“Where is your home?”
“Ah, my home is…….”
At Lawrence’s question, Ellen seemed to hesitate for a moment, then answered.
His face was full of apology.
“If you go a little farther inside from the back alley where you met the robbers that time, Boss, you will reach it.”
Hearing that, Lawrence spoke with a gentle smile.
“Ah, so that was why you hesitated. It’s all right. You already apologized for what happened then, and I’ve forgotten it all. But what do your parents do? Seeing how you take care of your younger sister, they both seem busy.”
“Um…… I do not have parents.”
“Hm? You do not have parents?”
Surprised by Ellen’s unexpected answer, Lawrence asked again.
“Yes. I have never even seen my father’s face, and my mother passed away a few years ago.”
Ellen explained his circumstances in a calm voice.
On the other hand, Lawrence felt pity at Ellen’s words.
“I see. I asked something unnecessary. I’m sorry.”
“No, it is already in the past.”
Unlike Lawrence, who apologized with a restless expression, Ellen answered calmly as if it did not affect him.
Rather, he looked at Lawrence’s apologetic reaction as if he found it strange.
To Lawrence, who had experienced modern society, Ellen’s situation of losing his parents was heartbreaking, but Ellen was an orphan of this era, and things like this were so common that he felt little emotion about it.
“Then are you the one taking care of your sister now?”
“Yes, that is right.”
“How old is your sister?”
“She is eight now.”
“Mm, is that so…….”
Lawrence fell into thought with a small groan.
His mind was filled with the thought that he wanted to hire Ellen, but the fact that Ellen was too young bothered him.
No matter how urgently he needed people, using a child who was only fifteen years old as an employee did not make sense.
In modern terms, was he not only a second-year middle school student?
Lawrence spoke honestly.
“Honestly, I want to hire you, but your age is a bit too young.”
“Boss, Big Brother! Can’t you please think about it one more time? All my friends around me work too. Some work at inns. The ones who cannot find jobs go to the mountains, gather firewood, and sell it. Some do errands separately too.”
“Oh, really?”
Hearing Ellen’s words, Lawrence was slightly surprised.
He simply had not been conscious of it, but this other world was a world where it was natural for children to work.
“But if you start working, who will take care of your sister? You will have to be tied down here all day. Will that be all right?”
“Ah, that is……”
Ellen could not answer this question easily either.
Until now, he had stopped by home in between work to take care of his sister.
“U-Um, would it not be possible for me to go there briefly in the middle of work? I run really fast. I can go home and come back in an instant. I will just prepare my sister’s meal and return right away. If you hire me, I will come to work earlier and leave work later. No, it is fine even if you pay me only a little.”
That was how badly Ellen wanted to work here.
Because Lawrence was a completely different person from the adults he had met until now.
He was strong enough to subdue three thugs in an instant, kind even to him, a child, and seemed to be the smartest person he had ever met.
And most of all, he was a remarkable person who made and sold pork cutlet so delicious that even a god would eat it.
“Mm, will you wait for a moment?”
“Yes, as long as you need!”
Lawrence thought for a moment.
If he was going to hire someone anyway, there did not seem to be anyone more suited than Ellen.
Coming to apologize before had not been an act of ordinary courage.
On top of that, there was his heart for his younger sister, which was terribly deep despite his young age, and even the proactive attitude he was showing now.
While talking with Ellen like that, Lawrence suddenly thought of a good idea.
At first, he had planned to hire adults, but it did not seem necessary to do so.
Because he thought that perhaps the people who had the hardest time living here were children like Ellen.
Children who could not eat unless they worked for themselves.
Would hiring such children not be more meaningful?
And if responsible Ellen became the center and managed the children, things would clearly become much easier.
‘If things go well, I’ll have time to train in the Mana Cultivation Method, and I can raise my level by catching monsters while hunting wild boars. This is good, isn’t it?’
Before he knew it, Lawrence was making plans after hiring Ellen.
After considering this and that and reaching a conclusion, Lawrence opened his mouth.
“Ellen, I will hire you. And let us do this. I will give you several days’ wages in advance, so use that money to find someone to look after your sister. Then you will not need to worry while working, right?”
