Two days have passed since Miko left his home, and went to live in the city.

He was currently walking down a narrow street by himself. This street was located in the lower class section of the city, or more commonly known as the slums.

He had a bag of fruits in his hand.

(Hey, when are you going to find a place to sleep?)

Tiamat spoke in his mind. In order to not look like a crazy person, he did the same.

‘I have no problem sleeping outdoors. In fact, it has its benefits.’

(A six-year-old shouldn't be living like that. Especially someone who wants to be king.)

‘Why do you care? You went back to the Summit the moment we left the house.’

(That's because Higher Beings can't be away from here for too long. I already spent a week outside the Summit, because of that I won't be able to come down for a few years. As you get stronger, the time I can spend outside will increase; and the time I'll need to return to your side, will also decrease.)

‘Is that so? Well, I’ll probably find shelter soon.’

Miko took an apple from the bag, and brought it to his mouth to take a bite.

“I'll take that.”

But before the apple could reach his mouth, someone took it away.

When Miko looked at who did it, he saw a rather large and intimidating looking man eating the apple he bought.

“This is pretty good. Thanks for going out of the way to buy it for me.”

The man smirked and looked at Miko.

“Oh? You got a whole bag full of them! You wouldn't mind if I take some, kid?”

The man didn't wait for Miko's reply, and took the bag away from him.

He then turned around to leave and said-

“Thanks for the food, kid!”

And started laughing.

Miko watched as the man walked away, smiled and said-

“Thanks for your patronage.”

He held out a large sack in front of him. When he opened it, it was filled with all kinds of coins.

‘See? Benefits.’

(……..)

Of course, the money didn't belong to him. He took it from the man earlier.

Miko put the sack in his pocket and turned around to leave.

“Hm?”

But then he saw a girl staring at him with a smile on her face.

“What?”

Miko spoke to the girl, but she just silently walked up to him and stared down at him.

She looked at him with curious eyes. She looked like a child who saw a magic trick for the first time.

It annoyed Miko, so he walked past her.

“That was pretty amazing. The way how you took that man’s money, the same time he reached for your fruits.”

The girl spoke behind him. He stopped at looked at her.

“Thanks.”

“Oh? You're not going to deny it?”

“Why would I? It was a simple business transaction. He took my fruits, so I took his money.”

“Hahaha! You say some interesting things.”

“Thanks.”

Miko started to walk again, but then the girl suddenly pop up in front of him out of nowhere.

Seeing that, he quickly jumped back to distance himself.

“Wow! Nice reflexes!”

The girl smiled and started clapping, like she saw something entertaining.

“….What do you want?”

Miko glared at her. For her to be able to move that fast, he deduced that she wasn't normal.

“Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to observe you some more.”

“Why?”

“Because you're interesting.”

Miko closely observed the girl’s “innocent” smile. There was no ill intent in her smile, so he let his guard a little bit.

Seeing that, the girl smiled and said-

“My name Hinami. You can call me Hina.”

She introduced herself with a big smile on her face.

Miko took a good look at her once again.

She was around 10. She had shoulder length brown hair, that had in a skull hair clip in it. She was really cute, which made Miko want to see a grown up version of her.

However, she was dressed a weirdly.

She was wearing a baggy sleeved brown and green blouse with a matching skirt. Both the skirt and blouse had a lot of frills on them.

It remained him of the Lolita fashion trend.

“…..My name is Gamiko.”

“Oh, what a cute name! It fits you!”

Miko didn't know if it was because he told her his name, but she looked really excited for some reason.

“But I gotta say, you're really cute, Mikky.”

Said Hinami, as she looked at Miko from head to toe. She then started to walk around him, and look at him from various angles.

“I had to stare at you for a long time, before I could figure out your gender.”

“So, that's why you were staring…….Wait, who’s Mikky?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What are you talking about? You of course. You're name is Gamiko, so Mikky for short.”

(Hahahahahahaha! Mikky! I like it! Hahahahahaha!)

‘Shut it, Lizard!’

(Li-Lizard?!)

Miko silenced the laughing Tiamat, and looked back at Hina.

“Normally, wouldn't Miko be the shorten version?”

“Really? You just look like a Mikky.”

“What does a Mikky even look like?!”

Miko was clearly irritated for being called something that reminded him of a talking rat in pants and gloves.

“You don't like it? It's cute.”

“…Sigh. Call me anything you like.”

