〆 𝖆 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖑𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉 〆 ᵗᵖⁿ ⁺ ᵗᵗⁱᵍʳᵃᵃˢ

VI. The Start

One Month Later:

Before anyone knew it, a whole month had passed. The children had, thankfully, managed to settle well into the capital of the Jura Tempest Federation. Between the dwarves' intellect and the orcs' stamina and great strength, the townsfolk had quickly built a fine longhouse for the children and Krone to live in. It was very different from the orphanage, but that didn't matter much. It was warm and dry, and the kids felt safe there.

Shuna had also taken it upon herself to tailor each of the children and Krone new outfits. Her offer was quickly accepted by all of them, as none of the kids had worn anything except plain white their whole lives, and Krone had nothing to wear except her old mom's dress, which, apparently, was a type of uniform. Soon, they were all wearing new clothes in a variety of different colours.

Emma, now sporting a short green dress, spent a lot of time looking after the younger kids, and keeping an eye on Krone, while the rest of the children each settled into a routine that suited them. Part of their day was spent in lessons, learning the written language used in their new world, along with the history and geography of the region. These were things that Rimuru insisted that they know. They also learned about the more dangerous creatures in the region. Knight Spiders, for instance, might be tasty when cooked correctly, but they were very dangerous while still alive. Rimuru pointed out that all of the kids needed to know what they should run from if worse came to worst.

The afternoons were given over to the kids' personal interests. Norman and Ray spent their free time at the forge, watching Garm work. Neither of them was strong enough to help with the actual forging, but they were put to work on simple tasks that allowed them to learn from the ground up, and get stronger at the same time.

Each of the kids found something to interest them. Anna was fascinated in the healing potion that Rimuru could make, after seeing one used to treat an injured hobgoblin. She asked how it was made, and was tasked with helping Gabiru and the other dragonewts in the afternoons to gather herbs in Veldora's cave.

When Emma traded off with Norman or Ray for 'Krone detail,' she watched Shion practice with her sword, and was, after a week or two of this, offered a chance to learn the forms. The woman proved an excellent teacher, though Emma couldn't come close to her level of strength and speed.

Gilda took an interest in sewing and the making of clothes, so she found herself working with Shuna, and was occasionally tutored by Dord. As with the boys working with Garm, she was learning all aspects of the middle bother's crafting skills.

The younger kids liked playing with the direwolves and learning to ride them. Gobta watched over them as they learned, and smiled at their rapid progress. For the moment, they were just playing, but if they kept at it, some of them might make good additions to his unit, the goblin riders, someday. He'd pass on the thought to Lord Rimuru, to see what he thought of it.

What surprised all of the older kids was Krone. She had taken to her duties easily enough, doing the work she was trained for, but over time, she had relaxed, a tension she had always had about her seemed to vanish, and she began smiling and even laughing with the children and townsfolk. The smiles weren't forced for the children's benefit, as they had been in the past, nor were they stress induced, near hysterical parodies, but were genuine happy smiles. These surprised Krone more than any of the kids.

All her life, she had lived with fear. It had been her constant companion from the time she'd left her orphanage at age 12. The removal of that constant companion had been so sudden that it had taken time for the reality of its absence to sink in. Tension had eased from her only gradually. She kept expecting to see grandmother or even a demon to pop up. But that, thankfully, didn't happen.