1.3. Kind Guard

"It's Oxyelle, sir."

Saying this the girl pulled herself up and sat on one of the table's chairs, still holding her stomach as she kicked her feet.

"Oxyelle huh? Quite the strange name I'd say, where are your parents, Oxyelle?"

"Thanks! I came up with the name myself. My parents abandoned me, so I don't know where they are, I live alone."

"..."

Going silent the man's face palmed himself in his head. Why would you ask a child from the slums about their family situation? They were sure to be in a bad one. Sighing he found his bag of coins and pulled out two silver coins.

"Here you go, Oxyelle. Take these coins and buy yourself something to eat at a restaurant called "Jesse's Query" they'll treat you well."

"How do I get there?"

"Hmm, just head straight after going through the gate until you get to the fountain in the center of the city, then when you spot the large building with a large sign of a sword and spear.

Across from that building will be the restaurant, it'll also have a sign on its roof as well, the sign will be a question mark next to a plate of food."

Receiving the coins Oxyelle took a moment to process the directions she was just given. She also looked at the silver coins that were just placed in her hand and thought that he gave her a lot of money.

If she wasn't wrong one silver was quite a bit of money, being ten coppers and she was given two, so twenty copper. But she was hungry, hungry, and broke therefore she was inclined to accept the money.

"... I see… What is your name sir?"

"You may call me Aberdeen, child."

"Well, thank you, Sir Abe! I will be sure to pay you back shortly."

Oxyelle wasn't one to appreciate owing someone, so she would do her best to find a way to make some money quickly to pay Abe back.

Her words and shortening of his name brought out a hearty laugh from the man as he ruffled Oxyelle's dirty hair.

"Sure sure, run along now kid. I hope you get some good food."

Not saying anything else, Oxyelle hopped off the chair and ran out of the box, entering the city. She did not look back as she made her onto the bustling streets of the capital.

She stopped herself to get a good look at the area, and it was filled with people dressed significantly better than her. There might not have been people wearing high-quality silk but they were certainly wearing clothes of higher quality.

The people were also clean, they had relatively well taken care of skin and their hair was clear and clean, not like hers where you could barely tell that its original color was green.

As they caught her gaze she also caught some herself, there were looks of pity coming in her direction there was a certain sadness when seeing a child in a poor situation. Of course, there were some gazes of disdain, not everyone was sympathetic toward the poor.

Oxyelle was used to such stares so she was able to simply ignore them and move forward to the plaza.

There were many people in the plaza, she did not look for the restaurant first as the first thing that caught her sight was the large castle towering a short distance away from her.

The plaza also had many guards and knights around the place, there were storefronts all around the plaza, and unlike when she first entered the city there were now a few people she spotted that were dressed in fine silks.

There was a woman with platinum blonde hair who was a dazzling beauty, she was wearing a dress that was slightly defining her figure. Around that woman there were men and women dressed in suits and maid uniforms, she was certainly a noblewoman.

Not wanting to get caught staring and put into trouble, Oxyelle looked for the large building with the sword and spear sign. Burly men and women wearing armor and armed with weapons were entering the said building's entrance.

Finding it, she looked at the building across from it and spotted the sign of the question mark and food.

Making sure the money was still there she dug her hands into her pants pocket, and in an instant, she was almost put into a panic before she let out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one."

When she was digging in her pocket she thought she lost her coins, there was a small hole in her pocket and it frightened her. Thankfully they didn't fall out.

Walking over to the restaurant she ignored the gazes painted on her. Since the knight had told her to come here she had assumed that they would even welcome a peasant like her, as long as they had money at least.

Getting to the front of the restaurant she walked past a man standing in front of it and continued to the entrance.

"Hey."

Still walking, she assumed the person wasn't calling out to her.

"Hey!"

Being tugged on her arm, Oxyelle was forced to fall back on her rear, gasping from the short bout of pain.

She felt the grip on her arm tighten as she looked up and caught sight of the glare contained within the man's eyes.

