Fragments of hope in the darkness of despair. (1)

Magnus was walking back and forth in Dusk's room while speaking to himself loudly in a panicked voice.

"Dusk left this fucking late at night on his own! What the hell am I supposed to do?! Where is Dawn?! Should I run after Dusk?!" the butler shouted at his lonesome, the way he spoke was completely different than usual.

Though Magnus wanted to go after Dusk he ended up discarding the idea. He was so focused on Dusk's fall to the earth when he jumped out of the window that, he neglected to take into account the direction Dusk went.

'Besides...Dusk did give me a duty to fulfill...' He thought as he looked at the paper that was gripped tightly in his hands. Beside him, The desk where Dusk wrote on the paper had two cups of tea on top. They were getting cold as the two people they were made for were nowhere to be seen at the moment.

But Magnus's focus was elsewhere. According to Dusk's instructions, if he did not come back within 20 minutes then Magnus was to read the contents of the note and follow what is written there.

"20 minutes?! How the fuck am I supposed to wait for that long?! What if something happens by then?!" Magnus resumed panicking again.

If anyone had seen Magnus right now they wouldn't even believe it was him. The usual young, well-mannered butler started cursing so much that it would cause any mother to quickly plug the ears of their child with holy scripture.

Magnus thought he should inform Gloria about the situation to see what she thinks, but he decided against that as well. He had a feeling that Gloria would panic just as much as him in this situation.

In the end, Magnus decided to wait...

He checked the watch on his wrist many times as he got impatient. But half an hour was just too long. As he couldn't wait any longer he decided to just read the contents of the paper after 15 minutes had passed since Dusk's departure.

"Sorry, Dusk. I just can't wait anymore!" Magnus muttered to himself and opened the folded paper.

[Tell my father and if possible, Lucius that I'm searching around Darkmoon Grove for Dawn. Since I haven't come back yet, We might need a search party to find her. This isn't a joke, Dawn may seriously be in danger]

"Motherfu-" Magnus started cursing again as he caught sight of the name [Darkmoon Grove].

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Meanwhile...

Dusk was rushing towards Darkmoon Grove as fast as possible. At times he could hear the howls of what he assumed to be wolves so he was forced to limit his speed somewhat so the monsters wouldn't be attracted. The speed he was sprinting at was enough to let him reach the area of Darkmoon Grove in around 10 minutes. As he rushed past the roads, the cold wind of the night was continuously brushing against his face while the trees around him were creaking.

He decided it would be foolish to search the wilderness first as not only would it be far more dangerous but also time-consuming. The roads, on the other hand, could not only be used to travel quickly and safely but also to survey the outskirts of the forest. He hoped to find Dawn outside of the forest rather than inside, for obvious reasons.

"Here's hoping what I find isn't a half-eaten rotting corpse of an 8-year-old girl..." Dusk said while preparing himself for the worst.

He knew there was quite a significant chance that Dawn might have already died. There would be more hope if it was daytime right now, but it's already evening. The time when the monsters of this particular forest get active most.

As many thoughts came across his mind he kept running for another few minutes before something caught his eye.

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On the outskirts of Darkmoon Grove, there was a group of people with a cart covered with clothing. The rays of moonlight shined over them revealing their features. There was a woman with red hair resting her back on the cart and beside her was a fat and ugly man.

However, what truly would catch most people's eyes was a little girl in a torn yellow dress. She was on her knees as tears trickled down her face, which was twisted in despair. In front of her, There was a large bulky man who had a piece of torn clothing in his hand. It seemed to belong to the girl.

"Ugh... Why the fuck do I have to strip a kid like this?! I'm a mercenary, not a fucking child molester." The man growled in frustration. He seemed reluctant to do something so vile.

"Now, now. We have to check the 'Goods' before we take them. She might have scars or something. Also, As much as I'd like to get my own hands dirty....she might use magic. Though, I do doubt it considering how shaken she is." Brad smirked as he thought about the profits he could make by turning this girl into a slave.

Brad was a slave merchant. Although slavery was mostly abolished after Reincarnators declared it to be an unjust and inhuman way to treat living beings, there were still legal ways to acquire a slave. The only legal slaves in the human kingdom were criminal slaves used for labor. But most people had no use for such slaves as not only did they have no interest in using slaves for work, but they also couldn't trust criminals to work for them. So the age of legal slavery ended.

But rotten people with vile intentions still wished to acquire slaves. Specifically sex slaves. And since it was a risky deal for both the buyer and seller, slave merchants could gain quite a profit from selling sex slaves. On the other hand, Thieves, Terrorists, and criminals in the lawless underworld valued slaves with high battle power as they could be used as pawns by their masters.

The blonde girl Brad had found today was not only suitable for the first kind of buyer but also the second. He knew this because he had the Rare skill [Peek] which allowed him to get a small glimpse of another person's status.

But even with that small glimpse, he managed to find out that the girl could use two different elements and even had a Unique skill!

'If I sell her to some buyer in the underworld, then I'll get a good amount of cash! And even if it turns out she's nothing special I can just sell her to one of the rotten nobles as a sex slave!' Brad thought as he broke into a creepy grin.

"Wipe that disgusting smirk off your face before I start gagging." Sally suddenly interrupted Brad's thoughts with a repulsed look.

Brad could only click his tongue despite wanting to beat her black and blue.

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Dawn couldn't think as she faced the crisis in front of her. Her mind was clouded with despair. She was even having a hard time recalling how she ended up in this state. She only knows that what awaits her is a grim fate. She didn't know what these people would do to her but she knew it wasn't anything pleasant. But despite all that, what truly caused her more fear and pain is.....that she might not be able to see her father or Dusk again.

"Daddy...Dusk...." she whispered inaudibly as even more tears trickled down her wet cheeks.

"Goddamn it. I wish she'd stop looking at me like that. Brad's the one who's making me do this for fuck's sake! Gah! The things I do for money!" Ralph kept voicing his frustrations.

Yet, it was obvious that he wouldn't stop despite his reluctance. His hands moved towards Dawn again. This time he seemed determined to strip her completely to finish the job quickly.

Dawn closed her eyes as she accepted her fate.

'Daddy....Dusk....I'm sorry...' she thought and braced herself for whatever was coming.

But at that moment a strong gust of wind suddenly brushed past her, threatening to take her along with it. The grunt of a man could be heard and she could feel the presence of another.

"Good grief...isn't my timing a bit too cliche?" a familiar voice spoke in an annoyed tone.

Dawn opened her eyes and found the man that was about to harm her was driven away somehow. He had a pained expression as he gripped his stomach tightly. In his place there was someone else in front of her. She saw a silver-haired young boy who seemed to be the same age as her. He had blue eyes and was wearing a white coat with a dark blue shirt underneath. His pants were white as well. His appearance reminded one of the moon in the night sky.

Seeing this boy, Dawn's heart was rid of its despair and instead filled with the fragments of something precious. It was hope.