Chapter7

"Rio, now that's a unusual name."

"...I'm a migrant child, so"

"I see... so that's why your hair is black. Would you mind if I ask you some questions, Rio?"

'Go ahead." Rio nodded.

Have you seen a girl with lavender hair around here by any chance. We're currently looking for her?"

"Sorry, I haven't seen anyone like that..." Rio said while he shook his head. *But your probably too late, he didn't add.

He couldn't imagine a child from another district reaming unharmed after wandering into the slums. To residents of the slums, even a commoners clothes can be resold at a ridiculous amount. if the aforementioned girl was related to the four standing infront of Rio, the she'll probably be wearing high-quality clothes— those would have been long stripped from her by now. If se was lucky, that'd be all that was taken. She could end up at one of those brothel for men that had a taste in little girls.

"I see..." Celia voiced trailed of with disappointment. She took a breath and pulled herself together before asking. "The slums are past here right?"

"That's right."

"Is it a big area? Would we get lost if we went in?"

"It's pretty big, and the roads are a little complicated... are you going in?" Rio's eyes widen a little.

"Yes, we have to find this girl," Celia asserted without hesitation.

"I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why not?"

Celia tilted her head in puzzlement as, Rio looked at her from head to toe.

"...Your clothes are too nice. It's like your asking to be attacked. There aren't many out this early, but it's like your asking for trouble. Rio informed her politely.

Celia's eyes widen in surprise.

"He sure speaks well for an orphan" One of the smaller girls muttered.

"Ah, I see. It must really be a dangerous place." Celia said looking down on her outfit with a strained smile.

"This was a plainer robe too..." she mumbled to herself.

If Rio hadn't had Amakawa Haruto and personality within him he probably wouldn't have shared that information with celia. He especially wouldn't have bothered with the warning if it have been just Vanessa, who was overbearing, and two little girls.

They could have wander of and they'd in the slums for all he cared.

That's what he was supposed to feel at the bottom of his heart... yet, the man Amakawa Haruto was kind. Kind enough to stop a little girl who spoke to him with little of respect in her voice from wandering around in the slums.

"Umm... what kind of clothes do woman in the slums wear, then?"

"What do they wear? just usual commoners clothes worn down to rags. The are people in the slums in Nice clothes, too, but the the type to run wild in the slums."

"I see. that's very helpful." Celia nodded cutely in contemplation.

"By the way, you speak politely for an orphan. Do all orphans speak li you do?"

"...Who knows? My mother told me to speak before she died." Rio answered rather stiffly.

At seven years old, Rio didn't have any extensive vocabulary. But he knew that speaking rudely would make the men hit him, so he had to learn to speak while judging other people's moods. With his mother's original influence and Amakawa Haruto's personality returning to him, mentality had grown and changed his speech into an adults.

"S-sorry. I shouldn't have asked that" Celia apologized In a fluster.

"No, It's fine..." Rio answered rather listlessly.

"..."

Celia's eyes widened by a fraction, as though she had seen an unknown emotion deep within Rio's eyes.

"Celia, let's return after we change our clothes," Vanessa interrupted. She had been quietly watching on.

"What are you saying! we have to hurry or she'll—"

"That's right!"

The two small girls frantically protested.

"If our information is correct, we still have some time. Don't forget— we're moving against protocol. We cannot afford to make a wrong move and mess up the official search party's effort. Don't you agree m, Christina?"

"... Then let's hurry and buy the clothes." the little girl named Christina, frowning unhappily at Vanessa's explanation.

"Celia, are there any suspicious sources of essence nearby?"

"Umm... give me a moment. Zona Revelare!"

Celia took a deep breath and chanted some words that rio didn't recognise. A geometric circle began to rise from beneath her feet.

*Hm?*

A strange sensation immediately wash over Rio. It almost felt like some kind of... pulse. At that time, he could she a faint wave of light released from Celia herself. Was he hallucinating. Rio rubbed his eyes to check, when—

"Oh, you..."

Celia inspected rios face up close.

"What about the child" asked Vanessa

"My area search reacted to him. I adjusted my magic to react to a certain level of magic essence, which means this child has a fair amount of it flowing from him. He has the potential to use sorcery."

"Ah, right... even a orphan have potential." said Vanessa.

"That kid has essence?"

As Vanessa accepted the situation easily. Christina tilted her head doubtfully.

There are some humans outside of nobility with enough essence to use magic. Their parents might not have much essence, but they may have had an ancestor up the line that once did. Even so, none of that matters if they don't receive any training, since they won't be able to detect it otherwise. Most people go their whole lives unaware," Celia explained simply.

"Huh... Guess you can't judge everything by appearances," the still unnamed little girl

muttered.

"Hmm, makes sense... but he's still an orphan. Essence is irrelevant."

Vanessa shot a pointed look towards Rio.

*Magic?Essence? Was essence the strong pulse of light just now? I definitely felt something... but they say I shouldn't be able to detect it without training...? What does that mean?*

Rio listend to the conversation in confusion.

"Was there any suspicious essence reactions?"

"Nothing within the radius for 50 meters, at least. The only one caught by my search was this child here," Celia explained.

"I see." said Vanessa. "Sorry for making come out here, but you'd been a big help. Zona Revelare users are rare and no one else can compare to your search range."

The two continued there puzzling conversation, leaving Rio lost until, Celia broke off and turned to him again.

"thank you. This is for the information you gave us. Celia sad and handed a small sack full of of large silvers. Rio looked in the poach and he was shocked at what he saw.

"Is it not enough" Celia said.

"No, that's not it. It's actually more than enough. Thank you very much." Rio said to Celia, while bowing his head in gratitude.

"Just to be clear, this also serves as hush money. Forget what you saw and heard here," Celia said in a much colder tone.

"I understand" Rio nodded immediately.

These four were probably nobles, and Rio had absolutely no interest in sticking his neck into the troublesome business of nobility. Curiosity killed the cat, after all

"Well... thank you... for telling us so kindly." Celia thanked him awkwardly.

"It was my pleasure."

"Bye, then. Take care of yourself."

Celia seemed to have formed an attachment to the orphan during their short interaction, as she gave Rio a somewhat regretful smile from under her hood.

"Let's go, Celia."

"Yes."

The four of them turned on their heels and walked away from the entrance of the slums. Rio watched their retreating backs, straining his eyes when he noticed a strange light faintly flowing out of their bodies. With a gasp, he fixed his gaze down at his own body. The same faint light that the girls had was flowing out of himself. It wasn't a hallucination. He could both see and feel it. The light flowed through his entire body like the blood in his veins. It streamed out of his body endlessly, like water from a spring. The group of four gave off the most light in the descending order of Celia, Christina, Vanessa, and the one who might have been Christina's attendant. However, the amount of light flowing out of Rio's body was far greater than even Celia's.

When did this light first start to release out of him? Were Celia and the others aware of it? Such questions passed through Rio's mind, but he couldn't find an answer for any of them.

Can other people see this light too? Would it be bad if they noticed it?

In a panic, he focused on decreasing the amount of light coming out, only to find it was surprisingly compliant with his will. There was still some leaking out, but it was much less than Celia's group's, so it probably wouldn't be an issue. Rio sighed in relief.

Is this light "magic essence"...?

If it really was an essence, he should be able to do something with it intuitively. But attempting such actions without any knowledge of it risked things spiraling out of control, so he needed to pick a better time and place for experimenting with it.

It would be bad if he returned late as well, so Rio decided to head back to the shack for now.