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Author's Note: Since I forgot to update on Wednesday, here's a double update for you guys to make up for it!

The request board was in the center of the main street, located next to the enormous fountain. It was a large wooden board, with papers pinned onto the wood. Some people would take a glance at it and walk away, while the others would observe for a little longer, contemplating. 

It was exactly like it was in the novel. 

However, Cecil realised something was different now. 

There were a group of children surrounding the request board, some of them playing at the fountain which earned disapproving looks from a few civilians. They were sloven, with dirt and grime all over their face and body. 

The novel did not mention anything about children being around the request board. 

Cecil shook her head. 

Maybe it was just nothing and the author did not bother to place them into the scene. 

The guide gestured for the four of them to observe the request board. 

“Earning money this way...” Xue started to say. “It isn’t an easy method.” 

The reason why Xue could rely on this method to earn money in the past, was due to the fact he wasn’t a mortal. Endurance, strength and fighting skills, he surpassed the mortals in terms of that. 

“It’s one possible way, I am looking at other alternatives,” Cecil answered. “We need to find a permanent place to stay in after all. I do not want to...sleep in the wild.” 

Hana shook her head. “Me too, I...I heard the animals would come and steal your food if you aren’t looking, and the bugs!” 

K’xug nodded in agreement. 

The ground will be hard to sleep on. 

The people finally moved away, letting the four of them have some space to view the request board. 

“Damn dirty kids,” a man grumbled, shoving them away. “Go away, you aren’t welcome here!” 

The children bumped into each other due to the man shoving them, and one of them almost fell down. One of the older children stepped into the way, planning to absorb the impact for the younger child, his head on the verge of hitting against the edge of the fountain. 

Cecil and Hana panicked, running forward. Cecil caught the child before he hit the fountain, while Hana helped stabilise and calm the other children who were on the verge of crying. 

"Are you okay?" Cecil questioned in concern. "Any one of you got hurt?"

"Thank you, miss," the older child that she saved smiled, his tone polite. "Do not worry, we are okay."

"Come on guys," the older child nudged his head. "We should thank these two sisters."

The children followed his orders, thanking the two ladies politely with a bow. 

Cecil was surprised.

"Mister, you are too mean!" Hana chided. "The child could have been seriously hurt!"

“Tch,” the man made a spitting noise. "They are orphans anyway, no one would care."

"It doesn't matter! And I care about them!" Hana demanded. "So, apologise to them!"

"Who are you to tell what to do, you little--"

The man marched forward, reaching out for Hana. 

Cecil stepped in between them, hitting the man's hand away with a glare. 

The man withdrew in surprise.

"You were in the wrong," Cecil stated coldly. "Please act like your age and apologise. These children have not done anything wrong." 

Cecil had attacked his pride, and the man bristled at her words. 

"These orphans are thieves! They keep stealing food! Just because they are kids, everyone takes pity on them!"

"We...we only stole one big bread to share among ourselves!" One of the children raised her voice. "We didn't steal from the entire store like those men, including the money--"

The older child that seemed to the leader of these orphans covered her mouth, gesturing for her to keep quiet. 

"Yes, we do steal food," he admitted nonchalantly before he turned to the two ladies. "It's okay, big sisters, we do not need his apology."

"But…" Hana trailed off. 

The older child only comforted the younger child that spoke out, giving Hana a reassuring smile. 

Cecil finally noticed the bruises and scars on their small bodies, feeling a twinge in her heart. 

Moreover, just by looking at their clothes, Cecil could see the torn areas of the clothes being poorly sewn up again and again. 

Their clothes were just simply torn shirts and pants.

Even their shoes were nothing but straw sandals that were clearly worn out.

"So what if it's just food?" The man spat out. "Thieves are still thieves. These kids are nothing but trash."

Cecil continued glaring at the man. 

Even if what the children did were wrong, and disrupted someone's business, they were just trying to survive. 

Calling them trash is too much. 

If anyone were in their situation, being forced to steal food to survive was only normal. 

Cecil looked at the children, knowing that hearing any words from this man wouldn't do them any good. 

She also understood that these children were probably beaten up this badly for stealing food. 

"You...you are so horrible!" Hana flared up. "You can't just call those children like that. I don't care anymore, apologise!"

"Forget it, Hana," Cecil tried to Hana away. "Scums like him won't apologise."

Their conversation had created a commotion, drawing curious stares from the crowd. 

The guide was at a loss on what to do. He knew about these orphans, and he assumed like the other rich guests he had encountered, they would give dirty looks or disregard them. 

To his surprise, Cecil and Hana actually stepped in to help. 

Hence, he did not know what to do now other than stand aside and watch. 

"Should we step in?" Xue murmured out. 

K'xug shook his head. 

Something small like that…

Why would we need to? 

