"…"
"Hey...what's wrong with you?"
The Blood Pupil looked at the little beggar, discovering that one of his eyes which had been turned to blood-red under the erosion of the devil's power had turned back into the little beggar's original black pupils.
The blade had pierced through the swaddling clothes of the sleeping baby without harming her and was about one centimeter away from the blade.
Despite the peril, the baby was still unawaken and content with her sweet dreams. Meanwhile, the young beggar breathed heavily, his entire body drenched in a cold sweat.
The devil sword's blood-red pupil was fixed intently on the boy, especially on his one black pupil, contrasting the red. It scoffed coldly.
"Boy, what are you hesitating for? Kill her, and you'll fully enjoy the bliss I bring. No more struggling to survive in the slums, stop being hesitant like a woman. Where is your ruthlessness gone? Where is your rationality and cruelty that care for nothing but your own well-being even if it means taking lives?"
The beggar's breathing remained labored. His hand, numb from gripping the sword's hilt, trembled along with his shackled right arm. Soon, the other blood-red pupil began to fade back to its original black.
Coughing violently, the beggar released his grip on the sword as his eyes returned to normal, and the chains that bound his wrists loosened.
Collapsing to his knees, his body succumbed to severe exhaustion, he coughed loudly. Yet, even amid the harsh coughs, he reached out tenderly to touch the infant's swaddling clothes.
"Pathetic, an untrained body exhausted by merely the 'First Hell's' power," the sword remarked.
"Well, you're only ten. There's plenty of time to get used to my power. At least, you didn't mess up and lose yourself."
"Still Maintaining some self-consciousness and rationality under the influence of the 'First Hell' is indeed interesting. Not like my former owners who lost all rationality and self-co when only accepted a little power of me, becoming nothing but puppets."
After the boy removed the chain from his arm, the wound healed as if time had reversed, and the chain retracted into the sword's hilt. The sword, which had been a giant blade, also shrank instantly back into a normal dagger.
The beggar coughed again, and after regaining some strength, he gently lifted the infant girl, touching her cheek with his finger.
She slept soundly, her little face flushed with a serene smile as if feeling the boy's gentle touch, her eyes slowly opened to gaze upon him.
His breathing still heavy, she looked at his sweat-covered face. Suddenly, she made a few cooing sounds…
Was she trying to say something? No, perhaps not. These were just the meaningless sounds of an infant. But to the boy, they meant more, and he held her tighter. The baby closed her eyes once more as if lulled back to sleep in a warm cradle.
…
The snow, after falling steadily for days, seemed to grow weary and finally stopped. The young beggar, with the baby in his arms, retreated into a dark, slightly warmer alley, contemplating the path ahead at night.
…
"Okay, boy, what should you do next? You have pissed off that scary little princess. From now on, you are no longer a mouse hiding in the sewers, but running out onto the streets, where people are all looking for you."
The little beggar filled the thermos bottle in his waist with some hot water and fed it to the baby girl bit by bit. Looking at the baby in his arms and seeing her greedily sucking the warm liquid, the little beggar fell into silence.
"If you are willing to follow my instructions, then throw away this girl who is causing you trouble now. Then, you can walk on the street without worries, and I can make you stop being a rat that everyone shouts and beats, but into a giant dragon that can destroy half the continent! How about it? It sounds so good, right?"
The snow has stopped, but the cold has not dissipated. The little beggar covered himself with a blanket, closed his eyes, and seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. In response to the silence, there seemed to be a dull look in the blood pupil, which slowly closed.
"Tch, I forgot about it. You kid won't believe anyone's words easily. This is an advantage, but you won't even believe my words. FIne, just forget it, I don't care anything about you. Go sleep, sleep! Let's see what weird ideas you will come up with after dawn tomorrow, come and surprise me! Hahahaha, this feeling of expectation is also interesting, interesting!"
Holding the baby girl tightly, the little beggar finally fell into a deep sleep. The chain on his right arm still locked him tightly, but the blood-red pupil temporarily relaxed and fell into a short rest.
"What to do tomorrow?"
Even in his sleep, the little beggar was always thinking about this problem.
"The most correct thing to do was to throw away the baby girl and run away. but...
It's very possible that... I can no longer do this..."
…
Then, tomorrow came.
The news that four scattered limbs, a corpse that almost couldn't be called human, and the six half corpses of three wolfdogs were discovered with an assassination organization wiped out was released. What happened last night had already appeared on the morning newspaper of the new day.
People regarded this news as a pastime topic after breakfast and before work. They talked about whether there was any mystery in it. While inferring the news released by the government, they also discussed whether there was another truth that the government was covering up for conspiracy and then laughed.
Next to the pedestrians talking about waiting for the carriage, a thin figure staggered past. No one cares about a beggar. They pinched their noses when facing him, frowned, and moved aside. Of course, no one would care about what he was holding in his arms.
After taking the medicine for two days, the baby girl's fever was finally completely suppressed. When the little beggar woke up in the morning, he saw the green eyes of the baby girl staring at him. The cold eyes of the little beggar seemed to have melted a little. But he controlled his eyes very well, froze them again, picked her up, and walked in a certain direction.
He already knew where he should go next and what he should do. He walked slowly through the snow and pinched the money bag on his waist, which contained twenty-four gold coins and two silver coins.
At first, the sword wondered what the little beggar wanted to do. But as the little beggar moved, it quickly realized the little beggar's purpose. When the road out of the city appeared in front of him, the sword sneered again.
"Yeah, leaving this city immediately is a good choice. The key and the princess both want your life now. But what are you going to do?"
Its blood-colored pupil flashed secretly, looking at the iron fence on the main road and the soldiers who were on guard in front of the iron fence, searching the bodies of everyone who wanted to leave the city. He sneered.
"Come, tell me, boy, how will you go through this wall that blocking you with so many soldiers? Or will you hand over the baby girl to the government? This seems to be a good choice, entrusting the baby to the government, which is much safer than carrying her around, isn't it?"
The incident of the missing baby was still not over. Five soldiers were standing on the main road, holding weapons in their hands, searching for every pedestrian. Once a person wanted to go out with a baby in his arms, he would be immediately stopped and pulled to a shed next to the main road.
It looked like they were indeed being searched. The little beggar was silent, his eyes slowly sweeping across the crowd waiting to leave the city, then toward the five soldiers responsible for the search and the man in a cloak who looked like the leader of these five soldiers.
The little beggar didn't respond. But at this stage, perhaps handing the baby over to the government quietly was indeed the best thing to do. In this way, he would have no responsibility or obligation. There was no need to go on that trip which he didn't expect.
"Doing this... is the best choice."
The little beggar finally nodded silently to the advice of the devil sword in his mind. He bypassed the queues of people and walked slowly towards the iron fence, ready to unload his burden and throw away his responsibilities...
At this moment, the baby's gentle whimpering came, making the little beggar lower his head. The baby's bright emerald-like pupils reflected the little beggar's own pupils, which were slightly cloudy... It was at this moment that the little beggar suddenly stopped.
"Huh? What's wrong?" The demon's voice was slightly mocking.
The little beggar raised his head, and his slightly cloudy eyes instantly turned back to cold frost! He looked around again at the soldiers, the crowd, and the tents. After that, instead of continuing to move forward, he quickly retreated and hid in a side alley.
His calm eyes peered out from the dark alley. After confirming the search outside again, he retracted his body, holding the baby girl in his arms and lowering his head. His mind had begun to work rapidly, combining all the information he had obtained to think of possible ways to survive.