Toshiko baffles me SO much

I have a hard time placing what’s gonna be her role in the story solely due to her age.

Sure the ages of the characters are varied, but none have such a large gap like hers. Which leaves me with the question—would devs REALLY kill a 14 year old-? In a game like YTTD where there’s two young characters I can let it slide, but she’s the only child here; which makes her stand out to me. Storywise, why was a child chosen to complete in this game? And writing wise, what will happen with her later on and why the devs chose this decision.