Xue agreed along with a nod. "Yeah, they are more than capable of handling something like that."

The man heard Cecil calling him a "scum", and he was infuriated. 

"You dare call me a scum?!"

The man reached for Cecil, wanting to grab her collar and give her a tight slap. 

Cecil only scoffed, dodging his hand and grabbing his arm, twisting it behind his back. She proceeded to kick him away, turning around and talking to the children. 

Some of the crowd clapped softly, impressed.

"Ignore that man, he is speaking nonsense," Cecil said, advising the children. "Just pretend he is a big, annoying fly."

"An annoying fly?" Hana giggled. 

The children giggled along. 

The man procured a knife hidden within his clothes at that moment, gritting his teeth in anger. 

Xue and K'xug noticed the obvious knife hidden in his hands. K'xug wanted to move, but Xue had moved faster than him. 

K'xug only blinked, shrugging before joining up with Hana and Cecil. 

The man prepared to plunge his knife into Cecil, her back facing him. 

"He--he has a knife!"

"Look out!"

"Someone call the officers!"

In a blink of an eye, an ash blonde-haired man appeared in front of him. He was taken aback even more with the faint, red imprint on the man's face. 

"What the--out of the way!"

He charged at Xue, and Xue proceeded to disarm the man adeptly. He held the man's arm at a painful angle, making him groan out in pain. 

"Touch or hurt her, and you'll never be able to move your hands again." Xue stated coldly. 

The man blanched.

He knew Xue was completely serious.

Soon enough, a group of men dressed in black uniforms with gold-coloured buttons marched into the scene. 

Xue noticed them earlier, and just to satisfy his anger for Cecil almost getting hurt on two occasions, he broke the man's wrist. 

Moreover, this man was a scum. 

Putting a scum out of service for months satisfied him even more. 

The man cried out in pain and disbelief, looking at Xue with wide eyes. 

"I didn't say I won't break your wrist," Xue shrugged. "Scum."

The officers tackled the man, arresting him. One of the officers saw the children, shaking his head with a sad sigh. 

"This guy again, going around and bullying people," the officer grumbled. "Even these poor children now? What's his problem?"

"Who knows."

The officers led the man away, he threw a hateful glare at the four of them. 

Knowing that nothing else interesting would happen, the crowd slowly dispersed. 

Whereas, Cecil was confused by the situation. 

Not too long ago, I almost got myself burned by some hot soup. 

And now, I almost got myself hurt by a man wanting to stab me with a knife. 

Cecil tilted her head. 

"Why does it feel like I'm the one getting in trouble now?" She muttered to herself. "Even if I'm not looking for it?"

Cecil contemplated for a moment, before shaking her head. 

“No, it feels even...worse now.” 

Somehow, she knew that only the system could answer her questions in her mind at this moment. However, before she could ask those questions, her thoughts were interrupted by Xue.

Xue walked towards Cecil with a sigh.

“You are getting into more trouble now,” Xue said indifferently, raising his eyebrows at her. “Is the magnet for trouble from Hana being transferred to you now?” 

Cecil was amused by his words, chuckling. “Is that even possible?” 

Xue shrugged. 

“Cecil, Cecil!” Hana skipped up to her, beaming. “Remember the mochi we bought beforehand? I want to give it to the children!” 

Cecil nodded, procuring the box of mochi from her storage ring and giving it to Hana. Hana grabbed it hurriedly, sharing the mochi with the children with a bright smile. 

“Come on, K’xug, you help give it out to them too!” Hana chirped.

K’xug stood beside Hana, shaking his head with a smile and he followed Hana’s commands. 

“Big brother, your eyes are so special! One black and one red!” 

“Big sister, you are so pretty!”

“Thank you, big sister and big brother!” 

Cecil folded her arms across her chest, smiling to herself. “Well, I couldn’t stand by and just watch that man hurt these children.” 

Xue gazed at the children enjoying the mochi that Hana and K’xug gave them. Whereas, Hana decided to do some water tricks, making them giggle, their round eyes sparkling with childlike innocence. 

At that sight, Xue was suddenly reminded of something his mother once said. 

“Everyone is born innocent,” Xue stated, looking at Cecil. “That’s what something my...mother always told me.” 

“I believe in that,” Cecil nodded. “It is just the choices we all make along the way that shapes us into who we are today.” 

Xue absorbed her words, two particular figures appearing in his mind without warning. He furrowed his eyebrows, lowering his voice. 

“...I guess this even applies to someone like Veau or Zeau, doesn’t it?” 

Cecil glanced at Xue, noticing the bitterness in his grey eyes. She could not say anything in return, and she started to recall the conversation she had with Veau while she was on the way to the clinic in the academy. 

She knew deep inside, Veau had really treated Xue like a friend from the way he answered her questions. 

