"No." That was everyone's answer to the little girl trying to sell flowers. Even though she was only eight years old, the little girl was in charge of supporting her mother, or rather, she was forced to.
- Lady, do you want to buy a flower?
- Get out of the way, can't you see we're busy!
- Calm down dear, there's no need to be so rude.
A woman clinging to the shoulder of a muscular man looked pityingly at the little girl with watery eyes holding a basket of flowers.
- Easy, easy. Look, I'll take three, no need to cry.
The woman, an adventurer, picked three roses from the basket.
- The... the... the... Thank you!
- No problem... What's your name?
- It's... Huh... Noah... - The girl spoke the name amid sobs and tears that she tried to hold back while being stroked by the adventuress.
- Look Noah, it's for you.
It was ten gold coins, more than enough, since a flower cost one coin.
- Ehhh? This money was to buy you another bow! - The muscular man protested.
- Forget it, we'll get more money tomorrow.
Noah, the small flower seller, paled for a moment at the kindness of the adventuress who was now heading into the forest with the rude man. The flowers in the basket were picked in the same forest, the little girl was constantly scolded by the adventurers when she was seen there. That place was full of dangerous monsters.
Clenching his fist tightly, Noah ran as fast as possible to reach his home.
Fallen, which was once a thriving city, was bustling with activity due to the presence of a local nobleman visiting, so it was difficult for the little girl to make her way through the crowds in the shopping area.
Squeezing her way among the people huddled in the main square, she managed to reach the entrance to the slum.
That was the part of the city where the poor among the poor, like the little flower seller, were to be found. The slum dwellers, people who were completely forgotten by the nobles in their own land, resembled rats.
The dark alley in the middle of the city, full of houses falling to pieces, gave an air of a haunted place where many crimes had taken place - and, in fact, that was where most of the criminals hid.
Jumping over the dirty puddles of water, Noah arrived in front of his house. Compared to the other shacks, it was in the best condition.
- It was fun.
- Huh? What are you talking about? That bitch has been better, but she's old!
- No use complaining, it's the cheapest one you can find around here!
Two men - one fat with a beard and the other thin with an eye patch - were leaving Noah's house. It wasn't the first time strangers had walked in and out of there with a mean smile on their faces, it reminded her of "that incident".
Ignoring the pair, the little girl entered the house that used a white curtain as a door.
- I'm home, Mom.
- You're early, did you manage to sell everything? Haha! Just kidding, you never sell this crap!
- That's not true! Look, today I got ten gold coin-
- No kidding!
- It's true, here.
The girl held out her hand with the ten gold coins, which were taken by the woman instantly.
Noah's mother was in her mid-forties - she never told her daughter how old she was - and she looked like a prostitute, despite her age.
- I still can't believe you managed to earn all that with those stupid flowers...
- Actually, a lady adventurer was very nice and gave me ten coins for three flowers...
- I knew it! These flowers are not going to get us anywhere!
Stuffing the coins in her breasts, Noah's mother started to stare at the dirty little girl in front of her.
- Hmmm, you are... eight years old, right? I think you're old enough...
- Huh? What do you mean?
- I'm getting too old for this, men prefer younger girls. The younger the better.
- W-wait mom... What do you mean?
- Don't be an idiot! - Mom shouted. - I'm telling you to sell your body to the pigs in this hole! Give up this stupid idea of selling flowers and do something that makes us money, like sucking on some-
- Wha-what...
Noah listened to his mother's words with a confused expression. The only noise produced in the filthy room was the sound of the basket of flowers falling from the girl's hand.
- Actually, I have already arranged everything with a man who came here the other day, he seems to have a lot of money. The deal was that he would come after you in a week, but we can't wait any longer, I owe some guys who only accept gold coins as payment…
Seeing the little girl's expression, the woman shrugged her shoulders and left the house, leaving only the little girl motionless inside.
When Noah's mother returned, she was accompanied by a girl with a lot of tattoos.
Ruthy, the tattooed young woman, had known Noah since he was a baby. She was like a sister to the girl, and now, at this moment, she was in charge of preparing her for slaughter.
They were like animals just waiting for that moment. Losing their virginity like that, so young, was common for children growing up in that dark godforsaken alley.
- Give her a bath and some tips so she won't leave the customer unsatisfied, I'll use these coins to buy some new clothes," Noah's mother said to the young man as she left again. The monster-woman didn't show any remorse.
- Let's go Noah... I'll take you for a bath.
Noah and Ruthy left the house towards the only place in the alley that had clean water. This water was dedicated to bathing women who were going to please a client.
The place that was behind a brothel was protected by a wooden wall full of holes - made by the boys to spy on the women - in the center of the enclosure was a pool with drinking water.
Ruthy gently washed the back of the little girl who had remained silent since her mother's last words.
- Are you scared, Noah?
- Y-yes...
- I know what it's like...
- Hey, big sister Ruthy...
- Huh?
- They're going to do "it" to me, aren't they?
- Depends on what you mean by "it".
- W-one day I came home early, and I saw my mother naked with two men... She was screaming while two men... One of them looked at me, licking his lips and my mother said I would be ready soon... And-and then they gave her lots of coins....
You are reading story RAIFURORI: My Legendary Weapon Is a Loli With a Military Rifle! at novel35.com
The little girl spoke in a melancholy tone, fearing what awaited her in the near future.
