Chapter 35: The Monthly Draws and a Darker Secret

“Hello there, little one, what are you doing sitting here? You look rather unhappy.”

The little girl, head bowed on the stone steps, felt the sunlight before her suddenly eclipsed by a shadow. Looking up, she saw a purple-haired maiden standing before her, clad in a pale purple robe over a light pink dress, a witch’s hat perched atop her head. This was Imeline, who had come to investigate.

Imeline gently held the brim of her hat, bending slightly to look at the girl, her greeting filled with concern. “I’m a volunteer sent by the Mage Association. Is there anything bothering you that you’d like to talk about with your big sister?”

After her initial investigation yielded no results, Imeline had folded away her invisibility cloak. She greeted the staff in the main hall before openly making her way to the plaza to play with the children. After spending some time engaging with them, Imeline spotted the melancholic little girl and decided to approach her.

“…There’s nothing unhappy about being here,” the little girl mumbled, lowering her head to pluck at the small blades of grass in the flowerbed. “Everyone is lively, the teachers are kind and don’t bully us, and there’s lots of delicious food.”

“Then why do you look so sad?”

“Because my friend isn’t here anymore.”

‘That’s it!’ Imeline’s spirits lifted at the girl’s answer; she needed to find out what had happened.

“Oh? How did your friend suddenly disappear? Did the teachers here take her away?”

“Yes, I really want to see her, but the teachers won’t let me. They said a noble family took a liking to her and wants her to be their daughter, so she has to change her name and cut off all contact with us. I won’t ever be able to see her again.”

“I see.” This was a satisfactory answer for Imeline. She had just been thinking the same thing: the Crimson Family kept these orphans so well-fed and clean, it was surely to sell them to nobles—either as adopted sons or daughters, or perhaps as servants or child brides.

But… even if that were the case, what then? If it was merely this extent, it wouldn’t be considered a heinous act within the Arcadia Kingdom. After all, the practice of nobles adopting foster sons or daughters from commoners was far from uncommon. Moreover, the children in this orphanage were already orphans; this arrangement essentially provided them with a better future. The laws of the Arcadia Kingdom didn’t explicitly forbid such practices; at most, it was a grey area. Even if Imeline exposed this, the impact on the Crimson Family would be negligible.

Furthermore, most of the children taken in by the Alpha Orphanage were orphans who had lost their families to bandits or fantastical creatures; they hadn’t been deliberately abducted by the Crimson Family. For these children, such an arrangement would undoubtedly be more beneficial than detrimental. Could this truly be the entire secret behind the Crimson Family’s enterprise? No, Imeline couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss.

“Hmm… if she’s been adopted by a noble, then she’ll have a good future, won’t she? Even if you can’t see her again, at least you know she’s doing well. There’s no need to be too sad,” Imeline murmured, gently stroking the little girl’s head as she offered comfort.

“But… but if she’s gone, no one will be there to be with me when I get injections. Without her, I’ll be scared…”

“Injections?” Imeline’s brows furrowed slightly; she sensed a hint of something amiss. “What kind of injections?”

“It’s when they use a needle to draw blood from our arm. The teachers say it’s to check on our health.”

“Oh, blood draws. Blood tests for check-ups are usually only once a year, aren’t they? You just have to bear with it.”

“No, it’s not like that… We have to have blood drawn every month…”

“What?” Imeline’s heart lurched at the little girl’s words.

If they were suffering from some illness, monthly blood tests would certainly make sense, or even more frequent draws. But in that case, wouldn’t it be better to send them directly to a hospital? Besides, looking at the little girl’s physique, she didn’t appear to be suffering from any illness at all.

“Little one, is it just you who has to have blood drawn every month, or all the children in the orphanage?”

“It’s everyone, but they’re not scared. Only I’m afraid of injections; I’m not scared when she’s with me.”

Monthly blood tests for orphanage children… even a normal adult would struggle to endure such frequent draws. No wonder the meals were so lavish, with the kitchen preparing nothing but poultry, fish, and meat. If they didn’t provide such nutritious food to replenish them, these children would likely be bled into anemia.

“It’s alright. Big sister will tell you a trick so you won’t be afraid of blood draws. Just don’t look at the needle; look somewhere else.”

“Oh? Will that work?”

“It will. As long as you don’t pay attention to it, it’ll feel like it’s over in a flash. You can try it next time, and if it doesn’t work, big sister will come with you for your blood draws, okay?”

“Okay, thank you, big sister!” The little girl brightened considerably at Imeline’s comforting words, but within Imeline’s heart, a tempest had already begun to rage.

What kind of physical examination required monthly blood draws? Imeline immediately thought of the Crimson Family’s hospital. Their family hospital’s blood bank was virtually never out of stock; patients of any blood type could receive transfusions there.

Could it be that the blood in those blood banks was drawn from these very orphans? If so, then the little girl’s friend might not have been sold to a noble after all, but rather used as a living blood bag to replenish the blood bank. No, in a more extreme scenario, not just her blood, but perhaps even her organs might have been harvested for medical procedures at the hospital. In that case, the profits of the Crimson Family hospital would undoubtedly far exceed the orphanage’s expenses.

A cold sweat immediately broke out on Imeline’s brow at the thought. This was far more terrifying than simply raising children to sell to nobles.

If there was no connection between the hospital and the orphanage, then what Imeline could only imagine was human experimentation. Their Mage Association also had similar dark magic, using blood sacrifices or live sacrifices to advance one’s rank, summon familiars, or increase magical reserves. Such dark magic was too cruel and had long been forbidden by the Mage Association, with all related artifacts destroyed. If the Crimson Family was researching such things, they would likewise be violating the Arcadia Kingdom’s prohibitions.

As for what Lovelenica’s connection to all this might be, Imeline hadn’t yet figured it out. Perhaps Lovelenica was involved in researching dark magic? Or was there some other reason entirely? Although everything above was merely Imeline’s conjecture, she had found her lead, and she was determined to expose the true face hidden by the Crimson Family.