(VOL.1) Future

Agonizing pain wracked Lux's entire body; every inch of muscle felt as if it had been repeatedly and meticulously pounded by a meat tenderizer, sore and weak.

The wound on her thigh sent a sharp, tearing pain with every step.

But Lux dared not slow down.

She ran, navigating the dark and filthy alleyways, her heart a maelstrom of urgency, worry, and a sliver of fear for unknown dangers.

After turning a familiar corner and finally squeezing through a narrow gap barely wide enough for one person, Lux finally emerged from that alley.

Before her was an ordinary three-story flat house, sandwiched between crowded buildings, with an old wooden door and windows covered with tattered cloth.

Beside the door, a crooked wooden board hung, on which "Fresh Bread" was written in charcoal, next to a crudely drawn picture barely recognizable as bread.

This was an inconspicuous bakery, and also the place where Lux and her sister Mitty lived.Lux cautiously approached the door, carefully sniffing the air, and only after confirming no abnormalities did she let out a soft sigh and push open the creaking wooden door.

"Welcome." A crisp and pleasant voice came from inside, like a light bell swaying in the wind; though just a sound, it seemed to carry the faint fragrance and sweetness of a newly bloomed chrysanthemum.

"Brother, you're back! …Wait, Brother! How did you get hurt so badly?!" A cute girl in a simple purple cloth dress hurried over. She wore a kerchief on her head, neatly tucking away her long brown hair. Her face was delicate and fair, like first snow kissed by the sun, and her pale yellow eyes were clear and bright, reflecting a warm and touching world, like the melodious chirping of birds on a spring morning. This pretty girl was Mitty. At this moment, seeing Lux's appearance, she immediately dropped the basket full of freshly baked bread in her hands, fumbled to take off her heat-proof cotton gloves, and trotted over to Lux.

Yes, brother, this was what her sister called Lux, and it was also what Lux had always asked her sister to call her.

"Brother! Your face… there's so much blood! Quick, let's go upstairs quickly." Mitty's voice was filled with distress. She quickly ran to the door, flipped the "Open" sign to its back, revealing the words "Temporarily closed due to urgent matters, very sorry," then shut the shop door tightly and pulled Lux upstairs.

"Mitty, slow down… Hiss… It hurts like hell." Being anxiously pulled up the stairs by Mitty, the accumulated pain seemed to have just received the signal, rushing forth one after another. Lux grimaced in pain, her face contorted.

"I'm sorry, Brother. But, you sit down first, and quickly take off your clothes." Mitty deftly closed the windows and locked the door from the inside before walking over to Lux.

Lux did as she was told, taking off her dust-covered coat, shoes, and trousers, and unwrapping the thick long cloth strip used to bind her chest and the long scarf that concealed her throat, revealing skin covered in bluish-purple bruises.

She sat on a wooden chair covered with a mended fur blanket.

This blanket was made from the carcass of a young bear Lux had bought cheaply from the fighting pits—the poor little thing had been torn to shreds, its fur tattered, so the price was exceptionally low.

Lux had brought it back and given it to Mitty, who was practicing sewing at the time, for practice.

Naturally, this fur blanket was sewn crookedly, with rough stitches, but Mitty treasured it and couldn't bear to throw it away, keeping it in use.

Mitty looked at the wounds on Lux's body, those "blossoms of painful color," and bit her lip in distress. "Brother…" she called softly, then extended her small, fair hand and gently covered Lux's injured skin. Her palm emitted a soft, pale white light, like warm spring water. Under the envelopment of the light, the broken and swollen skin rapidly recovered to its original state at a speed visible to the naked eye. Lux only felt a warm current spread throughout her limbs and bones, as if a fireplace suddenly lit in the dead of winter, dispelling all cold and pain; even the soreness in the crevices of her bones was melted away by this warmth.

"Don't heal the wound on my face," Lux said, grasping Mitty's hand as she was about to move it to her cheek. "If this one heals too, it'll be too conspicuous. I'll just find a cloth and wrap it up.""First, tell me what happened. Who beat you up like this, Brother? How did you get hurt so badly?" Mitty asked worriedly.

"Ran into a few clueless thugs on the road," Lux waved her hand, her tone as casual as if discussing a trivial matter. "But I beat them all down, I reckon they won't dare to come back again."

"Really! How can I dare to let you go out alone like this, Brother!" Mitty pouted, feigning anger, then turned to boil a pot of hot water and picked up a clean towel to carefully wipe the bloodstains and dirt from Lux's body.

"Wait, I still have an unhealed wound," Lux said suddenly.

