Managing an orphanage in another world

Janna stood there, dazed. She was speechless.

"Janna?"

Thea called out to her.

"Yeah, what?"

Janna came back to her senses and hurriedly replied.

"Why are you blushing?"

Thea noticed Janna's complexion. Her face was pink and blushing. Her breath was heavy.

"It-it's nothing."

"Hmm..."

Thea didn't believe her. There was a smile on Thea's face.

"So it's finally happened."

"W-what happened?"

"You've finally fallen in love."

"L-l-love?!"

Janna's face turned beet red. Her words were stuttering.

"I didn't fall in love!"

"Your face says otherwise."

"No, no. This...this is just from exercising."

"I see...got red from exercising your heart, huh?"

"Exact-wait, no."

Thea gave Janna a hug.

"I thought you would be alone forever."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"You only ever had interest in your sword. I was sure that was your only love."

"It still is!"

"Don't try to deny it. I don't know what you like about Silas, but he's a good choice."

"I don't like him!"

"Hehe, sure. You can hide it from yourself, but I know you more than you do yourself."

Janna was flustered. She had only seen Silas just now for the first time, but her heart started to race. It was the first time she felt this way. It was love at first sight.

"Oh, by the way, he's your boss."

"My boss? You don't mean..."

"Yes, the one you're interviewing today."

"What?!"

Janna didn't know what to do. She was eager to go to the job interview today. But now she absolutely didn't want to go.

"I-I remembered I had something to do."

She was trying to make excuses for not going to the interview.

"What is it? I'll help you do them instead."

"Ah, it's..."

There was nothing Janna actually had to do.

"You're not trying to skip out on your interview, are you?"

"What? I would never."

"Great. Now you get to talk one-on-one with your crush."

"One-on...one?"

"Hmm, Janna. I know you're nervous, but it's better that you saw him before the interview. You would have been completely silent during your interview otherwise."

Thea pinched Janna's cheeks.

"And now you can confess your love directly."

"You!"

Janna grabbed Thea and put her in an arm choke hold. Like an angry cat, she didn't let Thea go.

"Stop! Stop! I won't say it again!"

"You better not."

She let Thea go. Thea walked a few steps away from Janna.

"I lied!"

"Come back!"

Janna, like an angry cat was chasing after Thea, the playful cat. They were interrupted by Nem.

"Are we playing?"

He asked innocently.

"No, we're not playing."

Thea said firmly.

"Stop lying!"

There were tears in Nem's eyes.

"You said no playing in the house and now you're playing by yourself!"

Nem felt like he was betrayed.

"Come here, Nem."

Janna called out to Nem.

"I'm won't! You were also playing!"

Nem didn't even go to Janna who he liked very much.

"No, no. You've got it wrong. I wasn't playing. I was stopping her from playing."

"Really?"

"Yes, so come here."

Nem trusted Janna and went to her. Janna picked him up and cuddled him.

"You see, Nem. Thea was playing all by herself. She's so bad isn't she?"

"Yes, bad!"

Nem shouted at Thea. He was clearly very upset with Thea for playing without him and Gywn.

"Wait, that's not-"

"Uhem, we'll be leaving now. You reflect on your mistakes, Thea."

Janna left with Nem in her arms. Leaving Thea alone.

"How could she?!"

Janna knew that Thea cared and loved the kids in the orphanage. If one of the kids were to be angry with her, it would hurt Thea emotionally. This was Janna's way of getting back at Thea for earlier.

"I'll have to make up somehow."

Thea went into her workshop to make a magic device. Using her water element mana as a base, she completed the object in under an hour.

"Good thing I've made this before."

The device was something she had made during her days at the academy when she wasn't progressing with her mana and she was feeling the summer heat.

Thea headed to the storage room to get some things. And afterwards she went to the garden where everyone was gathered.

It was a nice sunny day today. It was the later half of Autumn, but it was less chilly today. It was a rare warm day for the weather.

After lunch, it was time for studying. The kids study for a few hours under Thea. But most of the time they would study on their own. Occasionally asking questions where they didn't understand.

But is was really only Leaf studying. Thea had discovered that after what Nem went through, his mind seemed to have regressed to that of a child. He was already an eight years old child, but his mind was acting like a four or five year old child.

Perhaps it was a defense mechanism of his brain. His memory of his family seemed to have become vague. A terribly sorrowful outcome.

What will happen in the future is uncertain. Thea could only hope that it gives time for her to help him develop new bonds. So that when he gets his memories and mind back, it will hurt less.

"Alright, gather around."

"What is that, Unnie?"

Leaf asked about the object Thea was holding. It was a tall box shape with an opening at the front.

"Oh my goodness, Thea! You remade the ice cream machine?"

The machine Thea was holding was actually an ice cream machine. Ice cream did exist in this world, but it required ice mages to maintain the temperature. And ice mages were not easy to come by.

