102 Why I Make Money

“O-oh.”

“Amazing.”

“Wow-!”

Children trickling into the office one by one.

An even balance of boys and girls, and a variety of races.

The impatience and restlessness evident in every little thing the children did gave off the unmistakable air of kids raised in difficult circumstances, but—

On the other hand, the clothes they wore and the prosthetics attached to their bodies were all nothing short of top-of-the-line.

Prosthetics.

Right, the prosthetics were important.

Every one of the children was wearing prosthetics.

Starting with common parts like eyes, arms, and legs—

One child who had been unable to walk because of a disability around the waist and had gotten around in a wheelchair was walking again now.

I knew these children.

Sixth-Floor Cyber City.

They were the five children Mosco Vichakos had raised at the cathedral.

It had been two years since I opened Meracle.

They’d grown a little in those two years, but their facial features were still clearly recognizable.

You could say the children who had once looked like kindergartners had now grown to about elementary-school age.

“Is this where you work, Mister?”

“No way! Mister, you were a really important person?”

“Guys! That’s rude! Let’s be careful!”

The girl who kept the children together, even though they looked ready to scatter and explore at any moment.

The tallest child, with black hair, was named Sora.

As I recalled, she had no left leg and always hopped around on one foot or used crutches.

Now, a stylish prosthetic was fitted to that leg of hers.

It was a gorgeous glossy-black product, but it wasn’t a mass-produced Hellaight model; it was a higher-end model from a luxury brand.

In other words, it wasn’t something an orphan living at a cathedral could afford to wear.

“Mister, it’s been a long time. Thank you for making time for us.”

Sora bowed deeply.

The other children followed suit, bowing and saying, “Thank you!”

Seeing the scene, my worried feelings receded a little, replaced by a warm smile.

“You’ve been studying hard, huh? You speak Third Floor pretty convincingly.”

“We can read all the books you left us now, too.”

Just two years ago, they could barely communicate beyond individual words.

Now, they spoke quite fluently.

“So what brings you here?”

It wasn’t Vichakos herself; the children had come. It was surprising enough that they’d come down to the Third Floor, but the fact that they’d sought me out meant something must have happened.

“Ah, actually-.”

“Our mom isn’t coming, Mister!”

“We miss our mom!”

“She promised, but she isn’t coming!”

“Guys! Your sister is talking right now! Don’t burden Mister!”

Mom?

To them, their mother could only be Mosco Vichakos.

And unfortunately, she was currently a wanted fugitive in Cyber City.

The crime of betraying humanity was certainly unforgivable—.

“……”

Probably now.

The children standing before me were the reason she had betrayed humanity.

Fitting children with prosthetics while they were young cost more money than one might think.

As the children grew over time, special care had to be taken with frequent changes in prosthetic sizes, contamination, and so on.

‘She probably even took out all the follow-up insurance……’

I figured she’d even prepaid the amount the children would need for prosthetic-related after-sales service or replacements.

Having calmed the children down, Sora looked at me again. Maybe it was because she’d lived at a cathedral, but she still had the habit of clasping her hands whenever she was desperate.

“Mister, could you help us find our mom? The police here keep saying Cyber City isn’t under their jurisdiction, and we don’t have the money to go back up to Cyber City.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. You were the only person we could think of asking. Um, this place was among the business cards Mom gave us and told us to visit if she ever needed help.”

Business card.

I thought they would have thrown it away.

But surprisingly, they’d kept it all this time.

“Where are you staying?”

“Ah, at a cathedral. Since the Sixth Floor was a branch chapel, the main parish on the Third Floor took us in.”

As I’d said before, religion was the most active force after the Interfloor War ended.

It was a chaotic period.

Like churches in the American West during the frontier era, churches and cathedrals moved upward, preaching in God’s name and erecting crosses to an almost reckless degree.

This was also the main reason Christmas spread throughout the Sixth Floor.

I discreetly checked the time.

I still had about two hours before I got off work.

“Ms. Renea.”

“Huh?”

Our employees had been quietly watching from the side. I gestured for Renea to come over and handed her a card.

“Use this to buy the kids something to eat. And play with them. I’ll come get you in two hours.”

“The cheapskate boss?!”

“Not whatever Ms. Renea wants to eat. I mean pizza or fried chicken. You know, stuff kids like.”

“Got it! But what about the clogged bathroom?”

“I’ll call a company for that, so don’t worry.”

I guess I should put up an out-of-order sign.

* * *

“Follow me!”

“Waaaaah!”

“Let’s eat chicken, chicken!”

“Hey, how old are you?”

“You’re short!”

“You? Did you just call me ‘you’?!”

