The heart-wreng wails of a young girl echoed through the boratrief-stri, Petu hung her head, her grip tightening around her elbow as the Florian’s voice began to break. Tennyson’s fists trembled at his sides, his heart sinking uhe crushi of guilt.

  Reeza g desperately to the side of the pedestal used as aing table, her legs bug beh her. Harsh tears streamed down her face as she gazed at her mother’s still form. No matter how intensely she willed it to be false, nothing ged—her mother y breathless, her life cruelly extinguished by the forces of evil.

  As her body slumped to the floor, a distant memory resurfaced. She had beeatic, having amassed half of the funds necessary to free her mother. That day, she had rushed to the woman’s cell to celebrate, a hopeful spark in her eyes and joy in her heart.

  She vividly remembered her mother often garbed in a kimono. Despite their dire circumstances, she always wore a wholehearted smile and often enced Reeza tet about her and live her own life. Now that her body was no longer hidden behind the cealing garments, Reeza could see the gruesome wounds that marred the woman’s skin—a harrowiale of the life of abuse she had endured alone.

  “What was the point?” Reeza cried out, her voice ced with anguish. “What was the point of stealing and hurting so many people if I couldn’t even save her in the end?”

  “Casimir was undeniably the worst kind of scum, but he wasly stupid,” Daisuke argued as he strode into the room. “You’d expect him to milk every opportunity for profit before severing ties, especially when the opposition hardly poses a threat.”

  Everyone gnced down at Reeza’s broken form on the ground. Daisuke, in particur, regarded her with a mixture of emotions. But the most predominant had to be anger. While her situation was tragic, her deeds were extremely selfish—and tless people were affected by her as, including Zephyr.

  Daisuke had been burned far too many times, and he had already promised himself that unnecessary kindness was a burden he no longer inteo shoulder, especially when he didn’t stand to be.

  As malice slowly reared its unpleasant head, ing what little sympathy he had in his heart for the girl, Daisuke’s fingers began unfurling. Every fiber of his being was telling him to summon the Lipanthyer’s Fang and end her miserable life then and there.

  But just as he was about to cede to the dark deed, his fingers stilled. Before the power of his eyes, a stray maed itself. It was in the form of a stall bird, electricity flickering from its wings as it hovered defensively in front of Reeza.

  DING!

  [The Djinn, Voltina, fiercely guards her prospective tractor.]

  …A Djinn? Daisuke frowned inquisitively. What’s that? And am I the only one who see it?

  [Name: Voltina

  Level: 27 | EXP: 12,864/113,906 (11.29%)

  Race: Lightning Djinn

  Current Species: Yellow ary

  HP: 2875/2875

  [Mysterious and elusive elemental beings often regarded as the messengers of Guardian Spirits. Djinn are ily shy and peaceful creatures with the extraordinary ability to sehe goodness in others. On rare occasions, they form sacred bonds with individuals with whom they share a profound and uny e.]

  Without warning, the Djinn invaded Daisuke’s mind in an attempt to cool his rage. Like the pages of a flipbook, he was shown ss of Reeza’s character and lifestyle that weren’t readily seen on the surface.

  It was the girl’s m routio make the arduous trek down to the irrigation al to fetch water. The sun was unfiving, and the wooden pails of water almost dwarfed her tiny frame, but she pressed on, refusing the help of others.

  As she made her way through the busy market, she paused for a break at a familiar storefront, watg with a small smile as the plumehearts pecked at scraps of bread on the busy cobblestoreet.

  Buying a freshly baked loaf with a fra of her pilfered s, she tore off a piece to offer to a stray Bearhound lurking in an adjat alleyway, its puppy-dog eyes breaking her heart. , she divided the provisions evenly among the homeless children in the slums, not payio their racial backgrounds.

  Finally, she delivered the remaining half to the captives held by the Casimir, ensuring they stayed nourished and well, all while keeping her efforts hidden fr eyes.

  The unfiving sun was directly over head now. Reeza slumped against the rough stone wall in the back alleys, exhaustion evident in her posture. With her charitable aplete, she was left with nothing but a stale, moldy piece of bread.