Miko felt it was a waste of energy to argue, so he gave in. He was also interested in something else.

“Never mind the name. Your eyes, are they special?”

“Why you ask?”

“When I stole the money, I made sure to do it in an angle that no one around could see. Not to mention, I did it after strengthening my body with magic, plus the distance was a little over a foot. Which means my hand should've moved faster than the average eye could see. But, you still saw it….How else than a special eye or technique?”

Hina stared at Miko with wide eyes.

“You're really smart to figure that out. It could've been a bluff you know. I could've only seen when you had the sack in your hand, and guessed that you stole it.”

She was genuinely impressed.

“True. But, you praise how I was able to take the money the moment the man reached for my fruits. Which meant you had to see everything.”

“Ah, so I gave myself away from the beginning. Hehehe.”

She laughed happily and said-

“You're right. My eyes are a bit special.”

“Would you explain to me how?”

“If you buy me lunch with the money you've stole.”

Miko immediately started to weigh the pros and cons of complying to her request. If he walks away now then, he can continue on like always. But that also meant losing a chance to learn a new technique. Fighting Leon made him realize that his arsenal was too small. So if her eyes were the result of a technique he needs to take the chance to learn it despite the risks.

After he made his decision, Miko's detached aura disappeared and it was replaced with a more friendly aura.

"Fine."

“Yay! I was starving!”

Hina was obviously happy, but Miko was still bit upset.

Seeing that, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Don't be so gloomy! Just think of it as practice for the future! You'll need to bring your wife out every now then, or she'll cheat on you!”

Hina laughed as she said something unfitting of a little girl.

“Let's go, Darling!”

“If you continue to call me that, I'll request something only a husband should request his wife.”

Said Miko jokingly.

Around 20 minutes later, Miko and Hina were inside a fast food restaurant in the commercial district.

The restaurant looked a lot similar to the ones in Logan's world. Well, if you just ignore the fact that the food was created with alchemy, and that they were a lot people who were dressed in medieval clothing, that is.

“Why did we have come all the way out here, where the food is so expensive?”

Complained Miko.

“Because the food here is delicious. Didn't you enjoy your food with a cute smile on your face.”

“Forget it. Tell me about your eyes.”

“How impatient. You won't be popular with women if you stay like that, you know.”

“With a face like this, I'll be popular whether I like it or not.”

“Wow, such arrogance~.”

Hina said teasingly.

She then closed her eyes for a bit, before reopening them.

(Oh, her eyes changed color.)

Hina’s violet eyes had changed to a radiant golden color.

“I was born with 3 gifts.”

She held three fingers in front of her.

“Two unusual types of magic, and eyes that sees every small detail in this world , no matter what it is.”

“Are you apart of a clan?”

“Nope. And I'm not an [Infected] either if you're wondering. Although my parents might be.”

‘[Infected]?’

Miko heard an unfamiliar term, but decided to ignore it for now.

“I believe that I inherited them from my parents.”

“Believe?”

“I don't know them. I was raised by my grandmother, but she died.”

Hinami paused for a while before saying-

“I killed her.”

“I see.”

“…..You don't seem alarmed?”

“Why should I? So, you killed someone. Congratulations, you're one of the billions of murderers in the world.”

He spoke with a sarcastic tone.

Hina looked at him shockingly for a second, before laughing.

“You're a really weird kid.”

“The same can be said for you.”

“I guess you're right.”

She smiled and looked at him, but Miko wanted to get to the chase.

“So, it wasn’t something I could learn?”

“Unfortunately not. But don't you already have amazing abilities? You know, being a Proxy and all?”

“…?!”

Shock covered Miko's face when he heard Hina's words. He immediately put his guard up, and readied himself to kill at any moment.

“How did you know?”

He spoke with a calm but merciless tone.

“Huh? I-I was right?”

“…..Eh?”

But all his tension disappeared with a single question.

“Amazing! I just realized that the magic particles surrounding you, was a lot denser than around everyone else. I just said it as a joke but I was right! I'm amazing!”

Hina said excitedly.

(I can't believe you, who's over 20 years old mentally, got tricked by a 10-year-old girl….)

“……….”

“Hm? What's wrong? Your face is red?”

“No, I'm just so embarrassed that I wished I wasn't reincarnated.”

This was the most shame he's felt since being reborn.

