I somehow managed to survive, be it by a blessing from god or a curse from the devil. From that day, the slums had become my new home. Though ´slums´ isn´t really the right word for that place, it would be more precise to call it a ´big dumpster´

A small, secluded area at the edge of the city where people come and throw away their garbage. No one actually lives here, or at least I haven´t come across a Human neighbor.

I´m used to eating rotten food by now, so I actually got my belly fuller here than I did in the last two years. It amazes me how much food people throw away, most of it isn´t even that bad. I ate much, too much maybe. After a few weeks, I noticed my body filling out the spots it had lost over time. I felt stronger, better. Even my wounds had recovered to a better state than I would´ve ever thought. As far as I knew, only minor scars would remain. They would forever remind me of those torturous days, for better or for worse.

There were many rags that I could use as clothing and I could even clean myself at the public well. What more could I ask for? Sure, the rainy nights were rough and I was alone, with no one to depend on, but it wasn´t all that bad. You can´t call it a good life either, but it was most definitely an improvement. It was something that I could endure, and I just needed to endure until I grew up a little more. I was sure I could earn money once I became an adult.

Or so I had thought, and yet the warm cover of summer steadily went by, and on a day when the white winter wind hit me freezingly in my face, I found myself standing before an unfamiliar man. I remember retreating a few steps due to a strange fear crawling down my back. I was afraid of him, afraid of the expression on his face. I was used to receiving hate, hate I could take. But his eyes were empty when they looked at me, uninterested in what they saw. He didn´t care if I was a dirty kid alone in the slums, he didn´t care if I just died there on the spot. There was a feeling of apathy that I sensed from him, of just wanting to get this over with.

He spoke in a deep voice about how people were uneasy about someone, or something, constantly rummaging through the garbage in the slums. He didn´t beat around the bush and just told me to stop coming here and return home at once. I then let him know that this was my home, that I had nowhere to go back to. He raised an eyebrow when I said that. I didn´t like the sudden interest that he showed in me at that moment, I didn´t like that I could only catch his interest by saying something unexpected. I became a target of amusement, is what I felt. But I´m not a target, I´m a preson.

"Explain," he ordered me. And so I did. I told him about my parents´ death, about my aunt and about the year that I have been living on my own. I talked about my worries, my fears and my new-found hope that I wouldn´t let go of no matter what. Maybe I shouldn´t have opened my heart to him, but at that moment it felt good to finally get the words out that I couldn´t speak to anyone about.

He listened quietly without interrupting me even once while I talked. "I understand now," he said at the end of it "Still, I can´t let you live here"

I think I stopped breathing while his short reply ran through my head. This was my home for almost a year, I didn´t understand how everything could be taken away from me in the span of mere seconds, again. Yet, I knew I couldn´t go against him. I haven´t felt despair in long, at this moment I was reminded of it again.

"I will give you two choices," he continued and raised a finger "1, I will bring you to the orphanage"

I knew that there was an orphanage in the city, and I also knew that the kids there were happy. Yet, I couldn´t join them. I´ve seen them hold many public events before, when my parents were still alive. They do everything to draw attention to the young children, to show them to the public. It makes sense considering that the orphanage wants them to be adopted at one point. But if I were to join them, it would be as though I deliberately wanted my aunt to know that she failed to kill me. She would try to ´take me in´ again, then silence me for good. I was scared of that, it would be better to keep a low profile and continue living here on the streets like this. Who knows how much anyone would believe a 'brat' over an adult? I don´t want to go back to those days, no matter how small the risk, I won´t take it.

"2," he raised a second finger "You will come with me"

...

I´m fairly sure that I gave him a confused look there

"I will guarantee your safety. You will be fed, educated and what´s more, you won´t have to worry about a roof over your head ever again"

"What´s the catch?" I asked almost immediately. It seems that he liked my answer because the corner of his mouth slightly went up

"The catch is that there will be a specific path of life you will have to follow. You see, I work for this city´s Adventurer Guild and I will educate you to become my aide one day. If you accept my offer, you will do as I say. Yet, it won´t be a bad life, secure and stable. I won´t pry into your free time either. Once you finish your work for the day, you can do as you like"

His eyes pierce through me and see the hesitation building up in my heart

"I will give you until tomorrow to think about it. Let me say that you won´t ever get such a chance again, so don´t disappoint me"

With that, he turns around and goes. The cape on his armor flutters strongly in the cold wind

--

As promised, he was there the next day. His eyes were the same cold, only saw me for my worth as they patiently waited for my decision. I lowered my head and got to one knee

"Please take me with you," I pleaded.

"Get up," he said. "If you want to come with me, never lower your head before anyone again. Get up and say it once more"

I did as he told me to. I stood up and locked eyes with him

"Take me with you," I said

"Good. My policy is that the strong, diligent and clever shall be rewarded. Tell me, is there anything you want?"

"Anything?" I asked

"If it´s in the realm of my possibilities"

"I assume leaving me alone is not in the realm of your possibilities?" His demeanor didn't change at my words, and neither did he give me a reply.

