The night was rainy, clouds covering the moon and stars. A young couple was walking side by side, the smaller figure holding some kind of bundle in her hands. Judging by their worn down clothes covered in dirt, they were some kind of farmers.

The biggest figure spoke, his deep voice shaking under the weight of the emotional turmoil raging in his chest. “W-we can’t abandon her like that.”

The woman answered with a soothing tone, barely hiding her own sadness. “Honey, you know we can’t afford to raise her. We already discussed this, Roan will bring her to an orphanage in the capital.” She added in a mutter. “And she will have more chances to grow up in good conditions.”

Silence settled until they reached a covered cart. There stood a man with a large straw hat, his complexion was not that better compared to the couple’s. The father of the little thing resting in her mother’s arms spoke to the carter. “Roan, I’m counting on you to bring her safely to Swordhold.” His voice broke at the end of his words.

Roan looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “Ya know it’s for the best. And ya can count on me to bring her there safely!” He tried to lighten the mood without much success.

The couple embraced each other, the baby between them, before the mother gave a light kiss on her child’s forehead. “May life be on your side where we couldn’t.” She put her daughter in the carriage. “Good luck, Sive.”

Meanwhile, two wide blue eyes were watching the scene, capturing every possible detail before closing from exhaustion.

Sive brutally woke up and rapidly looked around her. ‘This stupid dream again.’ She passed her tiny hand on her long blonde hair. ‘Why can’t I let go of their image. Forget them. I already have enough in my hands.’

The young girl laid back in her narrow bed. It was far from Earth’s level of comfort but at least it had no parasites and was kind of soft. She looked at the kids of various ages sleeping around her. A small present was on her bedside. It was nothing much, but the little flower reminded her that she had had her fifth birthday the day prior. ‘Ah right, today I’m going to the appraisal ceremony.’

The orphanage was busy the last day with the sellings of their homemade products so she wasn’t able to get appraised the day she turned five. Though the staff was kind, the orphanage was awfully poor and was treading on a particularly thin line. The appraisal naturally came after the money the orphanage needed to make in order to buy food and basic necessities.

‘Well, I better get some more sleep before I go get appraised.’ Her last thought before falling asleep was about one of her former classmates. ‘I wonder what Gift Ciaran got…’ A little smile tugged her lips when she lost herself to Morpheus’ embrace.

*****

Once she got up, she quickly ate a bowl of gruel before presenting herself at the entrance of the orphanage.

There stood one of the youngest attendants, she was an average woman in her early twenties with a heart bigger than the capital. She always had a smile to offer to the kids at the orphanage and was liked by everyone. A flock of kids younger than Sive were running around her. It was like that every time one of the orphans got appraised. They were cheering for them, giving the appraised a much needed boost of confidence and having a little escapade to break the ordinary.

They quickly noticed the young girl when she joined them. “Yay! Sive!” “You will have a super Gift!” “I’m so looking forward to get appraised.” “I want to get appraised too!” “Stupid! You have to wait one more year.”

Sive smiled at their antics, while the older orphan were often harsher with each other, the youngest had a heartwarming atmosphere surrounding them. And everything was not lost when they were growing up. Their bonds stayed strong, though they inherently changed in nature.

The woman appointed as Sive’s gift stood up. “Now that Sive is here, let’s go. The ceremony will start soon.” “Yaaay!”

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After a ten minutes walk, they arrived at the shabby Church of Churdilt that took care of the poorer districts of Swordhold. A few kids were converging toward the church with their parents, leaving a bit of space between them and the orphans.

Sive entered the choir of the church, where stood a stoot middle-aged man and a young mage. The latter broke the silence with a smile. “I am Arion, apprentice mage and bearer of the Eye of Appraisal. I will be the one to appraise you today. The big guy behind me is Romus, priest of Churdilt and bearer of Detect Lie. He will be the one to record any Gift appearing today.” The priest looked at him with frowned eyes but Arion’s smile did not waver. It was clear to Sive that he was voluntarily brightening the mood.

