"Damn beast! Watch where you're going!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

In the unusually more crowded streets of the main streets, I again bumped into another person.

With this many people, it couldn't really be helped if you bump into a person while running but I was just walking and I still managed to bump into one. I just can't seem to walk straight nowadays. Like, the people look farther than they actually are.

But it could have just been because I only have one eye. Then if so, I guess I'll have to wait for a while to fix this little problem of mine. My father had ordered a magical potion that'll heal my left eye in an instant! I'll just have to endure it for now.

And my depth perception shouldn't be a problem for long today as I'm very close to my home now.

Heading right into an alleyway, on the other end of it is like a whole other world. Compared to the neat and clean place where I came from, the other end is like as if garbage was smeared all over the streets.

It smelled putrid here as well. Like there's poop following you everywhere.

Though it is true that there's poop in some corners here and there and the dirt ground is always damp even if there's no rain so if you walk here, your shoes will almost always get dirty in the first 10 seconds.

I'm sure that other people would certainly find this place disgusting and I can see why but for me, who had grown up in this kind of place in all my life, I'd say it's okay.

Actually, I find the neatness of the main streets outside the slums a bit unnerving. Being here has this calming effect on me.

Though, you could never get used to the faces of the people in here. They're always depressed and stuff. Rarely do they smile.

I can understand why but it wouldn't kill them to smile more often, you know?

And even when I say that, it's not like my family is better off than anyone here.

Due to the high taxes here in Teltorte, we would always need to work our butts off to make ends meet and only little can we save. It doesn't give much to relax but I still found it fun I guess.

"Hm?"

As I was walking down the damp street, I saw two hooded figures taking shade from a nearby withered tree. I often see them even in the main streets. I wonder what they're trying to do.

Maybe they're just a sort of secret organization or something? Like the ones that the puppeteers that come in the slums a few times every year include in their stories.

I think it'll be cool if they're somehow like in the one story where the secret organization is actually a charitable organization that donates the money they stole from the evil nobles to the poor people.

It'll be cool if it were like that.

But I still haven't seen them do something that is hero-like like the one in the story so maybe the secret organizations in real life aren't so exciting.

Pouting a bit with that disappointing thought, I headed straight back to my home.

"....you bitch... ere's the money...!"

As I came closer to where my house is, I heard shouting in there. But it wasn't unusual. It's something normal for me to hear already.

And since it'll be bad if father saw me right now, I went and hid under the chicken pen that I've already claimed as my own little secret base.

It was a little small for me since I wasn't a chicken but it was a comfy kind of small.

In here, I was somehow able to not hear all the shouting inside the house even though I'm so close.

It's mysterious. I wonder why?

Leaving that mystery aside, what the heckers am I supposed to do in here, you might ask. It seems really boring to just stay inside in here, waiting, without anything to do.

I, of course, have a solution for that!

In here, I have a bunch of materials to make dolls!

Grass dolls, dirt dolls, wood dolls, hair dolls, I have all of them and I have no intentions of stopping their production.

Currently, I have about 3 of them each except for the hair doll who I only have one of. Since mother's hair could only grow so long and so fast so I don't have many materials for that.

But since father is home, I think I'll get a fresh batch of hair, ready to be made into a doll!

Though, even if I very much treasure every doll that I make, there's is just one doll that I've made that I could call a masterpiece.

It's none other than... Eye doll!

Using my very own eyes as material as well!

Its body is made from mother's hair and stuck together using some kind of adhesive that I found on the streets. And the shape of its body is like a ball. My eye in the very center of it so there's no head.

It's like a monster though but it couldn't be helped and it seems that the eye is already rotting...

...I love this doll nonetheless.

Anyway, I should stop admiring my dolls for the moment and work on the doll I'm in the progress of making.

After an hour has passed, I got tired of making dolls and poked my head out to see if they're done. Since I didn't hear any shouting or sobbing for 3 minutes, that's a sign that they're done.

Brushing off the dirt on my one-piece pink dress that my mother bought for me in my 5th birthday using our savings, I went ahead towards the house entrance.

