Chapter 57: Sunflower
Leaf City.
The Skeleton Knight reined in his skeletal warhorse at the city gate. Without a single word, he simply extended a bony hand, signaling that Hans could disembark.
Hans slid down from the massive steed, his legs still feeling like half-melted jelly.
"Many thanks! My deepest gratitude, Sir Knight!"
He bowed to the back of the Skeleton Knight. The undead warrior didn't look back; the horse simply wheeled around and vanished like a gust of black wind at the end of the road.
Hans patted the dust from his expensive suit. The grime and wrinkles couldn't mask the sheer, revitalized spirit radiating from him. He walked through the streets of Leaf City—he knew every brick, every vendor, every crooked alleyway.
He passed the city's largest tavern. Before, he would only linger at the door to catch a whiff of the ale, too stingy to spend a single copper inside. Now, Hans wondered if he should just buy out the head bartender's recipe book and market the brew as an "Iron Fortress Specialty."
As he passed the Lord's Manor, the guards gave him their usual sideways sneers. Hans didn't look away; instead, he shot back a gaze filled with newfound confidence.
Hmph! Just you wait. Soon enough, even your Lord will have to be polite when he sees me.
Hans navigated through several familiar streets, finally stopping before a somewhat dilapidated two-story wooden building. Hanging on the door was a crooked wooden plaque. Written in a childish, shaky script were the words: [Sunflower House].
This was Hans's home—an orphanage he had founded and funded himself. He straightened his collar, adjusted his expression to look "composed," and pushed open the creaking wooden door.
"Hans is back!"
Inside the house, five or six children of various ages instantly dropped their toys. Like a swarm of small projectiles, they charged at him.
Hans laughed heartily, opening his arms wide to catch the smallest girl at the front, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Lily! Have you been a good girl these past few days? Did you listen to your big brother?"
The little girl named Lily hugged Hans's neck and nodded vigorously. "I did! Miguel-oniichan's cooking was really gross, but I finished all of it!"
In the corner, a fourteen-year-old youth who was busy wiping a table froze at her words. "It was perfectly edible!" Miguel barked back, his face flushing red with a teenager's stubborn pride.
The rest of the children burst into fits of giggles. Hans set Lily down, ruffled her hair, and looked at Miguel. "Thanks for the hard work, Miguel."
Miguel turned his head away, muttering a quiet "It was nothing," though his hand moved even faster with the rag.
Hans walked to the center of the room and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Children, listen up! I have wonderful news!" His face glowed with an unprecedented light. "We're moving!"
"This time, we're going to make a fortune!"
The children froze for a heartbeat, then erupted into a massive cheer.
"Yay! Moving!"
"A new place to play!"
They didn't ask where. They didn't express any sadness about leaving the place they had lived in for so long. In the world of these children, wherever Hans was, that was home.
"Alright, alright! Go pack your things! Remember: only take what's most important!"
At Hans's command, the house turned into a chaotic battlefield. One boy tried to stuff a stray cat into his backpack. "No! Hans said only the most important things! A cat doesn't count!" another girl protested. "Snowy is the most important!" the boy yelled back.
Lily was struggling with a tattered stuffed bear that was taller than she was, nearly crying because it wouldn't fit into her small bundle. Miguel ran around trying to maintain some semblance of order with very little success. "Hey! You don't need the bedsheets! There are new ones there! And you! Put my pot back! That's kitchen equipment, not a toy!"
Hans leaned against the doorframe, watching the messy, vibrant scene. His life had started as an abandoned orphan. He had survived through scams, petty theft, and a keen sense for business. The first gold coin he ever earned hadn't gone toward bread for himself; it had gone toward the rent for this broken building to take in the first homeless child he found.
Now, he was taking his entire family to a brand-new world. Hans believed that with his mind, he could carve out a brilliant future for these children—and for himself—on that new soil.
Meanwhile, in the Forest.
Reinhard sat leaning against a massive tree, his expression one of utter dejection.
He was lost. Thoroughly, completely lost.
