#32 Ruby
"PLEASE MAKE ME STRONG!!!" The white-haired girl cried out in a strong voice while she was kneeling and bowing her head down.
At first, when Ren saw her act, disappointment could be seen in his eyes. He never liked those who lacked self-worth and easily accepted humiliation to preserve their life, however, he recalled that this was a little girl who was around 6 years old plus he didn't know her situation but living in slums didn't leave much space to become strong. His disappointment immediately disappeared from his eyes and instead sighed.
"Why do you want to become strong? You could ask me to help you solve the problem." Ren asked the girl in an apathetic voice. He wanted to test her first if she answered his questions to his expectations then he might make her stronger but if she would fail then he would at most help with her problem since he already helped her once.
"I want to get revenge with my own hands! Plus if I got help in this matter then what would I do if something similar happened in the future?" The girl lifted her head and answered in a resolute voice while kneeling.
Ren could see killing intent when she said the first part about revenge and then he could see the wisdom in her eyes when she said the second part. This greatly pleased him and her answers exceeded his expectations.
Slums definitely tempered her mind and made her much mature than her peers. Although the second part she said might appeared as standard knowledge, however, she was after all only a little girl.
Ren nodded and continued his questioning: "Why do you think I can help you get stronger?"
"I saw mister's speed and strength when you appeared behind that thug with a knife and knocked him out. Plus I could feel mister's strong aura which indicates that you killed a lot of people." The girl answered with respect in her voice.
'Although I didn't especially conceal it that time it still shows that she is natural in reading one's aura.' This impressed Ren and he even smiled inwardly, however, outside he still maintained his poker face.
Ren nodded and continued in cold voice: "What will I get from helping you?"
At first the girl was pretty shocked by this question, however, she quickly recovered and gritted her teeth before saying: "I will never forget mister's help and I will become mister's loyal follower and defend mister's life with my own."
Although the girl hesitated a bit since she didn't know Ren much, she didn't even know his name! But despite this, she still said this sincerely in a strong voice.
When Ren heard the part about protecting him, he almost chuckled but he was able to hold it back. Everything in her answer pleased him, be it her hesitation since it was a big decision for her but most importantly of all, she still had self-worth and didn't say that she would do anything or become his slave.
"Tell me about your situation and I want to know everything!" Ren asked with a bit of interest
The girl took a deep breath before she started to talk: "I never met my parents, all I can remember are Slums from Capital, however, there were still some good people who took pity for little kids and took care of them. In my case, it was the big sister Lily who took care of me while I was still 2 years old. Everything was fine at first, we didn't starve much but everything changed not long ago when the leader of a smaller gang took a liking to Lily. She was rejecting his advances, however, after a few rejections, he started harassing us and Lily decided to confront him about it, however, instead of holding a normal conversation, he... he ordered his lackeys to immobilize us. We wanted to run but we were only 2 against many. He forced himself on Lily and tore her clothing and started to ---- rape her while forcing me to watch!!!"
In this part, the girl had thick killing intent all around her. When Ren heard this he only sighed, he had imagination what kind of world were Slums so it wasn't that shocking to him but he still felt displeased.
The girl took another deep breath to calm herself and continued:
"But that wasn't all, after raping big sister Lily he said that she was worthless and let his lackeys rape her again, in the end, Lily died of exhaustion because of their constant harassment earlier she was starving and already was exhausted before that event. After she died, they locked me up, only after a few days, I was able to knock out a man who was in charge of feeding me and took his keys and I run away and not long after that I met with mister."
Ren was quietly listening to her story, however, when he heard part how that leader even let his lackeys rape that woman, his eyes turned even colder. Ren totally despised rapists and he felt disgusted by them, not to mention such extreme situations as this. Ren wasn't a kind person, more like a cold-hearted murderer but still, if he would ever see any rapist in action he would immediately behead them even if they wouldn't provoke him. He never regarded them as humans.
Ren decided to test her for the last time before he helps her. He released a small amount of killing intent towards the girl. The girl felt his killing intent and she turned a bit restless and started sweating a lot but still remained in kneeling position not daring to move. She took a deep breath and resolved herself to look into Ren's eyes after a minute of eye contact Ren finally retracted his killing intent.
By now the girl was already breathing heavily and had to use her hands to support her balance.
"Weren't you afraid that I will do something bad to you?" Ren asked while looking strangely at her.
"Does mister mean a previous minute or when I decided to secretly follow mister?" The girl asked.
"Both." Ren said.
"For the previous minute, I am pretty powerless so even if mister wanted to do something I wouldn't be able to protect myself. As for the situation before I secretly followed mister, although mister killed a lot of people, I still thought that mister is kind." The girl sincerely answered.
When Ren heard the part about him being kind he actually chuckled which greatly surprised the girl.
"Stop right there. I am not someone of the kind nature. If you think that I am kind because I helped you and gave you money then you are mistaken. I did it only because I liked your eyes. I thought you are going to buy some food, tools, and weapons to take care of your problems but it seems that there are too many people against you. Also, stop being so polite, the name's Ren" Ren explained.
When the girl heard his name her eyes brightened up because she knew that it means that Ren was considering whether to help her or not.
"If mist- I mean if you want the money back I still have them!" The girl said in a happier tone and extended her hand with the sack of gold Ren gave her.
When Ren saw the sack he frowned and thought: 'She was able to live through the entire week without spending anything while hiding from that gang?'
"You can keep it. 1 MONTH" Ren said.
"Huh?" The girl looked at Ren with a confused face
"I will train you for 1 month then I want you to extract your revenge! I will provide you with meals for 1 week after that you are on your own. I hope you can live up to my expectations... What's your name?" Ren said in a strong voice
"Big sister Lily granted me the name Ruby" Ruby answered in high spirit since she could finally become strong but she also felt the pressure of 1 month. 'Will I be able to get strong enough in 1 month? NO! I must get strong enough!'
Ruby shook her head to get rid of depressing and demotivating thoughts.
"Are you ready to start training now Ruby?" Ren asked with a serious face. He had no experience in teaching someone from the start so he has to take it seriously.
Ruby hid her excitement and nodded with a serious face.