Chapter 59 - Fay Morgan & Helping the Orphans
Without even knowing the fatty Mayer Loftso unleashed a kill order on his head with a sum of 35.000.000 belies to be earned for the assassins who would catch him.
This new killing order did some stirs inside the assassin guild based on Kaysang. When Wincester walked down to the basement of the building and placed the killing order and reward, most of the guys whistled, impressed at the amount of money and the killing target details.
* Zagreus. 14 years old, sharp features, dark-green eyes, and middle-length black-hair, he has a tall frame.
Specific identification marks: Deep nasty scars on his back, white skin, annoying face.
Rewards: 35.000.000 belies *
[A/N: You would ask, why doesn't Mayer or his servents know how Vlad looks currently. The explanation is simple, the year Vlad escapes when he is 14 years old, is the year Mayer wanted to have Vlad killed. This explains why he doesn't check to know how Vlad looks like right now and only remembers his appearance from 2 years ago.]
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When the assassins who wore black clothes and next to them being some masks looked at the notice, after whistling at the sum of money, one snorted saying to Wincester.
"Boss, how the heck do we search for this kid in this entire kingdom when we only have so little information? This is simply a waste of time."
"Haha, I know this is a waste of time, but those are the captain's orders. See what you can do if you by chance find this kid. Nevertheless, our target is the old king Vermilion Opheltius. This time don't show any mercy." replied Wincester towards the group of men inside the basement.
Slowly, more chaos was instilled inside Sagletius after Mayer gave out this killing order and in doing so making the assassins interested in Vlad. Meanwhile, the forsaken district was as usually trying its best to survive under the suppression and order of the syndicates.
In all this chaos, Vlad was the one most relaxed under the peaceful environment he choose for his new home. He spent most of his time away from the city while training himself, Robert, and trying to teach Aerius some methods to sneak on people.
In only a night, he felt that he understood more about this world vocabulary far better with Robert's patiently teaching. The second day inside Sagletius passed without any incidents. They only went out to dine at the old chef restaurant, or better call Marcus place.
At least that's how the old man introduced himself after getting to feed Vlad for the following days. The restaurant atmosphere was quite joyful and peaceful, everyone inside being almost cut from the same cloth. People trying their damn best to survive in this environment. The serving boy Ricardo got used to seeing Vlad in his full state and similarly observed the weird creature as it was eating like a human.
In this regard, Vlad commanded less than he did in the first days where he was in a weakened state, to Aerius' disappointment, which was the same for him.
After dining, they went back to their secluded home outside of the district and started yet again another series of training and learning words and characters.
With that new day started the same for Vlad, Robert, and Aerius when they woke up. Following with some simple hygiene acts, they walked close to the peacefully flowing stream and washed themselves and later went toward the district in brand new clothes to make themselves more respectable when walking on the district, not to seem like some beggars.
Surprisingly, the district had a general place where people gathered to sell and buy things, close to a bazaar or marketplace full of oddities.
When the group of three arrived there, they were meet by some syndicate members wearing black clothes with the head of a white lion head that was looking sinister, as if it was deformed. Yet Vlad passed in a calm manner past what could seem the guys controlling this zone.
This time Aerius was hiding under his jet-black hair, not to create another scene like the one when Vlad only arrived in Sagletius.
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Slowly when they entered this bazaar, they were met by all short of stalls that were selling things or services. There were all short of people inside, from young kids helping out their parents with carrying things or doing advertisements for their stall to old people who were standing there quietly waiting for certain customers.
When he spotted this chaotic yet ordered place, Vlad gave a slight smile, grabbing Robert by the shoulder so he doesn't get lost in this flurry of people going in and out. As they walked a bit more inside, they spotted a stall that sold cookies that were barely standing.
Curiosity picked Vlad, and slowly he walked towards this stall, and to his surprise, he saw a little girl around 10-11 years old, with jet-black hair just like his own sitting there with a sad face, looking weak and slim as if not eating in a long time, behind the stall.
The little girl looked up with her violet eyes and saw Vlad's tall body looking with a pained face and sad eyes at her, almost as if someone stabbed him in the heart. Then when he approached the stall of the little girl, he heard the little girl's young voice softly going in his ears.
