Anna was kicked out of the orphanage completely penniless.
Even after being told there was a dangerous dog in the forest, Director Watson had ignored the warning, and children had nearly gotten hurt because of it.
Claiming that such negligence was unforgivable, he dismissed Anna without hesitation.
Considering how a situation that could have been brushed aside had escalated into outright termination, Megan had clearly played a major role behind the scenes.
As for the dog, it was never captured.
Because of that, entering the forest was temporarily forbidden.
At least everything worked out in the end...
Honestly, there had been ways for me to avoid interfering with the story altogether.
But I was here now.
And I couldn't pretend not to see children heading toward a miserable childhood.
After all, I'd spent a rather unhappy childhood in an orphanage myself.
Even beyond that, my conscience as an adult kept bothering me.
So while I was here, I wanted to do whatever I could.
Unlike me, I wanted these children to remember their childhoods as happy memories.
Lost in thought, I stood up from my seat.
Immediately, Bill attached himself to my side.
“Lopez noona, where are you going?”
“To the incinerator.”
Today, I was assigned to throw away the smelly garbage.
I wiggled my hips while carrying the trash bin, hoping he'd get the hint and let go.
Bill stubbornly held onto my skirt.
“The incinerator smells really bad.”
“Did you not wash yourself, noona?”
“The incinerator smells bad. I am not the incinerator.”
And for the record, I shower every day.
“Hehe.”
At this point, I was convinced Bill viewed me as some kind of mysterious creature.
The way he constantly observed me felt exactly like that.
It would be nice if I could live up to his expectations, but if he ended up disappointed after realizing I was completely ordinary, I'd feel unfairly blamed.
Especially since I'd never done anything worthy of admiration.
“Stay here.”
“Mmm.”
Only then did Bill reluctantly release my skirt.
I headed toward the entrance to change into outdoor shoes.
Or at least, I tried to.
My shoes were completely soaked.
“When did I wash these?”
Not that I remembered.
...
Whatever.
I'd just wear them.
Walking around in indoor slippers would get me scolded.
At that moment, Klein grabbed my wrist and spun me around.
I froze halfway through bending down to put on my shoes.
What now?
Did he want attention again?
“Why?”
“Wear these slippers.”
He tossed a pair of outdoor slippers toward me.
Just as he started walking back toward the classroom, he hesitated.
Without turning around, he asked,
“Why were you there that day?”
I had expected this question.
My answer came naturally.
“I was looking for somewhere to eat the chicken drumstick I stole from the kitchen.”
In other words:
I wasn't there to save you. I just happened to find you.
“...”
“You can't let the cook find out I was the one who stole it.”
Klein didn't answer.
He simply disappeared into the classroom.
The tips of his ears, visible through his silver hair, had turned red.
How strange.
Quietly, I slipped on the slippers he'd given me.
When a child offers kindness, pretending not to notice it isn't right.
If I rejected him outright, maybe he'd carry that hurt into adulthood and hesitate whenever he wanted to help someone.
I can't let him grow into that kind of person because of me.
Even in terrible environments, children could change greatly depending on the people around them.
Dragging the slightly oversized slippers along the floor, I carried the trash bin toward the incinerator.
The area always smelled awful, so children rarely lingered nearby.
But today, someone was there.
A child I'd never seen before sat curled up beside a large trash container.
Dust coated their hair so heavily that I couldn't even tell what color it originally was.
Hearing my footsteps, the child looked up.
Their face was just as filthy.
Long bangs covered their eyes, making it impossible to tell what they looked like.
Overall, they gave off an incredibly gloomy impression.
Definitely a Class 3 kid.
No child from Class 1 or Class 2 would look like that.
“What's a Class 3 kid doing here?”
“Maybe they saw the incinerator and thought they'd found home.”
Several passing children laughed and whispered.
The remark was harsher than I'd expected.
I immediately snapped at them.
“Apologize before I decide to turn that incinerator into your home.”
“Eek! Lopez talked to us!”
I had momentarily forgotten that my own reputation was still terrible.
The child watching from the corner didn't seem affected by the insults at all.
Instead, they glanced sideways at me and stammered,
“E-Even if you stand up for me, you won't get anything out of it.”
