“Lassie, we’re gonna need you to stay right here and don’t move ok, we won’t be gone for long!”

  “Ok!”

  Those were the st words my parents gave to me, I was very young back then, I still remember the dread and fear I felt, as the hours passed and my parents wouldn’t appear anywhere, still, I waited patiently, even when I felt hungry and cold, I waited like an idiot, my parents never came back, the feeling of worry that something could have happened to them was eating at my soul, so I decided to look for them.

  Since I was small, I had a very special talent, people would just not be able to see me if I tried, my parents told me that it’s a lost trait of our species, but I’m not so sure, I have never met someone else like me or my parents, this got me in a whole lot of troubles constantly, since I was small, I had this certain urge for taking things, I really don’t know the why, simply put, before I realized I was holding something that wasn’t mine on my hands, from innocuous things like rocks and pebbles, to other more valuable objects.

  I didn’t meant to steal, in fact I would usually go back and apologize, but people were always angry at me, perhaps they thought I was just a thief, add my ability to disappear and whenever something was lost, the people of my vilge would come knocking angrily at my family’s door, sometimes it was me and we would return it, some other times however, it wasn’t me, but we still received the bme anyways, it got to the point where the vilge forced us out, calling us a family of thieves.

  That’s when we moved to this city, it’s rather big, but problems don't seem to just disappear with moving away, as my habits and impulses continue to manifest, even to this day, which pushed my parents to take the decision that they did.

  I had to ask strangers on the street and fortunately, they were able to point the way to my home, that’s when I heard my parents yelling at each other from across the rooms, something that I’ve never seen them do, so I decided to hide myself and look what they were doing, I was so confused as to why they went home without me.

  “Hurry! Before she finds her way back home!”

  “I know, you don’t have to yell! Do you have everything ready!?”

  “Yes, I got the money as well!”

  It was something that broke me down, my own parents packed everything in our home, pced it all on a carriage, and left, I wanted to stop them, to ask them where they were going, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t muster my voice to come out, or to make them see me for that matter, no one could see me for what I am, and this much became apparent as my parents never bothered to look for me.

  I cried, stayed in the abandoned home sleeping on the floor, scrapping any food left from the pantry, a part of me wanted to believe that my parents would come to reason, and return for me, something that never happened, people would come and go into my home, it seemed to be getting occupied by other people, I mostly hid myself when other people would come, I didn’t have the key so it was always opened.

  In the end, I had no other choice but to leave, as another family moved into what once was my new home, that made me realize, my family will not come back for me.

  I wandered the streets, hungry, and with no other options, I resorted to stealing, I hated myself, the one thing that everyone accused me of being, I was finally one, still my hunger didn’t leave me another choice, not that anyone would ever catch me, or so I thought.

  One day, it started to rain, I no longer had a roof over my head, so I looked for anything that could help shelter me, even if a little bit, the rain was brutal, as the water pelted my body with such force, it felt like rocks hitting me, I ended up hiding under a little entrance in front of a building, it was protruding outwards a little bit, and while the wind made it so that I was still getting wet, I no longer had to endure the cruel rain unprotected.

  “Are you alone baby?”

  It was a rather old dy that opened the door behind where I was taking cover, I didn’t want people to see me, but I was very tired to hide myself, still I panicked, and ran away again, people always frightened me, they always look at me unless I’m hiding, and they always bme me or call me names, so I ran looking for somewhere else to hide from the rain.

  “Wait!”

  But the old dy continued to follow me in the brutal rain. I felt bad for her as she tripped on the wet streets and fell face first on the ground, so I headed back to help her.

  “A-Are you ok?”

  I asked her, as she took my hand and got up, completely soaked like me.

  “Yes, thank you baby, why did you run? It's awful weather we have today, why don’t you come with me?”

  “Eh! B-but!”

  “Hurry, we’re gonna get sick at this rate”

  That sweet dy, Antoniette she was called, god bless her soul, as she took me in where a bunch of other children resided, she was in charge of a rather small orphanage, after hearing my story she simply held me down in a hug and told me everything was gonna be ok, I couldn’t help but cry on her arms, it was the first time someone was nice to me outside of my parents.

  “It’s ok baby, get it all out”

  “Waa!!!”

  Her hand rubbing on my hair felt so warm, I really couldn’t stop myself, she held me down as we both were soaked head to toe, after a little while, I managed to calm down, and I told her everything that has happened to me so far.

  “Oh poor dear, you can stay here for as long as you need baby”

  “*hic* B-but, I don’t have any money...”

  “Oh! Don’t say stupid things! How could I ever charge you? You must be tired, why don’t you accompany us for dinner, we have a hearty meal ready baby”

  That’s when my life in the orphanage begun, despite my sadness, it was probably the happiest days of my life, Nita, that’s how we called her with love, would always take care of us, and we helped her with everything we could, cooking, cleaning, house chores, and in the afternoon Nita would give us csses about different things, she’s the one that taught me and all my brothers and sisters how to write and read.

