THE JOB

*Sol's POV*

It had been two years since Xiron came in the orphanage, and I have to admit, him coming here is both a headache but also interesting.

Although he causes trouble by acting cold and having problems communicating, that is just him trying his best to live a life just like any other.

His concept of emotion is a mess, but I can see him trying to form a smile once in a while. His white hair and red eyes are something mesmerizing that had captivated the hearts of the young girls.

He is also cute and sometimes I just want to pinch his cheeks, but I tried that once already and he thought I was attacking him.

The trauma he had experienced when he was held captive by that monster must have been severe. Getting back to the topic, he is quite popular with some of the girls.

As their 'mother', I know they like him.

But I am sure he is not aware of it as he is more attracted to his books rather than the opposite sex or anyone else for that matter.

Wait, actually, I am wrong there. He does have an interest towards other than a book. He has a friend now, the very beautiful but also ice-cold Lemiya.

Birds of the same feather flock together I supposed. They are unique but sweet children who have their own problems.

Lemiya was found held captive by bandits in the Pryx Mines. Unlike Xir, she has a UIR but most of her memories are jumbled and missing.

Speaking of these two, it had been three months since Xir got his UIR. And all this time, Lemiya and Xir is frequently going around town visiting all sorts of places, I worry about them so I go with them.

But I learned that Xir had actually found a job(?) as a helper in a bookstore. He is trying to earn some pocket money he says. Lemiya only watches him work from outside the bookstore.

But I heard she is not also an employee and business is booming with those two acting as the mascot.

I now take the two of them to their jobs every morning.

The Union gives us the supplies and I don't really have a job other than taking care of them and teaching them about the outside world until the day they are capable enough to live on their own or get adopted.

Or better yet, awaken as a Mana Manipulator and get the attention of better families or get trained by the Union.

Xir does not like the idea of getting adopted and he once said that he does not need a father. Lemiya also share the same sentiment as Xir, she does not like to get adopted just like him.

Sigh, I do not know what will be the future of those two, but they're smart enough as it is. Even when I try to teach them anything, they will correct me and then teach me about something instead.

I am frustrated, but this only means they are smart, smarter than me even. But, even so, I will always be their 'mother' who will protect them from anything even if it is a bandit raid or a Portal Outbreak.

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*Xir's POV*

I am now six years old, and as weird as it might sound, I now have a job. Lemiya and I are coworkers, she followed me even to this place.

I am feeling a little tired of seeing her, especially when she beats me up when we do 'combat training'. Lemiya has been continuously teaching me, but now, she is teaching martial arts.

For a Mana Manipulator who awakened as a Mage, my ability in martial arts is mediocre, but I have to say, if I stack up against someone else other than Lemiya, I might just be able to beat them up.

Anyway, my job continued and my training as well. My reading was progressing and my knowledge keeps on improving.

I am satisfied but not quite as satisfied as I would have thought because the more I head out and see more of the city, the more I see things clearly about the situation outside the orphanage. And the more I learn about such matters, the more questions I have.

I live in the human continent of Reginak, a human continent would obviously house many humans and in this human-centered place, the numerous records of them warring against their own race are simply amazing.

Humans destroy each other in order to live. They want to live yet they can only do that by seeking to harm others and themselves.

But to be fair, it is not just humans as other races also wage war and kill, however, I don't how this is so, but humans still sit as one of the stupidest yet smartest races in this world.

Centuries ago, there were kingdoms scattered throughout the lands, they war against one another for resources and honor.

War for resources I could understand, but for honor? It was plain stupid. And just like anyone could imagine, the ones who are the top of this list who loves waging wars for stupid things like honor are humans.

Thankfully, there are no more kingdoms in this time, must be because everything is run by the [World Organization].

Aside from the knowledge about wars and the numerous deaths it causes, the information about underground organizations is also starting to come to light.

Because I am becoming more aware of this the longer I learn, the more I noticed about other bad things and the structure of this world is beginning to show itself.

As for its structure, I am not really sure, but it should be run by those people who call themselves as [Nobles].

A year passed in my days of working and now, I am seven years of age, I have saved a total of 190,000 [Credits]. I have worked for 95 weeks without any problems and have never been absent once.

My weekly salary is 2,000 credits so, with my and Lemiya's money (considering she was hired much later), the money we have together is 350,000 credits. I have to say, it is not such a bad thing for a kid to earn this much.

But, as our original intention was to buy guns, we went to buy guns after we quit our jobs in the bookstore. But, we just learned that we can't buy guns because we were too young.

So… we tried and went to deal in a shady manner. Without much choice, I turned to illegal trades and managed to buy two handguns named [Armor Piercers] for 60,000 credits each.

I bought five packs of bullets that each contain 50 rounds for 30,000 credits each. As for how we bought the gun and the bullet, we bought it in the black market which seemed impossible for kids like me and Lemiya.

But, here's the thing, it was not me who did the negotiation with the dealer. It was Lemiya who asked for two minutes of private talk with the arms dealer.

After some time, the arms dealer gladly sold us the guns that we wanted.