“What do you mean a good deal? Uncle??”

“Why do you sound so fucking angry? I’m doing you ‘lil shit a favor.”

“What are you trying to do to my sister?”

“I got a buyer. They’ll take the brat off our hands and raise her somewhere else. Less mouth to feed, and we’ll get some big cash. Isn’t that great?”

“W-what… You’re out of your mind! She’s my little sister!”

“Don’t raise your fucking voice at me, bitch! She’s just your half-sister. The fuck do you care so much about? Nobody even fucking knows which bastard your fathers are! You just plan to raise someone’s little shit like this?! What the fuck do you gain from that?”

She grits her teeth. “T-that’s something I’ll decide myself.”

The sound of a slap echoes in the quiet night. The hit is strong enough to make her almost lose her balance.

“I don’t give a shit. Tomorrow, the brat goes away. Fuck! You’re putting me in a bad mood just when I got some use for that little shit your stupid whore of a mother left!”

He kicks a chair before heading out.

“I’ll go look for some place that’s not fucking filled with arrogant little bitches!”

After making sure that the man has left the room, Azalea walks out of the bedroom. She looks at the girl who is sitting on the dining hall while wearing an anxious expression. Her left cheek is red and swollen.

“Sorry, have I disturbed your sleep?”

“Honestly, yes. But I’m more concerned about what just happened earlier.” Azalea got closer and inspects the swollen cheeks.

“S-sorry. How is my sister?”

“I casted noise cancelling magic around her so she’s still sleeping peacefully.”

“Thank you…” She takes a deep breath. “That was our uncle. Normally, he comes home very late or not at all. After working in the quarry, he drinks the night away. I wasn’t expecting to run into him this early.”

“I see.” She then casts healing magic on the teen-girl’s cheek. “I assume he’s the reason why you want to leave this house.”

“Yes! But I’m not expecting him to make a deal selling my sister.” She grits her teeth while looking down. “I was already planning to run away in two or three days… but with this development, I’ll have to hurry up. I’ll have to do it tomorrow.”

“If that’s the case then I’ll have to prepare as well.”

“Can you look after my sister while I’m outside tomorrow? I don’t want uncle to suddenly come while I’m not here and take my sister.”

“Sure, leave it to me.”

∞×∞

Outside Arbhur City, there are several areas that have magic barrier protection. One of them is the quarry in the southern parts of the city in Wave 3. In the western parts, there is a large plantation and medical laboratory that is majorly in Wave 2 but is bordering Wave 3. Farther in the eastern parts, found in Wave 4 is a pranite mine. All of these businesses are owned by the Shilan family.

The density of houses in the Zone-0 is thicker in the areas that are close to this protected areas. These are magic barriers that are made to repel monsters, so the monsters avoid getting too close to them. For those who are living outside, the closer their housing to the barriers, the safer it is. It also means that the farther one’s housing is, the poorer they are. Wave 1 has the best living conditions in Zone-0, and it becomes worse as they go farther out. Wave 5 has the worse settlement and they are the most vulnerable to monster attacks. It is because of these magic barrier protected businesses outside the city that the residents of Zone-0 is surviving despite being too far from the city proper. Many of these residents also gets hired by these businesses though looking at their situation, they are most likely overworked and underpaid.

Aside from their terrible employment status, most of the residents of Zone-0 also have different vices. Cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol drinking is the least of their problems. In these lawless land, there also exists illegal gambling arenas. In Wave 3, close to where Azalea is staying, there is an illegal racing arena where Devil Horn Addax compete in a race against each other while the people make bets. The Devil Horn Addax is a docile monster that can be easily found in the wilds. Yet, the most dangerous addiction that takes over majority of the residents is one related to illegal drugs. Almost all mercenaries and monster hunters are using this to boost their strength and abilities. It is popular to both reveils and ubliss.

∞×∞

First day of Sat’xahr, 4043 AOT

Wave 3, Arbhur City Zone-0, Aesbyl Region

The older sister leaves before daybreak carrying the stuff that Azalea wants to be sold away. According to her, she will be back before lunch and she, along with the younger sister, should be ready to leave by then. Her uncle might come in the afternoon with the human traffickers to take her sister so they have to leave before that time.

