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Everything around was grayish, as if everything that could be seen was a fabricated world.
While the surroundings were slightly blurry, as if this were being seen by a distant memory of a person, a certain girl could be seen walking towards the house of a village.
"Mom, Dad!"
The girl called out to her parents, who were just back from working in their fields.
"Aya, what is it? I'm just about to make dinner, so you're going to have to wait a little bit."
The mother responded with tired-looking eyes to the excited girl, who seemed eager to speak to her parents.
"I found someone who can finally help with our debt! We don't have to worry about our situation anymore!!" The excited girl exclaimed at the confused-looking parents.
Both the mother and father looked at one another in confusion before looking at what their daughter was talking about.
"Aya… what do you….."
The father attempted to question what his daughter was talking about, but before he could even finish his sentence, a weird man walked in front of the entrance of the house, surprising both parents.
"Good evening, sir, and ma'am."
A certain fat man wearing classic and fancy clothes introduced himself with a friendly smile on his face.
"I've been informed by this kind girl about your situation. And I won't lie — I was touched by your situation. That's why, if you are interested, I may perhaps give you some help."
The father, who was also the head of the family, put his wife and daughter behind him while looking confusedly at this man.
"W-what sort of help might you be suggesting? Me and my family don't have anything worth selling. So I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"I'm a man of my words, mister. Moreover, the work I do is a promising enterprise. I'm willing to give you a loan of three hundred coins if you are interested." The fat merchant explained.
The little girl who had brought this man home also listened in excitement at the luck that she had brought home. If this man truly helps her parents, then all of their struggles with their financial situation will be solved.
Or at least that's what she thought after the father agreed to take a loan from this certain man.
The merchant gave a brief explanation to the father about how this loan was going to work.
And in the end, making the father sign the papers with his own blood.
But what the mother was afraid of was that there was definitely something weird written on the paper. She wanted to mention that to her husband, but at that point, it was already too late.
Life in this family was getting much healthier, and the little girl was happy to see that there was enough food on the table for each member of the family.
But as time went by, both the father and the mother became anxious and troubled. Aya couldn't understand why. But soon, the same fat merchant she had brought to the family had returned.
"Aya, stay hidden! And do not come out no matter what!!!"
Inside a covert cabin, where this small house stored all food during the winter, the father instructed Aya as he spoke to her.
Aya was confused at that time, but once the fat merchant had entered the house, she noticed that he wasn't alone. Two other scary-looking men were on each of his sides.
"It's already been more than three months, and I still haven't received my payment back. I know I told you I'm a man of my word, but getting lied to like this is something that I do not appreciate." The fat merchant looked to his side with a fake forlorn expression on his face as he said.
"N-no, we were going to pay you! But all of the vegetables we were going to sell were destroyed by wild animals! P-please you have to give us more time!!" The father begged.
"I'm not someone who is patient, so how do you think this will get solved?"
The moment the fat merchant inquired, with a smirk on his face, the father's face widened in shock, while the mother could only show signs of crying. Both of them knew very well what was going to happen next.
The fat merchant had not brought two of those mercenaries to his side for no reason. Struggling was futile…
"I understand…. We will comply... Just don't hurt my wife."
And just like that, Aya saw through the gaps of the hidden place as both her mother and father were chained up like slaves and taken away. Her eyes widened in shock and fear at what was happening. And all because she brought that man to this house…
She knew that the house was no longer a place where she could stay, which is why she made the decision to get stronger and earn money as a way of taking her parents back.
She already knows a few moves and knife movements thanks to her father's teaching, and writing and reading thanks to her mother. If she used what she knew, she was sure that everything was going to be fine….
Or at least that's what she thought at that moment as her whole world started to collapse as if everything that she had experienced until this point was nothing else but a fabricated world that she was replaying in her mind the whole time.
With tired-looking eyes, Aya slowly opened her eyes and quickly realized that what she just experienced was nothing more than a dream.
She had failed…..
And as she was regaining her clear vision from her tired and sleepy eyes, she realized that she had woken up right back at the house where she would usually sleep.