"Huh? Where else?" Mitty immediately tensed up, her bright eyes carefully searching Lux's body.

"Wrong place, it's here," Lux pointed to her forehead, deliberately making an exaggerated expression. "This is the most serious injury here, it needs a kiss from Mitty to get better.""Silly." Mitty shot her a reproachful glance but still obediently leaned forward and gently planted a kiss on Lux's smooth forehead. "Then you should rest well at home today. I'll go buy some chicken later and make a chicken pie for you."

"That won't do. Because, I have a huge surprise for you right now!" Lux smiled mysteriously, then extended her hands, first forming a triangle, then moving her hands down in parallel to form a square. "Guess what this is?"

"Hmm… Is it a cake? Could it be a new style from Milan Cake House?" Mitty blinked curiously, her eyes seeming to sparkle with starlight.

"Nope, nope, wrong guess. Then I'll add another hint," Lux spread her hands flat in the air, then drew a large circle, and then mimicked a small animal, hopping a few times in the imaginary circle. "And this."

"Hiss… This is so hard to guess. It wouldn't be something scary, would it? Like… cockroach cookies or something?" Mitty frowned, looking troubled.

"Of course not. Besides, how could there be something as strange and disgusting as cockroach cookies." Lux helplessly crossed her arms, making an "X" gesture, and directly revealed the answer. "Remember our dream from before? To buy a small manor, raise some cows and sheep, and plant a whole garden of grapes and olives…"

"I remember! Brother, are you saying…?!" Mitty's small mouth formed an "O" of surprise, so excited she almost jumped up.

"That's right! I earned a lot of money today! We've saved enough! Soon, we can leave this city and go to a nearby town to buy our own small ranch!" Lux excitedly announced the good news. Seeing the incredible joy blooming on Mitty's face, she felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and happiness.

"Yay! That's great! Brother is the best!" Mitty cheered and threw herself into Lux's arms, planting a firm kiss on her uninjured cheek. But soon, she thought of something, and the smile on her face was instantly replaced by worry. "But… your injuries today, were they… because of this money?"

"No, the injury was just an accident, it has nothing to do with the money." Lux shook her head and patted Mitty's head reassuringly. "Don't worry. When we get to the farm, we can raise a few sheepdogs to guard the house, and we can also make our own cheese and dry grapes. At night, we'll lie in the fields together and look at the stars. Oh, and we can also buy two horses, and then we can ride along the riverbank."

"Brother, I'm afraid of dogs… Let's forget about the sheepdogs," Mitty immediately retorted. Lux thought about it, and it seemed that was indeed the case, so she nodded.

"Besides, neither of us knows how to ride a horse. What if we fall off the horse then?" Mitty said, mimicking Lux by reaching out and patting Lux on the head.

"Then we'll ride sheep!" Lux said with a laugh. "Falling off a sheep won't hurt too much, right? My little white sheep princess."

"Bleh! I'm not riding anything! When we leave here, the first thing I'm going to do is buy lots and lots of beautiful fabric and make new clothes for both of us! Here we can only wear this ugly purple, I'm so tired of looking at it!" Mitty stuck out her tongue, expressing her truest thoughts.

"Oh? Then please don't embroider flowers on my clothes. Also, I like red. I'll have to trouble you, my Mitty, master seamstress." Lux said with a respectful tone; she knew her sister's obsession with green and floral patterns all too well.

"Hmph, it's clearly very pretty!" Mitty puffed out her cheeks defiantly. "Then… then I'll sew it on the inside of your clothes, the kind only you can see, Brother, okay?"

"Alright." Lux helplessly threw up her hands, indicating her acceptance of this "compromise.""Yay! Then I'll go prepare some delicious food! Tonight, we'll celebrate properly with Grandma Mabel! Grandma Mabel is probably still out shopping now." Mitty immediately became excited and started planning the dinner menu.

"Mitty," Lux interrupted her reverie. "Today… let's go see the farm first, shall we? We can celebrate later, it's not too late."

"What? So urgent? Aren't we going to wait for Grandma Mabel to come back and tell her?" Mitty asked doubtfully.

"Uh, well… The matter of the farm should be handled sooner rather than later. After all, I only heard about this a few days ago. If we go late, someone else might buy it. As for Grandma Mabel, we can just leave her a letter to explain. It won't be too late to come back and see her in a couple of days when we're settled over there," Lux explained, making an excuse.

"Wait…" Mitty suddenly stopped her movements, staring intently at Lux like an alert kitten that had spotted a moving ball of yarn. She leaned closer to Lux and sniffed carefully. "Brother, you're lying, aren't you?"

