Mama carried several of the youngest children back inside the orphanage. For kids that small, even on a warm afternoon like this, sleeping on the ground for too long could still make them catch a cold. After she left, Arthur's gaze slowly swept across the children dozing around him. There were about thirteen in total, roughly half the orphanage. Most of them were only six or seven years old, while the older kids were still out in the forest, running around and playing.
He opened the system interface and looked at the mission that had appeared the moment he first entered the dungeon:
[Survival Mission: Successfully survive until the end of your 12th birthday]
A simple objective. As long as someone kept their grades from falling to the bottom and didn't cause unnecessary trouble, they could live at least until the second-to-last day. Unfortunately, almost every other Reincarnator had already failed that condition. Arthur himself wasn't worried about the final "shipment," but the orphanage only sent out one Edible Child each month. If he wanted both Saeko and Sophia to clear the dungeon, then sitting around waiting wasn't an option.
Because of the mission's time restriction, all Reincarnators entered this dungeon in the physical state of eleven-year-old children. At present, there were twenty-four kids in this orphanage, eight of whom were eleven. In the worst-case scenario, that meant there could be as many as eight Reincarnators here.
"…That's not good."
What truly concerned him was the second mission he had already inferred. It wasn't hard to guess—it would be to replicate what the protagonists had done in the original story: lead every child in the orphanage to escape together. If no other Reincarnators were involved, Arthur had absolute confidence he could pull that off. But the system had added hidden identities into the mix, blurring the entire dungeon's structure.
So who exactly was the enemy?
Mama? The demons? Or… other Reincarnators?
As Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose in thought, the faint sound of rustling leaves drifted down from above. His body tensed instantly, battle instincts from previous dungeons kicking in, but he relaxed just as fast.
Too jumpy. There was no way anything capable of threatening him would appear right now.
The moment he confirmed it was safe, a small figure suddenly dropped down from the tree overhead.
"Sorry about that."
A black-haired girl landed in a crouch, looking up at him with an apologetic smile.
"Did I scare you?"
Arthur remembered her, the girl who had been the first to wake up that morning and call the other children when he initially entered the dungeon. She was eleven, just like him, and even at a glance it was obvious she was unusually intelligent for her age. Her eyes were lively, filled with a genuine love for life, and her rose-purple irises were so clear they almost seemed to glow. Long black hair, neatly tied into a braid, shimmered softly whenever it caught the light, and her delicate, innocent features made her stand out effortlessly among the other children.
She was also the very first person Arthur had ruled out as a suspect, because he recognized her.
"What a unique way to make an entrance," Arthur said with a faint smile, reaching over to pluck a leaf from her hair. "Isabella?"
Isabella showed no trace of shyness at all. In this orphanage, children only lived until the first day of turning twelve, so there was no education whatsoever regarding romance or even basic modesty between boys and girls. She didn't even understand the concept of being self-conscious.
"I was just napping in the tree. It's always been my secret spot."
She sat down casually beside him, hugging her knees, her curious gaze fixed on his face. In truth, she had noticed a few days earlier that Eren, someone she'd barely interacted with, had started napping under the tree. But since she preferred the wider view from the branches above, and he hadn't disturbed her, she hadn't thought much of it.
What she hadn't expected was that, in the middle of her nap today, such a beautiful melody would suddenly drift up from below.
Was that… a song?
It had to be. Resources in the orphanage were extremely limited, and things like music only existed in written descriptions. All they knew was that songs were melodic sounds with special rhythms, sounds that were supposed to make people feel happy when they heard them.
And just now, Eren's voice had even lulled those restless little kids, who normally hated naps, completely to sleep.
So it must've been a very beautiful song… right?
"I never knew you sang so beautifully, Eren."
"Maybe I just never had the chance to sing before."
Arthur didn't argue. He understood the orphanage's level of education well enough, this place didn't even have a radio, let alone any real exposure to music. Even a simple melody without lyrics was something rare here.
"Can you keep singing for me?"
Isabella showed no trace of girlish shyness. She only knew that she loved hearing him sing, and that she wanted to hear more.
Arthur met her pure, expectant gaze and, in the end, didn't refuse.
A new melody drifted into the air. Soft whistling wove through the tune, lingering and gentle, the sound carrying a faint bagpipe-like quality as it echoed beneath the shade of the tree. Isabella rested her chin in her hands, her palms blooming like petals as they cradled her face, completely absorbed as she watched his profile.
A new, unfamiliar emotion quietly began to take root in her heart. For the first time, she found herself thinking… that if she could stay beside him, this boy who was willing to sing just for her, then perhaps living in this orphanage forever wouldn't be so bad after all.
By evening, free time ended and the children gradually returned inside.
"Eren."
After dinner, a voice called out to Arthur from the stair landing. He turned to look. A girl with long, beautiful purple hair stood there.
Arthur's expression remained calm. "Is something wrong, Yako?"
"…The song at noon was really beautiful."
"Thank you for the compliment."
He gave a small nod, then turned and walked away.
However, Arthur felt a trace of helplessness deep down.
Saeko had been complaining to him... quietly, through the private channel they could still maintain. Because of the course of action he'd decided on from the very start, it was best that she didn't interact with him too much unless he made the first move.
At noon that day, most of the older kids hadn't been nearby, they'd gone off to play in the forest. Naturally, Saeko couldn't be the exception. But from what he could tell, she had stayed lingering near the forest's edge the entire time.
For two people who had been practically inseparable before entering this dungeon, the forced distance was, without a doubt, a form of torment.
"…But it looks like it's almost time."
Arthur murmured under his breath.
It had been nearly a month.
Which meant…
…the first "adoption" was about to take place.
Whether the child selected turned out to be a Reincarnator or not didn't matter.
Someone was bound to make a move.
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And congratulations go to:
-best_reviews
-khurama
-DaGreatBean
They were the ones who guessed it right, and also the ones who made me work more 😒