‘Fuck!!’ Mika scowled as she felt a powerful presence behind her.

She didn’t want to entangle herself with these ruffians and tried her best to avoid them, but fate was a bitch.

Her only solace in this situation was that she believed they wouldn’t kill her. She was still a little girl, after all. They shouldn't want to take her life if they didn’t see her kill their companion.

‘As long as they don’t kill me, I can escape any situation. I just need to wait for an opportunity.’

Although she was extremely annoyed, she wasn’t scared.

However, what pissed her off the most was that she would probably lose her Early-Stage Mana Stones!

‘System, can you store my backpack and all the mana stones in it?’

[No.]

‘Why?!’ Mika cried inwardly. She knew that would be the System’s answer, but she still felt unwilling.

[The System can only store your backpack.]

‘But I’m going to lose so many Early-Stage Mana Stones!!’

[Not my problem.]

‘Fuck! Then, can you come up with a solution that will allow me to keep my belongings?’

[...Very well. The System has deemed your situation inescapable and is willing to store your Early-Stage Mana Stones as long as you give the System 25 of them.]

‘Fuck! What are you, a bandit?!’

[Host-]

‘I know! Just do it!’

Mika grumbled but accepted the System’s suggestion. It’s better to lose 25 of them rather than all.

Immediately after, Mika felt her backpack lighten and sighed in relief. Afterward, she put on a puzzled yet ‘fearful’ expression and turned around. Her conversation with the System only took a second or two, so the man shouldn’t have gotten impatient.

“Wh-What? W-Why are you chasing me, Uncle?”

Mika stuttered as her child-like eyes watered. She inwardly cringed doing something this shameless, but right now, she’s just a kid and should act accordingly.

Seeing Mika’s cute and unique appearance, Colt raised an eyebrow, but his expression remained neutral. He wasn’t an idiot like Fred and realized something was off about the girl before him. However, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He scanned her body up and down but saw no weapon, blood, or injuries. She was covered in mud and grime, but that was only natural as it was impossible not to be in this jungle. He couldn’t even feel any kind of aura from her, as if she was just a normal little girl.

However, he just saw her jumping across the branches like a monkey!

‘How could a little girl with no cultivation have such power?!’

This question ran through his mind, making him bewildered, wary, and curious, with a little excitement.

“What’s your name, little girl?” Colt asked while approaching Mika.

“...”

Mika backed away and didn’t say anything. She tried to put on a nervous expression, but that was easier said than done.

Colt saw the distrust in her eyes and lightly chuckled. He raised both his hands and slowed his approach.

“It’s okay, little girl. I won’t hurt you. I just want to know your name.”

He said with the gentlest voice he could muster, but her inner thoughts were completely different.

‘I need to ensure you aren’t a lost child from one of those noble families. Capturing such a child would only get me killed!.’

Mika could almost feel his hidden intentions leaking out and was disgusted. However, she sensed an aura stronger than the tiger she met a while back and wasn’t confident she could beat him. Thus, she could only keep up her act, hoping to get out of this without a fight.

“...Mika. My name is Mika,” She said hesitantly.

“Mika… Mika… What a great name!” Colt clapped his hands, feeling ecstatic. He didn’t need to rack his brain to know that no nobles were named Mika. Hell, he didn’t even know any commoners with such a name!

‘She must either be an orphan or came from another country.’

Both options were optimal as it meant nobody would come looking for her!

As soon as she answered, his whole demeanor changed. He quickly reached behind him and pulled out a rope. Then, without giving Mika a chance to run away, he injected mana into the rope and launched it at her.

Mika raised her fists to try and stop it, but she didn’t react fast enough, and the rope wrapped around her body, tying her up.

She didn’t dare to take out her sword in this situation as that was her trump card, but she was at least confident in her physical strength.

Mika flexed her muscles, trying to break free, but to no avail. She couldn’t even get the rope to budge, much less break it.

‘What the hell?! What’s this rope made out of?’ Mika wondered but didn’t stop trying to escape.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Try all you want, but it’s no use. That rope is meant to hold Red Core Realm magical beasts. Even if you have extraordinary strength, how could a little girl like you break it?” Colt said as he casually walked up to her.

Mika gritted her teeth in anger. She stared at Colt hatefully, but there was nothing she could do in this situation. Even if she brought out her sword, it wouldn’t matter.

All she could do now was thank her parents for gifting her a necklace that could conceal all her secrets from prying eyes.

“Woah! You’re quite the feisty one, eh? Relax girl. I’m not going to hurt. As long as you behave, that is,” Colt said with a smile while walking to her. However, he lost his smile when he stood face-to-face with her.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what happened to the fatty you met earlier? How did he die? Was that your doing?” Colt asked as if he was sure Mika had something to do with his death, but truthfully, he wasn’t sure.

All he saw was Fred’s headless corpse, and he knew a human had killed him. Mika was his first suspect, as she was the only one nearby, but without a weapon or any bloodstains on her clothes, he dismissed this idea.

However, he strongly suspected that even if Mika didn’t do it personally, she had a part in it.

Mika stared at him with the same expression of hate, but a look of confusion shone in her eyes.

“...Fatty? What fatty?”

A skeptical look appeared on Colt’s face, and just as he was about to threaten her, Mika spoke up.

“Ah! That’s right! I did see a fatty not too long ago!”

“Really? Then, do you know what happened to him? If you tell me, I might think about letting you go.” Colt said while grasping her shoulders, thinking Mika would miss the hidden meaning behind his words. However, although Mika wasn’t the most intelligent person on the planet, she wasn’t an idiot.

Inwardly, she sneered, ‘So, you’ll only think about letting me go? You won’t actually let me go? Tch. What a piece of human garbage, trying to take advantage of a little girl’s emotions. Just how many children’s lives have you ruined with this little play of yours?’

She stared into Colt’s eyes, etching every aspect of his face into her brain.

‘I’ll remember you. When I regain my freedom, I’ll make you regret not killing me today.’

Colt felt uncomfortable under Mika’s intense eyes. It felt like he was no longer looking at a little girl but a thousand blades ready to shred him into pieces. However, before that thought could continue, it vanished as if it was never there.

‘What was that?’

He blinked in confusion but soon forgot about it as Mika began talking.

“I heard him talking with another man. I think he said, 'If you hand over those Mana Cores, this daddy will let you go.’ Then, I heard the sound of a blade cutting through the air. I ran away after that.”

Colt’s face darkened as he could imagine Fred saying something stupid like that and getting himself killed.

‘Tsk! Annoying. Even in death, that fatass is a pain. Ah! Whatever! At least I found this little girl. She should more than make up for the money I’d lose from Fred’s death.’

He clicked his tongue in annoyance but quickly lost interest. He wasn’t about to waste his time tracking down Fred’s murderer. Why would he? They weren’t friends, and this was a dangerous job. The guy would have died sooner or later with his behavior.

After he finished sorting out his thoughts, he took out a set of chains and wrapped them around Mika’s hands, feet, and neck.

Mika's frown deepened, and she stared at the guy with unconcealed rage and hatred.

Colt smiled, not bothered by that look, and even chuckled.

“What? I said I’d think about letting you go, not that I’d do it. Did you think I’d let you go so easily? You’re still too wet behind the ears to believe you can negotiate with me.”

Mika didn’t say anything and stood there in silence, knowing that escape was impossible. She didn’t have any words to say to this monkey shit of a human being.

Still, she didn’t panic, even with all the chains on her. She was confident in her ability to escape, especially after obtaining a Space affinity. She just needed to be patient.

Plus, it’s not like this situation was that bad for her.

‘Let’s try and think positively about the situation. At least I can enter the city without causing a fuss, and maybe I can learn a bit from this guy and his group.’

Colt grabbed Mika and hopped to the ground.

Not long after, his team was within sight.

“Woah! Leader Colt, where’d you snap this little girl? And where’s Fred? Did he run off again?”

“Boss, I want to respect your preferences, but… a little girl? Really? I might have to report you to Child Protective Services!”

“What’s in the girl’s bag? No, why is she carrying one in the first place? Did she come here with her parents? Are you sure it’s fine to chain someone else’s child up like this?”

Colt’s face went black, and a murderous aura seeped out of his body as he stared fiercely at his subordinates.

“You all… It seems I’ve been too lenient on you!”

He formed three stone bullets and shot them at their gut.

“Ouch!”

“Damn you, Colt!

“Ack!”

After giving them a bit of punishment, he explained the situation to his teammates. As expected, they had the same reaction as Colt.

“That fat bastard! He says all that shit, then goes off and kills himself!”

“It’s fine if he wants to die, but why do we have to pay for it!?”

They cursed for a few seconds, but soon all thoughts of Fred left their minds, and they turned to Mika.

One of them rummaged through her backpack but lost interest as all that was inside it was a few weak beast Mana Cores. Still, they felt it was a nice backpack and decided to keep it.

Colt told them everything he found out about Mika. Afterward, they all looked at her with dollar signs in their eyes.

One of them went to pick her up and exclaimed in surprise, “Holy shit! She’s so heavy! You’re right, boss! Her body definitely seems stronger than normal! I’m sure we’d make a ton of money if we sold her at the black market!”

Colt nodded his head in agreement.

“There are many people who would want such a talented girl. Hell, even I’m a little tempted to take her in. But that seems a bit too bothersome. Who knows how many years it’d take for her to become semi-useful?”

The others agreed with him.

“Anyways, let’s toss her in one of the cages and head back to the Kingdom. We’ve got quite a haul this time around! Drinks are on me this time!” Colt said, tossing Mika into a cage surrounded by beasts in a similar situation as her.

“Woohoo! You’re the best, Boss!”

“I’ll be sure to empty your pockets this time around!”

“Haha! Who knew you were so generous, leader!?”

The four of them joked around and had fun with each other before making their way back to the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Mika just sat in the cage, contemplating what she should do next.

In the end, she could only sigh in resignation.

‘Well, at least I’ll be in the Kingdom by the end of the day.’

She laid down on her back and looked up at the sky.

‘Sigh… I wonder how Olivia is doing. Also, did Akira make it out alive? Hopefully, Mother hasn’t self-destructed by now. I tried to let her know that I’d be fine, but who would believe a child like me?’

For some reason, Mika felt oddly at peace right now. Although thugs captured her, and she was about to be auctioned up on the black market, she didn’t feel anxious.

Instead, she felt… relaxed.