Vol 3. Chapter 58: Extending a Helping Hand
"Help?!"
Hm?
What's going on?
Hearing the child's cry for help, Miss Yumo frowned.
The moment she saw the white-haired little boy with blood pouring from his shoulder and tattered clothes, and met those brown eyes filled with desperate pleading,
her sapphire-blue pupils suddenly contracted.
Although before leaving she had firmly decided not to get involved in other people's affairs,
seeing an injured child,
Miss Yumo simply couldn't stand by and ignore it.
The next instant,
she pushed off the ground.
With the tiled pavement cracking beneath her feet,
Yumo transformed into a black blur and instantly appeared beside the white-haired little boy.
Under the envious gazes of many members of the Black Rose Family behind her,
she caught the staggering child before he could collapse and gently pulled him into her embrace.
Feeling his trembling body,
and the overwhelming fear surrounding him,
Miss Yumo softly comforted him.
"There, there... don't be afraid..."
"..."
The boy didn't answer.
His limbs were growing cold,
and the light in his eyes was gradually fading.
Hm?
His injuries are pretty serious...
Unable to bear seeing him suffer,
Miss Yumo quickly took out the divine healing medicine, Nature's Tear, from her spatial ring and carefully dripped it into the boy's mouth.
As the miraculous medicine entered his body,
the bloody hole in the boy's shoulder gradually healed,
his life force stopped slipping away,
and his condition slowly stabilized.
Seeing his breathing become steady and the wound stop bleeding,
Miss Yumo finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then,
the black-haired girl slowly turned around,
her gaze growing noticeably colder as she looked toward the several blue-uniformed prison guards standing frozen in the distance.
She still didn't know what this child had supposedly done,
but seeing a child treated like this before her eyes made Miss Yumo quite unhappy.
"What exactly are you people doing?"
Hearing the icy tone in her voice,
and feeling the sharpness within her gaze,
the five pursuing prison guards simultaneously revealed frightened expressions.
The warden leading them, Dekli, clenched his teeth tightly.
He had already been furious because they had failed to capture the boy.
Now,
just when they had finally been about to catch him,
someone had suddenly appeared to interfere.
'Damn it!'
Dekli cursed inwardly.
But cursing was all he dared do.
Because he knew perfectly well
that the person standing before him was someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Shit!
Why would people from the Black Rose Family be here?
And why would they just so happen to run into the runaway?!
Fuck!
If she had been an ordinary person,
Dekli would have immediately seized the boy by force.
But against the Black Rose Family?
If he tried something like that,
he'd practically be volunteering to report to the King of Hell.
Since force wasn't an option,
he could only rely on words.
Putting on an ingratiating smile, Dekli bowed politely.
"My apologies, my apologies. Sorry for disturbing your outing. That ignorant slave escaped, and we'll take him back immediately so we won't disturb you any longer!"
"A slave?"
"Y-Yes. He's a newly purchased slave from Marquis Keweibote's estate. He hasn't been properly disciplined yet."
"And you shoot slaves?"
"N-No, not at all! We only wanted to stop him from running away. Besides, he's a slave who stole something belonging to the Marquis. Even if he were shot dead, he'd deserve it."
As he spoke,
Dekli smiled obsequiously and slowly approached Yumo.
"So, Miss, would you kindly return that boy to us? We still have to bring him back and report to the Marquis."
"..."
Hearing that,
Yumo slightly narrowed her eyes.
A trace of suspicion appeared within them.
However,
before Miss Yumo could say anything,
Aide, who had gradually recovered thanks to Nature's Tear,
immediately became furious upon hearing Dekli's words.
Ignoring the pain in his shoulder,
he struggled to turn around and glared hatefully at Dekli.
"You're lying! I'm not anyone's slave! I never stole anything from you!"
After shouting those words,
Aide turned back toward the black-haired young woman behind him,
his eyes once again filled with desperate pleading.
He didn't know exactly who she was,
but judging from Dekli's attitude,
this woman clearly possessed an extremely high status.
Perhaps...
she was the only one here who could save him.
"Big Sister, please save me! I'm not a slave of the Marquis' family at all! Look—I don't even have a slave crest! And... if they take me back, they'll drain my soul and turn me into a Soul Pearl! Please... please save me..."
As he spoke,
the boy completely broke down in tears.
Miss Yumo's brows instantly knitted together.
"Soul Pearl? Drain your soul?"
The instant Yumo uttered those words,
Dekli panicked.
The Marquis had repeatedly instructed them that the creation of Soul Pearls absolutely could not be exposed.
If this young lady spread what the boy had just said,
the consequences would be unimaginable.
Thinking of that,
Dekli hurriedly tried to explain.
"N-No! Miss, don't listen to him! That brat is talking nonsense! Our Marquis Keweibote's family has faithfully served the Emperor for decades! How could we possibly do something as cruel as stealing souls? Miss, you absolutely mustn't..."
"I'm not lying! There are more than forty children imprisoned on the third underground level! I saw you drain the souls of five children with my own eyes!"
