Chapter 6: She’s not my girlfriend

Mida’s childhood was spent in hunger.

An endless locust plague swept through the village, forcing farmers to dig up grass roots and chew on tree bark.

Emaciated and sallow-faced from starvation, Mida lay at the base of the wall inside the house.

The lifeless body beside her was her mother.

She had no strength left to move, nor any desire to do so. She thought it might be better to just die of hunger like this; otherwise, living meant more suffering.

“Honored guests, this way, please…”

A fawning, aged voice came from outside the house.

Mida recognized it—it was her father’s voice.

With a creak, the door was pushed open.

A hunched figure entered the room, followed by several middle-aged men dressed in white robes.

“Mida! Aren’t you going to get up and greet the Bishop?!”

Her father spotted Mida still lying on the ground.

His dry, hoarse throat trembled violently as he berated her.

At his words, Mida struggled. Her skeletal body tried with all its might to move, but a wave of dizziness overtook her, and she collapsed limply to the floor again, motionless.

Mida’s Father looked at his daughter sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.

Rage flared in his heart, and he rushed forward, intending to drag Mida up and whip her.

Hunger blurred Mida’s vision.

She vaguely saw the leading white-robed middle-aged man say something to her father, after which her father obediently stood to the side.

The middle-aged man approached her, reaching into his robe to take out a cloth bag and a water flask.

Catching the scent of food, Mida forced her blurred eyes open, gazing at the bag in his hand.

“Sainatas above, may there be no more hunger and suffering in the world.”

The man pressed his palms together reverently in prayer to the heavens, then brought a piece of dried food from the cloth bag to Mida’s mouth.

“Eat, child.”

Mida barely had the strength to move her lips, so she could only nibble in small bites.

Seeing that the Bishop showed no signs of blame, her father hurriedly squeezed out a fawning smile and sidled up to the Bishop.

“Sir, you see, this child can still move…”

Sensing the Bishop’s cold gaze, he wisely shut his mouth.

“We will take this child with us.”

The middle-aged man gestured to his companions.

One of the White-robed Men took out some broken Silver Coins from his pocket and stuffed them into Mida’s Father’s hand.

Grabbing the Silver Coins eagerly, Mida’s Father was overjoyed.

“Sir, esteemed sir! This child is yours now! Even if you make her your servant, I won’t utter a word.”

Mida looked at the unfamiliar father before her, a suffocating feeling rising in her chest, as if a stone was lodged there, neither going up nor down.

“Insolent!”

We are loyal servants of Sainatas, whose lifelong creed is to uphold our Lord’s teachings.

You dare to slander us, saying we only saved this pitiful child for selfish pleasure?

The middle-aged man, already lacking any fondness for Mida’s Father, finally let his emotions explode.

“Sir is right! Please, calm your anger, sir, I will leave at once.”

Seeing the man’s fury, Mida’s Father instantly shrank back and carefully slipped out of the room.

Once her father’s figure was gone, the stubborn light in Mida’s eyes faded.

Tears welled up, and her weakened body collapsed.

“Child, after this meal, you must learn to survive on your own.”

The Bishop sighed as he watched Mida silently weeping, chewing the coarse food.

“I will find a place for you. After that, it will be up to your own abilities…”

Mida didn’t hear a single word the Bishop said.

Her mind was filled only with that familiar yet distant figure.

—

At this moment, the hunched figure from her memories overlapped with the one bowing before her.

Gradually, she realized a sense of déjà vu was welling up inside her.

It felt like the stone in her heart had never been lifted, only sinking deeper and heavier, crushing her until she couldn’t breathe.

Two lines of tears slid down her delicate cheeks, dripping onto the ground and reflecting two points of candlelight.

Thinking he had scared her into tears, the young man became even more brazen, his heated gaze fixed shamelessly on Mida’s chest.

Just as he was about to pounce and savor the fragrance of the little beauty before him, Wei Bai, whom he’d treated as invisible, spoke up.

“Um, let me clarify, she’s not my girlfriend, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

Hearing this, the youth turned to look at Wei Bai, dumbfounded.

Did this kid’s brain short-circuit?

Was that really the point?

“Whether she’s your girlfriend or not doesn’t really matter—”

Before he could finish, a fist with several Gold Coins wedged between the fingers smashed into his face.

The punch twisted his lecherous features, sending a front tooth flying from his mouth to rest peacefully on the ground.

“Actually, I feel that just a fist might not make a deep enough impression.

Coincidentally, since you brought so many Gold Coins, I don’t have to trouble myself finding a weapon.

These go perfectly with a punch.”

Wei Bai shook his hand, tossing the Gold Coins from his fingers onto the floor, and looked contemptuously at the youth sprawled on the ground.

“What are you doing? Do you know I—urk…”

The youth, half sobered from the punch, was about to threaten Wei Bai.

But feeling his stomach churn, he turned pale and retched to the side.

“I don’t care who you are, or what kind of power stands behind you.

Kid, I’ve killed more men than you’ve ever harmed women.”

Wei Bai said coldly, not even glancing at the youth.

Grabbing two bottles of Salani, he pulled the still-stunned Mida close and strode out of the tavern under the watchful eyes of the drunks.

“Listen up! If you manage to survive in the Arni Count’s territory after this, I’ll stop calling myself Arni!”

The youth roared behind them, but Wei Bai didn’t even look back as he left the tavern.

Outside, fresh air filled his lungs as Wei Bai let out a heavy breath.

Damn! My hand hurts!

Shouldn’t have tried to look cool.

Wei Bai clutched his cramped hand in pain.

Wedging Gold Coins between your fingers makes your punch stronger, but it’s also a huge risk for yourself.

No, no, Mida’s still here.

Can’t ruin my image.

Wei Bai glanced at Mida, released his hand, and pretended to look relaxed, as if everything had gone according to his plan.

“By the way, why are you crying?

Here, take this.”

Noticing the tear streaks on Mida’s face, Wei Bai panicked and shoved a Gold Coin from his pocket into her hand.

Mida stared at the coin in her palm, her eyes widening slightly.

“Heh, it’s pointless not to take these Gold Coins.

Since that rich brat was so generous, I had to grab a share for myself, right?

Look, this one Gold Coin is enough for us to feast for several days.”

Wei Bai smiled sincerely—he really was happy to have picked up so much money.

“To think the dumb pig has this side too.

Who would’ve guessed?”

Wiping away the remaining tears, Mida’s small face broke into a smile.

Not being abandoned and having someone protect her felt really good.

Just knowing someone cared was enough.

“What?

You got scared and cried, but your mouth is still so foul.”

Wei Bai felt exasperated.

He’d just pulled off a cool act, and this kid was crying, yet her words were still so sharp.

“I thought you were going to agree with him.”

Mida muttered, a little resentful.

She’d really thought Wei Bai was going to abandon her like everyone else.

“Agree to what?

You’re not my girlfriend, so what would I agree to?

Didn’t you hear what he said—he wanted me to let him have my girlfriend.

But I don’t have one, so it’s impossible.”

“Then… would you mind having one…?”

Mida whispered.

Her tear-streaked cheeks slowly turned red.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing…”

“Oh.”

“Dumb pig!”

“You little brat! Looking for trouble, huh?!”