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A small shadow swiftly ran through one roof to another within the city, randomly moving without any special destination.

After spending almost half an hour aimlessly wandering in search of her father, Shina finally stopped after arriving on the roof of a small house within a district seemingly devoid of life. Most of the windows of the houses were closed, the area was dirty and the air around made her pinch her nostrils.

This place was in such condition that it was surprised that people could live here.

This was one of the various districts within the city left in such a state, and also the result of the town’s incredible economy.

Whether money went, shady places would naturally also follow closely. Those kind of place were the result of the appearance of rich merchants who attracted bandits and robbers who flew toward this place after it started developing. This kind of port city gave birth to many opportunities for robbers and smugglers.

Shina exhaled, it was the first time she visited this city and was completely lost.

The chase she had with the guard forced her to run without paying any attention to her surrounding, ending up in not knowing from where she came and how to return to the marketplace.

Furthermore, she couldn’t just ask anybody for direction as she was probably still being tracked.

“Let’s see... I don’t know this city, don’t know where dad is and don’t know which way the door we entered from is. Humu, I can conclude that I am absolutely lost.”

“Geez, I didn’t expect to become a ‘lost child’ this soon…”

Laughing to herself, Shina had no idea of what to do.

Despite being in this kind of situation, not an ounce of worry could be seen of her visage. She had an absolute trust in Arsal and knew he wouldn’t have let her go alone if he didn’t believe in her ability to protect herself.

In the small district, the sound of chatter grasped Shina’s attention within this place devoid of any sound.

Five guards with unsheathed swords were surrounding one young short black haired girl holding a large bag in her hands. The girl’s arm was lightly injured and the large back had a small gap from where a few coins slowly fell.

Shina instantly recognized the girl, it was the one she had helped earlier.

None of the person present had noticed her yet, allowing Shina to lean on the roof’s edge and listen to their conversation.

“Whoah man~ Look at that large bag of money, that girl must be talented!”

The five men looked at the bag with greedy expressions, but they also didn’t dare look away from the girl.

“If you want it then just take it, but you have to let me go!”

Throwing the torn bag in front of one of the men, the girl looked at it with a bitter face. This bag contained the money she had earned over many years and, one wouldn’t imagine the pain she had gone through to obtain this large amount.

Yet in front of death, she didn’t hesitate a single moment before offering it.

‘Just you all wait until I become a warrior you assholes…’

None of the men actually moved to pick up the bag, making the girl feel something was wrong with this situation. Most of them actually looked at her with a mocking smile.

“Who care about that money? It’ll be ours after killing you!”

The girl disdainfully glared at the guards as she understood the situation.

“You guys are Bloskin’s lackey, aren’t you? No wonder…”

It was just like she had predicted. She knew that even after hiding the corpse of the man who was looking for her, once they realized he was missing and she had left they would come after her.

The missing point was that she had thought it would take at least three to four hours for them to find her.

“Although you killed one of the boss’s subordinate, he might be willing to forgive you as long as you tell us where your friend is hiding.”

A surprised expression showed on the girl’s face for a faint moment before returning to a poker face.

She didn’t know what had happened to Shina, but from their words she at least learned that she escaped from them after helping her. But this also rose the girl’s doubt, while she herself had killed one of Bolskin’s henchmen, he instead wanted to find her that girl.

“Why do you want to know?”

Keeping a straight face, she acted as if she knew the answer to their question while trying to probe some information. Her instinct actually told her that she was the reason why those men remained careful of their surrounding and didn’t attack her yet.

“Don’t act like your don’t know! That girl actually killed most of Bolskin’s men who worked for the guards!”

Unable to maintain her poker face, her expression crumbled within an instant as she openly displayed her surprise and disbelief which didn’t escape the guards’ eyes.

Many of the leader within the city had sent people to work in the city guards. While those leaders possessed a large amount of power, most of them couldn’t act openly if they didn’t want to be exterminated by the country.

However, the guards were different as they worked for the country.

