Several guys, each holding a sharp weapon that could easily slice off any human flesh, surrounded Aya so she wouldn't get any chance to run away.

She was basically trapped in here without any escape route.

The other several assassins that seemed rather confident to have surrounded a small, pitiful girl like Aya kept grinning or staring at their target without showing any signs of being merciful.

Aya, on the other hand, was completely frozen by the number of people that had surrounded her like that. Her breathing pattern was beginning to grow faster, and her vision was beginning to blur from the amount of pressure she was being put under.

“W-why are you doing this to me?”

“You should’ve thought this through twice before you would backstab our allies. If you thought that nothing was going to happen next, then you are a fool.” 

One of the assassins, who had a stern look on his face, responded to the trembling girl.

All of them were beginning to close their distance without leaving the girl or even thinking of getting away. It was basically game over for Aya. Or at least, that's what she thought at the moment.

~Aya, snap out of it. They are just a bunch of thugs who would attack solo adventurers in groups. There’s nothing to be scared of!~

While Aya was slowly losing her own concentration on her surroundings, she snapped back out of her thoughts once a voice in her head spoke to her.

“I c-can’t….” 

Aya’s weak voice softly whispered as she tried to back away from the killers, only to realize that there were also a number of them behind her.

~Yes, you can! You are already stronger than before. I saw, even before we met, how you were able to escape each miss from those monsters. You are a lot stronger than you think. The only thing holding you back are the emotions inside you!~

Aya’s eyes widened for a moment when she heard Hiroki’s first encouraging words. 

This was the first time she had heard her master speak so lively. It was almost as if he were speaking those words from his heart.

~So don't give up yet. Fight! Fight for what you are trying to achieve. If you don't fight, then nothing will save you.~

As the last words echoed in Aya’s mind, her arms had become completely limp from hearing the whole speech from Hiroki in a loop. She knew very well that she needed to become much stronger than before. And what Hiroki was saying was completely true. 

She was held back by fear, which dragged her to this state. A powerful emotion in which many humans have either lost their lives, or have grown strong thanks to it.

“Haha, did she give up?” 

One of the guys smirked as he continued approaching the dejected girl, who had lost all hope. With the same kind of confidence, he approached the girl and grabbed her by her hair.

“To think a brat like you would make this much troub–”

However, his voice didn't manage to finish his sentence before his eyes turned to small dots.

“Jani, what happened? Did you get deceived by her small looks as well, or what?” 

One of the assassins asked as he saw the back of his friend that had completely frozen, while all of the other allies that were on the other side could only be seen with shocked expressions on the one who approached Aya.

But he soon realized why everyone else on the opposite side was looking with surprised or shocked expressions once the confident guy who had grabbed the target by the hair fell motionless to the ground.

“W-wha…”

And the girl, who was afraid only a few moments ago, was now holding a dagger in her hand, painted with the blood of the one who had grabbed her by the hair.

“That bitch tricked us!”

“Kill her!” “Don’t let her get away!”

As soon as everyone saw their ally with its throat sliced on the ground, they all gripped their blades as they rushed towards the girl in anger. This only confirmed even more that Aya was a target that they needed to get revenge on.

On the other hand, Aya, after seeing her arm swiftly move so quickly to slice off the neck of the guy in front of her, only had a blank expression on her face before it turned into a stern one.

She stood still for a moment as all of the other opponents jumped towards her in anger. They all tried nailing her by thrusting their blades into her vital spots. However, as soon as they all got close to the girl, she swiftly moved from her position while dodging all of the sharp weapons directed at her. 

Her body was very fast, to the point where most of the assassins couldn't even understand how she dodged that impossible situation.

“Don't let her get away!” 

One of the guys ordered from afar as he watched how the girl managed to move her body.

After Aya managed to slide between the legs of one of the guys, she quickly managed to balance her body before getting up and thrusting her dagger below the ribcage on the back of the assassin, right where the kidney was located.

“G-gaahhh!!!!” 

The guy who got stabbed in the back cried as he saw his legs go completely numb from the pain he just fell into.

Even though all of these assassins with knives and swords were wearing leather armor, the girl managed to spot the hidden spots where she could thrust her knife easily. 

