Chapter 59 - A Weakness Behind Every Person

In the Petrichor District, which happens to be the most poorest area in the southern region of E.D.L., anyone will often find public disturbances unfolding across various corners within that district day in and day out.

And these variety of unlawful activities taking place are sadly somewhat of a regular occurrence. Though it's just the citizens of the district trying to make ends meet to survive another day.

Then at a particular area in that district, a random guy suddenly assaults a father and his son to rob them of a small bag containing plain bread that'll serve as their meal for that very day.

"H-HEY GET YOUR HANDS OFF!! SOMEBODY HELP!!" The father yells out for help, and his child started crying because of the scary man that's robbing them. "Waaah!..."

"HELP!! ANYONE, PLEASE!!" He begged, but all the other people witnessing the scene kept passing by, casually minding their own business and not wanting to get involved.

The robber snapped as he struggled to snatch away their food. "GIVE IT TO ME ALREADY, YOU ASSHOLE!!"

"NO!! YOU LET GO OF IT!!"

"Arghh!! You've given me no choice but to do this!" The father didn't expect the guy to pull out a knife from his pocket, and got stabbed on the chest. The robber ran away with their food leaving the father to slowly die in front of his own child.

"Daaaad! Waaaahhh!!"

"Raphael... I-I'm... sorry..."

"Waaaahh!!" The child continued to cry beside his dying father until all that remained was a corpse. Nevertheless, he remained by the corpse for days.

The child, Raphael, wouldn't stray afar from the corpse of his father and would only move away to ease his hunger to find something to feed on from the streets. Eventually, the neighborhood disposed of the corpse when Raphael had moved away, as the stench became overwhelming.

And returning after getting little snacks from a dumpster an area nearby, Raphael has found the spot of his father's corpse empty. Causing him cry again for hours after losing the remnants of his father. "Uwaaaaaahhh! Daaaaad!"

With no reason left to stay on that place, Raphael wanders here and there to find food and take shelter. This became his new daily life as an 8 year old orphan.

"Hngg!!" And whilst wandering on the streets, he starts to feel his stomach painfully rumbling from hunger. It was time to search for food once more. However, upon finding another dumpster, he saw adults already hauling away everything edible.

"C-Can I have some?" He politely asks, but the man glared at him.

"Scram kid! This is all mine."

"But!! I'm so hungry!!"

"Like hell I care if you die of hunger!? Shoo!!"

Not having enough strength to plead for food, he looks somewhere else. "Hnggg..." though the pain in his stomach became unbearable, and suddenly got him feeling very weak and weary.

The next thing he knew is that he was lying flat on the cold hard ground and fainted in that position. And in his unconscious state, he felt something warm envelop him. A warmth that he felt like he was longing for ever since he lost his father.

"...kid!... hey!... hey, kid!!" A loud deep voice was disturbing his sleep. "...hey!?... err, he won't wake up anytime soon."

Then another high pitched voice spoke. "...I think so too. That boy's a goner, so let's just take back our blanket and leave already."

"No Claire, he's still alive. But he's very sick so we gotta take him back with us!"

"Err, I don't wanna!!"

Raphael slightly opens his eyes to peek at the other kids talking, they quickly notice him awaken. "Oohh!! He woke up!"

"Eh!? Oh come on!"

"...who are you... guys?" Raphael asks, also finding himself wrapped in a fresh blue blanket.

As his vision clears, he can see the people who owned the voice he was hearing. There was this boy who seemed to be around in his mid teens and the other was a girl younger than the teenage boy. The two looked like siblings as they both have very similar appearance of blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.

The teenage boy was first to introduce himself to Raphael. "Hey there little guy, the name's Claude Duvent." His soft gaze and kind smile made him seem like an angel to Raphael, while the girl had a grumpy look on her face as she glare at the poor little boy.

Claude places his hand on top of the girl's head and introduced her as well. "And this here is my younger sister, Claire Duvent."

Raphael locked eyes with this girl named Claire, feeling a deep sense of familiarity with her. "And what about you? Will you tell us your name?" Claude asked.

"My n-name?..." he coughs from his dry throat before he answering. "...it's ...R-Raphael Novick."

"...Raphael Novick?" Then as Claude repeats his name with a different yet familiar voice, Raphael's eyes opens instantly, waking up from his dream and finding himself confined in a plain white room with Captain Wright.

"So you finally woke up." Said Captain Wright.

After getting to his senses, Raphael his first instinct was to ask about Claire. "...w-where is she?... Where's Claire!?" He tried getting up from his bed but was pulled back down as there were chains restraining him. "What the!?"

"Try to calm yourself down first, Novick. We won't get anywhere if you keep acting pathetic like that." The Captain's words didn't do much help as Raphael quickly got enraged seeing his face, recalling the time the Captain gravely hurt Claire.

"YOU!... I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HER!! YOU DAMN BASTARD, TAKE THESE CHAINS OFF AND FIGHT ME!"

Wright sighs expecting this to happen. He let Raphael blew off some steam for a couple of minutes before initiating another talk with him. "...you done yet?"

Raphael was already trying to catch his breath after yelling for so long. "...no... not until I kill you..."

"You really disappoint me this time, Novick." Captain Wright asks with a cold dead tone.

"I never seeked your approval or to satisfy your expectations! I'll gladly spare your life if you stop this bullshit and let me out of here."

"I think you're misunderstanding something here." He grabs Raphael by the collar, holding back on beating his face. "You're the one receiving my mercy. If you obediently listen to what I say, I'll gladly spare your life."

"...heh, you think you can kill me?" Raphael grinned, making it clear that he does not fear his threats nor Captain Wright himself.

"Of course I can, with you immobilized in that position. I can end you with one shot like this—" Raphael's grin disappeared as Captain Wright aimed a shifter shotgun to his head. "—and if you die now, who's going to save your damsel in distress?"

Raphael fell speechless by his words.

"So what will it be, Novick? Should I execute you here right now or will you put yourself to good use?"

It was obvious that the Captain wasn't giving him any option but to obey him, but Raphael still had to think about it considering Claire's situation. There was a long pause before Raphael spoke again. "And what would happen to Claire if I agree to be of good use?"

"Supposedly, that traitor can be executed from the weight of her crimes. But I've got enough authority and connection to change her punishment into a life sentence, that way she won't die right away and just rot in jail for life."

"...then so be it."

All for her sake, Raphael surrenders himself to Captain Wright. And even with his fierce exterior, Wright felt a bit bad for Raphael, knowing the woman he's trying to protect sees him nothing more than a tool.