Chapter 41 : Saly

Silence ruled over the place, no one dared to move or talk, they just watched Arthur with fear, after all, what he did is brutal, and for them, who passed their lives in luxury, they never saw something similar to this, of course, there may be some exceptions.

Once the corpse of the dead fatty fell to the ground, Arthur didn't bother with it and turned towards Saly, who was still on the ground, but she stayed silent while sometimes softly groaning from pain.

Her body had scars, injuries, and blood all over, she would not die but she sure as hell was in a pitiful state.

She had several broken bones, Robert didn't bother with her health or injuries, instead, he would beat her more so she always tried to hide them, but that only made her condition worse.

He provided her enough food to survive but not enough to satisfy her hunger, she never had a full stomach or enjoyed food until she was no longer hungry, her master was stingy and would sometimes leave her starving for days.

Arthur ignored the gazes of the surrounding people and squatted down near Saly, just her appearance made his heart ache, usually, he would only feel pity and that's it, but today, when he saw this little girl condition and how she was beaten without being able to defend, that angered him, to think there are people like this in this world, that made him feel disgusted towards humans even more.

"Little girl, It's okay now...your master is gone, no need to feel afraid"

From way earlier, even though she was silent, he noticed that her shoulders were trembling, though she didn't express it, it was apparent that she felt fear.

When she heard Arthur's voice, which seemed very close to her, she back away a little as it startled her, but that only made her groan again from pain, her injuries were not light yet not fatal too, but for a fragile body like hers, bruises and injuries like these are painful to her, but after years passed, she somewhat had gotten used to this, however, that didn't mean she no longer felt pain, quite the opposite, in fact, the pain was the most thing she felt afraid of, excluding her master of course.

Seeing her react like that, afraid of him, Arthur kept a solemn face and softly said

"There is no need to be afraid, your master is truly gone, you are free now......."

No one else could understand how he felt right now except Lucy, thanks for the soul link, she felt his sorrow and pain.

He came from another world, so things like this would not happen in broad daylight, so when he saw something this extreme, he couldn't control his emotions, for this wasn't something he can ignore, as for her, she saw a lot of things similar to this, so she was a bit used to it, nonetheless, that didn't mean that what happened didn't anger her, she was just better in controlling her emotions than him.

Though Arthur said that, for some reason, Saly became even more afraid, she started trembling and said

"M-Mister...y-you should go...o-oo-or m..master would kill you too..."

It seems she didn't believe Arthur and even tried to help him by telling him to go, her fear of Robert was imprinted deep in her bones, she couldn't just believe he was gone for good.

Arthur stretched his hand a patted her small head, she was trembling so much and his action made her body flinch, she didn't think a hand would pat her, instead, she thought it would be a punch or a slap on her face, though she was scared, she didn't dare push that hand away, or else the consequences would be horrible, that's what she thought at least.

"Little girl...It's unfortunate you cannot see with your own eyes, but your master is already dead, I killed him...."

It's surprising how she still believed her master to be alive after all that happened, even though she cannot see, she still heard his wailing and screams, but that wasn't enough to erase her deep fear she held for him.

Feeling that the unfamiliar hand didn't hit her or do anything but gently pat her head, she knew it was the mister she was talking too, Saly knew he was a kind person as he tried to help her, that's why she didn't want him to be killed like any other person who tried to rescue her.

" *Sigh*....How about you come with me? You are free now and can do whatever you want, if you want, you can come with me..."

Saly always wished for freedom but that was only a dream, many people said the same thing to her but that only ended up badly for them, she clenched her little fists with what was left of her strength and said with a hesitant tone

"M-Mister...I cc-can't, my master will b-be a..angry if I disobey h-him"

Even Arthur was surprised by her strong belief in her master, he understood that Robert was like a god for her so no matter what he says would be futile.

He stretched his other free hand and carried Saly, who began struggling with all her strength to free herself from him while yelling and telling him to stop.

He held her in a princess carry and she never ceased to struggle, but she soon was exhausted and could only lay there, however, she felt some warmth coming from the one who was carrying her, and it felt really comfortable, so she wanted to enjoy this moment to the fullest before her master appear again, she felt sadness because she can't see who this mister is, he was so gentle and kind to her, so how could she not feel curious about him.

Once Arthur held her, he headed inside the ship to go to his room, while Lucy silently followed him.

