Mage×Family

Mission 1: Backup Plan

As he entered the orphanage, he was quickly spotted by an elderly woman laying her head on the front desk. The woman appeared to be in her early 50s, although she could easily be mistaken for being well into her 60s. It was obvious from the look in her eye alone that she didn't care one bit for her job. While this would start ringing alarms for most people, for Loid it was another good sign of this orphanage's useful incompetence.

The woman sat up and yawned, leaning her head against one hand as she looked at Loid, mumbling, "Alright, what d'ya want? You want a kid? I got plenty of 'em."

"Yes, I was hoping to adopt, you see m-" Loid began before he was suddenly cut off.

The woman interrupted, "I don't need your sob story. C'mere, I'll show you the kids."

The woman led Loid back through a hallway behind her. Soon, the lady opened the door and allowed Loid to step inside. Upon entering he saw a few dozen kids all messing and playing around. Most of their toys were poor in quality or simply just old, the only new ones being clear donations of old hand-me-downs due to how scuffed they were. Their crayons and other art tools were cheap off-brand versions that didn't seem to work very well, and it was pretty obvious that the whole building was only minimally cleaned at best. All of it almost made him feel bad for the children, but there wasn't much he could do. He might be able to spare at least one of them from this awful-smelling pit of negligence if he found a suitable child.

The old woman followed behind Loid and soon stood next to him, beginning to point at groups of children. "Over there are the playful brats. Throw them a shitty toy and they'll be entertained for hours, especially if they have someone else to play with."

Loid had seen many like them throughout his visits to many orphanages. While such a child would no doubt be good for Anya, it wouldn't help either much with getting into Eden Academy. He needed one that was able and willing to learn, not one that would prefer to play the whole time instead of taking lessons.

The woman then pointed to another group of kids, this time being a scattered group all sitting or playing independently, doing their own things, uncaring of the others. "Those are the anti-social brats. They don't play with nobody and they don't care about nobody, but they'll usually find a quiet way to entertain themselves, at least."

There were many quiet kids that he spotted throughout the day, and it was often them who were the top candidates. Quiet might often meant studious, and compared to the more playful children who cared for play more than work, the quiet kids could be swayed more easily; at least in theory. Still, it wasn't enough for him to fully place his confidence on yet.

Next, the woman pointed at a group of kids all sitting at a table coloring and drawing. Most weren't drawing well, but there were a few that had decent art ability for their young age and lack of support. "Those there are the creative brats. Damned idiots keep drawing on the walls no matter how much I tell them not to."

While the arts was a category in Eden Academy that could provide a path towards getting Stella Stars, the main struggle was getting them into and keeping them in Eden Academy. Art was unfortunately not on the Entry, Midterm, or Final exams, at least not for their age.

Lastly, the woman pointed to a lone child sitting in the corner, reading a book of surprising size for someone her age, "And that demon there is the weird kid. I'd pay you to take her off my hands. She don't talk like a normal kid and she's done scared off every parent that's ever been even slightly interested in er'. She insisted on bein' allowed to go to the library down the road, nowadays I'm just hopin' she gets kidnapped. No child scares me as much as that one does."

Loid looked at the girl, her blue eyes never once lifting from her book. It was a bit strange to describe a little girl that way, but from the sheer size of the book she was reading, and her desire to go to the library, she was immediately giving off green flags in Loid's head. There might be some strange aspects to the child, but if they could get good grades then he frankly didn't care.