Chapter 107

Chapter 107. The Blonde is Too Much (2)

An orphanage located in the slums of Valhalla City.

This place, often referred to as “Ant Hill” by outsiders, is infamous for its poor security.

But even in the mud, flowers can bloom.

Even in this notorious area, there were children with pure, untainted souls.

“Waaaah! It’s Dale hyung!”

“Iris noona! I missed you!”

“There’s a new oppa I haven’t seen before!”

“Haa, haa. Camilla unnie… Can you step on my cheek just once with your heels?”

As soon as we arrived at the orphanage, the children came rushing out.

“Why am I…?”

Juliet, who had been dragged along to help carry things, looked around the orphanage in confusion.

I lightly patted Juliet’s back and grinned.

“Is this your first time volunteering at an orphanage?”

“…It’s my first time even coming to Ant Hill.”

Juliet nodded with a bewildered expression.

Well, of course.

The young master of one of the wealthiest families in the Republic wouldn’t have much reason to come to a place like this.

“Well, since you’re here, think of it as a new experience and play with the kids.”

“Play with the kids…?”

Juliet’s gaze turned toward the children at the orphanage.

They were relatively clean for kids from a slum orphanage, but their clothes were still covered in dirt and dust.

“…With them?”

An unmistakable look of disgust appeared on Juliet’s face.

He stepped back, avoiding the approaching children as if he had encountered a dirty wild animal.

“Ah.”

“Hmm…”

Perhaps the children understood what his reaction meant.

The kids, who had been approaching Juliet with curiosity, flinched and stopped in their tracks.

“L-Let’s go somewhere else!”

“Y-Yeah!”

The children quickly ran back to the orphanage and hid behind the door, peeking at Juliet with wary eyes.

Their movements seemed almost natural.

Perhaps the “adults” these orphanage kids usually encountered weren’t much different from Juliet.

“Ah.”

Juliet, flustered by the children’s reaction, glanced at me.

“S-Sorry. It was too sudden.”

“Why are you apologizing to me? You should apologize to the kids.”

I gestured toward the children with my chin.

Juliet gulped and nodded.

“Uh… kids?”

He hesitantly called out to them, but the children hiding behind the door still didn’t lower their guard.

Seeing the kids reluctant to open up, Juliet seemed to have an idea and opened the backpack he was carrying.

“Uh… Oh, I bought some bread from the school store on the way. Do you want to try some?”

“Huh?”

“School store bread!”

The children’s eyes lit up when they saw the bag full of bread.

They cautiously approached the bag, as if walking past a sleeping beast.

“…Did you buy this, hyung?”

Leo, the boy at the front of the group, asked Juliet.

Juliet quickly nodded.

“Y-Yeah! I bought all of this!”

“W-Wow! All this bread by yourself?”

“Oppa, you’re rich!”

“Amazing!”

The kids’ eyes widened at the sight of what looked like over a hundred loaves of bread.

“Y-Yeah.”

Juliet, seemingly embarrassed by their reaction, scratched his head with an awkward smile.

“Huh? Isn’t this the limited edition ‘Mint Chocolate Bread’?”

“I heard it’s super popular and hard to get!”

“How did you manage to get so much of it?”

The kids stared at Juliet in awe.

Juliet, flustered by their attention, cleared his throat and spoke.

“Well, I have a bit of a knack for buying bread. The school store’s bread section is huge, so you have to search every corner to find the limited editions.”

“Wow! Amazing!”

“You’re the King of Bread!”

“King of Bread!”

The kids looked at Juliet with sparkling eyes, full of admiration.

Juliet blushed, looking embarrassed.

“K-King of Bread? That’s a bit much…”

“……”

The young master of a wealthy family, happy to be praised for buying bread.

‘In his past life, he was quite the hothead… How did he end up like this?’

I let out a dry laugh as I watched Juliet surrounded by the kids.

Unlike before, when he frowned at the children approaching, Juliet now had a faint smile on his face as he handed out bread.

“Are you all hungry? I brought a lot, so eat up.”

“Thanks, hyung!”

“Hehe! I thought you were scary at first, but you’re not!”

Finally, the kids let their guard down and approached Juliet.

“What’s your name, oppa?”

“Are you friends with Dale hyung?”

The kids asked Juliet before eating the bread.

Juliet glanced at me and then carefully answered.

“My name is Juliet Kang… and Dale is… uh…”

“He’s my friend.”

I lightly put my arm around Juliet’s shoulder and said.

Juliet looked at me with wide eyes.

He seemed almost moved to tears and nodded vigorously.

“Y-Yeah! Dale is my friend!”

“Wow! So you really are Dale hyung’s friend!”

“If you’re Dale oppa’s friend, we can trust you!”

The last bit of wariness on the kids’ faces completely disappeared.

“Hehe! Hyung! Thanks for the bread!”

“Juliet oppa is so cool!”

