[Sister Giada's POV]
It has been nearly a month since Runa joined our orphanage. Initially, she struggled to adapt, as she wasn't used to playing with children her own age. This was due to the lingering fear of being close to others—a scar from the traumatic experiences in her former home.
"Sister Giada! Look, I can touch things normally now!" Runa suddenly approached me, proudly showing off a few items she was carrying.
Previously, Runa struggled not to destroy every object she touched. I must say, her progress has been much faster than Deana's was back then.
"Well done. As a reward, I'll make your favorite cookies once I get back from the market," I said, gently stroking the girl's blonde hair.
"Can I come with you to the city, Sister?" Runa asked with pleading eyes.
"No, Runa. The outside world still isn't safe for you," I told her softly. "Once you are all ready, you, Thomas, and Deana will be able to do whatever you wish."
"Hmmm... but Runa wants to see the outside world as soon as possible..."
"Everything in its own time, my dear. Be patient, alright?" I said, smiling at her.
Runa only nodded slowly at my words. She is a good child; Thomas and Deana have grown quite close to her lately as well.
"Giada, I'll be out of town for a few days." Suddenly, Steven—a Tracer from our group—approached me.
"Did you find information about another Cursed Child?" I asked.
"Indeed. The rumors say this one is within a syndicate active in the black market," Steven replied.
The black market is where the world's illegal trades occur—slavery, human auctions, artifacts, and the like.
"I'm heading out, Giada. Watch over the children. Because of the dragon attack a few days ago, the city is crawling with Inquisitors," Steven said before leaving the orphanage.
I have lived here for nearly ten years, and not a single Inquisitor from the Temple has suspected that this place is a sanctuary for Cursed Children established by The Masquerade. We disguise it as a standard orphanage. Several Priests have visited for inspections, but since we house regular orphans alongside the Cursed Children, we manage to avoid detection.
Whenever the Temple Authority conducts an inspection, we simply hide the Cursed Children and present only the ordinary ones.
I walked toward the three children playing in the living room.
"Thomas, Deana, Runa," I called out. "I'm going out for a moment to buy groceries. Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone, okay? Joker and Puppeteer will be visiting you this afternoon."
"Okay, Sister Giada! Be careful on the road!"
The three of them waved at me. They truly are adorable children.
***
[Runa's POV]
Happiness—that is what I feel now.
After following Joker here, I am no longer alone like I was in the village. There are many children here with strange powers like mine, and they never push me away like the other children in the village did.
"Hey, Runa. Do you know when Joker's birthday is?" asked a girl my age.
That was Deana, one of the children here. She talks to me the most—maybe because we are both girls, we became friends more quickly.
"I don't know, Deana," I answered. "Joker doesn't talk about himself to me."
Joker, the man who brought me here, occasionally visits every afternoon and leaves at night. Usually, he helps Sister Giada prepare food or trains the children to control their powers, including me. He told me that I have a power called Heat Wave, which allows me to heat things up at will. That's why people often felt like they were burning when they were near me when my power leaked out.
"But did you know, Runa? Today is Sister Giada's birthday!" Deana revealed.
"Huh? Really?"
"That's why I asked about Joker's birthday! If they were the same, I wanted to give him a gift too, since he cooks for us so often!"
Sister Giada is such a kind woman...
When I first arrived, she was always patient whenever my power went out of control. She would always smile and stroke my hair when I apologized for breaking things. She is like an older sister who always understands me. If there is anything I can do to make her happy, I will gladly do it.
"Do you want to give Sister something for her birthday?" I asked Deana.
"Of course! we've been planning this for a long time!" Deana answered before turning to a boy. "Hey, Thomas! Are we doing it today?"
Hearing his name, the boy approached us. That was Thomas, the boy who often plays with Deana. If I recall correctly, he has the power to move objects at will.
"Of course," Thomas replied, showing a few coins in his palm. "Runa, do you want to come too?"
"Eh? Go where?"
"To the city to buy a gift for Sister Giada, obviously!" Thomas said excitedly.
"B-but, didn't Sister forbid us from leaving the house?" I remembered her words before she left.
"That's why it's called a surprise! Sister Giada won't expect us to give her a gift on her birthday!" Deana exclaimed. "Come on, Runa! It'll be exciting to see the city!"
Persuaded by the two of them, I finally agreed. To be honest, I wanted to make Sister Giada happy too. I hope that by giving her a gift, we can show her how much we appreciate her taking care of us.
Thomas, Deana, and I climbed out through the kitchen window since Sister had locked the front door. Once we were away from the orphanage grounds, we saw several horse-drawn carriages passing by. Deana flagged one down.
"How can I help all of you?" the driver asked.
"Can you take us to the city center?" Deana asked.
"Sure. That'll be 30 Kufer for the three of you," the driver replied.
Thomas handed over the bronze coins. After paying, we climbed onto the back of the carriage, enjoying the ride to the city center to buy a gift for Sister Giada.
"Hey Thomas, where did you get all that money?" I asked curiously.