Ice cream was sold in cities with many people and was a popular item. But it was consider an expensive delicacy because of the rarity.

"It's not for you this time."

"I thought you said you wouldn't make it again?"

"Well, I made it as an apology to Nem."

"I'm not forgiving you!"

Nem chimed in.

"We'll see after you taste this."

Thea put down the ice cream machine onto a table in the garden.

"What does it do, Unnie?"

"I had forgotten, but I made a promise to buy you ice cream when it was available, right?"

"I don't remember."

"It was so long ago. But now you can eat ice cream."

"Can this really make ice cream?"

"Of course, after all it's something I made."

Thea may not be confident in her ability to use her mana in magic but one thing she was certain that she was good at was crafting magic tools.

"You know, I vowed to never make something like this again because the last time I did, a certain someone ate too much and vomited over me."

"It wasn't Janna Unnie, was it?"

Leaf looked at Janna in surprised. To Leaf, Janna looked like someone who was physically strong. She didn't think Janna would be so weak as to vomit on someone.

"I swear, Thea put something in her ice cream."

Janna defended herself.

"They were just too delicious!"

"That's called having no self-control."

Even Leaf knew that.

"Just wait till you try them first."

Thea took the ingredients and put them into the machine. The machine's lid could be lifted. She put in milk and sugar. The machine would turn the things into ice cream by itself.

"Here it goes."

Thea put a small bowl at the bottom of the opening in the machine. She then put her finger on the machine and pressed a button.

The machine made a noise and out poured ice cream.

"Ooo."

The kids were amazed by it.

"Who wants to eat first?"

"Me!"

Nem had seemed to forget that he was upset with Thea for playing without him.

"Only if Nem forgives me first."

This was Thea's plan all along. She couldn't let a child under her care be upset with her. That was like a sin for her.

"...fine..."

Nem muttered under his breath. He also turned his head slightly to look away from Thea.

"What was that?"

Thea could barely hear him speak.

"...I said I forgive you..."

"Oh, Nem is so kind. You deserve a reward for being so generous."

Thea handed the bowl filled with ice cream to Nem. Nem instantly took a big portion of ice cream onto the spoon and shoved it into his mouth.

"Wait! Slow down!"

It was too late. Nem had already shoved it into his mouth. It was a bad habit of Nem to eat too fast. He would get stomach aches because he eats too fast and gets digestion issues.

But now he would experience another type of pain.

"Maybe this will teach him to eat slowly finally?"

Janna tried to look at the bright side.

"Ahh! My head!"

Nem said out loud.

"You're not supposed to eat ice cream fast or it hurts your head."

Thea explained.

"The pain will go away in a few moments."

"Unnie, give me too."

Leaf asked for her portion. Thea made another portion and handed it to Leaf.

"Don't eat too fast."

"Yes."

Leaf looked at the ice cream in her hand.

"Finally!"

She was finally going to eat ice cream. She had heard from one of the kids that it was the best thing ever. The kid was an adventurer's kid who came to defeat some monster. It was a few years ago and she had heard it from the side when the kid was boasting to the village chief's children.

"YUMMY!"

Leaf took a bite and shouted. There was a big sweet smile on her face.

"Don't eat too fast."

Thea reminded Leaf who was about to eat more.

"Ah, yes!"

Thea handed a portion to Gwyn and Janna next.

"Did you change something with the recipe?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I'm definitely sure this tasted much better the last time."

"Maybe it's just you. You've grown up a lot you know."

"No, that's definitely not it. My taste didn't change."

Janna wasn't convinced.

"There's no other reason."

Janna glared at Thea. Thea had in fact changed something within the machine. She had turned down the taste element created by magic. In the past, the only reason Janna had gotten addicted was because the element was too high.

So the reason Janna puked on Thea in the past was actually Thea's fault. But she wouldn't tell Janna such a thing.

"I feel like you're hiding something..."

But Janna had a special sense of intuition when it came to Thea.

"Anyways...I have something to talk to you guys about."

"Is it what...Silas talked about earlier?"

Janna's face blushed a bit.

"Yes, it's what your crush-"

Janna pinched Thea's stomach with her fingers.

"Ow-what Silas told me."

"What do you want to do?"

Janna asked Thea for her plan.

"Of course, we're going. We have to help children when we can."

"When are we leaving?"

"We are leaving tomorrow."

"So fast."

"You can stay behind if you want."

"Why would I let you go by yourself?"

"Are we going together?"

Leaf asked.

"We'll travel by foot. It'll take weeks. You'll get very tired along the way. If you don-"

"I'll go!"

Leaf cut off Thea's sentence.

"I knew you would say that, but I have a condition."

"A condition?"

"You can only come along if you can move your mana by the end of today."

"But...I can't..."

Over the last month of teaching Leaf, there was a problem. Actually it wasn't much of a problem, but it was something that Leaf couldn't do.

