On the way to the specialized orphanage, a small issue with Selah surfaced. Usually she was glued to me, but this time she was much less enthusiastic about coming with me. Her steps grew shorter and slower with every passing second. I was getting more and more worried about her staying at the orphanage when my eyes fell on something that could help: a massive pet store. I wasn’t very hopeful, but I had to try something, and this was my best bet.

  I stopped and crouched down so my eyes were level with hers. I felt like I was grasping at straws, but this was the only thing that came to mind.

  “Selah, how about we go check out that shop?” I pointed to the pet store. “And you can pick out any pet you like!”

  Selah’s eyes snapped toward the store. For a moment, she just stared at it without a reaction. My worry that it wasn’t going to work grew every moment, but then she nodded with a small, almost imperceptible smile.

  We entered the shop, and I gave Selah complete freedom to choose any pet she wanted, as I had promised. They had everything there—from various rodents, some cute and some less so, to traditional dogs and cats, and even more exotic choices like miniature bears.

  Selah zipped around from one cage to the other, petting and picking up all kinds of little animals. She periodically returned to a pair of white fox siblings. I remembered from the memories of this body that white foxes were known for forming very close bonds with their owners, becoming devoted companions.

  Armed with this knowledge, I walked up to the cage with the little creatures and had an idea. The next time she came over to the fox siblings, I spoke.

  “Selah, how about we both take one? That way, we won’t be tearing the siblings apart. Every time I come to visit you in the orphanage or take you on a trip, they will be able to play together.”

  She looked at me intently and grabbed the sleeve of my shirt firmly.

  “Don’t worry, I am not just dropping you off or anything like that. I want you to go there because they can help you process what you have been through. I can’t help you with that; I wouldn’t even know where to start. Understood?”

  I paused and looked toward her, waiting. For what felt like an eternity, she just watched me, motionless; then, she gave a barely noticeable nod.

  “Plus, in my line of work as a Dungeon Delver and Bounty Hunter, I spend most of my time out in the dungeon or hunting down bad guys outside of the city. I would not be able to spend time with you properly.”

  I used my other hand to press over her small palm as she held my sleeve.

  “But I want you to know that you are not alone in this world—not as long as I have something to say about it. I will be coming to visit you regularly.”

  I wasn't sure why I had decided to do this; it was as if my soul screamed that I could not leave this child alone under any circumstances. However, the weight of the moment was absolutely annihilated as Alrune spoke. Her voice, as usual, was full of playful, possessive confidence only she could muster.

  “So we are really getting a daughter, and even pets to go with her. Sweet! I like foxes.”

  I maintained my well-practiced poker face as I looked into Selah’s eyes. She looked back, as if searching for something inside of them; then, just a few seconds later, she rushed into me, hugging me tightly.

  Once she was satisfied, we picked up the two things from the cage and went to pay for them. To not only our surprise, but also the shopkeeper, the two furry things bonded with us practically right away. Pressing their faces against our cheeks and licking us.

  We both left the shop with a fox in tow. Mine, who I named Yuki, was lying down on my shoulders, wrapped around my neck. Selah kept hugging hers with both of her hands, pressing it against her cheeks. We ended up giving her a name: Snowflake. I am calling it a ‘we’, but in practice it was me rattling off pet names in front of the shop for minutes, until Selah stopped me with a nod. The fox was enjoying the attention, licking Selah’s cheek and making happy noises.

  We soon arrived at the orphanage. It was not a very tall but wide building, shaped like a letter 'U' with a big playground in the middle. The playground was filled with kids; at first glance, there could have been about thirty to thirty-five children and about five caretakers looking over them. Some kids looked happy, others more like Selah. To the side, we could see several pairings of caretakers and children sitting at tables doing specialized one-on-one activities.

  The main entrance was at the center of the ‘U’, just behind the playground. As we headed toward it along the playground, one of the caretakers—a very polite-looking woman—rushed over, and stopped smoothly right in front of us. She spoke with a heartfelt smile.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Greetings! Welcome to the Healing Heart Orphanage! How can we help you?”

  “I would like to speak with someone regarding taking in Selah here.”

  She looked her up and down quickly with a smile, evaluating her, and then returned her gaze to me, pointing to something in the distance.

  “Do you see that small, isolated part of the playground over there?”

  I followed her finger to find a small enclosed area of the playground.

  “Please wait there! I apologize for isolating her, but it is a rule here that she can only play with the other kids after we have taken her in and had a session with her. We need to know her state and so on! I will go inform the headmistress!”

  “Not an issue. Those kids have been through enough without being pestered by random passersby.”