And that's how two of them were easily taken down in a split second.

The rest of the guys were taken aback by the way this girl had suddenly turned. It was almost as if she had been acting innocent and scared the whole time. But to think she could precisely kill one after another so easily.

Aya continued her skillful movement while dodging any of the swords coming towards her until one of the assassins finally managed to get right behind her. He had his sword up as he was about to slash the girl in half.

Aya turned around and saw, in shock, the sword that was about to cut her down.

“You’ll pay for thi—”

However, his body froze in half before a sword grew out of his stomach. 

“W-what?!” 

The guy who saw the sword slowly continue to grow out of his stomach spit out blood from his mouth in complete shock. When he looked at his back, he quickly realized that the one who had stabbed him in the back was one of his allies. 

“Ghk!... W-why?.....”

But before he could get an answer, he fell on his stomach, as the sword had completely ruined his insides.

Aya cautiously looked at the guy who had betrayed the group. 

However, the same guy who had betrayed the group looked at his own sword before slicing up his own throat without any sort of hesitation. Then, in the same second, a ghostly figure emerged from its corpse before looking at Aya with a blank expression.

“.....”

“You should pay attention to what is going on behind your back as well. You never know when someone might sneak up on you. Remember that you only have one life.” 

Hiroki spoke as he was looking at the girl in front of him.

Aya had a blank expression on her face before she looked down on her own hands, which were filled with the blood of all the humans that wanted to kill her. Even though she killed them, her hands could be seen shaking in realization of what she had done.

“I… I k-killed them….” Her soft yet trembling voice spoke as she was trying to get her adrenaline under control.

After seeing the kind of condition Aya was in, Hiroki thought for a moment before closing his eyes.

“Go clean up. I will deal with things here.” He said to the trembling girl with a soft, yet calming voice.

Aya saw the emotionless Hiroki for a moment before nodding and then heading to a nearby river, where she would clean herself up.

Hiroki, on the other hand, looked at his surroundings and then used <Mind’s force> in order to drag all of the dead bodies into one place. 

After taking all of what could be considered valuable, he then buried all of the bodies without caring about the dead.

‘So despite killing another human… I still can't feel anything…’ 

Hiroki thought to himself while looking at the pitiful dead bodies that were being buried in one big hole without any sort of respect. The ghost’s face remained expressionless as his cold, crimson red eyes kept looking at the corpses.

After finishing her cleanup, Aya took two bags that Hiroki had prepared and left the area in silence.

“How… can you be so calm?” Aya looked at the relaxed ghost on her side.

“If you are still scared about me taking control of your body for a slight moment, then I apologize. At that time, I had to make sure that you were safe. So I didn't really have any other options.” Hiroki explained while looking at the worried girl.

“..n-no, I'm talking about before…. Couldn't we just have run away? Did I really have to kill them?” Aya’s eyes, which fully showed her emotional condition, continued asking.

The fact that Aya took credit for killing some of the assassins, proved to Hiroki that Aya admitted to her act of killing them rather than blaming this on the ghost, who took control of her body for only a split second.

“I understand what you mean…. But there was no option for us there. Even if you managed to run away, do you really think that they would simply forget about you?” 

Aya’s eyes showed sorrow as she accepted the fact that there was no other option for her at that moment. But she still felt guilty at the fact that she had taken the life of another human being.

Hiroki noticed this as well, which is why he decided to calm her down somehow.

“Aya. Look at me.” 

Hiroki called out the gloomy girl.

“Do you really think that those garbage human beings deserved to live? They have probably killed so many other girls like you before, or even worse… raped them. I understand that you are worried about taking the life of another human, but you need to understand that if you hadn't made a decision, then they would’ve continued doing their dirty crimes for as long as they could live. What you did there was justified by the act of preventing evil in this world.”

Aya listened with great care to the ghost on her side, with perplexed feelings inside her. She wasn't sure how to feel… She didn't know how to feel…

“And the fact that you accepted what you did, means that you have gotten stronger. What it means to be strong. So keep your head high and keep walking forward. Because what matters in the end, is your victory.”

Aya’s eyes widened once again at the words that came out of the boy’s mouth. She knew that he was telling her the truth in order to make her feel better. 