When I listened in again, I couldn't hear anyone talking. So with that, I entered the house.

The door was a bit squeaky and it seems to be falling off too but father said that he'll fix it if I'll be a good girl and work hard to make(steal) money. Since it wasn't fixed already, then that's proof that I'm not working hard enough. I'll have to work harder.

I then entered the room that I always enter when I came home like this.

It's the room where mother is.

"I'm back!"

Mother, who is lying on the floor, motionless, looked up towards me and answered back.

"... Oh... Hana... Welcome... Back..."

Mom then coughed a few times after speaking.

Poor mother... It might be because it's so dusty here again that she's coughing like that... But she seems more Ill than usual today. I should buy her some medicine tomorrow.

But first, I have to get mother off of the floor and place here into something more comfortable.

Since I'm still just a child, I'm not so strong but mother is so light that it doesn't really matter that much.

So I helped her stand up and guided her towards the sofa.

She coughed a few times after sitting down.

"Here mother, the money I've gotten today!"

I then presented to her the pouch quarterly filled with rusty coins.

Hearing how much sound the pouch made when I jiggled it, mother formed a weak smile.

"My... You... Made... A ... Lot..."

Then she reached out and patted my head.

Hehe, it feels nice~.

With her smiling like that and feeling proud of me, she's really beautiful, despite how weak she had gotten.

Her fluffy golden hair is like stars twinkling in the night, her gentle emerald green eyes always seem to calm me down every time I see them. Her face, although sunken a bit, is well proportioned as well. Like the few nobles I saw in the main street, she looks like them, or maybe even better!

Her soft skin that doesn't seem to deteriorate in the last five years when mother is in her most beautiful and her very soft, although strained voice, I love them all!

Including her furry ears on top of her head and her fluffy tail behind her that other people seem to hate, I love them as well.

Father is cool too but he's rarely home...

So if I have to pick, I love my mother the most!

After she's done patting my head, I then asked mother a question.

"Mother, how much did you make today!?"

See, we're having a contest, or at least in my mind, we are, on who gets to make the most money every day. Mother would always make the most money and father always get angry whenever I ask so he's always in third place because I don't know how much he makes.

So that means that I always get 2nd place every time. But what mother said surprised me.

"I... I didn't... Our money was... Stolen by my... Costumer..."

"Eh!?"

Stolen!? What the!? They're so mean!

"I'm sorry... Hana..."

Uuuuhh... Mother is being sad again...

"Don't worry about that, mother! We'll make it all up! We'll just have to work hard!"

Phew, mother's beautiful smile returned once again!

"Yeah... Let's work hard... Hana..."

After saying that, mother went to sleep. Her breathing is a bit off though...

It must be because of all the dust.

Then I'll just have to clean up around the room then and mother will get better!

Yeah... It'll be fine in the end.

•••

Night came and mother is still having a coughing fit and is too weak to even stand up.

Her cheeks became more sunken as well.

This has never happened before. Usually, when mother gets sick, it'll only come down with a light cold and the next day, she's fine.

Though she often gets sick, she always heals fast. But this time, it looks like she caught a very terrible cold. But since mother is so used to getting colds, I'm sure her body will be able to fight it off!

"Hana... *cough*... Get me some water..."

"Alright!"

Yeah, mother just needs time to recover, she'll be fine in a day or two. I'll just have to nurse her for a bit and she'll get back on her feet.

With that thought, I head towards the kitchen in order to get some water that we stored in there. But when I opened the lid off of the barrel, I saw that the water is murky with really strange colors that clean water shouldn't have.

This won't do. It'll just make mother even more sickly.

I'll have to get some clean water so that mother can drink.

"Mother! I'll head off for a bit to get you some water!"

"..."

Mother didn't say anything to what I said. Must be because she's just sleeping.

Yeah, it's just that.

When I opened the door, I saw the dark sky of the night, filled with countless shining stars. Mother would often accompany me every night just to see the stars but that was five years ago.

I wish she would do that someday in the future.

But that's a matter that I should think about when mother is alright now.

Now, where is the well again?