However, Cecil did not know if there was any point telling Xue this now. 

It would only hurt him even more. 

“Xue…” 

“It’s fine,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “The past is already gone, from now on, the two of them are simply considered as enemies.” 

Their conversation was halted abruptly by someone tugging at Cecil’s dress. Cecil looked down, realising it was the older child that led the group of children. He had an unkempt appearance just like all the other children, but his hazel eyes held a hint of maturity that did not suit his childish mein. 

“What’s wrong?” Cecil crouched down to meet his eye level, her tone gentle despite her lukewarm expression. “Go enjoy the mochi with your friends.” 

“Big sister, you guys are definitely not from around here,” the child mused out. “And you are here to look at the request board to earn some money, aren’t you?” 

“Yes…” Cecil tilted her head. “Why do you ask that?” 

The child has seen many ugly sides of people, and he definitely knew how to tell the difference between the genuinely good-natured people, and those people who put on a false front. This child knew that this raven-haired woman in front of him, along with the other three were genuinely and kind-hearted. 

Moreover, they seemed strong.

“Big sister, you...you are a good person.” 

“Re-really?” Cecil blinked in surprise. 

Xue was standing beside the two of them, looking at Cecil in fond exasperation. 

The child nodded, stuttering in his words from nervousness. “We have a request for you, ca-can you...can you…” 

“It’s alright, take your time.” 

“Can you find our parents?!” 

The child burst out, his composed state earlier giving way to show the vulnerability within his round, hazel eyes. 

Cecil was taken aback. 

The other children overheard the older child speaking, some of them trudging forward as they lost their interest in the mochi. Hana and K’xug looked at one another, before following the children. 

“Parents? I thought you were--no, are they...missing? You should talk to those officers earlier about--” 

The older child grabbed onto Cecil’s hands with his smaller hands, sounding desperate. 

“Th-they are not missing, they were taken away!” The child cried out. “Please find our parents, and bring them back to us!” 

“What? Uhm--” 

The other children overheard the leader of their group, and they started to join in. 

“Big sister, we-we are actually not orphans!” 

“Our parents were really taken away!” 

“Please help us find them--” 

“All of you, don’t be rude!” The guide exclaimed, marching into the scene.

The guide had finally recovered from his shocked state, especially when the children started spouting out everything to Cecil. The loud commotion was starting to attract unnecessary attention, making the guide panic. 

“These young masters and young mistresses are not simply people you can ask help from!” The guide reprimanded, making the children shut their mouths with trembling lips. “Go back to your--” 

“It’s alright, we are not really important guests,” Cecil interrupted, her tone disapproving. “Do not be too harsh on them, they are just children.” 

The guide stiffened. 

“Cecil is right.” Hana pouted. 

The two men remained silent, their expressions impassive. 

“Young mistresses, these children...they simply cannot accept that their parents have abandoned them, or have left this world,” the guide advised quietly. “Please do not listen to them.” 

Cecil and Hana did not know the situation in this continent, and neither did they know these children or the guide. It was hard to know who was telling the truth, and who wasn’t. 

“We should leave this place,” the guide forced a smile on his face. “You can come back another time to look at the request board, young masters and young mistresses.” 

Xue furrowed his eyebrows. 

This man...he wants us to avoid the children from saying anything more. 

He is hiding something. 

However, Xue saw no point in involving himself in this matter. He did not even know these children either. Once again, the attention was coming back onto them and Xue did not want any trouble to arise for the two ladies again, especially for Cecil. 

“We should go,” Xue stated coldly, turning around. “Let’s come back another time.”

K’xug followed behind Xue without hesitation. 

Seeing that the two men were walking off, the two ladies were reluctant. They turned to look at the children, smiling sadly. 

“I’m...I’m sorry, we have to go.” 

“We’ll come back another time!” 

One of the children stubbornly tugged on Cecil’s dress, shaking her head vehemently. 

“Big sisters, don’t go! We...we are not lying!” 

Just then, several notifications from the system blocked Cecil’s vision. 

[ Congratulations!
Your actions have touched the hearts of these children. 
Hence, a hidden mission has been triggered! ]

[ Optional Mission #11: The Dark Side of the second continent, Tul, The Four Cities of Arts
Objective: Listen to the heartfelt sorrows of these children

Reward: 1000 points ]

“The dark side of this continent?” 

[ Once you accept this mission, the following missions will be compulsory.

However, the following missions will be in no way related to the novel. Thus, there will be no guidelines from the novel provided to help with the missions. ]

[ Would you like to accept this mission, Cecil Lan? ]

***

《 start 》

How do you not realise that about yourself? 

How are there...so many things you do not realise about yourself? 

I guess that’s what makes you...you, Cecil Lan. 

It’s endearing. 

《 stop 》

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