  We were only a few kids in the orphanage, some of them would leave when they grew up, becoming working adults and making their own life, and new kids came in their pce.

  We were a big family and there was never any shortage of food for everyone, which always worried me internally. My parents were pretty poor, so it wasn’t unusual that we would go without eating every other day, but here, I never cked food. I asked Nita about it one day, concerned about expenditure.

  “Oh don’t worry about that baby, you see, our town lord keeps all the orphanages running, and so he’s taking care of us see”

  “The town lord?”

  “Un! Lord Welst, he’s the nicest person I’ve ever met, I go to the pace every now and then, he always receives us with kindness and help us out whenever we need”

  Lord Welst, interestingly enough, everyone liked him in town, despite the difficult story of town, it really thrived under his rule, those were peaceful days, I still remember them fondly, pying with my brothers and sisters, even when my ugly habits reared their head, Nita never scolded me to the degree that my parents did, she calmly expined that it was just a child’s prank, and that she would give it all back, people really loved Nita as well, which made me feel even more guilty, I tried to keep my involuntary thieving to a minimum, and when I realized I did so, I would simply try to give it back, preferably if no one noticed I took things to begin with.

  People are only as nice as their ruler allows them to that is, and so one day, terrible news hit our beautiful town, as Lord Welst passed away in the frontlines, rumors of his death spread around like wildfire, the tale of Welst and the king dying fighting for the people, Arthur, the new king, decided to rename our town as a form of respect for the great knight that Welst was, and his son became the new town lord.

  Turmoil about uncertainty happened across the streets, but it slowly died down as the new town lord took over, but bad news never travel alone, not long after that, Nita passed away in her sleep, as of te she couldn’t move around so we all took the chores to let her rest and hoped she got better, I guess that never happened, looking back, she lived a long and happy life I want to believe, we all cried on her bed the morning she no longer woke up, her funeral was quite rge, as countless people of town came to say their farewells.

  The orphanage wasn’t the same afterwards, my brother Dan took care of it as best as he could, he was a lumberjack and would keep the pce running in Nita’s absence, Dan really made her proud I want to believe, however I began noticing that the pantry would start to be emptier by the day, and Dan would work almost all day long as well, so I had to ask him about it.

  “Lassie? Oh it’s nothing dear, don’t worry about it”

  “Dan, I’m not a kid anymore, what’s happening!”

  It’s true, it wouldn’t be long for me to officially be an adult and start looking for work. If there was trouble in the orphanage, I wanted to help with anything I could.

  “Lassie, truth be told the budget from the town lord got cut short, so we’re receiving a bit less, but it’s ok! I’ll make do and fill the rest!”

  “Dan...”

  Me and the other kids were usually left alone given Dan was working all day long, so we would go out and try to help getting money or anything, town is not what it used to be, so it’s rather hard to make any but, on the brightside, people would be more willing to hire kids, as cheap bor, but it didn’t matter since anything would help, even if Dan scolded us when he found out.

  This continued for a while, the support from town turned from thin to nonexistent, it was difficult but we managed to still stay together, when I finally turned of age, I looked for employment anywhere, unfortunately no one hired me, perhaps because the people of town knew of my habits, or the few pces that did hire me ended up firing me not long after, it’s really unfortunate, since no matter how hard I try, I'm not able to control this compulsion of mine.

  One day, coming back from another failed work interview as a receptionist in the guild, there were guards waiting in front of the orphanage, as soon as they saw me, they hurried to try to arrest me, I panicked but not wanting to put the other kids in troubles, I simply agreed to go with them, the reason was more than obvious, I was being charged for rceny, a rather hefty amount from the town lord.

  “I’m telling you I didn’t steal anything from the town lord!”

  “As if we’ll believe you, we have received reports from you since you were a kid, it was a matter of time”

  “I’m telling you, I don’t do it on purpose! This is a misunderstanding!”

  “What would come out of a thief’s mouth if not lies”

  “I’m not lying!”

  Needless to say, arguing with the guard got me nowhere, I was imprisoned for quite a long time, they tried to make me tell where the money was, that is until I was taken with the town lord.

  “For more that you threaten me! I’m telling you I didn’t take your money!”

  “Milord, as you can see, she refuses to talk, despite what we tried”

  “You have the gall to lie in front of your town lord? Let’s say I believed you, what proof do you have for your innocence, given your past track record?”

  “I have nothing but my word! But it’s the truth!”

