Cairo looks at the kid that is even younger and shorter than him. The kid barely reaches 5 feet in height. His body was skinny just like Cairo's body months ago as if even just a strong breeze of wind can break it
His face and worn-out clothes are both covered with dirt, a testimony of how hard of a life he leads. However, there is something in this kid that Cairo is very familiar with and that is the will to live!
Cairo can see the kid's eyes looking around him as if he was finding an escape route. Too bad for the kid that Del is here, if the man wants to keep him here, the kid wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. That is all because of Del's strength!
A fist-size pure gold appeared on top of Cairo's palm and he threw it at the men that chased the kid. "Take that and leave" Cairo emotionlessly said and the three salivated at the gold that one of them caught
Golds are the currency of normal people or those who only trained in magic for some convenience. It can only buy 'normal things' as magical resources required mana stones as payment
The three bowed their heads at Cairo before running away leaving the kid behind. The kid only robs them of a single bread piece, its value can't compare to the gold in their hands. Besides, why would they offend someone from the Royal Family? They are still not tired of living
"You can go now and live a hard life or risk it to come with me and lead a better life. The choice is yours to make" Cairo simply said and the kid contemplated a bit
The kid knew that running away now will just return things back to normal where everything is uncertain. While going with a man he doesn't know is quite risky. The kid saw how Cairo easily gave those men the gold as if it doesn't have any worth in his eyes and it was a testimony of Cairo's wealth
With wealth, the kid wouldn't have any problems when it comes to his food and with wealth, he would have a chance to become 'something'
To return back to normal and become poor or go with a stranger that has an unknown amount of wealth, the kid suddenly had a huge life decision to make
However, Cairo knew what the other kid will choose. He can see the past him in that kid and the answer is obvious
"I will go with you!" The kid answered after some time and his answer didn't disappoint Cairo.
"Del" Cairo said and his guard drew a rune in the air that landed on the kid's neck before the rune formed a slave collar
In the past months, Cairo focuses on making and perfecting the Blood Strengthening Serum but he still read things about how a Kingdom works
The incident with the Prince of another Kingdom made Cairo realize that the Kingdom is in a shaky situation. Cairo focused on personal strength but after learning more things, he knew that unless he gained absolute strength, he will need a lot of people to keep himself alive
Slave Collars can keep people in check and prevent them from betraying you but it was not absolute. Cairo needs people that have a strong drive to become strong so that they will keep surviving! And a person like that is currently with him, why would Cairo waste this chance of having a subordinate that is also thirsty for power?
Slaves would simply do what their master wants but a motivated slave will do things for themselves and their master!
"Come with me" Cairo said before tapping the kid on the shoulder but the diamond in his forehead throb and forced him to watch his past life's memory for the nth time
----
Cairo saw an older version of himself fighting inside a forest
The past Cairo currently has his palms in the ground and he turned the hard ground into sands that he uses to drown the tree-like creatures that are approaching him to attack and kill
"Master, there are too many enemies, what do we do?" A man behind Cairo that is continuously throwing fires to the enemies asked with worry
Cairo still has a cold expression on his face and gave a simple answer. "Kill!"
That answer causes the other man to sigh before a fiery wave of fire came out from his hand that burned down on the never-ending tree creatures around them
"You're really something, Master. That's the thing I like the most about you!" The man said and ignored how many enemies there are to focus on attacking and killing them
----
The memories ended and Cairo looked at the kid with some suspicions. "Is this kid that man?" Cairo asked to himself
The man in his memories was too strong compared to the skinny kid with him. "Well, I am skinny and weak before too but look at me now" Cairo said to himself before a suspicion grew in his heart
"First, I met my sister in my past life in this current life. And now, I even met one of my loyal men here. Is reincarnation true? Could it be that all the people that die in this world were just reborn again? "
Cairo just stood there while being in a deep thought that causes the other two people with him to crease their forehead
"Young Master, are you alright?" Del asked in worry and checked for any signs of magic. Cairo might have been hit with an illusion spell and Del needs to protect him
His words woke Cairo from his earlier state and the man shook his head. "I'm fine, I was just thinking of something" Cairo answered. With how weak he currently is, how the world works are not something he needs to be worried about ... at least not yet
"What's your name?" Cairo asked. "D-Davin" the kid answered with a bit of fear as his life is literally in Cairo's hands now
"Do you have some mana already?" "Cairo asked and the kid nodded his head
Larton City as the capital of the Kingdom is vastly different than the Blood Sand Town. Here, almost everyone can use magic for everyday convenience. In fact, these people that only uses magic for convenience are already far more powerful than the mages back in Cairo's hometowns
It's just that, there are too many strong mages in the City and it made thee civilians' power to look like a child's trick in front of them
Cairo moved away from the kid first before a clear crystal ball appeared in his hand that he handed to him. "Check your magic affinities with this"
Davin did as what he was told and put his hands on top of the crystal. Soon, four icons appeared inside the crystal and Davin looked at them curiously as he doesn't know what they represent
"Fire, wind, sand, water" Cairo said before storing the crystal back to his spatial ring. This Davin has quite a good affinity combination
Fire and Wind will make each other stronger and combining sands with water just like what Kira showed to Cairo before will also result in a stronger power
"Let's go" Cairo said and went to the bustling part of the town after wearing clothes that don't have the Royal Family's Emblem to celebrate the New Years
The party of three cleaned Davin first on one of the bathhouses in the city and gave him better clothes before they went into different shops
They ate and ate until their stomachs turned bloated and Cairo also dragged them to play some games. Although Cairo is matured in several areas and he has a lot of things that are bothering him, he is still currently only a kid that enjoyed the festival
----
In the Royal Court, Queen Kira can be seen reading a lot of documents in an impatient way. It was only an hour before New Year but high-ranking officials still have a lot of things to do especially since Kira implemented a lot of things after she sat on the throne
In the Royal Court, only those open-minded people are present. Everyone that will refuse Kira's decisions that will benefit the Kingdom is eliminated
Of course, Kira is not perfect and her plans also have loopholes but some Nobles will disagree with her for the sake of disagreeing. Some also disagree as her decision will benefit the masses but not the Nobles
What the Kingdom least needs the most is that the simple and beneficial things will take a lot of time to be implemented because of a Noble's refusal
"Your Majesty, we can run things here. Please rest first" one of the old and kind-hearted officials said after seeing Kira's state. Although the Queen didn't say anything but these people that know some things about Kira knew that she wants to be with her younger brother on a holiday like this
"I'm fine, I'll just finish these papers" Kira answered without even looking at the officials
"Your Majesty, you would be able to make better decisions and plans when you are well-rested. It wouldn't do the Kingdom good if you are in stress" the same official said
In other Kingdoms, if someone said this to the Queen or King, no matter how respectful of the tone they use, they would surely be punished
However, Kira is different. It was fine to her if she was criticized and be given advice as long as it was based on facts and not on personal dislike for her.