"Then..." I began after thinking for a while "I want revenge, or let´s call it justice. Sir, can you see to it for me?"

"Your aunt?"

I nod

"Consider it done. Also, you are to call me father from now on"

--

With that, another chapter of my life had begun. Father was a cold person who saw people's worth in how useful they were, but he was also just and never went back on his words. As we agreed upon, he educated me to become his aid. I had to learn every little detail connected to adventuring. |Skills|, Classes, Team compositions and synergies, monsters, Dungeons... the list goes on. The amount of teaching material my tutors forced into my head was no joke. In the beginning, I remember sitting from dawn til dusk wrecking my brain over the multitude of subjects. Only after I had devised different learning strategies of my own did it become easier.

Still, if I had to compare this and my life before, I wouldn´t think twice about what to choose. For the first time in years, I had people who took care of my well-being. There was a myriad of them: Maids, butlers, cooks, doctors, gardeners... there was even a tailor who regularly visited and provided me with the clothes I wished for. Though the best part was the food, I had forgotten that bread could be so fluffy and vegetables so fresh. ´Tasty´, what an irrelevant yet delightful sensation.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

My days went on like this. Sleeping, eating, studying; this was all that I had come to know. At least until one day, when I was going through some books inside my room, the door burst open and a girl barged in. I looked at her and she looked back at me as if challenging to a starring contest. She then closed the door behind her and approached me. At the very last moment, she took a sharp turn and jumped on my bed. I was stunned, too confused to deal with the situation

"So, who are you?" she asked

´Nonono that´s my line´

I´d never seen her in the mansion before. So where did she come from and what did she want from me?

"I´ll tell you, but you go first," I demanded

"Nuh-uh. I asked before you, so you should be the first to answer"

"If you don´t want to you can always just leave my room"

"Fine, relax. You don´t have to be such a killjoy. My name´s Elena, what´s yours?"

Name only... This wasn´t really the answer I had hoped for

"I´m e̷̬͙̓̒i̶̺͆̋n̷͇̋̿ḿ̴̹l̴̛̠͗a̵̛͖͌ě̴̘́d," I answered

"e̷̬͙̓̒i̶̺͆̋n̷͇̋̿ḿ̴̹l̴̛̠͗a̵̛͖͌d, what a lovely name!" she replied while clasping her hands together "So, why are you here?"

This girl...

"I´m an orphan who was adopted by the master of this house. He said he wants me to become his aid one day"

"This uncaring guy did?? That´s a surprise!" she exclaimed. A moment of silence followed "Well, I guess you´re not really in the mood to talk. See you around, I guess"

With these words she jumped up from my bed and was just about to leave, but I wouldn´t let her get away with that so easily

"Wait!" I shouted and managed to make her turn around at the door frame "It´s your turn, tell me who you are. And I don´t mean your name by that"

"Hmm," the girl made and put a finger to her chin "If you let me visit you tomorrow, I´ll tell you then" she smiled. I wasn´t really amused by that though. "Come on, I´ll even bring some cookies!"

Cookies...

"Fine," I grumbled. I guess that made her happier than I expected because she wished me a good night and said "See you tomorrow!" with an overjoyed expression

What a strange person

--

Another day of arduous studying went by. As I was relaxing on my bed in the evening, I heard three identical knocks on the door. I rubbed my eyes, or I guess my face, and forced myself to get up. When I opened the door I saw the girl from yesterday standing there. We looked each other in the eyes for a moment without saying a word. She was a bit taller than me so I had to raise my head a little

"Can I come i-

I then slammed the door into her face and lay down on my bed again

"Hey, that´s so mean of you! Didn´t you say that I could come? I even brought cookies!"

Cookies...

I sighed and opened the door again: "Where are the cookies?" I asked. The girl lifted a small bag and I stretched my hand out for her to put it there

"As if I´d just give them to you. You´ll just slam the door in my face again after, won´t you?"

"Tch," I click my tongue and let her inside. She got me there.

As soon as she took her first step into my room, I snatched the cookies out of her hand and occupied my bed before she could. "So, tell me who you are now," I said while putting the first biscuit into my mouth.

She then did something that I didn´t expect: She laughed. "You really are something, aren´t you? I´m the daughter of the ´master of the house´," she mocks me and puts a finger to her chin "... and I guess I´m your big sister from now on too? So feel free to call me Elie or sis if you like"

My mouth momentarily stopped chewing until I reminded it to continue. Did I mess up? Maybe I shouldn´t have given her such an attitude... this could turn out uglier than I thought. But did this man, my ´father´, really have a daughter? I couldn´t imagine him starting a family in a thousand years.

"So he adopted you as well?" I asked

"No, we´re blood-related"

"Mother?"

"Never met her"

"I see"

This small exchange seemed to have put our conversation to an awkward hold, so we just sat there for a bit as she watched me eat the sweets she brought.

