However, Ellen’s mother did not even glance at him.
To put it bluntly, it would not be an exaggeration to say she neglected him.
With no other choice, Ellen had to endure every hardship alone, living while constantly watching others’ moods.
Then, in the year Ellen turned seven, his mother gave birth to a younger sister whose father was unknown.
His mother had once again given birth to a child whose father she did not know.
Naturally, his mother, who had no particular interest in her children, did not care for the baby.
Ellen hated his mother for giving birth to a younger sister she had no intention of taking responsibility for.
In truth, when Ellen turned ten, he had planned to leave this sickening place and live alone.
He felt that as long as it was somewhere without the mother who ignored him, anywhere would be happier than here.
But because of the younger sister who had suddenly appeared, he had no choice but to set that plan aside for a while.
“Haa…… What sin did you commit?”
Even if only half their blood was shared, she was still his younger sister born from the same mother.
And he could not pass on to his sister the sorrow he had experienced.
In a life where it was already difficult to take care of his own body, now that he had an infant sister as well, Ellen had to live an even harder life.
While he was living that difficult life, when Ellen turned ten, his mother passed away from illness.
Ellen and his younger sister Laura truly became orphans just like that.
But even though his mother had died, he did not feel any particular sadness.
Since he had never felt his mother’s love even once anyway, there was no affection either.
“Hello! Is there any work you need done?”
Ellen worked hard to raise his younger sister.
He cut wood in the mountains and sold it, and he did not refuse even small errands for the people in the neighborhood.
Because he knew the city’s geography well, he also guided guests to inns and received a small commission.
But people who did not hesitate to do anything if it earned money existed everywhere.
Moreover, this was a Free Commercial City that did not belong to any nation.
Since the power of a state did not reach it, public order inevitably could not be good.
However, the ones who solved this troublesome problem were, fittingly for a commercial city, the merchants.
They responded by forming organizations around each large Merchant Company and equipping themselves with military power.
Then even people who could not belong to large Merchant Companies gathered among themselves and created organizations.
When walking around the city, one could actually see signs showing affiliation attached everywhere, to houses, shops, restaurants, and so on.
But any system was bound to have loopholes.
They could not touch people with affiliations because they feared retaliation, but outsiders who had first entered the city with dreams, like Lawrence.
Those people did not know the city’s rules, nor did they have connections with the merchants.
That was why the neighborhood thugs dug into that point.
They threatened children like Ellen and used them as bait to lure outsiders.
“Thanks to you breaking a few of those bastards’ bones, Big Brother, the people who had been enduring their atrocities because they had no strength were able to succeed in taking revenge. Thank you once again.”
The thugs had acted as if they were kings, tormenting and harassing all kinds of people.
Taking money was ordinary, and they had committed all sorts of evil deeds, such as beating people for absurd reasons, harassing women, and violating them.
But when the bastards were struck down by Lawrence and could not move, the people did not hesitate to rush in to repay the grudges they had suffered until then.
The people who had been exploited by the bastards for a long time had no mercy.
In a situation where they might already have ended up crippled if unlucky, the cruel violence of the people that followed allowed the hoodlums to barely preserve their lives.
And the property they had gathered until then was all taken away, and they were driven out of the house they had lived in.
Even if their wounds healed and they survived, the rest of their lives would likely never be easy.
“Mm, I didn’t know there were such circumstances.”
After hearing Ellen’s entire story, Lawrence quietly nodded.
It was outrageous that Ellen had abandoned him and left, but since there was a story like this, there was enough room for consideration.
And had Ellen not directly seen Lawrence’s strength?
For Ellen, a child and not even an adult, to come in person and apologize to Lawrence, who had lightly subdued the thugs he had feared so much, must have required great courage.
At that moment, Ellen looked different to Lawrence.
Once he removed the colored glasses of seeing him as an outrageous child, he seemed like an upright and quite decent child.
Looking closely, his clothes were shabby, and he was covered in grime because he had not been able to wash, but he had blond hair and blue eyes, and his face was quite handsome.
“All right, I accept your apology. Now promise that even when things are hard, you won’t do anything bad and will live diligently. And what is this ‘Big Brother, sir’? Just call me big brother. If someone ever bullies you again, come to me and tell me anytime. I’ll give them a proper lesson.”
