Chapter 60: Slums
"Damn! I hate these Slum areas!" A cursing sound echoed in the slum street's entrance.
Meanwhile, Abium chuckled inwardly and looked at the long narrow stretch paved for walking.
Unlike the commoners' residential area, the whole surrounding was filled with full of waste food materials, excretions, broken furniture, and even glassy materials.
The stone houses, small huts, and damaged houses were the only thing that appeared in his sight.
'Although the slum people still haven't woken up yet, it's better to leave this town before the sun arises.' He muttered inwardly.
At that moment, he also heard shouts from faraway streets and spoke.
"We need to leave this town sooner, Your Highness. Otherwise, the Holy See might send more reinforcements."
Crown prince Huggin's expression turned solemn as he heard those words and asked with a frown.
"Will they go that far?"
Although Abium managed to spoil the Holy See's plan to capture Prince Raollet, he wasn't sure of their goal. Were they only after people's faith? Or something else? Why didn't they send someone like Archbishop or Cardinal to rule this small kingdom? These questions weren't new ones to Abium. He had thought of this strangeness time and time but found no clue.
'Lord Alius might be a powerful Tier-3 Mage, but he isn't powerful enough to stand against a person like Pontiff of the Southern Holy See.' He heaved a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Who knows, but I can tell those guys wouldn't give up that easily," Abium responded, unsure of their future actions.
"But how could we find a way out if all the gates are locked down? Do you know any secret route?" Huggin looked at him suspiciously and asked.
Meanwhile, Abium smiled and walked ahead instead of responding.
'This crown prince is strong and honest. But these characteristics aren't enough to rule this kingdom.' He muttered in disappointment.
On the other hand, Prince Raolett was the polar opposite of the Crown Prince. He was an intelligent, calculative, and sly person.
That's why Abium always adored him.
'Because of his unique characteristics, he survived the chaos era while holding the kingdom together and even crushed the Wadel Kingdom.' While muttering, he suddenly thought of something and asked.
"What do you think about these slum people, Your Highness? Isn't it the Royal Family's responsibility to give them a better life?"
Huggin frowned a bit and shook his head.
"What can we do about it? It's their fate. Although I wanted to abolish the Nobles Hierarchy system and make every citizen equal, do you think the nobles and mages would allow that? The strong rule the world."
"I'm well aware of the Hierarchy system, Your Highness. I was just curious about your opinion." Abium said while furrowing.
At that moment, the Crown Prince suddenly looked at him and asked with a sly smile.
"You also thought of me as a naive prince, don't you?"
Before Abium could respond, Huggin let out a chuckle and spoke.
"I received my education from Elven Elite University, my friend. I know all the dark secrets about the slums, underworld leaders, mages, and slave traders. Unfortunately, I don't even have enough power to kill an Official Mage. So, how do you expect me to change the kingdom's laws? It's nothing but a fantasy dream. I always think practically and don't interfere with the current world's politics. That's why everyone believes that I'm a naive person." He paused for a moment and soon added.
"But Raollet is different. He has his own goals and might have a chance to change everything." There was a hint of pride that appeared in his tone.
Meanwhile, Abium nodded his head in understanding and asked another question.
"Why are you building the ten-layered Magic Tower for the Academic Mages, Your Highness?" In truth, he knew the answers long ago but decided to probe his real intention.
"It's not something I could casually reveal it anyone, Abium. You'll learn when the right time comes-" Huggin suddenly halted his footsteps, looked at the right side alley, and frowned.
"Did you hear it?" He turned his face grim and asked in a solemn tone.
Abium also nodded his head and turned his gaze towards the right side.
At that moment, a young child's whisper came from there and soon echoed inside their heads.
"Help!"
A moment later, Huggin noticed something on the stone wall, raised his hand, and pointed his forefinger at it.
"Over there."
Abium followed his gaze and soon saw a similar reddish arrow mark on the wall.
But instead of the arrow mark pointing towards a particular direction, it pointed towards the ground!
Both of them glanced at each other and hurriedly moved over there.
Garbage and broken stones appeared on their path as they moved closer to the stone wall, but they didn't face any hardship to walk.
Once they arrived closer to the stone wall, they noticed that a small figure was lying on the ground!
'What is that? A child?' Abium moved forward while carrying Raollet on his shoulder and soon noticed that it was indeed a young child.
To be precise, it was a girl child.
Her snowy silver hair appeared messier, and her whole body seemed fragile due to the lack of food.
She had long hair, a pale face, olive skin, and a square face, and she wore a unique silk-embroidered shirt that almost covered her toes.
But what startled him most was the strange snowy ears similar to that of a fox's one and a long fluffy tail!
He quietly placed Raollet on the ground, moved closer to the child, and examined her body.
Although she was still breathing, Abium knew that she was in a critical condition and wouldn't last long for an hour or two.
