Kyle felt as though his plan to live quietly while raising the children kept going awry.
Some people might have said,
‘Could you not simply leave the criminal organizations alone and live quietly?’
“That was never an option.”
Was he supposed to tolerate petty criminals constantly putting the orphanage in danger?
How could he possibly allow that?
Honestly, had they possessed overwhelming power like the nobles of the Empire, he might have bowed his head and compromised to some degree.
But mere petty criminals?
Those were the sort of bastards who mistook mercy for weakness and demanded even more the moment someone let them off once.
They were also the same people who had worked children even more brutally than slaves.
Half-baked villains were often the most vicious.
“I could not have avoided what happened up to this point.”
Once Kyle decided to establish the orphanage, dealing with the petty criminals in the surrounding area had been unavoidable.
The problem was what came afterward.
For some reason, the orphanage was becoming increasingly famous, and Kyle, its Director, was becoming famous along with it.
He had never expected that to happen, so even he found the situation bewildering.
“This is starting to become dangerous….”
If he became too famous, the Empire might begin keeping him in check.
One wrong step could lead to a great deal of trouble.
“Still, it should be fine for now.”
Kyle tried to reassure himself and resolved to exercise restraint from now on so the situation would not grow any larger.
The orphanage and the Rehabilitation Center had finally developed stable systems, so he no longer needed to roam outside and involve himself in various affairs.
From now on, he would truly live like Sister Haynes, devoting himself entirely to the orphanage.
Having made that decision, Kyle focused on preparing the day’s lesson materials.
Whatever the outside world might have been like, the orphanage itself was remarkably peaceful.
Children ran around playing, while several others prepared to study.
Perhaps because of that peaceful atmosphere, the area immediately surrounding the orphanage now felt like an ordinary village where nothing particularly troublesome occurred.
Of course, that only applied to the streets around Haynes Orphanage.
The major factions controlling Boritz Harbor were already troubled by the orphanage’s peaceful existence.
Even the leader of one of the harbor’s most prominent factions had begun to find Haynes Orphanage irritating.
“What exactly is that place?”
“We have not been able to determine that yet. We will likely need to investigate further.”
It was absurd to be this wary of a mere orphanage, yet they still had not discovered who stood behind it or who its Director truly was.
How had Weyden’s rising mercenary companies learned about it and decided to make donations?
It might have made sense had it been a long-established orphanage.
But how could they have known about one that had only just been founded?
There had to be a powerful backer behind it.
If that made it too dangerous to touch, they could simply ignore it.
However, its rapid growth made ignoring it equally unpleasant.
It was too ambiguous to attack and too dangerous to disregard.
In other words, Haynes Orphanage had become an infuriating presence.
“Could they be trying to take control of chaotic Boritz?”
“That is certainly possible.”
“Would that even be feasible?”
The man himself had the backing of a major faction from a southern nation.
The other organizations were likely no different.
“If an even greater power is involved….”
“If that is truly the case, then their recent actions begin to make sense.”
The boss’s expression turned grave.
The theory was not entirely unreasonable.
Most valuable regions were already firmly controlled by established factions. One strategy for entering such a place was to use something no one expected, gradually expand one’s influence, and slowly erode the interests of the existing powers.
This time, that unexpected foothold might have been an orphanage.
The evidence was that it had already begun rapidly absorbing the criminal organizations near it.
None of them were particularly large, as they were merely groups that fed upon an impoverished district.
However, they could become troublesome if they united.
It was also irritating that the district itself appeared to be recovering.
If it truly revived and the local organizations began growing confident, the situation could become extremely troublesome.
“But why an orphanage?”
There were countless other options, so he could not understand why anyone would choose an orphanage.
“That is what confuses me as well.”
“The orphanage itself is strange enough, but the rumors about its Director are also unsettling.”
The Director was said to have raided all the surrounding organizations by himself.
Could that truly be possible?
The organizations might have been pathetic, but some of their senior members must have achieved Aura Awakening.
Yet he had supposedly crushed entire organizations containing such people single-handedly.
And he had done so while minimizing casualties?
Subduing an enemy was ordinarily far more difficult than killing one.
A person with that much skill could have become famous merely by joining a nation, becoming a mercenary, or working as a Hunter.
“He may have dealt with them alongside hidden subordinates and allowed the rumors to claim he acted alone.”
“That must be it, right?”
The boss asked the question back, yet his expression remained uneasy.
If the Director truly possessed enough strength to tear through an entire organization alone, he could not be provoked.
It was commonly said that even the strong could not defeat overwhelming numbers, but occasionally, individuals emerged who surpassed even that limit.
What if he was one of them?
Even if they somehow defeated him, what would happen if all the people who had sponsored the newly established orphanage came after them?
‘The thought alone is horrifying.’
The boss briefly imagined the faction he had painstakingly built being transformed into a sea of blood.
He shuddered before giving an order to his subordinate.
“Find out everything you can as quickly as possible.”
He swallowed the remainder of his thought.
Only after that could he decide whether to bow his head obediently or crush them.
The other organizations found themselves in the same situation.
When the orphanage first began expanding its influence, many had considered putting it in its place.
However, the support pouring into Haynes Orphanage and the mysterious forces behind it made them hesitate.
Without realizing it, Kyle was becoming an influential figure in the underworld.
Had he known what was happening, he might have abandoned the orphanage and left for another place with the children.
Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely that he would learn the truth anytime soon.
Then another incident occurred that could give rise to an even greater misunderstanding.
“Where is it from this time?”
Kyle frowned deeply when he heard that yet another donation had arrived.
Most people would have been delighted to receive donations.
Kyle’s expression, however, worsened with each one.
「□□□□ Trading Company, Weyden Branch」
“…….”
The moment Kyle saw the name, his already crumpled expression became even darker.
He had seen that name somewhere before.
Where had he seen it?
It had been during his time as the Cleaner in the imperial capital.
More precisely, he had seen it when an agent from the Intelligence Bureau approached him under a false identity.
Which meant….
“So the Intelligence Bureau has finally taken an interest in me? Ha….”
This might have been a warning.
The capital was already in chaos because of everything he had left behind, so perhaps they were telling him not to cause any more trouble and to remain quiet.
From the Intelligence Bureau’s perspective, they might have wondered why he was behaving this way after they had completed all their negotiations and even helped him defect.
“This feels somewhat unfair.”
Kyle had not wanted any of this to happen, so he felt wronged.
Still, what could he do?
He would simply have to live quietly from now on.
“They sent quite a lot.”
Kyle smiled bitterly as he considered the amount the Intelligence Bureau had sent.
It was far too large to be a simple donation intended to help operate an orphanage.
He could almost hear them shouting,
‘Please! Just live quietly!’
Since they had already given it to him, Kyle accepted the money with every intention of using it well and returned inside the orphanage.
Unexpected money had fallen into his hands, so he decided to purchase more materials for the children’s lessons.
After all, he had recently discovered several more children who appeared talented in magic.
A man watching from a distance saw Kyle enter the orphanage with a smile.
He took a notebook from inside his coat and began writing.
「Confirmed that he received the donation.
He realized it was sent by us.
Judging from the fact that he entered smiling, the situation does not appear unfavorable.」
The agent tore out the page, folded it into a small piece, tossed it somewhere, and disappeared.
Not long afterward, another person arrived, picked up the note the man had left behind, and departed for an unknown destination.
The man vanished without being detected by anyone, even though the alleyways were patrolled by gang members who had grown considerably stronger through Kyle’s training.
People had clearly arrived to deliver donations, yet they vanished without leaving a trace.
The members of another regional organization monitoring Haynes Orphanage from afar found their minds going blank.
“Th-They seemed like experts….”
Even though the observers were Awakened themselves, they had been unable to follow the visitors’ presence.
People that powerful had visited Haynes Orphanage?
It felt as though the situation was gradually approaching the worst possibility they had imagined.
The problem was that donations arriving through official channels were also becoming increasingly frightening.
“Let us… report this immediately.”
“Yes.”
The gang members hurried to report the matter to their superiors.
After several more donations arrived from organizations whose names were widely known, the perceived status of Haynes Orphanage rose even further.
No one knew precisely which organization stood behind it, but it had become nearly certain that an enormous power was involved.
Kyle would have been horrified had he heard any of this.
However, among the bosses who possessed considerable influence in Boritz Harbor, the belief that Haynes Orphanage must never be carelessly provoked gradually became firmly established.
Yet such misunderstandings were not limited to Boritz Harbor.
Far to the south, in Arthe, the capital of the Herse Empire, events within the Intelligence Bureau were unfolding in a manner completely opposite to what Kyle imagined.
“Hmm… Perhaps leaving the military has softened him somewhat….”
The Director of the Intelligence Bureau smiled as he read the agent’s note.
The enormous donation sent to the orphanage had been intended as a gesture of goodwill.
Kyle had even recognized that the Intelligence Bureau was responsible and still accepted the money with a smile.
That was unquestionably a positive sign.
Perhaps because the situation in the capital remained so chaotic, the Emperor occasionally asked about Kyle, the man who had set the entire crisis into motion.
The Director now felt that he would have something favorable to report during his next audience.
“Still, an extraordinary man remains extraordinary.”
Kyle had claimed that he wanted to live quietly, yet rumors had begun spreading almost immediately after he founded an orphanage.
In the Director’s opinion, it was only a matter of time before Kyle’s false identity was exposed and the name Kyle Ripley became known.
‘Perhaps the orphanage is only a disguise, and he has some other plan.’
Whatever that plan might have been, it did not appear likely to cause immediate trouble for the Empire, so it was no longer his concern.
After Kyle threw the imperial capital into chaos, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau had also decided to retire.
No matter what Kyle did in Weyden, the Director intended to be long gone from his position by then.
Even so, he was curious.
If Kyle truly intended to make a move, how far would his standing in Boritz Harbor rise?
According to the Intelligence Bureau’s assessment, forces from every direction were already attempting to contact him.
The Eastern Army.
The Southern Rebel Army.
The Western Revolutionary Forces.
Even factions from the North.
Perhaps Kyle’s influence would eventually extend not merely across Boritz, but throughout all of Weyden.
“How far will he rise?”
The thought of Kyle—the man who had nearly made him tear out all his hair—taking control of Weyden was strangely amusing.
It had not been funny while he was the one suffering.
However, the thought of other people experiencing Kyle for themselves somehow filled him with delight.
“Whatever you intend to do, do it after I retire.”
Muttering those words, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau began working to accelerate the retirement plans he had prepared after Kyle’s discharge.