That night, Daniel and I sleep in a room provided by Ruby in the brothel. It was just us two at first, then Sophie came in after she finished her shift. I let her rest beside me. And then another girl came in.

Why?

When she get closer I saw that on her cheek, there was a dried tears. She must also needed support and she asked for me to help her without saying a word. And so I let her sleep beside me. And since Sophie had been asleep for a while, the new girl come between me and Sophie and used my arm as pillow.

Then the numbers of girls increased. So I had Blobby turned into a very large bed that will fit all of us. Although some of them can’t sleep next to me, they happily stay in my room.

I already said that if someone ask for my help, I will try my best to help them. Even though I said that to Daniel, I said it loudly on purpose to let other knows as well. That’s why when dawn came, another batch of girls enter my room. It was the time when there’s no longer any customer enter so Ruby had closed the shop and the girls decided to sleep in my room.

And that’s when I can truly fell asleep. No one else entering the room so I slept soundly and woke up when Ruby entered to tell that breakfast is ready. She entered the room with a smile after seeing the situation where everyone decided to sleep there.

And after breakfast, according to what we promised to have me live here I helped with cleaning the store. Since the store only open at night, in the morning is the time for the girls to rest and for cleaning the store.

“It’s nice to have a man here. You’re really helping us a lot just by being here.”

“Don’t praise me! I’m weak to praises, especially from a beautiful woman! Now I have no choice but to work harder!”

A little joke between works is a great way to get closer. Although she’s also one of the girls who slept in my room, I can’t say that we’re close just because of that. I also want to help them outside their dreams.

As for Daniel, he’s taking a bath with Ruby. After that, Ruby taught him several things while being accompanied with the youngest girl in the shop, Hannah. She’s just ten years old. Although she worked here, she didn’t do night jobs since she’s too young. Just like me, she’s also a helper. And she’s also the second girl to enter my room after Sophie. She’s the one who pushed Sophie away from next to me and use my arm as pillow.

Ruby really take care of her girls. Even those who no longer worked here. Hannah is a daughter of one of the girls who have left and now worked at a food stall. Hannah’s mother would come visit Hannah every day before the shop opened.

Even though she visit every day, Hannah must still feel lonely. Especially when she is the youngest girl here. That’s why after what I said last night in front of everyone, she decided to go to my room last night.

As for her father, no one knows who her father is. It’s that kind of shop after all. Although Ruby had the girls drink some kind of potion to prevent pregnancy, accident could happen.

Then after lunch I would leave the store to buy some equipment for my journey. Daniel also wanted to come with me. And when I was about to leave, Ruby came over and told me that Hannah want to go as well. And Ruby asked me to visit Hannah’s mother’s stall after we’re done. She says it’s a good idea to let Hannah’s mother know that there’s a man living in the brothel now.

And we three left together. Hannah is holding Daniel’s hand. She must be happy that she has a little brother and now she’s no longer the youngest one among the group. And she keeps glancing at me from time to time. Does it means she thinks of me as her older brother?

Soon we arrived at the equipment store. Yesterday when I asked the guild receptionist, she told me that this one is affordable among D rank Hunter and this store also has a lot of collection. So we went inside the store.

The shopkeeper welcome us with a business smile on his face, but as soon as I entered the store, I was fascinated with something inside.

“How much for that spear?”

Yes. It was a spear. In the age where there are no more Aura user, a cold weapon is something rare to find. But as soon as I entered this shop, I saw one.

Because it was shown inside the store, it must be some kind of magic weapon. But because it’s a spear, no one bother to buy it. I was lucky to find a weapon already.

“You wanted that spear? You have a strange taste. That spear has magic imbued in it but it’s not useful for battle. Its only use is to repair itself even after it breaks if you pour your magic in it. Do you still want to buy it?”

“Depend on the price.”

Repair itself even after it breaks? That means I can use it forever! That must be one of the weapons made for Aura user in the past that Victoria once told me about.