However, he was truly confused. According to her heartbeat, Hina wasn't lying when she said that she guessed it, but she wasn't lying when she said that he was a Proxy with certainty either. This greatly confused Miko.

“So, whose Proxy are you?”

But, Hina was intent on learning as much as she could. However, Miko had no intention of revealing any more information about himself.

“…..Just a random lizard.”

(Hey!)

“Never mind that, you said that you were born with 2 unusual magic abilities. Show me them.”

“And if I choice not to?”

“I'll kill you right here.”

“….Rather extreme, don’t you think?”

“It may be a slip of the tongue, but the fact you know what I am, is enough to kill you.”

Hina looked at the expression on Miko's face, that didn't fit a child's and also put on a similar expression.

“Oh? Do you think you can?”

The atmosphere immediately became tense between them. It didn't look like a meeting between two children. But more like a confrontation between two killers.

“Sigh. Let's stop.”

But the tension was quickly chased away by Hina’s exhausted tone.

“You're smart, so you wouldn't take the risk of attacking me without know what my abilities are. So, this stare off is pointless.”

Hinami reached into her pocket and took a notepad.

“I like you, Mikky. I want to be friends with you. As proof of that, I'll show you one of my abilities.”

Hinami then used a pen and drew something in the notepad. She tore out the page and showed it to Miko.

It was a drawing of a knife.

Miko was confused as to why she drew a knife and showed it to him.

Hinami then smiled and said-

“[Manifest!]”

The page began to glow, and Hinami placed her hand on the page.

It was then Miko saw it.

Hinami’s hand went inside the page.

She didn’t use her hand to tear or bore the page.

Miko watched as ripples appeared on the page surface, as her hand literally went inside the page like it was a bucket of water.

Hinami then quickly pulled her hand from inside the page, and held a knife in her hand.

It was the same knife that she drew. Not only that, the page was blank. There was no sign that it had been drawn on.

“Amazing, right?”

Hinami said, as she flicked the knife between her fingers.

“Now that's magic…..”

Miko spoke his honest thoughts.

“I don't think I can learn that.”

When Hinami used her power, Miko was watching the magic particles around her.

They moved in ways he's never seen before. Just trying to follow them made his head hurt. He instantly knew that this was something he couldn't learn.

“Hahaha, well it's something I was born with so of course it won't be easy to learn.”

“Can you tell me how it works?”

 “Sure. What I used just now, is called [Manifestation]. In simply terms, I can turn fiction into reality.”

“Turn fiction into reality? How?”

“Take this knife for example. It was originally a drawing on a paper, but now it's as sharp as any combat knife if not sharper. That's [Manifestation]. I can turn 2D into 3D.”

“Sounds useful.”

“It is. But drawings isn’t the only thing I can manifest. Pictures, comics, and even things described in books. I can manifest them all.”

“How does the book one works?”

“I just need to know what it looks like, and then I'll be able to manifest it.”

“….It sounds like a cheat ability.”

If you had the ability to turn 2D into 3D, you'll be able to pretty much rule the world if you used it the right way.

However, Hina laugh and said-

“ Of course it has its limits. I can't manifest living things. So, I cant read a book and manifest the dragon in it.”

“I see.”

“But I have a way to get around that.”

“….How?”

Hina smiled and placed her index finger on her lips and said-

“It's a secret.”

Normally, Miko would get irritated in response to that, but he didn't want to get on her bad side yet, so it let it go.

Miko was going to ask her to show him some more of her power, but before he could he was pulled in close by her.

“We’re leaving.”

With that sentence alone, Hinami quickly stood up and left the restaurant.

Miko thought for a bit before getting up and followed her.

(There's no need for you to follow her, you know.)

‘There is. This girl's power is interesting, so I want to observe her for a bit.’

(....Don't tell me, you fell for her already.)

‘Don't be stupid. She's interesting. That's all’

Miko ended his talk with Tiamat, and caught up with Hinami. But when he did-

“I'm sorry, Mikky. It looks like I've dragged you into my problems.”

The first thing Hinami did was to apologize to Miko.

Immediately after, threw the knife into the chest of a man behind them.

“…….Huh?”

Miko stared confusingly at the dead man. He quickly realized that they were surrounded by a large group of men who was glaring at them. Because he focused most of his attention on Hina, he wasn't able to sense them until now.

“…..I don't know what is going, but.”

He directed a fearless smile at the glaring men.

“But, an after meal workout is always welcomed.”