What Rei and Seto saw upon entering the orphanage was the sight of the children running energetically around the yard.
They were racing about as if they had forgotten all about Anne—or perhaps as if they simply didn't care. Watching them, Rei felt puzzled.
To the children, Anne should have been a deeply dependable figure, like an older sister or even a mother.
Given that, how could they behave so indifferently?
Wondering this, he observed the children more closely and noticed that the ones frolicking were those who could be called the youngest group among them. That, he somewhat understood.
Have they not realized Anne is gone? Or do they think she'll just come back?
As he was mulling this over, several adults emerged from inside the orphanage.
Seeing their expressions, Rei understood that his guess had been right.
At a glance, the adults appeared to be struggling to hold back gloomy expressions.
"Seto, play with the children for a bit. I have some business to take care of."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred as if to say "Got it!" and headed toward the yard.
When Seto appeared, the children erupted in cheers.
They hadn't forgotten about Seto, who had played with them not long ago.
...Though, honestly, expecting anyone to so easily forget a presence as striking as Seto would have been an unreasonable demand.
After a brief glance at the children delighting in Seto's presence, Rei approached the adults who had come out of the orphanage.
It was the same person who had been with Anne during his previous visit to the orphanage.
Based on her appearance, she looked to be still in her twenties, so whether she could truly be called an adult was debatable.
"Oh, you're Rei-san, aren't you? What on earth are you doing here?"
The woman fixed Rei with a gaze that was equal parts hope and anxiety.
She likely already knew that Camila had set off for Egginis.
That was why she wore an expression mixing expectation with dread—wondering whether Camila had arrived safely... or whether Rei had come to report that the boy's body had been found near the city.
To set her mind at ease, Rei addressed the most pressing matter first.
"Camila arrived in Egginis safely, so don't worry. Lindy is looking after him."
At those words, the woman's relief was palpable, radiating from the very depths of her being.
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. I came to tell you about Anne's situation. ...Lindy asked me to deliver this."
Rei produced a letter from his Misty Ring and handed it over.
The woman accepted it with trembling hands, then read it hurriedly, her face flooding with relief.
"Thank goodness... Camila was safe..."
Given the odds of someone traveling from Buldan to Egginis and actually arriving, her relief was only natural.
"Yeah. Now, about Anne..."
At those words, the woman's head snapped up.
She glanced toward the yard to confirm that the children were still playing with Seto, then urged Rei to step inside.
"Rei-san, I'm sorry, but could we discuss Anne's situation inside the orphanage? I'd rather not let the children hear too much."
"That's fine, but what are the children thinking? After what happened with Camila, I assumed they'd be in tears."
"They think she just stepped out for a bit and will come right back... that's what they believe. Anne was loved by the children. If they were a little older—around Camila's age—they would have understood the situation."
Watching the woman mutter with such a pained expression, Rei simply replied, "I see."
"Is that so. You've been so helpful to us... I honestly don't know how to begin thanking you."
In one of the orphanage's rooms, a woman in her fifties who served as the director bowed deeply to Rei.
Every other staff member who could be spared from their duties had also gathered, and they all bowed toward Rei just as the director had.
"No, I just got caught up in this by circumstance. You don't need to go that far."
"No, even so... the letter said you would also cover the cost of buying Anne back. After doing all that, we have absolutely no idea how we should express our gratitude..."
For Rei, money was something he could earn at a moment's notice—by taking on a request, hunting bandits, or selling monster materials stored in his Misty Ring.
Because of that, being thanked this profusely was somewhat awkward.
But that was simply how Rei saw things.
For most people who weren't Rei, earning money as casually as he did was simply impossible.
Moreover, this orphanage had been forced into selling Anne as a slave precisely because of financial hardship, so there was no doubt they would be extremely sensitive when it came to money.
If the person offering to fund Anne's repurchase had been a complete stranger rather than Rei, it would have been questionable whether they would have trusted such a person at all.
It was precisely because Rei had saved Camila and the others—and shared food, including meat, with them—that the people of the orphanage could believe in him so readily.
"Setting that aside... I was told Anne ended up in this situation because of debt. Could you tell me the details?"
"Yes. The truth is, running this orphanage requires a considerable amount of money. Until now, we've managed through remittances from children who grew up and left, as well as assistance from volunteers in the city, but..."
"I think I remember hearing about that. When someone named Garby became head of the guild, the aid was cut off, right?"
"...Yes. But even so, we couldn't just abandon the children here, so we ended up borrowing money from Garby."
I see, Rei nodded to himself.
For Garby, he had probably decided there was no point in financially supporting the orphanage.
Or perhaps, since he had been providing aid until he became guild head, he wanted to somehow recoup the previous assistance as profit.