"Heh, saw it with your own eyes? You sure have a vivid imagination, brat! Surely you wouldn't believe the words of a lowly slave, Miss?"
"Big Sister, please believe me! These people really are monsters! They're actually doing those things! Right there in the underground prison!"
"What a joke! Brat, I think you've gone insane! I'd advise you to stop talking nonsense! Otherwise, when you get back..."
...
...
Thus,
Dekli's endless "explanations"
and Aide's tearful cries
continued pouring into Miss Yumo's ears,
causing the black-haired girl's brows to knit tighter and tighter.
After silently watching the two argue for a while,
Miss Yumo finally lost her patience.
A dangerous crimson glow quietly appeared in her eyes.
"Enough."
The girl's icy voice rang out,
instantly causing Dekli's body to tremble.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
Although the black-haired girl hadn't released any power,
the coldness contained within her gaze alone sent an indescribable chill down his spine.
His words abruptly stopped.
However,
after a brief pause,
Dekli forced himself to gather his courage again.
Righteously pointing at the filthy little boy in Yumo's arms, he declared,
"Miss, you really have to believe me! He's only making all this up to avoid punishment! He's deceiving you! Marquis Keweibote's family is one of the empire's most prestigious noble houses! Why would we possibly deceive..."
Unfortunately,
before he could finish,
Miss Yumo's patience had already been completely exhausted.
Completely ignoring the nonsense from Dekli and his men,
she glanced sideways toward one of the Black Rose Knights.
"Please... make them quiet."
"Yes, Lady Yumo."
Receiving her order,
the knight beneath the black armor immediately broke into a brilliant smile.
After all,
opportunities to show off in front of Lady Yumo didn't come often.
The next moment,
under Dekli and the others' astonished gazes,
the burly Black Rose Knight cracked his knuckles and strode straight toward them.
A terrifying aura,
along with overwhelming killing intent,
burst from his body without the slightest restraint,
causing Dekli's legs to tremble uncontrollably.
"H-Hey!... W-Wait... Y-You... What are you trying to do?! Wait!... Don't come over here! I'm one of Marquis Keweibote's men! You can't..."
Unfortunately,
before he could finish,
an iron fist rapidly filled his vision.
The Black Rose Family had always possessed one excellent tradition.
They loved helping others.
Seeing Dekli talk so much,
the Black Rose Knight simply couldn't bear to let the man wear out his throat.
So,
with great reluctance,
he decided to lend him a helping hand.
...
"Boom~"
After several loud crashes,
Dekli's bruised and swollen body swayed a few times before collapsing to the ground with stars spinning in his eyes.
The remaining members of the Marquis' household were so terrified by the sight before them that they instantly shut their mouths,
crouching against the wall and trembling,
afraid they would become the Black Knight's next "customer."
Once no one continued making noise,
Miss Yumo turned her attention back to the little boy in her arms.
"My child, I believe you weren't lying. So... what exactly happened? Tell Big Sister everything."
Gently stroking the boy's head,
Yumo spoke softly.
Feeling the concern in the young woman's voice,
along with the indescribable warmth of her hand,
tears streamed uncontrollably from the corners of Aide's eyes like broken strings of pearls.
Unlike the tears he had shed out of fear before,
this time,
he cried for an entirely different reason.
Looking at the big sister who had reached out to save him in his darkest moment,
and who was willing to believe his words,
an overwhelming sense of gratitude surged through Aide's young heart.
The black-haired girl's image within his heart instantly became incomparably noble.
--
'Honestly... this scene feels so familiar...'
Watching Miss Yumo comforting the child,
Saiboke-Baniya,
who had silently observed everything from behind,
looked at Qiu Mingtong.
After their eyes met briefly,
he couldn't help revealing a deeply emotional smile.
After all,
when they had still been children,
they too had experienced a remarkably similar scene.
Remembering those days,
Saiboke-Baniya couldn't help showing a slightly jealous expression.
'Heh... I'm so jealous of that kid...
Getting to experience Lady Yumo's embrace...'
Back when Lady Yumo had rescued them in the Great Winter Forest,
he had certainly been deeply moved.
But at the same time,
he had nearly been scared to death.
After all,
Lady Yumo hadn't yet taken human form back then.
She had rescued them using those eerie crimson energy arms...
Not to mention,
they had been surrounded by countless Abyss Demons,
including one particularly dim-witted Demon King-class wolf.
Compared to what they had gone through,
this little boy really was enviably fortunate.
However,
when Saiboke-Baniya's gaze settled completely upon the boy in Yumo's arms,
the smile on his aged face gradually became rather meaningful.
The next moment,
under the rather suspicious gazes of several Black Rose Family members,
the little boy, whose emotions had finally calmed under Yumo's comfort,
wiped away his tears,
gathered his courage,
grasped the hem of Yumo's dress,
and pleaded urgently,
"Big Sister! Please... save my little sister Aixue too! And all the other children! Otherwise... they'll all be turned into Soul Pearls..."
Yumo:
...