"Enough."
A calm voice sounded.
The man's hand stopped in mid-air, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring it down to strike the little girl.
A tall figure had somehow already stood beside him, his right hand gripping the man's arm like an iron clamp...
....
"Let go Brat! I said let go, didn't you hear me!? Who the hell are you!?"
The drunk man cursed, trying to struggle but only making his wrist hurt more, causing him to groan involuntarily.
"Let him go!" Seeing this, the drunk man's companion flew into a rage and threw a punch at Shiroya.
They had been lording over this area for a while, relying on the drunk man's brother who happens to be a Promoter, and had long stopped caring about others.
Shiroya easily deflected the punch, his fingers forming a claw and quickly gripping the drunk companion's throat.
"Ugh... ugh...!"
The man struggled in pain, his hands weakly resting on Shiroya's iron grip, unable to move him an inch.
A feeling of suffocation came over him, and he even felt his soul was in a state of dissociation.
'What the hell!? How is this brat so fast? He's almost as quick as my brother, and he is a Promoter. Could this guy also be a Promoter?'
The man felt a chill in his heart. This time, he had bitten off more than he could chew. The physical attributes of a Promoter were far beyond those of ordinary people. Even if there were ten of him, he wouldn't be a match for this brat.
Shiroya sneered contemptuously. He had just scanned these two with the System, and as expected, their attribute values fluctuated around 5, completely fitting the system's definition of ordinary people.
'This is going to be child's play...'
'Just kidding.'
Before crossing over, he was a member of his country's elite mercenaries, with attributes a little more than twice that of ordinary people. If he couldn't handle two ordinary people, that would be strange.
"Let me go you brat! My brother is a Promoter at the Matsushita Civil Security Company. He's very powerful. If you offend me, you won't have a good time!" the drunkard threatened. {T/N: Nah, your brother will get his face slapped, and Shiroya will go on to destroy your whole clan and hidden elders 😑...}
"Let go quickly, and I will pretend today's incident never happened!"
Seeing his companion instantly subdued, the other drunk man panicked, sobering up considerably. Someone with such skills was not someone they could deal with, so he had to pretend to beg for mercy.
As long as this brat was still in Sakura City, he could be found easily with his brother's skills.
By then, no matter how powerful the brat was, the combination of a Promoter and an Initiator would be enough to crush this brat and avenge him.
The drunk man, though accustomed to doing evil, was still clever. Seeing the situation was not in his favor, he brought up his brother.
Shiroya just smiled indifferently and mocked, "Turns out you're a weakling and a coward. At your age, you're still lording over the streets and bullying homeless kids,"
Shiroya cursed back in the same tone the drunk man had used to curse the little blind girl, making the man's face turn red with shame and anger.
He struggled desperately, already harboring a grudge against Shiroya.
"Pathetic."
Seeing the two's weakness, Shiroya instantly lost interest. Anyway, he had already obtained the information he wanted. Whether these two lived or died depended on their fate.
Thinking of this, he grabbed one in each hand and threw them off the overpass.
"Ahhh!!!"
The two screamed in terror as they plummeted rapidly towards the moat below the overpass. Soon, there was a splash, and they disappeared into the water, their fate unknown.
…
"Sir... sir... Thank you..."
Although Saori couldn't see, she could roughly deduce from the sounds that the person in front of her had confronted those men and saved her from an inevitable beating.
Shiroya took out a wad of cash from the Inventory and gently placed it in the girl's hand. This money should be enough for her to live well for a while... {T/N: a kind and very good gesture, though unwise in my opinion... I mean, a blind homeless child with a wad of cash in a place like this? After what just almost be fell her a moment ago? 😢}
"Don't come to this street again," he advised.
This was all he could do. This world was already broken, and the fear and oppression brought by the Gastrea had magnified the darkness in people's hearts.
This wasn't something he could change in a short time.
'Oh my god. How much money did this gentleman just give me?'
"N- no, sir, you've given me too much. I can't accept this much..."
Saori panicked. She had been begging for so many years but had never held such a thick wad of money. From the feel and certain special marks on the bills, she could tell these were real.
The little girl was still very naive, thinking that Shiroya had probably given her all the money he had worked hard to earn over the course of several months.
Naturally, she wanted to refuse immediately. Holding this money made her uneasy.
Shiroya couldn't help but look at the girl with admiration and proposed a condition, "How about this, I'll ask you one thing, and if you can answer me, all this money will be yours..."
The girl clearly needed money, but she is still able stick to her moral principles. This was much better than many able-bodied people in this world.
The little girl hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, "Please ask, sir."
As Shiroya had guessed, the girl indeed needed money. She had a younger sister in their temporary basement residence.
Her sister, like her, was a 'Cursed Child', a status that had led to their abandonment by their parents since birth.
By begging, they could barely get by with one meal a day.
But just a few days ago...
When her sister went out, her identity was somehow exposed, and she was shot in the leg by a passing police officer. Now, she was extremely weak and desperately needed money.
"Do you know where I can find any traces of Cursed Children around here?"
Shiroya asked calmly.
He had not forgotten the task given to him by the Destiny System, 'to find a trustworthy Initiator partner within seven days'.
Upon hearing this, the little girl's heart tightened instantly. Her small hand clutched the money tightly, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Why was the gentleman asking such a question?
Could he be following her sister's trail?
Is he a member of the Civil Security?
Could he be here to eliminate them?
...
{T/N: Anyone who's watched the first 3 Episodes of the Anime will know how brutal the people are towards these kids... Only the strong hearted can continue watching past that point...}