Konbini Ossan Volume 3 Chapter 3 — Donation to the Orphanage
I thought that hiring more employees would give me more free time.
But in reality, it didn’t increase much at all.
Even after teaching the new staff their work, I still had to look after Tio-kun and Tiana-chan, as I had promised Maria.
Because of that, I didn’t have many chances to step away from the shop.
That said, even on days when only one of them was scheduled to work, Maria and her children almost always showed up together.
When they had other errands, they could leave normally, so it wasn’t really a problem.
The issue was that whenever Maria was on duty, I ended up surrounded by Tio-kun and Tiana-chan.
And from both of them came constant, indirect approaches, trying every possible way to get me to become their papa.
The mental pressure was no joke.
To have both mother and children so aggressively forward — that was truly frightening.
With the employee situation settled for now, I started using what spare time I had to visit the orphanage.
At first, I played with the children while getting to know them. I wanted each of them to remember my face and become familiar enough not to be wary of me.
Then I donated books I had purchased for study. Telling them to use the books for the children’s future, I handed them over.
Naturally, Isabella took charge of their education.
Since the children trusted Isabella-sensei, they listened to her lessons seriously, making it all the more effective.
While giving the orphans a bit of early education, I was already planning to recruit two of them.
One was Rosa, a girl skilled at sewing. The other was Joan, the eldest among them and something of a leader to the children.
For both of them, I already had specific jobs in mind, as well as special things I wanted them to learn.
So I approached Isabella and asked her for permission to speak with the two, explaining that I had a request for them.
As a result, I was given the chance to sit down and talk carefully with Rosa and Joan. Naturally, Isabella, as their guardian, was present to listen as well.
One afternoon, as arranged, I sat facing Rosa and Joan in a room at the orphanage, with Isabella at my side.
I believed she trusted me, but of course, she wouldn’t want me talking privately to children about strange things.
That must have been why she stayed, to keep watch.
“Well then. The reason I’ve called you here, Rosa and Joan, is simple. I’d like to ask you to be involved in some work related to my shop.”
“Work?”
Joan tilted his head.
“If it’s your request, old man, I don’t mind, but Rosa and I are still kids, you know? Isn’t it too soon for us to work?”
He was right. Joan still had three years before reaching this world’s age of adulthood, sixteen. Rosa had about five or six more years to go.
But that wasn’t a problem. After all, I wasn’t about to give them tasks meant for adults.
“Of course, I wouldn’t ask you to do any difficult jobs suited for grown-ups. It’s less like work, more like helping out. No — maybe it would be better to call it studying.”
With that, I began explaining, step by step, the tasks I wanted them to take on.
——————
E/N:
The talent hunt has just started! 1/3 chapter, apologies for the delay!
——————
Comments
Post a Comment