While the world was indulging in the rumours of his banishment and many people had ordered his assassination, the man in question was leisurely taking a bath in a hot spring.
Jarien was close to reaching peak-F rank but he was not in a rush as his body was still developing even though due to his baths in the hot springs, his body became familiar with mana with every fibre of his being.
After finishing his bath, he dived into the slums after altering his identity yet again to find the kids that he had been meeting and paying for his rumours but all that was just a façade.
This group of kids consisted of 4 in total and according to my guess, 1 sick at their makeshift home but today was an important day in their life as I have decided to put them to use.
The children were looking at me with guards down but both the boys maintained their wariness which showed their survival skills which allowed them to be able to survive under such harsh conditions.
There was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl with polar-opposite features as the girl had black hair and white eyes while the boy had white hair and black eyes. The other girl had dark green hair paired with light green eyes and the last boy had black hair and black eyes.
They looked dishevelled, their clothes rag-like, their stature malnourished to the point that their bones could be seen as protruding through their thin skin but what marred their faces was anxiety and worry and I knew exactly the reason why.
It was all because the most cheerful girl of their group had fallen sick and she was the eldest as well as the sister of the boy, so she shared similar black hair and eyes, of course I knew about it because I followed them secretly.
If they were idiotic enough to tell it to a stranger, I would have long left them to their predestined fate of causing chaos and dying; the twin boy had died while holding the green hair girl in his arms as if showcasing their love, his sister had died alongside them all to let the last one escape but all for naught as he could not escape on their sacrifice ending up with all four of them dying together. The sick girl, I supposed, died way earlier.
At first glance, anyone who saw them would think that they are 7–8-year-old kids but that is because of their malnutrition, they are 11–12-year-old, the sick girl being the eldest should be around 13.
The first time I approached them, they were wary, indicating that they were aware that no one was kind enough to offer them money but I tasked them with rumour spreading, so they accepted it easily as they needed money to save their eldest.
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When I approached them that day, they banded together as if to fight me off if I did anything to them. The white-haired boy was guarding the green-haired and black-haired girls while the black-haired boy stood beside him and was the one to remove his fear of a stranger and represent them.
"Do you want food?" I asked.
"No" replied the boy sternly despite them looking hungry.
"Then, do you need money?" I continued, to which they flinched seeing which I nodded.
"Do a simple task and I will give you 1000 Rupendeous" I offered them.
Rupendeous(RPD) was a global currency as it was named so in honour of the one who liberated the people 300 years ago but not much about that person is known to the outside world.
"Wha-what do you want us to do?" the same child replied as he hesitated to answer. It was a big amount for those who could barely get 100 in an entire month that too if they were lucky. In this world, the disparity between rulers and common people was just too big.
"Nothing much. Just spread some rumours" I answered while trying to smile mischievously because I did not know how it looked to them but they gulped so I retracted it 'Did I give a creepy or evil smile??' while thinking so inwardly.
Just like that, I met them and gave them 1000 RPD every fortnight whilst changing my identity but they recognised me to be a worker of some weird organization spreading rumours as I had left some hints.
"If you do a good job, there may be a next time" with that I walked away after giving them a few coins and notes.
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I had come here today to take them to the place that I deemed the best for them as the boy and eldest girl were the children of an elite family member which I knew from Jarien's memories as he had worked with the villain for his own reasons.
Well, they were siblings of my childhood friend and the daughter of the Asterfox Duchy. I knew that if I asked her, she would convince her father, Duke Alexander Asterfox, to send people to bring them in but then how would I send these guards protecting me?
I mean I am planning my 'death' and I wanted to delay this but that girl might die soon, so I had to do it a bit earlier. I could only hope that I get attacked when these guards are away, so I don't have to go back to the Duchy and I had no idea that my vain wish would actually come true way sooner than expected.
First things first, it was to convince these children in front of me which was not easy but I knew it was the best time as they could sense their eldest weakening. As the saying goes 'strike while the iron is hot'.
"Lex, you do know that you and your sister are the offspring of some high family, right?" I said calmly to the black-haired boy who seemed shaken as soon he heard my voice but stayed silent.
"Your sister will die soon" I declared to which everyone gasped as she was the core of the group and their pillar of support in their time of need.
"Can…can she be saved?" asked Lex as he did not want his only sister to die just like their mother.
"As I said, go to the place you belong to" I answered in a heavy tone.
"Are you from our family?" asked Lex cautiously.
"No, but I know them" My answer confused him.
"Well, I cannot speak much here but just know that you will be escorted from here till you reach there, but…" I paused while eyeing his friends.
Everyone understood the dilemma, as he could choose to stay with his friends or abandon them for a glimmer of hope which might as well be fake but they were too young and emotional to think about this part.
