These people are indeed gifted.
But their fate was even more tragic than the others.
Gifted people have certain abilities from birth, but they can't use them right away. These abilities are hidden in their bodies, and they don't know when they'll suddenly awaken. Among these wandering gifted people, some awakened their abilities when they were young and hid in these dark corners to avoid being hunted down. Some of them suddenly awakened their powers after they grew up. The attention they receive is more pronounced than that of the lesser children. If the awakening occurs in a place where no one is around, they can try to hide it, but if it occurs in a large hall, or even in front of their family, then things can become very troublesome.
Since the Marco Kingdom has set up monitoring posts at all entrances and exits of the city, those who do not have the ability to escape can only stay in these filthy slums, cowering like rats. After all, in the city, except for the inns and gates where the flow of people is relatively large, the rest of the people do not have that kind of equipment to check the natural ability, so they can occasionally buy some food in the slums, and just live a half-dead life. They were able to buy some food in the slums and live on half-dead. But it doesn't mean that they can feel at ease here, for these gifted people, there is no essential difference between the dirty slums and the bright and clean residential areas, but it is more dangerous. For these gifted people, the dirty slums are not essentially different from the bright homes, but more dangerous. The ordinary people who live here because of poverty, hunger and other reasons will not see these guys as their companions. If they found out, the only thing that would happen to the Gifted would be that they would be sold out by those who were just as poor as they were, in exchange for hot food and shiny coins.
After all, the Gifted are not human.
It's a monster.
"Uncle Chick he ... was found when he went outside with us to buy bread. In order to cover us, he ..."
Here, the youngster looks angry.
"We thought we were safe, but we didn't expect to meet Uncle Chick's wife there. ..."
"Wife?"
Jared raised his eyebrows slightly .
"It's that smelly woman in the crowd with the two kids just now!!!"
The boy grunted, obviously quite displeased.
"Uncle Chick married that dead woman when he was still an ordinary man, and he worked his ass off to support her and his two children, but as soon as his powers awakened, the woman sold him out! Hmph! If Uncle Chick hadn't run away so fast, he would have been burned at the stake that day!!! I've always wondered why Uncle Chick didn't kill that woman and kept her until now. ..."
"All right, all right, cut the crap."
Jared didn't have much interest in these boring things, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a money bag, throwing it in front of the men. When those people saw the golden coins, their eyes immediately brightened.
"You're ...."
"I need you guys to do one thing."
Jared's face was expressionless, his tone cold as ice.
"But I want to ask you first, do you want to take revenge, do you want to make sure that the country that brutalized you, and these people, are punished as they should be?"
"Sure!!! But ..."
With Jared's words, the crowd became excited for a moment, but they soon fell silent, looking at each other uneasily. Obviously, even if they were to gather all these people, they would still be weak, not to mention that they were facing a country. The Marco Kingdom itself has a strong military power, and although the hatred between these gifted people and their own country can never be dissolved, at the same time, their fear is also very hard to disappear.
"Listen, I have a plan."
Jared suddenly smiled faintly, mixed with incomparable confidence, which made the original somewhat panicked crowd temporarily quieted down, gazing expectantly at the man in front of them.
"I'm here to tell you in no uncertain terms that this city will be in flames tonight. You have time to go to the prison and get your companions out, and after that, I need you to leave the city, go somewhere else, and find your companions."
"What do you ... you mean by that?"
"In the rest of the city, there should be guys who have suffered the same fate as you. Go find them and tell them there's still hope for victory. Of course, it won't be easy for them to believe you, but that's not a problem. Just tell them that other cities will be destroyed next, and I'm sure the facts will speak for themselves. At that point, they'll definitely believe you."
Here, Jared paused for a moment, waiting for the crowd to fully digest his words before he continued.
"And after that, you can do whatever you want."
"What ... what is it?"
"Loot, kill, burn, everything, you don't need to take over a city or have a stronghold, remember, you're a pack of lone wolves, kill and leave, just be responsible for creating a panic. How's that for a simple mission?"
The crowd looked uneasily at each other, recalled, then hesitantly questioned.
"Then, my lord ... if those soldiers come to surround us, if they come to kill us ..."
"At that time, you can only rely on yourselves, of course, if you still like this kind of life now, I do not force it."
With that said, Jared turned and walked away, not caring at all for the group, abandoning them once again to the darkness of the shadows.
"Dad, I don't understand."
Gina rushed to follow, and at the same time asked her question in disbelief.
"Why don't we absorb these people? They are also gifted warriors, and will increase our combat power ..."
"There is no need to increase our fighting strength ..."
Jared shook his head.
"The three of us, you, me and Caroline, are more than enough to blow the palace to the ground, and we don't need the help of extra combatants and cannon fodder in that goal, Gina."
At this point, he reached over and stroked Gina's head before continuing.
"But that doesn't throw the country into chaos, into panic. My goal is not to create a new order and a new country. My goal is not that great. If that were my idea, then I could take these people in. But I don't want to, and I can't. Remember, Gina, our job is to disrupt, to destroy the order, the security, the military power and everything in this country. All we have to do is create the opportunity for someone else to do it. Besides, I don't trust these people. As much as they act like they're on the same page under heavy pressure now, the first chance they get, they'll try to climb up, fight for power, and be no different than regular humans."
