Hey guys, here I come today with a new chapter!

I wonder who that new character is? Is it a main one? Or perhaps just a secondary one who won't last one chapter?

Well, enjoy and don't hesitate to leave a comment or vote!

Enjoy !

* * * * *

Few minutes passed since Arsal and Shina passed through the door, the red-clothed man dubiously looked at the few crystals in his hand, not able to process all that happened. A wicked smile formed on his mouth as he called over a few of his most trusted men and sent them to follow the duo, ordering them to kidnap the girl if possible.

One of the man’s two subordinate which followed him earlier couldn’t help but glare at him doubtfully. If he had asked to go after the father who held the jewels, it would have been okay, however, the one he wanted was the four years old little girl.

“Boss, I don’t understand. Why pursuing the girl?”

While it was true that the girl was extremely pretty, even the worst scum of the city wouldn’t touch a little child like her.

It was a question of principle!

The boss chuckled at his subordinate question, he understood that they were mistaken about something. Never in his mind did he think of touching the girl, while she was indeed very cute, he still liked mature women. But for him, the woman became even more important after obtaining such a large amount of money.

“Karl, how old are you?”

“Twenty-one years old sir.”

Nodding several times, the man laughed as he patted the youngster’s back several times.

“You are still young after all, you still don’t fully know how the world work do you?”

Seizing the youngster’s hand, the thirty-something years old man forced his hand open and deposed one of the crystal on his palm, making the subordinates look at him with eyes filled with jealousy and astonishment.

“S-Sir… I…”

The captain grinned as he intensely looked at the man in his eyes, murmuring something to his ears.

“Want to make a bet? If you keep this treasure then within half an hours you’ll be found dead in an alley and nobody will ask a single question about it.”

A dreadful feeling suddenly surged within the guard’s heart, his back was stained with cold sweat and his hand holding the crystal was shaking. From the moment the crystal was placed in his hand, he felt his coworkers gaze, even his friends' ones were filled with jealousy and...killing intent.

Those men whom he had worked with ever since he entered the city guards when he was sixteen years old, all of them which he knew, for now, three years were emitting killing intent hidden behind a smile.

Even his cousin whom he had spent his childhood with and entered this job at the same time looked at him with hesitations. This tiny object smaller than his hand was enough for people to disregard any past relations.

If it was another city then maybe it would have been different, but this was Whiost, one of the most reputed port city. This city has connections with most of the countries, here, an extremely high amount of money changed of hand every day.

However, whether you find money, you will also find outlaws. You could find all kind of bandits and crooks here at such a point that even the guards were filled with them, this young man who had lived in a ‘safe’ part of the city wasn’t accustomed to meeting such people.

The red-clothed man took back the crystal with a small grin, enjoying the young man’s reaction and relief as he felt like a large boulder had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Some says that money is power, but that’s crap! You can’t protect it without power, you’ll simply get robbed and your corpse will decompose within an alley like many others.”

“But strength doesn’t mean anything, beat one people and ten will follow. Beat ten, a hundred will follow. No, relations is true strength. But relations built on profit and money never end well, but give them something they would never ever dream of obtaining and they’ll lick in your hands like doggies.”

“Things they’ll… never dream of obtaining?...”

“The most common one is… beautiful women.”

“...But isn’t she just a girl?”

“A child if raised properly is easy to influence and loyal. Moreover, that girl in fifteen years will probably be beautiful enough to buy a city. In the future, even royalties probably wouldn’t mind conferring noble title just to obtain her”

“But she’s… just a child.”

“Ahh… Karl, my dear nephew once this is over you’ll be transferred to guard the port’s area for a while. Maybe there you’ll learn how life works in this tow-GUUH”

A small scream echoed as the captain suddenly held his left shoulder which Arsal had tapped on earlier, the man couldn’t move it feel anything from there anymore, it was most likely broken.

Everyone was shocked as they looked at the red-clothed man suddenly screaming, it wasn’t just his shoulder but some of his ribs started to fracture one by one, each one making him produce a shriek even louder than the previous one.

Who would have known that Arsal’s little tap on the shoulder would have caused such damage?

* * * * *

Walking in the city, Shina still felt slightly annoyed of the guards attitude. Although she understood her father’s intention of not attracting any attention while they were in the city, she nonetheless thought it was useless.

Useless because her parents while being without a doubt extremely intelligent were lacking something very important… Common sense.

Shina was troubled. She knew that her father was trying to stay low-key, but which kind of low key person would use crystals and jewel instead of gold coins. Moreover, in his mind, their value didn’t exceed a few hundreds if not thousand gold while their real price could be counted in hundreds of thousands.