"Alright," Lux shrugged helplessly. "Mitty, your nose is sometimes more sensitive than my skills. I'm very sorry, there are some things I can't explain clearly to you right now, but… I think we'd better leave here as soon as possible, the sooner the better, preferably today."

Mitty's brow furrowed, and she asked worriedly, "Then what about Grandma Mabel? Will she be in danger? And, I'm the only helper in the shop right now. I was thinking of staying a few more days, waiting for her to find new staff before leaving…"

"I think, whether Grandma Mabel has our help or not, the situation is pretty much the same. This street is under Boss Pony's protection, no one dares to trouble Grandma Mabel," Lux comforted her. "Besides, we can leave a sum of money for Grandma Mabel, as a thank you for taking care of us two orphans all these years."

"Alright. But, I think Grandma Mabel will definitely be angry if she sees that money. We'd better visit her more often during festivals in the future. We can bring her some gifts then, like cheese and wine we made ourselves."

"Mm, okay, we'll talk about these later," Lux nodded. "And… thank you, Mitty, thank you for being willing to believe me."

"Silly, of course I believe you! We're family," Mitty smiled and proactively took Lux's hand. "Family that will always, always be together."

"Yes," Lux squeezed her sister's warm hand tightly and held her close.

"Mm." Mitty gently patted Lux's back, nestling her head in Lux's neck, feeling each other's warmth and heartbeat.

"By the way, I still need to go out and prepare some things, I'll be back soon. Mitty, you should hurry up and pack our luggage too," Lux gently pushed her sister away and said.

"Okay, Brother. Be careful on your way," Mitty nodded obediently.

Lux walked down the somewhat creaky old staircase.

They lived on the third floor, in a room Grandma Mabel had rented to them at an extremely low price out of pity.

The back room of the bakery was the kitchen, which contained a huge brick oven.

Previously, Grandma Mabel used to cook for the two sisters, but later Mitty's culinary skills improved by leaps and bounds, and Mitty took over the cooking.

However, on every festival, Grandma Mabel would still personally cook a sumptuous feast.Both of them strictly forbade Lux from setting foot in the kitchen—because Lux's "talent" in seasoning was truly… hard to describe.

Of course, Lux herself insisted that it was just her "bold adventurous spirit" in the art of cooking.

At this moment, many freshly baked loaves of bread, all carefully wrapped in clean greaseproof paper, were neatly arranged on the kitchen shelves.

Lux walked out of the bakery entrance and subconsciously turned her head to glance at the small sign that read "Mabel's Bakery."

"I'm sorry…" she whispered to the empty doorway, in a voice only she could hear.

Because she didn't know what the future would hold, didn't know what fate awaited this street she had lived on for so long.

The only thing she knew clearly was that she could only, and must, first take care of her sister, and protect the future she and Mitty yearned for at all costs.

As for everyone else… she had no time to spare for them.

Then, Lux no longer hesitated and turned, walking quickly towards Boss Pony's territory....This was Middle Street.

Casinos, taverns, and brothels stood shoulder to shoulder, the air thick with the mixed scent of cheap alcohol, low-quality perfume, and sweat.

This was the favorite haunt of the low-level thugs in their short cloth shirts.

Half the shops on this street were controlled by the Blood Drop Gang, to which Boss Pony belonged.

Pony was one of the leaders of the Blood Drop Gang, mainly responsible for collecting protection fees in the Left Street area.

But he himself rarely stayed in Left Street, spending most of his time indulging in the debauchery of Middle Street.

Street hustlers like Lux, pickpockets and thieves, all needed to regularly "pay tribute" to Boss Pony.

If they didn't pay, Boss Pony himself might not personally do anything to them, but other gangs, or Pony's lesser underlings, would come looking for trouble and try to take over their turf.

And Lux, because she had a strikingly beautiful sister, had to pay five times more "protection money" than others, in exchange for a moment of peace.

Lux familiarly walked towards the five-story small building made of purple stone.

Outside the building, several thuggish-looking gang members were gathered, smoking and chatting idly.

Lux went up, slipped them a few coins, and was then led inside by one of them.

She was taken to the fifth floor.

The gang member leading the way stopped in front of a heavy wooden door, knocked, and after receiving permission, pushed the door open and went in. He came out a short while later, opened the door, and gestured for Lux to enter.

"Boss Pony, good afternoon," Lux immediately put on a smile and greeted him respectfully as soon as she entered the room.

The room was dimly lit, the air thick with the strong smell of alcohol and an indescribable mixed scent of spices and mildew.

