“Please give us a loaf of bread!”
Asuna stood on her tiptoes, barely reaching the counter of the bakery, and pushed two precious copper coins forward.
She wore a pair of sandals left to her by her grandfather Bali Saihe. Those calfskin shoes barely protected her tender feet, but they were still a little dirty, covered in street dust.
The baker was also someone Bali Saihe knew well.
Though blind, the old man could hear voices and knew that the woman running this shop was a devout, tough middle-aged lady—broad-shouldered and stout—yet she had sympathy for orphans and the elderly.
Even on days when they had no coins to pay, this kind woman would give the unsold bread crumbs to the grandfather and granddaughter, rather than selling them cheap to farmers outside the city to feed pigs.
“Here you go, fresh out of the oven—the Linde family’s flour hasn’t arrived yet this year, so this is from somewhere else. The taste might be a bit off…”
Bali Saihe couldn’t see the bread, but he could smell the simple fragrance of wheat, along with Asuna’s cheer.
“Hey—you…”
The woman then turned the conversation to Bali Saihe.
“You’re a pitiful man too, having to raise a little girl like this—aren’t you tired?”
“Work for me, and I’ll feed you,” the woman said.
“No way!”
Asuna said.
“Grandpa Bali Saihe is the best person in the world to me.”
“But…”
The woman wanted to say more.
Just then, the door was kicked open by a bastard.
“Damn it! Don’t you know I just fixed this door last month…”
The woman always laid into unwelcome visitors with a barrage of curses.
“What are you here for?”
The one called “bastard” was a man in tattered clothes with not a shred of kindness in his eyes, a thug who prided himself on the tattoos and scars on his face, chest, and arms.
These kinds of people were everywhere in the city of Grino.
“Paying my debt.”
The thug grinned, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth, likely from fighting and drinking.
“Do you think I, Xi Fu, am the kind of bastard who doesn’t pay his debts? I’m a man of the Shadow Thieves’ Guild!”
The reason Grino City was seen by outsiders as the most lawless city in Norsenia was probably inseparable from the “Shadow Thieves’ Guild.”
On this point, Bali Saihe had the clearest understanding of anyone.
Grino City wasn’t like Baldwood Town, a commercial town sponsored by the kingdom’s nobles… It was a military town established under the kingdom’s leadership, a key hub for transferring troops and supplies to the south.
But the war back then was lost.
The Four Kingdoms could no longer muster a decent allied force—the Northern Kingdom stripped Old Man Bali Saihe of everything, including his eyes; the Eastern and Western Kingdoms, one mired in civil war, the other isolating itself; and the unluckiest was the Southern Kingdom, being closest to the Demon Realm and facing the greatest threat.
Once Grino City lost its crucial role as a military hub, it was forgotten and fell into the hands of other factions—an inevitable tragedy.
Bali Saihe blamed himself somewhat.
Because when the document to establish Grino City was signed back then, one of the names on it was a general named Bali Saihe.
Xi Fu was just an ordinary member of the Shadow Thieves’ Guild. Petty theft, not paying for goods.
Naturally, he’d say,
“This is part of the protection fee.”
The residents of Grino City feared their knives and schemes, so they endured it—those who couldn’t simply paid a fee and fled the city.
The only thing Bali Saihe couldn’t figure out was why no one ever managed this city. What were the high officials of the Kingdom of Norsenia doing?
Sure enough, when Xi Fu came to the bakery to “pay his debt,” he came empty-handed.
He didn’t bring a single coin.
His idea was to pay off the debt with goods.
A black pig!
“Oink oink!”
The pig grunted discontentedly, its whole body trussed up like a dumpling.
“This pig should be worth something—what do you think?”
Xi Fu said.
Asuna’s eyes lit up.
“Wow, what a cute little pig! It even has tusks.”
“That’s a breed unique to the Dwarves, used for guarding homes or chasing down bad guys.”
Bali Saihe soothed his granddaughter’s innocence, then tightened his grip on his staff and aimed it at Xi Fu.
“Like you, for instance.”
“What’s this blind old bastard doing, ruining my good deed?”
Xi Fu grumbled.
“I’m a respectable…”
“Stealing is stealing, young man,” Bali Saihe said.
“The nearest Dwarf city is in the mountains a thousand miles away. How did you get this piglet? Most likely you stole it from some unlucky Dwarf, didn’t you?”
Xi Fu curled his lip, veins bulging on his forehead.
“Damn it, you ignorant old blind beggar from out of town, you dare pick a fight with me?”
Without another word, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed at Bali Saihe’s heart.
“Tired of living, you old geezer.”
Xi Fu revealed a thief’s true nature.
Then—
He felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
Bali Saihe’s long staff was far more formidable than a brute’s short knife. It struck the pig thief squarely in the abdomen.
The blow was so strong that Xi Fu gasped and dropped the knife, which clattered to the ground.