“Really? Thank you so much for considering me.”
With an expression mixed with surprise and joy, Ellen bowed to Lawrence several times.
“Now, I will ask one last thing. Ellen, when can you start work?”
“I can work right now.”
“Hahaha, you do not need to start work right now. There is still work left to install another large iron pot. And if your friends are willing to work, you may call them too.”
“Yes? My friends…… Are you perhaps saying you will use my friends too?”
“No, I will not hire your friends like I am hiring you. Instead, if they bring firewood or leaves for wrapping pork cutlets, I will buy them. I will also occasionally have them run errands, like buying food ingredients.”
“That alone is more than enough! If I tell them there is work, any number of them will come running.”
“Then I will see you in a few days.”
“Yes, Big Brother. Ah, I will call you Boss from now on. Boss, thank you so much for hiring me.”
Ellen bowed deeply and returned with a happy face.
A few days later, the stall reopened.
Compared to before, the biggest change was that one more oil pot had been set up.
And another change was that Ellen was beside Lawrence.
“Now~ Shall we begin? First, watch what I do.”
Lawrence took out a chunk of wild boar meat he had cut in advance from a large box, placed it on the cutting board, and trimmed it again into a suitable size.
“Meat cut like this should be beaten with this wooden mallet and flattened. Then you wet it in the egg wash first, and coat it in order with flour and breadcrumbs. Once you see it, it is easy, right? If there is anything confusing, ask me right away.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Ellen opened his eyes wide and focused as if he would not miss a single thing.
“Next, I will teach you how to make oil. For this, you put only the fat separately into the pot and boil it to render the oil. The frying pot is hot, so you have to stay alert.”
“I understand.”
As Lawrence was teaching Ellen for a long while and making pork cutlet, several children approached the stall and called Ellen.
“Ellen, I brought firewood.”
“I picked leaves without a single hole too.”
“Whew, Ellen. Here are the wine, flour, and bread you told me to buy from the market.”
The children were all Ellen’s friends. They were children who supplied the stall with necessary items or were entrusted with errands.
“You all came really quickly. Put the firewood over there. And you washed the leaves, right?”
“Yeah, you kept telling us over and over. We washed them all clean in the stream.”
“Haha, thank you. Stack the leaves over there. The food ingredients can go here.”
“Got it. Here, right?”
Ellen skillfully organized the items his friends had brought.
“Thank you, everyone. You all worked hard.”
Lawrence watched the sight with satisfaction, then paid them a little more generously than elsewhere.
“Whoa! Thank you.”
The children accepted the money with bright, silly smiles, as if in a good mood.
More than being happy to earn money like this, they were happier that there was work every day.
Lawrence paid them per task, but since he intended to trade only with these children, it was no different from hiring them like Ellen.
“You rascals, are you that happy? And you do not need to thank me that much. This is proper payment for honest labor. Since today is the first day, I am in a good mood! Mister will fry pork cutlet for you, so eat before you go.”
“Really? Mister, you are the best!”
“Wow~ Thank you.”
At the words that they could eat pork cutlet before leaving, the children jumped up and down in delight.
Given these children’s circumstances, buying pork cutlet was bound to be a burden.
Although Lawrence had set the price low, since it was a dish containing meat, it was expensive compared to other foods.
The money needed to buy one pork cutlet was almost equal to the children’s food expenses for a day.
“Ellen, since we are doing this, I will also teach you how to fry pork cutlet. Look carefully here. When you put a wooden chopstick into the oil and small bubbles form at the tip of the chopstick, the oil is at the right temperature for frying pork cutlet. At that time, put in the pork cutlet you prepared.”
“Yes. Boss.”
While frying pork cutlet for the children, Lawrence explained the cooking method to Ellen.
“The oil is very hot, so you must always be careful. You do not need to be fast, so safety comes first. Understood?”
“I understand. Boss.”
After finishing the explanation like that, Lawrence was about to put in the second pork cutlet when Ellen stepped forward and spoke.
“Boss. May I try once?”
The more he saw Ellen’s proactive attitude, the more he liked it.
Lawrence looked at Ellen with warm eyes and spoke.