"Big brother, do you wish to taste one of my cookies? I've cooked them this morning with the best ingredients I could get my hands on." said the malnourished little girl, while giving a gentle smile on her face when looking up at Vlad's white face that was a bit sad.
Looking closely at the girl, he spotted that she had her hands full of wounds and burn blisters, which made his heart even sadder. Turning to look at her face, he smiled gently at her and said with perhaps the most gentle tone he could perform, even taking Robert and Aerius by surprise.
"Tell me little girl how much do you want for a cookie? Come, give me one so I can taste your cooking."
The girl took a cookie from the cookie jar, and with shaking hands, she gave it to Vlad. Whereas Vlad slowly bites into the cookie, and to his surprise, the taste was excellent for even a bland cookie.
"Excellent. I'll buy everything you have. Now tell me how much would that cost me for the cookie I just ate?" said Vlad with a wide smile on his face when looking at the shocked and shaking little girl, as if she thought that he was pulling a joke on her.
"You'll buy everything I have? But that's really too much. Are you sure big brother? One cookie is 30 bellie coins. I have only 25 cookies in this jar, that's really a lot of money." as she said that, she started counting how much money Vlad should give her with her skinny hands before feeling Vlad's hand pat her head gently.
"Worry not little girl, but before I give you the money, would you answer me some questions?"
The little girl raised her head a bit, still visibly afraid, but nodded her head.
"What's your name, little girl? How come you're all by yourself selling cookies? Where are your parents?"
"Big brother, my name is Fay, Fay Morgan. I sell those cookies so I can make money for my food. I am an orphan, I live by myself after my parents died of illness, right here, under this stall." as she said that, she started shedding tears from sadness and loneliness.
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'How can those bastards not even look after those poor orphans. Even the syndicate guys are simply abusing those children for what single penny they would earn. Damn them all, aren't they people too? Poor little girl, maybe I should also take in those orphan kids from the streets and build close to the water stream an orphanage as it was for little Zagreus.'
'In the end, I'm still the prince of this country, it's my duty to help them as their future monarch. That's how it shall be.'
Then as she began crying, Vlad got to her and gave her a hug to make her feel safe, to make her feel that there was someone right there to protect her, before saying gently to her.
"Don't cry little Fay, big brother Vlad here, will help you out. Do you want to come with big brother to a safe place, where you will not have to worry about your safety, food and other problems?"
The girl looked at Vlad, who was lowering himself to hug her and observed a black cat sticking out his eagle head from Vlad's jet-black hair, she later heard that exact cat says to her.
"Little girl, just come you're more than welcome being with us. Vlad here will take care of you without any problem."
Not even scared by the talking cat with the weird head, she asked Vlad, who looked gently at her while whipping her tears.
"Can I really come with you? Will I not be a burden that you'll abandon in the future?" said little Fay with some tears flowing who were caught by Vlad's fingers.
"How can I ever abandon such an adorable little girl? Come take my hand and let's move out from this place." said Vlad, some encouraging words for the little girl to lift her mood.
The girl tightened her skinny tiny fists and grabbed Vlad's big hands, whereas Vlad slowly picked her up in a princess carry before saying to the now smiling Fay. "Good, from now on, you will be reborn. Tell me, little Fay, do you have any other friends that are in the same state as you, orphans living on the streets day by day struggling to survive?"
After thinking for a bit, the little girl in Vlad's arms nodded her head but still asked. "There's 3 guys and one girl that I know without parents or any relatives. Big brother, wouldn't be hard on you to take care of all of us with only yourself? Why are you even doing this, most people here don't even care if we die of starvation. We're just like insects to them. Especially those bad guys wearing blue, black and red clothes. They are the worst."
"I see, did they mistreat you in any way?" then, as he said that, he heard the footsteps of an adult moving towards him before yelling hard at him.
"Hey you bastard what are you doing with my goods? Don't you know the rules of this place?"
Just as that person said that little Fay got scared, shaking as if the worst nightmare she ever saw come back to haunt her. But her shaking was stopped by Vlad, who cradled her a bit, saying to her. "It's fine. You'll be just fine with me."
Like this, Vlad made the little girl hug Vlad even closer, digging her little face in Vlad's chest.
Then, when he managed to calm down the little girl, he looked at Robert and said to him in a dull tone. "Take that jar of cookies and keep it safe."
