“In other news, new information has been released from the Deckan Institute of Higher Research.” The anchorwoman spoke up on a holographic display, though the display itself seemed to be somewhat distorted while being projected on a wooden wall. “The list of materials required for an existing divinity to obtain an additional domain is now known.”

“Hah, like anyone would be able to afford a treatment like that.” The human male watching the screen said with a roll of his eyes, crushing an empty drink can with one hand. His greasy appearance made was a stark contrast for the well kept appearance of the building he lived in.

“First, you require the tears of a stone giant, and the crystal heart of a ruby salamander.” The anchorwoman announced with a radiant smile. “While expensive, both of these items are available on the Boundless Caravan, so be sure not to miss out. Other than that, the list is the same as the standard ascension list, though with one final addition. It has been noted that only those who receive the blessing of the Empress of Bloodhaven have the potential to complete this process, due to a special energy requirement.”

The man let out a laugh as he heard that, clearly in disbelief. “Yeah, they just want to make sure they control who gets in and not. Can’t believe they teamed up with the blood clots, of all things.”

As he grumbled those final words, he heard the sounds of something shifting above the ceiling, glaring up at it. “You brats quiet down! Don’t make me go up there!” He shouted, clearly far louder than the slight noise that they made.

There was a brief shuffling, as if the children were hastily getting back in bed, and he narrowed his eyes. His fists clenched as he stood, making his way towards the staircase. He didn’t seem to notice the short, human girl hiding just behind the wall, keeping her body flat against it. Although her eyes seemed innocent and childish, there was an unusual level of skill to her movements.

The man climbed up the stairs, and this girl’s eyes briefly flashed. One of the stairs broke just as he was stepping onto it. His leg crashed through the stair, causing him to fall forward with a startled shout as splinters dug at his leg. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself on a set of higher stairs with his hands, having a small amount of real combat experience.

After giving it a moment for the shout to ring out, the girl’s innocent expression returned, running forward as if she had just come from the nearby kitchen. “M-Mister Carlen, are you okay?” She asked, her body trembling as she approached the man.

“I-I’m fine.” He grunted, not wanting to appear weak as he pulled his leg free, only to cause the wood to scratch his leg further. “Well, what are you waiting for, Lily?! Go and get the bandages!” He ordered her in a harsh tone, causing the girl to let out a small whimper before running down the hall again. “Third time this month… I swear, they’re fixing these with rotten wood.”

As soon as Lily had made it to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet, her frightened expression calmed. She slowly grabbed the bandages and disinfectants with one hand while the other fiddled with a personal terminal. She displayed the screen on the counter, typing out a quick email with one hand.

Jonas, it’s me. I’ve got another group that I need to send your way soon. Abusive orphanage owner that’s making the kids work on construction jobs. Not learning his lesson, so I’ll send them over the usual way. Good kids, so try to see if you can find them a caring home.

Once she had finished the email, she quickly sent it, the terminal sphere disappearing into her arm a moment later. Immediately afterwards, her frightened and innocent look returned, and she ran back into the hall. She almost tripped when she brought the bandages and medicine over, stumbling and falling against the side of the stairs.

Practically growling, the owner of the orphanage reached out to snatch the items from her arms, practically shoving her away as he began to bandage his leg. “What took you so long?!” He asked in an angry tone, prompting Lily to shiver in what looked like fear.

“I-I’m sorry. I couldn’t find the medicine.” She stammered out, only to receive a glare.

“What are you doing down here, anyways? You’re supposed to be in bed by now.” Despite the sun having yet to set, the children were expected to be in their beds early to lessen the noise.

“I-I had to get a glass of water.” She answered, pointing hesitantly towards the kitchen.

“Well, then make yourself useful.” He grunted, tying off the bandage. “Go grab one of the planks from the shed and fix this stair.”

Lily gave a quick nod, turning around and running down the hall again. Seeing that, the man walked back towards his chair, seeming to have forgotten his anger towards the other kids in the midst of his ordeal. That, or the pain in his leg simply made him feel like it wasn’t worth it to climb the stairs again.

Once in the shed, Lily’s expression once again went calm, walking over and measuring the planks. “Stone giant tears, and a ruby salamander’s heart… those aren’t too bad. I should have enough saved up, if I do some trading at Sanctum. The blessing, though… I’ll need to pay a visit to Bloodhaven once I finish getting these kids taken care of.”

Lily took a deep breath, picking out what looked like a suitable plank. Although she appeared to be a human girl, and even seemed to have a mortal body if injured, she was far from normal. And far from young, having ascended not just once, but twice. The Goddess of Disguise and Trickery, the hidden defender of abused children, gave a small smile as she made her plans.