  This meager portion was all she allowed for her unworthy self. With a sigh, she forced it down with a swig of water, her expression refleg a mix of sadness and resignation. Even as she ate, her eyes couldn’t help but search for the arget of her questionable deeds.

  Daisuke sighed inwardly as the Djinn disappeared. While I didn’t kill anyone, her deeds are no different from what I was doing in Dusthaven. I tried not to think about it, but I’m sure we were hurting many people by robbing the vendors of their hard-earned goods.

  “Do you remember aails about the people whht her mother to you?” Daisuke asked, his gaze falling onto the remorseful neurolchemist.

  The man’s forehead kled as he rummaged through his memory. “…She was brought in by a young man after supposedly attag an important guest.”

  “And then you!” Reeza sneered, lurg forward with a raised fist. “You killed her!”

  Daisuke caught her hand, his expression unreadable. “Calm down,” he anded in an ominous monotone. “You seem tet that you’ve unwillingly hurt i people, as well.”

  Reeza recalled Zephyr’s pained yelp and bit her lip i. Then she g the stist with disdain, still uive him for what he’d done.

  She uood her mother’s nature well; a true pacifist who wouldn’t harm a soul. It was inceivable for her to defy authority, knowing full well the potential repercussions it could have on her daughter as well.

  “That’s impossible!” Reeza argued vehemently. “My mother would never do something like that, no matter the situation!”

  “This young man,” Petu asked hesitantly, unsure whether to participate or remain quiet. “…What exactly did he look like?”

  Tennyson gnced up at the ceiling as he pted. “He was a young man, maybe fourteen; small-statured, half-lidded eyes, and bronze hair.”

  “Fynch?” Reeza’s eyes quivered in shock as the name rolled off her tongue. For a moment, she couldn’t fathom why he would do such a horrible thing, but as a ret memory repyed in her mind, she began to uand.

  Fynch sat at a crowded table in the cafeteria, eating the uizing slop that passed for food. Around him, his rades indulged in beer, sharing tall tales of daring adventures and unfettable women.

  A loud guffaw erupted from one of the men as he pyfully spped another on the back, causio spill across the table. Fynch quickly stood up, but not before a spsh of beer soaked his crotch.

  One of the men chuckled, pointing at the suspicious stain. “Ahh, to be young again~” he teased.”

  “Puberty’s tough to ha that age,” another chimed in with a smirk.

  “With so maable women walking around, it’s no wonder,” added a third man as he smacked the rear of a retreatikin, winning another round of ughter from his panions.

  Fynch was red in the face from all the baseless accusations, but he k was a waste of time to reason with the drunkards. But at least he would let off some steam by yelling at them.

  As he was about to su a lungful of air to let them have it, the front doors burst open and in sauntered a small-statured girl with a hulking bag upon her back, her face twisted into a fierd ptuous scowl.

  Fynch watched her with admiration as she fearlessly approached their leader and his imposing bodyguard. She spoke her mind before nontly twirling on her heels to leave. Fynch was awestruck; he had vowed a million times that he would muster up the ce to speak with her but was never man enough to do it.

  Already feeling the heat of embarrassment from his soaked crotch, he figured he might as well go all in and y his cards oable.

  “Hey, Reeza,” he called before she could slip through the door. “I’ve been scouting a group of adventurers. They’ve been hunting ohird floor of the dungeon for a few days now. Their gear looks pretty expensive. What’d yah say? Wanna take ‘em? lit the rewards 40-50?”

  Reeza frowned, her gaze darkening. “Not ied,” she scoffed with derision, shoving him aside so that she could leave.

  Fynch watched her go, the enthusiasm in his eyes transf into something sinister. He loved and adored her beyond pare—years of worshipping her like a goddess shattered in an instant.

  Now all he could think about was making her feel even a fra of the pain her reje had evoked in him.

  As the bastard’s smug visage appeared in her mind, Reeza bit down on her lip so hard it started to bleed.

  “I’m so sorry,” Petu whispered as she embraced her tightly, their bodies trembling as they both sobbed.