Ending saying that, he turned towards the angry person who yelled at him to not touch his "goods" in doing so, looking like a predator holding on to his little young.
Seeing the person in question being a syndicate member wearing the black clothes, as the man moved towards him with big steps, he only asked him.
"So my guesses were right, you syndicate guys are really worse than animals. To even treat those poor children who are already alone in this world in such a manner. To leave them starving and even force them to give you the money they earn. It seems this place might really need a cleanup before the scheduled time."
"What are you ranting about you hypocrite, those bugs are just our tip money. What's wrong in exploiting those kids when money is on the line. For all I care. Money is far more important than their lives." yelled the one wearing black clothes to Vlad.
Vlad's expression instantly darkened when he heard the comments of the syndicate member. His eyes immediately began giving off dark mist, where they shined with red and dark colors. Then with a sinister tone, he said to the syndicate member who, from what he heard, used to mistreat little Fay.
"I see, so you think those unfortunate children are bugs that you can exploit whenever you wish. Then to me as the future king of this shattered country, I also don't need subjects like you, instead I'm looking to build my country with hardworking people such as this little girl trying her best to survive."
"[Mind Shatter]"
As Vlad said that, a wave of dark energy rushed towards the syndicate member, who looked angry at Vlad, not even understanding what he said. All of a sudden, he felt the temperature around him suddenly shift, before not long like someone hit him in his head with all his power, sending him unconscious.
After that, the syndicate member heard the laughter of a sinister voice before seeing the most horrific nightmares he could even imagine. On the outside, the man who was collapsed on the ground began spasming hard, as if he was electrocuted.
Vlad's eyes, who shined with dark lights, returned back to normal, yet still looking coldly at the collapsed person, before saying to Robert. "Let's go, we got some more unfortunate kids to get from this shithole."
Robert, still looking at the person spasming on the ground with surprised eyes, turned to look at Vlad, who began walking in another direction. Taking the jar of cookies belonging to little Fay, he then heard a "tut" as if the body of the syndicate member suddenly stopped shaking.
He gave another look to the person, and to his surprise, the guy looked deadly pale, without giving any signs of life.
Inside, the guy who was right with his foot at death's door screamed in pain and madness from the nightmares who shifted so much along with that sinister laughter that he simply wanted to kill himself. His wish was granted by the wails of banshees that accompanied his soul to the underworld.
As the group walked away, some minutes passed before anyone approached the spot where the syndicate member died. The ones to find out the dead body were members of the Behemoth Syndicate who wore red clothes.
It was a group of 2 guys, one of them kicked the dead body a little to check if he still was alive and turned to his colleague, asking him with a confused face.
"How the fuck did this retard got himself killed? There's no sign of any attack on his body."
"To hell if I know. Why do you even care, he's from Gargoyles. Don't stress about it, it doesn't affect us Behemoths. But sure, we should notify the ones from Gargoyles so we don't look suspicious. I don't want another war inside the district."
"Fuck, you're right. I barely managed to get married, I don't want to get my head splattered on the ground. Let's get this dead retard to his mates. As for how or who killed him, better pray we don't meet him."
"That's for sure. Let's get going."
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Vlad wasn't bothered by the aftermaths of the [Mind Shatter], knowing well enough the capabilities of this ability. It only worked on those with wills weaker than his own and looked similar to Conqueror's Haki, but instead of just making people unconscious if they were overwhelmed by haki, [Mind Shatter] which simply placed the one under its effect in a constant state of nightmares and killed anyone giving up on continuing to fight the nightmares. Obviously, the nightmares lasted until the energy of the spell he placed his enemies depleted.
Walking with stable steps on the bazaar floor, he blew some air under little Fay's ear to tickle her, making her look at his face.
"Did you beat the bad guy, big brother? Are you hurt by chance?"
Smiling at her, not even noticeable on his face the change he underwent when he looked at the syndicate member, he shook his head. "Not even a scratch little Fay, that bad guy will never bother you. Now, where should we go to find those friends of yours, so then I can bring you to a better place?"
"Ahhh, yes. Keep moving forward, there should be Tomas with his wooden box for cleaning shoes in a more remote corner of the market."
"I understand. Then let's see how this young friend of yours is doing."
