The two conversed some more about lighter topics, as they joined the others for lunch. Julian was particularly interested about the breakthrough.
"So, what exactly does it actually feel like?" Julian asked out of curiosity.
"Like the biggest epiphany possible in the human experience." Rui replied. "For a moment you no longer care about anything in this world. You experience true happiness and satisfaction, and your mind has absolute clarity."
"Hmmm..." Julian hummed, engrossed in Rui's explanation. "Remarkable, really."
"Hey! Pay attention to your food, you haven't even touched it yet!" Myra, the head cook of the Orphanage, insisted. She had always been quite strict about all matters regarding food and meals.
"Yes yes." Rui laughed.
"You're as strict as ever." Julian sighed with a resigned smile.
Rui proceeded to inquire about the Orphanage affairs, wanting to catch up on having missed a whole year of their lives.
"You must have seen the fully-fixed roof when you came right?" Lashara asked, while showing an affectionate smile to Julian. "Julian was the one who paid for all of that."
"It wasn't that big a deal." Julian smiled modestly.
"Not that big a deal? You're too humble." Rui chuckled.
The Orphanage was able to fix the infrastructure that needed the most amount of maintenance, while also able to expand its housing capacity a bit, being able to in more children.
"There have been far more children out on the streets these days." Lashara sighed with resigned melancholy. "I've wanted to do something for these children ever since."
"How did all these children end up this way?" Rui wondered.
"Part of it is because there naturally aren't enough caretakers. Another part of it is..." Lashara's voice trailed off.
"...Is?" Rui tilted his head.
"Another part of it is because of a series of child trafficking busts." She sighed, as an even more macabre expression creeped onto her face.
Rui's eyes widened, before sharpening. He recalled when he was almost abducted by a random man who spoke about selling him like he was no more than goods in demand. This was in one of the outer districts of Hajin. Was Hajin home to an underground black market of trafficking?
"Huff... Let's not talk about such matters while eating." Lashara sighed. "I'm glad that increased housing capacity has allowed us to take in more children."
Rui nodded. The adolescent children from when he was an infant had all become full-fledged adults, although a lot of them no longer resided in the Quarrier Orphanage, several had chosen to stick with the Orphanage, supporting in whatever way they could. This meant there were hands on deck, allowing for more children to be taken care of.
The number of children that could be cared for by the orphanage was constrained by the number of caretakers present, the housing capacity and funds at hand. Julian singlehandedly increased the latter two with his high-income occupation.
"By the way Rui." Nina drew his attention. "Will you be staying for the Winter Festival? It's day after tomorrow, after all."
"Ah..." Rui recalled. "I'll be there for the first day, I'll have to return unfortunately."
The Kandrian Winter Festival was a nation-wide festival. It was celebrated in some form or the other across the entirety of the nation, lasting three days.
"Are we going to visit the outer districts this time as well?" Rui asked.
The Orphanage took the luxury of taking the adolescents to the outer districts where they could visit the festival fares and events.
"We were planning on going on the last day, as usual..." Lashara paused. "But since you won't be here for the last day, we'll go for the first day."
"Thanks, that works well for me." Rui nodded. "I would hate to miss the outing."
Going with the family to enjoy the festival was a rare occasion, and one that Rui cherished the most. He thought back to his memories of the festival. This was just around the time where the snowfall was at its most pleasant. It was substantial, yet not overwhelming. Just the perfect amount for it to be enjoyed, before the citizens prepared for the incoming harsher snowfall and potentially even blizzards if they misfortunate enough.
"Do we have all out supplies for this winter?" Rui asked, pondering aloud.
The Orphanage was too disconnected from the heartland of the town of Hajin. Winters could be absolutely deadly if they were not prepared. Every year for a period of two weeks, roughly, the snowfall peaked, reaching to incredible heights, and extremely low temperatures. Furthermore, there were years where it extended beyond the norm or devolved into full-blown blizzards. In such circumstances, their supply lines would be completely cut off. It was practically impossible to wade through the snow, the winds and the freezing temperatures and haul back the heavy supplied the Orphanage needed.
Thus, it had become customary for the Orphanage to stock up on all necessities well in advance. Two weeks' worth of different grains, pulses and dried meat for food, lots of water, firewood, heavy clothing to endure the freezing-cold temperatures, tools and equipment to clear the massive accumulation of snow on and around the orphanage, lest they become trapped within the orphanage!
"We still haven't acquired all the firewood we need." Lashara sighed. "The deforestation in the closest sources of firewood has made it so that we need to travel much further to chop it down. This has also inflated prices of firewood, making it difficult to pay for."
"I'll handle it." Rui reassured.
"Eh?" Lashara glanced at him. "No no, there's no way we can make you do work that requires eight adults across a week, merely in the span of a few days."
Rui chuckled at her words. They stemmed from simple ignorance of what an actual Martial Apprentice was capable. She likely found it hard to imagine that despite his youth, he was actually extremely strong! Helical Breathing alone would give him net power and stamina rivalling several healthy adults combined, Balance Direction and Parallel Walking would allow him to make trips many times quicker than normal.
"Don't worry about it mom, I'll handle it."