It was the ability to feel and move mana inside of the body. A normal person would take up to a year starting from training to do it. A person with good talent would be able to feel it in half a year's time. While a gifted person would take less than a month.

How about Thea then? How long did she take to feel her mana?

Thea could feel her mana starting the moment she was woke up as a baby in this world.

Even after sensing their mana, it could take a considerably long time for a person to move their mana.

It took Thea a minute after she first sensed mana to move it from her head to her toes.

It went beyond the level of a gifted millennium genius.

Janna had said that Leaf was a gifted person. So it wouldn't take her long to sense her mana. That was indeed the case. Leaf could already feel her mana. It had only been a month since she started to learn.

But now she needed to move her mana. It wouldn't matter if she sensed her mana fast if she takes a long time to move it.

Thea was trying to give a push to Leaf. She knew that kids could do anything if they put their mind to it.

"If you can't do it by today, then I'll leave you in the care of Su."

"No, I want to go."

"Then you better hurry."

"I'll do it today!"

Leaf finished eating her ice cream and went to train.

"Why'd you do that? You're planning to take her with you anyways, right?"

Janna whispered to Thea.

"I want to train her magic while travelling."

"Isn't she too early to learn to battle with magic?"

Janna instantly understood that Thea wanted to make Leaf familiar with battles.

"It's never too early."

"What's got you so worried?"

There was a look of concern on Thea's face.

"I worry if she's fit for the academy."

"Oh, I see."

Janna also understood what Thea was worried about.

"Well, you'll just have to make her fit."

Janna encouraged Thea.

"I'm trying my best."

---

Late at night, around 10 pm.

Leaf was still trying to move her mana.

'Why isn't it working?!'

She was getting frustrated with herself.

'Am I just not good enough?'

As she was trying to manipulate her mana, she noticed that Thea was looking at her through the window.

'If I don't do it now, I'll get left behind.'

This was the final push Leaf needed. She pushed all her body and mind for this one moment. Thinking about Thea, the person who saved her, leaving her behind. Thinking of Nem and Gwyn who were kids she felt she needed to take care of.

All these factors and emotions finally pushed her to succeed. Her mana finally moved. It felt like a rock moving in her stomach. Like a hard object going down her throat, being very hard to swallow.

But it did indeed move.

As any mage would tell you, once you've moved it once, it's not hard to do it again.

Leaf tried it again, and she could feel it move. It still felt like a rock.

"Are you able to do it?"

Thea, who saw the change on Leaf's face after she succeeded, came out to ask.

"Yes, I did it just now!"

"That's great!"

Thea clapped her hands.

"Let's not miss this moment. Keep pushing your mana."

"Yes."

Leaf did it again. And again. She kept trying to move the rock like mana. It wasn't working, as she was getting the same result.

"Keep going! You can do it!"

Thea was there as a cheerleader to Leaf. There wasn't anything she could do for her.

"Unnie..."

Leaf was covered in sweat. It takes the whole body to do what Thea was asking Leaf to do. It was literally a full body workout.

"You have to keep going, Leaf."

Thea had read about this exact thing in books while at the academy. She herself didn't experience such a thing. In the books, it was said that the was one of the most crucial moments in a mages ability going forward.

Some people would stop right after trying to move the rock-like mana. Or at least only try it a few times before giving it a rest. It was logical to say.

Many of these people had been trying to control their mana for the tiniest bit. They had spent months sensing their mana. Then another few months trying to move it. So finally when they do succeed, it would be only correct to want to rest.

But that was in fact wrong. This moment was much more important than they think.

The problem had to do with the body. If the body felt like there was a change, there would be a response of some kind. Like an infection, that the immune system's cells would respond to. There was a similar defense mechanism for mana.

Even though it had already existed since birth, but now it was moving. Before, it didn't interact with the body at all.

"I want you to give it a punch!"

"A punch?"

Leaf was shocked by Thea's words.

"Yes, just think about giving that rock a punch and give it your all."

"But..."

Leaf felt really tired.

"You can't stop now. This is the final hurdle. You said you wanted to be a great mage, didn't you? This is the only thing stopping you from becoming just that. Give it a punch, do it!"

Thea's encouragement worked well on Leaf.

'I want to be a mage like Unnie!'

Though the reason was a bit different.

"Punch!"

At Thea's word, Leaf gave it her all and 'punched' the rock of mana.

It shattered into countless tiny pieces. And Leaf coughed.

"It's okay, you're okay Leaf."

Thea held Leaf in her arms.

"You did it, Leaf. You did it."

Thea looked at Leaf's face.

"Thank you, Unnie...."

Leaf fell asleep mid-sentence. She was too tired from the whole day of training and pushing her limit.

"No, it was all you, Leaf."

Thea groomed Leaf's hair with her hand as she fell asleep.

"You'll be an amazing mage like you want someday."

Thea herself felt proud of Leaf's accomplishment.

"Now, let's get you to your bed."