If they killed someone then they could frame them or counterfeit evidence to force some false charge on them. Although the high-ups of the city wouldn’t allow any of their men to become high-ranked, those guards were still extremely important.

Killing those guards was similar to killing one hundred henchmen. It was something that could only be returned with blood.

The girl wasn’t surprised that Bloskin wanted her death more than anything, but her doubts about the girl’s origin kept growing.

“So you don’t know where she is?”

On the other side Shina also felt dubious, she clearly remembered not killing anyone while she was escaping. At most, maybe one or two maybe died due to blood loss, but that was all. She didn’t know at all that her mother had killed all the guards whom she had left behind. However even after learning of their death she wasn’t perturbed, whether they lived or died, wasn’t her problem...

The guards began to doubt their relation after seeing the girl’s surprised expression. Yet they couldn’t just believe there was nothing at all, otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered interrupting the girl’s pursuers.

“I am actually more surprised that despite knowing how strong she is, you guys are still foolish enough to chase after her. If I was you I would have long ago abandoned those search.”

“Who said we are trying to find her? As long as we lead her to the boss then everything will be over.”

The girl turned pale as she remembered Bloskin’s strength, that man was actually a warrior. It was by relying on his strength that he managed to establish his own group. While she believed Shina to be strong, she didn’t dare assume if she would win or lose against him.

“Actually, isn’t it fine as long as we bring her to the boss? If they have a relation then we might be able to lure her out. On the other hand, even if she doesn't show up we’ll still have caught someone who killed one of us.”

“That’s right! Why didn’t we think of that?!”

Looking at the men who slowly approached her, the girl took out the stolen dagger from her waist and prepared to protect herself.

“Don’t you dare resist, we’ll bring you back with us even if we have to cut your legs!”

Dagger against sword and completely surrounded.

If this was the night and they hadn’t noticed her then she ‘might’ have a chance to kill them, but in this kind of situation, the girl knew she had no way to resist or escape.

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Raising her dagger, the girl deflected one of the guard’s incoming sword; but the price she had to pay wasn’t low as her hand dropped her weapon. A crevice had formed on the dagger and her hand was numb.

This result wasn’t surprising, with the difference of strength and weapon the girl didn’t stand a single chance head-on.

However, she still hadn’t lost her calm which impressed Shina who kept peering at this scene. She didn’t appear to be worried or afraid of the guards and tried to keep a hint of confidence.

“Touch me and you’ll regret it…”

Although she looked injured, not a hint of panic could be heard in her voice which surprised the guards. But this didn’t prevent them from moving toward her.

“Hmph, are you really in the position of threatening us?”

“Morons, did you really think we didn’t expect you guys from chasing me? At the very moment when you touch me, you’ll definitely regret it!”

Shina looked over the scene while holding back her laughter.

‘She’s trying to bluff them…’

“Brat, you really think we’re stupid enough to believe you? If that girl was already here then you wouldn’t have given up on your bag earlier. Everyone just capture her!”

Ordering the guards around him, they confidently walked toward her. Thinking about it, there was a few sign from which they could assume that the girl was bluffing.

A perceivable little smile formed on the girl’s face as she stood up.

“Idiots, foolishly believing what that man say… “

“The only reason I gave up on the bag is because I knew it would come back to me after a while, but you guys actually believe that man who doesn’t even dare take action himself in order to be the first to run away if the situation became dangerous.”

The four approaching guards suddenly froze as they looked back at the man. What he had said made sense, but what the girl said was also very plausible.

“W-What are you doing? She’s obviously lying!”

Despite contesting her words, none of the guards dared taking action. Although the chance of the ‘monster’ being close was very low, it still subsisted.

The possibility of coming across that monster absolutely terrified.

Actually, no corpse had been found of the guards, yet a few elements led to the conclusion that they had been killed.

The place where the ‘slaughter’ took place was painted with blood and all that remained of the guards were some broken sword and a few cut-off limb. Only by looking at the armors found on the limbs did they conclude that it was their remnant.