Just showing them at the entrance of the city was enough to bring themselves a very large amount of troubles.

Nevertheless, she didn’t give it that much reflection, if she was with someone else then perhaps it would have been troublesome… But the person she is with is her father, trying to pick a fight with him is just seeking a total and complete annihilation of the culpable bloodline; even his pets’ children probably wouldn’t be spared.

All that mattered, for now, was enjoying this moment in the city.

Right after entering the city, a large crowd filled the place as many people were shouting around. The marketplace was located right next to the city door in order for the merchants’ wagons not to disturb the living areas.

This area was the most alive and cleanest of the town, most people owning a stall here were selling fast food like roasted skewers or living commodities such as clothes or vegetables.

“Ooooh”

Shina’s eyes popped out as she stared at people running here and there, this looked like one of those movies she once saw but more lively, it wasn’t something some actors could reproduce.

The scent of roasted meat was filling the area which made Shina’s stomach emit a dignified growl. Her smooth cheeks became crimson as she lifted her hand, pointing at one of the roaster skewers stalls with an embarrassment which quickly disappeared after the shock passed.

“I want one!”

Arsal glanced at the small stall owned by a middle aged old man with a bald head so polished that it reflected the sunlight. The man was bare-chested, exposing his muscled sweaty torso under the fire’s heat.

The man’s roasting technique indicated that he was in this job for a long time now. Even Arsal who knew how to cook had to admit that his skills were admirable. Nodding to Shina, Arsal walked toward the stall.

“Welcome lad, want to try one of my skewers? It’s only five little bronze coins.”

Shina barely managed to restrain her laughter as she heard the man’s friendly words. Never did she expect someone to call her father a ‘lads’. Regardless of his words, Arsal didn’t show much expression and raised two of his fingers.

As the man obviously didn’t have any ill intentions, Arsal wasn’t a narrow-minded person and didn’t pay much attentions to his words.

“Humu, two skewers.”

“Sure lad, here you go.”

Arsal grabbed the two skewers and passed one to Shina, his eyes still focused on the roasted meat.

He didn’t notice it until it was in his hands, but the roasting was perfectly done at such a point that he would be incapable of reproducing it. The ingredients used for the seasoning were unknown to him yet they managed to bring out and enhance the savor of the meat’s juice.

Even the meat’s juice which slightly vanish after the roasting didn’t disperse and instead abundantly flowed into his mouth.

“Such a thing… Impossible.”

A while ago Arsal only thought his skills were pretty good, but he felt like he could have done better than him. But only after tasting it did he understand how arrogant he had been.

Glancing at Shina who almost instantly devoured the skewer and seeing the large smile on her lips as she complimented the meat, Arsal acknowledged his defeat.

“Glad you like it little girl.”

The man patted Shina’s hairs with a rough smile, obviously happy of the compliment.

Arsal suddenly opened and intensely glared at him.The atmosphere around him had changed has he pointed at the man using the skewer stick.

“Another…”

“S-Sure?”

At this point, Arsal didn’t look at him like he was puny human, in his eyes he was his equal in the cruel world of cooking… No, he became his rival!

While Arsal was buying the skewers one after another, trying to pierce the secrets hidden behind their tastes; Shina, on the other hand, noticed a little girl, maybe four or five years older than her running.

The girl’s clothes and body were filled with dirt and dust. She was dressed in worn out clothes which had probably been used for years, her short black hairs opposed her porcelain white skin tainted by the dirt.

The worn out clothes displayed her legs and legs up to her knees, exposing many scars which she had probably earned over the years and many recent bruises.

The girl ran down the marketplace, two other rough clothed men were running behind her.

“Someone catch that fucking pickpocket!”

“Just you wait! If I catch you today shitty brat I’ll definitely skin you alive.”

The girl was carrying a heavy purse in her hands, her breath looked rough yet somewhat calm despite the danger behind her. She looked accustomed to such events.

Yet what attracted Shina’s attention the most were her eyes. They were eyes she was very familiar with; eyes she once had in her previous life.

They were cold because she knew she can’t rely on anyone else than herself, nobody would help her even if she was begging. However, they still contained a light called hope, as if after all this suffering one day would come where she would be able to live as she wished to.

As she passed by Shina’s side, Shina greeted her with a smile, making the girl stare at with puzzled eyes before refocusing on her pursuer.

Shina only looked at her running back while secretly cheering her up.

The moment the two men passed by Shina side, a little leg suddenly flew toward one of the man’s stomach, sending him flying a few meters away.

‘I’ll give you a hand this time.’