"You can get back to retelling the past." Sal was feeling more at ease now that he knew he could cultivate. He told Ann to tell the rest of their past to him so that he could understand their circumstances better.
"So where were we? Ah yes, traveling isn't safe for mortals like us. We separated from the caravan that had guided us to a human settlement and applied to reside in the refugee camp established outside the Banu fortress. Our application was quickly accepted as you bribed the camp leader with the ring our father had gifted you on your 15th birthday."
"We started living in this small thatched house provided by the camp leader."
"The day we appeared, I caught the eye of a local tyrant. You know why." Ann gestured towards herself, hinting at her striking appearance, forgetting that she hadn't washed her face and it was still dirty and her hair unkempt, making her look like a homeless beggar.
Sal nodded in understanding. He knew alright.
Little Sparrow had white teeth, smooth and silky skin, blue eyes, golden hair, a beautiful face, and a graceful figure. Forget about the local tyrant, she would even catch the eye of the emperor if she was presented in front of one!
At that time, Little Sparrow was too naive. Being from a community where morals were still upheld, revered, and cherished, she was completely unaware of the ugliness that had spread far and wide in the ever-degenerating outside world.
Big Joe felt the desire to possess her in both body and soul the moment he laid his eyes on her. He shamelessly went and proposed marriage to her.
Big Joe was 190 cm tall. He had a burly body, crooked yellow teeth, and a scarred face. He looked hideous.
Standing next to Ann, he came across as a toad lusting after a swan.
Ann didn't want to marry him, but she was too stunned to speak.
Sal declined the big guy in her stead, but he refused to believe it, demanding an answer directly out of Ann's mouth.
Ann mustered up her courage and told him directly that she would not marry him.
He asked for a reason. Although he lived in a refugee camp, he had a house and a bunch of loyal followers. He was also an introductory phase spiritual combatant of the 3rd level. As long as he continued rising, gaining an entry permit and living in Banu Fortress wasn't a remote possibility. If she were with him, she would one day undoubtedly enjoy the luxury and peace that comes with living in the fortress.
So why was she turning him down? Was she by chance crazy?
Unable to bear his abusive words, Ann exploded. She gave him a piece of her mind. He looked old enough to be her grandfather, and he wanted her to bear his children. Was he sick in the head? Did he have no shame?
Ann came from a community that had no link to the outside world for many, many years. So she didn't know what it was like here.
She didn't know what disaster her rebuttal/refusal would bring her.
Big Joe's face reddened when his proposal was turned down. That day, he went away with a dark face. Internally, he thought, 'Since I can't have her, no one else can.'
A few days later, Ann fell severely ill and was bedridden.
Her condition worsened by the hour, and at the end of the day, it looked like she would die.
They were living hand to mouth at that time. Whatever they earned in a day was used to buy cured meat and purified water so they wouldn't go hungry.
The original owner used whatever he had saved up in the past six months while working overtime and doing all sorts of odd jobs in the camp to bring a doctor from inside the fortress to check up on his sister.
The doctor inspected Ann and determined that only a healing potion could save her.
The original owner had felt greatly dismayed.
A healing potion wasn't something they could afford in their current circumstances!
Leaving things up to fate wasn't his style. He was unwilling to lose his one and only sister. He treasured her a lot, far more than his life. The morals his father had instilled in him allowed him to make the necessary sacrifice.
He went out to borrow money in his name to save his sister.
No one helped him.
The outside world was completely different from the expectation the original owner had of it.
In the outside world, not a lot of kind people were left, and it was a rule not to lend money to people who looked like they couldn't afford to return it no matter what their circumstance.
While everyone turned away from him, Big Joe offered to help, but he had a condition. He would loan Sal the money to purchase the potion under the condition that he sign a legal statement backed by the camp leader that he will pay a 10% interest rate every week on the borrowed amount until he had returned all of it.
Sal was too desperate to save his sister, and no one was willing to help him, so although the deal seemed unfair and unbelievably ridiculous, he readily agreed to it.
That day, using the money he loaned from Big Joe, he was able to save his sister, but this decision also landed him in deep trouble.
He had no means to make quick money, he couldn't possibly repay his debt in a short time.
Every week, it increased by 10%, and every month it increased by 40%.
The first month after he had taken a loan from Big Joe, the original owner was only able to pay the loan even after working himself to the brink of exhaustion every single day. Ann was also contributing, but while the original owner's earnings went to pay off the interest, Ann's earnings were used to get by.
Lately, the original owner was getting less and less work.
Last week marked the second week he was unable to pay even the weekly interest on his debt to Big Joe.
So he insulted the original owner by calling him a bastard and threatened that if he failed to repay the borrowed money by the next week, then he would consider that he was going back on his words and take his sister as repayment.
The original owner was suspicious that Big Joe was behind his sister falling ill and the demand he made solidified his suspicions. And no one calls him a bastard and gets away with it.
The original owner snapped into a fit of rage and hurled a fist at Big Joe.
But how could Sal, who was still a teenager undergoing puberty, be a match for Big Joe, who had already achieved level two of the introductory phase?
With one move, Big Joe subdued him, tossing him to the ground. Big Joe then whistled. Immediately after, his henchmen surrounded the original owner and rained down punches and kicks on him.
Just like that, the original owner was beaten black and blue.
He would have been killed right then and there if Ann hadn't arrived at the correct time with the camp leader to save him.
Big Joe didn't fear the siblings, but he didn't dare go against the Camp Leader. He didn't dare break his rule and kill in his presence.
He whistled and his henchmen stopped beating the original owner. Then, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and went away with them.
Left behind was a badly beaten-up young boy, a crying young girl, a crowd that had stopped to watch the show, and a sighing camp leader who felt guilty yet also helpless.