NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 18: A new kid
Chrone's POV
'I should have asked for a spare sword.' I thought regretfully.
I'm parkouring from rooftop to rooftop, following a suspicious bunch to a back alley. From experience, if you want to hear real rumors, the slums are where it's at as most people from the slums will be shady people involved with stealing, info broker, and illegal trades.
Unfortunately, I had to be out of sight as my clothing belonged to the commoner's district, and sticking out is the last thing you want to be doing in the slum.
"I heard the magic institution is recruiting people to be their test subjects, crazy bastards thinking we are desperate enough to get experimented on." An overheard conversation stopped me in my tracks.
Quietly coming to the source of the sound, I found 2 men chatting in a dark alley. One held a cigarette while leaning against the wall while the other had a greatsword sheathed to his back, presumably an adventurer.
"Meh, I've heard worse from that place, one time rumors floated around about ear-wrenching screams that came from it, and a bunch of complaints came to the administration guild but nothing was done about it." The adventurer answered.
'Magic institution?'
"Sick fucks. These experiments are all because of some magic they don't understand. For the 'pursuit of the truth' they say, 'the greater good of the world', 'diving into the unknown', what a load of bat shit.”
“And they have the balls to publicly post recruitment openly saying they need "volunteers". If you ask me, I'll rather get fucked by a group of goblins than get near that place."
"Ha ha, be careful with what you say, you don't want that wish to come true, do you?"
"Of course not, you fuck face! It’s just a metaphor." The man took the last lap from his cigarette before stomping it to the ground, "I'll take my leave for now, I feel like I'm being watched and I don't like that one bit."
'Interesting. Very interesting.' I scratched my chin and looked around for any info relating to the magic institution, but unfortunately, that topic never came up among the slum dweller.
As I was about to leave, a sight caught my sight that I couldn't ignore.
"Useless useless useless!" A fat old man who had an empty bottle in one hand was kicking a kid repeatedly, “I sent you out there only for you to come back with 10 copper coins. I put effort on you and this is what you gave me!?”
"Sigh, old man, leave the kid alone." I who jumped off the roof stood behind him.
"Huh? Mind your goddamn business punk. Can't you see I'm trying to parent my kid here?!"
"You call that parenting? Look, as a former parent, I'll teach you some lessons about parenting.”
"I said, leave us alone!" He drunkenly rushed towards me and sent a punch.
"Woah! Easy old man." I sidestepped his punch and reached into my head to grab my handle hidden beneath the illusion.
With a stab motion to the defenseless back, it struck true to his heart.
"ACH!" Feeling the piercing pain in his chest, he saw a large blade piercing through.
"I'll take care of the kid for you, go can rest easy old man." I drew back my sword and the body dropped with a heavy thud.
[Pr: Quite a big responsibility to shoulder on all of a sudden]
"M-Mister?" Turning to the kid who saw the dripping blood, he was terrified of my figure, huddling into a ball beside the wall.
"P-Please don't hurt me," the kid whimpered as I hid the bloodied sword inside my body. I walked toward him slowly, trying to seem less intimidating.
"Don't worry, kid. I can't hurt you, see?" I demonstrated by passing my hand through the wall. The kid's eyes widened in awe.
"A-Are you a ghost?"
I chuckled. "Ha ha, you could call it that. Got a name, kid?"
[Pr: Like how he casually shanked a dad and went ‘yo sup’ to the kid without a faze]
After a pause, I heard a small whisper. "Alden."
"What was that?"
"A-Alden," he repeated, just a little louder this time.
I crouched down to his level, trying to make myself seem less frightening.
Up close, I noticed the kid's long yellow hair covered in soot and dirt, and with that pretty face, I was pretty sure Alden is actually a girl.
"I see, Alden. My name's Chrone. I saw that old man beating you up earlier... was that your dad?" I pointed to the corpse behind me.
"Y-Yes," she muttered, barely audible.
"Gotcha. So, here's the deal: I can help find an orphanage for you. How does that sound?"
"NO!" Alden's body trembled violently as if she remembered something awful.
"Not a fan of orphanages, huh? Alright, let me think..." I scratched my chin, trying to come up with a better plan.
"Tell you what—how about you come with me? I'll take care of you."
"C-Come with you? Will I see Mommy?" Her voice was fragile like she was clinging to some hope.
"Mommy? Where's your mommy, kiddo?"
"Daddy said Mommy became a ghost and wouldn't come back. W-Will you bring me to Mommy?"
'Fuck, I shouldn't have asked that.' I took a sharp breath, running my hand through my hair, cursing my own thoughtlessness.
"Listen, kid... I can't bring you to your mommy. But I'm sure she's watching over you from somewhere far away. What I can do is... maybe bring you to a new mommy."
The image of Blade popped into my mind.
'Sorry, Blade, but this kid needs an emotional anchor.'
I almost said I could be her dad, but seeing the mess she became because of her dad, I held off. The last thing she needed was one more "dad".
"N-New mommy?"
"Yeah," I nodded, giving her a small smile. "A new mommy."