Estero was a small village located on the small continent of Montia, a continent surrounded by mountains.
Montia was known as the weakest of the four continents in power and resources, but despite that, even a small village like Estero in the continent didn't seem to be lacking much.
The village mostly thrived on crop farming and fishing and their market was known to be one of the most visited in the Northern country of Montia.
It was another bright and sunny day in the village of Estero; the village inhabitants were busy going about their day and the marketplace, as usual, was filled with a lot of people, mostly buyers from various places.
The place was mostly filled with scents of fresh fruits and vegetables, but on the other side of the market was the not-so-pleasant and nauseating odours from fish.
Today, a very particular young buyer seemed to have found his way into the marketplace.
Seeing how young he was, anyone who could be bothered enough to pay attention would think that he was lost in the marketplace as he didn't seem to have any adult with him.
However, that didn't seem to be the case, his bright brown eyes shone with amazement as he continuously looked around.
"This is my first time coming to the market alone." He sounded elated as he turned to the bag in his left hand.
It was a white bag made of fabric, and it seemed to be filled up about halfway.
"I guess cabbage is the last item on the list."
He turned to his left at that moment to see a cabbage stall with just one cabbage left on the table, a cabbage he didn't have any chance of getting as there was someone just about to grab it.
However, just as the person was about to grab the cabbage, a big pebble came flying from his right, hitting the table and forcing him to pull back his hand.
"What the….where did that come from?" The man asked in a bit of panic as he quickly looked around.
After not finding anything, he turned back to the cabbage to find a small boy holding firmly onto it.
"How much for the cabbage sir?" He asked, looking up at the seller.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The man asked, sounding quite irritated.
"Huh?" The boy responded before turning to him. "Buying the cabbage of course." He shrugged.
"What do you mean buying the cabbage, I was here first?" The man claimed.
"I didn't see you when I grabbed the cabbage."
"What do you mean? I was clearly about to grab it when someone threw a stone here. Where did that stone even come from?"
"I'll sell the cabbage to the person currently holding it." The seller intervened, not wanting the situation to escalate any further.
"Did you hear that, sir?" The boy asked, turning to the man, a subtle smug expression on his face.
"Darn stone, where did that even come from?" The man ticked as he turned around before proceeding to walk away.
'I thought he was going to accuse me of throwing it, but I guess not everyone loves to make baseless accusations.' The boy thought.'Well, it's not like it matters, no one would be able to figure out where that stone came from, no matter how deeply they investigate.'
With his competitor gone, he was able to complete the purchase of the cabbage.
His next destination was home, but just as he turned around, he caught the whiff of something familiar and appetising.
"Roast fish."
That was when he discovered that the store opposite was selling roasted fish.
"Now, let's see." He said as he opened his hands to reveal two silver coins. "Good thing I watched closely whenever mom was bargaining with sellers."
He hurried over to the fish stand and was in the process of buying one when he felt something quite fast heading toward him.
"Huh?"
The other people around him couldn't see it, but when he quickly turned around at that moment, he saw someone about his height covered with a black hood.
The person turned to him for a split second, revealing a pair of emerald green eyes.
After that, the person disappeared among the crowd and out of sight.
"I didn't know people could move that fast." He muttered as he turned around to pick up his fish.
'None of my business.' He shrugged before taking a bite of the fish.
His marketplace mission was now officially completed, so it was time to head home.
Enjoying his fish snack, he exited the marketplace and was about to start heading home when he heard the sound of something crashing on the ground.
The sound came from his left, and normally he could have just ignored it as nothing, but something didn't feel right to him.
Toward that direction was a wooden storehouse which happened to be locked, so whatever that was must have come from behind the storehouse.
He decided to slowly approach the area until he suddenly heard what sounded like the groan of a little girl and it was quite loud.
"Are they bullying a girl?"
Increasing his speed, he got to the storehouse in no time, and using it as a cover, he peeped behind it to see a small hooded figure dashing toward three men. But then she suddenly disappeared in the middle of the dash.
"Huh?"
The next moment, she was in front of the man in the middle with a dagger in her hand.
However, she didn't get the chance to swing that dagger as the man caught her by the throat before she could do so and then proceeded to knock the dagger off her hand.
The girl was left struggling and groaning now as she tried to pull the man's hand off her neck.
"I'd advise you to stop struggling so much." The man said before throwing her forward.
She crashed down on the ground, coughing extremely as she rubbed her neck.
"I don't know what brought you to Montia but I have to thank you for making our job easier."
The girl was growling at men now, her eyes filled with hostility and a murderous intent.
"I told you to stop struggling but I guess you're willing to struggle till the end." The man sighed. "Fine then, suit yourself."
'What is going on here?' The boy thought, still watching from behind the storehouse.
"I just got a wonderful idea." The man smiled satisfyingly as he picked up the dagger he forced the girl to drop.
It was a specially designed dagger; the tip was slightly curved, and the handle had the initial LK intricately engraved on it and filled with green gemstones.
"It would be nice to deliver your body to your father with your specially designed dagger stabbed into your heart."
The grin on his face grew wider before he burst into a feat of laughter, the two beside him gladly joining.
"Bastard." The girl managed to force out with a hoarse voice.
"Bastard?"
His laughter, suddenly came to a halt as he shot her a quick gaze, a serious expression on his face now.
"Let's hear you say that again when this goes through your heart!"
He launched the dagger forward just after saying that, and just like he said, he was aiming for her heart.
The helpless girl couldn't do anything to save herself from the current situation, all she could do was close.
Surprisingly, the moment she did that, she felt her body getting lifted by someone.
"Huh?"
She opened her eyes at that moment to find herself in the arms of a boy who, for some reason, was now holding the dagger that was thrown at her.
After lifting her, he proceeded to jump back, to create more distance between them and the killers.
"Are you okay?" He asked just after dropping her back on the floor.
"Mmm." She nodded after looking up at him.
'That was her.' He thought as his mind flashed back to that particular moment when he was buying fish.
"Hey, kid." The man called, the grin on his face growing even wider.
"Yeah, what's up?" He responded as he got up on his feet.
"You know you can't leave here alive now that you've gotten involved in this."
"By getting involved in this, you mean getting in the way of three grown men bullying a little girl?" He retorted.
"I see you've got a big mouth there huh." The man huffed before turning to the one on his right. "Get me his tongue, make sure it's a painful process."
Heeding the command, the man quickly made his way to the boy, who just stood there and watched him get closer.
He could feel the girl pulling his legs, telling him to run, but with a smile, he reassured her that it was okay.
"You could have gotten a painless death if you had kept your mouth shut." The man said just after stopping in front of him.
Just after saying that, he sent his flying toward the boy.
"Really?"
As soon as those words escaped from his lips, some sort of portal opened in front of him, and another one in front of the man whose fist had almost hit his face.
The man's fists quickly went into the portal and popped out through the one in front of him, leading him to punch himself quite.
"Ughhhh." The man groaned as he stumbled backwards.
Acting quickly while he was stumbling back, the boy pulled out some sort of ball from his pocket and smashed it on the ground.
The area was suddenly covered in green smoke, and the moment the man inhaled it, he crashed down on the floor now unconscious.
The other two quickly covered their noses before the other one on the left quickly blasted a wind blast from his hand toward the smoke, quickly dispersing it.
However, the two kids that were there before the smoke were nowhere to be found now.
Boiling with rage, the man folded his left hand into a fist and bit into his lower lip.
"When I catch that brat, I'm not just going to cut his tongue, I'm going to dig his eyes out too and feed them to him."