Robin, who watched what happened, wanted to protest and shout at him, but a piercing glare from Arthur was enough for her to shut her mouth and stay there, petrified, she didn't dare say anything, in fact, no one spoke, they let him pass and watched him disappear inside the ship.

Robin's POV

YESTERDAY NIGHT

Ahhh! I can't believe that I can't do anything to him! Even with grandpa's warning, I will still find a way to pay back what he did for me...

How can he be this arrogant and call me a spoiled brat....., I'm a genius, a prodigy! my skills and talent are not things he can have, did this mature and alluring body of mine seem like a child's? tsk tsk! wait until I get my hands on that bastard.

I feel so pissed just thinking about his smug face, guess I'll take a shower then go talk to grandpa about the deal with the other companies, I can't let this fall down, especially with the Yan clan.

........

Waah! I feel refreshed, what a good shower that was, I don't regret buying this boat for even a second, his structure and functions are unbelievable, I guess those 200 million gold coins were worth after all.

NEXT MORNING

As I was talking with grandpa in my office, I heard a small shaking and once I turned my head to see what's happening outside, I was dumbfounded to see the two bodyguards of fatty Yan on the ground, they seem pretty injured...that looks painful...

WAIT! It's not the time to think about this, who? who did hurt them?

My eyes soon landed on that woman with silver hair, hmph! she's ugly compared to me....wait did she do that? and what is that bastard doing to fatty Yan?

"Robin, this is troublesome, we should stop him before he causes more problems for us.."

Grandpa seemed to have grasped the situation faster than me, we soon left the office and headed to where that bastard is with fast speed.

However, that ugly woman stopped us, thank god grandpa helped me or else I would have been cooked meat....tch! how come this woman is strong and beautiful, that's just not fair! wait..no! she's ugly! yes ugly.....

That man started beating Fatty Yan non-stop, even I, who loathed fatty Yan, felt pity for him, he looked like a pig being slaughtered, his screams made my ears hurt, he sure can yell....

We couldn't even get close to stop him, and even with my warning, that bastard kept beating Fatty, again and again, I could only watch, if he ends up dying, then that would be troublesome, the Yan clan would surely blame us...ahhh what can I do?

After a while, that bastard stopped his punches and said a few words which I could not hear to Fatty Yan before he strangled him to death, at that time, I could only sigh and try to find an excuse to the Yan clan, maybe I'll them that it was this bastard..but will they even believe me? even with so many witnesses, no one would want to provoke someone like this bastard too..even grandpa told me to stay away from him.

I seriously couldn't move an inch as his killing intent was way too terrifying and the pressure he emanated made me petrified, I never felt more afraid in my life than this second, arghhh! I can already feel myself having nightmares about this...*sigh*

That monster carried the slave girl of Fatty Yan and went inside, I couldn't even speak and blame him, a mere gaze from him was enough for me to know I shouldn't anger him in his current state....

You know, I too felt that what fatty Yan was doing is bad and heartless, but just saving a little girl won't stop everything, is he an idiot or what? well whatever, it's not like I can change anything.....

BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POV.

It didn't take them long to arrive in their room, Saly already stopped her struggle long ago and stayed silent.

Though only a couple of minutes passed, she still didn't hear her master yells or laughter, so she felt some hope and began believing what Arthur said as usual, when someone takes her away from her monster, in only seconds, that person would die by the hands of his bodyguards or him.

When they finally arrived, Arthur sat on the bed while still carrying Saly, he began using his healing magic, but unfortunately, he never possessed anyone who had strong healing magic so his heals were not that good, but that didn't stop him from doing so.

He retrieved the miraculous healing potion he had in his storage and softly said to Saly

"Don't worry, as I said, your master is gone, he will not come back so you can relax...drink this, it will make the pain go away.."

He had a lot of potions like this, Zodiak left a big stack of it and with Arthur's vitality, they were practically useless for him, so why not use them.

He placed the potion in her little hands as he didn't want to force her to drink it.

Surprisingly, she was obedient enough and she drank the potion with help of Arthur, she barely could lift her small hands so Arthur helped her a little while not exerting too much force to not scare her.

The bruises she had and injuries, began healing, though it was not extremely fast healing, it was effective and very soon, the bruises disappeared, only the injuries were left, slowly but surely recovering.

Saly was startled by this, the pain began to fade away and she felt that many of her injuries healed, she no longer felt heavy and unable to move, though she recovered a bit, she didn't struggle or push Arthur away as she knew for sure he was kind and only wanted to help her.