“You’re like ‘Powerman’!”

“Yeah! You both have blonde hair!”

The kids laughed brightly as they ate the bread.

Juliet, surrounded by the kids, scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Y-Yeah. Thanks. By the way… ‘Powerman’?”

“He’s a hero who’s been famous among the slum kids lately. He takes down vicious criminals in the slums and protects the weak.”

An elderly priest walked out of the orphanage with a kind expression.

“You are…”

“I’m Antonio, the priest in charge of the orphanage. You’re Juliet, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Thank you for bringing the bread. The kids have been begging to try the bread from the hero school store… Hoho. You’ve taken a load off my mind.”

Priest Antonio made the sign of the cross and bowed his head.

“Have you been well?”

“Long time no see, Dale. How are things with the Saintess? Any progress?”

“P-Priest! Is that the first thing you ask when you see me?!”

Iris blushed and shouted.

Priest Antonio smiled warmly at her.

“For an old man like me, nothing is more important. I want to see the Saintess have children before I die.”

“W-We’re not even married yet, let alone having children…!”

Iris glanced at me and coughed awkwardly.

She quickly approached Priest Antonio and whispered in his ear.

“But… how many children do you think would be good?”

“At least three.”

“T-Three?!”

Iris gulped and clenched her fists.

“……”

Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear that.

“By the way, has anything unusual happened at the orphanage lately?”

“Hmm. Unusual, you say…”

Priest Antonio’s expression suddenly darkened.

I had expected him to say, “Of course, nothing’s wrong, hahaha,” so I tilted my head and asked.

“Is something going on at the orphanage?”

“It’s not so much the orphanage, but there’s been a disturbing incident in Ant Hill recently.”

“A disturbing incident…? What kind of incident?”

Iris, hearing this for the first time, also widened her eyes in interest.

“Hmm. Well…”

Priest Antonio furrowed his wrinkled brow and continued.

“Recently, there have been cases of harassment targeting blonde women in the slums.”

“Harassment?”

“According to the victims, they were suddenly attacked from behind, and some of their hair was cut off.”

“…Their hair was cut off?”

“Before cutting it, the perpetrator also smelled their hair.”

“Ew.”

It was more than just disturbing—it was downright creepy.

Priest Antonio sighed deeply and continued.

“The problem is that one of the victims is a ‘hero.’ And a fairly strong one at that.”

“A hero among the victims… So it’s the work of another hero?”

“Most likely.”

Unless it was an army armed with magical tools, the only ones who could stand against a hero were other heroes.

Or a mine blessed by the Devil God.

“It’s definitely a disturbing case.”

“Of course, no incidents involving children have happened yet… but it’s still unsettling.”

There were several blonde girls in this orphanage.

“Hasn’t the Valhalla City security force taken action?”

“Well, since it’s happening within Ant Hill… And since there haven’t been any direct casualties, just hair being cut off…”

Priest Antonio shook his head with a bitter expression.

“Still, it’s such a sinister case that some heroes, including Powerman, have tried to track down the culprit… but they either got beaten or lost him.”

“The culprit must be pretty strong.”

“Yes.”

Priest Antonio nodded and sighed deeply.

“Sigh. How could the seven gods bestow a holy mark on such a despicable person…?”

“Is there a chance it’s a mine?”

“According to the victims, they didn’t sense any demonic energy. And if it were a mine… it wouldn’t have stopped at just cutting hair.”

“That’s true.”

I nodded and narrowed my eyes.

‘A hero who ambushes blonde women and cuts off their hair…’

Whether there were casualties or not, it was definitely a disturbing case.

However, the reason this case felt even more unsettling to me was…

‘I’ve never heard of this incident in my past life.’

Even if it happened outside the school, a case this creepy should have at least been talked about as a rumor.

‘In fact, in terms of sensationalism, it’s even more than a murder case.’

A perverted hero who attacks blonde women and cuts off their hair.

It’s the kind of case that would be perfect for gossip.

‘If something that didn’t happen in my past life is happening now…’

It’s highly likely that this incident is one of the “changes in the future.”

‘Though I have no idea why such a change occurred.’

It was definitely worth investigating.

“So the culprit is targeting blonde women?”

“Yes. Especially young, beautiful women.”

“Young, beautiful blonde women…”

Come to think of it, the only blonde woman I knew was Rozanna Helios.

‘But I can’t exactly call Rozanna here.’

As I was pondering, an idea suddenly flashed in my mind.

‘Huh? Wait.’

Come to think of it, isn’t there a beautiful blonde flower (choo) right next to me?

“…Huh?”

Juliet looked at me with a “You’re not serious” expression.

“Juliet.”

“Dale… you’re not thinking…?”

“Hahaha.”

“Ah, don’t laugh!!!”

I grabbed Juliet’s shoulder and smirked.

“We’re friends, right?”

If we’re friends, we should help each other out when things get tough, right?