Jared turned the corner again, and the body that had been slumped in the sewage was gone, a small, dry, skinny hand taking the place of the original body, apparently the price left by the loser of a later scramble.
"As I said, I hate heroes and never wanted to be one. That's why I won't stand up for these Gifted, they have to do the job themselves, not have me tell them how to do it. If they can't do it on their own, then they deserve to perish."
It's called fate.
Jared didn't say it, because even he didn't believe it.
Caroline sat in a chair, sipping a delicious cup of black tea. Kula was sitting beside her, holding a doll in her arms, a confused look of sleep but not awake, like a completely unguarded doll as beautiful, but also heartbreaking.
(Kula?)
"Woo meow?"
Kula raised her head and looked at Caroline curiously. Caroline, on the other hand, hesitated slightly, there were things that both she and Jared were confused about, but now, it was time to ask questions.
（I apologize if I've upset you. But I'd really like to know, why us?)
Caroline's question seemed a little confusing, but it hit the nail on the head.
Why us?
If it was a coincidence in the desert town before. When they entered the San Marino Empire, at the academy, and even now, Kura has always been helping them, even casting magic for them that she's never used before. Not to mention, like now, going deep into the enemy's country with them to do sabotage. After all, she wasn't a normal magician, but a member of the Academy Council, the center of power in the San Marino Empire, and one of the five Great Chanting Ambassadors. Why would she follow Jared and the others on this mission? This is a very confusing question.
"Woo Meow ..."
Facing Caroline's question, Kura slowly moved her body, then she raised her head, opened her eyes very rarely, and gazed at Caroline attentively.
"Because Kula loves you guys so much yo ..."
The tone of voice was still lazy, but somehow there was an obvious seriousness and sincerity to it.
"You guys are the only ones who really care about Kura, Kura has never been woken up by anyone yet yo..."
Caroline flinched slightly .
In fact, she hadn't understood what was going on inside Kura's mind, and when Kura said that, Caroline seemed to finally understand what Kura was feeling.
She's lonely.
That's why he's staying with them.
It's impossible for an Aria in the highest position not to be cared for, but it's obvious to Kura that those people's concern is utilitarian. They were only worried about their own health for the sake of the country. This kind of correct and irrefutable argument made Kura very disgusted, but Jared and Caroline were obviously different, they didn't belong to the San Marino Empire and didn't need to worry about the affairs of this country. Therefore, whatever their attitude towards Kula, they acted from their own subjective point of view.
"Kula has been waiting, like a sleeping princess in a fairy tale, awakened by a prince, waiting for you ..."
Kura seemed to be talking to herself as she fiddled with the doll in her arms.
"But on that street, only brother Jared and sister Caroline cared about my situation, yo. And, every time Kura falls asleep, only Jared's brother dares to wake Kura up. ... And ..."
Kura suddenly looked up, her eyes clear, yet faintly sad.
"It's been a long time since anyone has dared to hold Kula like this. ..."
Her tone was heavy, and for a moment, it seemed as if she had become extremely sad. But then Kura's tone changed back to its original indifference.
"So so so, Kula's favorite brother and sister, it's more fun to spend time with you guys. ..."
(This way ...)
Caroline smiled softly, it was obvious that Kura didn't want to talk about it. Moreover, Caroline was also keenly aware that this originally laid-back girl did not seem as relaxed as she appeared to be. So she decided to drop the subject and not pursue it any further. At that moment, Jared and Gina came over, greeted her and sat down.
(How's the preparation going?)
"Everything's in place. We're moving tonight."
Jared looked around, and said succinctly.
And just then, a slender hand suddenly reached behind her and pulled back the chair.
"It's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, and you're drinking black tea?"
Before the crowd could react, a hot, long-haired black woman had already sat herself down, wearing close-fitting leather armor and proudly displaying her breasts to the crowd without any cover. The woman ignored the stares of Jared and the others and snapped her fingers at her boss.
"Give me a glass of the strongest wine!"
With that, she leaned back, her long, dark tail wagging proudly, while her white, nimble fingers moved slightly, taking out a small knife.
"Long time no see, I didn't expect to see you guys here, it's really a strange encounter ah ... This time counts as my treat okay."
"... What are you?"
Jared asked in a cold voice while holding down Gina, who was subconsciously trying to make a move.
"Me?"
The woman's reptilian eyes rolled around, stuck out her tongue and licked her red lips, only then did she stop the action that had been polishing the small horns on her forehead, and leaned back, gazing triumphantly at the Kura in front of her.
"It's been a long time, Berukelin. Have you finally learned the benefits of exercise after crawling around like a lazy cat all day?"
"Phew ..."
Kula fell into a deep sleep, seemingly completely unconcerned.
"Hey!!!"
The woman's face was a little hard to bear, but all she could do in the end was to shrug her shoulders and turn apologetically to the other three.
"I'm sorry, I'm late with my introduction ... My name is Charlost Xumi Saraska Rumundo Iganol. Because this name is long and troublesome, you can just call me Eganol."
The master of the Five Yew Towers, the Towers of Hiryan, Eganol, finished introducing himself to the crowd as if nothing had happened.