The entire auction house was drowned in Cerise’s cries.

She kept on crying and complaining for a long time whilst hugging the beautiful figure of the reaper, on the other hand, the reaper just kept on patting Cerise's head and saying that she is sorry until Cerise's crying finally subsided and she fell asleep in the reaper's arms.

It's great that she found her family, good for her

 

When I looked at the reaper once again I noticed that she was looking in my direction too, well, to be precise, she was looking directly at me

I know that this is the part where I am supposed to describe her beautiful appearance and explain how my heart got enraptured by her otherworldly beauty, but trust me I am no good at exaggerating someone's appearance, and as for getting my heart enraptured by her, that kind of thing only happens to 10-year old kids with their hormones running wild due to puberty, trust me I have experienced this too. That time was probably the most shameful time of my life, just thinking about all the things I did and the way I used to act back then makes me want to jump off from a cliff or something. 

Well, either way, I am not going to fall for any girl just because she happened to be good-looking, the world is not so simple and appearances most of the time could be gravely misleading. 

Coming back to the topic,

If I were to describe the reaper’s beauty in my way, then I would just say, pretty

She had beautiful golden eyes, above shoulder-length dark blue hair that seemed to match perfectly with her jeans, pale skin, and a beautiful face. She had a slim figure but she didn't look thin, as for height, I guess she was around 178 cms tall, not much shorter than I was as I, myself stood around 182 cms tall. She looked to be around the same age as me and she was radiating an aura of smartness around her.

All in all, she was very beautiful and charming, if I had seen her back when I was just a 10-year-old child then I would have probably fallen for her.

 

***

 

GIRL'S POV

 

The boy stood there watching me and Cerise carefully. I can feel it now, he is probably worried about Cerise's safety that's why he's watching the two of us. Looks like he is a good person, I really should thank him for taking care of Cerise.

 

I cast my eyes downwards and looked at Cerise,

She was crying a lot, only god knows how much pain she had to go through after getting branded with a slave mark. The only thing I could do right now is to keep patting her head and assure her that I am always with her.

It took Cerise a while to finally stop crying and then in a moment she fell asleep in my arms as if someone had drugged her, I guess she really is tired

 

I looked in the boy's direction, no I was actually looking at the boy's face.

I still remember the first time our eyes met, at that moment it felt to me as if I had drowned in a dark blue bottomless ocean with no ending point in sight. His deep blue abyss-like eyes were all the proof that I need to confirm it, this guy is the same as me

The boy looked to be around the same age as me, he had a beautiful face but he didn't look like a girl. He had snow-like white hair which reached halfway till his neck, his forehead was hidden behind his white bangs and his white eyebrows and eyelashes gave him a sort of an otherworldly look as if he wasn't a human at all.

Looking at him only one word came to my mind, unreal

The boy was exuding an air of calmness and confidence even after he saw me cut down the two of those guards so mercilessly. Now that I think about it, he did cut off the Host's head like it was nothing so I suppose he wouldn't exactly be afraid of me, not that I wanted him to be.

 

Our eyes met once again as the boy looked in my direction, gave me a slight nod, and then came walking towards me

I didn't move from my position as I was holding Cerise in my arms.

 

When he arrived near me he looked at the crowd of buyers who were buying human slaves just a while ago, his gaze caused many of them to flinch back in fear,

Then he turned his head in my direction and asked me,

"What do you think we should do with all these people?"

What a smooth voice

I inwardly shook my head and was about to tell him my plans for the buyers when suddenly

"I have already informed…"

I was interrupted by a loud noise from outside

And in just a few moments the entire auction hall was surrounded by the city guards of Argus led by their Captain Angelo Maximilian who was a young man in his early twenties.

He flashed me a smile and approached me,

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Arielle, if it weren't for you then we might have had to go through a lot of trouble in order to catch these people"

Is this guy serious?

How could he say all that after arriving here so late, to be honest, if it weren't for me and this boy then most of these people would have been already processed into minced meat or something.

