Chapter 70: Lingering emotion.

Rigel sat at the table with the girl beside him since she was too scared to be alone across the table. The gazes intensified because of her until the owner of the tavern came and stared at Rigel and the girl.

"Get out," The owner stared and scowled at Rigel. "You both are ruining the mood of this place," he explained.

Rigel grabbed a big pouch and tossed it on the table, making the Gold Coins scattered on the table. Everyone looked at those Gold Coins and were stunned by the amount of Gold Coins in the pouch.

"If the mood is ruined, why don't you guys drink until you guys pass out? How does that sound?" Rigel stood up and looked at every one of them in the tavern.

They all grinned and smiled at Rigel as they raised their mugs. They were overjoyed and immediately asked for a lot of drinks for themselves. The owner couldn't do anything and the fact it was a lot of Gold Coins, that amount was worth a whole month of profit.

Rigel remembered his previous life where everything could be solved by easily enjoying a drink. No matter how fucked up the situation was or how dire it was, they would enjoy a nice drink and forget about anything else.

"Get this girl your best food, and just a glass of water for me," Rigel looked at the owner and grabbed another pouch of Gold Coins and tossed a Gold Coin at the owner. "Also, we want to rent a room, if there's any," he added.

"Of course! We will prepare the room for you!" The owner grinned so widely and then left with a full pouch of Gold Coins.

Rigel watched everyone enjoying the drinks, but he also noticed hostile gazes toward him. He could tell they were planning to rob him when they saw he had another pouch of Gold Coins on him.

"My name is Kiko..." The girl said as she looked up at Rigel. "Although I'm small, I'm a mother of 2. I'm 28 years old," she added.

Rigel looked at Kiko and he couldn't believe the body of a 2 year-old girl had become a mother of 2 and 28 years old. She was older than him even from his previous life which was baffling because she looked as cute as a small girl.

"What happened to your family?" Rigel looked at Kiko.

"I don't know..." Kiko's eyes were filled with tears. "My husband took care of them when we were running away from Players. I know that I'm too slow and too weak to protect them, so I sacrificed myself to be captured," she explained and started to wipe off the tears.

For a body as small as her, and having noticed how her running speed was equal to a human's walking speed, Rigel didn't believe Kiko's family could run away from Players. He didn't want to say it and decided to stay quiet because he believed Kiko already knew that and hoped they escaped and were safe.

"Enjoy your meal," The owner smiled and served a baked potato with beef stew to Kiko. "This is for you..." He served fries and a mug of water to Rigel.

"Go ahead, eat. If you want to see your family again, you need to be healthy," Rigel said and looked at the meal in front of Kiko.

Kiko couldn't reach the spoon and fork on the table because her kind of meal wasn't as big as a human's. Seeing how she struggled, Rigel grabbed the plate and held it to Kiko's level so she could reach for the food. Kiko was touched and wiped off her tears repeatedly before she ate the food.

Seeing how Kiko ate, it made Rigel full already because she ate the food as if she hadn't eaten for a week. He couldn't understand why those Players bothered to enslave Kiko's race because they were good for nothing. He wasn't mad, he just couldn't believe it.

"I'm full..." Kiko looked at the food, and she could barely finish half of the portion. "I'm sorry, but I can't finish it anymore. I'll eat it again if I can bring the leftovers with me," she said as she held her belly.

"No need, just leave it. I'll make sure to make the portion small for you from now on," Rigel shook his head and put the plate on the table. "Let's head to our room so you can clean yourself. I'll find something for you to wear, so just stay in the room and wait for me to come back," he said.

Kiko still couldn't believe someone would treat her so kindly, and she couldn't help but cry again. She was being carried by Rigel to the 2nd floor because the gap in the stairs was too much for her small body. She then brought to the room and Rigel left her be so she could clean herself and get some rest.

Rigel left the tavern after he paid an extra Gold Coin to keep Kiko safe and comfortable. He went to look for a shop or a market that sold clothes for kids for Kiko.

When he was busy looking for clothes, he noticed a commotion on the street. He saw a group of people being kicked and punched to the ground. The people that got beaten weren't slaves, but they looked as bad as slaves.

"Imagine to come from the same world as that Non-Player,* A man scoffed as he enjoyed the show.

Rigel had forgotten about the issue with him and all the Players from Earth. He didn't expect that all the Players would do that just because they came from the same world as him. Although he didn't expect that, he didn't care about them and he liked what he saw. The more the Players from Earth got that kind of treatment, the more they wanted to go back to Earth.

He got a few clothes that should fit with Kiko's body, and he went into a dark alley because he noticed he was being followed ever since he left the tavern. His path was blocked and so was the path behind him with dozens of Players which almost half of the customers from the tavern.

While people on the street were busy watching the Players from Earth get beaten, Rigel killed all those Players in the dark alley. Nobody noticed and Rigel casually walked out of the alley with lots of pouches filled with Gold and Silver Coins.

Rigel came back to the tavern and went into the inn he rented. He saw Kiko trying to fix her shoes because she didn't have another pair to wear. He put down new shoes in front of Kiko and put clothes on the bed.

"Wear the ones I bought, you can throw that away," Rigel looked at the tiny shoes that Kiko held.

"I can fix it..." Kiko said because she didn't want to throw the shoes away as she held them tightly.

"You can fix it later. I'll buy everything you need to fix it, but for now, tell me about what you know. The voices are bothering me," Rigel responded as he sat on the floor with Kiko.

"What do you think those voices are?" Kiko looked at Rigel.

"Spirits? Souls?" Rigel asked back with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Spirits don't speak like that, and they're a sacred being where they don't live among us or most of the time since they have their own places to live. Souls on the other hand, they're not here in our world anymore because they should be in a different world, the world after," Kiko explained.

"Then what are they?" Rigel asked again.

"They're lingering emotions that are accumulated in a living soul," Kiko answered. "You must have felt a killing intent from other Players, and that's not a skill, but a burst of emotion has turned into an energy and became aura that people around them can feel it," she explained.

"Now those voices are lingering emotions that they felt before they died. That's why some of those voices can be so disturbing, and some are fine," Kiko said as she looked at the new clothes that Rigel bought for her. "Once you can see them, you will be able to communicate with them and understand them," she added and grabbed one to wear.

"You can see them?" Rigel asked.

"Yes, I can see the lingering emotions around you. You just killed a lot of them earlier, right? They're furious and want you to die," Kiko answered and her eyes stared at something behind Rigel's shoulders. "I can see them clearly and what you have done to them," she added.

Rigel was surprised because Kiko wasn't bothered by it and somehow she accepted his kindness even though she knew the truth. It didn't make any sense even if Kiko was used to it because if he was in her shoes, he would avoid people with a lot of energy lingering around them.

"And you're not afraid of me?" Rigel furrowed and squinted his eyes.

"No. As Tinykin, we don't have any prejudice toward anyone since we are the weakest race, we use our honesty and kindness to survive. In your case, I have seen people with more lingering emotions around them. Many many folds compared to yours," Kiko answered and she was being honest.