Chapter 105 Wishing Upon Aurora

Logan glanced at the sweaty official shouting at the crowd and pursed his lips. He stepped forward and called out to the despondent Mai.

Her brother is always silently working hard so not to worry his sister, but now, he still ended up worrying his sister.

"Uncle, uncle."

When Mai saw Logan, her eyes regained some light, but her expression was still shrouded in helplessness. Her face was pale, and under the sunlight, the people around her were solely focused on the commotion at the front.

The official's explanations were drowned out by countless cold stares. Mai's already thin body seemed even more frail after half a day of shock, and she clung to the hand of the elderly villager next to her to avoid collapsing.

"You're here." Mai subconsciously hugged Logan's arm.

Her tone was calm, but it wasn't necessarily a good sign. The anticipation of possibly losing the last important person in her life made her like a withering flower. She's obviously in the season of blooming, but now, she was engulfed in the despair of wilting.

Logan had never seen such a distressed expression on Mai's face. Amidst the sea breeze, she was always lively and clingy, smiling adorably despite their harsh life.

"But now, I won't be alone, right?"

Mai looked down at the ground, and Logan felt the rising emotions within her. Even when he first arrived at Salted Fish Village and faced her brother and sister who were at the end of their rope and faced her brother and sister who were at the end of their rope, she still held on. Now, although her state hadn't completely deteriorated, he could see the depth of her despair. He spoke softly: "No, your brother will be fine."

Mai clung to Logan's hand without speaking. She had been completely confused when she entered the town with others earlier. Now, she felt powerless and lost in an unfamiliar environment.

"Hattori-san, you're here... Sigh, this situation is truly..." The one who spoke was the old villager who had brought the news back to the village and brought Mai along. He knew that the siblings, Mai and Kaze, had gotten close to Logan. He had watched Mai fell into despair on the way and could only sigh at the situation, "Poor child."

The old villager explained that after bringing Mai, they thought they could only go to the town hall. However, the situation was far out at sea. The unpredictable weather and wanton mobs were extremely dangerous to ordinary people. So apart from listening to the misty hope offered by the officials, there was nothing else they can do.

"Thank you." Logan bowed to the old man, then glanced at Mai, who was standing silently. He knew Mai's current state wasn't right. Regardless of the situation, they needed to get her settled first.

"There's no use staying here. It's better to go back first."

The old villager looked around and sighed. Encountering situations like this was not uncommon, just as the siblings' father had disappeared at sea months ago.

"I'll take the things I left at the market first."

While waiting, Mai seemed as if she had lost all vitality, and it is unknown what she was thinking.

Logan didn't offer much comfort, knowing it might not help. He held her soft hand and sighed, looking towards the docks, 'It seemed I would have to step in.'

Suddenly, Logan noticed some familiar faces. Tall, brawny men, shirtless in the warm weather. They were Kazuya's colleagues, including Yamada and some other laborers.

The group stood on the outskirts of the crowd, their expressions complex as they whispered among themselves.

"That kid Kazuya is very unlucky."

"Good thing we managed to push him to help on the merchant ship, otherwise, we would be the unlucky ones..."

"Yeah, who wants to suffer at sea with the festival coming up?"

"Quiet, all of you!" Yamada growled, and his lackeys immediately fell silent, "This matter has nothing to do with us. No one should mention this ever again!"

Logan squinted his eyes and watched the group leave. He patted Mai's head, recognizing that now wasn't the time to address such matters.

When the old villager returned, the three of them left together. Logan held Mai's hand, feeling a weak resistance from her. After a gentle tug, she followed obediently.

After leaving the town, when no one was paying attention, Logan created a shadow clone. The clone didn't head into the town but took a shortcut, leaping through the forested mountains towards the northern seas.

Given Logan's current strength, unless the pirates causing trouble are the kind backed by a dark force and have a group of Jonin-level Ninjas (which is impossible), a shadow clone was more than sufficient to deal with them.

By the time Logan returned to Salted Fish Village, it was nearly dusk. The villagers came to check on Mai, but their presence offered little help. After the village chief also left, it was just Logan and Mai in the house.

On the table lay food brought by kind-hearted villagers, but Mai obviously had no appetite. Logan stood by the door, blocking the moonlight, pondering how far his shadow clone had progressed. The main challenge was finding the people amidst the vast sea, and fighting was secondary.

Feeling the hem of his clothes was pulled down, Logan turned around, and saw Mai was looking at him with red eyes.

"Uncle, you've been with me all day, sorry... let's eat first."

In fact, Mai's emotions were slightly more stable now. Although she is still worried, she had begun to recover from the initial shock. The women's presence and the release of tears had soothed her somewhat.

Tomorrow is the festival, and normally, Kazuya should have returned to this home to prepare things, and by midnight, they would be happily dining together. Mai even imagined that she might be able to see the aurora.

Regarding Kazuya's accident, Logan didn't have the same feeling of crisis or helplessness. Both in the town and the village, he remained calm. Only Mai's distress made him a little depressed unconsciously.

It's okay to create a shadow clone to stay behind. Although it's not nice to hear, it's actually normal. After all, he had nothing to do with the other party and had only been together for a short period of time, but things were different when things came to be. In a contradictory state of mind, he wanted to take good care of this little girl before tomorrow.

Mai cooked a bit, supplementing the villagers' food, creating a rather sumptuous spread compared to their usual fare. With the lanterns lit at night, the two of them sat at the table, though something felt missing. Then Mai started crying again.

"If only brother were here..." The current scene was indeed heart-wrenching.

Seeing this, Logan couldn't help but sighed in his heart, 'You're feeling sad, but why are you forcing a set up a festive meal? Poor girl…'

Logan patted Mai's shoulder. At this moment, Mai thought of something and started to rummage through the boxes. After a minute, she sat back down again, holding a crescent-shaped pendant in her hand, with the currency of the Land of the Moon strung on an ordinary string.

"I heard from the people in front of the town hall that hiring a ninja through a mission request can save people quickly, but it will cost a lot of money..." Mai said dejectedly, "These are definitely not enough, and borrowing money isn't an option..."

Logan found it amusing. Ninja's commissions were categorized by rank. If the commission was really issued, rescuing people from pirates would be at least C-Rank. In the original work, Tazuna couldn't even afford a B-Rank mission.

"If you want to collect enough money to issue the commission, you might as well have a higher chance of seeing the urban legend aurora." Logan said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

And in truth, both things were within her grasp.

"Right." To Logan's surprise, Mai took his words seriously, "There's a legend that if you see the aurora and make a wish, it will come true. It will be great if there is an aurora tonight, so that nothing happens to brother..."

Hearing this, Logan scratched his face. Now, he didn't know what to say, 'Sure enough, she is still an innocent child.'