Chapter 128: Children

In fact, even with Little Red Riding Hood's explanation, Yu Sheng still found it difficult to understand and imagine life in this orphanage, as well as its daily "operational" state; he could not imagine what the children living here thought or did every day, could not imagine the specific duties of the "Council Employees" dispatched here, and could not imagine how the "Council" that ruled the entire Borderland viewed such a special orphanage.

Because ultimately, he did not even understand how this massive "Border City" operated, nor did he understand that mysterious "Council"; the only "official" body he had ever contacted was the Special Bureau, and the entire Special Bureau was, in fact, merely a part of the Council.

There were too many things in the Borderland that felt out of place to him; the place where Little Red Riding Hood and her friends lived was just another point added to the many doubts in his heart.

Hu Li, who had been following nearby and hadn't spoken since entering, suddenly blurted out: "Why didn't the Special Bureau or the Council establish a dedicated department to 'take over' this entire orphanage?"

Little Red Riding Hood looked at the fox-girl with some surprise.

Hu Li blinked her eyes and scratched her hair a bit nervously: "D-Did I say something wrong?"

"No... you're right," Little Red Riding Hood quickly regained her composure and shook her head. "It's normal for you to have such thoughts, but do you know how many groups or organizations similar to 'us' exist throughout the Borderland?"

Hu Li opened her mouth but couldn't speak.

"As I said, most Spirit World Detectives and Investigators only 'change careers' after getting involved in Otherworld incidents, and the children of the 'Fairy Tale' organization were also influenced by 'Otherworld-Fairy Tale'. Essentially, every child you will see here later is either a Spirit World Detective who has already debuted or one who will be in the future. We are just one of hundreds of supernatural organizations in the Borderland, so many things must be handled according to the methods of supernatural organizations."

"Of course, the Special Bureau once considered providing 'special care' for us 'children'; that was a long time ago... Just as you said, they considered establishing a 'Special Orphanage' completely supervised by the Council and directly managed by the Special Bureau, to concentrate and protect all children affected by Fairy Tales, to guide them centrally, with 'my lord' taking care of everything, rather than our current self-governance. But later... something huge happened."

Yu Sheng frowned slightly; instantly, seven or eight scripts from movies, TV dramas, thrillers, and horror games popped into his mind: "... The children were treated inhumanely, and then 'Fairy Tale' went out of control?"

"No, quite the opposite," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. "The Special Bureau and the Council are not fools; they know that 'Otherworld' things do not follow any 'human rules' when they are taking lives. So according to records, what they did at the time was flawless—they cared for everyone diligently, considered every child's situation, and nothing inhumane occurred. But they overlooked one thing."

Erin poked her head out from Hu Li's arms: "... Overlooked one thing?"

"'Fairy Tale' does not like 'my lord'," Little Red Riding Hood said flatly.

Yu Sheng pondered, feeling as if he understood the other's meaning.

Hu Li also nodded slightly after a moment of thought, seeming to understand the crux of the matter as well.

Erin also thought hard for a moment, lifting her head: "Wait, what does that mean... Why do you all look like you understand? What do you understand?"

No one paid her any attention.

"Ahead is the East Building," Little Red Riding Hood said, pointing to the building in front and introducing it to Yu Sheng. "The orphanage's main structures consist of two buildings. The East Building you see upon entering is the main accommodation and activity area; the large canteen and the 'classrooms' for toddlers are also here. The one on the other side is the West Building; inside... there are some safe rooms and a treatment room. Sometimes, when the children's states are unstable, they go to the West Building."

"The two buildings were originally connected by two passages; later, the underground one had some issues and was locked up, so now one can only cross via the high-level corridor. Of course, the West Building has other regular exits as well."

"That open space over there is where the children usually play. Those slides and swing sets were made by our own hands, and the sandbox was dug by us too. The sand inside was brought by a truck dispatched by the Special Bureau at our request—they didn't charge us. There was a bit of chaos back then; the sandbox was dug too big and too deep. The original plan was that one truckload would suffice, but later three truckloads almost didn't fill it up. The Special Bureau people even suspected we were trying to scam sand to sell..."

"Further over there, do you see those few trees? We planted them with our own hands too. At that time, I was just ten years old... The 'parent' who took me to plant trees back then is no longer here."

Yu Sheng listened quietly. In the corner of his eye, he saw several curious gazes poking out from the main entrance of the East Building. Several half-grown children, accompanied by even smaller ones, were crowded near the doorframe, secretly sizing up the "guests" appearing in the orphanage, occasionally pointing and whispering, perhaps discussing or guessing something.

Then a larger girl walked out from behind and drove all the children back.

"How many children are here?" Yu Sheng asked curiously. "Uh, I mean including you 'parents'."

"Seventy-six," Little Red Riding Hood said. "Is it less than you imagined?"

"Indeed... a bit less than I expected."

