Aerin had entered the bar. She could see lots of adults, either dressed up in bandit outfits or knight outfits. There seemed to be some people who were shaddy-looking, as she scanned the area around, all of them seemed to be holding weapons.
At the far end, there would be a girl at the back of a counter. She approached the girl, which was the barkeep. "What's the cheapest thing you got?" she questioned the barkeeper for food.
"Huhh...? What is a kid like you doing here?" the barkeep was left confused.
"I just want some food, is there a problem.?"
"Hm? Well, the cheapest food we got here is the cheese spaghetti. One bronze coin will do."
Aerin, before leaving the slave house, had also taken the pocket money of the slave trader, and she would have at least ten bronze coins and one gold coin hidden in her chest. She took one of the bronze coins out and handed it to the barkeep in exchange for the food.
While she was enjoying consuming her spaghetti, something happened! There seemed to be thugs in the bar fighting about something. A bald guy, seemed to be in his thirties, took out his dagger in an attempt to strike the other guy, who seemed to be wearing a black cloak with a long black coat inside it. The guy had silver hair, with his left arm that seemed to be a metal arm. He, too, seemed to be in his thirties.
As they both fought, the guy in the cloak instantly punched the bald guy through the counter. With the crowd cheering out loud, the bald guy hit the counter completely unconscious. The counter fell apart, and that—that caused Aerin's spaghetti to fall onto the floor. Are you kidding me... I just paid for it!
She got up from the chair, looked at the back, and stared at the person with the cloak. She approached him, staring all the way up at the man. "What do you think you're doing?" she questioned him, in a very serious tone.
The crowd stared silent, then burst out laughing.
"IS THIS KID SERIOUS?" one said. "WHY IS A LITTLE GIRL HERE?" another one said.
Then a second later, the guy in the cloak responded. "I am simply teaching a fool not to taunt the strong ones."
"Taunt the strong ones? How about you pay for my meals? Huh?"
"That's your own problem, is that not?"
"What...?"
Aerin was getting angry, but she had to be cautious. She seemed to want to move on from this, but she wanted compensation for what had caused her food to be dirtied on the ground. But suddenly, the guy in the cloak looked at Aerin in a way he seemed to be familiar with her.
"Wait a minute, aren't you the kid? The kid from the news that was missing due to slave trades?"
Aerin noticed she got caught and noticed. Tsk, he got me. Then Aerin attempted to run out from the bar, but in that moment—"Boys, get her!" the guy in the cloak shouted, and a few of the people who had been hidden in the bar came out hooded in cloaks, completely taking her hostage.
"LET ME GO!" she shouted.
The guy in the cloak walked towards her and said, "Since you're a slave product, I'd like to know your capabilities, your strength. After all, these stuff are worth lots."
Aerin had no speech to say. She was completely tied up and had no idea what to do.
——
Grent and his people brought Aerin to a shop near the alley of the town. As they entered the shop, they headed to the basement—the basement, where it completely look like a base. Aerin scanned around while being tied in the rope. She would see bunk rooms, bounty boards, maps of job routes, and many other sorts. She was surprised by it, but she was also very anxious about what's gonna happen to her.
"Just what exactly are you going to do to me?" she questioned Grent, who was in front of her.
"Exactly what I am doing to survive and be all-powerful."
"Powerful?"
"We'll test your Magic Affinity, and then if you meet my expectation, I will let you join us and be strong like us. Obviously, if your Magic Affinity is weak, then I will put you as a prostitute for more revenue—heh, that's when you get older, of course."
"What...? That's unbelievable!"
Grent turned around and looked at Aerin, dead stare in the eye. It was menacing. He only said a few words. "If you keep complaining, I don't mind killing you right now." That, itself, left Aerin silenced. Aerin, who had prepared all of this time to escape, completely got captured by another group of enemies, for reasons she couldn't answer or even comprehend to understand.
Grent then talked to one of his members, "You, bring her to the magic orb room. I want to see how strong this girl is."