- It's a disgraceful punishment to be born in this shithole...
Ruthy stopped bathing for a moment and looked up at the sky thoughtfully.
- My purity was also sold when I was about your age. I still remember that pig... I screamed and asked him to stop, but he enjoyed my suffering...
- Do you think my mother will sell me to him too?
- Tsc, I doubt it! I stabbed the bastard in the throat when I met him these days in a bar.
To survive in this city full of social injustices it was necessary to give up many things, virginity from an early age was one of them. Ruthy never wanted to become a drug dealer, but this was the only way she could support her younger brother.
- Hey Noah, have you ever thought about giving up this life?
- Huh?
- You know, if it wasn't for my brother I would have given it up for sure. Nobody deserves to live in this hell. When I get enough money, I'm sure I'll give Raul a decent life. They say that the land of the Marquis Soul Za is good to live on.
The young woman began to wipe Noah's malnourished body slowly, while she continued to think about the future. Dream! It was the only thing she could do. To hope that tomorrow would be better. That he would escape from that hell full of rats and pigs.
- I promise, Noah... I'll take you too and we'll all live happily, so... I want you to go to a safe place until then...
- W-what...
- I want you to run away! I won't let you suffer like me... Take advantage now that your mother has left home and run away. Wait for me in front of the alley exit, I know a convent that takes care of homeless children, I have already arranged to send Raul there, surely Sister Rose won't mind taking in one more child?
The idea of running away from home, from her mother's mistreatment, has crossed the little girl's mind a few times. She has even run away aimlessly to get away from it all, but where would she go?
This time, it was different. She had somewhere to go and the promise that someone would take care of her in the future.
Clinging to this hope, Noah agreed to run away immediately. He possessed nothing but the clothes on his body - a tattered gray dress - so he wouldn't have to stop by the house.
Ruthy asked the little girl to wait while she picked up her brother from the shack where he lived. The darkness in the alley was never as frightening as it was that night. The silence made Noah more and more apprehensive, waiting patiently for the arrival of the person he considered as an older sister.
That person never arrived... Hours passed and no one appeared.
Where was she? Had she given up on the idea?
Suddenly she heard someone approaching. The footsteps were not coming from within the darkness of the alley, but from the main square. It was a tall woman with sharp eyes and dirty brown hair just like her soul.
- What are you doing here?
- M-mom!?
- Don't tell me you were thinking of running away... How many times have I told you that this idea is useless!
The woman pulled the girl's thin arm into the alley. Clearly, she had more strength, after all, the woman was eating with the money Noah got from selling flowers while the little girl was only entitled to bones and crumbs.
- I-I'm not going back! Sister Ruthy will get me out of here!
At the little girl's scream, the mother put a macabre smile on her face. It was the darkest expression the woman had ever made up to that moment.
- Don't be an idiot... that bitch is probably dead by now...
- I-impossible! S-she said she was going to get me out of here!
- Really... She could have gotten you out of here if someone hadn't been paid well enough to denounce the drug lords of this region to a certain nobleman.
- W-what... N-no... - The little girl fell to her knees, watching her last hope slip through her hands. Tears began to stream down her clean face.
- S-sister Ruthy is very strong, she has never lost a fight!
- Haha... That's because she's never faced these guys sent from the capital. Look, they paid me a hundred coins for the information!
- Y-you... sold big sister Ruthy?
- Just like I'm going to do with you!
Was it just for the pleasure of seeing the girl suffer?
Even with a hundred coins, the woman still had the idea of selling her daughter to the pigs in that town.
Noah was dragged away by her mother, the tears didn't stop even when she got home.
The pretty dress bought by her mother with the dirty money seemed, to Noah, like a ritualistic object. Why make it so beautiful if it would soon be destroyed?
Hours went by... no one was coming. He had a chance to escape, since his mother was away... but he had nowhere to go.
Where was Ruthy? Did she really lose to the idiots in the capital? Did her mother go to get the terrible pig that would soil her honor?
There were too many questions. The little girl could only stand in the corner of the wall pondering, still hoping that her sister, her hero, would come to save her.
The curtain of the door opened, making Noah's heart flutter even more. The one who entered the cold-covered house was his mother... accompanied by a man.
Certainly, it was someone important judging by the clothes and the sloppy physique of someone who lived the good life.
The thing that looked at Noah with malice while salivating was the true definition of a pig.
- I'll leave everything to you.
The mother, without a drop of regret, left the house, leaving only the pig and her daughter inside.
- Little Noah, let's have some fun.
The man approached in slow steps, making Noah's heart soar. "Why doesn't that heart stop for good? Ah! I know..."
Still there, at that moment, he was hoping his sister would show up and save him....
"...I have to stay alive to congratulate big sister Ruthy."
The man reached a distance where Noah could feel his heavy breathing on his face, the pig's rough tongue went to meet his forehead.
Tears returned to the little girl's face, making the man laugh.
- I won't hold back any longer... Huh...
Something was thrown into the house and rolled over near the man's feet taking off his pants...
- W-what?
The thrown object began to splash on the floor, forming a puddle of red liquid.
- Is this where there is a little girl in trouble?
The silhouette of a woman in armor appeared in the curtain of the house. She held a medium sword in her right hand... which had been used to wound the little girl's mother. "That" thrown into the house was the woman's head.
- Noah, your big sister asked me to save you!