Muyoku no Seijo wa Okane ni Tokimeku

Chapter 91: Leo told the rest (2/2)

"An epidemic...?"

Lena, who had been silently listening, furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Wait. This happened seven years ago, right? I don't remember anything like an epidemic spreading, and it shouldn't be recorded in the empire's history books."

"That's true. Who would record an epidemic that broke out in the same year the sacred land of Elrand was attacked? Moreover, the deaths caused by the epidemic were limited to a small part of the slums, and most citizens just thought it was a bad cold going around."

The illness was highly contagious, but the symptoms were simple.

Violent vomiting and fever.

For most, as long as they got enough water, nutrients, and rest in a warm room, they'd recover in three days.

The ones who faced danger were children without much strength or the very poor.

However, the place where many such children resided was none other than the orphanage.

"To be precise, their cause of death wasn't the disease. Do you know what it was that drove the children to the brink of death?"

"...No."

"Cold. Fearful of infection, many children from the orphanages were thrown out into the cold, unable to get proper nourishment or sleep, and froze to death."

Lena gasped.

Bruno, his gaze shifting away from her, narrowed his eyes towards the flickering flames of warm colors, recalling the scene from seven years ago.

A cold winter night that froze to the bone.

A boy huddled alone in the attic, glancing sideways at the snow he'd never seen in his homeland.

On the exposed floor without carpets, there was straw instead of bedding.

It reeked of sweat and vomit.

A chilly draft blew mercilessly through the poorly fitted walls.

Without glass windows, only an old piece of cloth covered the hollowed-out window from which snow dripped, drop by drop.

Unlike other orphanages, Hanna staunchly refused to throw out sick children.

However, careful nursing was required to prevent the illness from spreading to other children, which further strained the orphanage's already tight financial situation.

There was no money to replace the vomit-stained sheets, no funds to buy more firewood to warm the room, no money for nutritious food, or warm and clean pajamas.

Well, there had been some money at one point.

Hanna and Leo, skilled in raising funds, had managed to scrape together enough through pleas for help and using their savings to keep the death toll at bay.

But—when their savings ran out and they could no longer borrow more.

Just as the end of the epidemic at Hanna's orphanage seemed within reach, Leo, who had been working tirelessly, succumbed to the illness.

The boy huddled in the attic was—Leo.

"Leo, ...I'm coming in. I brought fresh straw."

Bruno, his mouth covered with a cloth, entered the room. Leo, lying on the floor, looked around dazedly.

"Sorry...I wanted to puke in the corner to minimize the mess, but...it ended up everywhere. ...You shouldn't be here. You'll catch it. Just leave it there."