But the fact that he was saying them with emotion in them gave her hope.

“....thank you…. I feel better.” Aya softly smiled after embracing the truth that was shoved in front of her.

But was she truly feeling better?

* * *

After entering the town, Aya, and Hiroki, who was inside her body, continued walking towards the guild in order to bring back all of the stuff that they had brought back from the forest.

Even though many people were walking past the girl, what none knew was that there was a ghost inside her. No one would expect that a girl with a small body like hers would in fact have the power of an unexplainable entity that could possess anyone.

Aya continued walking in one direction until she came to a halt right near a group of other humans that seemed to have been lined up. 

Those humans, however, had something different from the rest of the town. And that was the fact that they had chains on their wrists and necks that prevented them from running away.

~Is something wrong?~ 

Hiroki asked telepathically, like usual, at the girl who was staring at the group of slaves that were walking slowly.

“N-no, its nothin–”

“If it isn't Miss Aya. Did you bring back the money you promised?”

Aya tried to respond to Hiroki’s question, only to be interrupted by the voice of a man who walked up in front of her. In front of Aya was a smirking merchant, a fat looking guy with a stylish beard.

“No, I still haven't. But I promise to bring them thi…” 

“Now, now, miss Aya. This isn't what you promised to me.” 

Aya tried giving an excuse, but the merchant looking man didn't seem to be that interested in that.

“I am a man of my word, and I really keep my word unless my clients prove me otherwise. And you, Miss Aya, don't want to be part of the clients that face my bad side, do you?” The fat merchant looked down on the girl, who had a forlorn expression. 

“W-wait, I already have some gold right here!” 

Aya then pulled from her back a bag with the loot that Hiroki had gathered from the assassins. 

The bag was indeed full of gold coins, which surprised the fat merchant, who had widened his eyes.

“This may not be enough, but they can buy me some more time! Right?!” Aya stated as she attempted to hand over the bag of gold coins to the merchant.

“That is indeed kind of you, Miss Aya. This will buy you some time. But you should know that I'm not a patient person.” The fat merchant slowly moved his arm to get the bag of coins with a slight smirk on his face. 

However, the moment he tried holding the bag of coins in his hand, he quickly realized that Aya wasn't letting go of the bag.

“....what do you think you’re doing?” 

The fat man asked with a perplexed look on his face, realizing that she had grabbed the bag tightly.

“I… no, that's not…” 

Aya looked at her own hand, which wasn't flinching, before her entire expression changed as if it weren't hers anymore. 

But before she could understand the reason behind such changes, Aya’s expression and tone immediately changed while looking up at the fat man.

“You’ll be getting your full payment tomorrow at the same time as today. In the meantime, I will be having this in case you try and think of something funny.”

A vein popped on the merchant’s head as he was looking at the girl in front of him, who had a confident look on her face. However, the fat man returned to his casual expression before showing his usual smile.

“...that's quite the confident statement you just made there.” 

“I’ve found a quest that will pay handsomely to me as an adventurer. Which is why I will keep these coins as further investments before fully returning to you what you own. If I don't have the agreed amount by tomorrow, then you may turn me into a slave as well.”

The fat man looked down on the girl with a stern look.

“....Very well, I will be waiting for you tomorrow right here, at the same time.”

And as the merchant turned his back, he gave a glare at Aya. 

“However, if you don't have the money by that time, you’ll know what will happen.”

Once the merchant was gone, Aya’s legs finally gave out as she was watching the fat man walk away.

“H-Hiroki, why did you do that?” Aya asked with a forlorn expression on her face.

She knew that Hiroki was helping her by making her stronger, but to actually make a bold deal like that? 

Aya wasn't sure what to do with her situation anymore. It made things much more difficult for her…

~I'm sorry for taking control of your body so suddenly like that, but I had to stop you from giving him all of our money.~ Hiroki told Aya with a rather judging tone in his voice.

“B-but…”

~Aya. I don't know what your exact situation is, but I can reassure you that whatever he has promised you, he is lying. I’ve known people like him before, and I can say for sure that I know what people who will try to use you look like.~

But despite the facts and confidence that Hiroki had at the moment, Aya was still desperate about her situation, which had gotten much harder than before. And Hiroki was well aware of what his sudden act had done to the situation, despite not knowing Aya’s full backstory.

