Orin was an adorable-looking child. He had slightly curly dark hair; his face was very symmetrical, but because of the food issue, he looked very skinny for his age. He had inherited brown eyes from his mother that he never got to meet, and he was pretty fair, but it was covered by a layer of dirt. Even though he was from the slums, he didn't look that dirty, but his old ragged clothes made his looks drop down a notch. However, even with the bad clothes, he was adored by the ladies and the girls his age. He was cute and didn't act like someone from the slums, which is why he had few friends outside the slums.
He had even befriended a noble a few years back, when he was delivering the clothes sewed by his father to the shop where they sold them. At that time, there was a noble family who seemed to be shopping for clothes, and among them was a little girl around his age who seemed to be of noble heritage, shopping for clothes. The small girl was curiously glancing around looking for something she liked when she noticed Orin with his dad. Although she had no concept about romantic relationships, she was definitely attracted to cute things, and according to her, Orin was extremely cute
Although she was quite reluctant at first, she sneakily got past the her family and came near Orin.
"What's your name?" She said. This was Orin's first encounter with a noble, and it was definitely not bad. He couldn't help but wonder if she would remember him, a mere slum child, or if he would fade into the background of her perfect life. Not to mention, they had only met once, and she might have already forgotten him, but he remembered it.
Inside a modest cottage, Orin was trying his hardest to explain to his father about the soap and his business idea, but his dad was not having it. Going to that dangerous forest to collect some random herbs had already annoyed him, and now this kid who isn't even 10 was telling him that this weird object will make them rich?
He knew his son was not normal and very bright for his age, and he was very proud of him, but sometimes he behaved very weirdly—like right now.
"Okay, so this thing that you have in your hand can clean our bodies, make it smoother, and makes us less sick, right?" Mortimer asked, trying to understand.
"Yes dad! That's it! And if we can sell it, we can get out of the slums and maybe even help some of your friends get out as well. But I need your help to sell it." Orin said, his eyes shining with excitement, though a flicker of doubt gnawed at his stomach. What if this dream was just a childish fantasy? What if he failed?
"Sell it to whom? Nobody from the slums has enough money to buy such luxury items, and why would the people from the town buy from us slum rats?" Mortimer said his tone was a mix of mockery and concern. Mortimer didn't want to dishearten his kid, but he had to learn the reality of the world and that not everything goes the way we want to.
"I know, dad, I have thought about this." Orin grinned, undeterred, though his heart raced with uncertainty.
"Oh, have you? Let me hear it." Morrison narrowed his eyes. This cheeky little brat,' he thought.
"So, you might not know this, but I have a few friends from the town, and since they like me. I'm thinking of luring them into trying my product and giving them a few. When their parents see their kids using those products, they'll naturally be curious and might even try it themselves, and if they do, that is where we strike." Orin's hands naturally clasped together and started rubbing them together with a mischievous smile.
'This kid..how did he come up with such an elaborate plan?' Mortimer was dumbstruck. Although he knew Orin was smart, he didn't expect him to know how to scheme in such an elaborate way.
"If this plan is successful, we can finally eat to our fullest and also eat three times a day without having to worry about how much it would cost us." Orin said happily, his voice filled with hope.
"All you think about is food." Mortimer chuckled, and his heart warmed. "Not even 10, yet you have already started to think about the family, you little brat." Orin also laughed. Despite their struggles, if he had to admit, he definitely had it easier than other people from the slum. His father had a stable job, and while they often went hungry, they could at least afford to eat occasionally and could eat at least once a day. Most didn't have such privileges. As a middle-class person in his past life, though he didn't get everything he wanted, there was still hope to become something big in the future, but these people didn't even have such a chance because education was as expensive as buying jewels.
As a modern man, though Orin didn't expect to change the world into an egalitarian world, he at least hoped to be able to give chances to the people who are willing to change their status and climb up the social ladder. The thought of helping others, of breaking free from the chains of poverty, filled him with a sense of purpose.
"Now that I have convinced my father, I can finally start the plan." Although Orin looked extremely confident in front of his father, that was not the case at all. The plan has a lot of flaws, and if not carefully done, it might bring more harm than good.
He needed to choose wisely whom to give the soap to. He should absolutely avoid greedy, scheming, and nobles for now. If he were to give them the soap, they might use external means to force it out of us. "They don't even treat us like real humans," Orin gritted his teeth in annoyance.
He sought people who were kind-hearted and had good morals. Although he still had to be wary of those people as well, at least he would be a bit safer. Some of these people wouldn't hesitate to torture the people from the slums to get what they wanted.
"So who should it be?" Orin pondered for a while and jotted down the names of his friends and the status of their family. He needed people whose family was business-oriented and had a business of their own. He just needed the right person and a single opportunity to make it big, and he was willing to do whatever he could to reach that goal of his.
"Money is not the goal; it's just an asset from which I might be able to access magic." Orin slapped his face as he reminded himself to stay focused on his true aspiration.
"Hmm..this person might be the one," he mused. A sense of determination swelled up within him, and his eyes shone with hope.