“This thing has been long since it was here and no one ever been shown an interest in it. I’ll give you a cheap price for it. It will be…”

“I’ll take it!”

The shopkeeper told me the price. Since it was affordable, I bought it.

I showed him my guild card and the payment was done via transfer from my card to his. Having a guild card is convenient. We just need to hold each other’s cards together and start thinking of the amount for the payment then we pour magic on the cards. The money then transferred safely.

After I received the spear, the first thing I did is broke it in half. Then I pour my magic on it and the spear is restored!

“Awesome! Even the blade which has a little rust on it restored as well!”

The shopkeeper shocked seeing me break my spear in half. And because of that, he tried to make me leave as soon as possible. He might be afraid that I will broke everything. What a rude fellow!

The next stop is a hardware shop. I still have some money left to buy several knives for throwing weapons. As for dismantling monsters, I can just use the blade on the spear for it. I can repair it easily after all.

There are many shops selling knives so I just picked the cheapest one. I can sharpen it with my Aura after all so there’s no need to buy an expensive ones. And obviously this time I didn’t break the knives. That shopkeeper in the previous store is such a rude guy to think that I will break everything.

“Well, now let’s go meet Hannah’s mother. Is she still working?”

“She should be. It’s this way! Follow me!”

Hannah excitedly pulling Daniel’s hand while leading us to where her mother works.

Soon I see a woman selling hotdog in her stall. She looks to be around forty. She must be Hannah’s mother.

As soon as Hannah saw her, Hannah started running toward her mother.

“Mommy!”

“Hannah! How’ve you been?”

“Good!”

“You two must be Roy and Daniel. Just now Ruby told me that you’re going here. Thank you for taking care of my daughter.”

“No, no. We only just met yesterday so I haven’t take care of her yet.”

She told me that Ruby was here just now and thanking me for something I haven’t done yet. What a good mother. I wonder why she doesn’t choose to stay with Hannah.

“I heard from Ruby that Hannah was lonely and she sneaked into your room to sleep together so she won’t feel lonely. That was enough for me to show my gratitude. Please have some hotdogs. I will give you for free.”

“Thanks. Can I have five of them for me alone? Daniel just need one.”

“Oh, right. Ruby told me that you won’t refuse free stuffs. Fine, it was just six, right?”

The hotdogs was delicious. As for Hannah, she already prepared one specially made for her. Daniel also excitedly eating hotdog for the first time. But it was too much for his small belly so I finished his leftover.

While we were eating, we were chatting while waiting for customers to come. Hannah’s mother’s name is Penny and we’re talking about yesterday. About how Hannah ended up sneaking into my room. Then I asked her why she’s leaving Hannah at the brothel.

“Penny, why aren’t you living together with Hannah?”

“…because of my pregnancy, I can’t work at the brothel. Thankfully Ruby gave me this job. At first I was doing fine even after Hannah grows a bit. We even rent a small place. Then as we expend more money because of her growing up, I took more shifts. Due to the stress, I would vent at her. That’s why last year I thought it would be good if Ruby can take care of her. She agree to have Hannah as the helper. Although I’m doing fine now, I’m still afraid if I ended up hurting her. That’s why we live separately. At least until I become stronger.”

Similar. She’s almost similar to Daniel’s mother. But thankfully, she has Ruby helped her. If not, Hannah’s fate would be similar to Daniel. I guess that’s why Ruby sent me here.

Ruby must have realized that I might looking for Daniel’s mother and punish her for what he did to Daniel. That’s why she sent me here to show that there might be a chance that it was actually Daniel’s mother who tried to protect Daniel from herself. She doesn’t have anyone to rely so she left Daniel on the street. And run away.

Although I still have hatred for her, at least I won’t do anything to her until I found out her true motives in abandoning Daniel. If she’s similar to Penny, I will only give her some advice. But if it’s the worst case scenario… there’s many thing I can think of.

Seeing from Daniel’s body which is full of scars, I still can’t think of her being good at all. At least from now on, Daniel won’t suffer as much as before.