“What exactly are you accusing me of hiding…? Would you mind explaining so I can understand?”
Meanwhile, the children who had been peeking curiously at the unexpected visitors spotted Megan, and their faces instantly brightened.
“Teacher!”
“Teacher Megan, you’re here?”
“Where have you been all this time?”
“Teacher Anna said you left because you hated us!”
“Is that true?”
“Did you leave because we didn’t listen?”
The children immediately rushed toward Megan, clinging to her skirt and crowding around her.
Anna shot a pale, terrified glance toward Jack.
“So you’ve been saying quite a few things.”
Jack’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Anna lowered her head at once, trembling violently.
Jack was endlessly patient with children.
But anyone who harmed them received absolutely no mercy.
Stories of what happened to child abusers who fell into Jack’s hands were already common knowledge. People said he made their lives miserable until the day they died.
Megan knelt down to the children’s eye level and spoke gently.
“No. Of course not. You know I’d never do that. Teacher Anna must have misunderstood something.”
Jack watched her quietly.
Children had an uncanny ability to tell who genuinely liked them and who didn’t.
They showered affection on people who cared about them and instinctively avoided those who didn’t.
The fact that these children approached Megan without hesitation while constantly watching Anna’s reactions told him everything he needed to know.
There was no doubt Anna had done something to make them fearful.
This place has been managed terribly.
It was time to tear everything down and rebuild it.
The corrupt orphanage.
The inspector assigned to this village.
And the subordinates who had known the truth and chosen to ignore it.
As Jack silently surveyed the orphanage, someone came running around the corner and slammed into his leg.
“Ah!”
The sharpness in Jack’s eyes instantly softened when he saw who it was.
“I was blocking your way, wasn’t I? I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
Smiling warmly, he helped the child back to her feet.
The little girl’s hair was tangled and unkempt, and her worn-out dress looked as though it hadn’t been replaced in years.
Compared to the neatly dressed children around her, she stood out immediately.
“L-Lopez!”
Megan hurriedly stepped in front of her.
“Teacher!”
Lopez threw herself into Megan’s arms with a delighted expression.
“I missed you!”
“Why do you look... like this...?”
Megan stammered in shock.
Lopez glanced nervously toward Anna and Watson before hiding deeper in Megan’s embrace.
Jack’s eyes turned cold in an instant.
Yet he concealed his killing intent just as quickly and bent down to pick up the necklace and document pouch the girl had dropped.
“You’re from Class Three, aren’t you?”
“Yes... But how did you know?”
The moment Carrington saw the necklace and document pouch, his face drained of color.
Fear overtook him completely.
His body twitched uncontrollably.
Lopez bit down hard on her lip to stop herself from smiling and casually pressed the button hidden on the necklace.
A voice suddenly echoed through the room.
—Oh, certainly. That child would fetch quite a price.
At the same time, an image projected into the air.
It was footage from the day Baron and Baroness Phillips had visited.
—She was in Class One, after all. She can do much more than the others.
—Quite pretty for a lowly orphan. She’ll grow into a remarkable beauty someday.
One voice followed another.
The entire room fell silent.
Watson’s eyes widened.
Why is this footage playing...?
The aura around Jack grew darker and more dangerous by the second.
“N-No, this is...!”
Watson hurriedly tried to explain herself, but Jack cut her off and turned to Lopez instead.
“Whose necklace is this?”
“I-It belongs to Teacher Carrington. I found it on the floor and was going to return it to him...”
“Would you mind if I borrowed it for a moment?”
Lopez obediently handed it over, though she kept stealing nervous glances at Carrington.
She looked thoroughly frightened.
Then the footage changed.
Bang!
—Ow...
The image showed Lopez being shoved by a man.
She struck her head and collapsed, blood running down her forehead.
The knights collectively held their breath.
Everyone knew Jack’s temper.
Once he became angry, nothing could stop him.
And whenever he witnessed a child being abused with his own eyes, his methods became even more merciless.
The knights swallowed nervously.
Then—
“T-Teacher Carrington! What is that?!”
Unable to hold herself back any longer, Megan lunged forward.
Jack stopped her.
“Teacher. The children are watching.”