Not long, they arrived in a more remote place, where a little kid with short black hair and dark eyes, also quite malnourished, was cleaning hard the boots of a blue-clothed person. Nothing out of place until Vlad noticed that the man in question hit to the boy under his head while cursing him and spitting on him while saying.
"That's what you're calling cleaning shoes you damned brat. You'll pay me 90% of what money you get by the next week or you'll get killed."
The boy still on the ground, with blood flowing from his lips, looked down on the ground, dejected, only saying.
"Yes sir."
Nodding his head arrogantly, the Leviathan syndicate member only heard Vlad say to him in a sinister tone.
"Scum, that's how you treat people who did you a service? Then you better learn this in your next life."
"[Mind Shatter]."
Like the first person to get hit by [Mind Shatter], the one from Leviathan syndicate dropped on the ground and began convulsing hard.
The little boy, who looked about 11 or 12, similar to Robert's age, looked to Vlad with a shocked face. He later saw the tall, handsome person extend his hand towards him and felt a weird sensation on his mouth. He touched his mouth, and surprisingly there was no blood when he looked at his palm.
Still a bit shocked and skeptical of this tall young man with long black hair, he noticed Fay look at him with a smile on her face. The little boy began even shocked. "It's you Fay, but how are you away from that stall of yours? Aren't you afraid those bastards will come after you?"
While holding Fay in his arms, Vlad smiled at the little guy and only said. "You must be Tomas correct? Do you want to come with me to a safer place, just like little Fay?"
When little Tomas heard that, his face sank in even more shock, and not long, he rushed to Vlad and dropped on his knees to thank Vlad by his legs. "Thank you very much master for giving me this chance, I'll never forget this kindness for the rest of my life."
Vlad raised him by the hand, not wanting anyone of those unfortunate kids living the worst life to ever bow or kneel in front of him. He patted his head and said to him. "Don't call me master, little Tomas. Just call me big brother Vlad or big brother, just like Fay."
"Now let's go there's still 3 people I have to pick from this place."
Tomas followed along, walking by Robert's sides, asking him all sorts of questions about who they were and why they did that, only to be met by Robert shaking his shoulders, not knowing how to answer his question. He only said to Tomas.
"You'll find out once you get out from this cage."
After they walked along the bazaar, a group of 2 black-clothed guys noticed that someone with blue clothes was dropped dead by the wooden box that they remembered was used by a kid called Tomas to clean people's shoes.
"This guy has been dead not for long. Who in the world has a problem with us syndicates? Don't tell me it's the Behemoth guys who are smelling our weakness wanting to take both us and Leviathans out."
"Haha, stop dreaming man. If there's a conflict, one outcome is that we are all killed by the nobles for making a mess with their trade network."
"Just let this dead body be eaten by rats for all I care, let's move out."
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Like this Vlad, group enlarged, and he moved along his next target. A group of brothers, one smaller and one bigger, called Daniel and Matthew Coleman. The older one, who was about 12 years old, looked malnourished, was Daniel, while the younger one, who was about 10 years old, was a bit fuller, being Matthew. Looking at the brothers Vlad could instantly guess that the big brother protected the younger one, giving him more food to stay healthy while he was starving himself.
Vlad shook his head while looking at those kids working their hardest while carrying heavy things just to survive for the next day and also being subjected to the tyranny of the syndicates who asked them for money.
When the two brothers noticed Fay and Tomas, they stopped from their activity and later looked up at Vlad, who 1,80 meters before asking them. "Tomas, Fay what's going with you. What's with this mister around you?"
"He came to save us Daniel, Matthew. Come follow us along, he will get us to a safe place where we don't have to worry about those bad people constantly harassing us." said Fay from Vlad's embrace while looking at the pair of brothers.
The brothers looked a bit as if questioning Vlad, but then they heard his warm, calm voice resounding like the warmth of the sun in their souls.
"What are you fearing about? Come along, you'll see how good this offer of mine is when we arrive at your new home."
Then as Vlad said that, the two brothers looked at each other and asked themselves.
"A new home? What do you think Matthew, is this person trustful?"
"I don't know big brother, but looking at Fay and Tomas, I feel that we should also join them. I hate to see you losing weight with each day passing."
"Fine, we'll join you, but if I feel that this place your talking about is a lie, I will move out."
