Chapter 14: Abandoned Kid
Victoria finished explaining and her consciousness disappeared. She turned back into Blobby. Maybe there"s a secret of how she ended up turning into a Black Slime, but I won"t ask her yet. I can ask her once my summoning element got leveled up and she can stay as Victoria for much longer time.
As for what she told me about fighting monster, I want to do it as soon as possible. I guess in two days, I will tell Angela and Kayla that I will take a leave from school and hunting. As to where to go… there"s a snowy mountain way south of Melk City. I guess I will try my luck over there.
As for my desire, there are many things I wanted. I want to destroy the Evil G.o.d Cult, I want to survive and live a long life, and there are other things I desire. I don"t know what power I will obtain and what monster I need to defeat. Maybe I will ended up having wings like Victoria? That seems nice being able to fly.
But for now I will return to Melk. I made a promise to Sophie that I will visit her if I survive, and Ruby also gave me a place to live. I guess my plan will be to return to the city, and tomorrow on Sunday I will look for necessities for my adventure. For weapon that I need to use in battle, I guess I will look for knives and daggers. Throwing knives might be a good idea. Since everyone only fight using magic, there are no weapon shop. There are only wands and accessories shops. They sell magical wand and equipment. I guess I will check on that store first in case they have anything useful.
I finished packing up. I only carrying a few luggage since mostly they are clothes. I don"t have much in this house after all. I will write a letter to the chief that I will be leaving this village. In the letter I will tell him that anything left behind in the small house will be his property.
Now everything is settled! Let"s go back to the city!
Right now it"s around four in the afternoon. If I run to the city, I can get there before the gates locked. So I run lightly to the city.
It was half past six when I reached the city. The gatekeeper right now is the one I used to see.
Should I ask him about this morning? Maybe I shouldn"t in case I raised suspicion. After all, all the cult"s new recruits died today and the only one who is not from the cult who left the city this morning is me. That"s why I just nodded at the gatekeeper when I pa.s.sed him.
Being suspicious of everyone is not a healthy way of living.
As soon as I entered the city, I didn"t go to the brothel. Instead I went to the Hunter Guild to ask for where the good store to purchase some equipment. The receptionist gently told me where the good stores are. Some of them are places I never been to in my previous life. Since I was poor back then and couldn"t finish even a simple mission, I only went to the cheapest ones. When I went to the most expensive store, the clerk kicked me out because I have no money.
And when I was about to leave, the receptionist called out to me.
"Oh, wait! There"s one more thing I forgot to tell you. Actually after your last mission few days ago, you and your party are eligible to move up into D rank Hunter. Please give me your guild card for processing the rank up."
Already? That was faster than I thought. I gave her my card.
"Shouldn"t I do this with my party?"
"The other two has already ranked up yesterday when they were looking for you. I"ve heard about it. You ran away from a spar didn"t you?"
As she finished her sentence, someone in the hall laughed.
"Hahaha! You escape from a spar? What a coward!"
"Why don"t you try sparring with someone who"s targeting your crotch? Do you want to take the risk?"
He quieted down after I said that. He didn"t try to provoke me further so I guess he"s actually pretty neat. Unlike most hunter who will undoubtedly pick a fight after I said it. But since the guild almost empty right now, there are n.o.body here who would pick a fight. Instead most of them should be home already.
And then the receptionist give me my card back.
"Here"s your card. As you can see the only difference is the rank. For the color, it stays as silver. Once you ranked up to C rank, your card will be a gold one until you become a B rank. Then for A rank it"s white, and black for S rank."
"Shouldn"t it be gold for the highest?"
"We didn"t use any paint on at all for the cards. They are the color of the material. Silver and gold are easier to obtain but white ore and black ore are harder to find. Since those are the only materials that can contain the magic necessary for a guild card. If they are more common, the color will be reversed."
"I see. Thank you and goodbye."
Now one of the things I was curious about since my past life has been answered. I rarely go to the guild after all and it was embarra.s.sing for the young me to ask about rank up when I was so weak.
I left the guild and walk to the direction of the brothel. I stopped by a food stall on the way to fill my belly.
While I was eating by a fountain in the center of the city, the hem of my shirt is being pulled by a kid. He was a child about five years old.
"Are you lost?"
Am I lost? Why is a kid asking me that?
"No, I"m not lost. What about you?"
"I"m not lost but my mother is."
What?! Does he mean he"s the one who got lost?
"You sure it"s not you who is lost?"
"No. Mother told me to stay here and so I did. She hasn"t coming back since yesterday though?"
"What?! You mean you"ve been here since yesterday?"
Is his mother abandoned him? There"s no way an adult would forget her own son. What a cruel mother to abandon her own son.
"Yes!"
"…do you want some bread?"
"Hmm… but I just ate yesterday. Mother always say to eat once every other day to be healthy. Even if I got very hungry I have to eat only one meal every two day."
WHAT THE h.e.l.l! Its way much worse than I thought! Is that why he became so thin? How come he can survive this long?
"No, no. You see. For a kid like you, it"s much healthier if you eat as a lot. Your mother is wrong about that."
I explained it gently to the boy. He was raised by such a horrible mother. What about his father then?
"Hey, what about your father?"
"You mean mother"s boyfriend? She keep changing her boyfriend over and over again so I don"t know which one to tell you."
d.a.m.n, kid! You war too innocent! How come you answered honestly like that? And his mother actually used his innocence to leave him? It"s getting worse and worse.
"Anyway, what"s your name?"
"My name?"
"It is what others called you with."
"Oh! Mother always call me piece of sh—"
"Okay! That"s enough! That"s not a name! You still haven"t been given a name yet."
"It"s something other gave? Then I have never gotten it. I"ve never received anything other than food. And it"s only my mother and you who give me food."
s.h.i.t!
s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t!
What should I do with him? Should I bring him to an orphanage? But there"s a chance that the orphanage in this city is connected to the cult since the governor himself is a member.
Should I leave him here then? No I can"t do that.
What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?
...
"And that"s why I bring him with me."
"I see."
In front of me is Ruby. The one who gave me shelter.
Right now I"m at the brothel. After I entered through the backdoor as she told me to, I ask one of the girl to call her. Then I told her about the boy I found. I asked the boy to follow me at the fountain. He"s actually following me without a slight of suspicion! It was lucky that I"m the one who find him.
"Hey. What"s your name?" Ruby asked the boy.
"Piece of sh—"
"He doesn"t have a name!"
"I understand!"
I closed the boy"s mouth before he finished speaking and as expected of Ruby. She understood immediately.
"I can ask him to stay here. But since he"s way too young, I need everyone"s agreement first. I"ll go call everyone. Seems like today we will open late."
And Ruby left me alone with the boy. If everyone agree, then he might be able to live here. But I understand the girls worry. No one want to raise a kid in a brothel.
And so we waited for everyone to gather.