The guard carried the unconscious Cain outside, grumbling under his breath as he walked.
“Ugh, we’re always the ones stuck doing the dirty work.” “The Captain just gets to sit back and bark orders.
If things go wrong, we take the blame.
If things go right, he takes the credit and the rewards.
Must be nice.” Seeing that he had walked a fair distance away from the facility, the guard unceremoniously dumped Cain onto the ground.
He raised his sword and muttered, “Don’t blame me, kid.
Blame your own rotten luck.” Just as the sword was about to pierce downward, a sudden, blinding pain erupted in his chest.
The guard slowly lowered his head, only to see a sharp steel spike, about as thick as a pinky finger, buried deep into his chest.
Crimson blood rapidly blossomed from the wound, dyeing his uniform red.
With wide, shocked eyes, the guard stared down at Cain, whose hand was firmly gripping the spike.
He couldn’t comprehend it.
How did this kid, who was completely unconscious a second ago, suddenly wake up and do this to him?
“Argh…
you…
you damn brat!” After the initial shock wore off, a surge of blazing fury erupted within him.
He swung his sword down, intending to end the life of this miserable brat who dared to injure him.
Facing the descending blade, Cain didn’t panic.
An orb of light materialized in front of him, followed instantly by a blinding, piercing flash.
The sudden intense light scorched the guard’s eyes, forcing a cry of pain from his lips.
Having prepared for this, Cain had already tightly shut his eyes.
This dazzling radiance was the result of his newly awakened magic, a spell he simply called ‘Radiance’.
It was the very first time he had used his magic since awakening it.
The effect was incredibly potent.
Struck by the overwhelming light, the guard was temporarily blinded, dropping his weapon to cover his eyes with both hands as he howled in agony.
Cain didn’t let this golden opportunity slip by.
Stepping forward with his left foot, he gathered strength in his right leg and delivered a vicious, upward kick directly between the guard’s legs.
Crack.
A sound eerily similar to crushing eggs echoed sharply in the silent night.
The guard, who had just been wailing, suddenly choked up like a rooster grabbed by the neck.
The screams rattled in his throat, utterly unable to escape his mouth.
Taking a devastating blow to his most vulnerable spot, the guard immediately clamped his legs tightly together.
He abandoned any thought of his sword, and his hands flew from his eyes to fiercely clutch his crotch.
He collapsed and rolled frantically on the ground, desperate to alleviate the unimaginable, soul-crushing agony.
Through his tear-blurred vision, a pair of small, dirt-caked feet appeared before the guard.
“You…
you damn…
brat…” The guard slowly lifted his ferocious, murderous gaze.
But when he saw Cain standing over him, holding his own discarded sword, that ferocious and malicious expression vanished in an instant.
A wave of deep dread washed over his heart, and sheer terror completely took over his face.
“No, please don’t kill me!” Cain felt no pity for the guard’s pleas.
Sure, in his previous life, he had only ever killed fish; he had never even slaughtered a chicken.
But Cain understood the cruel reality of this world.
If he didn’t kill the man in front of him right now, he would be the one dying next.
The heavy sword plunged fiercely into the guard’s chest.
Watching the man scream, Cain decided to end his suffering quickly.
It took about seven or eight thrusts before the guard lying on the ground finally stopped moving.
“Haa…
haa…
Thank god I picked up that steel spike earlier.
Turns out, killing a man isn’t all that different from gutting a fish.” He took two deep breaths to calm his racing heart.
Now that the adrenaline was fading and he recalled the brutal struggle that had just taken place, a wave of post-combat terror quickly spread through him.
Cold sweat seeped out, drenching his shirt.
Cain took one last, deep look in the direction of the Bureau of Magical Development and whispered, “Wait for me, Ultear.” He then rummaged through the dead guard’s pockets, swiping all the money he could find, before turning and disappearing into the distance.
Inside the Bureau of Magical Development, in Ultear’s room.
Ultear slowly opened her eyes.
The surroundings felt eerily familiar.