Megan bit her lip hard.
Then she crouched beside Lopez and gently examined her forehead.
Thankfully, no scar remained.
Still, guilt filled her eyes as she carefully touched the spot where the injury had once been.
How could anyone do this to such a small child...?
Her eyes burned, but she forced herself to suppress her emotions.
Jack watched her briefly before turning back to Lopez with a gentle smile.
“What’s your name?”
“Lopez...”
“Good. Lopez.”
He held up the necklace and the document pouch.
“I’ll make sure these are returned to Teacher Carrington.”
Lopez hesitated before finally letting go of them.
Jack accepted both items.
Then, passing by the headmistress, he spoke quietly.
“Every employee working in this orphanage will follow me. Not a single one is exempt.”
There was no way he would expose the ugliness of adults in front of the children.
I knew she’d bring Jack.
The inspector responsible for Sunflower Orphanage had been corrupt for years.
Watson paid him regularly, and in exchange he ignored the abuse.
That was why Lopez had handed the ledger to Megan.
She knew Megan would inevitably take it to Jack, the famously fair and incorruptible Head Inspector.
Just as expected.
The evidence had all been delivered.
The rest was up to Jack and Megan.
They can’t deny anything now—not after the child abuse and human trafficking have both come to light.
The necklace was especially devastating.
It was a recording artifact.
Carrington had secretly recorded everything, intending to blackmail Watson someday.
Every incriminating conversation had been preserved.
There probably wasn’t any grand reason he had left such an important item sitting on his desk.
Carrington was simply careless.
This was, after all, the same man who had once tossed a cigarette butt into an incinerator and accidentally started a fire.
The other children from Class Three already spoke with Jack. He only asked me exactly what I expected him to ask. They must have answered well too.
The corners of Lopez’s lips slowly curled upward.
Today, every teacher at Sunflower Orphanage except Gail and Megan would be arrested.
They would stand trial.
After that would come prison.
And none of them will ever be allowed to work with children again.
Watson and Carrington, especially, were finished.
Even if they somehow got out of prison someday, they would be buried under crushing debt.
Every coin they earned from human trafficking would be confiscated.
The fines alone would likely exceed ten times their illegal profits.
And I already emptied the secret vault full of jewels...
Their biggest concern now would be figuring out how to pay those fines at all.
Thinking of the glittering gems, Lopez nearly broke into a grin and had to struggle to keep a straight face.
I should give half of them to Megan. The orphanage will need money to operate properly.
A deep sense of relief washed over her.
Finally... I can start looking for a way back to my original world without having to worry about anything else.
Even after Lopez—the last child to be interviewed—emerged, the hallways remained filled with anxious whispers.
“What’s going on?”
“What was that earlier?”
“Lopez’s forehead...”
“I’m scared...”
“Children, everyone return to your classrooms!”
Fortunately, Gail arrived before the commotion could grow any worse and began herding the children away.
“Lopez!”
Just then, Chester and Klein spotted her coming down the stairs and rushed over.
Lopez visibly flinched.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the twins and Arden and hurried into Class Three.
“...”
“...”
“Huh? Big Sister Lopez ignored us!”
Bill laughed mercilessly at the twins before slipping into Class One himself.
Gail watched the abandoned pair and gave an awkward smile.
Chester looked up at him.
“Wouldn’t it be better if everyone stayed together right now?”
“Huh?”
Gail still wasn’t used to seeing these unexpectedly mature sides of Chester.
“What if something happens while they’re separated? Especially when there are only four kids in Class Three.”
“Exactly!” Klein agreed.
“Lopez already got on the bad side of the headmistress and that bastard Carrington!”
“...”
Gail should have scolded him for his language.
But the truth was that his own anger was boiling just as fiercely.
So that injury on Lopez’s forehead hadn’t been caused by kidnappers after all.
Not that it mattered.
Anyone hurting a child was unforgivable.
The boys weren’t wrong.
After a moment, Gail nodded.
“Then I’ll bring all the other children into Class One for now.”
“I’ll go get Lopez!”
“Me too!”
The instant he finished speaking, the twins shot toward Class Three as if they had been waiting for permission all along.