Unconsciously, she fell into a deep sleep, the pain went away but she was exhausted mentally so sleep soon took over and in his warm embrace she slept.

Arthur and Lucy both saw her soundlessly sleep, he didn't put her away immediately, only after a dozen of minutes did he put her on the comfortable bed, he then covered her with the blankets.

Lucy giggled while covering her mouth and said

"hehe~~ I never thought you were good with children"

To what she said, Arthur only scratched his nose and replied

"I am not good with them, it's just that she was...."

Before he could even finish, Lucy interrupted him by putting her finger in his mouth to stop him from talking, she then smiled and said

"I already know, did you already forget about the soul link? there is no need to explain your actions to me"

"mmm"

Arthur merely nodded and hugged her tightly, to have someone who understands you without explanation is rare but he had one, and he couldn't feel more grateful.

They both sat near the bed and gazed at the sleeping Saly.

"Her injuries will heal sooner or later, but the scars and the blindness...the potions are not enough *sigh*"

Arthur already read in books that deafness, blindness, and even scars can be healed, you just need a strong healing magic, such as the light magic or strong spells, and he didn't have that.

He only met her for a short time, but he wanted to help her, her blindness is like a curse, and he wanted to get rid of it, she is still a kid, so he can't call her a bad or greedy person nor can he dislike her, she still didn't learn anything from life, she was still pure so how can he hate a kid?

Whether it is the current him, or him from the past, they both would have helped her, but their actions would have been different, now, he only killed the fatty, he didn't even take his body as he didn't want to possess such a disgusting body, if it were him from the past, then everyone in the boat would have been killed with no exceptions.

He just couldn't handle people seeing such a little kid, who was even blind, be beaten heartlessly like that, it's true he overcame his past, but that didn't mean he forgot about it and would let people like Robert do as they please, that was two different things.

Arthur and Lucy just stood there, waiting for Saly to wake up, they chatted with a low voice as to let the little girl rest a little.

Arthur really was distressed, he was helpless as he literally had nothing he could use to heal those scars, he even noticed when he carried her that her tails were cut, nothing was left of it, that only made his heart ache, for all of this to happen to a mere 4 to 5 years old was really pitiful and miserable.

6 hours have passed since Saly fell asleep, no one came to bother them in their room and they both patiently wait for Saly to wake up as they wanted to talk to her and maybe ease her fear for even a little bit.

The fluffy dog ears of Saly twitched a little, and she her breathing changed, she woke up but for some reason, she appeared startled and abruptly sat up.

Since she couldn't see, she didn't know where she is, but after some seconds, she remembered what had happened before she slept, so she relaxed for a bit.

"So you have woken up, no need to be a be afraid......do you still feel pain? is your body alright now?"

When she heard the gentle voice of Arthur, Saly calmed for a bit, now that she thought of it, she realized she could move and she didn't feel the least bit of pain, her body seemed alright and she can even stand up if she wanted to.

Even her broken bones were healed, she was surprised but she didn't think much about it, after all, she only knew a thing or two about healing and seeing something new wasn't out of her expectations.

"M-Mister, thank you..."

Arthur's heart softened, he stretched his hand and patted her small head, the feeling of her fluffy ears was really comfortable and her appearance was cute albeit her being blind.

"No need to thank me, it's been 6 hours since you slept yet your master didn't come, do you believe me now?"

As she heard that, Saly felt relieved, an unspeakable feeling covered her heart, Arthur's hand delicately patted her head, and for some reason, she quite liked that, it made her feel safe.

Even though she still held fear from her master, since this mister said her master didn't come, then she would of course not willingly go back, being treated like this was like a dream for her and she didn't want to let it go, she would enjoy it as much as she can until her master comes, if he is still alive that is.

Arthur didn't pat her head for too long as he didn't want to scare her.

As for Lucy, she sat up next to the little girl and said

"Little girl, what's your name?"

Saly was startled when she heard a different voice, one of her ears was not functioning so she couldn't hear Lucy until she spoke, though she kind of opened up a little and calmed down when speaking with Arthur, she still held fear from strangers, so she backed away a bit from Lucy unconsciously but then she remembered she shouldn't struggle or back away as it was her master's orders, so she hesitantly sat up next to Lucy yet again.

