When Maria finished arranging for someone to stay at the church to take care of the priest and entered the hall, it was already packed with people.

These children had changed remarkably. When they were first bought, most were skeletal, their hair was as messy as straw, their clothes were barely covering them, and they were dirty as if they had rolled in the mud. They would hunch their backs and avoid others’ gazes like abandoned kittens despised by humans.

But now, their clothing, though not luxurious, was clean. Their hair was neatly combed, and some girls even adorned themselves with wildflowers picked from the roadside. Due to better food...