For the meantime, Azalea is taking care of the little sister. They are drawing on a piece of paper using old crayons while sitting on the living room floor. Hours has passed and it is almost lunch time but the older sister still have not returned home. She does not know what might have come up on the older sister’s end so she decided to take the initiative. She checks what she can make with what they have in the kitchen cabinets but there are not much to find. She just fried some scrambled eggs and then took the leftover bread.

While they are eating their meal, Azalea hears someone enter the house. At first she thought that it may finally be the older sister. She gets up to check on it. As she walks towards the living room, she senses that the person who entered has the built of a grown man. She makes a sudden stop upon reaching the living room.

“Who the fuck are you?” He looks at her up and down.

Azalea has heard that voice before; just last night. He is their uncle. However, she notices something off in his appearance and gait. He is sober, but he seems to be drunk in something else. But that is not the most concerning issue here. If he is already here, then is it too late? Have their plans already failed?

“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just passing by.”

“In my fucking house?!”

“I’m actually a babysitter.”

The man glares at her. “Bitch, I don’t care who the fuck you are anymore. As if there’s some shit left you can steal in this damned house. Get the fuck out! Where’s my niece?!”

“Goddamn it!” She grumbles as the man turns toward the dining hall.

“Did you find the kid?” Two men in clean black suit comes in.

The uncle turns with a forced smile. “She’s over here.”

“What’s up with this other kid?” The man in black suit points at Azalea.

“Should we take her too?” The other chuckles.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We only take children below eight.”

“It was a joke.”

The uncle clicks his tongue. “Hey! Brat, hurry up and come here! Shit-!” He stomps into the dining hall.

“Fuck it!” Azalea dashes to the uncle.

Before the uncle can notice her move, she has swiftly grabbed the back collar of his shirt and then kicked his leg making him lose his balance. She then throws him towards the men in black suit. Before his impact hits the men, Azalea casts wind magic to push them out of the house.

“You’re not going to touch that little girl.” Azalea walks out of the house with a threatening tone.

“I see.” One man stands up while dusting himself while the other follow. “I can see that you are wearing a light armor. You must be a hunter of some sort. We’d rather avoid fighting.”

“Right. We’re just here to collect the product that was sold to us.”

Azalea notices that they are about to take something hidden in their back. She did not sense anything from there earlier so she thought that they are unarmed. She does not know what they have hidden, but she better take action before they can make a move against her.

“Sink!” She raises her voice as she casts a mid-tier spell.

Three magic circles glows on each footing of the men. The ground then rapidly softens, making them lose balance and sink slowly. While trying to get out of the quicksand, arms made of sand grabbed them and then pulled them deeper down until they are buried neck-deep.

“Fucking bitch!”

“What the hell?!!”

A few by-standers take a quick look at the source of the noise and then ignored the ruckus after knowing that it does not involve them. Some passers-by stops for a brief moment, then moves on casually.

“Okay, let’s talk calmly now.” She grins at the men in suit. “What are you planning to do with the kid?”

“As if we’ll answer that!”

“Fine.”

“H-huh? She just gave up questioning?...”

Azalea then turns toward the uncle. “Now to confirm something.” She lightly pushes the back of the unstable uncle’s head with her foot, then she looks at his nape. “A fairy…” It is an obscure bruise that forms at the nape of the person who is using this illegal drug. “Hey dealers, do you make this drug here?”

“What are you talking about? We have nothing to do with that.”

“Oh, I see. My bad… Hm. What so you do then?”

“We’re just here to buy children and-”

“HEEYY-!!!” The other man yells so loud.

“Aw-! Why shout so close to my ears? You almost burst my eardrums.”

“Do you have shit for brains?! Why are you telling her that?”

“Oh-…”

“No need to feel bad. You’ve helped me a lot.” She smiles.

The men can only grit their teeth. They are buried neck-deep and are unable to move under this insanely hot weather. They can only hope that this cheeky brat would release them soon. However all the hopeful thinking is shattered as they watch her turn her back at them and walk back into the house.

“Hey! Hey! Kid, let us go!”

“You cunt! You can’t just go back inside my house and leave me here! Biitch!”

No matter how much they protest, shout and curse, it all have fallen into deaf ears. They are only wasting their energy. Azalea has no plans of letting them go that easily.

Roughly an hour later, the older sister returns home.

“Sorry, I got held up.” She says as she hands the cash to Azalea. “I got a fair deal with your stuff… But, why is my uncle and some weird men buried out the front door?”

“Oh, you don’t have to mind them.”

