I Knocked on the door incessantly. Patience had never been my strong suit. In this small form, I couldn't help but feel pathetic- something I never thought I'd become again. I of course held tightly to the sharpened stone that I'd made into a makeshift blade back when I needed to fend for myself in the outskirts.
I continued to knock, banging on the door with both my hands in a pitiful manner. It was clear this was going nowhere, and so starved for solutions I resorted to one last measure.
I opened my mouth, and screamed with as much vigor as I could possibly muster. It was most definitely unsightly but effective.
Almost instantly, the door swung open as a rather large man stood in its place. I stumbled back slightly from the sudden burst but found my balance, quickly hiding my hands behind me as I looked up. His eyes looked down, meeting mine, his expression one of clear annoyance of my antics.
I quietly sighed to myself as I looked back at him, the sheer difference in height and size made for quite a pitiful site. I quite liked my old body, which was the result of years of training . He did possess an admirable physique, but his most striking feature was his gleaming head as it literally rendered me blind as sunlight reflected fiercely off its polished surface. It looked… oddly like an egg.
Putting aside such thoughts I quickly turned my attention to the current scene in front of me.
"I got no food for you, go back to wherever you crawled out of" he said after scanning me top to bottom before dismissing me completely and turning away.
His eyes did seem to radiate with a certain amount of intensity which was a clear sign that he could use mana
'Probably not too well though considering that he's only a lackey, the bigger fish was inside'
Unwilling to let this opportunity go to waste so quickly, I quickly spoke up
"I want to work" I squeaked in a hoarse voice, the screaming earlier taking its toll on my voice.
The man stopped in his tracks as he turned back to face me once more, this time slight confusion overcoming his expression before he spoke.
"…..kid this ain't some fuxking joke, go away I don't have time to listen to some street rat begging me for work"
His words might've once fazed the old me but now I'd long surpassed such insecurities as I stared back at him, my gaze unwavering.
"I want to work" I repeated louder this time, staring him dead in the eye….or at least as much as I could without being blinded.
Veins seemed to bulge slightly from around his head as he regarded me with clear irritation.
"Look here you fucking brat, Adults are having some important business here and I cannot tolerate your bullshit attempts to scam me interrupt them" his voice exuding enough pressure for most kids to go running away as far as possible but I remained calm and still as I faced him.
This time, feeling my voice slightly recovered, I screamed, stretching my throat to its limit as I yelled
"I want to work"
He quickly turned back in worry before turning his gaze back to me in anger. His nose flaring as he shouted
"You fuc-"
I cut him off by lunging forward, driving the stone blade in my hands into into his foot
Immediately his face contorted as he went to grasp his foot, yelling in pain, as he hopped on to his other one. Seizing this opportunity, I squeezed past him inside, sprinting frantically up the stairs daring past abandoned rooms and a few men who failed to notice my presence as I peeked inside the rooms. At least my small stature was an advantage in that regard.
Finally, I came across the only door that was shut in the entire house. It was clearly of a different type than the rest of the other doors, seemed much sturdier and much harder to break through if one wanted to.
I slowly reached for the handle, barely grasping it even on my toes.
Ugh, how much longer would I have to be like this. It seemed as though I'd shrunken even smaller than when I first lived through this.
I shook my head , before moving my attention back to the door. Slowly, I twisted the handle and eased it open- just enough to gain a good view through the crack
The room itself was immediately different from the rest of the house, instead of the musty and run down look that all the other rooms provided, this provided a regal elegance as though it were its own space separate from the everything else in the building.
Two figures stood straight behind the couch that stood in the center of the room. In front of the couch, a kneeling figure heaved as they lowered their head till their forehead touched the ground.
The familiar stinging smell of iron filled my nose as I realized that the figure was bleeding rapidly, painting the floor with his own blood, yet he still kneeled before the one who sat comfortably on the couch. His wounds were enough to tell that he'd probably been tortured for awhile. To the point where I could not even tell what he looked like with his mangled body.
Seemed like I was a right, he was here after all. I held my breath as I continued to stare through the crack, observing the man who exuded authority in this gruesome scene. His facial features were obscured as he wore a smiling jester mask- the type that one would find at festivals- leaving only his ashen hair to be seen.
'Kgh…I- I'm so-sorry, e-enough, spare me pl-please'
He barely managed to eek out those words as he sobbed in pain, blood gushing from his mouth as he did so.
Even the two figures that stood behind the couch, looked uneasy as they displayed a grim expression. The only person who seemed indifferent , quietly stared at him behind the mask he wore.
Of course, I too didn't show much emotion, this type of sight was something that had become commonplace during the war. And considering this man's personality, he most likely did have a good reason for his actions.
The Masked man stood up, a simple steel sword in his grip as he walked towards the kneeling figure. With each step, a powerful pressure exuded from his body. his hand grasped at the hair of the kneeled figure as he pulled his head up to stare him the eyes dead in the eyes through the mask.
After a moment of silence he finally spoke.
'Why? Why should I spare you?'
Hope flickered in his bloodshot eyes as he scrambled to give a reason.
'I-I'll give you everything that I have. M-my money,I- I've saved up a lot from the black market. I'll give you all the contacts I have with the Ninth Sigil. T-they owe me for all the cover up work I've been doing for them-'
As he continued, the masked man slowly stood up as he walked back toward the couch without a word. He paused for a moment before sighing while putting down the steel sword.
The kneeled figure's eyes lit up with hope as he began to spit out more words in an attempt to further appease the masked man.
I could already tell the thoughts that occupied the masked man's mind as I too shared them
Pathetic.
He was completely pathetic as he begged for his life so shamelessly.
His next words furthered my disgust for the mangled figure
'T-thank you, t-thank you for your mercy, oh you truly are generous'
His smile continued to widen as he spoke to the turned back of the masked man, clearly delusional in thinking he was pardoned.
'I give you my utmost loyalty, oh great powerful leader, I swear you shall not regret this, I shall send you anything you wish from me, money, connections, I'll give them all to you, you want women? I'll give you anyone you may fancy, you could even have my wife, though you may not like her since she's gone past her prime. You can have my daughter instead, she just turned 15, of course if you want younger, I always can liberate some of the children from the ou-'
His words were cut off abruptly along with his head as it landed an inch away from the door, his dead eyes now staring at my face through the crack in door. Amazingly there was still a lot of blood in the body despite how much he bled out before, the blood which had exploded everywhere, even hitting my face through the door as I stared at the horrific scene.
It all took less than a second to happen.
I took note of the pathetic expression on his head before sensing a gaze on me.
My lungs stopped as I hesitantly looked back up, my hairs standing on ends as I looked at the masked man, the blood now sprayed across the eerie smile of the jester mask as his eyes bore into me. In his hand, a skofnung had materialized out of thin air, now covered in blood.
My heart nearly stopped as I met his eyes.
After a moment of silence, unable to tell what he was thinking, he finally spoke.
'Who are you then?'