Volume 3, Chapter 14 – The Crimson Cat’s Eyes

After leaving the Mage Association, Fia quickly made a trip to the City Lord’s Manor, where Baron Khesa lived.

In the Alfrieg Kingdom, the City Lord’s Manor was both the lord’s office and his residence. Compared to her impression of a government building, the manor was more like a clean and bright private mansion. Only those of high status and guests with prior appointments could enter. There were no commoners crying and pleading for justice at the manor’s gate; the guards at the entrance would quickly pin down any suspicious person and haul them off to prison.

As for how she conveyed the message to Baron Khesa, the process was smoother than Fia had imagined. Originally, Fia had planned to disguise herself as Thanatos, first demonstrate her power to add credibility to her words, and then tell Baron Khesa in a commanding tone that the Flame King was dead. But with the experience at the Mage Association, Fia had changed her mind.

She directly infiltrated Baron Khesa’s home as Thanatos, stated that she was Thanatos and had already defeated the Flame King. If he didn’t believe her, he could go to the Mage Association to inquire himself. Then, before the baron could react, Fia left directly through the window.

In this way, Fia, through the thousands of magic cores, had the staff of the Mage Association indirectly confirm that the Flame King had indeed been eliminated by an unidentified mysterious person, saving her the trouble of a lengthy explanation.

Interestingly, when Fia snuck into Baron Khesa’s home, she happened to walk in on him having an affair with a noble-looking young lady and her maid. It was extremely awkward for both parties, but Fia pretended not to notice, hastily left a few words, and departed.

Now, Fia was on her way back to the inn.

Byrne City was a size larger than Oro. Due to its location on the edge of the desert, most of the people here wore breathable and sun-proof robes, with white or black turbans wrapped around their heads. Normally, at a time like this, one would associate Byrne City with a strong religious atmosphere, such as not allowing women to dress revealingly or even go out.

However, Byrne City had no such rule. In fact, women’s attire was much bolder than men’s. Along the way, Fia saw many women who only used two strips of cloth to cover their chests and wore only sheer short skirts.

If they were noble young ladies, they would adorn themselves with some gold, silver, and gemstone jewelry, or add a veil to cover their faces. Their attire was quite revealing. Furthermore, perhaps due to genetics, every woman possessed an astonishing bust size, and their skin was a light tan.

Influenced by this bold custom, there were an unusually large number of men and women embracing under the eaves of the houses along the street. Sometimes, one could even hear shameful moans coming from the alleys. Women like Fia, who wore a formal dress that covered most of her skin, were the odd ones out.

In addition, because the Barony of Khesa bordered five countries, Fia saw quite a few other races here, unlike in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom and the Bart Duchy.

Elves, of course, vampires, beastmen with varying degrees of animal traits, fairies the size of a palm, and even rock golems made entirely of stone could be seen walking freely on the streets. Fia had even seen a skeleton leaning against the entrance of an alley, listening to the sounds of a man and a woman in the alley while silently smoking a cigarette—a pitiable sight in every respect. ¹ lol

The scene, completely different from the noble district, was a fresh experience for Fia. Although it was a bit chaotic, from a tourist’s perspective, it was quite rewarding. The only drawback was probably the street full of child beggars and slaves that tugged at her heartstrings. Their skinny figures and the way they held out bowls begging for money made it hard for Fia to resist the urge to give them her spare change.

However, in the end, Fia held back. Child beggars like these usually had an organization managing them from behind. Even if she gave them money, it would end up in the pockets of the adults behind them. It was better to buy them some food on the street, so that the money would actually be spent on the children.

Considering that a strict organization might make the children bring the food back, Fia quietly led the children to an empty alley and then handed them the pastries she had bought, having them eat on the spot. Of course, they were called pastries, but they were actually just soft, refined-flour bread. To buy pastries with added sugar, one had to go to the noble district, and Fia was still some distance from there.

After distributing the bread to the seven or eight poorly dressed demi-human children in front of her, Fia tilted her head in confusion.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

As she said, the children, between the ages of eight and twelve, were not devouring the bread but were holding it in their hands, constantly swallowing their saliva, their eyes fixed on Fia.

A young leopard-boy said timidly.

“Y-you haven’t said we can eat yet…”

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So there is someone controlling them. Fia sighed helplessly in her heart. These children all had slave crests on their faces and necks. Their master had probably told them that they could not eat unless he said so.

“This is for you. Hurry up and eat. You can’t leave until you’re finished.”

“B-but if our master finds out that we took your things without giving them to him, he will definitely beat us!”

“So we all need to keep it a secret.”