The map he had received from Count Barton looked like nothing more than a piece of scrap paper covered in worm-crawls. He cursed his past self for not paying attention when his father had forced him to study cartography and wilderness survival.
Reinhard sighed, pulling a waterskin from his Spatial Pouch to take a drink. Just then, a rustling sound erupted from the nearby bushes. It was followed by a dialogue that was, frankly, bizarre.
"What are you doing?!"
"YES!"
Reinhard snapped into high alert. He stowed the waterskin, rolled over, and silently scaled the tree beside him, vanishing into the dense canopy. In his left palm, a small fireball condensed soundlessly, while his right hand gripped his sword hilt.
He parted the leaves and peered down. The scene below made him freeze.
A Kobold was desperately hugging a human man from behind, locking his arms around the man's waist. The dog-man's legs were kicking at the dirt, trying to add as much dead weight as possible to anchor the man.
"Let me go, Bruce! Can't you see her beauty?! She's beckoning to me!" the human man screamed, thrashing wildly. He was reaching out toward something ahead of him, drool practically dripping from his chin in a trance-like state.
Reinhard followed the man's gaze. Ahead stood a massive, bizarrely shaped plant with a gaping, blood-red maw dripping with sticky, translucent fluid. A Giant Man-Eating Pitcher Plant.
The Kobold, Bruce, looked like he was about to cry. "Who the hell can see that, Nick?! Wake up! That's a monster that eats people! I told you not to drink the liquid inside! You insisted! Now look at you!"
Reinhard watched this farce and decided not to meddle. The world was full of weirdos, and he had a mission to complete. He prepared to slip away quietly from the other side of the tree.
But the human named Nick was struggling too violently. His foot lashed out, striking a loose stone. The rock went flying, tracing a high, precise parabola through the air.
Reinhard, just as he turned to leave, felt a sharp thwack against the back of his skull.
Thump.
Reinhard fell straight out of the tree, landing in a heap on the thick carpet of fallen leaves, out cold.
The argument by the bushes stopped instantly. Bruce and Nick froze. Slowly, inch by inch, they turned their heads toward the sound. They walked over and found the unconscious Reinhard.
Golden hair. Ornate yet practical noble traveling clothes. A longsword at his waist. He screamed "High-Value Target."
Bruce's heart sank. Great. We've killed a noble.
However, Nick's eyes lit up. Seeing the beautiful youth on the ground, he actually started unbuckling his belt.
"A gift from the heavens," Nick whispered, his face wearing the exact same crazed, obsessive expression he'd had for the man-eating plant.
Bruce snapped out of it, shoving Nick away and standing over Reinhard protectively. "Be normal, Nick! That's a man!" the Kobold screamed in desperation.
Nick stumbled back, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he let out a twisted smirk. "Even better. My 'sword' is sharp enough for any scabbard!"
With that, Nick lunged at Bruce. "Get out of the way! Don't interrupt my fated encounter!"
The man and the dog-man tumbled into a brawl. Bruce, being a demi-human, was naturally stronger than an average human. He found an opening and delivered a sharp headbutt to Nick's stomach.
Nick let out a muffled groan, clutching his stomach as he crouched down. The obsessive haze in his eyes finally began to recede. "Urgh..." Nick dry-heaved, spitting out some of the translucent, sickly sweet liquid he'd ingested from the plant.
"W-why did you hit me...?" he gasped, his eyes regaining some clarity as he looked blankly at Bruce.
Bruce pointed at the unconscious Reinhard, then pointed at Nick's half-undone trousers. Nick followed the finger, his brain stalling for three full seconds. Then, he remembered his words and actions.
His face shifted through a spectrum: white to red, then red to a sickly blue-green. "I... I just..."
"Yes. You were about to do something that would get your head mounted on a city gate for public display," Bruce snapped.
Just then, Reinhard let out a pained groan on the ground. His hand twitched. Bruce and Nick felt the hair on their necks stand up. They exchanged a look and reached an immediate consensus.
RUN!
However, before they could even take a step, Reinhard's eyes snapped open.
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