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The year was 976 G.E.

A Yarzonian couple passed away due to unknown causes, leaving behind their two children.

With their house repossessed by the city and no one left to care for them, the evicted four-year-old took his baby sister in his arms and searched the streets for a new home.

Food and water were hard to come by, and in a few days, the older sibling was on his last legs. Severe hunger and thirst finally got to him.

As his little sister's cries echoed through the dark alleyways of the nighttime slums, the boy used the last of his strength to safely put her down and collapse beside her.

「I-I'm sorry...」

Unable to move, he mouthed a quiet goodbye, before closing his eyes and accepting his doom.

「Oi! Ya lot! There's a baby 'ere! And a kid too! Help me carry 'em!」

Words of help came right as his consciousness faded.

And when the boy awoke, he found himself lying on a bed. Beside him—his baby sister, sound asleep.

By the foot of his bed—a middle-aged man with balding blonde hair and a chubby mug.

「Howdy! Th' name's Jolf, nice t' meet ya!」

The young boy stared at him.

「Do y'all 'ave a name? Somethin' I can address ya with?」

No answer. The urchin stayed on alert as the man neared him.

「What 'bout th' lil' one over there? I can tell, she's gon' grow up t' be a mighty fine cutie—」

「DON'T TOUCH 'ER!」

The boy's instincts took over and he held the sleeping infant close to him and snarled at the man. Jolf waved his hands and scooted back.

「Simmer down lil' man! Is that any way t' be treatin' yer savior?」

「Savior..?」

The boy then noticed a pack of children surrounding him from all corners of the room. Most were around his age.

One of them brought a loaf of bread to Jolf. The man turned to the boy and slimily winked.

「Yes! Me and th' gang over 'ere saved ya from th' brink o' death with th' help o' a... healer friend o' mines. He just left, but when ya see him, remember t' thank him. Now speakin' of thankyous... where're me words o' gratitude eh?」

Jolf tossed the loaf into the young boy's hands. Unable to resist, he proceeded to scarf down the whole thing.

The man chuckled at the sight.

「Ahaha! Ya know what? I 'ave th' perfect name fer ya! Forget yer old one!」

The man inched closer and inspected the boy, who looked back at him with a slight uneasiness.

「Thonvir..! Ya know, like th' hungry dragon of legends? Which would make that beautiful lil' lass over there, Ysolva..! Th' legendary warrior princess who tamed th' flyin' beast. Ahahaha! Th' resemblance is uncanny!」

In time, the boy came to adopt this new name, abandoning all traces of his past.

And that was how Thonvir and Ysolva became honorary slum dwellers.

By virtue of the Lakua District at the time, all bare necessities were taken care of. It was easy living from then on.

The source of these supplies? The Yarzon nobility.

The Sentinel thief division, led by Rysef, would frequently raid these upper-class storehouses for all they were worth.

His exploits as a thief were so successful, that people from the Lakua District were commonly mistaken as middle-class citizens. He wasn't the Ashen Thief only in name...

The Lakua District slum dwellers were well-mannered, well-dressed, and most importantly, well-fed.

Thonvir and Ysolva whiled away these two years of relative peace, playing with the other children and listening to Jolf's bedtime stories.

Laughter filled the halls of the abandoned house they squatted in.

Occasionally, a member of the Sentinels would check in on Jolf and the band of the kids—a measure taken to combat the violation of district borders.

Not that anyone would want to move out of the Lakua District.

Other than that, their interactions with the official bodies of the Lakua District were very minimal. And they lived their days in ignorance, unaware of the events unfolding around them.

Then the year 978 rolled in. Everything changes.

After Rysef returned from a one-year trip around the world, all resources were hastily redirected to the village in the south.

What was previously an afterthought, became the new headquarters of the Lakua District. No one knew why.

Gradually though, supplies from the Lakua District stopped coming, leaving the city slum dwellers to eke out a meager living for themselves. Their age-long dependency had come to an abrupt finale.

The children had no knowledge of this, however. To them, it was only temporary. Jolf's calm response was enough to assuage any fears they might've possessed.

But Thonvir remained suspicious.

As the children blissfully chased each other or played make-believe, the young boy, now six years old, spoke up and asked Jolf about the recent decrease in portions.

「What was that ya said..?」

Jolf leaned in to better hear him.

「I'm askin' if everythin' is okay... Th' other townsfolk seem agitated and our supply bags are lookin' emptier than usual...」

The man let out a jubilant laugh and clapped.

「Ahaha! Yer such a worrywart! Ya heard th' news, right? Rysef, our leader, just returned from a long voyage. I'm sure they're usin' a lot o' food and ale in a grand feast over at th' village in th' south. This minor shortage's gonna go back t' normal in about a week, mark me words! I wouldn't lie t' th' brother o' sweet lil' Ysolva!」

Thonvir wasn't entirely convinced but refrained from getting too pushy with the subject.

He sat by the corner and watched as his friends had their fill of fun around the house.

Ysolva noticed her brother's troubled expression and left her friends to be by his side. She clung to the boy like butter on bread and tried cheering him up.

「Big bro..?」

「Ah Ysolva? Don't worry 'bout me, I'll join ya in a minute.」

Jolf was strangely confident in the Lakua District. He was certain that all would return to normal at the snap of a finger.

He was certain their days of normalcy were not lost forever.

And so they waited, and waited, but their provisions never came.

To make matters worse, guard raids became increasingly frequent in the slums. Without the protection of the Sentinels, the Lakua District slum dwellers were prone to harassment.

Even the siblings had a few brushes with the law.

But they endured it and awaited Rysef's help. Help that never came.

Then, the final blow was dealt to this band of kids.