  It really got nowhere, the town lord got tired of arguing, and I really didn’t have the money to pay for a crime that wasn’t mine, he ordered to lock me in the pace until I decided to speak, that is until Dan and the kids interrupted into the pace, Dan tried to help me escape, but a guard stabbed his chest with a spear, I saw him give his st breath in front of me, I screamed at the top of my lungs, desperate and worried about the safety of the rest of the kids.

  They only survived as the captain of the pace knights deemed them innocent and let them leave. Frank was a very beloved knight in town, and I heard she has a couple of daughters, maybe he felt pity for the kids thinking about them?

  The prison warden called me a liar imprisoned in the pace basement, and so they cut my tongue off, telling me that if I wouldn’t tell the truth, then it’s better to not speak at all, they were in fact about to cut my hands off as well, but Frank stepped in once again and forbid them to do such barbaric approaches.

  And so they left me there, I don’t know how long I was locked down there, worried sick about the orphanage, they forgot about me mostly, as they simply came to feed me every now and then.

  Days, weeks, months? I don’t know how long I’ve been here, that is until eventually I saw Frank, chained as well, taken to the basement. I felt angry at such an outstanding knight being imprisoned, yet despite her usual warm personality, I couldn’t see the same light in his eyes, as he used to have.

  Not long after that, I was visited by someone different, a demon girl and a crippled knight to be more specific. I really don’t know who they were, but they decided to free me from my confinement, so I’m not compining, still, I wished to know what happened to Frank, so I followed them and when we found him, he turned into a giant monster, and started fighting the demon girl, I was afraid for my life so I fled the pace and returned to the orphanage.

  That’s when my little brother told me the rest of the story, it was Dan who stole the town lord money, they survived from it the whole 6 years I was imprisoned, Dan tried to free me and then all that happened, the orphanage it’s a mess, and the money it’s basically gone after so long.

  Like that, I became in charge of Nita’s orphanage. Looking for a job was even harder now, that’s when Arthur announced publicly about a new town lord, which I’m more than on board with, I hate the past town lord.

  One day, wandering the streets for work and ways to make money, I ended up finding the same demon girl that freed me from the town lord pace, she was fidgeting and looking at her purse, before I knew it, my old knack happened again, and moments ter, I was holding the pink purse in my hands.

  Dammit not again! And it’s a lot of money as well! I better give it back before-

  “Enjoying stolen goods?”

  I couldn’t help but panic, I saw her fighting before, she’s not someone I should mess with! So I tried to flee in terror, only to be stopped by her.

  “If you try to run away again I’ll kill you”

  I handed her back the money and begged for forgiveness, I did pn to return it!

  “Don’t you have something to say for yourself thief!?”

  Did she forget who I was? That I can’t speak anymore? As I was thinking about it, one of my kids tried to stop her, this obviously raised my worries, and before I knew it, he threw horse dung at her, I took his hand and fled at top speed, we’re dead for sure if she finds us, so I ran without looking back.

  When I thought we shook her off, the demon girl then dropped by my orphanage, worried sick, and powerless to do anything, she took William and started spanking him on a chair, then left with a happy grin on her face.

  Somehow, we survived, but I need to be more careful, as I was thinking this the next day, I was intercepted by the same girl once again, offering money for work, she’s a weird one, but she knows about the orphanage, so I have no choice but to comply, as it turns out, she’s the new town lord, which only helped to make me want to run away from her even more.

  In the end she wanted to make me a concubine? She’s a bit funny, or should I say he? Given the tent on his dress, well, for that amount of money, I don’t mind, I considered prostitution already, I was thinking of it as a st resort, if it’s from the town lord, the better I think.

  In the end, he didn’t want me to do so, but a different job, which was to put something on enemy barracks, sounds dangerous, but I won’t turn down any job at this point, so I accepted at the end, but money won’t cut it, it will run out eventually, if she really wants my support, I need the city to take the orphanages back!

  I proposed this to her, expecting to be told not but in the end she agreed without second thought and sent me back on my way, letting me keep the money. I can’t help but worry if she’s pnning something but, at least for now, my kids will have a hearty dinner that’s been long overdue to them.

  The next day, in the afternoon, Marisa came over to the orphanage accompanied by a rather imposing woman with blue hair. It seems our mission it’s gonna begin. I have no idea of the details, but she simply questioned her companion and a portal appeared in thin air, gesturing to me to accompany them.

  “Thanks Celestial”

  Marisa thanked her companion, so the other girl’s name is Celestial, we seem to be on the border of town, I can see the army pce from here.

  “Ok, the job is simple Lassie, take this”

  She then handed me a little gss container with oddly colored water.

  “Just take this, and dilute it in the water supply, that is all”

  Poison? This is beyond questionable, besides, this is OUR army to begin with!

  “Your face tells me you’re not on board, don’t worry, it’s not poison, well kinda, it’s a xative, probably, don’t worry it’s rather diluted, we’re gonna be upping the dose daily if need be~”

  Even if you say that, I’m unsure of this...