Vlad chuckled a bit and only said, moving towards his next target. "As you wish little guy. Follow along, we still have to get another person, before I get some clothes for you and myself."
'Hmm, surprisingly there's no idiot to stop me. Good for them, I guess. Now let's see, there's still one little girl called Alicia that is close to a stall that sells clothes.'
Like this, Vlad, after some weird stares given from the people selling their goods on stalls as he walked, followed by four young boys, while in his embrace was a fragile girl.
After 5 minutes of walking in this bazaar, he arrived at the stall of a little girl about 11 to 12 years old that had brown hair. Similar to little Fay, she was selling some bracelets waved using various weeds and flowers. Most of them were of exceptional aesthetic quality, making Vlad check on each of her products.
The girl with brown hair, called Alicia, looked at the acquaintances she made, the kids suffering the same fate as her while being trapped in this place, and then looked at the young face of the person looking curiously at her goods. She thought that the person in front of her was the fabled prince that was talked to by the old ladies in the market. Always being awaited for his return.
She later heard a gentle voice ask her. "Interesting bracelets, it's everything here made by your own hands?"
The little girl nodded her head a bit, saying. "Yes sir, the weeds and flowers come from the outside of the city."
"I see, little Alicia, don't call me sir. It makes me feel very old. Just big brother Vlad is enough. Let me ask you, I know in what situation you are. Similar to those small guys behind me, I want to take you out of this environment and give you a safe and quiet place to live. Do you want to come with me?
Like the rest, the first reaction she had was to look at Vlad with a skeptical face, but this lasted until she saw the rest of her friends nod their heads at her. She quickly picked all the bracelets in a dirty fabric little bag and walked close to Vlad, with shy steps. She looked a bit better compared to little Fay. She was a bit fuller, meaning that the person controlling her income still had some piece of consciousness as to not starve down the girl too much. Yet this wasn't enough to calm down Vlad's anger that was boiling inside of him.
With all the unfortunate orphans from this place picked, he walked a bit more towards a stall selling clothes. It was an old lady with blue eyes and white hair, and a face that experienced the passage of time.
When the old lady looked at Vlad, she shortly after looked with shock at Vlad's face, reminding her perfectly of a person who used to tour around the bazaar at his young age and look in the same dignified manner. The person in front of her was a drop of that same person she remembered. She only said as if to whisper to herself. "No way, wasn't the Crown Prince told to be dead?"
Vlad perfectly heard that but didn't bother himself with the old lady, guessing that she might have met this father of his that he never met, Vermilion Lucius.
Looking at the old lady's shocked face, Vlad said to her. "Granny, can you show me around what clothes you have for little kids such as the ones behind me? And also something for me. Something simple."
"Right away Your Highness. Argh, yes, young man. Here, I have some simple clothes that I made myself for young people such as the ones you have behind you. As for you, I have some shirts and a pair of trousers, maybe they will feel a bit large for you, similarly the white shirts."
Vlad waved his hands, not stressing about such a concept. He looked at the clothes and nodded his head, satisfied while saying. "I'll buy all of them, tell me the price granny."
"Are you sure, young man? That's a lot of money for everything here. Sigh, it seems you're not joking, 25.000 belies for everything here young man."
Nodding his head, Vlad took out two banknotes of 10.000 belies and one banknote for 5.000 belies. After that, he thanked her again for the low price that he paid for 20 pieces of clothing.
Vlad later turned to look at the shocked kids that dropped their faces when hearing the price he paid for their clothes. As shocked they were, Vlad only chuckled at their reactions, not feeling that much affected by the dropping of his budget, in just some days reaching 70.000 bellies.
Nevertheless, clothes were a necessity that Vlad couldn't simply pass. The following days he intended to meet with the head of Behemoth Syndicate Aldenis to sell his gold jewels.
He later turned to the kids and said to them.
" We'll walk for a bit outside so you can wash and change your clothes before getting back to the city to dine.
Not like the kids even had a choice after grabbing the hands of fate, they just nodded their heads and followed with Roberts example.
They walked out of the bazaar while generating some questioning faces from the syndicate members. But when their eyes dropped on Vlad, who was wearing a clean silk shirt, with some simple black trousers adorned with a sword, followed by some kids carrying a bunch of clothes, their initial thought was that he was a slave owner, commanding his slaves to do his bidding.
