~Unedited for 24 hours~

Outside the palace, a man wearing a cloak and silver colored mask flashed out on the street in the middle of the night while hiding from the soldiers who were walking down the street to keep an eye. This was the first time this silver masked man had decided to hunt in the capital city, so naturally, he was nervous. Inside the mask, a layer of sweat had formed and dropped from his temples, making him feel cold in that area.

He was almost tempted to take off the mask and wipe his sweat, but thinking of how his identity was unique and people standing here would recognize him in an instant, he gritted his teeth and continued wearing the mask. He would just endure the feeling of a cold drop of sweat tickling his skin.

The man knew he wouldn't be able to endure for long, so he picked up his pace and walked ahead in the shadows. He normally wouldn't use his magical skills to kidnap the children, but tonight was special. The number of soldiers outside were more than average, and they were also more powerful than him. This sent a wave of anxiety in his heart that further made him sweat profusely.

But he could only endure and find a child. It wasn't like he liked to do this, but….

When he thought of the reason why he was doing this in the first place, all of his negative thoughts vanished as his face softened. He should just remember the purpose and continue to do his duty.

After thinking of this, he calmed down and sneaked inside a house from the backdoor. Surprisingly, this house's backdoor was unlocked as if the family was almost inviting him to enter and kidnap their children. The silver masked man shook his head and went upstairs. After going there, he opened a door to one of the bedrooms, and found two kids sleeping soundly inside quilts.

They looked so heavenly that the man couldn't help but stand at the same place and stare at these children for a long time. He had seen these children before, and had been fond of them ever since a long time, but the fact that today, he would have to kill them, made him feel bitter in his heart. He pursed his lips and walked stealthily toward them. The only night lamp in this room was the moonlight that entered through the window and shone brightly on the children's faces.

The man's hands raised as he caressed the children's soft hair, ears, and cheeks. Then he sighed and took out two pieces of clothes. He had put some sleeping powder on it before coming here so that he wouldn't have to waste more time. So after that, he instantly made the children unconscious and took them out without delay.

After coming out of that house, he again went to the darkened street, and walked ahead with two kids in his arms. Soon, he reached a place where a carriage was kept with two horses in the front without any driver. It was kept deserted, and looked so old that no one would even think that someone was driving it a while ago. The door of the carriage was shut tightly as the windows were also covered with curtains.

The man went toward the same carriage and opened the door with his key and gently put the kids on the seat before caressing their cheeks again. A smile formed on his lips as his eyes softened. "You guys should rest a bit. Until then, I'll bring your brothers and sisters."

After saying this, he closed the carriage and went out again. The place where this carriage was kept had been isolated for a long time, and no one would even think of coming around here. There was even an old house that was famous for being haunted because of its ragged appearance. Even the soldiers would hesitate before entering this street. There was also no light, and only moonlight brightened up the atmosphere giving it a chilly atmosphere.

But the silver-masked man didn't have any hesitation when he parked the carriage here. In fact, the rumor of this street being haunted was also started by him as a measure to hide the kids he would kidnap.

So he didn't care about whether someone would come here or not. The citizens, and even soldiers had been frightened due to this dark street, and this silver-masked man was the person who had used all the tricks up his sleeves to make them shiver out of fear.

After half an hour, a few more children were also brought inside the carriage as the silver-masked man was taking a child while holding his hand. This was perhaps the last child for today, but this time, the silver-masked man fortunately found someone who was already wandering down the street. From the child's outfit, this kid looked more like someone who had run from his home and was begging for food everyday.

For a moment, a trace of sympathy flashed in the man's eyes as he looked down at the beggar. "Are you cold?"

The child looked up, and his black eyes shone brightly. He smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine, uncle."

This was the most innocent child the man had seen, and he was reluctant to kill this little one. After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to go against his desires to drag the child toward the carriage. Before entering the carriage, he bent down and gave the child a candy. "You must have been hungry, right?"

The child's eyes lit up at the sight of the candy and he instantly picked it up and ate it greedily as if he had been hungry for a long time.

The man's eyes softened as he caressed the child's hair and said, "Now you can rest without getting hungry. This uncle will give you candy everyday, okay?"

"Hn!" The child's eyes sparkled at those words. But before he could get even more excited, his head became dizzy. He shook his head, but the feeling persisted for a long time until he couldn't stand straight anymore. He grabbed the silver-masked man's arms and said in a low voice, "I-I think….I think I need to sleep."

The man nodded and said in a gentle voice, "I have prepared a warm bed for you. Would you like to sleep there?"

"Okay." The child didn't care about anything anymore. At this time, all he wanted to do was sleep.

After a while, when the man kept the sleeping child in the carriage, he got on the driver's seat and drove it deeper inside the dark street where there were no lights while humming a familiar tune at the same time.