The boy gave a mischievous grin. "Hehe, with my power, I can easily pick up coins dropped on the street and save them."
"Don't believe him, Runa," Deana said, looking at Thomas with a smirk. "He found that money in Joker's pouch while he was busy handing out food to us."
"I-I'm not lying! I would never steal from him!" Thomas stammered.
After traveling for a while, we finally reached the city center. It was so crowded! So many people were walking about, and there were massive buildings I had never seen in the village. This was my first time in an urban area.
"Come on Runa, let's look around!" Deana urged.
"Wait, do you two actually know where to buy the gift?" I asked.
"Of course! Let's explore!" Thomas shouted, walking ahead.
Deana and I followed. Honestly, I doubted Thomas knew his way around. Had he ever even been out of the orphanage before? We eventually arrived at a place even more crowded than before, filled with the scents of various foods.
"Get your grilled squid! Only five Kufer!"
"Meat skewers, cheap and delicious! Only 15 Kufer!"
So many vendors were selling food. I couldn't help but clutch my stomach; I had been holding back my hunger for a while. Thomas approached a vendor and brought us three skewers of freshly grilled meat.
"Here, Runa! I bet you've never tasted city snacks before!" Thomas said, handing me a skewer.
He was right. In the village, I mostly ate fish that the villagers caught in the river. We rarely ate beef like this. I took a bite, the meat was tender and savory.
"How is it? City food is way better than village food, right?" Thomas asked as he bit into his own skewer.
I could only nod in response. We continued our walk through the city streets. Everything was so new to me. Eventually, we reached a quieter part of the city. Thomas led us into a building filled with necklaces, bracelets, and shiny jewelry displayed on tables under glass cases.
"Sir, we want to buy a necklace for a birthday gift," Deana said to the shopkeeper. "Do you know which one would look good on a woman?"
"How much money do you have?" the shopkeeper asked.
Thomas poured all the coins from his pouch. However, the shopkeeper sighed when he saw the amount.
"Your money isn't even enough for the cheapest piece of jewelry here," the shopkeeper said. "You'd better look elsewhere."
Thomas and Deana looked disappointed. We had no choice but to leave the jewelry shop.
"Ugh... sorry. I didn't check the prices of jewelry beforehand," Thomas said, looking down in shame.
"It's okay, let's look for something simpler," Deana suggested.
We continued our search. The next area we reached was quite busy again. Many people were holding specific poses while being painted by local artists.
"Step right up! Many luck charms to be found here!"
We approached a vendor selling wooden accessories.
"Sir, do you have a lucky necklace for a woman?" I asked.
"Of course, little miss. Just a moment," the vendor replied, rummaging through his bag. "Look at this. This is a longevity necklace from a far-off land called Nordica."
I took the wooden necklace. It had beautiful carvings and writing I couldn't read. After examining it closely, I tried it on and showed it to Deana and Thomas.
"How does it look? Would this look good on Sister Giada?" I asked.
"You look even cuter wearing that, Runa!" Deana said, hugging me.
"I think it'll look great on Sister," Thomas added.
Encouraged by their reactions, I took off the necklace and asked the price.
"You can have it for fou—seven silver coins!" the vendor said.
Thomas handed over all the coins in his pouch. We finally had a gift for Sister Giada.
"Let's hurry home before Sister finds out," Deana said.
Thomas and I agreed. We headed back to where the carriage had dropped us off. As we walked, I couldn't stop looking at the wooden necklace. This was the first time I had ever bought a gift for someone. I hoped Sister would like it; I wanted to make her happy for taking us in when the rest of the world rejected us.
— Brak!
Suddenly, I fell. It seemed I had bumped into a pedestrian.
"Are you alright, little one?"
I realized everyone on the street was staring at me, which made me nervous. An adult man was holding out his hand to me. I took his hand to stand up, but suddenly, the man screamed in pain. He pulled his hand away hurriedly, backing away from me.
"Aghhh! My hand! What did you do!?" the man yelled.
"Eh? I didn't do anything!"
But because of this incident, more people began to watch me with strange looks—the same looks the villagers gave me when they rejected my presence.
"Aghhhh! My hand feels like it's burning!"
"Huh? Why is your clothing suddenly smoking!?"
The citizens nearby looked confused by the phenomenon. This was bad. Why was my power going out of control again now? What should I do? Stay calm, breathe slowly, don't panic.
"That child is the one using magic!"
"Why are you using dangerous magic in public!?"
They realized it...
The townspeople began to crowd around us. My heart beat faster than ever. I couldn't calm myself in this situation.
"Aghhh! My leg is burning!"
"Damn it! She's activating her magic again! Quickly, call the guards to arrest that child!"
No, I didn't mean to hurt you. It's not my fault. Don't look at me like I'm a monster.
Shortly after, several adults carrying swords began to arrive.
"Runa, we have to run!" Thomas shouted.
Deana and I nodded. The three of us began to run as fast as we could to leave the city center. But the adults with swords began to shout and chase after us.
Ugh... why did everything have to go so wrong?