The Old Man and the Child

The singing was pure, yet it carried an indescribable sadness that echoed down the quiet path.

The group walked into the orphanage’s not-so-spacious courtyard.

The singing children saw Kristine at a glance and burst into enthusiastic cheers.

“It’s big sister Kristine!”

“Sister’s here!”

With that, the group of little brats stopped singing and gathered around, cheering and jumping.

They surrounded Kristine in the middle.

Kristine had a radiant smile on her face. She bent down and affectionately patted the head of one of the children.

“Little Tom, you seem to have grown a little taller!”

“Mary, who braided your hair for you? It’s so beautiful!”

Watching this group of innocent children laughing and playing around Kristine.

The sunlight fell on them, creating a warm picture.

Leon couldn’t help but say with emotion.

“Ah! I feel like even my soul is being healed. A Saintess is a Saintess, after all.”

While everyone else’s attention was drawn to this heartwarming scene.

Black’s gaze scanned the entire orphanage.

His line of sight locked onto two people in the courtyard.

One of them was an old man leaning against the courtyard gate, silently watching from the side.

His face was covered in gruesome scars that had completely destroyed his original features, making him look exceptionally ugly.

His skin tone was an unhealthy grayish-white, his figure was hunched, and from time to time he would let out a suppressed cough.

He had the air of someone terminally ill and on the verge of death.

Black’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He knew this old man: Charn.

Nominally, he was a devout believer and a helper at the orphanage.

But as for his true identity.

Besides Black, there was probably no one else in the world who knew.

Charn’s former identity was the director of this orphanage, and also the executioner whose hands were stained with blood.

In this side quest, “The Necromancer Hidden in the Orphanage,” to obtain the final hidden reward.

This elderly man was indispensable.

Black shifted his gaze and looked at the second person.

It was a little girl sitting on a swing in the corner.

Her skin was exceptionally pale, almost devoid of color.

She stood in stark contrast to the lively and healthy children around her.

Her personality seemed a bit introverted.

While the other children were laughing and talking around Kristine, she was the only one sitting there alone.

Her hands gripped the swing ropes tightly, and her eyes looked timidly at the lively crowd.

Her gaze was filled with longing, yet tinged with a hint of fear.

Black was silent.

This child was another key to the side event. Her identity was very special.

Seeing little Dylan sitting there alone.

A flash of heartache appeared in Kristine’s eyes.

She comforted the children around her, then walked over.

She squatted down in front of little Dylan and gently took her small hand.

“Little Dylan, why are you here all by yourself? Come and play with everyone.”

Kristine’s voice was as soft as a feather.

She had known this child for a while and knew that she had been abandoned by her parents because she suffered from severe autism and couldn’t communicate normally with people.

After coming to the orphanage, she had always been this quiet, almost never interacting with anyone.

Kristine held her hand, felt its unusual coldness, frowned, and reached out to touch her forehead.

She asked with concern.

“Your hand is so cold. Do you have a cold? Are you not feeling well anywhere?”

Little Dylan slowly shook her head, not speaking.

Then.

She suddenly raised her head and looked directly at Kristine.

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards, revealing an extremely stiff smile.

She said in a very ethereal voice.

“Big sister, you have our aura on you.”

It was a nonsensical, baffling sentence.

But Kristine was no longer in the mood to ponder its meaning.

She was very surprised.

Not just her, but the noisy children around her also fell silent.

They all widened their eyes, looking at little Dylan in disbelief.

Because… this was the first time they had ever heard little Dylan speak!

And it was the first time they had ever seen her smile!

This was just too unbelievable.

Kristine came back to her senses from the shock.

What welled up in her heart was an indescribable joy.

She held little Dylan’s hand tightly and said excitedly.

“Little Dylan, you’re finally willing to talk to sister!”

She believed that this must be a sign that the child was beginning to open up.

As long as she could take this first step, with slow guidance, one day she would be able to integrate into a normal life like the other children.

Little Dylan did not respond to her.

Her gaze shifted from Kristine.

And passed over the crowd, landing on Black.

Then, under the astonished gazes of everyone.

This child, who had just spoken for the first time, suddenly took off running and went straight to Black.

She stopped in front of Black and raised her pale little face.

She looked at him with her clear eyes.

She opened her mouth again and asked a question that stunned everyone.

“Big brother, are you here to save us?”

As soon as these words were spoken, even the old man Charn, who was leaning against the doorframe, his cloudy gaze suddenly became grave.

He stared intently at Black.

Black was also a little surprised.

He hadn’t expected this special child to approach him on her own initiative.

And to ask such a direct question.

‘Is it intuition?’

‘Or some other reason?’

Facing the child’s gaze, Black squatted down.

He looked at little Dylan at eye level, nodded, and said in a gentle tone.

“Yes, I will save you.”

Receiving Black’s affirmative reply, that stiff smile appeared on little Dylan’s face again.

Irena, Leon, and the others watched this scene.

Although they found it a little strange, they just took it as the innocent words of a child.

And that Black had also just responded to her jokingly.

However.

What no one noticed.

Was the storm that was raging in the heart of the old man named Charn.

If it had been any other child, he wouldn’t have reacted at all.

But, it just had to be little Dylan.

That child’s situation was very special right now.

He absolutely did not believe that little Dylan’s actions were unintentional.

Why did this child have to ask this unfamiliar Dragon-Slaying Guard this particular question?

And this Dragon-Slaying Guard’s reaction was even more puzzling to Charn.

When asked such a question by a strange child, shouldn’t a normal person have asked back, “What do you need us to save you from?”

But Black had given such a direct, affirmative answer.

Something was not right.

This young man was definitely not simple.

Did he know something?

Charn’s heart sank.

At this moment, the current director of the orphanage, a kind-faced middle-aged woman, hurried out of the house.

When she saw the group of Saintess and Dragon-Slaying Guards in the courtyard, she was startled.

She quickly ran to Kristine’s side and asked nervously.

“Lady Saintess, has something happened? Why are even the Dragon-Slaying Guards…”