Chapter 9 - In the passing
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In the suburbs of the Duchy's capital, a loud cry shattered the quietness of the desolate streets.
"NOOOOO!!! MOTHER! FATHER!! How could this happen to you!! Please, I beg you... wake up. Y-You cannot leave me alone like this! Somebody! Help me. Please."
"I-I must get a doctor... maybe something could still be done..."
"Anyone... please help me..."
The Girl's cry resounded throughout the streets; however, none of the spectators stepped forward to help her, since the girl belonged to an extremely poor household. Her family wasn't that poor, though; it was just her parents who ended up with the shorter end of the stick.
Her parents have been very kind and generous to her throughout their lives. However, in the eyes of other people, a poor person's life was worth nothing.
Still, her Mother and Father treated her very well. The girl had a lot of things to say to them and had imagined seeing them again after so long in multiple dreams. However, she had never imagined in her worst nightmares that the next time they met, she would find their corpses sprawled across the floor in the living room. That was definitely not the ideal return that she looked forward to.
"Who did this?!! Somebody... tell me who did this to them?! My poor parents... to take their lives like this... I will not let them live! I will never let them go!!!"
The Girl was deep in despair as she had lost the only real support of her family. She cried tears of blood while hugging the corpses of her dearly departed Father and Mother.
For the past twenty years, the girl and her parents had been living in the house of their relatives. When her grandfather was still alive, he had allotted their family a place to stay there. Since both her parents were mostly disabled, they could not support the main family in any way, nor could they do any high-paying jobs. The others in their main family were somewhat richer and had a huge estate in succession that would have belonged to her Father.
Her third Uncle had gained the right to inheritance of the surrounding estates and hated her Father to the bone for occupying a piece of his territory. She had to put up with being scolded and was treated very roughly by most of the main family; meanwhile, at the same time, her little age cousins were treated with a lavish lifestyle and affectionate care.
Still, the girl never complained and always dutifully followed whatever her parents told her to do. Her parents also never tried to fight for their rightful inheritance or anything else. They were simple people who just wanted to live peacefully and let their dear child grow with happiness.
All of their hopes didn't end up being realized, though. After the death of her grandfather, the discrimination and cruelty against her parents reached an all-time high. Unable to continue putting up with their cruel behaviors, the girl left the household to pursue her studies and training under a master swordswoman.
Initially, she had wanted to bring her parents along with her as well; however, they vehemently refused her proposal.
On the contrary, both of them were absolutely against her decision to go away, since they wanted their child to be able to marry into a good household and live a peaceful life.
After finally having completed her training under the Swordswoman and having gained a title for herself, she hurried back home to tell her parents of the great news, wanting to share her happiness with them. To show them how their little girl had finally grown up and now would be able to support their livelihood. Unfortunately for her, she ended up returning a bit too late.
The girl continued to cry and sob while hugging her parents' bodies. At the same time, the onlookers kept murmuring to themselves, trying to find something worthy to gossip about.
That was when an imposing figure entered the girl's room and shouted,
"These stupid fools! So they are finally dead, huh."
The crowd gasped in unison as they all turned to stare at the speaker of such crude words.
"Well, I only care about my money, though. Hey! Stop crying over there. Your stupid parents are dead already and cannot wait anymore. I want my money back, now. Pay up right this instance and leave this household immediately! This is not a place for stupid vermin like yourself to stay in."
The crowd kept staring at the man as cruel words kept coming from his mouth. However, they all knew better to keep their mouth shut since the person speaking was the leader of the household.
Due to how rich and influential the man was when compared to them, nobody among them wanted to mess with him, as the few standing closer to the girl made way for the man while looking at the groveling girl.
The girl didn't respond, though, as she kept crying to herself, totally ignoring the shouting man and the murmuring crowd around her.
Incensed by the girl's action of ignoring him completely, the man roughly kicked the back of the despondent girl and screamed loudly,
"How dare you ignore me, you piece of trash?!! When I tell you to speak, you speak! Now tell me, when are you paying up, little vermin? Don't take me for a fool. I know all this crying act of yours is just a way of trying to escape from paying me back right now. It's of no use, though. There is no way I am letting you go so easily. Obediently pay up my money or else..."
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