Blood appeared all over her face, and she looked heavily wounded.
Bruises and minor wounds appeared in many places, and he even noticed that her left hand was bent at a weird angle.
'Beast Kin... Her dress appeared quite good when compared to any commoner.' He also saw that she held a large bangle in her left hand and realized she didn't come here alone.
'She isn't a slave but a noble child. She must have come here with her mother or a relative but met with trouble and ended up in this rural town's slum street. But who would bring a child to a foreign kingdom alone?' He furrowed his brows in suspicion.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince placed Nicolaus on the ground and looked at the young child in pity.
"Which bastard would beat a young child like this? She is beaten black and blue." He paused for a moment and added.
"Put her to rest."
Abium also thought of the same and was about to take out his sword from his space ring but froze.
'Wait... Those arrow marks. Someone wants me to save her? But why didn't they save her on their own instead of guiding me here?'
He pondered for a second and scanned her body.
A blue screen popped up in front of his eyes the next instant.
[Name: Unknown
Age: 5
Race: Fox kin (Blessed One)
Class: None
Attributes
Strength: 0.6
Agility: 0.7
Vitality: 0.8
Mana: 5.0
Spirit: 2.5
Skills: None
Bloodline spells: None
Affinity:
Ice: Genius.]
'Blessed One... It means there are traces of divine power residing in her soul.'
Moreover, the ice affinity caught his attention the most!
'She is a god-favored one. But I heard that no god favors the Beast Kins, though.' A grim look appeared on his face.
'Something is fishy.'
Abium had learned a few things about these beast kins and also fought against them in the past.
Because of Light God Welo's hatred towards Beast kins, they were continuously hunted and killed by the Light Believers for the past few millenniums. Although they would only do that in the Holy See's affiliated kingdoms, their activity had caused the whole Beastkins Race to be reduced to a large extent. Some Light god's followers even state openly that these beast kins were monsters or traitors and burn them alive in the name of purification.
It was more like genocide.
'They are acting like this because these beast kins have no God to protect them.'
In truth, all the Gods who protected these Beastkins were fallen long ago during the Ancient War.
Only Goddess Nyara survived the Ancient War, but even her whereabouts were unknown.
Even with continuous genocide, the Beastkins remained strong and were still living under the protection of the World's Will.
'But it seems some god is helping them in secret. But which God would dare to oppose the Almighty Light God, Welos?' At that moment, something else clicked in his mind.
'Wait. I think this might be Mother Goddess's doing.' He subconsciously glanced at Prince Raollet and nodded his head in understanding.
'A God's Champion appearing in front of me is not a mere coincidence. The mother Goddess wants one of us to take care of this child? But Prince Huggin seems to be unaware of her potential, though. If Prince Raollet was awake, he could see her potential because of his druidic identity. Should I tell the truth to the Crown Prince and give her to the Royal Family? She would be safer in their hands and could become a powerful weapon for them in the future. No, she has her future. If I give her to them, they would send her to Kaummith's Academy and train her for battles only.' At that moment, he felt a heavy pressure appear on his shoulder.
'Attracting God's attention is not a good thing.'
But on one side, this might be an opportunity for him to know more about those mighty omnipotent beings.
He pondered for a moment and finally shook his head.
"I changed my mind, Your Highness. She has to live." He stated in a calm tone.
"You want to save her? She'll only be a burden to us." Crown Prince firmly shook his head and refused to help her.
Meanwhile, Abium quietly took her with both hands and spoke.
"Not only that, but I'm also planning to find this child's mother and save her. I know she is still alive somewhere." It was a strange precognition feeling that he felt after his rebirth.
After all, he had no experience in taking care of a child. For him, she was indeed a burden.
But as long as he plays his card right, he could let her reunite with her mother and might even get the chance to be on good terms with a Goddess!
'The helper is probably the Mother Goddess, so it's not a dangerous mission.' Although saving the Crown Prince was his original goal, he didn't want to miss such an opportunity.
Once he managed to get everyone out of the town, everyone would go on their way. Although the Crown Prince would reward him with gold or some precious treasure, nothing would be equal to God's gift!
'Am I being too greedy? But so what? I'll take every opportunity to increase my strength.' He muttered inwardly and spoke calmly.
"Your Highness, please give me a healing potion as a reward for saving your younger brother."
"My brother's worth is more worth than some healing potion, my friend. As for your decision to save her, I don't have any problem."
Saying so, Huggin took out a green-colored healing potion from his spatial ring and tossed it to him.
Meanwhile, Abium caught the potion vial, opened the lid, and poured the healing potion into the young child's mouth.
Although she struggled to swallow the potion due to her being half-unconscious, she drank it after some struggle.
"She'll be okay in a few minutes." As Abium spoke, he noticed the bruises, her broken hand, and the wounds started to heal visibly.