“Are you prepared to leave?” She then looks at her younger sister. “I also got a deal with a passing traveling merchant to take us south.”

“I packed clothes and other necessities. I didn’t put much, a large baggage is going to get in the way.”

She takes her little sister’s hand. “Great! I’ll get ready. But what are you planning to do with those men outside?”

“Right… I should take care of them before leaving. Can you go ahead first? I’ll follow you, real quick.”

“Sure.” She says then she picks up a piece of paper that her sister was doodling on earlier. She writes something on it before tearing it to a smaller piece and folding it. “Here. We’ll be waiting for you in this location.”

The older sister takes their luggage and then leaves in a hurry. Meanwhile, Azalea sits leisurely on the couch for about half an hour. She then goes out to check on the men she buried neck-deep. Fortunately, nobody in this place likes to poke their nose into someone else’s business, so the three remained untouched. Their heads got darker and reddish after being under the direct heat of the sun for the past hour. They look pissed and impatient but too weak to do anything.

That uncle has been showing symptoms of drug abuse. The blood shot eyes, bulging veins in parts of the body, heavy breathing, and the most noticeable is the fairy-like bruise on his nape. She noticed this symptoms in most of the mercenaries that are chasing her too. She just cannot confirm because their nape are always hidden.

“Uncle.”

“Bitch, I’m not your uncle.”

“Fine. Hey stinky old geezer, where’d you get that Fairy Dust?”

“O-old-?! You little cunt-!”

Azalea snaps her finger then a magic circle glows before the old man gets fully buried. This time, the light in her eyes are gone. She no longer intends to play around and waste time.

“Hey, you two.”

“Y-yes?”

Her cold dead gaze radiates intensely intimidating aura. “Do you have something like… a follow up?.. Will someone look for you if you don’t return?”

“Y-yeah? If we’re not back after twenty four hours, the organization will send trackers.”

“I see. Good.” She snaps her fingers again then the old man’s head returns above ground. “Let’s start over.”

The old man gasps and coughs. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Tell me what you know about that fairy dust.”

“Well, I don’t know a lot.” He pants heavily.

“Just talk.”

The old man really does not know much. He is just a client, a user that can barely afford to keep up with his addiction. Azalea can chase after his dealer but that is futile as long as the manufacturers are free to do what they want. Investigating and solving this problem is not her job. Furthermore, it is too big for her to take care of. But then again, knowing the situation is generally not a bad step because this knowledge might be of some use in the future. After taking whatever information she can, she stomps then a magic circle glows. The ground softly rumbles then spits the old man back out. He flies up and then falls on his butt.

“So here’s what you need to do next.”

He scoffs. “Who the fuck gave you the idea that you can just order me around.”

“I don’t care if you do as I say. It’s just that you’ll die if you don’t.”

“W-what?! Why?”

“You see these two men in black? Go find something to dig them out.”

“Bitch, you can ju-”

“Nope. I won’t. If you don’t help them, their trackers would come and then kill you. Right?” She looks down smiling coldly at the buried men.

They desperately nod. While the old man starts sweating profusely.

“You already took some payment for the kid, haven’t you? Use this opportunity to repay them, or something.”

She then casts buff on herself before jumping away. She hurries up to catch up to the sisters. She checks the location one more time before speeding up. The meet-up place is located in an open area close to the boarder of Wave 4. She jumps from roof to roof not caring about the ruckus it makes. This kind of behavior seem to be casually accepted in the slums. Even if she catches the attention of someone from her pursuers, it will take some time for them to assemble. She should be out of the area by then.

She thought that it is odd that traveling to the meet-up location is smooth. She has not caught the attention of anyone suspicious. No one is following her either. Maybe she is just fortunate that the mercenaries in this area are out busy with something else at the moment. However, such thought might be too positive for her situation.

When she arrives at the location where they are supposed to meet up, the sisters are not there. Instead, a group of armed men are waiting for her. They surrounded her as soon as she enters the open area.

“Well…” Azalea looks around. “I surely did not expect this. Where are the sisters?”

“Oh, you’re still concerned about them?” The leader of the mob laughs. “Don’t worry, they’re safe. They are probably already on their way to a small village in Uar now.”

The other members of the group are chattering and snickering.

Azalea is trying to understand what the situation is about. Did she come too late? Are they really safe? What if these mobs are lying?

“Don’t you get it?” The grin on his face widens as his voice resounds with a tone of mockery. “You’ve been sold.”