I, Valon, am frantically searching for my mother.

Sofia always felt that she was a bad child.

Despite often feeling a hundred or a thousand times unwilling, with tears welling up in her eyes and her nails digging into her palms... she still did many bad things.

With her pitiful appearance and her stammering lies, she deceived the newcomers who still had dreams of Hull's prosperity in their eyes.

Many of these people from other places are kind and good people.

Sofia lured them into this labyrinthine, dark alleyway.

Then, they watched helplessly as their purses were stolen, their hopes crushed, and sometimes they were even beaten, injured, and thrown into alley corners like trash.

Each time, it felt like her heart was being slowly cut by a dull knife.

So, many times, Sofia would, like just now, desperately try to hint to the other person in various clumsy ways that it was dangerous here.

She would specifically emphasize the word "safety" and even deliberately delay, hoping that the other party would realize something was wrong and have a chance to escape.

This is precisely why Sophia, who was originally considered pretty and could easily evoke sympathy and attract many customers, often had poor sales performance.

He was frequently beaten every few days.

Going hungry was a common occurrence.

My body is always covered in bruises.

The shocking, festering wound on her calf, where the bone was exposed, was caused by a time when she secretly warned a woman from out of town with her young daughter, which was discovered by a sharp-eyed thug.

That time, right in front of her, they used a wooden stick as thick as a bowl to smash her shinbone, again and again.

Then, like throwing away trash, they left her, who had fainted from the pain, in a damp corner, letting her wounds rot and infest with maggots.

They said it was a lesson.

Make her remember the consequences of disobeying.

Honestly, if it were any other ordinary child, after helping others take such a severe beating, they would probably quickly become timid and afraid to do anything more.

But Sofia is different.

On the one hand, Sofia is thick-skinned and stubborn.

Even when being beaten, he would just grit his teeth and endure it, swallowing his tears and rarely begging for mercy.

At most, he would be beaten so badly that he would reluctantly admit defeat, but the stubbornness in his eyes never faded.

on the other hand……

The girl accepts death.

The right thing is right.

If something is wrong, it is wrong.

Even if I get beaten, even if my legs are broken, even if I go hungry, even if I'm left to die in a garbage dump...

It cannot be changed.

Sofia believes that some things must be done indefinitely.

If we keep going, one day...

They will definitely be saved.

Just like everyone who came to Hull City, don't they also believe in this?

I believe this city, under the protection of the golden dragon, is a land of hope.

I believe that as long as we uphold justice and kindness, and work hard...

One day, a kind, powerful, and just golden dragon will descend from the sky, eradicating all evil and bestowing fairness and peace upon all good people.

Although... Sophia had never seen a golden dragon.

but……

She met the young master.

The young master is clean-cut and handsome, and he will treat her to bread.

Young Master is amazing! He defeated all those vicious villains in one go.

The young master was gentle, carrying her on his back despite her being dirty, without showing any disgust.

Young Master... is the Golden Dragon who saved her from this hell.

Thinking of this, Sophia's body, which was lying on Wayne's back, became even softer.

It wasn't from fear that I went limp.

It's a kind of...unprecedented, reassuring, and warm relaxation.

She pressed her face against the warm nape of Wayne's neck, inhaling the scent of his clean, sun-dried clothes, and whispered in a soft, nasal voice:

"Young Master..."

"You're such a kind person..."

Wayne nodded, walking steadily down the dimly lit alleyway, his voice matter-of-fact:

That's right.

"Young master, I've said it before, I can't bear to see the poor suffer!"

Carrying Sophia on his back, Wayne glanced out of the corner of his eye at the blood-soaked scene around him, where headless corpses lay scattered about and pools of blood were slowly spreading.

He thought for a moment and asked:

"Oh, right, Sofia."

"Shouldn't this area... be cleaned up?"

Sofia, clinging to his back, shook her head, her voice muffled:

"No need, young master."

Even if... everyone here... dies... no one else will care.

She paused, then added, her voice carrying a habitual, deep weariness and realization:

"As long as... we don't get seen by a lot of people on the street... it'll be fine."

"Anyway... the cleaners will come to clean up soon... they specialize in this..."

it is as expected.

The last bit of concern in Wayne's mind vanished.

Now he felt much more at ease.

Since this is a lawless place where the strong prey on the weak, he feels no qualms about using violence to combat violence.

This way, he would have more time to devote to... other things.

such as……

Wayne's dark eyes flickered slightly in the dim light as he continued carrying Sophia forward, asking casually:

"Sophia".

"A child like you..."

"Are there... many more here?"

The body on his back stiffened slightly.

A few seconds later, Sofia's weak voice rang out, filled with suppressed sadness:

"A lot... of them..."

"Everyone... is forced... to do bad things..."

"Although... I don't like it... there's nothing I can do..."

"Otherwise... we'll be killed... like... like Lily and the others..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, choked with sobs.

Wayne continued walking, his voice calm as he pressed on:

"Then...do you know...where they're being held?"

Sofia suddenly looked up!

She loosened her grip on Wayne's neck, struggled to sit up slightly, turned her head, and stared at Wayne's profile with disbelief and intense gaze in the dim light of the alleyway.

Her eyes widened, quickly filling with tears, which then rolled down her cheeks in large drops.

"Waaaaah... Waaaaah—"

"Young...Young Master..."

"You...you are...really...so kind...wow—"

She was sobbing uncontrollably, her small body convulsing violently on Wayne's back.

"If...if someone in the future...could marry...a kind person like you, young master..."

"The future... will definitely be... very happy... sob sob..."

Wayne didn't say anything, he just quietly turned his back to her and let her cry.

After a while, Sofia's crying gradually subsided, turning into soft sobs.

She wiped her face haphazardly with her sleeve, trying to calm her breathing, and then said in an unprecedentedly serious tone:

"Sophia... knows!"

"But... young master, you must be careful!"

"Over there... in the place where everyone is being held... there are lots and lots of bad people like those from before..."

"As for the number... there are probably... around thirty people..."

Sofia paused, a hint of fear and hesitation clearly appearing in her voice, but she still insisted on speaking:

"And...inside..."

"There's another guy... like the young master... who can use... strange magic."