Stone Bridge Orphanage, the place where I grew up. I didn’t think I would be revisiting an old haunt like this. But now that I’m here, I should check out the place. Feels like a long time since I was here but in reality it was only a few months ago.

The orphanage barely sustains itself on government funding, the kind that seems to continually shrink as time passes. It’s a wonder how it still manages to stay in operation. The one in charge here is Sister Therese. From my memories of her I can only describe her with one word, Ogre.

When I say ogre I don’t mean the green kind that smells of onions, but the kind that bursts with muscles and wields a giant mace. Even if you peel a layer or two it’s still just muscle and intimidation. I’ve heard from the neighborhood gossip that Sister Therese used to be a hoodlum who’d beat people up with a metal bat.

Then she met the sister working at the orphanage and dropped her ways to take up the cloth. I’m not sure how much of that story I believe in but I can definitely picture her scowling at her foes with cigarette in mouth with a gang behind her.

I sent the kids back ahead of me and now I’m by myself just a step away from my old home. I brush away my worries and knock on the orphanage’s old door. The knock echoes in the large atrium as the gruff voice of a woman answers.

Therese 「 Alright I’m coming, hold your horses. 」

Sister Therese cracks the door open to peek at the visitor and her face freezes up seeing me. I give a congenial sales smile.

Becca 「 Hey, Sister Therese. It’s been a while. 」

The woman with a scar around her neck beams a smile and beckons me with open arms. As soon as I fall into her embrace she changes to a scowl and switches position to embrace me in a headlock.

Therese 「 You godforsaken brat, where on Earth have you been? I ought to whoop your a--, tush and then some! 」

This is how she greets me, with a professional level stranglehold to prevent escape and a fist crashing down on my poor skull. The joke is on her though, as my stats make her wallop feel like a tickle.

Sister Therese’s hand recoils in pain as she lets me go. She stares at me in mystery as I pretend to wince in pain. She calls it her fist of love and I’ve experienced it enough times to know it should be a fist of discipline instead.

Therese 「 Speak Rebecca. You disappeared all of a sudden after quitting school, saying something about pursuing your passion? What on God’s green earth have you been up to all this time? 」

I expected the sister to interrogate me with sharp eyes staring at me, which is why I prepared an excuse ahead of time.

Becca 「 Well believe it or not I won the lottery and used it as seed money to play in the stocks. I have a knack for statistics it seems and I’ve won big. 」

Therese 「 You think I’d believe such bull--, er, cockamamie? 」

Becca 「 It’s up to you if you don’t want to believe me. But I’m perfectly fine right now as you can see. But enough about that, I ran into some suits trying to scare away children from Stone Bridge. They left after speaking some strange stuff. 」

Therese 「 Dam-- I mean, darn. It must be those thugs sent by M. Liberach again. Are the kids alright? 」

Becca 「 One’s a little banged up so I gave him an ointment. Who is this M. Liberach? Is he buying up plots like the park? 」

Therese 「 Yeah. He’s planning to renovate the area into some brand new condominium. He’s been forcing local business owners and residents to leave in droves. Intimidation, bribery, destruction of property, the bast--, *cough* rat-spawn won’t let up. 」

It’s like I expected, some real estate tycoon is trying to take the land around the slums to renovate and turn into a profitable district. I noticed around the neighborhood that a lot of shops had closed up and not many residents were wandering around.

From what sister Therese said I can imagine the sort of scummy tactics this man used to drive people away. He’s even bought up that death trap of a park. Does that mean he’s also aiming for this orphanage too?

Sister Therese tries to redirect the conversation away from that gloomy topic.

Therese 「 I haven’t introduced the children to you have I? The ones you grew up with are all in different schools but these kids have only recently joined us. 」

I glance at the children playing around in the next room. It’s no wonder I didn’t recognize them earlier, hence my surprise to learn their residence is Stone Bridge Orphanage.

Therese 「 The kids were practically forced on the orphanage by the city officials. I’m not too sure about their origins but they’re all good kids. I’m just worried that rich rat-spawn will chew up this orphanage along with the rest of the area. What will happen to the kids after that is anyone’s guess. 」

It sounds like the children appeared all of a sudden and got thrown into this orphanage. Sister Therese is a rough woman but she’s always looked after the orphanage and its people. You can tell she has a big heart since she’s so quick to accept the children. I wonder where the kids showed up from all of a sudden.