Chapter 322
Chapter 322. The Helping Hand
——My name is Zilbagias, and I unexpectedly found the girl I’ve been searching for.
I didn’t see this coming at all.
Not a bit of preparation was made.
Who would’ve thought that in a town with so many residents…
I would happen to call out to someone I didn’t even know the face of, someone who had seemingly disappeared?
“Is… my father… safe…!?”
But she felt the same way. To have a stranger mention her father’s uncertain fate.
——I have no right to say anything.
“Your father…”
I managed to squeeze out the words. It seemed Nina already sensed my expression.
Even so, she pressed her lips tightly, waiting for what I would say next.
“…Your father has passed away.”
I killed him.
“…………”
Nina fell to the ground, her backside hitting the pavement. Amidst the bustling crowd, it felt strangely quiet around us.
Slowly, Nina adjusted her hat, picked up the basket that had fallen, and gathered the scattered fodder. I crouched down to help her.
“How did… he die?”
While moving her hands, Nina asked flatly.
“Are you one of his companions?”
Companion? I’m not that grand…
“I’m a Hero.”
I said with a self-deprecating smile, lighting the fingertips with holy light. I could see Nina’s obvious wariness ease, making me feel even more uncomfortable.
“I fought alongside your father… for just a brief time on the battlefield.”
I wasn’t lying. We had indeed battled together.
And fought to the death.
I remember that day when we were surrounded by beastman soldiers, demon soldiers, and demon race, fighting against barehanded soldiers. Taking their lives with an obsidian knife, and gaining the [Name Declaration Magic], my first act of tyranny as a Demon Lord’s Prince.
“Your father fought bravely, but fell to the despicable hands of the demon race…”
“I see.”
“…Until the end, he worried about you and your mother. I have his remains. If there’s anything I can do to assist you, I’d like to help.”
“Thank you very much.”
Having finished packing the fodder into her basket, Nina stood up and looked at me with a troubled expression again. In those eyes lay resignation—perhaps. She was shocked, but prepared. It seemed the day had finally come. Such a face she had, still so young.
“Well, I’m currently on an errand. If you could come where I’m being hosted, my mother will…”
“I understand.”
I couldn’t just hand over remains in the middle of the street. Besides, the only support I could offer was some living expenses, but I couldn’t carelessly pull out money. If some shady characters saw me handing it over, it would be like announcing to them to attack this child.
“Are you living with your mother in Todomarl?”
“Yes. It’s been quite a journey—”
For now, I followed Nina, and as we walked, she began to share what had happened until now.
“My mother and I were in Evaroti.”
Originally, Nina and her kind were citizens of a neighboring country of Defteros, who became refugees in the Defteros Kingdom after their homeland was destroyed. Her father Kaito participated in the Defteros front, sending Nina and Isabella east for safety while he fought on the front lines, but—
As you know, he was captured by the Demon Lord’s army and consumed as the ‘prey’ of the Demon Lord’s Prince.
Still, Nina’s life went on. Isabella was skilled in spinning thread, and they somehow managed to get by. Nina worked as an assistant to merchants, and the two joined forces to scrape by.
“But we were refugees…”
Barely surviving, they had no means to escape from the Defteros Kingdom again.
“Winter in Evaroti was terrible.”
With hardly any food, Nina said it was fortunate they didn’t freeze to death.
“And then, the Demon Lord’s army invaded… my mother and I escaped with the evacuation forces and fled the country.”
Gazing sadly at the sky, I heard her whisper “uncle…” Perhaps she was remembering someone who had helped them.
“And somehow, we made it to Tritus Principality, but…”
Further misfortune struck the surviving Nina and her mother.
“My mother got sick.”
Throughout the winter, Nina’s mother Isabella prioritized food for Nina, and it seems this took a toll on her health during their forced march out of the country.
“We couldn’t even bring a spinning wheel. We were really at a loss.”
In a foreign land, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, a sick mother and a young daughter. With no one to rely on, it seemed hopeless… or so it seemed just then, when a helping hand reached out to Nina.
“There is a trading company here in Tritus Principality that does charity work, and they helped us.”
They treated the battered Isabella, hired Nina as a maid, and once they realized Isabella’s skill in spinning, they even lent her a new spinning wheel.
Thanks to that, Isabella was still not fully cured but was able to live with Nina while spinning thread…
“If we hadn’t been helped back then, I think my mother and I would have been done for.”
As we walked through the commercial district, Nina turned back and smiled cheerfully.
“Here it is! Everyone here is super kind!”
Pointing ahead, there stood a splendid trading company amidst the elegant streets of the capital Todomarl.
Two burly bodyguards stood at the entrance, and above them, the sign read—
“Cortera Trading Company.”