“...What will I do now…. There’s no way I can get three thousand gold coins in a day…” 

Aya said to herself, her body almost going limp from the amount of stress she was experiencing.

~I didn't want to pry into your personal life, but can you tell me what your relationship with that merchant was? Do you owe him some kind of debt?~ 

There were moments of silence before Aya looked down at her own hands, which were full of bruises from constantly using her dagger or picking herbs.

“....no…. I have to pay him in order to get back my parents….”

Hiroki went silent for a second when Aya gave him a brief explanation of what was going on. He saw how there were other humans chained up like some sort of criminal. He was aware that those humans were being treated like nothing else but slaves.

‘I see, so she was being tricked after all…. That merchant must know that Aya is unable to pay that kind of price. And from what I've seen until now, his true objective with Aya was…….’ 

Hiroki concluded in his own head before returning his attention back to Aya.

"What am I going to do…? Even if I work for ten or twenty quests without rest, I won't be able to earn that much money." Aya’s head leaned forward with eyes that only had sorrow and defeat.

~That is only if you were on your own.~ Hiroki confidently responded.

“Huh?” Aya raised her head before realizing what Hiroki was trying to say to her.

~Didn't I say that I would be helping you? So cheer up and don't give up because we haven't lost yet.~ 

Hiroki continued speaking to the teared up girl on her head. 

~I didn't say those things to that fat dandy just to make it harder for you. I did it to help you out. With my help, you will be able to become stronger — no, you will be the strongest.~

Aya sniffed one time while trying to wipe the tears that were forming on her eyes. 

Even though he had promised to help her grow stronger, she didn't expect him to help her even with her personal problems. She felt like she was being way too selfish, even though she thought about asking for help from Hiroki. 

But she couldn't do it... She thought that if she asked for too much from Hiroki, he would break the promise that they made to each other. That's why she was relieved to hear him tell her that he was going to help her through everything. 

“Siff… hehe~ You are very weird.” Aya softly giggled as she tried to regain her composure. “Calling him a fat dandy.”

Once Aya was back on her feet, she continued heading towards the guild, where she would deliver all of the materials that were requested on the quests that weren't public to the guild yet. 

She was immediately met with the same receptionist on the main desk who has been trying to help her with the quests. However, the moment Aya pulled out two bags with Wabbit horns and several herbs, the receptionist gave a surprised expression.

“Aya…. You gathered all of this?” 

The receptionist asked as she and a colleague by her side were appraising the stuff that Aya had given them.

“Um, Y-yes, I did.” Aya struggled to speak for a moment before giving a proper response.

“This is…. very unexpected.” The receptionist expressed her thoughts while looking carefully around the stuff that Aya had gathered.

“Is something wrong?” Aya worriedly asked the moment she saw the unsettled expressions on the staff’s faces.

“No….. it's completely the opposite. You brought not only the required materials…. But you also have brought some rare herbs that could fetch a high price..." The receptionist explained with the same kind of surprised expression.

Aya’s eyes were brightened with color the moment she heard those words. Hope and courage were beginning to grow back inside her with the achievements that she had accomplished.

With the confirmation that the receptionist had given her, Aya was sure that she was beginning to get some of her goals achieved. 

It was only a matter of time before she would be able to pay the slave merchant the money she needed.

After the staff of the guild were done getting a proper valuation of all the things that Aya had brought in here, the same receptionist girl came.

“Here you go, Aya.” She said as she handed over a new card to the excited girl. “Because you managed to complete one E and one D-ranked quest, the guild has determined that you are able to be ranked to E rank.”

Once Aya grabbed the new card, her eyes sparkled. 

“And this will be your reward for all the materials you’ve brought. Three gold coins, nine silver coins, and twenty copper coins.” 

Even though they weren't enough to fully pay back the merchant, Aya was happy that she was able to earn this much money on her own.

She grabbed the bag of coins and tightly hugged it to her chest after being able to earn that much on her own. Even though a bit of sadness could be seen in her eyes, she was still happy.

