Published: July 26, 2025
“Idiot! It didn’t reach!”
Just as Lutz’s eyes widened in shock, the Tau Fruit I had thrown didn’t reach the soil at all. It smashed just barely at the edge of the stone pavement, popping with a “pop! papapap!” sound.
The moment the red fruit split open, tiny seeds scattered widely around, and suddenly, several sprouts began pushing up from the ground. Seeds that landed on the soil started sprouting, but those that fell on the stone pavement quickly withered away. The sprouts that took root in the soil rapidly grew to about ankle height.
“Whoa!”
“Eek!?”
“This grows fast. Once it reaches about knee height, we’ll start cutting them down one after another!”
Lutz, directing the orphaned children who were hesitating, fixed a sharp gaze on the rapidly growing Trombes.
“Fran, take Myne back and wait in the rear!”
At Lutz’s command, Fran scooped me up, and I was pulled out of the front lines. Since I had no weapon at all, the best I could do was cheer everyone on.
“Everyone, do your best!”
“Cut them down!”
Gripping a machete-like blade, Lutz ran toward the farthest scattered sprouts to start clearing them. Following Lutz, Gil was the first to cut down a Trombe.
“Take this!”
With a snap, the blade in Gil’s hand sliced through a thin branch. Seeing how easily the branches were cut and that the cut branches wouldn’t grow back, all the orphanage children rushed to hack at the Trombes.
“Myne, what is this exactly?”
I wondered how much of this information Fran would report back to the high priest. Was this going to be a scolding? I desperately tried to think of how to downplay the situation — maybe just treat it as something normal outside the temple rather than a big fuss.
“It’s material for high-quality paper. Using this, we can make something far more valuable than our usual paper.”
That wasn’t a lie. But I was sure Fran wasn’t expecting that answer. Just as Fran opened her mouth to say something, Gil’s voice rang out.
“When they grow that tall, a knife won’t do. Step back! I’ll handle it!”
I whipped around to see Gil pushing back a girl holding a knife and fiercely chopping off branches that had grown to about thigh height. It was clear that Gil’s growth was visible as he happily went into the forest.
“All right! We did it!”
Gil gave a triumphant thumbs-up and grinned proudly at me. Realizing he wanted praise later, I gave a light nod.
“…There aren’t any left, are there?”
At Lutz’s words, the surrounding children all nodded vigorously.
“What now, Lutz? Should we leave some and let them grow again?”
I suggested it would be a waste to miss the opportunity since the valuable material could be harvested relatively safely. But Lutz shook his head.
“Let’s cut down just one or two more, then switch back to throwing them at each other as planned. Once taken off the soil, the Tau Fruit dries up and withers quickly, and we can still find more in the forest, so we can just go pick some later.”
“Everyone, sorry, but can you cut down a little more? The paper made from this will be very high quality. We can increase the funds for the orphanage.”
“Myne, what happens if the funds increase?”
The children, who had almost no knowledge about money, looked curious. For them, everything they needed was a divine blessing.
I explained that money is necessary for everything and that the soup they had been making wasn’t fully covered by their own funds yet, but I doubted they fully understood.
“If the funds increase, we can make more food ourselves. Also, we’ll be able to buy firewood for the orphanage to use in winter.”
“All right, let’s do it!”
The orphanage’s firewood allocation wasn’t much. The girls’ dormitory had a fireplace only in the dining hall, and the boys’ dormitory had only one big room. When the firewood ran out, the stone buildings got cold quickly, and the children huddled together like dumplings even during the day.
In an environment where money was tight, securing food and heating in winter was a critical challenge.