Huge fists filled with sharp metallic rings connected to Matthew's stomach, quickly making him lose his footing. His dark-ash blonde hair was uncharacteristically all over his face, sticking as he sweated in pain.
He didn't speak and just gripped his stomach, coughing in pain, but he didn't show any hint of fear, despair, or hate—as always.
"Tsk—" the large man sneered, spitting on him. "Did you think you'd escape easily from a punch?" He said, kicking him several times until he couldn't move anymore.
The larger man's eyes traced over him, seeming to revel in his pitiful state.
"You think just because you're the Lord here you can do whatever you want right?!"
Lying down and eating dirt, Matthew forced himself to utter out words, "Brother-in-law…"
"So you STILL remember I'm your brother-in-law!" The man roared as he kicked again, still with more strength. "Do you want your sister's medicine to be thrown into the mouths of monsters?"
This finally made his impassive look change and he paled further. "No, I—"
The man seemed happy to finally see fear in his eyes, but it naturally did not calm his aggressiveness, and the man habitually kicked a bit more.
"Then why did you stop my men, HUH?!" He yelled, sending him yet another kick, this time on his leg. Matthew gasped and tried to lift himself up to explain.
"I… I thought f-for you." Cough. "It w-was for you to get more."
Interested, the man finally stopped kicking. "Continue."
It took a moment for Matthew to gather himself, but he spoke even before he could. He knew how impatient this man was, after all.
"For producers… it's better to gain access by cooperation." Matthew used this moment of respite to sit up and wipe the blood from his mouth. "Their territory could produce the items they sell. Our village does not have this capability."
"It's not that easy!" Cough! "The technical talents are in their territory! Do you think they'd allow us to steal these talents when we beat them up off the bat?"
The man paused, rubbing his bushy beard in thought. "Then what do you plan to do?"
Matthew's hand gripped the soil beside him, eyes flashing with bitterness. "...gain their trust and gain access to their talents."
He paused, and Higson looked at him in interest. "And? Continue."
Matthew pursed his lips, his eyes darkening. "I will use my… assets to get them back to the territory."
The man stared at him and grabbed his face. He looked at Matthew's handsome face—the only part of him without bruises.
He cackled, very amused. "Heh, as expected for the brother of a slut."
Matthew wanted to bow his head to hide the uncharacteristic hideous expression on his face, sadly the man held his face firmly and he couldn't move away at all.
It was unknown whether Higson knew what he was thinking, but he spat out again as if expressing his disgust.
"Be thankful you have a useful face." He said as he gripped Matthew's white face and sneered, "Otherwise I'd love to see it as colored as every other part of you."
That night, Matthew sat on the cold wooden floor of his bedroom, groaning in pain. Using the dwindling first aid kit in his space, he dabbed some medicine on his bruises.
It was at this time the door opened to reveal an emaciated but beautiful woman who had very similar features to him.
She gasped as she kneeled beside him, looking at his body with no good skin left. "Oh, Matthew…"
As she handled his wound, tears continuously fell from her eyes, eyes turning darker. "I'm sorry, if I weren't here, you—"
Matthew was very familiar with this somber look. "Don't say that!!" He roared and the woman shut her mouth, just helping him deal with his wound without saying anything.
Matthew watched her with a frown, heart constricting in fear of what she could do.
The most recent time she tried to kill herself was not even that long ago. It was when she threw herself at a monster during the beast tide, intent on getting mauled. It was lucky that he was nearby, or else he'd have lost his only relative.
He looked at this woman who was both his sister and mother. She was only five years older than him, but it felt like she took on the burden of generations.
She was so good. He could still remember when they were children and had parents, she always brought home so many awards…
'She's because of me,' he couldn't help but muse, every time he saw her pitiful state.
When their parents died, she had to drop out of college to support him. There were teachers who tried to convince her, but she refused every time. Even if she got scholarships, how could the meager allowance support them both?
Then she found out she had Trialphas, a disease requiring expensive maintenance for daily life, and then all hope of returning to school was lost.
His upbringing and her disease rendered her unable to have any other choice but to put away her talents.
Inadvertently, she was pulled into a dirty industry because of her beauty, to her now-husband's most lucrative business.
He tried to pull her out of it, but what could a teenager do? So he chose a path of power—politics, and he was talented at it. He was even hailed as the most promising young politician of the decade.
Unfortunately, before he could garner any power, she had already gotten pregnant and tied the knot with the bastard, and now he held her life in one hand.
There was a time that they had managed to escape from him though—the Disaster known as the Apocalypse.
To others, it was hell. But to the two siblings, it was an unexpected Hope.
It was finally their chance for a decent life.