Fia smiled and raised her index finger in a hushing gesture. After looking at each other, the demi-human slaves swallowed hard and immediately began to eat ravenously.

“Thank you, umph, Miss Elf!”

“You’re such a good person!”

“It’s so sweet… it’s a pastry with honey, and it tastes like eggs!”

“I… I miss my mom, wah… sob…”

Sounds of thanks, swallowing, and low sobs filled the alley. Some of the children even choked on the bread because they ate too fast. Fia had to use [Torrent] to create water to give them a drink to save their lives.

These few skinny children were all demi-humans, mostly beastmen. Along the way, Fia had seen that most of the beastmen bore slave crests. Recalling that the Alfrieg Kingdom bordered the beastmen’s Cold Night Alliance, these were probably pitiful people who had been forcibly captured by humans and branded as slaves.

The physical abilities of most beastmen were superior to those of humans, and they could survive on just fruits and rat meat, so beastman slaves were extremely popular in human countries. Being hardworking meant they could do more work than ordinary people and generate more profit. As slaves, these were excellent qualities.

She could buy them and then set them free, but what a group of children under the age of twelve could do to survive was another problem.

Maybe I should propose to Baron Khesa that if he wants to merge with Silvar, he must establish an institution under my supervision to protect children. If he can’t do it, he can forget about joining Silvar—but that would require me to have unparalleled authority in the kingdom. How troublesome.

But even if it was troublesome, it had to be put on the agenda.

Looking at the children in front of her, who were crying while gnawing on the bread, Fia made up her mind.

After a full meal, the beastman children left the alley with constant thanks and bows. They still had work to do, which was begging.

Fia learned from them that if they did not beg for enough money, their master would not give them breakfast or dinner the next day. But the children said happily that since they had just had a full meal, they wouldn’t feel hungry even without food tomorrow, which made Fia want to rush over and smash their master’s head into a wall.

The children’s thanks soon faded, and Fia was left alone in the alley. She looked up at the sky, which had turned a purplish-blue just before nightfall, with only a sliver of the sun’s purple light remaining on the horizon.

If I don’t go back soon, Anastasia and Liti will be worried.

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Fia walked out of the alley. Then, the door of a shop directly opposite the alley’s entrance was suddenly pushed open from the inside. A tattered sack was thrown out, followed by five or six fierce-looking adult men. Each man’s eyes were filled with anger, and they all began to punch and kick the “tattered sack” that had been thrown out.

“You unlucky thing! How dare you beg from us! You should know your place!”

“It was an honor for you that Lord Dick ² you heard it right. took a liking to you, yet you dared to sneak in and ask him for money, causing us to have our wages docked!”

“The first time I saw you, I knew you’d bring me bad luck! I got my money stolen yesterday, it’s all your fault, you dog—Ugh.”

The man who had been cursing retreated a small step as if he had seen something terrifying when the “tattered sack” suddenly looked up at him. But then he became angry at himself for being frightened by such a weak thing. He began to put more force into his legs, kicking hard at the sack that was protecting its head with its hands.

At the same time, other more neatly dressed young men and women also poured out of the door. Although these people frowned at the men’s bullying, as soon as their gaze fell on the person being bullied, their frowns turned to disgust and avoidance. Muttering things like “I’m going to have bad luck again today” and “What a jinx,” they hurriedly left.

In contrast, Fia frowned.

Because it was too dark earlier and the men were gathered in a circle, Fia hadn’t seen clearly what the white thing they had thrown out was. But the man’s retreating motion had allowed her to see the face of the one being bullied.

A petite girl, curled up on the ground, protecting her head with her hands.

Because the hair on her back was white, and she didn’t make a sound even when being kicked and punched, Fia had mistaken her for a sack. As for why the girl didn’t make a sound, the look of hatred on her face when she looked up earlier had already explained everything.

Because of this, Fia guessed the reason why people despised this girl.

Those eyes were terrifying.

Crimson, cat-like vertical pupils. These eyes seemed to have a magical power. The moment one saw them, an uncontrollable fear and dread would rise in one’s heart. It felt as if one’s heart was being squeezed by an invisible hand, one’s chest tightening uncontrollably, to the point that the hairs on one’s body stood on end, and one’s breath hitched.

Of course, this was the reaction of an ordinary person. Fia only felt a slight thrill, not enough to make her heart pound—to describe it, it was like when a ghost face suddenly flashes on the screen while watching a horror movie. That was all.

White hair, a terrifying curse.

A name rose in Fia’s mind.

“Claire…”

Although Claire was not a child, and her hair was a more lustrous silver, the girl in front of her still made Fia think of her.

