"Are you okay?" Akeru said as he looked at the fallen girl and stretched out his hand towards her.
"I-I am fine. S-sorry." She said while getting up on her own.
She didn't look Akeru in the eye.
'It seems she had some bad experiences with strangers.' Akeru internally sighed as he looked at the kid.
"Wait, isn't this city still near the noble realm? Were you not assigned a home or an orphanage?" Vanessa asked.
"Ummm..." The girl, who was clearly malnourished, appeared confused after hearing Vanessa's words.
"Do you live in an established place like an orphanage or maybe with someone?"
"Umm, No... I live in the slums... N-not everyone is taken into the orphanage..." The girl said with multiple pauses while her figure slumped.
Her shoulders trembled slightly while saying the last part.
She clearly didn't like this fact.
Akeru frowned at this fact.
Slums are generally only present in the areas near the forsaken realm, not near areas like this, which were present near the noble realm.
His gaze met Vanessa's, who had a similar expression on her face.
"How about we treat you to some food? What's your name?" Finral asked while coming from behind.
The girl's slumped figure instantly straightened, and turned back to look at Finral's lazy smile.
"Lily."
"So, Lily, how about we treat you to some pastry while you tell us more about this city?" Finral said while pointing towards the bakery in the distance.
'Well, that's one way to get information, though I believe there are some better ways.' Akeru thought while looking at a tall building in the center of the city.
If one looked closely, it was quite luxurious even from the outside, as statues made of gold were attached to it at multiple places.
"I would be back in a while," Vanessa only heard Akeru's words as the latter disappeared from her sight.
Akeru appeared on top of the same building he had looked at.
On the terrace, one individual was present, surveying the city.
His name was Jin, and he was a magic knight.
However, unlike the kingdom's magic knights, he served only the noble house ruling over Cinderhome.
He had been adopted by the military force of the noble house at a young age and trained for his talent.
At the age of 22, he was able to reach Peak Intermediate Level, which is quite a rare achievement... at least for people not being in one of the recognized Magic Knight squads.
Despite his commoner lineage, he was able to get the position of head of all the knights serving in this noble family.
He was currently scanning the city for any possible troublemakers, and due to his status, he isn't allowed to leave much distance from the building, as another task of his is to protect the noble and his family.
He had been alerted when knights from Black Bulls came into the city, and he was tracking those.
So, when one of them disappeared from his sight, it alarmed him.
He got up from his chair and was looking in various directions with the binoculars in his hand.
"Looking for me?" A chill ran through Jin's spine as he heard a voice from behind.
He jumped forward and turned back very quickly.
His grimoire was already floating beside him, preparing a spell.
WHOOSH
To Jin, he looked at a water bullet flying towards him at tremendous speed.
The fact that a water bullet was coming towards him was registered later when his grimoire had a hole, the size of a fist, in it.
"Now, now, that is a dangerous action. How about we talk civilly?" A boy, who could be said to be around 15-16 years of age, was sitting on Jin's chair and looking at him with an amused smile.
The news about the emergence of two grand magic knight individuals wasn't circulated throughout the entire kingdom.
So, it was natural for him not to know Akeru's identity.
However, that didn't stop Jin from looking at Akeru with fear in his eyes.
His body shivered as he made eye contact with Akeru.
Despite a smile on the latter's face, Jin could feel that he was in the presence of a predator with him being prey.
"Sit."
Before Jin could know it, his body instinctively sat on the cold, hard floor before he could process his situation.
"W-Who are y-you?" Jin asked.
"I am just a magic knight of the country, looking out for citizens. It would be pretty bad if somebody present here was trying to oppose that goal, no?"
Jin gulped as he realized the reason Akeru was here.
'He is fucked.' He instantly realized the head of the noble family had attracted trouble that they couldn't afford to.
It's time for them to face the consequences.
"Tell me everything about this city."
---
"Is this Mr. Bert speaking?"
"Long time no see, it's me, Akeru. Did you miss me?"
Akeru could be seen sitting on a chair with a relaxed smile while having a voice call with a man on his communicator.