“Is this…” “What, you don’t even recognize your own room anymore?” That voice instantly jolted Ultear fully awake.
She snapped her head around and saw Brain sitting casually on the edge of her bed, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.
“Where’s Cain?
Where is he?!” Brain was completely unbothered by her frantic questioning.
He slowly stood up and casually smoothed out the wrinkles in his coat.
Then, looking down at Ultear, his smile widened into a cruel grin.
“Cain?
You mean that little brat you were with?
He abandoned you.
He ran away all by himself, hahahahaha!” Ultear refused to believe Brain’s words.
She shook her head fiercely.
“No!
Cain wouldn’t do that.
He wouldn’t leave me behind and run away alone!” Brain scoffed.
“He wouldn’t?
Ultear, he was just using you.
If he didn’t need to know how to escape the Bureau of Magical Development, he never would have gotten close to you in the first place.
The fact that you are sitting right here, while he is nowhere to be found, is the best proof of that.” Yet, Ultear still wouldn’t believe him.
She just kept shaking her head.
“No…
Cain wouldn’t abandon me.” Brain had assumed that with those words, Ultear would definitely break and believe him.
He hadn’t expected her to place so much absolute trust in a brat named Cain.
Seeing her stubbornness, Brain unleashed his magic power.
An indescribably immense, crushing wave of magical pressure instantly flooded the entire room.
Ultear stared blankly at Brain, who suddenly looked like a demon stepping out from the depths of hell.
A profound, suffocating terror began to rise within her heart.
Her tiny body couldn’t stop violently trembling.
Without her even realizing it, cold sweat had soaked her entirely.
“If I hadn’t let him go, do you really think a rat like him could have escaped?” With those final words, Brain turned and walked out of her room.
As the overwhelming magical pressure dissipated, Ultear finally snapped back to reality, gasping heavily for air as if she had been drowning.
He…
he’s right.
That terrifying amount of magic…
there’s no way two kids like us could ever stand up to it.
Which means…
Cain really did abandon me.
At that thought, Ultear felt as if she had been plunged into the freezing depths of the ocean, surrounded by an endless, suffocating darkness.
A voice from the very bottom of her heart seemed to whisper to her, telling her that she was never truly needed by anyone.
Her mother had abandoned her, and now, Cain had done the exact same thing.
Standing outside the door, Brain quietly watched this scene unfold through the small window.
At this moment, Ultear had completely, irrevocably fallen into the darkness.
An Ultear like this will surely fetch an excellent price, Brain thought, his mood vastly improving.
He stopped paying attention to the broken girl in the room.
As for that other brat named Cain?
Brain had already completely wiped him from his memory.
After walking through the entire night, Cain finally spotted a small town in the distance.
By now, his clothes were torn and ragged, his bright blonde hair was caked in dust, and his filthy body gave off a nauseating stench.
Having trekked so far without any shoes, the skin on the soles of his feet was torn and blistered, causing him to hobble and limp with every step.
If it hadn’t been for the heavy sword gripped tightly in his hand, he probably would have been chased out of town as a common beggar.
Cain scanned his surroundings.
First, he hit up a clothing store to buy a new outfit.
Then, he booked a room at a local inn and took a long, glorious, hot bath.
After changing into his fresh clothes, he stood in front of the mirror.
Looking at his full head of golden hair and undeniably cute features, he nodded in deep satisfaction.
Come to think of it, this was the very first time he had actually seen what he looked like in this life.
He ordered a simple breakfast at the inn and began to contemplate his next moves.
Originally, the plan had been for him and Ultear to escape the Bureau together and go find Ur.
But due to that sudden disaster, he was the only one who had managed to break out.
Ultear was still trapped back there.
He needed to find a way to rescue her as soon as possible.
However, Cain quickly realized a glaring issue: he had absolutely no idea where Ur lived.
Ugh, why didn’t I ask Ultear exactly where we were supposed to go to find Ur?
Since finding Ur was no longer a viable option, that left him with only one path forward: finding the Fairy Tail guild.