The man towered over her childish figure as he glared down at her, the scene looked as if a grown man was bullying a child. Which… was the reality of the situation.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Seeing as the man had no plans to release her Oxyelle sighed and got up from the ground. The man's shouting had attracted a bit of attention.

"Well… I was told I could come here to get some food. Can you let go, please?"

The man didn't loosen his grip a single bit, instead, it increased, and his glare didn't falter either.

"With what money? I'm sure you don't have a penny to spend on food. Leave, we don't welcome your filthy money here."

Wow, just wow. That was the thought that immediately came to her head upon hearing these words, at the entrance she was directly being shooed away.

"But I do have money!"

"Oh, where I don't see it. Let me see."

"Why would I show it to you? Are you trying to rob me!? I already have very little, but when I'm trying to feed myself after a long while you try to stop me from doing that!

"What did I ever do to you?!"

Oxyelle, wanting to drag more attention to them, began shouting at the man while putting on the most pitiful look she could.

"Is he serious? Stealing from a child, a poor one at that."

"What shameful behavior."

"He ought to throw himself in prison."

"He ain't any better than those Maroe bandits up in the mountains."

"Did his mother not teach him well enough?"

Her pitiful act worked splendidly as the people watching on the sidelines began to mock and comment on his current actions.

Wanting him to let her go age opened her mouth wide and chomped down on his arm, bringing a yelp out of him.

"Why you little! Street rats like you need to be taught their place."

Oxyelle watched the man raise his hand, preparing to strike her, and closed her eyes; bracing for the hit.

"Stop what you're doing right this instant!"

Just in time a group of knights rushed over and subdued the man, slamming his head into the ground.

"Sirs I'm misunderstood. I work as security for Jesse's Query. I was just trying to get the child to leave because I was afraid she'd steal something."

"Lies! I came with money, you just wanted me to leave because you don't like how I look!"

Taking out her coins, Oxyelle showed them to one of the knights who only glanced at them before dragging the man to his legs by the collar.

"First you attempt to rob a child then you try to paint them as a criminal, shame on you. We're taking you down to jail where you shall await your sentence."

"Hey wait!!"

The man tried to struggle out of the knight's grasp but he was far too weak to do so, his struggling only led to vain.

"What's all the commotion out here?"

Bursting out of the entrance to the restaurant was a dark-skinned woman with shoulder-length dreaded hair, she held an annoyed expression on her face as she looked over the current situation. Seeing her security being detained and a peasant girl with a bruise on her arm she repeated her question.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, Jesse. This man here was assaulting and attempting to rob this peasant girl. He said that he was the security here?"

"Hmm?"

Jesse hummed in curiosity as her gaze shifted over to Oxyelle. She started at her for a moment and scanned her body for any injuries then she turned to the detained man.

"Help Miss Jesse! I was only trying to do my job and get rid of this street urchin for you."

The man's response and his petty attitude towards the little peasant girl only elicited a sigh from Jesse.

"Harris."

"...?"

Jesse suddenly calling out the struggling man's name caused him to quiet down.

"You're fired, take him out of my sight, please. This is annoying."

Waving her hand she signaled for the knights to take him away.

"Right away Jesse. Hope you have a lovely day."

Bidding her adieu, the knights forcibly pulled the man to his feet and began to drag him away.

"Jesse! I can't believe you'd do this! And after everything I've done for you!"

The crowd that had formed early parted and made way for the knights and Harris, who was yelling out at Jesse from the top of his lungs. His words brought out a few laughs from the spectators and a sigh from Jesse.

The spectators began to return to their business as the entertainment was gone.

Still some distance away, not having joined the crowd of spectators. The lavish woman with platinum blonde hair was gazing in Oxyelle's direction with curiosity In her gaze. She spoke to one of her servants before stepping onto her carriage.

"Fool. Like anything I have is due to you."

Shaking her head, Jesse looked down at the little girl with dirty green hair and she caught the girl smiling. Her grin practically stretched across her face.

"Ha! Are you happy that everything has gone how you wanted, little girl?"

Oxyelle looked up at the domineering lady. Her grin not faltering and with a nod of her head, she spoke out in a cheery tone.

"Very."