"Yes, Boss!" the member nodded.
As the member dragged Aerin to the room, Aerin had seen lots around the base, especially emblems. She thought to herself, Is this one of those bandit groups? Or organizations? I need to play it safe and figure out how to escape from here.
As they entered the room, it seemed to be a room filled with scientists, and in the center of it all was a big giant orb that seemed to be filled with energy. It was colored in a blue hue. The giant orb seemed to be connected to a technology with a transparent wire in the room.
"Dr. Rose, this is the kid!" The member brought Aerin to one of the scientists, Dr. Rose. The scientist was a girl with crimson hair, who seemed to be in her thirties as well. She wore a white lab coat with an open button shirt that even her bra could be seen.
"I see, thank you so much, boy." Dr. Rose complimented and patted the member on the head before having him leave the room in blush.
Aerin was now alone with Dr. Rose, not knowing what to do. She could see other scientists, but all were occupied with their own tasks of work. She then looked at Dr. Rose but had nothing to say.
Dr. Rose approached Aerin and untied her rope, but placed a metal cuff on her wrist. What? Is this? It's making me tired."Sorry, girl, I'll untie you, but I need to put this on you so you can't run off."
Aerin couldn't do much and could only hope for what comes next to not be worse. Dr. Rose brought Aerin to the magic orb and had her hand placed onto the magic orb. That instant, the magic orb lit up, and a surge of energy went into the transparent wire and connected to the technology which had a screen display. Just... what is this thing?
"Well, girl, you wouldn't understand, but this is a magic affinity detector which I've developed... well, sort of. I kind of stole some of the design from the Kingdom themselves, but it's a secret between you and me." Dr. Rose teased Aerin, but Aerin had no expression to make in response.
"Well, well, let's see what is your magic affinity now." Dr. Rose talked as she walked to the screen display and checked for what she might have.
As she looked onto the screen, she instantly backed off and fell on her back. "No... no way... Curse... Curse Magic??"
Curse Magic? What is that? I remembered before my parents got rid of me, they obviously sold me due to my Magic Affinity being rare, but I didn't know what kind of Affinity I had on me.
"Girl, you... you have the magic to curse and poison others. You are what our organization needs. With you, assassination and everything else becomes easier. I will inform this to Grent immediately now!"
Dr. Rose ran off in sweat, with no hesitation, leaving Aerin in the room confused.
After a few minutes of waiting, Grent was brought to the room by Dr. Rose. Grent approached Aerin, "I see, so you are someone special. I knew it," he said directly to Aerin.
"Special...?" Aerin questioned him in confusion, trying to gather more information about her own individuality.
"Exactly. You are special."
"You are the only person in this base to have a Stage One Magic Affinity."
"Stage... One...?"
"Exactly."
Dr. Rose then added to the explanation.
"So girl, in this world, Magic Affinity has different levels, and we call them by Stages. The lower, the stronger, and currently, Stage Zero is the strongest. Being Stage One is already rare enough. I am pretty sure only a few percent of the Lorcan Kingdom have this stage. So you are indeed special. You should be glad you're alive because of this."
Grent then took his hand out as a form of a shake. "I will welcome you, girl, to our organization, The Hollow Pact." As he continued, "We, The Hollow Pact, are the mercenary group trying to survive, to be the strongest, richest, and also take over the Kingdom's wealth. You are destined to be part of us. As such, I will train you."
"Train..." Aerin couldn't leave more words to her saying. She was left stunned by what she had been presented by Grent.
"What's your name, girl...?" Dr. Rose asked.
"Aerin," Aerin responded.
"I see. So Grent, what code name will you give her...?"
"Code name...? Ah right. Aerin, is it? You will now be called... Ghost. You will introduce yourself as Ghost."
So, from what I've heard... This is a literal organization, completely in to make money. I've seen enough of their base. If I can get strong and make money, I am in for it.
Aerin, who was completely left confused, anxious, angered before, now had a big smile on her face—a menaceful one. "I am Ghost now."