"I understand the situation, but wasn't enslaving Anne jumping the gun? From what I heard, this Garby person only became head of the guild in the last few years, right? In that case..."
"The thing is, it seems the contract was tampered with. We were told we had to either surrender Anne as a slave or hand over the orphanage's land. And so Anne was..."
"This land? But why? Not to be rude, but this orphanage sits on the edge of Buldan. It's not like it's in some particularly convenient location."
Saying that, Rei was suddenly reminded of something from Japan.
When an elevated highway, railway tracks, or some kind of large building was slated for construction, the value of the surrounding land would skyrocket. Rei recalled seeing something about this on TV or somewhere similar.
Those who could obtain such information early would buy up the land in advance and profit from the price difference when they sold it. There were people who made their living doing exactly that.
Could there be something similar going on with the orphanage's land?
"Director, I'd like to ask you something... Have you heard any rumors about this city doing some kind of redevelopment, or perhaps constructing a new building?"
"No. I've lived in this city for a long time, so if there were such talk, I would naturally hear about it. But I haven't heard anything of the sort. Besides... I don't believe Garby's goal is the land."
From Rei's words, the director had apparently guessed what he was thinking. She shook her head as she said this.
Bothered by the certainty in her voice, Rei asked his question directly.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because Garby offered to wipe out our debt with the money from selling Anne as a slave."
"That's..."
The words that left the director's mouth were unexpected, even for Rei.
What that essentially meant was that Garby had wanted Anne from the very beginning—not the orphanage.
He had considered this possibility back in Egginis, too. But even so, given that he had sold Anne off rather than keeping her as his own slave, Rei had concluded that he wasn't targeting her personally.
Yet, hearing the director's account now, it could only mean he had been after Anne specifically.
"Why Anne?"
"I don't know. But if we don't understand that... even if you help us buy her back, the same thing could happen again. Of course, I intend to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't, but..."
"It would be impossible."
Rei declared it with certainty.
Garby had gone to considerable lengths—tampering with the contract—to enslave Anne and sell her off in Egginis.
What specific reason had driven him to do so, Rei couldn't say.
But given that level of determination, if Garby ever learned that Anne had returned to this orphanage, he would undoubtedly try to repeat the entire scheme by any means.
As the director said, they might not fall for the same trick twice.
But that simply meant that if he employed a different method, there was every chance they would fall for that instead.
Moreover, from what Rei had heard, the guild that Garby headed as guild master was the largest in Buldan and wielded considerable influence as a matter of course.
Given that, the orphanage naturally purchased its daily necessities from Garby's shops, making it all but impossible to avoid involvement with him.
Buldan was large enough to qualify as a proper city, so there were shops outside Garby's guild—but even those were effectively under his guild's umbrella.
"In that case... the best way to learn the full story would be to hear it directly from this Garby. Though, I obviously can't just storm his shop in this situation..."
That goes without saying.
Rei had been about to say as much when one of the five senses granted to the body created by the Zephyle Clan—his hearing—caught a shout coming from outside the orphanage.
"What was that? Sounds like someone's here. And they're yelling at the children."
"!? Could it be..."
Whether something had just occurred to her, the director rose from her chair and hurried out of the room.
The other staff members followed, and Rei naturally trailed after them.
Someone had come. Someone who was shouting at the children.
That was what Rei had told the director—but given the current circumstances, there was only one person he could think of who would do such a thing.
Garby, was it? He must have come to the orphanage for some reason... but even so, the timing feels too convenient.
He had arrived right when Rei was at the orphanage, speaking with the director.
It was enough to make one suspect he had timed it deliberately.
But then arose the question: why now?
Storming into the orphanage where Rei and Seto were present was, by any reasonable standard, nothing short of suicide.
Given that, Rei found it hard to believe that anyone would willingly choose to do such a thing.
But whether Rei could believe it or not, what was happening was real.
With questions swirling about the current state of affairs, Rei stepped outside the orphanage and headed toward the inner courtyard... where a scene that was, in a sense, exactly as he had expected unfolded before him.
"Hey! I said hand over that Gryphon! That's an order from Garby! You gonna refuse?!"
The one shouting was an adventurer... no, probably nothing more than a thug.
Rei couldn't tell exactly what kind of person he was, but at the very least, that was how he appeared.
"Please stop! This is a guest's Tamed Monster! It's not something we have any authority over!"
A staff member from the orphanage who had been in the yard was shouting desperately, but hearing those words, the men only flashed sleazy grins.
"Oh yeah? You sure you wanna talk like that? Say that, and you can forget about any more of Garby's compassion."
At those words, the orphanage staff member fell silent, frustration twisting across her face.