The innocence of childhood

"It seems that Monsieur Greenhill did well", said the same receptionist who had received me when I entered, "if the Sancor supervisor seems like a very nice person", I replied, "he is one of the most reliable and capable supervisors", replied the receptionist, "it's not the only one?", I asked for, "in total there are about 20 supervisors, but not all are at the same time, some go out to act as mediators in meetings between the different unions, above them is the Guild Master who also occupies a seat on the city council", said the receptionist.

"I understand, I would like to know if there is any mission available that can be carried out by a single person, also if there is an inn that the guild recommends", I asked, "about the posadas, there are low, medium or high-class levels, which one do you prefer?", asked the receptionist, "a medium level would be fine", I said, I did not need many luxuries, but I wanted a clean and quiet place, "The Placid Sleep Inn is recommended by the guild, although few mercenaries go there because it is far from the gates, it is in the east quadrant, between the second and third walls on the main street", said the receptionist.

While he was talking with the receptionist the secretary of the supervisor Sancor approached with a note in his hand, "Monsieur Greenhill", he called me, "how can I help you", I replied, "Monsieur Sancor has prepared a trial work for you, but you are free to reject it without consequences if you wish, but if you complete it, Monsieur Sancor will be in your debt", he said while bowing gracefully, what kind of order will it be, I was wondering, could it be something problematic?, against which a supervisor of the mercenaries guild owed me a favor was a tempting bait, after thinking quickly I took the role from the hands of the secretary.

"What type of commission is it", ask kindly, making a charming smile the secretary told me about the details, I must have been looking for a certain person named 《Edena》 who lived in the south quadrant, the residential district, on the paper were detailed instructions on how to get to his home, later I had to take care of the problem that plagued that person, the note did not specify what the problem was and when I asked the secretary, she only told me that supervisor Sancor trusted my ability to solve it and that I would not need to leave the city to do it.

An order that could be carried out within the city, I wondered what type of order it was, "Okay, you can inform the Sancor supervisor that I will take your request", I said confidently, "I knew Monsieur Greenhill would accept it", said the secretary while bowing, "Sorry? How were you so sure miss?", I said hesitantly, "My name is Cilia, I am Monsieur Sancor's personal secretary, you seem to be the type of person who does not waste opportunities, so I convinced Monsieur Sancor to entrust this task to you, Monsieur Sancor has long wanted that situation to be resolved but he cannot find the right person and he cannot personally take care of it", miss Cilia said confidently.

"But I'm a total stranger", I answered with a bit of doubt, "but it has been recommended by the merchants guild, an organization that recognizes excellence and trust, in addition to his feat in the mountains, the testimonies of other mercenaries and adventurers show that you always kept control of the situation, I even defeat a presumed knight, he always stood tall and was not intimidated by Monsieur Sancor when he spoke to him, for those reasons I consider that he is the suitable person for this task", miss Cilia completed, I was speechless, this woman had paid attention to absolutely every detail.

"Yes you are observant", I said making a downcast face to Miss Cilia, "of course Monsieur Greenhill, what matters after all is the details", said Miss Cilia with a smile, I felt a chill run down my back when I saw that smile, I feel sorry for whoever wants to make her their couple, whoever it is will have no chance but to accept unconditional surrender, "if that's all, then I'll check into an inn first, then I will look for the person of the request", I said while saying goodbye to Miss Cilia, "Monsieur Sancor will be very pleased to know that I accept the request", said Miss Cilia while bowing politely.

I left the headquarters of the mercenaries guild, I was in the East quadrant, between the fourth and fifth walls, I had to go down the main street to the sector between the second and third walls, the commercial area was bustling with activity, Dumai was a very lively city, I could see patrols of soldiers diligently walking the streets, after a long walk of almost an hour I reached my destination, the Placid Sleep inn, I entered and was greeted by a woman who was cleaning the lobby, "Good morning, I am recommended by the mercenaries guild, I would like to know if there is a room available", I greeted the woman politely.

