As the voice faded, two young boys emerged, sensibly tossing away the small knives in their hands and raising their arms.
"You two sure have guts, thinking you could be the fishermen waiting to reap the rewards," Maierin said with a wry smile.
From the beginning, he had noticed these two hiding in a pile of junk at the corner, waiting for the group of bandits to finish their robbery so they could swoop in and take advantage. He just couldn't figure out where these kids got the courage to try to rob a gang of dozens of grown men with only the two of them.
"How were we supposed to know you guys were this strong? We thought that guy over there was tough and might take out a few of them, but we didn't expect you to wipe them all out so… so… Shura, you say it. I can't find the right words," said the younger boy, muttering.
Shura, however, remained cold-faced and silent, his lips moving slightly as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to.
"What are your names?" Maierin asked with a smile.
"I'm Milo."
"Shura."
"So it's really them," Maierin confirmed to himself. He remembered that Milo and Shura were both born in Spain, but he hadn't expected them to already know each other. The small cosmos he had sensed earlier had indeed belonged to them.
"You want to say something?" Maierin looked at Shura and noticed that, despite his cold expression, his lips kept twitching, as if he were struggling with his words.
"Let us go," Shura said without hesitation.
"Oh? Why? You were trying to rob us, you know?" Maierin asked with an amused smile.
Gallon, Deathmask, and Eric were all stunned. This wasn't like Maierin at all—especially Deathmask, who had also once tried to rob Maierin. But Maierin had always treated him kindly, so why was he acting differently now?
"Wait, does this mean I'm actually the boss's favorite? Heh heh heh…" Deathmask thought smugly.
Thud!
"What are you grinning about?" Gallon smacked Deathmask on the head as he saw him smirking to himself, almost drooling.
Deathmask clutched his head and squatted on the ground, sobbing. I was wrong about you… (╥﹏╥)
If Maierin could hear Deathmask's inner thoughts, he'd definitely slap him straight into the wall. His tastes were perfectly normal, and his heart belonged to only one person!
The shift in his approach was simply because Shura and Milo were different from Deathmask.
Deathmask had lost his entire family and had to fend for himself, which had twisted his personality. He needed warmth to heal.
Milo and Shura, on the other hand, while they were robbing, had different motivations, and their personalities were not twisted.
"We didn't want to hurt you. We just needed some money," Shura explained.
"But it was still robbery."
"Come on, old man, look around you," Milo interjected impatiently. "Look at this place, look at the people outside. If you're not ruthless here, you don't survive. You guys look like you're from some nice family out on a trip. But us? We've got nothing. We don't even know what our parents look like. We don't have any skills. If we don't steal, how do we survive?"
As soon as he said that, Gallon, Deathmask, and Eric's expressions darkened. Their gazes toward Milo became slightly dangerous.
"I'm an orphan. Only got a twin brother. No idea who our parents were," Gallon said coldly.
"My whole family is dead," Deathmask added.
"My mother… was killed…" Eric whispered, barely audible, but Milo and Shura still heard him.
Milo froze, then lowered his head.
"Sorry…" Though still young, Milo understood that his words had deeply hurt them.
A heavy silence fell over them. The atmosphere grew awkward until Maierin finally spoke.
"Take us there."
"Huh? Take you where?" Milo and Shura asked, stunned.
"You… don't only have just the two of you, do you?" Maierin said.
Their faces turned pale. Milo quickly tried to deny it. "It's just us! No one else!"
Shura, being more mature, realized that Maierin already knew. Instead of lying, he stepped forward and took responsibility.
"It was my idea to rob you. Leave Milo out of this. Let him go, and do whatever you want with me."
"Shura, no! I won't leave you behind!"
"Go!"
"I'm not going. What's the worst that could happen? Death? I've had enough of this world anyway!"
"They need you."
"I…"
Maierin watched their dramatic back-and-forth and chuckled.
"Enough. Take us there, and you both live," he said.
The two boys fell silent, hesitation and conflict written all over their faces. Given what Maierin had shown them, killing them would be as easy as lifting a finger. But he was asking to be taken to their hideout instead. Could they trust him?
"Alright, I'll take you," Shura finally decided. Since Maierin already knew, he could find the place anyway. Besides, he and his companions hadn't shown any hostility so far.
"Shura, no!"
"We… have no choice."
Milo clenched his fists, lowering his head. He wasn't afraid to die. Honestly, he had wanted to end it all for a long time. If not for the little ones back home, he would have.
"Sigh… let's go. We don't mean you harm. In fact, this might even be an opportunity," Maierin said, sighing as he patted their heads.
The two boys flinched but, in perfect sync, slapped Maierin's hand away before silently leading the way.
After winding through several alleys, they arrived at their so-called home.
It was just a small, makeshift shack built in a dead-end alley, patched together with cardboard, old newspapers, rags, sticks, and discarded poles. Trash was scattered everywhere, filling the air with an awful stench.
From the shack, several children emerged—boys and girls alike. The oldest was no more than four or five, while the youngest was still a baby.
"Big brother Milo! Big brother Shura!"
"Welcome back!"
"Brother, did you bring food? I'm so hungry…"
"Brother, who are they?"
Seeing the children, Gallon, Deathmask, and Eric's eyes flickered with complicated emotions—pain, sympathy, and hope.
"We're here. What do you want?" Shura asked warily.
"All of you—come with me," Maierin said.
"What are you planning?" Shura asked, shielding the children behind him.
"You said it yourself—there's no worse fate than what you already have."
Shura froze. He had nothing to say to that.
After a long pause, he clenched his fists and made his decision.
"Alright."
A gamble. But something told him—he had just made the right one.