It was an evening like any other. As the kids scrounged up a scant dinner from what was left in the supply bags, a knock came from the door.

Swiftly, they scurried upstairs and hid in the empty rooms. Jolf would typically handle all interactions with the city officials.

Thonvir and Ysolva sat directly above the doorway. They were in earshot of everything going on below.

Creeeaaak..!

「Evenin' officer, I was just—」

Bam!

The boy flinched and held his sister closer.

「You're under arrest Jolf, don't make it any harder than it has to be.」

「Under arrest?! On what charges?!」

「Charges of illegal entry, you damned Ingvardian bastard! Your presence here jeopardizes our ties with Merulea!」

What followed were sounds of a minor scuffle, in due course settling into complete silence.

The children crept out of their rooms and slunk towards the stairs. From between the banisters, they witnessed it.

An empty room with an open front door to the outside. A cold wind filled the house leaving the children with a chilling dread.

Jolf was gone, and they were left to fend for themselves.

The group began falling apart.

Some of the kids opted to find a new home, while others set off to seek help for the rest. Either way, only five remained in the house by the end of the week.

Thonvir, Ysolva, a boy named Ralif, a girl named Serdur, and an unnamed infant they'd recently took in.

Thonvir, determined to save his sister and remaining friends, plumped for scavenging scraps of food from garbage bins in the alleyways.

He also figured he'd gather cups of puddle water to replenish the water stock.

Little did he know, this would prove to be a fatal mistake.

Not even a few days in and they encountered their first casualty.

「B-big bro! Th' baby stopped cryin'!」

Thonvir, upon returning from his daily food run, dropped his paltry haul and rushed to the infant's room upstairs. A pair of wailing kids awaited him, along with a silent wean.

He was shocked by the sight before him.

「O-oi... oi... what happened?! Didn't I tell ya two t' feed him?!」

The teary-eyed Ralif turned to Thonvir. His face was covered in snot as he stuttered his way to the point.

「I-I-I tried feedin' him... b-b-but he wouldn't eat or drink anythin'... I-I-I thought he wasn't hungry and... I-I'm... sorry...」

The young Serdur beside him also burst into tears and made a plethora of excuses. None of which would bring back the lifeless child they failed to care for.

Unable to sort out his grief, Thonvir erupted into a fit of rage and pinned the boy to the wall.

「Y-ya... killed him..! Ye're th' killers here!」

Their howls of anguish wouldn't cease. Thonvir flashbacked to when he carried around the infant Ysolva—when it came to saving a single life, he was incapable.

He clutched his fist and prepared to strike Ralif square in the head.

「S-stop! Big bro!」

Ysolva grabbed his arm, interrupting his fury.

「He killed one o' us Ysolva! Both o' them did!」

「Don't hurt! Big bro!」

「Ye're tellin' me t' let these murderers get off scot-free?!」

「P-please! Don't hurt!」

His intense anger died down the more Ysolva pleaded.

And eventually, after some thinking, he let the boy go.

Beating the two guttersnipes wouldn't bring the infant back. Even if the pain he inflicted was justified, there was no use in further separating the group.

With that in mind, Thonvir walked up to the crib and held the small corpse aloft. He hugged the nameless child and walked out of the room.

The siblings never disclosed how they dealt with the body. I could only assume it was an experience no child should've ever gone through.

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Fighting through the foul stench pervading the streets, Thonvir forged on and continued rummaging through droves of trash in the alleyways to feed his starving pack.

Especially, his little sister, who appeared increasingly malnourished.

One night, he returned to the house to find both the other kids ill on their beds. Ralif and Serdur lay on their sides writhing in immense discomfort. They were in a feverish state.

Unbeknownst to the boy, the piles of waste he frequented, festered by age, were breeding grounds for all sorts of diseases.

Consuming tainted meats and contaminated water naturally resulted in illness. But that type of common sense wasn't something Jolf taught the children.

As Thonvir paced around the room, contemplating his next course of action, an emaciated Ysolva came crawling in from the other room.

「B-big bro...」

「Y-Ysolva!」

The boy went running to his little sister on the ground.

「I'm... so... hungry...」

「But you ate a lot yesterday, didn't you? I made sure to give you more than the other two!」

She weakly averted her gaze.

「They wanted more food... they wouldn't be friends with me if I didn't give them some... Besides... it's unfair for me to get more than those two...」

「Then... how long have ya been skippin' out on meals?!」

「Two weeks, but... but d-don't get mad at 'em... I'm t' blame... And because o' me, they're still starvin' right..?」

Thonvir angrily pinned his sights on the pair of bedridden children.

His tolerance for their selfishness had now reached its breaking point. He carried his weightless sister off the ground and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Ysolva, still light-headed from her hunger, looked up at her older brother.

「Where are we goin'... big bro..?」

「From now on we'll be sleepin' downstairs. Ye're too weak t' be goin' up and down th' steps.」

「What 'bout Ralif and Serdur..? Won't they be alone..?」

「Don't worry. They won't be alone for long. I'm sorry I left you with 'em, Ysolva...」

That was when Thonvir realized just how important Ysolva meant to him.

Had Ysolva's cries not alerted Jolf to their location, Thonvir would've most likely perished two years ago in the streets. He owed his life to her.

Even if it meant cutting off everyone else from his life, he'd protect her. Even if it cost him his life, he'd protect her.

And even if it meant abandoning his humanity, he'd tirelessly protect her.

And what he was aiming to do required just that. The abandonment of his own humanity.

As Ysolva devoured every last morsel of food Thonvir brought home, the boy looked up at the ceiling.

「No one's ever gonna hurt ya again... Ysolva...」

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