The sound of sobs and cries, desperately subdued, echoed in the dark corner. Yet this cry, which might evoke sympathy in others, invited not comfort but ridicule.
"Tears are the most useless things in the world. They only show your weakness and incompetence, making you easy prey for your enemies!"
"What do you know? You understand nothing!"
The girl, with traces of tears still on her face, angrily lifted her head to look at the dark-haired boy on her bed, who was mocking her.
He was a cripple who had lost both arms, with large patches of blood scabs and carbon black left by flames, looking shocking.
Anyone who saw him would wonder, upon first sight of his injuries, how he managed to survive?
What incredible resilience and willpower must one have to keep the soul clinging to such a ravaged body, struggling for survival.
The girl hesitated for a long time when she decided to bring the boy home, having not wanted to bring back a corpse. But after observing him for a while, she noticed his once weak breathing became steady, his vital signs visibly stabilizing.
Then, gritting her teeth, she carried the boy back, unsurprisingly garnering a lot of ridicule and mockery for bringing back someone useless, except for eating.
His arms were fractured, and though his legs remained, even an experienced hunter, after examining him, could only shake his head repeatedly, deeming the boy as mere breathing meat lying on the bed.
However, the girl found this assessment inaccurate, because aside from breathing and eating, the crippled boy also possessed a mouth as vicious as a devil’s.
"What do I need to understand? I only see someone bullied, too cowardly to fight back."
Wayne mocked again, unable to empathize with this timid girl, despite her being of the same ilk as him,
"Tell me, what purpose does your crying serve? Do you hope for a Justice Knight to pass by, hear your crying, step in, and gently inquire about the injustice you’ve suffered?
Then, after hearing about your plight, will he act for you, punishing the greedy Nobles and landlords? If that’s the case, you should cry louder, wailing even!"
Hearing the boy’s mockery, the girl couldn’t help clenching her fists, her amber eyes glistening with tears, though now they had turned fierce,
"There is no Justice Knight in this world, all hero stories are lies, no knight will sympathize with a Tifflin."
"Oh? Ha~ Look at what I’ve just heard! A bumpkin who’s never even been to town dares to deny the existence of a Justice Knight, what little of the world have you seen?"
"Have you seen a lot?"
"Are there really Justice Knights?"
The girl who had just been denying now spoke with a tone of expectation and hope, but soon, her voice dropped,
"But even if there were Justice Knights, they wouldn’t sympathize with a Devil!"
"Who says they wouldn’t? How do you know?"
That hateful voice rang out again,
"Besides, you’re giving yourself too much credit, apart from that tail behind you, what else do you have? And you dare consider yourself a devil?"
"Wayne, has anyone ever told you how much of a bore you are?"
The girl could no longer hold back. Wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, she angrily approached the bedside, looking at the wounded but still spiteful boy.
"No, from childhood to now, I’ve been immensely popular, everyone liked me, and my followers adored me!"
"But now you’re lying on a bumpkin’s bed in my countryside home."
The girl couldn’t help but retort.
"That’s because you saved me, doesn’t that prove how popular I am?"
Wayne, unashamed, was rather smug,
"Even after becoming , you still chose to carry me back, and even offered me your only bed and best food."
"That’s because I pity you!"
The girl was furious, and the tip of her tail, like a venomous snake, sprouted a sharp barb,
"I really should’ve taken the hunter’s advice and thrown you on a mass grave, to let wild beasts drag you away."
"If you really have such courage, then go ahead!"
Wayne, the piece of meat, said with a carefree tone.
"Shut up, at least return all the food you ate before I dump you!"
"No, once it’s in my belly, it’s mine."
"Why won’t you return it?"
"If the landlord can dock your wages, and the Nobles’ tax officer can overcharge your taxes, and you dare not resist, why demand I return things to you; aren’t you just bullying the weak?"
"How am I bullying you, clearly you’re the one bullying me!"
The girl heard this, let out a feeble rebuttal, yet still didn’t resort to violence against Wayne, rather, she sat on the bedside, began to sob quietly again, as the barb on her tail retracted, and her previously wiped tears began falling anew.