The next day
The night passed, and the sun starts to rise to the sky once more.
I opened my eyes, leaning against the tree. The sky that was once dark, because a bit brighter, a dark purple color lighting up the sky.
I slept outside last night, after making sure the children were doing fine. As I yawned, I noticed that the children were all sleeping on the ground. The prarie is full of children lying on the ground. It's...kind of scary if you don't know the context of the situation. It turns out, dolls can eat, drink, or sleep like any other normal human. They just don't need it. It's more like habit of sorts.
The only thing they need to survive is the mana from the child next to me.
They were self-sufficient, and so they don't really need me to actually take care of them, and if anything desires to harms them...
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[Dolls of Purgatory] (Rank [S])
-These vessels were made by the [Hateful Monstrous Dollmaker]. From the flames that have killed them in their previous life, these dolls with souls were born. Their resentful souls were placed inside the vessels, the dolls. They live off from the mana of their creator. As long as their creator still lives, they are never truly dead. Although hate fills them, they still have a wish to hope.
---
Skills:
[Protection from Fire] (Rank [A])
Effects: Rising from their ashes, the dolls have grown immune to the flames. The living and non-living things you choose will be immune to fire and will not be burned or damaged by the flames.
[The Descent of Purgatory] (Rank [S+])
Effects: Remaking the hell that has consumed them. Resentment grows, and what you couldn't do before, the wishes that you weren't able to achieve, is now manifested. You want to burn them all. Turn the world into your own hell, into purgatory. This skill will descend at 1 kilometers within the radius of the targets, No one can leave this purgatory without the owner's permission. No one.
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Judging by status I've read, they don't even need my protection.
But I will still give it to them.. I will give them clothes to wear, delicious food, a nice bed, and warmth. They're children after all, just like my...
Anyways, when I tried to help them, they told me it was not needed, but I insisted, and in the end they agreed. I'll care for them with kindness and provide a sanctuary, in return they must live peacefully in this orphanage.
It is our orphanage now.
Now then, the only one who needs real protecting is...
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[The Hateful Dollmaker] (Rank [SS-])
-Born from the ashes of death, he rose. Full of hate, a power has awoken inside of this child, to unleash hells fury onto those deserving. From the ashes of the corpse of his fellow orhans, he remade them, the vessels, and brought back their souls once more, placing them in his vessels. However, his hatred was not enough to free him from his chains. And so he waits, trapped, until he finds hope and kindess.
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Skills:
[Creation of Dolls] (Rank [S+])
Effects: Create dolls from your own mana. If the dolls are destroyed, you can remake them once more.
-Capacity (4999/4999)
[Marionette Control] (Rank [B])
Effects: Using your mana, you can effectively control the dolls you create.
[Through Ones Eyes] [Rank [A-]]
Effects: Using your dolls, you can see what they see. Limited to the dolls vision.
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The Dollmaker is. although strong in utility, weak against almost anything. If he stays in the back, with his dolls in front of him, then he'll be safe. But in a straight fight he'll lose.
I got up, and looked at the large building in front of me. Even when its old and broken down, it still looks homely.
Still, to fix it...to start with, we need wood. Lots of wood. Wood to fix the walls, to make beds, furniture. Good thing we're living out in a forest. Getting wood should be easy enough.
As I began polishing my plan for wood. I noticed the orphans getting up one by one, and they gathered around me.
"We want to help you fix the orphanage, mister!"
""Yeah!""
They all crowded around me, using their childlike appearence to enhance their bright hopeful looking eyes.
...if I didn't know any better, I would think of them as master manipulators.
After thinking for a bit, I suddenly realized they're all dolls, and so wouldn't get hurt by mere mortal means. And there's 5000 of them...
Meaning free manual labor.
"Alright, then first..."
I started grouping them up, in groups of three. Group 1 would get the wood, Group 2 transport the wood to the orphanage, and Group 3 would use it to fix the orphanage.
A simple plan, but it works. I relayed the orders to them, and they nodded with serious a serious air around them.
Meanwhile, while they fix the orphanage, it's about time for me to get supplies from the nearby towns or cities...
I took out my phone to find something like a Home Depot, which is still a thing in this world. They have a lot of building supplies after all.
...
I quickly made my way through town. With magic enhancing my body, I can quickly go from the orphanage in the wild to a populated town in thirty minutes. From the map on the phone I used, it appears as if I'm in England. I glossed over my memories to find out who I am, not where I am. It doesn't matter, I have to find supplies.
I arrived in front of a department store that looks extremely similar to a Home Depot. The color scheme was there to, orange and white. I didn't bother to read the name as I went in.
A cool breeze of air washed over me as I stepped inside the electronic slide doors, looking.
I expected there to be something like hunters showing off, using their powers, or bragging...but it's just so normal.
People were normally buying stuff, taking a look around, everything. There were almost no hunters here, probably from going out to dungeons everyday.
Ah yes, the hunters. They aren't too special, but they walk around with things like a sword and spear, with armor as well. From the information on the phone, apparently modern weapons like guns and bombs aren't that efficient in killing monsters. The weak ones are easy enough, for example, goblins. It's the tougher ones that are difficult, such as ogres. Hunters are needed, with their skills.