Just what kind of monster would be able to reduce a body to a state where nothing else than blood could be found? What kind of horrible being could do such a thing?

Some of the guards speculated that it was an humanoid monster in the form of a girl who ate them which would explain why no corpse was found, leaving only a few limbs behind because she was full.

Others think it was done with magic, but the thought of confronting a mage able to use such a terrifying magic almost made them piss their pants.

There were many opinions, but the only thing they shared was that each and every of those speculations absolutely frightened them.

“I-If she’s lying, then do it yourself!”

“That’s right! Do it yourself if you believe in your words!”

“Y-You guys... “

Despite believing that she was lying, seeing how scared his comrades were actually made the guard start doubting himself.

‘What if she’s telling the truth?... No, she’s probably just bluffing. But…’

Seeing the man unwilling to move made the other guards angry. Using the girl’s words, this comrade of their actually used them as a shield if anything were to happen.

Shina who was sitting atop the house looked amused, only regretting not being able to eat some popcorn as she enjoyed the show. With just a few sentences the girl managed to create discord among them and have the guard start fighting each other.

‘That girl is amusing, shrewd but amusing…’

In the end, being pressured by his friend the guard was forced to capture her. As she advanced toward the girl with his sword in hand, his hands were shaking as he continuously scanned the area.

The four other guards not far from them, ready to run away at the smallest danger.

Although they were guards, in the end just like many other thugs they came from the slums and were also raised under harsh condition. They didn’t know the meaning of camaraderie and neither did they want to, life was for them more important than that bullshit.

Slowly extending his wavering hand toward the girl, within an instant he found that a dagger had found its way in the gap of his helm, killing him on the spot.

“See, now you regret it.”

The man just fell to the ground, the blood gouging out of his head stained the ground and filled the place with the deep scent of iron. In his last thoughts he was at the same time angry, yet somewhat relieved of not dying a horrible death at that monster’s hands.

“What should we do?”

Not caring about their comrade’s death,the four men looked at the girl smeared with the blood of the two men she had killed today. She wore a devilish smile as she glared at them.

“If we just leave then Bolskin won’t let us go…”

“But if we go…”

The guards hesitated, on one side they might encounter that monster, but on the other side their boss won’t forgive them for letting her escape.

Actually, even though their comrade had attacked that little monster hadn’t shown up which made the guards lean toward going on the offensive. Retreating meant certain death, however by advancing they would take a gamble.

‘If they don’t let me go now, then…’

The four guards looked at each other for a moment before coming to an agreement.

“Let’s all attack together.”

A panicked expression showed on the girl’s face as she heard their words, knowing they would quickly see through her lies.

*CHANG*

At the same moment, one of the guards fell to the ground. A large weight in the form of a girl had fallen on him from the sky, instantly knocking the man out.

“Hey, sorry I am late!”

The girl’s eyes almost popped out, she hadn’t expected her lies to suddenly become truth. But her reaction wasn’t as strong as the guards one whose face turned deadly white on the spot.

“Kukuku~, she said it didn’t she?... You guys will now regret it!”

The words coming from this little four years old child actually sounded like the call of the Grim Reaper in their ears, making the three remaining guards flee like madmen who kept banging on every walls and corner of the buildings.

“Grooooaa~ Grooooaaaa~”

Shina kept chasing after them for dozens of meters while roaring like a monster… A baby monster who just came out of its egg. Nonetheless, this still scared them out of their mind

When she picked up the large torn-up money bag, the remaining girl who still felt shocked suddenly came back to her senses and looked at Shina, her mind filled with the bitterness yet caution. This money was something she had collected even before she started stealing, it contained everything she had worked for in her entire life.

The sound of Shina’s footstep resonated within this silent place, making the girl insidely more and more nervous as she approached.

Shina simply smiled at her and returned back the bag.

“Their expression was funny, wasn’t it? By the way, my name is Shinael, but you can call me Shina. What’s yours?

In front of Shina’s warm expression, the girl felt her mind go blank and unconsciously responded.

“E-Eniel…”