed and asked me.

“… … Are you okay?”

“No, honestly, I want to get on a horse and run away right now.”

It was a completely different word from the answer he had just given to Celine. Even so, Leto smiled and patted me on the shoulder as if he knew that. It was the complete opposite of Celine.

“You protect Celine, or you fall behind me.”

It was something I knew without saying anything. I smiled and nodded, and Leto pulled out a sheet of parchment from his pocket.

It was a scroll. It was an object with magic written on it, and if torn, magic could be used regardless of the owner’s ability.

Of course, it was difficult to make and expensive. Leto’s specialty was this one, so he could make it, but it was something that required a lot of effort.

As I looked at him with surprised eyes, Leto said it was nothing.

“It’s a scroll with the 2nd circle fire magic written on it. Most demons are afraid of fire, so use it to escape in case of emergency.”

I was silent for a while. Although Leto was also a noble, his circumstances were not generous. He hesitated as to whether he should get a scroll that cost tens of gold to hundreds of gold per sheet, but there was only one conclusion.

He, too, would have judged that it would be better for me to give away that scroll than to die and get hurt. It was impossible to refuse the favor.

“… … I will pay you back someday.”

“Even if I sell only the beasts I will catch tomorrow, I will have more than enough to pay back, bastard.”

With that said, Leto left. I looked at the back for a while, then put the scroll in my arms. Looking back, there were still many things to take care of.

I wish I had at least a bottle of the potion Emma gave me, the scroll Leto gave me, and a healing potion.

With that thought in mind, I started walking. Tonight, thinking that I should focus on personal maintenance as much as possible.

*

But that night, the guest who came to me was particularly unexpected.

The moonlight was the lighting that made her shiny golden hair stand out. Ruby-like crimson eyes were looking at me with a sorrowful light.

she begged me

“… … punishment.”

“yes?”

I inadvertently questioned the word that appeared out of nowhere, but as always, the reality did not change.

“Punish me… please.”

The look on Delphine-senpai’s expression when he said that was so sincere that I forgot what to say for a while.

It was the moment when a stone was thrown in a day that passed without incident.