Ah! There was no well in the slums, I just remembered. I'll have to get to the main streets in order to get clean well water.

Holding the moldy bucket tightly, I head off towards the direction where the main streets are.

But on my way, the streets in the slums are very dark so I often trip up and fell so I got pretty dirty in the end.

But no matter! I'll be able to clean myself when I get to where the well is!

Although the dirt on my ears and tail feels slightly uncomfortable due to how sensitive they are I can ignore it for now.

I only noticed it now, but it looks really barren here.

I could see a few familiar faces but other than that, no one is here. Just yesterday, there were a lot of people outside, doing a bunch of stuff. Like drinking from bottles and shouting a lot.

It was the same as well even before yesterday as well.

Only now did the slums became so quiet.

I wonder why that is.

Eventually, I've arrived at the main streets and it's also very quiet.

There were a few people walking in the streets but compared to when it was at day, it difference is very big. Even though it had only recently just turned night, it had become like this.

It's a little unnerving but I'm sure there's a plausible explanation for this. Like maybe they're having a party or something, and that in this party, they've even included the people in the slums.

That sounds nice.

I sure hope that that's the reason.

Well, even if it was, I can't go there and have fun. I have to get mother some water first.

I then continued my way towards the public well is.

But as I expected, I bumped into a number of things on the way since it was so dark and the fact that I only had one eye.

So because of that, I took me longer to get to the well that normal.

Though I did manage to arrive at where the well is and after pulling up a few piles of water, I finally filled up the bucket that I was carrying.

The bucket was small so it wasn't heavy but I do need to carry it with both my hands so I could carry it comfortably.

With this, mother would be a little bit better. I should hurry up so I wouldn't have to make her wait any longer than needed.

But as I was about to head back, two people with black cloaks over them approached me.

"Um... Hello?"

When I asked, they didn't respond. This is making me nervous...

Without waiting to see if they'll actually respond or not, I just walked off at a fast pace, trying to get out of here with the least time that I can.

But one of the cloaked people suddenly grabbed my shoulders.

"He—OW! Stop! That hurts...!"

The person's grip was really strong. It felt like my shoulders were being stepped on.

Because of how sudden he grabbed my shoulders, I dropped that bucket fillers with water that I was holding on to.

"Shut the hell up!"

Wh—wha...!

His voice is really loud and intimidating that i couldn't even scream.

What's happening...!? I don't understand...!

"Oi, you quiet your voice."

Then the other person, which sounded like a man, scolded the one who is holding my shoulders really forcibly.

"Who the hell would care anyway? The whole kingdom's gone ka-bust! We should take what we can and head south."

"That's not the reason. It's just needlessly annoying. We could just do this silently, you know?"

"Whatever. Just chain this brat and let's go to the others before the people here could completely leave."

The other man who isn't holding on to me took out a pair of bracelet-like metal things with chains connecting the two. Then the man put it on both my wrist.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

He didn't seem to care as well on how he put it on me. He did it so roughly that it scraped a bit of my skin.

"Let's go, you brat!"

"W-wait! W-w-where!? I-I have to get back home!"

"You brat! You're our merchandise now! It's your fault for going out at night!"

"Again, quiet down..."

"Shut up."

The man who was holding on my shoulder previously yanked the chain really hard that I almost lost balance and hit the ground, face first.

But, really, wait!

"My mother is still sick! I still haven't given her any water yet! Please! Please let me—ack!"

Suddenly, the man who is pulling the chain punched me in the face.

The force is enough to send me flying a few meters back but the chain held me so my hands were painfully pulled on.

"Shut the hell up!"

"B-b-but my—"

"I said shut up! You want to get punched again!?"

"Uuhh..."

"Good."

The man then pulled the chain again, urging me to walk. And when I didn't, he pulled again with much more force this time that it tripped me up and I fell on the ground face first.

But he didn't care and kicked me while I was still on the ground until I forced myself to get up because his kicks were so painful.

I couldn't even say anything to them or else they might punch me and even if they don't, I don't think they'll listen.

... Mother, I'm sorry...

I never got you your water in the end.