New Family

Conversing with one of the owners of Lorz's orphanage, Brune found out about the individuals that were living there. The owner, who was the former Black Flawks' captain, was Ren Lorz, and the woman who Brune was talking to was Trisha Lorz, the wife of Ren. The other that were staying at the orphanage was a boy named Chance along with two sisters named Jill and Wendy. 

( Creak! ) 

The front door to the house opened. 

"Mrs. Lorz, we're back!" shouted a voice. 

"I'm in the kitchen," replied Trisha.

Footsteps could be slowly heard approaching the kitchen area where Brune and Trisha were sitting. 

Entering the kitchen were two young girls. One looks older than the other. 

"So they must be Jill and Wendy," Brune thought to himself. 

"Remember how Mr. Lorz and I told y'all we're having another member in the family? This is Brune, and he'll be staying with us," said Trisha as she introduced Brune. 

"Hi, Brune, my name is Jill," said the older sister. 

"My name is Wendy," said the younger sister. 

The sisters were almost identical. They had straight light brown hair, brown eyes, and a lighter skin tone than Brune. 

( Creak! ) 

( Huff! Puff! )

Opening the door was a chubby kid who was out of breath. 

"I told y'all to wait.... For.... Me," the chubby kid said as he tried to catch his breath. 

"We're in the kitchen," said Jill. 

Seeing Chance, Brune observed a chubby kid with brown hair and eyes, with the same complexity as Jill and Wendy. 

"Chance, this is Brune, he will be a part of our family. Why don't you introduce yourself, Brune?" said Trisha. 

Nodding his head before speaking, "My name is Brune Cards, I am almost two." 

"Wow, so you'll be the new youngest," replied Wendy. 

Chance was nine years old, Jill was seven years old, and Wendy was four years old. 

"Chance and Jill, would you guys mind helping me make lunch, as it is almost time for Ren to come back," asked Trisha. 

"Yes," they both replied. 

Ren worked as an instructor at one of the archery clubs in the second city.

Since Wendy and Brune were too young, they were told to go play in the backyard. 

"Wendy, make sure to keep an eye on Brune," said Trisha. 

Walking through the back door of the kitchen, Brune and Wendy made their way into the backyard. 

The afternoon sun was hanging over Brune as he entered the backyard. Too hot, Brune made his way to the only tree in the backyard. The tree was pretty tall and created a large shade for Brune to hide from the sun. 

"Would you like to play house?" asked Wendy. 

"No, it's too hot," Brune replied as he made his way to the shade. 

"Ok," said Wendy with a sad look on her face. 

Feeling a little bit guilty didn't stop Brune as he sat in the shade looking at the sky, thinking to himself, "I'm a grown man, I'm not gonna play no house.". 

Watching Wendy play with her imagination, Brune just sat there thinking about life and what he wanted to do with his new life. In this life, he wasn't no longer a criminal. Looking up at the sky, Brune wondered why he must be punished by the gods and lose another family. 

Dazed and not in reality, the minutes passed by before a voice could be heard from the doorway of the house. 

"So you must be Brune then," said a voice. 

"Mr. Lorz!" shouted Wendy as she ran over to hug him. 

Expecting Ren to be a hard-nosed-looking guy like Shika, Brune was surprised as Ren was a nice-looking man with a slender build. The glasses in front of his brown eyes and hair made it harder for Brune to believe he was a former Black Flawks captain, "No way this guy was a former Black Flawks captain, he looks like a total nerd." 

"Why don't you both come inside, as it is time to eat lunch," said Ren. 

Patting off the dirt as he got up from the ground, Brune followed behind Ren and Wendy as they made their way inside. 

Sitting at the table in the kitchen, the others were waiting. On the table was a bowl of salad with some kind of meat mixed in. 

"Brune, you can sit next to me as I'll feed you," said Trisha. 

"I can eat by myself," said Brune as he sat next to Trisha. 

"Are you sure?" Trisha asked. 

"Yep," replied Brune with a smile. 

Everyone now settled was handed a plate along with some tableware before scooping some of the salad onto their plates. The kid's proportions were the same except Chance's; his proportion was almost, if not more than Ren's. 

Taking a bite of the salad, "The meat tastes like beef, the vegetable and meat are well seasoned, and the oil dressing wasn't too oily. Trisha is a good cook." Brune thought. 

Seeing Brune genuinely enjoy his food, Chance couldn't help but brag, "I'm a good cook, aren't I?". 

"You made this?" Brune asked. 

With his chest out, Chance nodded yes confidently. 

"Me and Mrs. Lorz only helped a little bit, even though he's fat, he's a good cook," said Jill

"I'm not fat. Also, I have to be a good cook as I'll open my own restaurant like my parents one day," replied Chance. 

"That's good; you don't want to live without a dream, as that dream will be your guiding light in life. Do you have a dream, Brune?" said Ren

Before speaking, Brune had to finish swallowing his food. 

( Gulp! ) 

"I want to be an alchemist and dungeon diver," said Brune. 

The energy in the room shifted as the laughter and joy quickly left the room. 

( Shssss! ) 

Jill quickly hugged Wendy as she cried. 

( Skirrt! ) 

Trisha got up from her chair and walked toward the sisters before hugging them and saying, "It's ok, everything will be alright." 

"Don't cry, let's finish eating. After eating, would you like to come see the archery club with me?" Ren asked Brune. 

"Ok," said Brune, feeling a little bit guilty for making Wendy cry. 

After comforting the sisters, Trisha sat back down before finishing her food. 

With everyone done eating, Brune followed Ren out the door. 

( Clak! ) 

The door closed behind the two as they made their way to Ren's workplace. 

While walking, Ren tried his best to explain how every kid got to the orphanage. Chance lost his parents from the pandemic that struck Windell five years ago. Jill and Wendy lost their father two years ago in a dungeon diving incident, and their mother couldn't handle the emotional wear of losing her husband, so she decided to take her own life, leaving behind Jill and Wendy. 

Setting the mood negatively, Ren tried to change the subject, "So why do you want to become both an alchemist and dungeon diver?". 

"I want to make a lot of money," Brune replied. 

"Hahaha, well, that is one way to make a lot of money, but it isn't the only way," said Ren. 

 "I also want to be strong and protect others," Brune added. 

Looking into Brune's eye, Ren replied, "If that is your dream, then I won't stop you, but I will say, If you truly want to be both of those, I can help you, but you have to promise me that you will try your best and if you don't meet my expectations then I will try everything to stop you." 

The conversation ended there, as the walk from Lorz's orphanage to the archery club was only a six-minute walk. 

"Lone Flawk's archery," Brune read the signboard above the entrance to the archery club. The archery club had a main building with walls going far and out. The walls surround the range. The range ranged from fifty yards wide to eighty yards long. 

Ren opens the front door. Showing Brune around, the building was pretty small as it had a front counter on the right-hand side with a door leading into a storage space, inside the storage space were different kinds of bows and arrows varying in shape and sizes. 

"I know it's in here somewhere," said Ren as he looked around. 

Finally finding what he was looking for, Ren grabbed the smallest bow and quiver of arrows in the storage room before telling Brune, "Here, this is for you." 

 "Thank you," said Brune as he received the bow and quiver of arrows. 

Walking out of the storage room, Brune asked, "What is in that room?" as he pointed to the door across the building. 

"That is my office space," Ren replied. 

Done with the tour, Ren says to Brune, "Ok, let's go meet the others."