Varian returned to the Inn. The auction would be held in three days and he could cash out for his purchases. He already got some good money as an advanced. But to purchase the main ingredients, he’d have to wait until the bulk amount hits. Until then, he decided to be low key and not cause any problems.

But—

‘Where the hell is she going?’

The daughter of the Inn Owner, the little girl Marin sneaked away from her home at night and was walking in the dark away from the safer areas.

The little girl looked left and right before entering a shabby house that seems to be on the verge of collapse.

Varian’s senses extended out and he peered inside.

The interior was empty and dilapidated. But that’s only a facade. There’s a very sleek laboratory of sorts with glass vials, metal tubes, bubbling chemicals, and others.

Marin was strapped to a slant metal bed.

A hunched old man in a white coat and with unkempt hair was mixing some potions while he cursed in a hoarse voice.

“You’re late, little bitch.”

“I-I’m sorry, I was studying and lost track of time.”

“Studying? For what? People here are all dogs anyway.” With a sneer, he mixed the drug powder into the potion and injected it into Marin’s frail hand.

The veins on her hand swelled and turned blue.

“Aghhhh!” A blood-curling scream filled the basement.

The little girl thrashed against the bed as her body convulsed in pain she couldn’t ever bear, her wrists and ankles bled as she struggled against the metallic straps in vain.

After thirty full minutes of hell, Marin collapsed onto the ground, coughing blood and breathing weakly.

The swelling on her wrist subsided and it returned to normal except that there was one more tiny incision blade mark on her hand.

For others, it’s almost invisible. But for Varian, it’s as striking as an incision mark. And there were dozens of such marks on her tiny arms.

The old man immersed himself in the recordings showing up on the holographic screens, utterly disinterested in the little girl who seemed like she could die anytime soon.

After thirty minutes of struggle, Marin was finally able to get back onto her feet. With shaky steps, she reached the old man and stretched her hand.

The old man threw a crystalline coin at her and waved her away.

“W-With this, I can finally go to school.” Marin’s face which was smeared with dried-up tears bloomed into a smile.

“It’s only enough for one year. Then what? You need to keep coming if you want to continue. You little bitch can’t do rough work like fighting. This is the only way you can earn money.” The old man coughed heavily but didn’t stop his derisive talk.

Marin’s shoulders trembled as the pain still lingered on. But she gritted her teeth and nodded before sneaking out and returning to her home.

Varian slumped into a chair in his room and looked at the ceiling with a blank gaze. “What the fuck was that?”

He had seen a lot of suffering. More suffering than this. More death, injuries, and pain. But seeing a little girl selling herself to experiments just to afford school…

‘If I intervene, then I’ll stand out and they’ll know. So, I should stay sile—but what if they find out? What will happen? I’ll be at risk…unless I’m not attacked by a rank 4, I think I can escape.’

But should he even do this? There was endless suffering in just this one Duchy. What about other Duchies? The kingdom? The empire? The entire alliance itself?

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If it’s something as simple and clear-cut as killing ten unrelated people for the survival of a million humans, he’d have no guilt. Because in that instance, he’s acting as the Emperor of a race, not as an individual.

But now, he’s Varian, not the Emperor. What he did got nothing to do with his race.

Varian struggled to get any sleep that night.

“Marin! Don’t sleep anymore! Help me out in cleaning up!”ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

“Yes, Mother!”

Seeing the little girl work so diligently with a cute smile on her face as if she didn’t suffer so much just a few hours ago, Varian felt shaken.

This place was arguably safer and better off than most in this part of Ubiq. Yet, they were living such a life.

The entrance to the inn slammed open and Deigo, the brawny lizarn staggered in with his three gangster buddies. They were bruised and battered, bleeding lightly here and there.

Noticing Varian, they froze for a moment and turned their gazes away. “Tsk.”

Garcia’s face paled as she looked at her son’s state. Stretching her hand towards his injury, she asked softly. “Why are you doing this? Just study and get out of this city. Let me trea—”

Deigo slapped her hand away and ran into an empty room.”Just bring us something to eat!”

Garcia greeted him with an awkward smile and rushed into the kitchen to cook something.

“Hello, Mister! Do you like it here?” Marin hopped to him like a rabbit and asked with a smile.

Looking at her young face that couldn’t be older than ten, Varian felt an unknown anger at this cursed place.

“M-Mister?” Marin’s tale drooped, thinking that he hated this little inn.

Varian patted her head lightly and smiled. “I really like it because there’s a cute little girl like yo—”

“Mister! I’m sorry, Marin is still young! Please!” Garcia pulled Marin behind her and looked at him in fear. “S-She’s only eight. Please let her go. In her place, I-I can…”

Tears began to drop from her eyes and Marin also began to cry looking at her mother.

Deigo and his group overheard the conversation and stood between Varian and the two. “You can beat us, but I’ll not let you lay a finger on her until I breathe!”

Varian opened his mouth in shock.

How screwed up was this place that such harmless praise was morphed into such a distorted declaration?

Varian only felt pity for these people. What have they lived through? He’d never know.

But he didn’t want to face those scared eyes. Especially not from the little girl who was trying her best to study.

“I’m not from here,” Varian said and the tense atmosphere suddenly shifted into a confused one. “I’m not a good person, but I’m not a deranged beast.”

Garcia hugged Marin in a protective embrace and still glanced at him with vigilance.

But Marin escaped from her mother’s arms and ran to him under her shocked exclamation.

“Mister Guest, I believe you.” The little girl nodded seriously.

“Why?”

“Your eyes are very…beautiful. They aren’t gloomy like everyone else. You’ll definitely not be a bad person!”

Varian opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out.

He was praised for his appearance. But no one called his eyes beautiful. And Marin didn’t mean beautiful in the sense of visually pleasing.  The little girl was trying to say something else. 

Everyone here, including Garcia, Marin, and Deigo…everyone’s eyes were soulless as if they were just walking zombies.

Compared to them, Varian’s eyes were bright like the suns. 

No, it’s not that they didn’t have souls. They didn’t have…hope.

A man without hope was no better than a lifeless zombie.

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