“When putting the pork cutlet into the oil, do not be scared. Just slide it gently into the oil like I showed you a moment ago.”
“Yes, I understand. Slide it gently…….”
Lawrence demonstrated in the air, then stepped one pace to the side.
With an extremely nervous expression, Ellen slid the pork cutlet into the oil just as Lawrence had taught him.
Then the pork cutlet entered the oil smoothly, and before long, it fried deliciously.
“You did well. You have quite a bit of talent.”
Lawrence tapped Ellen’s shoulder as if proud.
At the touch filled with praise, Ellen’s tense expression relaxed, and his eyes sparkled.
And perhaps having gained confidence from Lawrence’s praise, Ellen skillfully placed the last pork cutlet into the oil.
As the three pork cutlets placed in the oil pot cooked into a delicious color, anticipation appeared on the children’s faces.
Lawrence took out the well-browned pork cutlets, poured sauce over them, and gave them to the children.
“Now, they are done. Children, enjoy.”
“Thank you.”
“It is a bribe from Mister asking you to work well.”
At the sight of the fairly polite children, Lawrence lightly ruffled their hair.
He wondered if the portion might be slightly too much for the children to eat alone, but perhaps because they were hungry, they ate very well.
“You all eat really well, huh? But you might get indigestion. Eat slowly.”
“Hehe, yes!”
When Lawrence spoke half in admiration and half in worry, the children smiled brightly and answered.
The children liked Lawrence.
Unlike other adults, he was kind, and he did not get angry even when they made mistakes.
Rather, he encouraged them, saying it was all right and that they could do better next time.
On top of that, most decisively, he paid generously and even let them eat expensive pork cutlet, so there was no way they could dislike him.
“Mister, do you not need more firewood and leaves?”
Kals, one of Ellen’s friends, asked while chewing pork cutlet.
“Yes. If customers come as much as yesterday, I will need a bit more. Could you bring them around lunchtime?”
“Of course. I will bring very dry firewood.”
“Yes, I will be counting on you. But remember, be careful when you go to the mountain.”
Lawrence spoke while looking at the children, as if he had thought of something.
“I saw an orc on the mountain recently. So you must absolutely not go deep into the mountain.”
“An orc?”
The children’s eyes widened when they heard that.
Since the children’s main source of income was picking up firewood in the mountains and selling it, this was a sensitive topic.
In particular, the place where the children went to gather firewood was off the main road, so monster subjugation was rarely carried out there.
The city was surrounded by walls, and all trade took place safely within the city.
Because it was a commercial city, most of the city’s residents worked in commerce, and only a portion lived by farming.
Because of that, unlike other cities, they were not active in subjugating monsters.
Monster subjugation cost a great deal of money.
Since there was no one collecting taxes in the first place, there was nowhere to obtain that money.
Even if the merchants had money, there was no way they would spend money on places unrelated to themselves.
Because of that, unless monsters threatened the city itself, everyone ignored them.
“Yes, an orc. You all know very well how frightening a monster an orc is, right?”
“Yes…….”
The children answered in weak voices.
Among countless monsters, orcs in particular were troublesome to humans.
This was because of their habit of living in groups, separate from the fact that orcs possessed considerable martial strength.
If one orc was discovered, there was a high possibility that behind it was a group of dozens or hundreds of orcs.
In truth, Lawrence had already confirmed the orc settlement.
He had been wondering lately why the number of wild boars had rapidly decreased.
Then, while chasing a wild boar he had found with difficulty, he was attacked by orcs.
Fortunately, with his developed senses, he quickly noticed the killing intent unique to monsters and was able to escape the danger of a sudden ambush.
There were three orcs that attacked Lawrence.
The bastards gave off fairly strong pressure, but a mere three orcs were no match for Lawrence.
After dealing with the orcs in an instant, Lawrence followed the bastards’ traces.
And deep in the forest, he was able to discover their settlement.
It was a settlement that looked as though it had not been formed long ago.
The bastards seemed to have taken this place as their territory and settled there anew.
Perhaps they had been driven away by stronger monsters, lost their home, fled, and settled in a new place.
Or perhaps a strong member of an orc group had led part of the tribe that followed him and become independent.