As usual for the daytime, it filled the main road of the port district with carriages and people. They were transporting goods from the city and to the city. West coast city and East coast city were the two main transportation hubs that connected the eastern part and the western part of the land through the sea.

If someone wanted to avoid these cities of the Crimson Empire, they had to cross the High pass mountain range. That was something that even powerful magicians wouldn’t even think of doing. It said that no one had ever come out from there.

Another thing was, that if the people in the Southern islands needed to access the western part of the continent, they had to land in this port city. This made the port of the West Coast one of the most prosperous and busiest ports on the continent.  

Amy felt worried. She had never been out of the house in the daytime. Especially out of their alley. In the morning she and brother Adam would go to the Central district old school gate for some food, and then Adam always brought her back to their home before going to work.

After the day her father never came back, brother Adam kept her safe, maybe even safer than her father. She couldn’t remember him much anymore.

Amy was worried about all the people looking at them. She held Adam’s hand tighter; she wanted to ask him to take her up, but Amy knew they hurt him from last night. Although she was sad, she couldn’t cry or her brother would be sad too.

… 

Adam, on the other hand, was left with very few options. Even without the death threat from the thing called system, he and Amy would not live through the next few nights in the port district. Especially since he hurt one of the Butcher’s men.

There was no way he could escape to another area of the city. The central district was where the palace and old school are located, where most of the citizens were officials of the Empire. For refugees like them, it was a forbidden place to live. Even though no law was limiting them from going there, without a good reason going in will be a free trip to dungeons.  

The market district was not restricted, but people were not allowed to stay on the streets there at night. That was for a good reason. Many refugees couldn’t keep their hands off the free goods at night.

Magician's tower and the surrounding area was the magicians’ district, and similar to the central district, it was also populated by magicians and nobles.

The next place was the reserved area for military officials with high security, and no refugee was allowed there, too.

Finally, the old church and its buildings. This place was very mysterious, and no one lived there. Even though it was close to the palace and also larger than the palace, it was guarded by knights of the Empire and no one was allowed to go in. It says it was done by a previous Emperor, centuries ago, and even today that place was forbidden to humans.

If Adam wanted to escape, his only option was to leave the city, at least until things calmed down. However, he couldn’t take Amy and protect her. His only option was to ask for help from the only people who didn’t betray him for the past five years. Mr and Mrs Han. Couple that owns a bakery in the port district.

Ignoring the hostile and cautious gazes of the people, he slowly guided Amy to the front of the store.

“Let’s wait here, okay?” 

He found a corner on the stone pavement and waited patiently. He was not a beggar, and if he was in any better condition, he would never sit here like that.

“Okay.” 

Even though Amy was worried, she still chose to sit beside him. And Adam shielded her from the scorching sun using his body.

… 

Time slowly passed, and many people were entering and exiting the shop. Adam didn’t think in midday this place would be this crowded. He could hear Amy’s stomach rumbling. Even though she didn’t say a word, Adam felt bad for the little girl.

At her age, Adam had enough food for him with his mother’s care.

“Kid, what are you doing here?” 

A familiar yet disappointed voice suddenly broke him from his trance. And he felt Amy clinging to him tightly.

… 

Josh Han came back from his duty in the morning to have lunch in his shop. He first saw two beggars sitting near their bakery. He had nothing against the poor and he was thinking about giving some food to them. Then he identified the youth, Adam. What disappointed him was knowing Adam was the beggar. Because he knew this kid since he came to this city, and never once did he see him begging.

Then he noticed the bloodstain on his cape. 

‘Not good.’ 

He thought

“What happened?” 

This time his voice was much more concerned.

“Mr Han.” 

Adam gave a painful smile. 

“You’re not on duty?” 

Adam looked carefully at the other guards with Han

The other party realised he might not want to discuss it here, but he had never seen Adam with someone else. 

“I came for Lunch, who is this?”

 He looked at the little body hidden in the cape.

Josh felt the clothes on this child were much better than what Adam was wearing.

“She is my sister.” 

Adam answered in a low voice. 

It alarmed all the guards, including Josh. Because they knew how hard it was to live among refugees.

“Come,” 

Josh immediately helped Adam to get up.

However, the little girl hid behind him timidly. 

“Don’t be afraid, I am your brother’s friend.”

He tried to smile at the girl, but the latter covered herself more. 

‘Do I look scary?’ He thought.

“Come.” 

Josh guided them through the narrow path on the side of the shop.

This led to their garden and house. 

“Come in.” 

He invited them to his home.

“We will wait here, Mr Han.”

Adam knew better than to enter with his condition. 

One of the guards nodded in approval. 

“We will also wait here,” 

He said as he sat in a corner of the garden.

Josh looked at his friends that were following them and shook his head. 

“Wait here, then.” 

He entered the bakery through the back door to inform his wife and bring them some food.

… 

“What happened?” one of the guards looked at Adam’s bloodstained clothes.

 He had nothing to hide.

“Last night, Butcher’s men came.” 

He knew how city guards would react to this name. 

As he expected, every guard’s face turned ugly as they heard the name of the leach, prying on the refugee’s blood and sweat.

“Good work kid.” 

Une of the guards tapped his shoulder in approval, but they all knew it would not be easy for this young man to live in this part of the city anymore. 

