Level Down 15 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 15 - Start of the Restoration of the Orphanage

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“Yo, Allen. Can we get right to work?” (Man)

“Wait, wait. I'll explain it to the director in a bit. Or rather, introduce yourself. You're more or less the boss this time, you know.” (Allen)

“Uhee, what a bother.” (Man)

The one who familiarly called out to Allen was a man about the same age as Allen, with short red hair and a well-built physique, and Allen frowned at his blunt response. Then, slightly scratching his nose in embarrassment, he faced the director and began to introduce himself.

“I’m Nick.” (Nick)

“Haa?” (Director)

Nick's introduction, which began abruptly and ended instantly, left the director asking: ‘So?’ and a question mark appeared above his head. Seeing the situation, Allen roughly scratched his head, and began to add.

“You, you really are an idiot. There are other things to talk about, right? Like you’re a carpenter who belongs to the Brandt Workshop, or that time when you collapsed from hunger when the previous director...” (Allen)

“Shut up! A real craftsman knows when to zip it. Less talk, more work, got it?” (Nick)

Nick, blushing a little, kicked Allen's leg. Judging by the pretty good sound it made, it was clear that Nick was half-serious when he kicked him, but Allen's expression didn't change in the slightest. On the contrary, Nick was the one who grimaced.

Allen decided to leave Nick, who became somewhat sulky, alone, and resumed adding the explanation to the director.

“Umm, well, they're professional carpenters. This time, I called them here with the intention of having them repair the building. The damage to the orphanage is pretty bad after all.” (Allen)

“I would be very grateful for that, but unfortunately the money is...” (Director)

The director spoke ambiguously, as if finding it hard to say, but Allen nodded with a smile on his face, as if he understood.

“Of course, I'm not going to have the orphanage pay for it. I'm going to pay it out of my own money, and the request fee is extremely low, so there's no need to worry about it. All of these guys, including me, are indebted to the orphanage, or rather to the previous director after all.” (Allen)

“That's... um, thank you very much.” (Director)

“Aah! Enough, enough with that. Allen, we’re going to get to work right away. Hey, you guys, stop laughing and get to work!” (Nick)

When the director bowed his head with tears in his eyes, Nick's face flushed even more, and the young craftsmen, who seemed to be younger than Nick, in their late teens to mid-twenties, laughed at the sight and left the place like scattering baby spiders at the sound of his angry voice. Despite being yelled at, their faces looked happy.

Nick, who had been bitterly watching this for a while, also began to move to confirm what he had to do, and Allen followed behind him.

.

.

.

“Here, is around here okay?” (Allen)

“Ou.” (Nick)

Allen easily lifted up a bulky squared timber that is longer than he is tall, placed it where Nick instructed him, and supported it as it is. Nick fine-tuned the square timber, worked its edges, and then quickly fixed it in place.

By the time it had finished fixing to a certain extent, Allen had already moved away from the area, and then, he brought a new timber and headed towards Nick who had also moved. The process, which had been repeated many times, was so smooth that it could be called A-un's breathing.

* (T/N: A-un's breathing - synchronized breathing.)

“Next is around here, right?” (Allen)

“Ou.” (Nick)

Inwardly, Nick was astonished that Allen was placing the timbers exactly where he wanted them even without any instruction. It’s one thing if he’s a fellow carpenter who’s regularly working, but Allen is an adventurer and should be nothing but an amateur when it comes to carpentry.

“Hey, Allen. Want to be a carpenter?” (Nick)

“No, what’s wrong all of a sudden? I'm a guild employee, you know.” (Allen)

“It’s because you... nah, forget it. Still, you're an idiot too, you know. Even though you've finished taking care of your younger siblings, now you're taking care of the orphanage.” (Nick)

Nick stopped mid-sentence, then changed the subject and laughed at Allen. Allen himself smiled wryly at those words.

Allen and Nick were close in age and lived close together, so they had often played together since they were little, they were childhood friends. Unlike Allen, Nick had parents, but there was no difference in the fact that they were living in poverty, so in that respect it could be said that they were in similar circumstances.

So Nick knew what kind of life Allen had lived. But so did Allen.

“No, you're the one who's the idiot. Even though you finally gained the ability to be independent, you went out of your way to stay behind and teach orphans and others skills under the guise of human resource development, and even arrange for them to find employment.” (Allen)

“Shut up! I'm just doing it because it's easier to stay on the bottom. I don't even have to greet anyone there anyway.” (Nick)

Nick’s face turned red and denied it when Allen pointed it out. However, it was obvious to Allen that this was not his true feelings. Seeing Allen grinning ill-naturedly at him, Nick clicked his tongue and scowled at him.

Despite having such a conversation, the two never stopped their work. When Allen was about to leave the area after confirming that it was quite fixed, Nick spoke to his back.

“Thank you for this time.” (Nick)

“Nn?” (Allen)

Allen turned around at the abrupt words of gratitude. There, he saw Nick scratching his head and looking away.

“I couldn't have done it alone. Even though I knew I should have done it, I put my family first. It's thanks to you, Allen, that I managed to repay the favor back to the orphanage.” (Nick)

Nick also lived nearby and had grasped the current situation at the orphanage to some extent. But Nick already had a loving wife and daughter. Nick is a skilled carpenter, so his income is not small, but this was still more than he could afford considering the cost of materials and labor.

Nick has been following the previous director’s teachings, trying to help people living in poverty with their livelihood even just a little bit, but this was still a concern.

Allen smiled back at Nick, who’s still averting his gaze and refuses to look at him.

“It's the other way around. Thanks to you and your friends who took on the contract just for the cost of materials, I was able to repay the favor. I'm the one who should say thank you.” (Allen)

In fact, the amount Allen paid Nick and the others was unbelievably low compared to the average carpentry market rate. Allen had only talked to Nick, and he didn't know the exact number of people who would be working on it, so he was surprised that nearly 10 people showed up.

Allen himself has done some home repairs, so he has some idea of the cost of materials. Considering that, it seemed that the amount Allen paid might not even be enough to cover the cost of materials if things didn’t go well.

That's why Allen was grateful. There was a little bit of gratitude in other ways, but most of it was about that.

“Aa─h, shut it! Hurry up and bring the materials. Time is limited.” (Nick)

“No, you’re the one who started it.” (Allen)

“Like I said, uh... enough already! You damn idiot!” (Nick)

Laughing at Nick's poor attempts at deception that’s like a child’s, Allen turned around and started walking to get the materials.

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