And to top it all he said those lines with such a smug look on his face, I really want to punch him

But I can't, I have to hold back…

"It was no big deal, Sir Maximilian. And I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this much if I hadn't received help from this gentleman. Not only did he neutralized the Auction Host, he also removed the slave marks off of his and the other victims' bodies"

I only said these lines because I thought the boy deserved some genuine appreciation but sigh… my plan backfired as this flirty guy named Angelo was too much of a flirt and he couldn't stand any other man being appreciated in front of his eyes

 

Angelo threw a dismissive gaze at the boy as if he didn't think much about him and then said,

"It is quite a nice achievement, if you want I can offer you the post of a guard at my manor, how about it?"

He said haughtily trying to pressurize him into submission

But the boy, as if he didn't hear him at all just said,

"Hey watch out~" in a relaxed voice as if he was ordering coffee from a café

I looked back at Angelo

He had a terrible expression on his face but before he could say anything he was attacked by someone from behind,

It was one of the men that I had beaten up, he leapt at Angelo and punched him

 

I wanted to go ahead and rescue Angelo but before I could do that the boy with white hair stood before me and made a pose as if he was trying to save me from any harm

I was baffled at first, but then all my doubts were cleared away when the boy suddenly turned his head towards me and shot me a wink

…

I see so that's his plan, hah? What an evil guy he is, but I can't say I dislike it!

 

While this small exchange was happening between the two of us Angelo was being beaten up black and blue by his assailant. His entire face was swollen and covered with bruises and he was moaning and groaning like a beaten-up dog.

It really was a fun sight to see this useless man get pummeled to death by some no-name small fry. There were many times when Angelo looked my way with a hopeful gaze as if he was asking for my help but I couldn't do anything since the white-haired boy would always come between the two of us and stop Angelo from saying anything,

Even Angelo must have realized by now, that the moment he disrespected this guy, he fucked up

 

I was having trouble holding back my laughter so in the end I just covered my face with my palm and tried my best to hide my face from Angelo.

My eyes were full of tears and my jaw and stomach were aching a bit from holding back my laughter, I hope I don't get caught with tears in my eyes otherwise this guy Angelo might think that I was worried about him

 

In the end, Angelo was rescued by a bunch of soldiers.

He was in terrible shape, he was bleeding a lot, and wait… is he crying? No, it can't be, there's no way a guy this old would cry

"*Sniff sniff*"

…

So he really was crying, how pathetic

 

Angelo looked at the boy with a hateful gaze and said in a growling voice,

"What's the meaning of this!? Why didn't you warn me about that villain before!? Are you in cahoots with him!?"

'Aren't you responsible for your own safety?' Is what I wanted to say but in the end I refrained from making any unnecessary remarks

 

"Me? In cahoots with that small fry? If I really was in cahoots with the likes of him then I wouldn't have been branded with a slave mark in the first place, would I? And I did warn you, mister captain, it was you who didn't take my words seriously in the first place"

Well, he was not wrong, he did warn him beforehand, although it was in a much-relaxed voice

 

But Angelo wasn't going to let him go so easily,

"Then tell me, why did you stop Miss Arielle from helping me!?"

He really is shameless. And why the hell are you sulking like some kid!?

"Because she was protecting this little child in her arms," The boy said pointing his finger at Cerise who was sleeping peacefully in my arms

Angelo looked at Cerise with an angry expression but his face relaxed a lot when he saw my face, it was as if all his anger had disappeared into thin air

Creepy

 

The boy continued,

"And with such a weak opponent I didn't think that mister captain would require anyone's assistance, but I guess I was wrong"

The boy said while maintaining a smile on his face

Angelo couldn't say anything else, his face was red with anger and shame and it seemed to me as if he would explode anytime soon

"Well, later mister captain, I will be taking my leave now"

The boy turned back and then put up Cerise on his back and left the auction house leaving me alone with the creepy captain

I also hurriedly excused myself and dashed towards the boy,

I found him standing at the entrance of the auction house, I waved my hand at him and asked him to follow me back

 

***

 

It was nighttime so the two of us decided to have dinner at a restaurant, originally we were supposed to be served our dinners at the auction house but because of all that shady business there we didn't get a chance to eat anything.

The restaurant we were sitting in right now was filled with couples all over, in such a gathering of love birds the three of us stood out like a sore thumb

 

Coming back to the topic,

We were sitting at a 4-person table, me and Cerise on one side and the boy on the opposite side, I looked at him again, he was wearing the same clothes as he had been wearing during the auction it was just that he had taken off his coat and pulled out his tugged shirt

There was an awkward silence between us, none of us were speaking as for Cerise, our only connecting link was fast asleep

I guess I will have to clear this awkward atmosphere myself

I cleared my throat and started talking,

"My name is Arielle Walter, nice to meet you"

The boy looked at me and answered,

"Same here, my name is Alex, Alex Azriel"

Azriel? First time hearing a surname like that, anyway I guess I should thank him now

 

I was about to thank him for his help but before I could Alex interrupted me himself,

"How are you related to this girl?"

He asked in a plain voice,

"Uhm… we are not actually related but she is like a younger sister to me"

I answered truthfully and he made an expression as if he understood the situation,

"I see, then I'll tell you this, Cerise is in a very bad mental state. Earlier today she told me that she had wanted to die…"

What?

I looked at Cerise and then patted her shoulder,

Did she really say that? But why? How bad did those people at the auction house had treated her?

I had so many questions that I wanted to ask him, but for now, I shouldn't interrupt him,

Alex continued,

"Although she did say that she wanted to die, I am sure what she meant by it was that she wanted to escape the fate of becoming a slave, that's all. So you shouldn't worry too much about her now but make sure that you look after her carefully since she might start having the same kind of thought in her head whenever she would find herself in a pinch"

I wanted to disagree with him but I knew that what he said was the truth

So I just bowed my head and thanked him,

In the meantime, our food arrived

 

***

 

We stepped out of the restaurant, Cerise had awoken out of her sleep by now and she was walking while holding my hand.

Alex was also walking alongside the two of us, according to him he wasn't from this city and only came here because he was bored.

He didn't have any place to stay so I offered him to stay at my place but he politely refused saying that he shouldn't stay at the house of a lonely girl but when I told him that I live alongside a few others then he agreed with me,

"Besides that guy Angelo should be trying his best to catch you now, I mean he had a big crush on me, you know"

I said in an overly tired voice

Alex looked at me for a second and then started laughing

 

The two of us joked along the way, Cerise was confused the entire time as she didn't understand any of the things the two of us were talking about and I didn't bother explaining those things to her either

Surprisingly this guy Alex had a pretty good sense of humor and he was really adept at telling jokes too, Joey will probably become friends with him first

 

We kept on walking, taking turns here and there, crossing narrow alleys, and passing by many houses, and after continuing this pattern for around half an hour more the two of us finally reached the place

 

***

 

ALEX'S POV

 

After walking with her for around 30-40 minutes I reached the place where the girl had been staying for some time, it was an abandoned workshop

Yep, an abandoned workshop

Don't tell me… did she get me here to finish me off?

I looked at the girl and she looked back at me with a genuine smile on her face

I couldn't feel any malicious intent from her at all

Does she really live here? At this abandoned workshop?

 

"Is this your home?" I asked her in a somewhat hesitant voice, to be honest I didn't want to come up as rude

The girl looked at me and gave a small laugh,

"No, I have been living here with my friends since Cerise got kidnapped. This place is more like a headquarter for finding Cerise, and now that we have finally found her we will be leaving this place in a few days"

"I see…" That makes sense if she isn't from here

 

I was about to walk inside the workshop when I suddenly felt a deep bloodlust aimed towards me which made me jump back and pull out my sword