'Ugh! Cold!'
I startled awake and saw bunch of kids running away. "Ahh! The demon woke up! Run!!" One of the kids yelled in a hurry.
"Ugh. Stop screaming, you rascals." I wipe the cold-water droplets off my face and look around. Broken walls, some kind of unpleasant smell and stuff just scattered all over the place. "Where the hell am I?"
"You are in my house." I look at the corner and notice a small door. Mel somehow walks through that, well he almost had to crouch.
"Uh… Not exactly my house but home. Yeah." He awkwardly corrects himself. "How are you feeling? The paladins said that you were going through mana exhaustion."
I blink in surprise. "Mana exhaustion? Me?"
"Yes, that's what they said." Mel takes a seat on the old bed and it creaks very loudly.
In the corner of my eye, I spot the kids cutely peeking at us. "So, where is Helen?"
Mel does not respond.
Suddenly a small rock hits my head. A small girl steps forward and points at me. "It is because of you! Sister Hel was arrested! You also took grandpa away! I know!"
"Alexia! For the last time! Behave! I told you already! He has nothing to do with this!" Mel's words were loud. Too loud for a mere scolding.
'Hey. Lower your voice. Yelling at a kid is the second last thing you should do.' I mumble in my mind.
The little Alexia grips her small frock and starts to cry. "Y-You don't h-have to yell a-at me! You d-don't u-understand!" She throws another rock at me which almost hits my eye.
"Alexia!" The little girl quickly runs away crying.
Mel was about to stand up to catch her, but I stop him. "Stop. It's nothing."
Mel looks at me for second and changes expression. "I am sorry, Altaris. Usually, she is very sweet girl."
"Helen got arrested?"
"Yes. As the leader of the party, she was arrested for hiding information from the guild and smuggling good from an unexplored region."
"Leader? I thought Grandpa Ryhard was the leader."
At my question, Mel turns silent. I stare at him for few seconds before asking my question again. "He was your leader, wasn't he?"
"Yes, unofficially. But on paper Grandpa belonged to a different party. A shell party."
I furrow my eyebrows at Mel's words. "Shell party?"
"W-What could we do? Money was tight and those damn guild receptionists won't give us any high ranking jobs. S-So grandpa created a party by himself, with the help of a friend, he filled in fake names as members and created a shell party. As a veteran, they believed in his skill and offered a high rank from the start."
'Information hiding, smuggling, shell party and now contract breaching? Ohhh Mel.' I sigh inwardly. "Then? Where is Helen now?"
"The councillor has declared her as guilty. She was moved to the city jail yesterday."
"Do you have any plan to get her out?"
"O-Of course! Grandpa used to tell me about this secret stash he had been saving for us orphans. I asked everyone and they all agreed to use that money to bring Helen back."
Again, I spot the kids eagerly peeking from the door. "Money?"
"Yes, If we pay all her offences back, she will be pardoned from her crimes."
"Is that so?" I asked in a low voice.
Mel quickly claps his hands together. "I have request for you! Can please look after the kids while I quickly grab grandpa's stash?"
This time I moved my neck and directly look at kids. They immediately all ran away. "I-I don't know if they like me or not."
Mel pleads further. "Please! I-I can pay you! Yes, take all the remaining money…. Not all but you will get a share."
I do not answer him directly.
"What? you want all? Take it! But please! Please! Help me once!"
There I saw it. A tear forming in the warriors eyes as he bows down. "Please. I want to save my wife. B-But I can't leave. I am trapped wit-"
I quickly put my hand on his shoulder and stop him. "Hey! Hey! I get it! Leave them to me."
Mel looks at me and wipes his tears. "T-Thank you. I should get going. I will be back in the evening. With Hel."
I smile at him and stand up. 'What the-'
I almost lost my balance, I lean and touch the crude stone floor. 'This entire house is crooked to one side!'
"The house is little bit unbalanced. Due to heavy rains, the soil got wet and loose which made the house sink." Mel explains as he watches me struggle to stand. We both step outside of the house.
Seeing the sunlight after a very long time, made my eyes moist. I glance around the area. 'Seems like a modest village on the outskirts. Few but big houses, Small well for drinking water and a bar for drinking.' My eyes fell on few kids playing outside. They were playing wizard and the demon king.
"Like I said, I will be back in the evening." Mel voice startled me.
"Huh? Okay. Okay." I watched him walk away in a distance. This time with only one sword in his scabbard for his only hand. 'Guess he didn't take the prosthetic.'
"Psst! Psst! Hey!" I turn back and see a kid crouching on the other side of the fence. I walk up to him. "I am sorry for rubbing ice on your face."
"Oh? That was you."
Seeing me glaring at him, the little kid got scared. "Hiee! I am sorry! You weren't waking up and big brother Mel was getting angrier day by day. He also raised his hand against Alexia yesterday."
I think for a second before jumping to the other side of the fence. It was a real struggle to climb but I somehow did it. 'Screw this body.'
'When did I- I mean Mel came home?" I asked.
"5 days ago. It was few days late than usual but big sister already told us before leaving that they were going bring big money." The boy quickly began spilling the beans.
"Hmm… What is your name?"
"Rushian!" The kid answered with much eagerness.
"Okay, Rushian. Now go and gather everyone here."
"Yes!" The kid got up and began running immediately. '5 days…. Did I really exhausted all my mana?'
In matter of seconds, 7 kids literally spawned out of nowhere. Like how can all these sleeps in that small hut? "You all live in this?" I point at hut behind.
All of them nod in an order.
I scratch my head as I think about my next words. "Everyone here knows that Helen is away from the house, right?"
Everyone nods.
"Just now Mel has left to bring her home. Now if she sees the house in this condition, she will get mad. That is why we will clean all of this…. Stuff."
Rushian puts his hand up like a student. "Here! Here!"
"Yes? Rushian?"
"The house has always been this way… Why would big sister get mad?"
Annoyed, I slightly smile at the kid. "Now. Now. Everyone loves a clean house and nobody loves trash, right?"
"It is not trash! It is our stuff!"
I lose my cool and snap. "Just do as I say! And clean that damn house!"
Seeing me scream, the few kids start to cry. "Don't you cry! Go inside and clean!"
Scared, the kids get up and run inside to clean. Once they all are inside, I sigh. "This is going to be tough."
Just then, Rushian walks out holding a baby in hand. "Umm. Kela cannot help in cleaning and will only get in way. Can you look after her?..... Please?"
I rubbed my eyes as I take the baby from Rushian's hands. "How old is she?"
"Uh. I don't know. But big sister says she is more than a year old."
'Wow.'
"Also, Alexia did not come. I-I tried to call her multiple times but she ignored me."
I look at cute creature in my hand and regain my patience. "That is fine. But where is she?"
"She is sitting behind that well." Rushian points at the well which is in middle of the road.