Mainly because no one complains against Butcher, and for the city guards now the amount of workload was too much to handle. Especially since the number of people disappearing in the city. If citizens started to disappear along the way, they might need to call in the military from the borders as support.

They all got silenced. After that, each person had their thoughts. Adam was worried about his and Amy’s future, and Amy was curious about all the people. The few city guards were ashamed of themselves to talk, because they were unable to help this kid.

A few minutes later, the owner couple of the place arrived with a few plates of food. Adam immediately felt that he must be interrupting their businesses. He got up to greet her. 

“Mrs Han.”

“Adam.” 

She nodded with a gentle smile. 

“So, this is your sister.” 

She smiled at Amy who was hiding behind Adam and gave a plate to her. Amy had an obvious impulse to take it, but still, she looked at Adam for help. Latter gave a nod. He knew he couldn’t reject their goodwill right now.

Amy happily took the plate and looked at Lilly Han with timid eyes. 

“Thank you.” 

She muttered under her breath, bringing a smile to everyone. 

As she took off her hood, everyone’s eyes widened in amazement. She looked much better compared to her brother and had a beautiful complexion.

‘She looked well-fed.’

Lilly felt bad for Adam, he was young and had a weak body.

She knew he barely made enough money to feed himself, but by the look of it, he must have been feeding the little girl with all his money.

“What happened Adam?” 

Once everyone got their food, Josh finally broke the silence

“Butcher.” 

One of the guards answered the question before Adam speak

“Fuck.” 

Josh couldn’t help but curse

“Josh, there is a child here.” 

Lilly immediately made her husband shut his mouth. 

Amy, however, was oblivious to these as she was fully focused on her food.

“What are you planning to do, Adam?” 

Josh wanted to help him, but the Butcher was too deeply hidden to be concerned as a threat to deal with. Because no one knew the exact number of people under Butcher and who they were.

Josh was also suspecting that someone was supporting him underneath.

… 

“I have to go out of the city for a while, Mr Han.”

 Adam brought the topic into the discussion.

“Are you mad, Adam? How can you take your sister out of the city? it is very dangerous.” 

Lilly got mad at the stubborn decision of the boy.

“It is not much different for us living on the street, Mrs Han, that’s why I came looking for you.”

Lilly lost her words to this argument. 

Recently, more than several refugees went missing, and people like Butcher were adding fuel to the fire that burned these innocents.

Josh was more rational about his choice. 

“What can we do for you, Adam?” 

He respected the courage of this young boy.

Adam took out all the money he had and the silver amulet of his mother and offered it to Lilly.

“Mrs Han, please take care of Amy until I come back.” 

He lowered his head and asked. He never lowered his head to anyone until today, but now he had to beg for the safety of Amy.  

“Brother.” 

Amy immediately noticed the words of Adam. He put one arm around her and dragged her into his embrace.

“Kid, where did you get this?” 

Josh was more interested in the weird-looking silver amulet

“It’s my mother’s, Mr Han.” 

Adam had nothing to hide

“Take good care of it.” 

Josh nodded as he remembered this boy had no one in this world.

“But Mr Han, please….”

 Adam felt his last option slipping out of his hand. 

How could he take care of Amy without strength?

“We will take her in, pay us back after you come back to the city.” 

Josh refused his money, but his words brought great relief to Adam.

“Amy,” 

He slowly patted her head gently. 

“Stay with Mrs Han until brother comes back, okay?”

“No, I don’t want to.” 

Amy started to cry.

“Father is gone now, brother is going too, I am going with you.” 

She remembered the day her father didn’t return.

“Amy, please listen to me. I promise to come back.” 

Adam had to persuade the girl, and he was going to come back as soon as possible.

Still, he didn’t manage to persuade the little girl. This time Lilly finally intervened.

“Amy, you love your brother, right?” 

She asked, kneeling near the crying girl.

“Uh-huh.” 

Amy answered through tears

“Your brother needs to go if he wants to be okay.” 

Lilly tried to explain the situation better than possible to the little girl.

And after a few minutes, she finally stopped crying and looked up at Adam.

“You promise to come back?”

She asked with teary eyes.

“I promise to be back before your birthday.” 

Adam smiled at her.

… 

“Kid, when are you going to leave?” 

Josh asked him after Amy started eating again. This time Lilly sat by her.

“Today, Mr Han, I can’t stay until nightfall.” 

He answered while gobbling down the food on his plate, thinking to leave as soon as he was done.

“Wait here.” 

Josh went into the house for a few minutes and came back with a few pieces of clothes in a leaf bag. 

“Here, take them with you, and don’t argue, you are going to need them.” 

He persistently pushed it to Adam’s hand who finally finished his meal.

Adam didn’t refuse his kindness as he knew he was up for a difficult task. And to his luck, they didn’t ask where he was going.

… 

After a long goodbye, finally, Adam left the Han family home. 

Looking at his disappearing back, one of the city guards came with Josh and looked at Amy, who was still in tears.

“Did you make the right choice, Josh?” 

He was wondering about the decision to take Amy into their home.

“I Knew the kid since he came to West Coast city, and never once, did he rob or beg. I believe in him.” 

He said with emotions. 

“And we don’t have any children either.” 

He looked at Amy and Lily with a smile.