"Hehe, obviously I haven't changed. I need your help. The thing is that the noble ruling Cinderhome has been..."
Akeru told Mr. Bert about everything he had extracted from Jin, who was now knocked out on the floor.
Mr. Bert was the head butler of House Vermillion and the same man whom Akeru had met on the first day he used the emblem Mereoleona had given him.
Due to his position, he had considerable power over these things and could make decisions without consulting the head of the house.
Royals have the authority to take away a House's nobility status as long as it was justified.
"Yeah, you could take your time over the whole thing, just send one or more people to deal with the orphanage and food-related issue. Thanks a lot!"
Akeru hung up the call and then looked at Jin.
He then shrugged and disappeared from the terrace.
"You really could eat, huh?" Akeru said while appearing beside Vanessa, startling her.
"Don't do that!"
"Hehe, it's just a small prank. Anyway, I reported the noble to the authorities. They are sending some people to deal with him and deal immediately with the orphanage and shelter problems for people of the slums." Akeru nonchalantly announced.
He then looked at Lily and said, "Now, you can eat a lot of food without worrying about whether you can eat tomorrow or not."
The girl in question just blanked for a moment of time, before her eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"Wh-what?"
"Yeah, I ain't lying."
The girl didn't know how to react; for her, it seemed like a joke.
"Well, you will know soon," Akeru said and then called a waiter to order something for himself.
Sometimes later, while still eating, Akeru turned his head to one side and squinted his eyes, "They are really fast, huh?"
Before anybody could ask what he meant, an announcement was made throughout the entire city.
It was basically about the corruption of the current noble lord and the punishments he would have to face.
The refugee and orphanage would also be revamped to the standards this city originally intended.
"See, I told you," Akeru told the shocked girl.
To Lily, the realization that good days would actually arrive finally sank in.
Tears started streaming from her face as her heart started beating faster.
"Thank you."
Akeru only smiled in response.
They talked a bit more before she completed her meal.
At the end of the meal, she made a praying motion and said, "From embers we rise, in ash we burn, for Malgeth's fire is never undone."
"You are a believer of Malgeth?" Finral asked.
"Yeah."
They then moved to the orphanage, where revamping was already in motion.
They talked to one of the nuns, who took Lily in.
They talked a bit more with the nun.
"Thank you for doing this. Due to lack of funds, we weren't able to provide for everybody."
"As Magic knights, it's our duty to do this." Finral was the first one to open his mouth.
Akeru just deadpanned at him.
'Though I can't blame him, it's a shame that she is a nun.' Akeru had similar thoughts like Finral about the nun who had a sinful figure.
She had curves just in the right place, and the fact that she was a nun just increased her appeal due to it being forbidden.
Not knowing Finral's intentions, the nun talked a bit more before bidding their group goodbye as they still had a mission to do.
"May Malgeth's flames cleanse your path, and may your ashes be worthy of rebirth."
The trio made their way towards the village.
"Was it a church of Malgeth?" Though it was a dumb question, Akeru still asked it.
"Yeah."
"Hmm..."
'I wonder if gods really exist in this world. I wonder if they are connected to my transmigration in this world.'
They soon reached the entrance of the village.
"Identity?" The guard there asked with an irritated look.
He had black hair and brown eyes, looking barely over 20.
"Can't you see our robes?" Finral was shocked that they, of all people being asked for their identities.
"We had a lot of fake people coming in the past few days. I am just doing my job."
"It's fine, senpai. Let's not create trouble," Akeru said while bringing out his identification card and giving it to the guard.
'This guy is strong, clearly a Senior Level Knight, which is clearly suspicious.' Akeru thought as he was ready to take action in case the guard tried something.
At this exact moment, 5 people surrounded them.
It was none other than the magic knights who had gone missing.
This momentary distraction was enough for Akeru as he found his hand coming in contact with the guard's hand.
"In this world, Gods don't exist."
The guard said, and from this moment onwards, everything changed for Akeru.
***
A/n- Lol, long chapter in a while. Enjoy!
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