After composing herself again and returning to the frightened image of a young child, she rushed into the orphanage while carrying the thick wooden plank. Using the druidic abilities taught to all children in this orphanage, she pried the old plank up. Placing the new one on the stair, she set her hand atop it.

Natural energy flowed into the plank, warping the wood underneath to fuse it with the braces for the stairs. After doing so, she gathered up the broken pieces of the former stair, and made her way back to the living room. “S-Sir, I’ve fixed it. Do you want me to throw these away?”

The man didn’t even look back at her, simply waving his hand dismissively. “Grab yourself some dinner while you’re at it.” He said as if rewarding her. Lily let out a small gasp, nodding her head quickly and moving back into the hall. It was common in this ‘home’ for the children to go to bed without dinner, eating only the meals provided by their school.

Lily threw the old planks into a large bin, opening the fridge to see what her options were. Naturally, the man only cooked for himself, and only barely at that. Thus, she grabbed some simple leftovers, though more than enough for just one person. She knew that he’d never notice the difference, having been in this orphanage long enough to get an understanding of him.

She took a deep breath, channeling her druidic powers again to heat up the food in her hands. Once a gentle steam began to rise up from the plate, she smiled and quickly ran back upstairs. She would have been expected to eat up there anyways. However, once she arrived in the bedroom, the sound of her footsteps vanished. As did the sounds of the rest of the room, a thin layer of energy spread over the floor to disguise their noise.

“Here.” She said, setting the large plate of food on one of the beds, as well as several sets of silverware. She smiled towards the kids, who all looked at her with wide eyes. “Well? Come on, you guys don’t expect me to eat it all by myself, do you?”

The kids, almost a dozen of them, gulped and began to move over. They eyed the plate, but kept their steps soft. Lily simply rolled her eyes when she saw that. “I already took care of the noise. Don’t worry, he can’t hear us.”

As soon as she said that, the kids all rushed forward, grabbing the silverware. “Is this really alright?” One of them, a young boy no more than ten years old, asked as he cut off a small piece of meat.

“He’ll never notice.” Lily assured him, ruffling his hair. “If he does, I’ll just say it was me. Now, hurry up or everyone else will finish it all.”

That got the boy to return his attention to the food before him, though Lily spoke up again to address the group. “Remember, this is higher level food than you’re all used to. Use small bites, and make sure to chew thoroughly, or it’ll make you sick. If you need to use ki on your teeth, do it like I taught you.” Thankfully, the plate was more than enough to feed a group of their size, thanks to the fact that they were children with a low physical level.

“Lily, how much longer do we have to stay here?” One of the girls in the group asked, looking pitifully towards Lily. In response, she received a small smile and a gentle hug.

“Don’t worry. I already called my friend. This weekend, if he doesn’t really turn things around, we’ll get everyone out. You’ll all have families that love you, I promise

This was how the defender of abused children operated. When she found a group of children suffering, she would use her divine powers to integrate herself with the scenario. She could make herself appear as an adopted child of either gender, any race she chose, or just another orphan as she did here.

Once properly integrated, she began to use the carrot and stick method from behind the scenes. If the children were abused, she would engineer the situation to indirectly harm them in subtle ways. A stubbed toe, a broken stair, a cold shower, the list goes on. If the abuser began to turn things around and treated their children kindly, she would engineer rewards for them. Maybe they find something they previously lost, or she tutors their child to help them ace an upcoming test. If the cause of the situation is something as simple as being overstressed from work, she would try to secretly relieve that stress, whether through helping the parent get a promotion or presenting them with a better alternative.

If the problem was fixed, she only needed to use her divine powers to remove herself from the situation again, knowing that she left a job well done. Otherwise… the pranks would escalate more and more. Faulty wiring, loose ceiling fixtures, progressively more hazardous pranks.

Should someone maintain their attitude despite all of this, there was only one final solution. No, not killing them. Lily gathered evidence of their wrongdoings over the course of her stay, whether simply the abuse or anything else she managed to uncover. Once she hit her limit, she would have this evidence delivered to the police while secreting the children away to the God of Community, where they could find a better home.

Of course, she made sure that the child was willing first. The last thing that she wanted was to misunderstand the situation and take a kid from a loving home that was just going through a bad spell. If a child was truly loved, her early methods usually worked to repair their relationship. But situations like her current one, where the children were clearly being harmed and left unloved… these were the situations that Lily worked the hardest to fix.

“Really…?” The girl asked, sniffling as she held onto Lily. “We’ll… have families? Parents and all?”

Lily giggled, nodding her head. “That’s right, parents and all. I promised, didn’t I? Just make sure the big bad man doesn’t figure out what we’re doing, and everything will work out one way or another. Now, be good and finish your dinner.”