"Good morning young man, of course, we have several types of rooms available", said the woman kindly, "I would like the one that is silent", I replied, "the rooms facing the backyard are the quietest", said the woman, "perfect then I'll take one, I'd like to pay the rent for a full month", I said while looking for my money, "it will be 40 silver coins with the discount offered to the members of the guild, by the way, my name is Irta, I am the owner together with my husband Roy who works in the kitchen", the woman said happily, "I am Lif delighted to meet you", I replied, then he told me the time of the meals if I wanted something special to be prepared for me, I had to ask for it one day in advance, I put my luggage in order inside the room and went out again to go to the South quadrant, the residential district.

It was a long walk, when I got to the South quadrant I was greeted by a totally different panorama from the one I had seen in the rest of the city of Dumai, instead of the wide streets there were narrow alleys and small multi-story houses one on top of the other, in a way it reminded me of the favelas that I had seen in Brazil in my previous life, but without the rolling hills, it was still quite clean and tidy, they even had several squares where a lot of children played, I asked a group of elders for directions who responded cordially and finally reached my destination.

An old two-story building with a large courtyard, it looked like a teaching institute, I walked over and knocked on the door, I could notice that all the people around me were looking at me in surprise which gave me a bad feeling, I could hear children whispering on the other side of the door, finally after knocking on the door many times a small crack was opened and I could see the scared eyes of an older woman, "please stop bothering us", said the older woman nervously, "perhaps I was mistaken for a criminal", I murmured, "Please excuse me, I'm looking for Mrs. Edena, the supervisor Sancor of the Mercenaries Guild has sent me", I said as kindly as possible, "the young Sancor has sent you", asked the woman, "if she gave me the task of looking for a woman named Edena and helping her with any problem she had", I replied, then the woman timidly let me pass.

"I am Lif, I am a mercenary recently arrived in the city, the Sancor supervisor asked me to help her", I politely introduced myself, "I am Edena, I am in charge of this orphanage", Mrs. Edena replied, at first glance, Mrs. Edena was a woman in her early forties, however, her gentle maternal gaze implied that she was a rather old person, "to tell the truth I'm not really sure how to help her, the Sancor supervisor gave me this job as a kind of test, but I will do my best to help her in whatever way", I said with confidence.

"I see, young Sancor continues to worry about us", said Mrs. Edena with a distant look, while she was adjusting her hair I noticed a very striking detail, Mrs. Edena tried to hide it by using her hair down, but a characteristic physical feature, "excuse me, could it be that Mrs. Edena is an elf?", ask curiously, "Young Lif is a very observant person", replied Mrs. Edena happily, "could it be that Mrs. Edena is molested because she is an elf?", I asked again, "Young Lif is a very knowledgeable person", she said smiling, but it was a smile of regret, not a smile of joy.

Then he told me the situation while offering me a tea, Mrs. Edena was a retired adventurer, she had been a renowned healer in her youth, but she was already in the final stretch of an elf's life, but because their life expectancy was much higher than that of a human, elves could live for hundreds of years even in old age, when she could no longer continue being an adventurer, she decided to take care of orphaned children, so she began to work in the orphanage until finally, she became the director, life had been peaceful and she had cared for many generations of children including supervisor Sancor, everything changed just a few weeks ago, one of the local crime lords reverted to the old custom of charging people of other races for protection, they had started to harass Mrs. Edena, they even scared some girls who worked for her by helping her in the orphanage so she was currently alone.

"A young mercenary helps us every time she is in town, the last time they came was two weeks ago and she chased them away, but every time she goes out to do her missions we are helpless again", Mrs. Edena said with regret, "I see so you have someone else to help you", I answered curiously; dealing with criminals in cities is always complicated, most people do not understand their actions and that makes it difficult for them to deal with them, to end this situation permanently, you would need to gather a lot of information to come up with a suitable strategy.

"Mrs. Edena, I will stay to take care of the orphanage, I think I can end this situation permanently, even if it will take me a while", I said with a confident look, "I appreciate it deeply young Lif", said Mrs. Edena through tears, then several children who had been in hiding came out and started bombarding me with questions, they had been listening to the whole conversation.