  “Here, let me drink it to show you it’s safe!”

  She downed the bottle of water, to then refill the water vial with more oddly colored water, oddly enough, it’s like she gets a general sense of what I’m thinking.

  “See, I need you to do this, do it for the orphanages”

  Is she bckmailing me? Ugh, the idea of being imprisoned again it’s not something that I would like to repeat, so I’ll just get this over with as fast as possible, I took the vial, and looked around camp and barracks, they keep water in barrels they take from the river, so I gently creaked the cover open and dump the vial inside, returning to Marisa as quickly as possible.

  “Wha!? don't scare me like that!”

  I just made myself visible once I got close to her, she was taken aback, it seems she really can’t find me when I’m like this, I thought if someone would be able to, it would be a monster like her.

  “Is it done?”

  I nodded in agreement, showing her the empty vial. It was a solid walk between the camp and where we are so I had to catch my breath.

  “Did you dump it all in one pce?”

  Yeah, I nodded again.

  “No, try to give small amounts to all the supplies you find, we’ll do this daily so it’s fine right now, but try to sparse it more, it’s fine for today, but we’re not done, next up, enemy lines~”

  After getting teleported again, I did the same, this time inside a literal fortress, it seems to be on enemy territory this time. I did as instructed, and pced a little bit in all the water supplies I could find for them, before returning with Marisa.

  ...

  ...

  “Great! I trust in you, it’s a matter of national security, and not a word of this to anyone”

  Marisa then proceeded to try to hold down her ughter, I can see the edge of her lips rise up in a grin, I wonder what-

  Oh! ‘Not a word’ is she ughing at that, I know she didn’t mean to be rude, it is a little funny, at least it lifts the gloom mood I was ever so slightly.

  “Th-that’s all, let’s go back Celestial, to Lassie’s Orphanage”

  ...

  ...

  “Regardless the orphanages of town, I’m gonna need your help with it”

  Mine? I thought internally, Marisa then handed me a piece of paper and pen, truth be told I still have the old pen I accidentally took when I was in the pace. I wanted to return it, but it seems she didn’t even notice?

  “What? You thought I was gonna do it? I have no clue how to treat children, let alone work an orphanage, I need you as a consultant, for now we’ll take this pce under the city jurisdiction, so let’s start with creating budgets for an orphanage of this size and just base our calcutions from there”

  She’s really gonna take ALL the orphanages!? I thought she was gonna just pretend to care, I was trying to save my orphanage at the very least.

  “So what do we need? Like, food, water, education and entertainment? What else does a kid need?”

  I spent a good chunk of the afternoon just going over the basic things to run an orphanage with Marisa, if she’s gonna take care of everyone, I decided to tell how things used to be when Nita was still alive, she seems taken aback, as I write down the imperfections, and the long due maintenance that was neglected of this pce, as has other orphanages surely, so maybe constructions and things like that may be needed, for example the entrance that shielded me from the rain that fateful day has all but turned to debris, I would really like to rebuild it properly. Still, a nice entrance it’s not a priority nor a necessity.

  -is it too much? Maybe we can cut corners depending on how many orphanages you’re gonna take care of-

  “I’m taking all of them in town, if need be were gonna start more orphanages too, so no cutting corners”

  -how are you gonna budget that?-

  “Hmm... I am running low on funds, but if we manage to stop the war with the empire a big chunk of the military budget will get freed, heck even if we don’t I pnned on cutting the defense budget, I’m all the protection the city needs anyways!”

  Cut down the military budget!? I mean, she is the town lord, I hope she knows what she’s doing...

  “Besides, think about it like an investment! If we treat these kids properly they’ll grow into respectable adults that will contribute to society or something like that, in the end a citizen is a citizen, regardless of their origin or upbringings!”

  Marisa...

  I couldn’t help but smile, that they are, my brothers and sisters have become respectable people, and even if they moved to different towns or the capital in search of better opportunities, I still get an ear to ear smile when I hear anything from them.

  “Right, I will see this with our financial advisor, as well as ask for the amount of orphanages sprinkled around town, we still have to go to each one and check their condition, but I think that’ll be all for now”

  I nodded once again. I really wish I could talk as before, but I find myself trusting Marisa for some reason. She seems to be taking things properly, is this what a town lord is meant to do? I like her a million times better than our past town lord.

  “Ah! And start thinking about proper regutions for orphanages to follow if they’re gonna be under my wing, I don’t want any of them halfassing it and just taking the money, or worse, abusing the children ok? I’ll come back if I get news about this or we need to poison people again!~”

  This is quite iffy, but if it means peace for our people, then I’m more than willing to help Marisa, to whatever extent I can!

  Joanne_carper