When the man raised his foot again, preparing to stomp on the back of the girl’s head, his raised foot suddenly froze in mid-air. At the same time, the other men around him were also forced away from the white-haired girl as if blocked by something. By the time they came to their senses, the man who had raised his foot was already lifted off the ground by his collar.

The one who had caused this scene was, of course, Fia.

The man’s face instantly filled with terror. When he saw that Fia was just a little girl, the terror in his eyes grew even greater. He was not an inexperienced person. As a thug, he knew very well what it meant to be lifted up by a little girl—the other party was much stronger than him, a warrior who could use magic.

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Especially when he noticed Fia’s pointed ears, a symbol of the elf race, he began to swallow uncontrollably. Everyone knew that elves were a long-lived race. The girl in front of him might look like a child, but her strength could already be at the Second or even Third Rank.

“W-who are you?” the man asked the obvious question. Seeing that Fia did not speak, he quickly explained, “I-I work for Lord Dick. Lord Dick… you should know him, right? He’s the owner of this alchemy workshop.”

“What were you doing?”

Fia did not answer the man’s question, her ruby-like eyes radiating an icy coldness.

“Getting rid of a jinx!” The man instantly understood why he had been targeted. He explained with a look of relief, “You saw her too, right? Those eyes of hers, they bring bad luck! Everyone she looks at has bad luck, and she won’t die! Even if you stab her in the stomach with a knife, she’ll be perfectly fine the next day—Ugh!”

Fia’s hand, which was holding the man’s neck, began to tighten.

“What did you mean earlier when you said ‘asking for money’?”

“Guh…” The man struggled to breathe, his face turning red. He tried his best to answer, “L-Lord Dick said her blood can improve the quality of magic potions, so… so he asked her for a small bottle earlier…”

“And your master didn’t pay her?”

Faced with Fia’s question, the man guiltily shut his mouth.

The answer was self-evident.

Fia snorted coldly and threw the man to the ground like a tattered sack. And with this sound as a signal, the remaining men behind Fia suddenly rushed at her.

It seems the only smart one was the man I was questioning.

Overestimating themselves.

Using only her Spatial Hand, Fia packed up the men and threw them into the alley. The dull thud of flesh meeting the ground made one’s heart skip a beat. Although it wasn’t fatal, broken bones were definitely a given.

As if she had just done something insignificant, Fia let out a light sigh and turned to extend a hand to the white-haired girl. It was only now that Fia discovered that this girl was not human, but like Calista of the Midnight Sun, belonged to the Stellacryst Beast race, whose ears were replaced by white feathered wings.

“Are you alright?”

Perhaps due to malnutrition, the girl’s body was abnormally small. She was about the same height as Liti, but much thinner, with obvious bruises on her arms.

“…Just a minor injury.”

Her tone was full of stubbornness. With Fia’s help, the tattered-clothed girl stood up. She seemed to be wary of something, keeping her head down and not daring to look at Fia.

Fia first glanced at the onlookers who were watching the scene with amusement, then sighed quietly.

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“How much do they owe you?”

“One silver coin.”

“Tsk. I’ll get it back from them later. You can have this for now.” Fia took a silver coin from her pocket and handed it to the girl. Considering the girl’s safety, Fia then asked, “Where is your home? I can take you back.”

In response, the girl just shook her head gently, a trace of dejection about her. At the same time, she did not take Fia’s silver coin, still keeping her head down and biting her lip tightly.

Does that mean she doesn’t have a home?

Hmm…

Fia was silent for a moment.

“How about this, you can stay with me for now. We’ll talk about other things later.”

Then, she grabbed the girl’s wrist. But to Fia’s surprise, the tattered, white-haired girl did not go along with her, but instead tried to pull her hand away.

A mere little girl wants to compete with me in strength?

With this thought, Fia pulled the girl to her side, and the girl, for the first time, showed a look of anxiety.

“I-I bring bad luck!”

“Fate is just an excuse the ignorant use to comfort themselves. I don’t believe in such things. If you struggle again, I’ll carry you out of here.”

“You—”

Fia’s resolute attitude made the girl look up. She looked into Fia’s eyes with a mocking yet slightly lonely expression. However, to her surprise, Fia did not show fear or disgust upon seeing her crimson cat’s eyes. Even when she tried to widen her eyes to make them more obvious, she could not find a trace of cowardice in Fia’s ruby-like eyes. On the contrary, this strange girl’s eyes were filled with an unyielding force, almost domineering.

‘How is that possible?’

The answer to the girl’s question was the force from her hand.

“If you want a full meal, come with me.”

“Ngh.”

With no other choice, the white-haired girl hesitated for a moment and then silently followed Fia.