Asen,
Man, I am completely exhausted.
Today's shopping...
Argh, it nearly killed me.
Grimori and Kel practically exiled me with the girls.
I am sure they ran off to enjoy themselves while I got stuck on guard duty.
Surya and Nini are still inside the spacecraft on the outskirts.
Ganaraj and the Gana fleet are roaming around randomly, bumping into each other every now and then and calling it the magic of fate.
Yash...
Wait.
Now that I think about it, he's missing too, right?
Where did he run off to this time?
What a pain.
I sighed.
I was carrying all the bags while walking behind Mala and Lila.
What am I?
A servant?
When they asked me to do it, it sounded like a request.
Now it feels more like an order.
Whatever...
Just then, my eyes drifted toward a weapon store.
[Pratik]: Hey, anyone wanna buy some weapons?
I asked.
Mala and Lila turned toward me with surprised expressions.
What did I do now?
[Mala]: That's a rare thing to hear from you.
Is it really that rare?
[Lila]: Picking up some weapons sounds reasonable. We don't know what kind of threat we'll run into next.
[Mala]: What kind of weapon would we even use? We rely on Sorcery most of the time.
[Pratik]: Not everyone has a muscle brain like you.
I was punched into the next lane.
Sorry.
That comment slipped out before I even thought about it.
[Mala]: Say that again and I'll kill you.
A chill ran down my spine.
She wasn't joking.
Lila giggled and calmed her down before the two entered the weapon store.
I really need to be careful.
All the shopping bags had scattered everywhere.
What a pain...
I picked them up.
Just then, my eyes landed on a child.
A small kid wearing torn, dirty clothes.
His eyes looked lifeless even though he wasn't blind.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
Heavy.
I walked toward him.
He tried to hide behind a pole.
He looked around Yash's age.
[Pratik]: Hey kid, did you lose your way? Where are your parents?
He pointed toward the east.
NARRATION:- THAT IS NORTH, DEAR PRATIK.
Thank goodness.
At least he wasn't an orphan.
I sighed and picked him up.
With all the shopping bags in one hand, I placed him on my shoulder.
[Pratik]: Let's go find your parents. Want to see them?
He nodded.
I rushed in the direction he pointed.
NARRATION:- THAT IS STILL NORTH, DEAR PRATIK.
He looked surprised.
We covered the distance in less than a minute.
I was using Trigger 1 Acceleration.
According to him, his parents had left him there, yet they had traveled for more than two days.
Soon, a massive wall came into view.
What is that?
It had to be at least eight hundred meters tall.
That's insane.
Looks like some sort of work facility.
If I walk in through the front gate, they'll probably kill me.
Should I act?
Nope.
I'm terrible at acting.
Last time I tried, I ended up pretending to be Girishika's father.
That disaster was enough.
Looks like it's Infiltration 2.0.
I poured more and more Dark Energy Reserves into the soles of my feet.
Thrust.
I shot into the sky.
The kid looked amazed.
As he should.
Now for teleportation.
Tada.
We landed on top of the wall.
No sonic boom.
No noise.
[Pratik]: It's jumping time.
I jumped.
We fell at an absurd speed.
I remembered this planet having stronger gravity than Earth.
A lot stronger.
We reached the ground surprisingly fast.
When we were only a few inches above the surface, I teleported us near a patch of bushes.
The ground remained untouched.
No crater.
No shockwave.
The boy jumped off my shoulder.
His name was Arjun.
He was starving.
That much was obvious.
He hadn't eaten properly in a long time.
He called over some of his friends.
All of them were hungry.
I opened the shopping bags filled with food and handed everything out.
Their condition...
It was depressing.
Children this young were being forced to work.
At least that's what it looked like.
After they finished eating, I followed Arjun to make sure he reunited with his parents.
Eventually, he spotted a skinny old man.
I expected a tearful reunion.
Instead, the man walked straight toward me.
Maybe he wanted to thank me?
He punched me in the stomach with everything he had.
It didn't hurt much, though.
[Pratik]: What are you doing?!
[Father]: Why did you bring him here?! My wife and I left him behind on purpose!
Many of the nearby people froze.
Their heads hung low with sadness.
[Father]: Isn't it obvious?! Because I wanted my son outside this stinking place! I wanted him to live without the burden of slavery! My wife died while trying to escape with us!
He paused for a moment.
[Father]: Even I was captured and dragged back. But I made sure Arjun wouldn't be caught anytime soon. What have you done?! You brought him back! Back to this hell!
[Arjun]: Mother... died?
The little boy asked with a mortified expression.
His father started crying and slowly nodded.
The man lunged at me and grabbed my neck.
[Father]: Tell me! How are you going to pay for this?!
[Arjun]: It isn't his fault, Father. It was mine. Please leave big brother alone.
The kid spoke with hollow eyes.
The children I had fed earlier rushed back and pushed the old man away, insisting that I was a good person.
A good person?
Me?
What had I done?
Was it the right thing to do?
No matter...
No matter where we go, there is always some dark corner hidden inside a so-called wondrous kingdom.
Slavery...
I despise it.
"Everyone, get back to work! What's going on here?"
Several guards approached us.
"Who is this boy? I've never seen him before."
One of them pointed at me.
[Pratik]: Shut up. I'm trying to think.
"You dare talk to us like that, you da—"
Before he could finish, I slammed his head into the ground.
It's true.
I see this everywhere.
This rotten side of the world.
And I have already made my decision.
No matter what it costs me, I will face it.
Within a fraction of a second, every guard present was crushed.
*
Palace,
Grandor was sipping wine while sitting on her throne.
[Grandor]: The Ganas are wandering around like the idiots they are. The girls are shopping. The boys are gathering information about me. And Yash? The prince is just doing random chores?
[Minister Barak]: That is correct, Your Majesty. This report comes directly from our spies.
[Grandor]: These children seem completely unaware of the danger they're in. What about the other three?
[Minister Barak]: The ones named Surya and Nini are guarding the ship. As for Pratik, he has entered Ruin Society.
Grandor raised an eyebrow in surprise.
[Grandor]: Ruin Society?
A smile appeared on her face.
[Grandor]: Perfect. Send Ratan to deal with him. Beat him and force him into slavery for the time being. We have eyes on the entire team. We can crush them whenever necessary.
[Minister Barak]: As you wish, Your Majesty.
He disappeared.
Grandor licked her lips once again.
[Grandor]: I can't wait to have the prince as my pet. I only hope I don't become impatient.
Hahahaha...
To be continued...
---
EXTRAS:-
CROCUS MEETS HAIDORO
Crocus landed on Planet Gamble once again.
Finally.
After a long time.
The two brothers stood face to face.
Haidoro was furious.
Crocus was calm.
Their predator instincts collided.
The moment they did, every nearby Four-Star trainee collapsed unconscious.
The atmosphere itself seemed to grow heavier.
Crocus now had 41% of his power unsealed.
He was no longer the Crocus who had once been defeated by Pratik.
He had become a force of nature.
The strongest Dragoling.
At this point, his power surpassed even Sorcerer Hunter Marshal Griho.
The Hunter Dragon, Crocus...
was angry.