Although Nia was not yet used to uttering the words in front of others, she wanted to tell Mia, who she had met again.

But hearing those words, Mia was greatly offended and scoffed.

“What? You’re really crazy. Your mother? She held a child’s hand and walked through this dirty market? Well, she must not be afraid since she’s a skilled wizard. But now what? Thanks to her, the child is lost?”

It was an alley brought to ward off the pickpocketing gang, but it was not a place to bring a child for sure.

But that reason alone was not enough for the highly agitated Mia.

“Listen. I guarantee. Even if not now, soon she’ll treat you badly. Look at this. I ended up on the streets, too? Of course, it’s not great here, but it’s much better than that hellish place.”

Nia’s last memory of Mia was not like this.

That she would go to a good place. That she would succeed more than anyone else and come back for her.

Wearing the beautiful dress that every orphanage child envied, riding in a luxurious carriage, waving a handkerchief, the intelligent Mia unni.

Now it was the opposite, with sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, and even a fierce expression.

Nia was just silent, noticing Mia’s unfamiliar appearance.

“Ani, be sure to save your allowance. You have to take as much as you can while you can enjoy it. Got it?”

Mia glanced up and down at Nia with the same look as before, but the only expensive things were the child’s white silk dress and leather shoes.

“What? No accessories. A wizard, but not much of a rich person, it seems?”

“I don’t know…… Lucia mom is with me…… Huh?”

Only then did Nia seem to realize the absence of Lucia, who should have been there, and hurriedly looked around.

At the child’s appearance, Mia made a sound as if amused.

“Why did you follow anyway? It’s okay. I’ll take you there.”

Nia nodded at the girl’s words, but tears welled in her anxious eyes as she continued to look around.

Seeing that, Mia became inexplicably angry for some reason.

“Ani! Back in that beggarlike village, when you were scraping dung. Who protected you from the bullying village children?”

“……Mi, Mia unni.”

“So trust what I say. Don’t trust anyone else! Don’t even hope for it! You trust people too easily. Understand?”

“…….”

Despite Mia’s harsh persuasion, Nia just rolled her eyes, looking for her mother.

Mia didn’t like that appearance and scowled deeply.

It was then.
A large middleaged man, as if drunk, the sound of irregular footsteps began to echo from the end of the alley.

Startled, Mia quickly took off her worn cloak and wrapped it around Nia.

Then, in the narrowest spot among the connected narrow alleys, she shoved Nia around the corner.

“Mi, Mia sister? I need to go to Mom…!”

“Shush. Ani…! If you want to live, never come out. Understand?”

Not understanding the situation, the rebellious Nia silently nodded at the girl’s serious voice.

Mia quickly composed her face and sat in a secluded place, a little away from her colleagues as usual.

The large man exhaled heavily, staggering, halfdrunk.

However, his violent mood, seeming ready to explode at any moment, made the children tense and swallow hard.

“Uh… my head. What? What’s this?”

As always, he violently shook the bucket among the children, spilling its contents.

Then a few coins and cheap accessories rolled on the ground.

“Is this all?”

“There were no people on the street!”

“It was just coins.”

“We never hid anything. Really!”

“Yes, everyone is out of money. Yes, but…”

He grabbed the collar of the nearest boy.

The boy’s slender frame was easily lifted, giving off an overwhelming atmosphere, as if about to be devoured by a dangerous beast.

And then he was suddenly shaken and thrown about.

“Uh…!!”

The boy, who hit the ground, stifled a scream.

He knew that if he made a noise, he would be beaten even more.

“You should have worked harder!! Who do you think feeds and puts you to sleep! You damned bastards!”

Now the children simply wished for time to pass quickly, overwhelmed by the man.

“Mia! Where are you! Mia!”

“…I’m here.”

“You should keep these children in line with that arrogant head. If you don’t harvest like today, I could sell you off sooner. Understand? You should be grateful I’m letting you go because you’re a girl! Kkukkuk…”

He drooled at the thought of selling Mia, who would be an adult in a few years, and Mia seemed to give up everything, her eyes cold.

Mia was smart but still a young girl, seemingly unable to think of escaping from him.

He looked at Mia like that and turned around, smiling satisfied.

But Mia was startled by the direction he was going.

It was the alley where she had just hidden Nia.

“What’s this? Seems like a scared little rat is here?”

The man noticed Mia’s trembling cloak, and roughly pulled it off.

Nia, hidden by the cloak, was startled and frozen, gasping like a newly caught rabbit.

Mia ran and grabbed his arm.

“Just let her go! She has parents!”

“Grab her!”

He pushed Mia aside and commanded the children.

The children who immediately ran over held Mia down with all their might.

“Wow, an acquaintance, huh. It would have been better if she was adopted by good parents from the orphanage. Before being abandoned like you, I should quickly get a price for her! Hahaha!”

“Please! Just stop!”

Mia cried out in desperation, but the man simply grabbed Nia’s neatly braided hair.

“I’ll buy lots of food if the deal goes through. How about that?”

The children, who had only eaten gruel for days, salivated at his lie and cheered.

Nia, paralyzed with fear, watching the situation, eventually collapsed.

She seemed to have fainted from shock.

“Why did she become so weak? This is why I hate young children. Tsk. Mia. Do you know who her parents are, I suppose…”

Bang!

Suddenly, the sound of a cannon echoed, and the man and children looked around.
하늘엔 붉은 연기가 실오라기 같이 피어오르고, 그 좁은 골목에서 누군가 한 명씩 걸어 나오기 시작했다.

“What! You guys? Ahh!”

The man dropped Nia, who had fainted, from his hand with a fierce momentum, and a sharp sword flew by, cutting off his breath in an instant.

Thunk.

As his large body rolled on the floor without making a sound,

“I’m the uncle!”

“I’m the aunt!”

“I’m…….”

Each woman with skyblue hair, red hair struck a pose and answered, but the whitehaired boy was hesitating, perhaps torn inside.

“Ah, His. You broke the mood. If we find it safe within 5 minutes, let’s call it even, as we bet. He’s already dead.”

“Hey! You flew too fast! I was going to kill him! And His, acknowledge our family’s position now!”

Arguing, they lifted the fallen Nia, glaring at His together.

Since their profession often involved rescuing someone, they seemed to have experienced this situation a lot.

However, His, who had been forced to rescue for the first time, felt humiliated for the first time in his life.

“……I can’t acknowledge!”

The boy seemed to find it hard to accept his sister even though he acknowledged his mother.