“Thank you, Big Brother! I’ll really live diligently!”
After hearing Lawrence’s words, Ellen smiled with a bright face.
He was already grateful enough to have been forgiven, but now Lawrence had even said he would look after him from now on.
If a big brother with the skill to subdue three thugs in an instant watched his back, his life from now on would be much easier.
For a moment, he wondered if Lawrence had only said it without meaning it, but seeing Lawrence’s serious eyes, it did not seem that way.
In truth, Ellen had come here prepared to be hit by Lawrence a few times.
He had only prayed inwardly that no bones would be broken.
Adults of this era usually punished him that way whenever he did something wrong.
But Lawrence silently listened to his story and readily accepted his apology.
He was different from the other adults Ellen had seen until now.
So Ellen felt relieved, thinking he would surely keep what he had said.
“Then I will be going now.”
“Oh, wait. Eat this before you go.”
Lawrence called Ellen to a stop as he greeted him and was about to leave.
He had already been bothered by the sight of Ellen’s hollow cheeks and sunken stomach, which made him look as if he had skipped several meals.
If he had not seen it, perhaps that would have been one thing. But now that it had caught his eye, he could not just send him away.
“Um…… I do not have any money right now. I am sorry. I will definitely buy some next time when I have money.”
Ellen lowered his head with an apologetic face.
“Come on, what money? You did something admirable today, so this is a reward. So do not feel burdened and eat comfortably before you go.”
Lawrence spoke while lightly patting Ellen’s shoulder.
Then he looked at Ellen once more with a proud gaze and placed the prepared pork cutlet into the oil pot.
Sizzle—!
Along with the sound of the pork cutlet frying deliciously, a savory smell spread out.
Drawn by that smell, Ellen’s gaze fixed on the pork cutlet.
During the days he had lingered around here in order to apologize to Lawrence, Ellen had really wanted to try pork cutlet.
That savory smell, that pork cutlet shining golden beneath its crispy batter…… just looking at it had made his mouth water.
Especially when he saw children his own age eating pork cutlet deliciously with their parents, there had been many times when he almost cried from envy and sorrow.
He had thought his heart had become firm enough that most things no longer affected him, but strangely, one corner of his heart ached.
Ellen’s stomach kept growling.
Lawrence gently stroked Ellen’s head once, as if telling him it was all right while Ellen looked embarrassed.
“Now, here is the long-awaited pork cutlet. It just came out, so it is quite hot. Be careful when you eat.”
Lawrence quickly placed the freshly fried pork cutlet in a bowl and held it out.
“Thank you. I will enjoy it.”
Ellen bowed deeply and was about to eat the pork cutlet, then hesitated.
“Ah…….”
Then he put the wooden chopsticks back down and only looked at the pork cutlet without eating.
At that sight, Lawrence tilted his head and asked.
“Hm? Are you waiting because I said it is hot? It is fine now, so hurry and eat. It will not taste good if it gets cold.”
At Lawrence’s words, Ellen scratched his head and asked with an apologetic expression.
“Um, I am really sorry, but could you pack this for me?”
“Why? Are you still uncomfortable with me? Pork cutlet tastes best when it is warm……. If it is not that, then just eat it here before you go.”
“Ah, that is absolutely not it. I want to take this to my younger sister.”
“Younger sister? Come to think of it, you said you had a younger sister!”
“Yes, my sister is waiting at home for me to come back.”
Even though Ellen’s stomach kept growling while he looked at the pork cutlet, Lawrence found his heart toward his younger sister so admirable.
Compared to himself at that age, it made his face heat up.
“You are kind. Then I will fry one more for you, so eat this here.”
“R-Really? But you do not need to go that far……”
“This time, it is a reward because your thoughtfulness toward your sister is admirable. If your big brother gives it to you, just say thank you and accept it.”
“T-Thank you.”
Ellen bowed again with widened eyes.
‘I hesitated for days because I was scared, but I’m really glad I apologized today.’
Thanks to Lawrence’s consideration, Ellen finally tasted pork cutlet.
The pork cutlet he had truly wanted to eat while watching all this time was delicious enough to make his eyes pop out.
He had thought it would be delicious because he had seen people lining up to eat it, but it was amazing that food this delicious existed in the world.
“It is really…… really delicious. How can this taste…….”