Renea led the children away, brandishing a tree branch she’d picked up somewhere.

After watching them for a moment from the lobby, I sighed and informed the employees who had followed me.

“I’m going to try heading home now, so Kim Yang, when you have time, clean up after them and head home too. Raychen, put up an out-of-order sign in the bathroom and call a company to unclog the toilet.”

“Yes, boss.”

Unlike Raychen, who immediately got moving, Kim Yang looked at me worriedly.

“W-where are you going?”

“The cathedral that took the children in.”

I put on the suit I’d been holding and retied my tie. Baek Yeon-hwa came over and fixed it for me.

“You know how to tie a tie?”

“I was taught it was the basic skill of a wise wife and good mother.”

Baek Yeon-hwa smiled serenely.

She looked pleased to be putting something she’d learned from a book to use.

“W-what are you going to do there?”

“There’s something bothering me, so I’m going to check it out. Don’t worry too much. I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”

After telling them to clock out on their own when the time came, I headed outside.

The cathedral the children told me about could be reached quickly with a few bus transfers, but—

Since I was short on time, I hailed a taxi, something I didn’t usually take.

I had to go pick up the kids in two hours, after all.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace.

The large rectangular cathedral at a downtown intersection was quiet and empty, perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon.

It was well maintained, and the constant foot traffic every weekend was evident.

As I entered the building, I happened to run into a short-haired priest coming out of the chapel.

He was a round-faced man with a kindly expression.

“What brings you here, brother?”

Seeing him welcome me with a smile instead of being wary of my sudden arrival, I figured this sort of thing must be common.

“You’ve been taking care of some children here for the past few days, haven’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right. They came from the chapel in Cyber City.”

“……I’m acquainted with the children’s mother.”

The priest’s crescent-shaped eyes widened faintly.

“So the children came to find you, brother. I’m sorry. We should have taken better care of them, but instead we’ve caused you inconvenience.”

“No, it’s not that.”

The priest had mistakenly thought he’d caused trouble.

But if anything, the one causing trouble was probably—.

“Is it really a branch chapel?”

A gongso (公所).

A place of worship smaller than a parish church in Catholicism.

A priest does not reside there, but Mass is held there regularly under the jurisdiction of a parish church.

“I’ve visited the cathedral in Cyber City several times. It didn’t appear to receive any separate support.”

“You’ve…… been there?”

“Yes.”

With a faint groan, the priest made the sign of the cross. Clenching his hands, he answered plaintively.

“That’s right. In truth, we cut off support for the chapel a long time ago. To be honest, I only found out when I looked up the records after the children came this time.”

“……”

“Would you come inside, brother? I don’t think this is something we should discuss standing up.”

We entered the priest’s office.

The quiet atmosphere inside helped settle my mind.

The conversation continued over the tea he served me.

“After the Interfloor War ended, many missionaries headed upward.”

He pointed to a passage in the Bible he had placed before me and read it aloud.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

“You did this in accordance with those words?”

“That’s right. It’s our duty to do so.”

The priest made the sign of the cross again.

His words said one thing, but his expression was grim.

“But reckless expansion only brought trouble. The cost of climbing the Tower soared, and supplying resources became difficult.”

“……”

“Many chapels disappeared. Cyber City was one of them. I never imagined it was still operating.”

In the end.

They had endured this long for the children without support from the main parish?

Honestly, that didn’t fit the image I had of Mosco Vichakos very well.

“Do you know about Mosco Vichakos? She was the nun who guarded the chapel.”

“Haa... The children told me about her.”

As if this was the truly troublesome part, the priest answered in a weary voice, rubbing his eyelids.

“There is no nun named Mosco Vichakos anywhere. She isn’t one of ours.”

“……”

“Honestly, I don’t even know where she came from. When we investigated this time, we learned that the nun originally assigned there was Sister Jimena from Mexico, but…… she died several decades ago.”

“……”

“From our perspective, some bizarre person appeared out of nowhere and raised children using the cathedral’s name. What her purpose was, why she did it, and where she is now—haa, we know nothing.”

The priest covered his face, looking deeply troubled. They had taken in the children who had suddenly appeared, for the time being, but—

It seemed he was wondering what to do with them.

“I understand for now.”

I had heard everything the priest knew.

I transferred some money to the priest’s donation account by phone, then rose from my seat.

“The children’s mother will come. This is payment for taking care of them until then, so it should be more than enough.”

“What?”

The priest slipped on his glasses, which hung from a cord, and hurriedly checked the account, then jumped in shock.

“This much money? A-are you sure?”

As I left the room, I answered the priest’s question lightly.

“I make money so I won’t be embarrassed at times like this.”