On the wall hung a huge, crudely painted oil painting of a nude woman.In the center of the room was a large leather sofa, in which an extremely obese middle-aged man was sunk.

Beside him stood several burly, expressionless men, like iron towers.

This fat man was Boss Pony.

He was bald and shiny, adorned from neck to fingers with all sorts of tacky gold rings and thick gold chains.

His entire body, even including his bald head, was tattooed with colorful flowers and twisted poisonous snakes, forming a nauseating, terrifying garden built on fat.

At this moment, he was holding a magnifying glass, said to be imported from the northern "Holy Sunrise Empire," and carefully examining a pigeon-egg-sized gemstone.

Seeing that Boss Pony didn't immediately acknowledge her, Lux sensibly remained silent, standing respectfully by the door.

"Hmm? It's Sam, huh." The fat man buried his head and looked at the gemstone for a good while longer before slowly and carefully wrapping it in a piece of silk and putting it down. Then he raised his small eyes, squeezed by fat until they were just slits, and looked at Lux. "What happened to your face? And, what do you want from me?"

"Boss Pony, it's nothing major," Lux's face immediately bloomed into an ingratiating smile. "Just ran into a few clueless young thugs looking for trouble on the road, but I've already beaten them down. I reckon they won't dare to come back again." She paused, her tone becoming even more respectful. "I'm bothering Boss Pony today because I'd like to buy two exit permits from you. I recently heard news of a long-lost relative of mine, so I want to leave the city to look for him."

"Is that so? Exit permits, a small matter of little cost." Boss Pony patted his huge belly, which made a dull sound. "But, don't you even think about leaving the city and not coming back, you hear me?"

"How could I,Boss Pony, you know, there are still many brothers on this street who owe me money. I haven't even collected it yet, how could I not come back?" Lux replied with a fawning smile.

"Mm, that's more like it." Boss Pony nodded with satisfaction, fiddling with the several large gemstone rings on his hand. "I also think highly of you. In a while, I'm planning to promote you, let you manage a few shops. Then, you'll be a little boss too."

"Then I really have to thank Boss Pony so much, I'll definitely work hard!" Lux quickly bowed, her face full of tearful gratitude.

"Alright, alright, it's nothing. Those two exit permits, consider them a free gift from me." Boss Pony waved his hand impatiently. "Berger, you take Sam and get his two tickets." A burly man standing nearby immediately responded and walked out, nodded, and beckoned Lux with his finger, indicating for her to follow.

"Thank you again, Boss Pony! When I come back, I'll definitely bring a gift for Boss." Lux repeated her thanks. Seeing the obvious impatience on Boss Pony's face, she dared not say more and quickly followed the underling named Berger out.

"Hmph." As soon as the door closed, the amiable expression on Boss Pony's face instantly vanished, replaced by a gloomy one. "Dead Fist, that useless trash. Said he was coming to defect to me, but he couldn't even rob a little brat when I arranged it."

Boss Pony grabbed a half-empty bottle of strong liquor from the nearby table and gulped down a large mouthful directly from the bottle, the spicy liquid flowing down the corners of his thick lips.

The few underlings beside him were as silent as cicadas in winter, not even daring to breathe loudly.

"Damn it," Boss Pony put down the wine bottle, scratching his almost triple-layered chin with his greasy fingers, a trace of suspicion flashing in his eyes. "But… this kid, there's indeed something fishy about him."

"Boss Pony, do you need us to… make a move?" a burly man beside him asked cautiously.

"Idiot!" Boss Pony suddenly turned his head, a glob of spit spraying onto the burly man's face.

 "I'm dealing with my own subordinate, do I want others to know?!"

He picked up a wine glass and poured himself another. "This kid, he's always refused to be my enforcer, and he's been saving money so actively. I guessed right away he was planning to run away with his sister, and now it's pretty obvious."

"This kid, either he has beastkin blood in him, or… he's a damned Cursed One!"

"I don't have the patience to wait for him to come back." Pony drained the wine in his glass again, as if extremely thirsty. "Report him to the Demon Hunting Bureau right now, I can even earn a bounty on the side!"

He suddenly chuckled, his laughter greasy and lewd. "What a pity… that pretty sister of his. If his sister wasn't dead, tsk tsk, I'd definitely take her into my own room and 'dote' on her properly…"

Pony burst into loud laughter, and as he laughed, he suddenly felt a wave of heat all over his body and abruptly roared at the people beside him, "Damn it! What are you still standing around for?! Now! Immediately! Get me some clean women over here!"