"Stop following me! Believe it or not, I'll beat you up!" Annie angrily said to the boy behind her. Enduring her father's devilish training every day had already left this eight-year-old girl utterly exhausted in body and mind, and now there was another guy who stuck to her every day.
Seeing Annie angry, Yago shrank his neck in fright. Of course he believed it—because just yesterday he'd really been caught by Annie, pinned to the ground, and thoroughly rubbed into the dirt. The spot where he'd been kicked still hurt.
"Well, um… actually, we can talk about it. I can just watch from the side too," Yago said with an awkward grin.
Over these past few days, Yago had more or less figured out Annie's family situation. Just like Gray had said, Annie's father, Leonhart, didn't look anything like her. With black hair and dark skin, Leonhart didn't look at all like the father of a blonde, blue-eyed girl.
"....." Annie took a deep breath, gauged the distance between herself and Yago, and after confirming she couldn't catch up to him, gave up on the idea of beating him again. Hugging the food she'd bought, she headed home.
Yago cautiously watched Annie's back.
"Annie, if you don't say anything, I'll take it as you agreeing, okay? See you this afternoon!"
...
At the very edge of the Eldia internment zone, towering walls separated the Eldians from the outside world. Several large openings had been cut into the walls, and Marley's factories brazenly poured industrial wastewater into the areas where the Eldians lived, showing no concern at all for the so-called health of the Eldians.
But the Eldians had long since been tamed by the Marleyans into meek obedience, silently enduring everything, all to atone for the sins of their so-called demon ancestors.
On an open patch of ground, three logs stood upright. Annie, only eight years old, had a flushed little face, her head drenched in sweat. Her calves trembled, and beneath her khaki trousers her legs were already swollen and red, burning with pain.
Gritting her teeth, Annie kicked the logs again and again. Beside her stood a burly, dark-skinned man, watching her with an expressionless face.
Bang! With a sharp crack, a thick wooden stake was actually kicked open with a fissure, and at the same time, the searing pain in her leg shot straight to Annie's brain.
"Hm. That's enough for today. Tomorrow we increase the training. You have to kick two stakes until they crack," Annie's father, Leonhart, said stiffly. Then he turned and walked back into the house on his own, his peripheral vision catching a small figure off to the side.
Watching her father leave, Annie tried hard to force the tears back into her eyes. Her father didn't like seeing her so weak.
"My god, Annie, you're way too amazing."
Yago's shocked voice reached her ears. As he touched the crack in the sturdy wooden stake, Yago felt a chill run down his back.
Annie said nothing. She didn't know when it started, but she'd gotten used to this clingy guy watching her train. Her father hadn't objected either.
Of course, there was a reason Annie could tolerate Yago watching and secretly learning her father's fighting techniques.
The paper package in Yago's hands gave off a sweet, sugary scent. Faced with soft, sweet desserts, not many girls could resist the temptation—let alone an eight-year-old girl.
Annie's father was just an ordinary Eldian worker. His meager income was barely enough to maintain their lives. You could tell just from where they lived; and sometimes, because of the intense training, Annie even went hungry.
Opening the paper package, Annie very rudely grabbed a piece and started eating. Yago sat beside her watching. Looking more closely, he realized that the usually sloppy Yago had actually become clean and neat this time. His messy hair was tidied up, and especially those black eyes.
Annie, of course, didn't notice any of that. She just felt that Yago looked a bit more pleasant to the eye.
"Hey Annie, does Mr. Leonhart really want you to become a Warrior?" Yago asked.
With her mouth stuffed full, Annie spoke a bit unclearly: "What's it got to do with you?"
Yago scratched his head. These past few days, hanging around near Annie's home, he hadn't really learned anything—aside from using desserts to coax Annie into teaching him a move or two.
As for Annie's training, just watching it made his heart pound in fear. Imitate it? With his small frame, he figured he couldn't take it.
Yago leaned closer to Annie and said with a grin, "Then do you think I've got any hope?"
Annie glanced at Yago.
"I could knock you down with one hand. You'd better forget it. And the Warrior unit doesn't take orphans."
Yago's expression dimmed. He'd never really understood what 'orphan' meant before, but now…
Noticing Yago's off expression, Annie realized she might have said something wrong. Unfortunately, aside from teaching Annie superb combat skills, her father had never taught her how to comfort people.
"I—I'll teach you a roundhouse kick!" Annie said a little flustered. Yago's eyes lit up. "The one you used to kick Gray down?!"
Annie nodded, but Yago's smile suddenly froze as he asked warily,
"You're not going to use me as a punching bag again, are you?" Last time, Annie had been harshly scolded by her father, and with tear tracks still on her face, she'd used teaching Yago as an excuse to show him what a total beatdown was.
Annie rarely blushed, but now she did a little.
"No! Are you learning it or not?"
"Learning, learning!" Yago was more than happy to.
Through the crack in the door, Leonhart withdrew his gaze. His heart wavered slightly. Shaking his head, he mocked himself.
"Heh, soft-hearted over what? It's all just to raise my own status." But as he looked at the two children, the resolute Leonhart wavered for the first time.
...
Carrying a box, Yago deftly weaved through the streets. Helping Madam Medina deliver desserts was Yago's job. In return, he got some of the day's desserts and a little bit of pay—of course, not much. This was the kind Madam Medina's way of looking after Yago.
Come to think of it, Yago had found this job because of Annie. Originally, Yago had just drifted around lazily every day, filling his stomach and that was it. After meeting Annie, for some reason, he subconsciously wanted to perform a little better.
Or rather, Yago admired Annie somewhat.
"Ah!" Yago suddenly slipped. His body lost control and fell, and the box in his hands flew out of his grasp.
When Yago got back up, he froze. On the ground lay the opened box, jam-smeared sweet biscuits scattered everywhere.
A man in a black overcoat stood there, leaning on a glossy cane. Beneath an exquisite top hat, his hair was neatly combed. Behind a pair of thin-framed glasses were black eyes the same color as Yago's.
The man frowned as he looked at the jam splattered on his trouser leg. Yago immediately felt something was wrong, because there was no armband marking him as an Eldian on the man's arm. That meant this man was a Marleyan! Judging by his clothes, a very wealthy Marleyan at that.
Why would a Marleyan come to the Eldian internment zone for no reason?
Although Yago didn't fully understand the enmity between Eldians and Marleyans, his years of growing up had taught him that even offending an ordinary Marleyan was a huge hassle.
"I'm sorry, sir! I've dirtied your clothes!" Yago quickly admitted fault. For an ordinary Eldian, opposing a Marleyan was extremely unwise. Even if a Marleyan killed an ordinary Eldian, they wouldn't receive particularly severe punishment.
Yago could only hope this Marleyan wouldn't retaliate too harshly.
"It's alright. Where are your parents?" To Yago's surprise, this Marleyan didn't mind at all. He even bent down and asked Yago with a smile.
Yago was a bit stunned. "I don't have parents. Uh, sir, you really don't mind your clothes?"
"An orphan?" the Marleyan murmured. A glint flashed through his eyes. "Of course I don't mind. Let me introduce myself. I'm a scientist. You can call me Dr. Ebson."
(A/N: Regarding the protagonist's identity, he is a half-transmigrator. As for what a half-transmigrator is, I will slowly explain later.)