"It's always this number, with only occasional single-digit fluctuations," Little Red Riding Hood said, leading Yu Sheng through the main door of the East Building toward the "reception room". "New ones come, old ones go. 'Fairy Tale' only accepts children who meet its requirements and is unhesitating when eliminating the old ones. So relative to our numbers, this facility actually seems somewhat luxurious—many rooms above the fifth floor here are empty, and most of the West Building is also empty."

"Of the seventy-six children, sixteen are 'parents'; the remaining are roughly half between eight and fourteen years old, and the other half are younger. Overall, girls make up about three-quarters, while boys are only one-quarter..."

"I noticed that too; most of those I saw just now were girls," Yu Sheng nodded, then became curious again. "Why?"

Little Red Riding Hood showed a faint smile: "Because princesses always fall into crises more easily—'village girls' like 'Little Red Riding Hood' are the same. You must learn to analyze this place from the perspective of 'Fairy Tale'."

Yu Sheng pondered.

Under Little Red Riding Hood's lead, he, Erin, and Hu Li arrived at the reception room at the end of the East Building corridor.

Yu Sheng noticed several more peering gazes appearing at the doorway; some small figures were shuffling back and forth in the corridor outside, obviously full of curiosity about the new guests today but too afraid to approach.

"I brought some gifts for the children," Yu Sheng said, picking up the biscuits and candies he was holding and nodding to Little Red Riding Hood. "Shall I let them distribute them?"

"Thanks—that's very thoughtful of you," Little Red Riding Hood didn't stand on ceremony, thanked him happily, and waved to a half-grown child at the door. "Hui Hui, take these to the canteen first and distribute them to everyone at dinner."

The girl called "Hui Hui", who looked about thirteen or fourteen, immediately ran in happily. Following her, several small children of about five or six also slipped into the room, darting around the table. Some excitedly shouted: "I want chocolate! I want the golden one!" "Are there gummy bears?" "Thank you, uncle!" "Sister Hui Hui! Yaya stepped on my foot!"

A tiny, pink little one suddenly popped out from under the table, staring with wide eyes at Yu Sheng and Hu Li, then pointed a finger at Erin: "I want a hug from this one too!"

Erin instantly raised her arms and bared her teeth: "I am not a gift!"

The tiny one froze, then immediately let out a loud "Waaah!" and started crying.

A bunch of human cubs scattered with a roar, screaming and shrieking, running wildly everywhere, wailing like ghosts and wolves—exactly the same scene Yu Sheng had imagined in the morning with Erin filling the whole room.

At that moment, he was completely numb.

However, the chaos lasted only a short while. Little Red Riding Hood immediately stood up and quieted the little ones with a few words. Then Hui Hui skillfully took charge of the bunch of kids, coaxing and tricking them back into the corridor, and closed the door on the way.

Yu Sheng watched the scene that turned chaotic in an instant and settled in an instant with his mouth agape. After a long moment, he finally reacted, turned his head to look at Little Red Riding Hood, and said: "... You... are quite impressive."

"Just get used to it. The children here are actually very sensible. Although they have some small flaws like normal children of this age, most of them can regain their calm faster than normal children, understand the instructions of older children better, and know the necessity of following rules," Little Red Riding Hood said with a faint smile on her face. "We all went through this."

For some reason, hearing this made Yu Sheng feel even more uncomfortable in his heart.

"Tell me about 'Fairy Tale'," he shook his head and quickly changed the subject. "I mean that 'Otherworld'—and that 'Black Forest' I saw. What is that about?"

"The Black Forest is a 'sub-body' of 'Fairy Tale'. However, before explaining its structure in detail, I want to talk about some more basic things first," Little Red Riding Hood said slowly. At this moment, Yu Sheng seemed to see the precocious, calm, and steady "Spirit World Detective" he had seen when he first met her. "Let me confirm first—do you know how many categories of 'Otherworld' there are in total?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, his expression becoming equally serious: "I don't know."

Little Red Riding Hood: "..."

"I remember this is content relatively high up in the database," she looked at Yu Sheng with a somewhat subtle expression. "Didn't I tell you to check this part of the knowledge as soon as possible?"

Yu Sheng felt a bit awkward: "Isn't it because I've been especially busy these past two days?"

"Busy with what? Did the Special Bureau have some arrangement again?"

Yu Sheng kept a straight face and quickly ran through what he had been doing in the last two days in his mind.

Clearing land in the Otherworld, planting vegetables, mixing concrete, raising chickens, petting Hu Li at home, researching how to build more Einsteins with Erin, and figuring out how to use rebar and cement number 42 to build more Einsteins...

He felt that the moment he said it, his dignity as an adult vanished.

"Yes, the Special Bureau called me to talk about the Dark Angel matter."

Yu Sheng wore a serious expression, not telling a single lie.

(End of Chapter)