She dozed off until here name was called. “Sive, it your turn.” She swiftly walked to the young mage. Though she was of a very shy nature and generally didn’t like attention, her combined life experience helped her stay calm. She mirrored back a smile toward Arion. The poor lad was giving his all but the kids were just too stressed out, so he was pleasantly surprised by the change she brought.

He looked directly in her eyes and seemed to read invisible lines for a few seconds before beaming a much more sincere smile. “Congratulations Miss Sive, you have awakened to a Gift. Its name is ‘Soothing Embrace’. You can check out your status to gain more details on what it does. As for your mana capacity, it is slightly above the average Gift bearer’s.”

The priest took over the parole. “You will be invited to Swordhold’s elementary school for the beginning of the next school year, which happens to be in a bit less than one month.” His face didn’t twitch during his spiel.

Sive nodded silently before walking toward the exit where her fellow orphans were waiting and cheering for her. She failed to feel the heavy glare on her back.

*****

‘Maaan, I’m so lucky~~ three catches in two days, the Goddess is finally watching over me.’ Romus was jubilating in his office. He had an unprecedented number of useful kids in less than a week, and he knew those people would pay a hefty price for useful merchandise. ‘And it’s so simple to fool the authorities, I just have to not mark the Gifteds’ names in the register and I can get them all. Nobody would look after some beggar’s kid if they disappeared, right?’

Truly, life was perfect for the priest.

*****

Sive was woken up by a sudden sound outside. The orphanage’s entrance door creaked and furtive footsteps could be heard. Sive froze in her bed, her Gift was not combat oriented so she would have no means to defend herself if the need arose.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, confirming her guess. They were people coming for her and her Gift. The door of the girls’ dormitory opened, and three people entered with subdued movements.

Sive started panicking, she never had been a fighter, always preferring to endure in silence instead of retaliating, and her usual source of courage was not there to help her. She froze, her throat blocked by an invisible lump.

‘Scream! Scream!’ A seemingly superhuman effort made her open her mouth and take a deep breath. One of the intruders jumped on her, covering her mouth with one hand while the other karate-chopped the base of her neck.

Sive’s panicked thoughts fell apart, and only her mind voice screaming ‘NO! Not again…’ stayed while her world darkened.

*****

When she woke up, a bunch of unfamiliar faces were looking at her from above. Only one person in the bunch looked kind of familiar. “Y-you’re the priest.”

“Heh, aren’t you a sharp-witted one? At least you didn’t give us troubles like the boy from yesterday. Gave me the chills, that bastard.” Romus extended a hand toward her. She tried to raise her tiny arms to protect herself but shackles where weighting them down. The robust man swatted them away with one hand, the other grabbing her by the collar and threw her in a shabby carriage.

Ensued a painfully long and shaky ride toward an unknown destination. Sive’s mind was working as if it had a couple of sleepless nights, the stress and fear she felt slowing down her thought process. She was unable to find a way out when she was gagged, shackled, and didn’t even knew where they were going.

The carriage finally stopped, and Romus took her out of the vehicle. They were standing in front of a building taller than the others. It’s signboard illuminated by the rising lights of dawn read “A Good Night” in a fancy font revealing the real purpose of the house. A drop of sweat rolled on the side of her face. She didn’t like at all what she was seeing.

They entered the brothel. The interior was decorated with taste, golden and wine color tones were prevailing on the furnitures, the ceiling was high and embellished by a shiny chandelier.

Sive would have seen all that if a young woman didn’t ram into her the moment she entered the main room. The newcomer was in tears for some reason and was currently sitting on top of Sive as a result of their collision.

Their bare skin touched, Sive’s arms against the woman's stomach, and the latter widened her eyes, her complexion relaxing in an instant.

Romus butted in with a snarky comment. “Well well, looks like we know what your Gift does.”