“This direction.” Mag listened carefully, and navigated the small alleys quickly. He could first tell that the shriek came from a frightened young girl. A shriek in the slums at this time of the day meant that the young girl was probably in danger.
Mag was very fast. He stopped at a crossroad in the alleys. Although he could not see anyone, he knew that she should be nearby since the shriek sounded close.
“No… don’t come over. Please, don’t come over…” A horrified female voice came from somewhere.
“It sounds like it’s behind.” Amy had already pulled out her magic caster’s staff, and she pointed at the alley on the right excitedly.
“Yes, it’s that direction.” Mag nodded. He put Amy on the ground, and walked quickly and silently over.
Just then, a small figure suddenly dashed past on top of a high wall at the side. The figure ran past Mag, and jumped off the high wall like a nimble little cat.
“You…”
Suddenly, the voice of a horrified male voice sounded, followed by a crisp sound of a sharp object hitting the wall.
However, the fighting sounds stopped suddenly, and there was a sound of something heavy falling to the ground as another horrifying shriek broke the silence.
“Aaah…”
Mag brought Amy over to that alley, and saw a tall orc with his pants halfway down lying on the ground. His hands were covering his throat, where blood was gushing out from. His eyes were wide open, and it was apparent that he was no longer breathing. The fatal wound was the one to his heart.
It was a very clean and professional method of killing. Although the orc could react in time, he still did not manage to show any effective resistance.
Meanwhile, a young girl with her clothes all untidy was cowering in the corner, shivering. A small silhouette’s back was facing Mag. A few drops of blood were dripping from the sharp claws that came out from her knuckles. She looked a little embarrassed as she consoled the young girl, “Are you alright? The bad guy is already dead. I should be the good guy here.”
The young lady looked at her, dumbfounded, and her fear was suddenly reduced by half.
“Hm?” Mag found that silhouette in black very familiar, and he was shocked to see the pink and white cat ears.
“Big Sister Connie, what are you doing here? Have you lost your way again?” Amy asked in shock.
“Boss! Little Amy! What are you two doing here?” The small orc girl turned around, and seemed even more shocked to see Mag and Amy. She said with embarrassment, “I… I just came out for a walk. I’m not lost.”
“Really? I almost believed it. We walked past here on our way home,” Amy said. She glanced at the orc on the ground. “But you’ve already killed the bad guy. Now we have no bad guy to beat up. What a pity.”
“We heard a lady’s shriek when we walked past the alley outside. That’s why we came in,” Mag said. He took off his coat and walked to the human young lady cowering in the corner.
The young girl looked barely 13 or 14 years old. Her clothes had been ripped apart, and there was even a red handprint on her pale face. Mag covered her up gently with his coat, and said, “Little girl, don’t be afraid. I am Boss Mag from Mamy Restaurant. This is my daughter, Amy. This lady who saved you is an employee from our restaurant. Let us send you home.”
The coat that still had Mag’s body warmth dispelled the chill and embarrassment from the torn and tattered clothes. The young girl looked up at Mag. This gentleman’s smile looked very warm and gentle. There was also an angel-like little girl beside him. Suddenly, she did not feel so afraid.
Besides…
Mamy Restaurant? Isn’t that the very famous restaurant? This gentleman is the owner of that restaurant?
“Mm-hm.” The young girl stood up slowly with the help of the wall. She reached out to grab the collar of the coat. Her pale little face still showed some fear as she tried to avoid looking at the corpse lying on the ground.
“Let’s go. Let’s leave this place first.” Mag turned to the side a little to block the corpse from the little girl’s view. He made a soft glow on the tip of Amy’s magic caster’s staff, and led the young girl out into the streets.
Connie retracted her claws and followed behind Mag quickly, afraid of being left behind.
Mag turned to the little girl on his right, and gently asked, “What’s your name? Where do you leave?”
“Kelly. My house is just up in front, past three alleys,” the young girl said softly as she pointed in front.
“Alright. Don’t be afraid. That bastard deserved to die anyway. We’ll send you to your doorstep.” Mag looked at the young girl, who was still shivering a little, and felt upset. Even in Chaos City, sexual assault was still a risk that girls had to face.
“I… I shouldn’t have gone out at night. I just wanted to buy a sweet for my younger brother…” Kelly said with a whimper.
“Kelly, you’re not to blame. It’s those evil scumbags who are at fault.” Mag paused in his tracks, and looked into Kelly’s eyes. “It’s your freedom to go out at night. That should not be the reason for those scumbags to harm you.”
Kelly looked into Mag’s eyes and was a little lost, and a little touched. She had never heard anyone say that before. She had always heard people saying: wrap yourself up and don’t go out at night…
It seemed as though the reason for all crimes was because they wore a skirt that showed their calves, or because they did not reach home before nightfall.
“Yes, skirts are so pretty. Why can’t you wear it? The stars are so beautiful at night. If you stay at home, you won’t get to see them.” Amy nodded, and said, “As for the bad guys, just beat them to death.”
Kelly looked at how confident Amy was, and could not help but feel a little envious, for she did not even have such courage.
“However, it seems like there are quite a lot of scumbags around here. I’ve seen quite a few these days,” Connie interrupted.
Kelly remained silent. She would often hear stories of unfortunate things happening to girls living in the slums. A weak young girl like her would be completely incapable of resisting when she met with sexual assault from other races.
“Don’t worry. This will change. Girls will be able to wear a skirt without worrying, and they can also look at the beautiful starry sky,” Mag said with a smile. He already had a plan. Since the city lord cannot do anything about the night-time safety of the people living in the northern slums, he would do something about it.
He sent Kelly to her doorstep. When she was just about to knock, the door opened, and a small boy of around one to two years old toddled over, and dived into Kelly’s embrace as he called out to her.
“Here’s your sweet.” Kelly released her clenched fist, and passed an ordinary sugarcane sweet to the little boy.
“Sweet.” The little boy grabbed the sweet happily as he licked it.
“Kelly, what happened to you? Who are they?” A middle-aged woman and man walked out quickly from a room and saw Kelly, who had a coat on, with her hair all messy and a red handprint on her face. They immediately stood in front of Kelly, shielding her from Mag.
