A few minutes later—
Two women walked across the orphanage courtyard.
One was in her fifties.
The other was noticeably older.
Both looked irritated after being interrupted while working.
The moment Hawise's eyes landed on Osric—
Recognition flashed across her face.
"…You."
Mabel narrowed her eyes as well.
"So the little brat finally decided to come back."
Neither Greta nor Florena said anything immediately.
They simply watched.
Osric remained completely expressionless.
Years ago, those words would have made him angry and glare at them enough to get beaten.
Now—
He felt nothing.
William glanced toward Osric.
The sudden hostility surprised him.
Paul wasn't surprised at all.
He quietly folded his arms.
Garrick studied the two caretakers for a moment before looking back at Osric.
He had seen enough battlefields to recognize hatred when he saw it.
Jayson simply looked back and forth between everyone, completely confused.
Mother Greta finally broke the silence.
"Hawise. Mabel."
"I have made a decision."
Both women looked toward her.
"From today onward…"
"You no longer work at the Blackmill Orphanage."
For several seconds—
Neither woman reacted.
Then Hawise laughed.
A loud, mocking laugh.
"Oh, that's a good one."
She folded her arms.
"You're firing us?"
Mabel snorted.
"Who's going to replace us?"
"You?"
Her eyes swept across Osric's group before settling on Greta again.
"We've worked here for years."
"We feed these children."
"We clean this place."
"And now you're throwing us out because that ungrateful brat came back?"
Florena frowned.
"Hawise."
"Watch your words."
The caretaker rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please."
"I've had enough of him ever since he first walked through those doors."
"He was nothing but trouble."
Greta's expression hardened.
"No."
"You made him your trouble."
The smile slowly disappeared from Hawise's face.
"What?"
"I've ignored too much over the years."
Greta took a slow step forward.
"That ends today."
"You are both dismissed."
"This decision is final."
Hawise's expression twisted.
"You've gone senile."
Mabel nodded in agreement.
"Throwing away two experienced caretakers because of one bitter former orphan?"
She scoffed.
"Have you lost your mind?"
Greta didn't flinch.
"No."
"For the first time in years, I believe I'm doing the right thing."
"Osric has given this orphanage the opportunity to hire better caretakers."
"I'm not wasting it."
Hawise stared at her.
"…You're serious."
"Yes."
"You'll receive the wages you're still owed."
"Then you'll collect your belongings and leave."
Florena stepped forward.
"I'll help you pack."
Only then did both women realize…
This wasn't an argument.
Their time at Blackmill had come to an end.
Hawise and Mabel started seething and were about to charge at Florena and Greta—
When Garrick and William stepped forward with their hands firmly on their weapon's handles.
"Ugh-"
"Wh-who do you people think you are?!"
Garrick looked at them with intense warning before looking behind him at Osric and speaking up.
"We're the guys who just saved you of getting cut to pieces."
Half of Osric's sword was already drawn and his eyes were full of extreme killing intent that no one near him had ever seen.
A small but worn hand gently touched his arm.
"Osric, please." Florena said with teary eyes.
'What have I done? To allow a sweet boy to become so resentful and full of hate.' Greta thought as she looked at Osric.
She clenched her fists. "Thank you for stepping in, Garrick and William. I am glad that Osric has you by his side. Could I ask you to escort Hawise and Mabel to take out their belongings?"
"Sure."
"Of course, ma'am."
As they did so, Osric was slowly calming down.
Jayson just watched the entire scene unfold in shock. 'What did those ugly hags do to Osric?'
Florena was hugging Osric in tears, while he just closed his eyes to calm down.
Paul decided to comfort Greta because even she looked in shock.
The few kids who had watched the scene from not too far away in the courtyard all looked relieved.
They were all glad to see the two horrible caretakers go. Some understood Osric's anger better than others.
Many also found a newfound admiration for adventurers when they saw how Garrick and William behaved and stepped in to help their companion.
The older kids who saw everything could feel a big change coming for the orphanage. It made them nervous but also somewhat excited.
—
Once Hawise and Mabel were gone, Osric's party stayed at the orphanage for dinner.
All the kids were very happy to have them as guests.
Osric had sent Jayson and William to pick up a lot of good food from a nearby restaurant instead of letting the kids eat the small amount of soup and bread.
"I'm really happy to have you here, Osric and Paul." Florena said.
"Thanks."
"Yeah. We're also happy to he here."
They kept talking a little about how they planned to go about the new caretaker hiring process while waiting for the food.
As Osric was talking with the others and kids were playing in the main hall around the large dining table, two kids suddenly approached him.
"Sir Osric?"
It was the 11 year old boy Tarin with his 7 year old little sister Sera. They were the two survivors of the Brafton Farm that Osric had saved from a bunch of Feral Dogs a while back.
"Hm?"
"Tarin and Sera. How are you?"
Sera let go of her brother's sleeve and jumped at Osric with a tight hug.
"I'm so happy to see you Osric!"
Florena giggled while Osric's party members looked confused.
"Sera! Show some respect to sir Osric." Tarin yelled.
"Sorry sir Osric. She still hasn't learned how to behave."
Sera sticked her tongue out and frowned at her older brother.
Osric chuckled. "That's okay. How is the orphanage for you guys?"
"It's very good sir! Thank you for bringing us here. We have made friends and the caretakers are really nice."
Osric's expression darkened faintly. He knew that Tarin was just putting up a front to be brave for his sister.
Osric thought back to his childhood and how he lived his life putting his feelings away somewhere dark.
He didn't want these kids to live the same kind of gloomy life.
"Tarin. It's okay to be honest with your feelings. I was also sad when I lost my mother and ended up an orphan. It's good to be brave and focus on the future—
But don't try to forget your past and hide your feelings from those you choose to trust."
Everyone around him looked at Osric in absolute bewilderment.
They had never expected such words of compassion and empathy from such a dark and pragmatic person such as Osric.
Tarin started crying and hugged Osric with everything he had.
Sera was confused by him doing that and also started crying and hugged her brother.
'Showing kindness in such situations doesn't hurt me.'
Osric embraced them.
Florena became teary again. Greta smiled with affection as did Paul.
William and Jayson had also just arrived and witnessed the scene, which made them emotional too.
'He's such a complex person.' Garrick thought.