Seeing Ellen freeze like a statue after taking one bite of pork cutlet, Lawrence smiled gently.
He had seen many customers eat pork cutlet until now, but Ellen was the first to eat it this deliciously.
He felt so proud that his own shoulders rose.
“Eat plenty. If it is not enough, tell me. I will fry more for you.”
At Lawrence’s words, Ellen, coming to his senses like a prince released from magic, made an expression that asked, Is that really all right? and then began eating the pork cutlet hurriedly.
“Haha, you will choke if you eat like that. Eat slowly.”
Lawrence filled a cup with water and held it out to Ellen.
With his mouth full of pork cutlet, Ellen nodded and accepted the cup of water to drink.
“This pork cutlet is so delicious. It is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life.”
“Hahaha.”
At Ellen’s sincere praise, Lawrence’s mood brightened.
Until now, Lawrence had only cooked for himself.
But through this business, he realized that having someone eat the food he had made with care so deliciously was a truly pleasant thing.
While he was briefly lost in sentiment, Ellen, with his small frame, finished the pork cutlet as large as his face in an instant.
“Wow, you eat well, unlike how you look. But are you sure you do not need more?”
“This is enough, Big Brother! And my sister is waiting at home too.”
“Ah, right. That was it. And this…….”
Lawrence handed Ellen the packed pork cutlet.
“Hehehe. Thank you very much. I will be going now.”
Ellen, who accepted the pork cutlet while scratching his head as if slightly embarrassed, bowed deeply to Lawrence and ran off.
The heart of Ellen, who wanted to bring it to his younger sister before the pork cutlet cooled, looked truly beautiful.
“For some reason, I feel like business will go even better today.”
Lawrence smiled as he watched Ellen move farther away.
But only for a moment. He began moving busily to welcome customers.
However, perhaps because of Ellen’s effect, even more customers than usual flooded in like a tidal wave today.
“Hello, one pork cutlet, please.”
“Three packed orders here.”
“Boss, when will the pork cutlet come out?”
“How long has it been since I ordered? Why are you not giving me my pork cutlet?”
“No, I came first, so why are you giving it to that person first?”
“Excuse me. I ordered three, so why are there only two?”
“What? Why are there so many people? Let’s just go somewhere else.”
Lawrence was so overwhelmed by the flood of orders and customer complaints that he could barely keep his head straight.
Although he had grown somewhat accustomed to the work over the past few days of business, this had gone beyond the level he could handle alone.
And the most important problem was that as orders were delayed, customers’ dissatisfaction was piling up.
No matter how delicious the food was, if the service was lacking, sales would inevitably take a major hit.
He had expected business to go well to some extent, and in his own way, he had managed to respond somehow until now.
But he had not known there would be this many customers today.
It was as though he had expected a gentle breeze, only for a typhoon to strike.
Lawrence realized that now was the time to find a better method for both the customers and himself.
After much thought, the first thing he did was recruit people to work.
As soon as he hired new people, he planned to entrust everything other than the work he absolutely had to do himself to others.
Finding firewood, picking leaves for packaging, buying ingredients for making sauce, frying pork cutlets, and the like were simple tasks that did not necessarily have to be done by him.
And since he was hiring people anyway, he also planned to increase the number of frying pots.
Even by simple calculation, adding one more frying pot would allow him to fry more than twice as many pork cutlets, so it was absolutely necessary.
For better service, Lawrence stopped business for several days and posted an announcement that he was hiring workers.
And the first person to apply was, unexpectedly, Ellen.
Unlike when Lawrence had first seen him, Ellen appeared wearing shabby clothes that had been washed clean, and his body had also been washed clean.
“Boss. I can work really hard. Please hire me.”
Lawrence liked Ellen’s attitude, his eyes sparkling as he actively presented himself.
If Lawrence had been an interviewer at some company, he would have given him a high score.
He began with basic questions.
“All right. I heard your name is Ellen. How old are you now?”
“I am fifteen.”
“Hm? You were fifteen?”
Lawrence was a little surprised to hear Ellen’s age.
Because Ellen had a small, thin body and a youthful face, he had actually thought he was around twelve or thirteen.
‘Come to think of it…….’
It did not take long for him to realize the reason.
He had most likely failed to grow properly because he had not eaten properly during his growth period.