"So," she decided to break the silence "What did you study today? You do study, right?"

That came out of nowhere

"I... was going through the eastern monstrology and the history of Elves"

"Oh so you had lessons with d̶͔̍r̶͍̽ń̶̟e̶͓̕b then?"

"Yeah... That´s right"

Out of all the tutors, he was probably my least favorite. I really didn't like this guy, but I couldn´t just say that to her face when she was the daughter of ´father´

"Man I just hate his guts!" the girl took the words I was thinking and just blurted them out "He´s so arrogant. Always thinks he knows everything better and rubs it into your face. You´re here to teach, not push your esteem," she rolled her eyes

"I... think he´s not even that knowledgeable. He never has a good reply to... creative questions to which no answers are written in the books. And also his temper is really bad"

"Exactly! I wonder how he was even hired in the first place. Oh, and have you ever been taught by s̸̩̾d̷̦͝i̷̼͊ũ̷̙f̸̧̃ before?"

I didn't expect our talk to ramp up, but it did. And it went on and on like that. I held back at first but got more daring with every sentence. Before I knew it, I was talking without even thinking beforehand anymore. I learned a lot of things from and about her. The more we talked, the more I saw we had a lot in common, the more I felt like we were so different but yet the same. When I looked at the clock, hours had passed. We were way past our bedtime, so she was ready to go back

But... I didn´t want her to go back

"Hey, erm," I called out to her "Would you... would you like to stop by tomorrow as well? You don´t have to bring anything..." I said, averting my eyes

Though her eyes sparkled when I said that "Sure! I´d love to! Oh but you can bet I´ll have more sweets with me, so look forward to it~" is what she said before wishing me good night and leaving my room

"Good night," I said back to her although I knew she was long gone already.

At that time, I didn´t know what to call this feeling in my chest. Excitement? Joy? Maybe even happiness? I never really talked with children my age before and I never had someone who I could call a friend. Was this what it felt like? I think this was the first day since I lost my parents that I went to bed and couldn´t wait for the next morning to come.

´I think, I think I found my new home,´ I thought.

I had found a home, a home where I wanted to stay, so I would give it my best to be allowed to remain here.

-- -- --

"Ah, Hello Vienessa! Here to eat again?" a receptionist calls out to the Demon who just entered through the front door

"You know me well, Stephanie. But first I want to get rid of some of my loot," the girl grins

"Got it. Then come to the back of the guild please"

After the first time the Northern Adventurers Guild accepted her 'loot', they knew better than to do it in public.

The two disappear into an 'employee only' area and Vienessa empties her bag

"I have something special with me today," she says and puts the Magic Crystal of the xxx on the table

"This is-?! Where did you get that?" the receptionist says in a panicked voice

"A monster that attacked me on the 5th floor of the Dragon Lair"

"Vienessa, this is an undead's Magic Crystal. This is bad, very bad. Furthermore, did you say a monster attacked you in a 'Safe area'?"

"Uhm, I guess?"

Stephanie wipes some sweat and wrinkles from her forehead. "This is not something we can handle on our own. We need the involvement of the Center Guild, but of course they´re going through some issues right now..."

Vienessa's ears twitch at her words

"Issues? Stephanie, what do you mean?"

"Huh? Well, I guess I can tell you. But please don't spread the word"

The receptionist leans closer and whispers into her ear: "You see, the Guild Master and Sub-Guild Master are at each other's throats. There were some instances of that every now and then, but it's never been so bad before.The Sub-Guild Master was away for a while and now that she's back, I've heard she really changed. Knowing the Guild Master, he won't hesitate to get... forceful so he can get his way. I don't know what he'll do to... Uhm, Vienessa? Are you okay?"

"Stephanie," the girl grabs the receptionist's shoulders

"Y-Y-Yes?"

"Madeleine, do you know someone by that name?"

"You know the Sub-Guild Master?"

A worried expression surfaces on Vienessa's face "This little... she said she was fine! Fuck!" not wasting a second, the girl storms out of the room

"Hey, Vienessa! W-wait! Where are you-

--

"Madeleine..."

Slightly out of breath, the Demon looks up at the building she visited on her first day of coming to the Adventurer Capital. With it comes the memoriy of the receptionist who greeted them there

Vienessa takes a deep breath and opens the gates that lead inside

The entrance hall is completely empty.

No, that's not quite right...

"Vienessa~" a voice echoes from behind "You made me wait. I thought you'd show up earlier. I was so bored, you know?"

Aria expects the little Demon to jerk back in surprise, but the girl doesn't flinch

"Oh?" the ´receptionist´ makes

"Aria, I need your help," Vienessa instead says and kneels before her "Please, I need to know-

"Alright stop right there," Aria interrupts and some dark matter lifts the girl to her feet again. "I expected you would be desperate to some degree, but this? Madeleine, right?"

The girl slowly nods "Then take my hand," Aria says and stretches out for the girl to grab

Vienessa hesitates, but then gets angry at herself for doing so. She takes Aria´s hand.