I walked in without a problem, people giving me one glance, before looking away. With my average looks, plain face and black hair, one would think I'm just your average guy, minus the robes. They look so out of place, they probably assume I'm a hunter. A weak one.
As I looked throught the aisle, I found what I was looking for. Rulers, hammers, nails, saws. A galore of tools, just what I need. Also carpets and other unique furnitures...
There's so many things here. If only I had the money for it...
However, I don't need money, do I?
A plan grew in my mind.
...
I came back to the entrance of the prarie forty minutes later, carrying nothing. As I got closer, I noticed the orphans were cutting down the trees, seperating them into parts, and bringing them back inside. The fences were just wood, barely as tall as a person. The entrance was wooden, just twice the size of a person.
The orphans noticed me as I got closer, and they all dropped what they were doing, and ran up to me.
"Welcome back mister!"
"How was your trip?"
"Was the humans scary?"
"Oh, did you get what you need?"
They all asked me questions, to which a smile tugged at the ends of my mouth. They really are children, even if they exist as a doll.
I answered them one by one as I walked through the entrance, and back into the prarie.
In the distance, I saw the rest of the children trying to fix the orphanage. It's to be expected, they got no real tools.
They noticed me approaching from the distance, and once again they dropped whatever they were doing, running towards me with excitement.
We got to the front of the orphanage, and I prepared myself, warning the children-
"Stay a bit farther away from me. I'm about to drop the tools and supplies."
The children answered with 'okay,' moving around. As soon as they got into something like a circle, I waved my hand.
Then a whole bunch of supplies magically appeared on the grass.
Tools, carpets, small furnitures, they all appeared on the ground.
""Woahhhhhh!""
The children excitedly ran to the supplies.
"Woah, what's this?"
"Hey hey look what I got!"
"This will help us a lot!"
As they all looked over at everything I got, I went to the tree, where the small child leaning against the trunk, resting in its shade.
He watched the orphans with a smile, and looked to me as I walked up to him with a thankful look.
"Thank you, mister..."
"It was no problem," I shook my head, sitting down besides him.
"How did you get these supplies?" he asked with wide eyes and mild curiosity.
I turned my head at him, staying silent.
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"What happened here?!"
"Furnitures are missing over here to!"
"Where the hell did the tools go?!"
Employees of the deparment store ran around, trying to figure out the culprit. In a lot of the store's aisle, and their warehouse behind the store, the supplies disappeared.
Even over the camera footages, the supplies seem to be there for one moment, and the next gone. No signs from the culprit, other than people walking past it.
"What should we do?"
One of the employees asked the manager, a middleaged old man, who looked very angry.
"If this is an action of a rogue hunter...then the police won't help at all. We have to call the Hunter's Organization in and have them investigate."
Another employee whispered to his friend, confused
"What about the Holy Churc-"
"Shut up!" he elbowed him, interrupting him.
"We can't call them! This isn't that important of a situation, and..."
He trailed off, looking around scared. His friend also seemed to realize something, shutting up right away.
There's a reason why they don't get the Church involved.
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As the sun was about to set below the trees, we all stood in front of the orphanage with a exhausted smile. Even with over 5000 people and dolls working on it, the orphanage is quite big, and we haven't even finished half of it yet.
Nonetheless, it was a good days hard work, and so took a break for the night.
But...
As they were all mostly playing around, resting, I waved my hand tables falling onto the grass with chairs, bowls, pots, and utensils falling out next, numbering over a thousand.
As the orphans got closer to me, a girl with blonde hair asked me with eyes filled with wonder.
"How did you get those!"
I smiled slightly at the girl.
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"..what the hell is this?!"
The manager of a grocery store yelled at the employees, gesturing towards...an empty aisle.
That's right, just like the deparment store, it was the grocery store that was ransacked.
"I hope the Hunter's Organization comes here soon..." the manager gritted his teeth, walking back and forth.
The employees just looked at each other, shrugging.
They were there for the paycheck, nothing more. Doesn't matter to them if the grocery store goes out of buisness.
This happened at some other grocery stores as well, the ones in town, and the others outside of town.
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Well, I didn't rob entire grocery stores, just the ones that had huge warehouses full of food. I'm sure they can part with some pots, vegetables, and utensils.
Cooking for five thousand children should have been difficult and a lot of trouble, as well as the time needed to repair...
Good thing I have over five thousand children who helped me with the cooking.
They learned the skills necessary to cook at least a decent bowl of soup in their previous lives. Apparently, the adults wanted them to serve them food, so the adults don't have to do it. The children had to do the manual work...which is why they were also easily fixing up parts of the orphanages and doing chores.
How convenient.
Once the cooking was down, I served them the newly made soup. With the others assisting me, everyone had a chance to eat.
After they were done, they all sighed contentedly, laying down on the ground. The bowls and untensils were plastic, so they were easy to dispose of. The pots...I'll have to clean them tonight. There was a river pretty far from here, I can go there in a bit and clean them up.
Since there were a lot of pots, I'll just dump them into the river, and collecting them back up after the flow cleans away the leftovers. Not hygiene enough...but who would want to clean that many pots? Plus, dolls don't get sick from this...probably.
I waved my hand once more, and all the tables, utensils, pots...everything disappeared.
A day has passed by peacefully in our sanctuary.