Chương 196: The Most Important Person
Seeing this noble surrounded by guards, the nearby commoners all fearfully left the street.
The people in this small city knew this obese noble all too well—he was the son of the city's lord, and the soldiers around him were all part of the city guard. These guards, soldiers of the Empire, had now become the lord's private militia, abandoning their duty to protect the city and instead acting as loyal dogs in exchange for wealth and status.
This son of the lord was infamous throughout the city, feared even by children at night. The city had become his playground, where every day he rode in his carriage with a guard entourage, searching for new sources of amusement. Anyone who dared resist him never had a good ending, and the people's fear of him ran bone-deep.
Soon, the only people left on this street were Eriri, the young girl named Mine who was curled up in the corner, and the disgusting smile on the lord's son's face as he walked forward with his dozens of guards.
Eriri noticed everything happening on the street. In her mind, this noble had already been sentenced to death.
Ignoring the approaching guards, she turned toward Mine and walked over.
"Heh heh, you lot, go and grab this little beauty!"
Without any pretense of pleasantries, the noble ordered his guards to seize Eriri as soon as he got close to her. It was his usual way of handling women he set his sights on. Many women had already been abducted by him over the years, leaving him with a trail of notorious misdeeds.
The guards, loyal to their master's every command, didn't hesitate to flash him the same leering grin. In their eyes, Eriri's petite frame—only around 150 cm tall—was a sure sign of weakness.
But before they could even take action, all of them, including the lord's son they were surrounding, were suddenly immobilized, as if they'd been frozen in place.
The entire scene turned eerie. Although the bodies of these men were paralyzed, their thoughts remained active, and their faces wore various expressions frozen in time. Their eyes quickly filled with terror.
Eriri didn't even spare them a glance. To her, they were no different than insects crawling on the ground—no, less than insects.
In the next moment, the guard in the very front began to disintegrate from his feet up. The process was slow, and his expression revealed the intense pain he was enduring.
Eriri felt no mercy for these people. As their bodies vanished, their souls also crumbled, making them suffer excruciating physical and spiritual agony. The guard could clearly feel every part of his body disintegrating, and the guards behind him could witness his gradual disappearance. Watching their comrade fade away before their eyes, they knew it would soon be their turn, making their fear reach an all-time high. Although they wanted to beg for mercy, their immobilized bodies prevented them from doing so, and they could only die in agony.
Eriri walked over to where Mine lay, gently crouched beside her, and reached out to pat her dirty face. As with Mayne earlier, Mine's body was instantly cleaned, transforming the grimy child into a soft-skinned, rosy-cheeked girl with beautiful pink hair.
Eriri playfully pinched Mine's smooth cheeks, but Mine, lost in the fantasy world of her memory visions, was barely aware of her surroundings.
Even though she was immersed in the memory vision, she could still feel things outside it. Usually, when someone sensed their face being pinched, they would instinctively open their eyes. However, Mine continued to remain lost in her imaginary world, her little hands barely making a futile effort to remove Eriri's hands from her cheeks.
Amused by her adorable reactions, Eriri couldn't help but smile warmly. But as much as she enjoyed this, she planned to visit her two other young "sisters" afterward, so she gently tugged Mine out of the memory vision.
When Mine felt her imagined world abruptly fade, her face scrunched up with disappointment. Sensing her body's hunger and the sensation of hands on her face, Mine opened her eyes apprehensively.
Before her was a girl with an exceptionally kind expression, and her fear faded into surprise. Eriri's gentle smile calmed her nervousness, and the tension began to dissipate from Mine's small face.
Though Mine wasn't afraid of Eriri anymore, her years of mistreatment had left her timid. Gathering courage, she whispered, "Um...may I ask, ma'am, why are you looking for me?"
Seeing Mine's timid expression filled Eriri with sympathy. She scooped Mine into her arms, hugging her tightly.
"You've been through so much, Mine," she murmured softly, stroking Mine's now-soft pink hair. "But this will be the last day of those hard times. From now on, you'll be very, very happy—I promise."
The gentle voice and comforting fragrance filled Mine with a strange warmth, thawing her frozen heart. Her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came.
Since Mine could remember, she'd wandered this indifferent frontier town, like a ghost. She'd never known her parents. The townspeople, despising her for her mixed heritage, had treated her with disdain. Eriri was the first person to ever touch her face, hold her close, whisper kind words in her ear, and warm her heart.
Unbidden, tears gathered in her previously blank eyes and soon overflowed. Years of suppressed pain suddenly erupted, and she buried her face in Eriri's chest, silently weeping.
Even at such a young age, Mine felt the sincerity in Eriri's words. And in that moment, Eriri became the most important person in Mine's life.
After a while, Mine finally calmed down, though her tear-streaked face had left a damp spot on Eriri's chest. Flustered, she looked up shyly.
"Um...do you know me?" she asked, embarrassed.
Eriri chuckled, introducing herself with a gentle smile. "My name's Eriri. Welcome to our 'Multiverse Friendship' chat group, Mine." The damp patch on her clothes disappeared with a wave of her hand.
Eriri's words left Mine surprised. She recalled the voices she'd seen in her mind earlier, as well as the world filled with delicious food.
"That chat group...is real?" Mine's voice trembled with excitement. "That world with all that food—'Food Wars'—is a real place?"
"Of course! I came here from another world just to find you."
"It's real?! Oh, thank goodness!" She clapped her hands with joy. With sparkling eyes, she asked, "So, I can taste the amazing food from that world?"
Thinking of all the food she'd seen and how hungry she was, Mine felt even more eager.
"You sure can! Right now, Erina is preparing a delicious meal for us," Eriri answered with a smile. Noticing Mine's rumbling stomach, she pulled out some snacks and fruit from her storage space.
"You're probably very hungry—why don't you have a little snack while we wait for the big meal?"
Looking at the beautiful fruits and treats that floated before her, Mine's stomach growled again. She quickly grabbed a pink peach and eagerly devoured it, not bothering about how she looked.
A few minutes later, her hunger sated, Mine sighed contentedly, although her face, hands, and clothes were now smeared with food stains. Eriri cleaned her up with a wave, then scooped her up again, intending to bathe her and get her into fresh clothes.
In no time, they were back in Eriri's world, and after a relaxing bath, Mine donned new clothes.
Half an hour later, Eriri and Mine returned to their original location. But the street, once quiet, was now bustling. Over a hundred well-armed soldiers had gathered, with the city lord's son and two remaining guards at the center. An anxious, richly dressed middle-aged man, the city lord himself, hovered nearby, while the surrounding soldiers dared not make a sound.
The city lord's son, who had earlier attempted to seize Eriri, was petrified, his mind in turmoil. After half an hour of agony, he had watched his entire guard of dozens dwindle to just two, one of whom had already lost his lower half but still hadn't fallen. This eerie sight had driven him to the brink of insanity.
The city lord had arrived moments earlier after hearing reports from witnesses. Like father, like son—the lord was just as cruel as his offspring, if not more so. But although he seethed with fury, he knew better than to challenge a Teigu wielder. And so he directed his anger inward, experimenting on the two remaining guards by cutting away affected areas and even attempting to burn them, all to no avail. The slow, agonizing disintegration continued.
Realizing his son's fate was unavoidable, the city lord was reduced to helpless fury.
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