I have now officially bought a weapon and several books. The question now was, what else was needed? Perhaps I could purchase a home in a village, but doing so would raise suspicion if any royal spies caught wind of it. I could purchase more magical items like a storage bag, or a familiar. Storage bags could easily be bought, but a familiar was hard to find considering most of the ones in store were low levels, and the ones in auctions were sold at expensive prices. There was a forest around the manor, so maybe I could capture a familiar there. Though, most would probably be low level ones as well. Scrunching my nose, I decided to walk to a nearby bakery and get a small snack before exploring again.As I walked down the busy streets with a bag of goods, my eyes landed on the sight of a girl around my age crouched between two tall buildings. Not only did she appear to be in a disastrous state with her messy hair and ripped, muddy clothing, but also appeared to be malnourished with how skinny her arms and legs were. Her soft weeping amongst the noisy street brought an aching pain to my chest as I observed how people walked by without a care. I know very well what it"s like to be both the pa.s.serby and the one without food. I walked towards her and crouched down.
"Hey," I said. She looked up at me with startled purple eyes, flinching back as though she was going to be hit. The aching grew. So she had been abused as well... It wasn"t uncommon for the poor to be treated harshly, but it didn"t make the idea any less cruel.
"Here," I offered her the bag of food. While I could easily get more, I doubt she could. I could offer her silvers or gold, but I know from my past mistakes that she would only be accused of stealing it.
She looked at the bag with caution before reaching out and accepting it. I smiled and raised my hand to pet her on the head, her eyes widening in surprise.
"You"ve got such beautiful eyes, so don"t cry too much," I said softly, hoping it would soothe her a little.
After handing her the food and getting up, I found that the girl trailing behind me while tightly holding onto the bag of goods I just gave her. I didn"t mind since she looked trustworthy. Perhaps she could become a maid at the manor where she"d at least be given shelter and food. My mother wasn"t aggressive towards the servants as she used to be either. So the girl wouldn"t have to worry about being abused. However, I wasn"t going to stop and offer her the job. She needs to be the one to speak up and approach me. I can"t accept those who are weak minded to enter my manor. Not like I once did.
As I arrived at the fountain, I found a figure awaiting for me with the stacks of books. He looked about ten and had silver hair and eyes, traits not usually seen in commoners. A cold smile formed when he saw me walking towards him, causing me to unconsciously gulp. Excluding the encounter with fhis majesty, I had not felt fear this intense after awakening once again. There was something off about him. Perhaps it was his dead eyes, or the way his aura cornered him with loneliness. But there was more - I could sense there was something more. Someone like him...surely could not be the grandson of the old man, nor could he be a commoner.
"You must be the one to make the purchases," he said, his voice surprisingly soothing. Yet, there was a sense of familiarity to it, as though I had heard it before.
"And you must be the grandson. Thank you for delivering them."
He raised an eyebrow, giving me a long and strange gaze. I shifted, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. He wasn"t that much taller than me, and was five years older than me at most, yet somehow he carried himself like he was far older, and had seen far worse than I"ve ever had.
"Jiro," he held out his hand, "Jiro Jugo."
I gripped his hand with my own gloved one, "Ice Juntasa."
"And the one behind you?"
I raised my brow before looking at the figure lurking behind me.
"I don"t know. She just started to follow me around."
He whistled, amused. I looked at him suspiciously. Why did it seem like he knew something about her that I didn"t? Before I could say anything else, a familiar presence lurked up from behind me.
"Little lady?"
I shifted my gaze to Draco who looked at the scene before him with a sly smirk. "Made some friends already?" he asked.
I merely ignored his remarks, "I need you to help me with these books."
He looked at the books in interest before picking them up with ease. Nodding my head at the boy, Jiro, I began to walk away. A few steps away, I noticed the girl hadn"t followed me. I sighed and stopped in my tracks. "You can come along," I said. There was slight surprise in her eyes before she gave a shy smile and began to walk behind me and Draco.
Getting home, Draco helped get the books into my room. He had offered to take them to the library we had but I rejected his offer.
"What shall we do with her?" he asked, referring to the curious and cautious girl standing in the corner.
"I"ll handle it," I stated, leading him out of the room.
"Just scream if anything happens," he replied, giving one more glance to the girl before walking away. As he disappeared into the distance, I closed the door tightly. I took a seat at one of the chairs by the windows, motioning for the girl to sit down on the chair next to mine. She did so, her arms still carrying the bag of goods. "Do you have a name?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"Do you at least know how to speak?"
There was a pause before a soft murmuring, "yes", escaped from the frail girl. Her voice was weak and had a slight crack at the end of her word. Most likely she was not used to speaking at all.
"You shall be named Opal as of today. As for what position you shall have in this mansion…well, we"ll have you start off as a maid, but later as something else if you manage to find something to pursue."
I could feel a sudden rush of an energy come from the girl as she took in my words – alarming me in the process as I realized what the boy Jiro was so amused about.
The girl in front of me… She wasn"t human, but rather a familiar. As quick as the energy hit me, it was equally as quick to disappear. The girl who had let out a small smile before suddenly started to shiver in fear; almost although she was awaited for me to punish her for what she had unconsciously just done.
"You," I started, taking in the appearance of the girl once again, "aren"t human?"
She whimpered and covered the top of her head in fear. I pursed my lips, wondering what I should do now that the circ.u.mstances have changed. It was quite hard to meet, or find familiars that could shift into humans. Most often they were found during bidding"s amongst the rich, so making a contracts with her would benefit me. However, at the same time there were risks that came with owning her. For one, she may already have an existing contract that hasn"t been properly terminated. I also wasn"t certain as to what higher race she may belong to, nor how long I would continue a life as a n.o.ble.
"I won"t force you to sign a contract, nor will I ever lay a hand on you in such unruly manners…Opal."
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Getting up from the chair, I walked over to my closet and pulled out some of my more casual outfits. Opal who was now standing, had tears glistering down. I handed her the clothing and gently wiped away her tears. "Since I know familiars are loyal beings, and will do anything for those who are their master, or friends, know that I won"t ever go down a path that may force you to do harm of any sorts. Lest it"s to protect ourselves that is."
"Thank you, ma"am."
"No need to be so formal," I waved my hands in a nonchalant motion. Later that evening, I formally introduced her to the others in the manor. Becca and Coco were quick to settle her in and befriend her.