Chapter 10: Orphanage
The woman who was supposedly a caretaker in this orphanage took Andrew into the nearest building. After entering it, she went through various hallways and turned right, and stood in front of what looked like the head caretaker's office.
She knocked on the door. "Miss Tania, may I enter?" the woman said as she patiently waited for a reply.
"You may enter Anna" a melodious voice resounded from within the room.
Anna opened the door, afterwards she politely bowed.
"Miss Tania, there is a baby which was left in front of the gates. The orphanage is already full, what should we do?" said Anna as she extended her hands where Andrew laid comfortably, covered in blankets.
"I guess, this is the last baby we can accept, there is no more room left for anymore, put a sign on the gates that we don't accept any more children" said Tania
Tania had long silky black hair and black eyes. She had an average feminine build, yet was a striking beauty. Her crimson plump lips exuded the charm of seductress as her perky bosoms heaved from exhaustion. There were stacks after stacks of paperwork that laid on her wide desk.
If not for her being a tidy person, the whole room would have been stuffed with paperwork.
"Did merchant Laris request to fill so much paperwork?" Anna asked with clear curiosity reflecting in her eyes.
"Yes, he has been asking for detailed information about every child between ages 10 to 16 in the orphanage.
"Sister, then isn't it too much paperwork?" Anna asked with concern. All caretakers in this community were tightly connected. They had no worries since the financial cost was covered by merchant Laris.
Tania sighed "As you may have heard the news, the Emperor is planning to step down the throne, the internal fights between Princes have just begun, moreover the Emperor most likely won't step down for the upcoming decades to collect resources for his ascension to Mana Lord.
"Merchant Laris doesn't finance just our orphanage but multiple others. It is rumored he sponsors 69% of all orphanages in Noris Town. He doesn't do it out of goodwill but to secure a constant supply of new soldiers, the orphanages are used as boot camps" sighed Tania once again as she looked out the window to see the vast and expansive Town of Noris.
"He has a lot of political connections and supports a Marquis who in turn supports a Duke who in turn supports the Third Prince of Leisar Empire. It is a long and unbreakable political chain" explained Tania with a pained expression.
She had lost her husband and child when she was a mortal to a Magical Beast tide in a remote village. This caused her ambition for power to ignite and her motherly feelings for kids to deepen as she couldn't bring herself to harm a child unnecessarily.
The magical beast tide could happen for multiple reasons. Sometimes to cull down the number of Magical Beasts, ordered by stronger Magical Beasts or just their hunger and greed.
Anna stood there in silence as she didn't want to interrupt her sister Tania from reflecting on her tragic memories.
Tania glanced at her from the corner of her eye and uttered "Thank you".
Anna just simply smiled back. Many caretakers here had a tragic and unspoken past, the majority of caretakers were here to reinvigorate their wills to live with the help of children. They held a faint hope that those adorable kids would help them to move forward.
"Bring in that kid, we haven't filled in the information about him" said Tania. Anna snapped back as she took him out of the crib that was outside the room and brought him in.
Andrew looked around curiously inspecting the room. It was a fairly big room with drawers and stacks of papers everywhere.
Tania was intrigued by his curious expression inspecting everywhere.
'A gifted child?' she thought in her mind.
"Sister, there was an envelope with him" said Anna as she extended her hand and there was a sealed envelope.
The envelope said:
[Please take care of my child, I was unable as a mother to provide him a good life, I hope you will not be too harsh on him.
His name is Andrew, please don't change it.
He is 5 months old.
He is a gifted child, you might want to consider nurturing him.
Please take care of him when I couldn't. I wish him the best.]
Tania carefully read the letter as she was quite used to it.
"Anna, bring him closer" said Tania as she extended her hand.
Anna complied as Andrew was put right in front of Tania's hand. She carefully touched him as a blue glow enveloped Andrew's whole body and Tania's palm.
"He is healthy, no abnormalities found. Take him to baby's section" said Tania as she took out an empty sheet from a drawer.
She was just an Initial Apprentice Mage, thus she couldn't detect the body shapeshifting that was conducted by an Intermediate Greater Mage.
Anna took Andrew into her embrace as she faintly smiled.
