Smelling a potential customer, the cloth merchant was quick to point out the virtues of his products. "The lady has a very good eye. This fabric is really good for the cold season, it is light but made with good wool from mutated sheep, so it will absorb the cold and generate heat."
"How much for a meter of fabric?"
"Eighty pieces of copper! A bargain compared to other stalls!"
Eighty pieces of copper? Why don't you steal from me better! Sascha raised her eyebrows. The witch was right, life in Crimson was damn expensive. Sascha rubbed the green cloth, a piteous expression clouding her face with charming features. It was the kind of expression that touched people's hearts.
At this kind of expression, the merchant sighed helplessly. "How about this? Since the lady is so beautiful, I will give her a discount of ten coins. "
"Seriously?"
"Of course! Of course, she should give preference to my position in the future." The merchant might have been moved, but he was still a businessman. So he didn't hesitate to secure a regular for his business.
Sascha happily nodded, even if it was only ten coins it was ten coins that she would not have to pay.
"It's a deal! Then give me..." A sudden scandal erupted a couple of posts past her, interrupting her in the process.
Drawn by her shock, Sascha raised her head, a look of surprise shining in her beautiful emerald eyes.
She took a quick look at the scene playing before her eyes and with one glance she understood everything. A child, perhaps a teenager, was rushing into a race to the death as he fled from his pursuer.
The surrounding people parted, a path quickly cleared, facilitating the little bandit's escape. Seeing a slum urchin flee after stealing a loaf of bread from some of the many market stalls was not strange, nor was it something that caused such a commotion, what was significant was another fact.
"Catch him. Catch the Dirty blood." Seeing that his prey escaped the guy, he looking rude and rude she rushed to scream. "
Dirty blood? Sascha blinked slightly, it was the first time she had heard such a term. The boy got close enough, so Sascha could get a closer look at him. This pair of green eyes narrowed as she took a deeper look at the situation. At that moment Sascha's breath exploded with go.
Cat ears crowned her shaggy dark hair, while a pair of slanted eyes and vertical pupils stared out at the world from a terrifying face. Instantly, she understood the term used. Sascha held her belly still flat before making a decision. As the boy passed her, Sascha reached out a hand and dragged the boy after her.
Caught! He couldn't be caught and taken to that place again! The half-cat boy turned to lash out violently at the new enemy, but then the scent of a powerful monster tickled her sharp nose, and with goosebumps, she stopped in time. Frozen she watched the woman's calm smile. That serene smile promised peace and security and unconsciously, the bones of the boy's body turned to jelly.
"Easy." Even the woman's voice was beautiful. He simply nodded and took refuge inside the cloak.
"Hand it over." A man's gasping voice erupted like a whip. The boy shuddered and from the protection of his cloak peered outside.
Sascha arched an eyebrow before asking. "Did this child steal anything?"
People quickly gathered around attracted by the promise of a good show.
"Hand over the half-breed, woman. If you know what's good for you." The man snapped at him. The tone of his voice reminded Sascha of the thugs he had ever encountered. In such a large city it was no surprise that this type of person proliferated.
Sascha narrowed her eyes. There was danger in that look. If someone from the village had seen Sascha's expression at that moment they would surely not recognize the woman before them.
"No? So I guess he killed someone, right?" She continued with a calm and charming smile twisting her red lips.
"I don't need an excuse to deal with the spawn of an animal and a whore of beasts." Sascha's eyelids twitched.
Spawn of an animal? A whore of beasts? Is this how society viewed mestizo children? She knew the things they did to humans that were related to monsters or demons, yet she never expected the treatment to extend to children, completely innocent creatures free from any sin.
She was very naive! Sascha scoffed at herself. Her heart burned with icy fury.
The man took an impatient step closer to her, it was evident that he intended to use her size to intimidate her. "I said give me the half-breed."
Sascha didn't change her expression, but her eyes twinkled with mockery, are you trying to intimidate me? But what a joke! That tactic may have worked long ago, but after facing monsters, witches, and Pixies it would take more than a mere human to intimidate her.
The little boy trembled against her and Sascha's resolve strengthened, anyone who bullies a child was trash! She growled in her heart.
"No." She responded and both the crowd and the big man looked at her with identical incredulous expressions.
The man recovered first. He uncoiling the whip he hung from his shoulder and snapped it against the street. Lines of light illuminated the whip and fragments of dirt exploded when he hit the street. Instantly the crowd moved a couple of feet away from them, but they didn't leave the scene, too curious to get away from the potential entertainment.
Sascha saw the whip and decided it was a magic tool, she also concluded that the big man was a hunter. This type of magic weapon was preferred by guild hunters, so her conclusion was not wrong.
The boy trembled again, clinging like a little kitten to his clothes.
The boy's eyes were shining with fear when they met, and the last doubt disappeared from Sascha's heart. She would help the boy and then find out if she had parents or any relatives! If she didn't have it, she and she would figure out what to do.
"Do not go away." She warned her with a slight smile. That said, Sascha secretly prepared herself. A fine ivory hand slipped into a pocket, and a pair of talismans were quickly removed.
"Stop ignoring me." The hunter snapped his whip once more. The crowd bustled with anticipation.
"Ah, sorry! You are so outstanding that I ended up passing on you." Sascha mocked the person mercilessly. Silently she drew several strands of Mana from her and gently slid them into the talismans.
A vein leaped into the hunter's thick neck. "You..."
"Did you say something?" Sascha pretended not to hear well. She didn't activate them right away, there were too many people around her and she didn't want to cause an accident either. She also had the protective sigil of the bracelet to take care of them.
The hunter's whip flew and smashed into a stall next to Sascha and the boy. Splinters of wood creaked and ricocheted like projectiles into the crowd. Some ran, while others screamed and very few were aware of the undamaged state of the child and the woman.
And that's when the hunter swung the whip on them...