How on earth did someone like that become so twisted later on?

Didn’t you hear her? She needs to be hated. It’s what she needs to survive.

A tragic fate for someone so kind…

Tragic? Ha! Don’t make me laugh! Who do you think I am? A tragic heroine? Pa-tew! I did what I did because I love it! I live for it! I love nothing more than to watch the world burn and destroy everything you hold dear and look into your eyes as all your hopes and dreams shatter and turn to pure, delicious hatred!

Oh, give it a rest, princess! I thought you were a worthy enemy. Turns out you’re just a sick girl going, hate me! Hate me! Everybody, please hate little ol’ me so I won’t turn to goo. Booboo. Pathetic!

Yeah… that does ruin the mystique of it.

Agree.

Agree.

Here, here.

S-shut up! That’s not why I—

All of ya, pipe down. I’m trying to watch the show!

Amelia resumes her journey until she spots a hut. She hides and observes the place. A woodcutter leaves for work and his wife takes clothes to be washed at a creek. Amelia sneaks into the hut and steals clothes, food, and other items. Before she leaves, she messes up the hut and writes ‘Morons’ on the wall.

She escapes in time and waits for the wife to discover her handiwork.

“Tch! So little. I should’ve burned the damn roof down!”

Amelia wraps herself and the child and makes her way to a nearby village. The villagers look at her appearance with pity and disgust, but no one actually ‘hates’ a poor-looking stranger.

Wait, why is she so small compared to the villagers?

She’s only seven years old, remember?

Oh, right! She’s bald and has been acting like a mother, so I forgot!

Amelia asks the villagers for the nearest orphanage.

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“I don’t know. Try the city.”

“What city?”

“River Slate. Cross three mountains to the east and you’ll find it.”

“What about the south?”

“What about it?”

“Is there a city to the south?”

“Do I look like a guide? How should I know?”

“Huh… Fine, east it is.”

That night, Amelia steals several items and vandalizes several houses before leaving. She looks healthier with the curses sent her way, but it still takes her half a month before reaching River Slate.

The river fishes… they’re all dead.

Not just the fish.

Sickness as far as the eyes can see. People cough black sludge in the streets. Cattle lay dead in their shit.

I remember! The blue plague. I was a medical student back then.

Yes, I was also there. I live in Green Berry to the north. It was horrible. I lost two brothers to the plague.

It seems Amelia arrives at the worst time possible. Her food is running low, and she’s dead tired from the journey. What will she do now?

“It’s never dull with you, stinking brat. Fuck, I should’ve gone south. Now let’s see what we have here. Bellied-up fish means this river is contaminated… Can’t go up or downstream… Can’t go back to that village… Do I need to keep heading east? But that would lead me to the rocky shores and it’s too windy there…”

She looks back at the forest.

“Huh… Let’s head back to the stream we crossed yesterday.”

Amelia finds a clearing next to a creek. Winter is approaching, so she uses her ability to build a wooden house that can withstand the cold. Months pass, and as snow falls, her health takes a turn for the worse, but she has to bite through it and take care of the child.

It was kinda funny to see the devil suffer, but now… it’s just sad.

The villagers are dying anyway. Just go and burn them down, you stupid cow!

That’s fucked up!

Yeah, so?

So it means you’re a psycho! Even the devil didn’t think of something that low!

“I should go to the village and burn down a few houses. They’re dying anyway…”

You were saying?

…

“What do you say, kid? Should I burn down a village?”

She asks the kid as she feeds him soup. The child makes baby noises and Amelia gives a helpless smile.

“Yeah, you’re right. I can’t kill a sentient being except in self-defense, even if they’re near death. Rules are rules. It’s also why I can’t just throw you away, so don’t you dare be grateful to me, you hear? It’s just the cost of doing business.”