  We went to the isolated part of the playground, where Selah played with two furry little rascals. As she did, I waited for the headmistress to arrive. About ten minutes later, a woman dressed in very formal attire came out of the building and walked directly to us. She was about forty, with a very serious but warm look on her face. We greeted each other, and then I explained Selah’s circumstances—everything from where I found her to the fact she was a slave before. The woman’s face grew more worried about Selah, the more I spoke. Once I completed the story, she responded.

  “It is a good thing that you brought her here, and the idea with the foxes was perfect. You did well!”

  “Thanks. Will you take her in?”

  “Sadly, it’s not a question of whether we take her in or not.” The headmistress sighed heavily. “Since we are an independent specialized orphanage, we do not get any donations from the King, or nobles, or anyone for that matter. But we still have to pay the rent for the building, pay the specialized staff, and other expenses. We can only take kids if they have someone willing to pay for their stay and healing. I personally am paying for two of those angels out of my own pocket.”

  “That’s why I am here!”

  The woman nodded. “In that case, stay here. I will come back soon with all the papers ready. It should not take longer than fifteen minutes.”

  True to her word, not even a quarter of an hour later, she was already back with the papers. I paid a single gold for a first month of her stay; this included everything—a bed, food, and therapy. Then came the hard part: saying goodbye to Selah. Surprisingly, between our little talk in the pet store, Yuki with Snowflake, and actually seeing the place, Selah was much more on board with the fact that she was staying here now. It was a relief. We hugged for a long time before I left.

  As we left, Alrune herself pointed out to me that Selah had just one set of clothes, so we went to quickly pick out some more for her. She ended up enjoying every moment of ‘buying clothes for our daughter,’ as she dubbed it, pointing out in my mind which ones were cute, which colors would look best on her, and so on. Since she seemed to be in a very good mood, I just went with it. There was no harm in it, and honestly, it made me feel warm inside shopping with her for Selah. I then proceeded to leave about six giant bags worth of clothing for Selah with the headmistress. I didn’t want to meet Selah again right away. She already had a hard time separating from me the first time; there was no need to put her through it again.

  From the orphanage, I headed straight to the dungeon. I needed to clear my mind a bit. After the bandits, Selah, the Slavers' Guild, and at the end, the orphanage, I needed something simple. Just ‘chop chop’ some monsters and pick up the loot. No moral dilemmas or anything like that.

  As I walked, I quickly activated the communication tablet and soon the voice rang out from it.

  “Greetings, Victor. How may I help you?”

  “Greetings, Juliet. I am about to enter the dungeon. I will have some stuff to unload tomorrow. Can we meet?”

  There was a moment of silence from the other side that ended with a question, spoken with a nervous and hesitant tone.

  “H-how about we meet for a l-lunch? In a r-restaurant right next to the guild, called Cock-a-doodle-doo Rooster?”

  “And here she goes!” sounded in my head, followed by a chuckle. I just internally sighed and responded, my voice calm.

  “Sure, when?”

  “Around twelve?”

  “Twelve is fine. I will be there!”

  I felt that Alrune was about to comment, but before she could, I spoke.

  “Wait and watch!” , then I used the tablet to make another call.

  “Greetings, Victor! How can I help you?”

  “Greetings, Cora. I was thinking—your sister must be very busy tomorrow. She invited me for lunch at the Cock-a-doodle-doo Rooster tomorrow at twelve, instead of our normal meeting. Wanna join us? I would be able to handle my business with both of you at the same time, plus you would be able to have some one-on-one sister time.”

  There was a long pause from the other side of the communication tablet, followed by a very confused and grateful ‘Yes!’. A melodic, all-out laugh rang through my head. Alrune was not able to stop laughing for minutes.

  “How to tell somebody to fuck off, without telling them to fuck off! You know what you just did?” she barely gasped out through the laughter.

  I just shrugged and didn’t react to this. I let Alrune laugh all she wanted. Instead, I started petting the fox wrapped around my neck as I walked to the dungeon. I paid my entrance fee and started the grind to clear my mind. After all, I still had ninety runs to get the Dungeon Core for Alrune’s quest.

  I was worried about the fox at first, but the thing didn’t even move. It was just relaxing like we were out on a walk and not in a dungeon. Truth be told, clearing this dungeon felt more like a walk in the park than clearing a life-threatening dungeon. My biggest worry was the time, not my safety, since that was ensured by design.

  I ended up running the dungeon ten more times, gaining another five levels. I fell into a nice rhythm, and kept going late into the evening. I sighed as I left the dungeon entrance house, speaking to myself.

  “I will have to take a job from Bounty Hunter Guild again! We need to let the penalty expire.”

  “Why won’t you go to another dungeon?”

  “I need to rank up in the bounty hunter guild anyway. Might as well do it like this; it’s easier to track. I don’t want to have five dungeons with started quests for your cores and complete them one by one in short succession. The quest mentioned closing the dungeon for good once we get the item, closing multiple dungeons quickly one after the other could be problematic.”