Seeing this, Asuna immediately stepped on the knife and kicked it away.
She wasn’t just some innocent little girl.
What followed was nothing special. The staff rained down on Xi Fu like a violent storm, hitting him six times in a single second!
“I surrender, I surrender! I don’t want the pig anymore!”
Xi Fu scrambled and fled the bakery in disgrace.
But leaving the shop didn’t mean the matter was over.
Xi Fu first saw two pairs of feet—one belonging to a human boy, the other to a Dwarf.
Then he looked up—
It was Luo Yi and Du Wa Er Fu!
These two had been asking around for the pig and finally arrived at the scene.
A thief trying to pay a debt, what a fantasy!
Grino City had no law, so the Shadow Thieves’ Guild ran rampant—but this was a place where violence spoke.
Xi Fu was about to get beaten again!
Because that pig was Uncle Du Wa Er Fu’s pride and joy!
And coincidentally, he was a Dwarf Brawler who would turn Xi Fu into hand-made meatballs.
“The wrongs have a clear source, the debts have a clear debtor,” Bali Saihe said.
“Return the pig to its owner, and stop here.”
Luo Yi heard that voice.
It reminded him of his deceased grandfather, Luodelike.
But he didn’t know this strange old man.
“We’ve only just met,” he said.
“How we deal with this shameful thief is none of your business.”
“You’re still beating a member of the Shadow Thieves’ Guild. You should back off a bit,” Bali Saihe said, pushing Asuna forward.
“Child, give the pig back to its owner—not the boy, but the Dwarf Brawler beside him.”
Luo Yi’s eyes widened. He hesitated for a long time before speaking.
“Old man, you’re clearly… blind, so why…”
“Not having eyes doesn’t mean I can’t see,” he said.
“The child’s voice is pure, the uncle’s voice is hard. And when a small animal sees its owner, it makes happy oinking sounds and tries to break free from the rope—I can hear that, too.”
Such a profound statement.
Luo Yi was stunned for a moment.
“This kid… is now part of our Adventurer’s Guild!”
Du Wa Er Fu glanced at the other man.
“You seem to be a seasoned fighter too—you handle that staff well. The new scars on that bastard’s body are your doing, right? I say good job.”
“What? I was hoping I could keep this cute little pig,” Asuna said, reluctantly feeding the little black pig some bread.
But Du Wa Er Fu’s pet pig was used to fine food, so it turned up its snout and looked away.
“Haha, kid, do you know that Pi Gu Si usually eats fresh carrots and plump berries? You can’t bribe him with a few cheap breadcrumbs…”
“But this is the best I can give,” Asuna muttered.
“It’s my lunch and Grandpa’s.”
The pig was returned to its owner. Everything seemed about to end.
But Luo Yi spoke up in front of the bakery.
He saw the Sun God Helong mark on the old man’s chest and respectfully addressed him as “old sir, senior.” After all, Luo Yi had seen how his grandfather treated wandering ascetics like this—a bowl of thin oatmeal, which nobles wouldn’t even look at as slop, but was a meal for tenants and monks…
“May I ask your name, senior?”
“Bali Saihe,” the other replied.
“That’s a very common name in Norsenia.”
“I know,” Luo Yi said.
He turned to Du Wa Er Fu.
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going back to Baldwood Town. I’m going to fulfill my grandfather’s last wish and find that person.”
Du Wa Er Fu thought it over. The Dwarf race’s brains were like stone—a bit slower than humans, but stubborn as bedrock, the kind that lasts until the seas dry up.
“Then I’ve completed my task,” he said, patting Luo Yi on the shoulder as they parted.
***
Bali Saihe led Asuna, with Luo Yi following behind, back to a hidden alley.
“Child, who are you?” the old man asked.
“Why would you seek out a pitiful blind man like me?”
“There are many named Bali Saihe,” Luo Yi said.
“But I think I know who you are.”
The red-haired, gray-eyed boy continued:
“My grandfather was Luodelike, a centurion of the Imperial Shield Legion. My father followed my grandfather and was fortunate enough to save the general’s life in battle, dying as a martyr.”
“Before he died, my grandfather said that Bali Saihe would adopt the orphans of war, no matter what the future holds.”
At first, there was dead silence.
But the old man nodded.
“You’ll endure a lot of hardship,” Bali Saihe didn’t deny.
“That Dwarf adventurer seems to think highly of you. Your experiences… are probably no less than mine, a defeated general.”
“I’m not afraid. Besides, don’t you already have an orphan brother by your side?”
Luo Yi meant Asuna.
The boy’s eyes were sharp, but they couldn’t see through everything.
He walked over with a grin and said,
“From now on, we’re brothers. Were you also adopted by Bali Saihe?”
Asuna’s face was full of displeasure as she pouted—
“I’m a girl! And Bali Saihe is my grandfather!”
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