That wasn't why I'd spoken up.
But before I could explain, the child quickly disappeared.
A Class 3 kid...
Since all the protagonists belonged to Class 1, the original novel barely mentioned Class 3.
Which meant I knew almost nothing about the place I was destined to end up in.
How am I supposed to gather information about Class 3?
I fell into thought.
It's not like anyone would answer me if I asked.
Maybe I should sneak over and take a look.
But if the Class 3 kids thought I was there to gawk at them...
I'll be demoted soon anyway. I'll figure things out then.
No need to get caught snooping around and make them hate me before I even arrived.
“AAAAAH!”
Klein suddenly grabbed his hair.
The children in the classroom stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
He ignored them.
With his head lowered, his entire face had turned bright red.
What the hell was I thinking?!
Why did I give her my slippers?!
What if she thinks I like her?
If she starts sticking to me again, that'll be a huge problem!
“Klein? What's wrong?”
Medina's worried voice barely registered.
Instead, Klein glared at the class.
“Who poured water into Lopez's shoes?”
“What?”
Medina gasped and covered her mouth.
She knew the other children pointed fingers at Lopez.
But she hadn't realized they'd gone this far.
She had stayed out of things because it seemed easier for Lopez that way.
This, however, was different.
Lopez had already apologized sincerely.
And Medina had forgiven her.
That should have been the end of it.
No one else had the right to continue punishing her.
“Everyone!”
Medina stepped forward.
“I already forgave Lopez. If you're doing this because of me, then stop.”
At that moment, Darwin clicked his tongue.
“This isn't about you! We've got plenty of reasons to hate Lopez ourselves!”
“Exactly! She was so annoying! What's wrong with getting a little payback?”
Voices of agreement rose throughout the room.
Seeing Medina flustered, Klein instinctively stepped in front of her protectively.
“Don't talk to Medina like that.”
His golden eyes flashed.
“That's not what I asked.”
The children immediately fell silent.
Meanwhile...
“UOOOOOH!”
Lopez aggressively dumped garbage into the incinerator as if celebrating Anna's dismissal.
By pure coincidence, Chester happened to witness it.
He bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.
The unexpected sight struck directly at his sense of humor.
It's not funny.
I'm not laughing.
After repeatedly hypnotizing himself, Chester forcefully erased Lopez from his thoughts.
The Class 3 child I met at the incinerator never appeared again.
Instead, something even stranger started following me around.
Feeling that familiar gaze again, I whipped around.
Behind me, Chester was carefully removing a leaf from Medina's hair.
For a moment, it looked like he'd been secretly watching me and smiling.
But...
Nah.
I was imagining things.
Why would he laugh at me?
I turned forward again.
And nearly tripped in shock.
“Watch where you're going.”
Klein stood directly in front of me.
“Sorry. I was looking behind me for a second.”
I tried stepping around him.
Unfortunately, we both moved in the same direction at the exact same time.
Then we both tried the opposite direction.
Again.
Same result.
Watching the ridiculous scene, Medina giggled.
“What are you two doing?”
“No, she—!”
The second Klein paused, I darted around him and attempted to escape.
Then—
SPLAAASH!
A bucket of water dumped directly onto my head.
Cold water drenched me from top to bottom.
The force was strong enough to make me stumble.
Looking up, I saw a child leaning over the railing above.
Laughing.
“Sorry! A dirty kid was walking by, so I thought I'd wash her off!”
The laughter echoed.
Then silence settled over the hallway.
A dirty kid...
That wasn't normal childish teasing.
I'd ignored everything else.
But this time was different.
This crossed a line.
Personally, the insult didn't bother me.
But if I let this slide, those children wouldn't grow up properly.
And someday, another child might be deeply hurt by words like that.
Anna was gone now.
I no longer had to worry about children being beaten as punishment.
Which meant it was time for a proper lesson.
Right.
I'll report this to Megan.
After Anna's dismissal, Sunflower Orphanage had abolished the disciplinarian position.
Instead, they'd created a new role:
Counselor Teacher.
And Megan had been appointed to it.
I heard their voices.
They weren't from my class.
If they were from Class 2...
I should go talk to Lisa.