“Thank you very much.” 

“This was all thanks to your hard work, Aya. So there’s nothing for you to thank me for.”

The receptionist warmly smiled at Aya, who was bowing down at her while clenching her own bag of money.

“Even so, I still want to thank you for helping me.” Aya continued bowing down.

Both of the two girls who were in front of Aya couldn't say anything else other than warmly smile at the determination and kindness that this girl held. 

Not many adventurers showed gratitude towards the staff of this guild, which is why both of the girls were also very glad to have someone like Aya in this guild.

~You seem close to her… ~ 

Aya suddenly flinched for a moment before wryly smiling at the two girls in front of her. 

Since she didn't want to stand out because of the voice in her head, she turned around in order to get out of the guild. 

But right before she could walk out of the building, she bumped into someone who seemed to be much bigger than her. While he had a sharp chin, his face was filled with many scratches and past injuries from the battles that he had been through.

“Agh! I am very sorry!” Aya apologized as she bowed down once again.

“Watch where you’re going, yo—” 

However, the person who bumped into her didn't seem to be that understanding, and yelled at Aya without accepting that he might be at fault. But the moment he caught a glimpse of Aya, he fell silent.

“It was my fault, you can go.” 

Then, without saying anything else, he apologized and walked away. Aya, also with a rather surprised look, saw how his attitude suddenly changed.

~hm….~ 

“Is something wrong, Hiroki?” Aya whispered to herself while hearing the voice in her head.

~No, it's nothing.~ 

Since a lot of stuff had happened today, Aya decided that it would be safe to head back to the abandoned house to rethink all of the plans with Hiroki and figure out a way to raise three thousand gold coins for the slave merchant. 

She knew that if it was Hiroki, he might be able to help her out somehow. After all, he was able to rank her up and protect her from all who wanted her dead.

But while she was walking back home, she noticed that on the small street where she was walking, the whole place had become very quiet. 

~Aya. Stay calm, and don't reply to me.~ Hiroki suddenly spoke to her. 

Aya’s eyes widened for a second before she continued to keep walking, as Hiroki had suggested to her.

~We are being followed.~

However, what Hirok said next almost made Aya freeze in place. But she decided to continue walking despite the fact that she didn't know what she was supposed to do.

Should she run away? Yell for help? Or maybe use force to fight off the person who is following her?

However, what she didn't expect was a shadow appearing behind her back, which immediately closed its distance from her.

“Eh!?” 

Aya gasped as she turned around to see who had been following her. But right before she could see who it was, she was knocked out and carried into the stalker’s arms.

“You sure were a pain in the ass…. Aya.” 

The guy who was carrying Aya stated as he let out a troubled sigh.

* * *

“........Did you make sure no one was watching?” 

“She was walking through an empty street. So no worries. No one saw. I was actually surprised to see how she was walking onto that dangerous side of the street. She was basically asking to get caught.”

Aya was still unconscious. But due to the voices that were talking in the room, she was beginning to regain her senses. Slowly opening her eyes, Aya found herself in an unfamiliar room where two people seemed to be talking with one another. 

The room was quite spacious and beautifully designed, as if someone of high importance were living in it. However, upon closer look, it was clear that this was an office where someone of high rank would work.

And inside this room stood two individuals. One of them was a fat-looking man whose belly almost stuck out, and in front of him was a man who had many scars all over his body.

Realizing where Aya was, her eyes immediately widened in shock before she tried standing up.

“H-huh?” 

However, when she tried standing up, she quickly realized that her hands and legs were chained together.

“Hm? She seems to have woken up. What are you planning on doing now?” 

The man with a scar on his left eye and many other scars on his body inquired once he noticed that the girl had woken up.

“W-why am I here?!” Aya asked in fear and distress.

The fat merchant also turned to the chained girl on the ground as his eyes looked down on her.

“You caused me a lot of trouble….. little girl.” The merchant said, “You have no idea how much trouble I went through just to finally be able to catch you.”

Many thoughts were going through Aya’s head. 

Why was the slave merchant going to this extent to capture her? Was it because of the rude behavior that she showed him today? Or the fact that she had not paid him yet?