Reincarnation part 3

He could still remember that moment as clear as day. From that point on, he swore to take revenge on the people who killed his mother, living every moment from then on for revenge.

This emotion still remain carved into Kyle's soul even after Earth's Kyle memories cropped up ... but now he had Earth's Kyle morals too. While he truly detested his mother's killers with every fibre of his being. Earth's Kyle morals within him questioned whether revenge was a necessary evil.

But Kyle's morals and desire for revenge burnt too strongly. Just the thought of those people made his emotions turn an ugly black. He thought "Revenge is evil. Hmph."

Kyle scowled, clicking his tongue in irritation at the conflicting opinion coming from within.

Jyst then of the shack yanked open. Kyle pushed his exhausted body up so that he could look at the doorway as several men crowded into the small wooden shack.

"Hmm ? Oh Kyle! Are you finally awake?" asked one of the men standing the front of the group as he spotted Kyle in the dimly lit shack. The boy knew him.

"Huh! So you actually survived. Thought you were dead... Hey, boss! Kyle's still kicking!

We thought he was good as dead before...."

The man yelled. His eyes were wide with suprise as he directed his voice toward the back of the group, where a giant man stood over the rest.

"Ha! What a lucky brat. You were hot as a fry pan from fever till yesterday. We were gonna toss you out if you wete still sleeping today. " said the giant man who had been referred to as a boss; he sounded impressed.

"Yes somehow."

Kyle replied holding back a frown.

These men were a group of jacks - of-all trades in the slums. They had a large circle of influence and earned their money working as outlaws- for all kinds of evil activities. Human trafficking, illegal trading, robbery, swindling, extortion, transportation , kidnapping and disposal of stolen goods... even hit jobs. The list of crimes they were willing to get their hands dirty for were endless.

To these men, an orphan in the slums was like a convenient, disposable pawn. Easy to obtain, use and throw away — which they often did. Kyle was one such pawn these men had picked up. He lived in this small shack with them and lived in the fear of being subjected to their abuse. Sometimes they would hit him for stress relief, sometimes they would force him to assist with their crimes,using him as a scapegoat or bait whil they escaped.In a word Kyle was their slave.

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But in this cruel world, his survival depended on them. In fact, he had survived until today desperately obeying them.

"Hey, it's cold in here. Let's get to celebrating an warm ourselves up!" said the other underling. He walked to the shabby wooden table in the middle of the room and placed some food and alcohol down with a thud.

"Good idea. Hey— leave that in the corner. She's been drugged to sleep, so don't go waking her up" ordered the leader of the group of men.

One underling moved to place a sack with their spoils on the floor. Then, in high spirits, the men in the group pour their drinks and they began to eat. "But fifteen gold coins sure was a great haul ... right boss ? ( Author's note : continent currency - 100 bronze coins = 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins = 1 gold coin.)

One of the underlings crackled.

"Hmph. It's fifteen gold for cargo transport. Can't be anything decent .... I doubt it's just a slave inside. Probably some noble kid or something .."

"Wait, what ? You lot better not be doing anything dangerous again," one of the man pouring the drink said with a disapproving expression. "Well yeah".

The giant leader yanked the man closer to him and snorted with a smirk on his face. "But fifteen gold coins for a side job like this? It's freaking amazing."

"Yeah"

The leader took a large gulp of his alchol and took a ferocious bite of his hunk of meat.

Kyle watched on from the side, swallowing his saliva hungrily. The topic of the conversation was ominous, but Kyle was far more in the food in their hands. While it was evident they weren't doing any decent work ..... if Kyle had helped even a little, he would be given something to eat. But this time around, Kyle had been slepping of his sickness , so the chance of them feeding himwas extremely low. It wouldn't happen unless they were in a really good mood.

The relationship between Kyle and these men was simple : the strong and weak, the exploiters and exploited.

They'd shelter him as long as they could exploit him, then mercilessly throw him out once he was done. Kyle had seen them do that to many other children already. While he didn't intend to continue their relationship forever, he was just a seven year- old child. Only the fittest could survive on the streets of the slums and he doubted he could live for very long out there without them. But at that very moment,the smell of food was unbearable on his empty stomach. He thought" I am hungry."

It was all he could think about. He was too fatigued for anything else. Kyle let the men's conversation wash over him,only half-listening as he sat slumped in the cornsr of the shack, resting his body ,when suddenly —

"Hey Kyle ,Kyle!" One of the underlings called out to Kyle. "Yes"

"Your fever sweat stinks like crap. Go wash yourself – you're ruining the food and drink"

"Okay" He'd hoped that they would give him foid, but that was just his wishful thinking. The underling pinched his nose and made a strong gesture with his hand. Apparently, the sweat made Kyle's body odor a lot stronger than he realized.

I'm Sorry."

Kyle bowed his head once and staggered his feet.

Author

Manthan