"It's okay Lex, you should save big sis Lia, we will be fine" said the twin girl.
"Yeah, as Noire said, go Lex" echoed the twin boy.
"Hnng…don't worry we will be happy too if big sis Lia gets better, right? Noire? Blanc?" said the green-haired girl to which the twins nodded.
"You guys…Noire, Blanc, Verte…I can't abandon you guys. You are like my family and besides, sis would never want that" said Lex with a dark expression.
To be honest, I felt a bit bad, just a bit though, for testing them but this touching scene showed that they could be sent together as their teamwork was impeccable after all with just these four and if we add Lia then who knows how strong their team might become with proper training this time.
"Alright enough! Who said you have to abandon them?" I butted in their emotional and sorrowful goodbye.
My words made the entire sombre touchy scene awkward as it was true, I never said it, they just assumed it by themselves but it did not stop them from glaring angrily at me.
"Ahem…you all will go together but Lex, I am pretty sure your mother must have told you something about your family" I dispelled the awkward atmosphere and questioned.
"Uhm…she just said that father was forced into a marriage, so he ran away with mother but to save big sis and my pregnant mother from a monster tide, he sacrificed himself…" the boy said in a sad tone.
It was true, their father was the younger brother of Duke Asterfox, Adonis Asterfox. He had run away from a marriage and protecting the people from the monster tide, despite his tiredness he went inside a S-rank dungeon alone and saved countless people, though he died shortly after.
His bravado is still remembered as this was not even his family's territory yet he protected it but the truth was that he simply wanted to protect his lover, his daughter, and his unborn child. Since no one knew about this, adding his usual kind personality, people believed he sacrificed himself as a hero while their rulers did nothing.
"Mom said that…if possible, never go to their father's side…" Lex did not say anything but it was obvious he was warned about the horrific side of the elite families.
Lex remembered what his mother had written in her diary just before she died, when he was 4 years old. She had mentioned a big family with the same hair colour and eyes as him, and she had warned her kids not to look for them unless they came for them. She had said that there were many families that did not like illegitimate children, and since she knew that her only support was gone, she decided to raise her kids on her own.
She had always believed in not using Adonis for his money and had waited for him to marry her. Although she had felt insecure about his background and fame, her love for him had given her some strength. When she learned of Adonis's death, the fear that her children, the only proof of their love, would die scared her.
A woman alone, raising two kids with her shattered mentality, never imagined that she would die early, leaving her two kids behind and alone. The fear clouded her mind, and her judgement led them to never meet the Asterfox family in the original plot.
"After all, many elitist people were there in high society who focused on purity of bloodline and what not crap, yet I question the same people 'why not keep it in your pants then huh?' They keep rambling on and on about illegitimate children but never notice it is their own problem to go around sleeping with women despite having wives and even children.
Honestly, I hate such kind of hypocritical trash just below a few other trashy people. There have been both men and women who have done this, and this world is somewhat equal for both in a sense that strength and backing triumphs right and wrong instead of money or truth" pondered Jarien angrily but he had to comfort them so he put these thoughts to the back of his mind.
"It's okay. You can rest assured that what you are worried about will not happen as you will be under a trustable person" I said to him and asked all of them to pack their things and get ready to leave by the night.
Although I would love to bring them to our place for them to take a bath and relax, it was impossible without attracting attention. Therefore, I took these kids to a hot spring to let them clean themselves and gave them new clothes that I had purchased for them. After a good bath and changing their clothes, their inherited attractiveness was already showing.
Well, for now I gave them money and asked them to stay in a nearby inn and eat as much as they wanted and they were getting suspicious as I had approached them for rumours while now, I was helping them so much. Anyone would be suspicious but they had no other choice for now, so they did as I told them.
I had decided to let these kids stay at her household for many reasons but the biggest would be the fact that I find children difficult and I did not have the patience in me to babysit them at all. Secondly, with this, they will not die with hatred towards the world and they will be loyal to the main heroine of the protagonist which should increase her survival chances.
After all, in the future, the twins would become very apt at sword dances while Lex becomes a master assassin and infiltration expert, Verte was their healer as well as helping them escape or hide using her wind magic.
After reaching home, I asked Richard to call the secret guards as I knew he would have a way to contact them. Then, I finished setting up their path by calling my dad and telling him about this as he was close to Alexander and Adonis, so despite his initial shock he agreed easily.
Then I convinced my friend by asking for help again to pick them up from our main estate as they were her cousins after all and she would love them knowing her personality, so I cornered Alexander Asterfox from two sides to follow my plan and not come here directly.
For the secret guards, showing them my father's recording was more than enough to move them, it would take them at least 3 days to be back which was not much but I really did not know the exact date of my assassination and the girl would die if this waited for too long.