"See you later, sister" she said to Tania as she bowed and left the room. After closing the door of the room she headed out of the building and took the direction towards a complex of buildings.
It took her about 5 minutes to reach that place.
There were 4 buildings lined in a row and there was a big park and various playgrounds made for children.
Soon a figure appeared in her view.
"Anna, you are quite late" said a figure draped in the same white coat that Anna wore.
"Lily, I brought a new baby" said Anna as she showed Andrew to Lily.
"Oh, there is one last crib left for him, follow me" she said as she started walking towards the farthest building.
The building was 12 stories tall and they had to climb stairs to reach the 12th floor. It wasn't a hard thing for them as their bodies were fit and strong, plus in the world of Aria due to the abundance of mana, mortals here were far stronger than those on Earth.
They reached the 12th floor as they crossed multiple hallways.
"Good evening, Lily, Anna" greeted multiple caretakers who they passed by.
Eventually, they reached a particular room which was labeled as Baby's Section #031.
A caretaker sat there with a bored expression.
"Oh, Lily and Anna what do I owe you for your unexpected visit" said the caretaker while a smile blossomed on her face.
"Sharlotta, if you are that bored why don't you go and clean up the entire floor?" said Lily with a smug expression.
"Lily! Do I look like I have nothing to do?!" said Sharlotta as she cutely harrumphed.
Both Lily and Anna warmly smiled. Charlotta was the youngest among them. Just 19 years old. She also was previously an orphan at this orphanage.
She had nowhere to go so she opted to become a caretaker. It wasn't uncommon for orphans of the orphanage to later become caretakers of the orphanage.
Sharlotta grew up in care of these two women. Both of them were the closest people she had in her life as an orphan. She even considered them as her relatives. She had for them noting but respect and familial affection. They were her two big sisters.
Sharlotta had glistering golden hair and blue eyes. Her youthful aura exuded its own type of charm. She was rather mischievous and couldn't stand boredom.
Sharlotta approached her big sisters with curiosity. She saw a baby in their hands which looked extremely cute in her eyes.
She extended her hand and teasingly stretched Andrew's checks for fun.
"What a cute little one" she said smilingly.
She took him in her hands and lulled him for a while.
As for Andrew's expression? It was neutral and indifferent.
"Okay Sharlotta, it's time to put him into the crib" said Anna.
"Boo~, you are no fun sister!" said Sharlotta but still complied as she opened the doors to the room.
30 cribs unfolded in their vision as each of them had an equal distance of two meters between them.
29 of them were already occupied by sleeping babies. Each of them had a peaceful sleeping expression.
Sharlotta walked towards the farthest crib and put Andrew inside it.
She patted him on his stomach as she put a blanket over him.
"He does possess intelligent and curious eyes, all this time his eyes roamed around the room, I think he has a potential to become a scholar" Sharlotta said as she intently observed Andrew.
It was extremely unusual for 5 month old baby to showcase such curiosity. She even felt like he sized up the dimensions of her body.
"He is going to be a scoundrel too" Sharlotta commented as she didn't find it creepy. She deemed it as his mere curiosity.
"Alright Sharlotta, don't forget to give his meals in time" Anna commented as she turned around to leave.
"By the way what is his name?" asked Sharlotta while trying to tickle him but got no reaction instead.
"His name is Andrew, Miss Tania will later send you over his information so be sure to fill it in properly" said Anna as she resumed walking towards the staircase.
"Sister Lily, how is the situation in the town, I heard there has been quite a lot of disorder" asked Sharlotta.
"There is a shortage of guards throughout the town, and the vandalisms have skyrocketed. Even the donations to the orphanage plummeted. Ordinary people are having a hard time making ends meet" replied Lily with a solemn expression.
"Take care of yourself and be careful when you go outside" said Lily as she turned around and left.
Sharlotta stood there contemplatingly while looking outside the window, thinking about all of her unrealized dreams once again. She deeply desired to become a mage yet failed to enroll in any kind of magic academy.
She turned her head as she looked at laying Andrew. "Welcome" she softly said as she left the room and closed the doors behind her.
'Indeed, welcome' Andrew mockingly thought as he slowly fell asleep.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone