Chapter 24: Entrusted Vows
24.0
Still squatted beside the boy, John fingers trembled as they laid the child’s corpse ground, but he did not know what else he could do but hold back his tears.
The child’s last words burned in his mind.
“T-there a-are… still…o-others…like…me…”
He looked into the darkness ahead of him, heart thumping as he stood to his feet.
Looking at the corpse of the child once more as he ventured into the unknown.
All fibers in his body screamed to retreat, to flee from this alley as fast as he could, to forget anything and everything that he experienced, chalking up to the whole incident to the imagination of a mere child.
But the corpse that was laid beneath his feet… Had young John acted more decisively moments ago.
If only he had been responsible.
Shuffle… shuffle… shuffle…
His body had begun to move forwards before he made his choice, though it was not up to him nor did it concerned John the slightest to heed the words of a nameless child, he took action.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
I’m going to regret this, this is terrible, I’ll be in big trouble if anyone knows I am heading towards danger on my own.
What started off as reluctant steps became hurried running, his conscious mind nagged at him for doing something out of his mind, for the mere attempt of trying to prove that a worthless child did die for something.
He could feel his logical mind fracturing as he rushed into the dark unknown, clinging onto the words of a dead child.
His stomach stirred and rolled as he ran, the further the lights disappeared behind him, the colder the air became.
Everything he did was going against his nature. Yet, a sinking feeling compelled him to move, compelling him to press forward.
As though the melodies of fate itself beckoned him.
Until…
The veil of darkness parted, a dim light source showed itself to him in the distance of what looked to be the end to the alleyway.
“Oh…”
His footsteps came to a halt when he saw a faint candle light along one of the grime riddled walls, casting the silhouette of a windowless door. And beside it, a large rusted cage with thick bars, ample with space to fit 5 human adults in it.
And in it, was a figure with short white hair.
Crunch…
The uneven protrusions on the ground caught his little feet and unbalanced John who was already exhausted and unusually frightful into a clumsy stumble.
“!!!”
With his torso’s full weight flinging him towards the cage bars, he closed his eyes shut for the coming crash into the heavy cage.
…
…
…
The impact never came.
All he felt were two gentle pillars holding his body upright as his head hung freely in the air.
His wide eyes watched his own silhouette against the gravel ground and the metal cage that he was few centimeters from crashing into.
“Please take care of yourself.”
A voice spoke above his head, where a pair of scarlet eyes made contact with him.
“A y-young girl!?”
John raised his brow, surprised at the taller figure whose skinny arms was able to cushion his fall like it was nothing. He was a large child by common Eastern Continent’s standards and have been teased plenty times for it.
Yet this white haired girl caught him like he weighed nothing.
“With white hair?”
“…”
Her facial features were vastly different most Eastern Continent descents.
The white-haired girl was as unusual as he was. Much less her white hair and scarlet eyes, her face did not even resemble the foreign visitors that hailed from the North or the West.
It was almost as if she was an outcast by birth.
“Is that why you are imprisoned here?” John spoke, not even bothering to mince his words as his curiosity overtook him.
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The girl gently bobbed her head as she gently released him, “My papa and mama were not from here.”
“Where are they now?” John’s response was quick as his eyes turned to the cage in search for an opening. “Who put you in here? Let’s get you out so you can see them…”
His voice faltered when she smiled back at him kindly for his thoughtful words, but behind her scarlet eyes were draped with a bitter expression.
“I’m sorry. I-I didn’t meant to—”
Pang!!!
The door beside them flew open, jolting both the girl and John upright.
“What’s this? A willing participant?”
A plump man dressed in a white buttoned shirt pulled at that straps by his shoulders, looked at John with a smile that was as deranged as his gaze.
“How did a boy like you stumble here? You are trying to free my merchandise aren’t you?!”
John looked at the white haired girl, then back to the plump man who towered greatly above him.
“M-merchandise? I-I…”
“You runt!!!” the man grabbed John by his right arm, squeezed at his wrist as he placed his own face close to young John. “A thief among alleyways such as these means I get to do what I want with children like you.”
“I am not a thief you, moron!”
John pulled his arm from the plump man’s grasp.
“I-I…” he looked at the white haired girl before he stepped forward, “I have money, I’ll pay for her.”
“Is that so? Hahaha! I am afraid, you can’t afford it.”
“Give me the price!” John demanded, certain that whatever the price was, he could afford it.
John was by no means rich, but he did come from a family that could afford to own finest of books, for in many parts of the Eastern Continent, owning a dozen of books could easily cost a piece of gold. In comparison, a farm animal in the Eastern Continent costed roughly 3 pieces of gold.
That meant, that a schooling child like John was bound to have a few on hand. Paired that up with the ones Uncle Edgar gave him earlier, he had enough to buy five cows.
“50 gold pieces.”
The plump man’s voice drained the blood from John’s face.
“What!? That’s ridiculous!!! 50 pieces is enough for a house at the outskirts of Chang Zen!!!”
“Don’t bark at me if you don’t have the coin, boy. This girl is a specimen unseen around here! She will fetch high prices to the right buyer, 50 is most likely what she’ll be sold for, and 50 is what I ask for!”
I-I only have 15 here…I have a-another 20 back at home, I think I have another 5 gold in my school bag… A hundered silver is one gold, I-I should have two hundred…
He did mental calculations of the personal savings he had back at the Sarvod household, but no matter how much his total was, it still did not come close to 50 gold pieces.
He looked to the white-haired girl again, her scarlet eyes muddled with unspeakable emotions, aware that she would not be let out any time soon, much less by John for the absurd amount of price.
The Eastern Federation permitted the trading of slaves so long it was done with proper licenses. Though not a common practice, he had seen a few transactions of slave purchasing throughout his life.
But even among the rich and wealthy, the highest priced slave was around 8 pieces of gold.
50 gold was beyond the price of any living being sold in the Eastern Continent.
The white-haired girl retreated to the end of the cage, buried her face into her knees as the flickering shadows danced around her.
She deserves better… She already has no one, I might as well buy her, grant her freedom from this awful place.
John clutched his fist.
“I could pay you 10 pieces now, and get the r-remainder on a later date…” he uttered, unwilling to give up. “I w-will give you my family’s crest, so you can collect the rest from me on a later—”
The plump man’s large hands flew towards John as he lifted young John by his shirt.
“Why do I need to wait for you to pay me, when I can just take your gold?” the plump man wheezed in his face, smiling as his stench filled young John’s nose.
“!!!”
“I’ll take your money, and sell you! No one would know what happened to a stupid boy like you who wandered off into this alley.”
“Let him go! He has nothing to do with this!”
The girl in the cage shouted as her arms shot from the cage to stop the plump man, but was dodged by the man with a quick slide to the side.
“Now aren’t you talkative today?” the plump man spoke to the girl. “We couldn’t get you to talk for the longest time and now you decide to speak to me?”
The plump man raised John up high.
“Now if you don’t want anything to happen to him, I suggest you open your stupid mouth to the customers next time, if I so hear any of them mentioning the word ‘mute’ or ‘deaf’ to me, I will beat this boy until—”
“My, my, what have you gotten yourself into, my cutie?”
At the voice, the a blast of cold wind came blasting in John’s direction, extinguishing the fire and leaving everyone in the shroud of darkness as a pair of emerald eyes glowed in the dark.
Shoom!!!
The air around John thickened as he felt the hairs on his back all stood up at once
Miss Elisabeth had come, but despite her calling out to him, John did not ease in the slightest, his body shook uncontrollably as he watched the glowing emerald eyes looking in his direction with great fury.
“Just because you can use magic—”
“Your two mages and three henchmen are now asleep. Let the boy go and you’ll be spared.”
“You won’t do a thing, witch!” the plump man declared. “Not while I have him in my grasp!”
“I won’t repeat myself, fool.”
…
…
…
Shing!!!
The loud ring of metal sung beside John as the man’s pulled him towards the direction of the blade—
A sudden pressure condensed around young John, whisked the man’s grasp away from him as he felt waves of magic pulsated in the air.
Clink-clang… Thud!
The man was on the ground by the time Miss Elisabeth’s glowing emerald eyes approached him.
“[Luminescence].”
A soft glow appeared around him as the alley was once more alit. All that John could see was the body of the plump man on the ground alongside a rusted dagger.
“Are you unhurt, cutie?” Cupped by Elisabeth’s soft hands, her emerald eyes inspected him with the upmost care. “Everyone is been worried sick.”
The words from the Witch did not reach him, instead, he turned into the direction where the plump man had fallen.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll send them to the authorities later, their illegal activities will not go unpunished.”
“T-that girl…I was here because of her..”
Elisabeth gave a small smile before purple wisps of magic came from her fingertips, “[Lock Release].”
Clack!
The door to the large cage became undone, and out came the white haired girl.
“Y-you’re free now,” John spoke in a soft voice as if he was talking to a wounded puppy.
“I-I…don’t have anywhere to go,” the scarlet eyes that John found himself staring at became moist. “I d-don’t know what to do.”
John froze.
He did not think this far ahead, he had been focused on freeing an orphaned girl that the thought of her having no place to return went over his mind.
“I… U-uh…”
At his hesitation, Elisabeth grabbed the girl’s hand and John’s, joining them together and declared boldly, “Since you were willing to put your life for her, it only makes sense that she now belongs to you.”
“Me!?” John jumped backwards as he retracted his hand from Elisabeth’s grasp. “That’s not what I meant to do, all I wanted to was to buy her freedom, I don’t need a slave.”
“Come on, cutie, don’t put it in those words, the girl here would be upset. How can you say no to this face?” at her own words, Elisabeth mushed the white haired girl’s cheeks as though they were dough.
“It’s not about wanting or not wanting her, it’s about what she wishes for!” John protested. “She is a person of her own right, that is why…”
“I can’t follow you?” the white haired girl’s voice cracked.
John inhaled as he pursed his lips, looked to Elisabeth then to the girl. “No, it’s not that you can’t follow me. H-how would I tell this to Uncle Edgar and Aunt Dalane? I am sure I am in big enough trouble already, to tell them I now own a slave?”
“A servant, cutie,” Elisabeth corrected him. “Slaves have no choice to follow whoever they wish, this young lady chose to follow you. I’ll convince Dalane to allow her to serve you.”
“I don’t even know her name, Elisabeth!!!” John stomped his feet. “Besides, what would I do—”
“Kahnira. My name is Kahnira, master.”
…
…
…
Young John’s mouth was left agape. The sparkle in Kahnira’s eyes when she called to him, and the meek expression that was on her face left him speechless.
“Please let me accompany you. Not as a slave, but as your servant, a maid if you will, it will bring me no greater comfort to be by your side.”
Before he could retaliate, Elisabeth brought both him and Kahnira out from the dark alley before handled him back to the Perxins who bore mixed emotions of relief, anger, joy, and frustration.
John can only burry his head in shame as he stood silently as Miss Elisabeth spoke to both Edgar and Dalene about what happened to him. He overheard a few mumbles regarding Kahnira and how Elisabeth herself had deemed Kahnira to be harmless and trustworthy using some form of magic.
Serene who now held the magic tome that John left in the bookstore sat quietly beside him, placing her own tail on the back of his hand, comforting him as he waited for Elisabeth to speak to the Perxins couple.
His body shrank and ached as he anticipated the scolding and punishment that would come from his demeanor, his head spun upon recalling his risky behavior.
He was guilty as charged. He dared not to think about the punishment the Perxins would give him for putting himself in jeopardy.
But if he were given the choice again.
He would reenact everything as he would moments ago.