"It's alright, the woman next to you is my wife, she won't treat you badly"

Saly slowly nodded her head and replied to Lucy who was sitting next to her

"M-My name is Saly, I'm sorry for my behavior...."

Lucy merely giggled then suddenly hugged Saly, who in return, was started but she didn't struggle or anything of the sort, she was just surprised.

"Hehehe, my name is Lucy, and this man here is Arthur"

Lucy's actions were rather bold, as she didn't hate this kid, in fact, she liked her and her cute appearance, like Arthur she wanted to treat her injuries, it's just that she is not good at expressing her emotions in public, but now, only Arthur was present so she would act normally.

She only let go of the little girl after a couple of seconds, the latter was still surprised but she didn't fear Lucy as much as she did, maybe it was only a hug for others, but for Saly, it was something special, it was warm and gentle, she couldn't feel that Lucy was evil like her master, she felt like Arthur, the man who carried her and helped her.

..

As she stood there, lost in thought, her stomach made some noise, it seems she was hungry, actually, she was starving, she didn't eat for two days as her master kept beating her.

She was startled by the noise of her stomach, she panicked and said in a hurried tone

"N-no, this is not what you think....I'm not hungry..please don't beat me"

Since she was small, she learned from her master that she has to never say she is hungry or else she would be beaten, of course, she thought it applied to all people and not just with her master, and for fear of a beating, she tried to lie and cover up saying she was not hungry.

She didn't know that only her master would beat her when he heard her stomach, she thought even those two kind people would do the same if that happened, it's just that she thought it was a normal thing, you can't blame her as she was raised knowing that.

"Listen Saly...you must forget those things you learned from your master, we would never beat you, if you are hungry, just say so...." (Arthur)

As he said that, Arthur retrieved some food from his storage, the good thing about storage rings is that they keep the food fresh, and although he didn't need to eat, he still enjoyed eating sometimes, so he kept food in his storage, he even had Yamak's meat, which tasted extremely delicious when he ate it, he still had a lot of it so he took out some from his storage, it was already cooked, he also took some fruits for Saly.

Since she had a master like that, he guessed she didn't eat much.

Soon, the smell of the cooked meat covered the room, it was such a delicious smell that even Saly couldn't help but drool, she never ate something besides bread, and she only drank filthy water she found in the stables, it was disgusting, but she had to do that in order to live, sometimes she would get sick but her master didn't mind and only beat her more.

In a flash, Arthur cut the meat into several small pieces and began feeding Saly who unconsciously opened her mouth, the flavor was just heavenly as it was the first time she ate something like this.

When she took the first bite, she thought it was enough but Arthur surprisingly told her to open her mouth again, so she obediently did that, she ate until she was full, while Arthur gave her the meat, Lucy fed her some delicious fruits when she finished the meat.

While she was enjoying that meat, she couldn't help but feel overjoyed, she even suspected being in a dream as never did she think something like this would happen to her, if her eyes were okay, she would be crying right now, but for some bizarre reason, she can't cry, maybe because of her blindness? or perhaps another reason? she didn't know but she could only accept her fate.

Saly can indeed eat by herself, but Arthur preferred feeding her, he didn't think it was troublesome, quite the opposite, he liked doing that.

Once the little girl was full and couldn't eat anymore, Lucy and Arthur stopped feeding her, Saly ate a lot because she thought it was the last time she would have this chance so she enjoyed it to the fullest.

They didn't do anything special after that, they just chatted, Arthur asked Saly about her past and various other things and the latter replied to him without hiding anything.

Saly left the bed and tried walking and it seems she was still staggering even though her body healed a lot, Arthur guessed that maybe it was a deformed bone, he could only sigh and feel depressed, if he had a good healing skill than her blindness along with the scars would be gone, she would become fine and maybe even enjoy life more.

A day peacefully passed like that and the three of them got a bit more closely.

Saly became more open, she didn't feel fear or distrust against Lucy and Arthur, they both treated so well that she pinched her arm many times to confirm it was indeed reality.

She would silently sit on the bed and do nothing, Arthur asked her if she wanted to go outside but she refused as she still felt that her master was waiting for her outside.

Albeit feeling hungry after a couple of hours passed, she didn't dare ask for food, so Arthur and Lucy only discovered when they heard her stomach yet again, they gave her meat and various things and fed her.

"Saly, next time, please tell us when you're hungry okay? we will not get mad at you" (Lucy)

Lucy softly said that while gently patting the girl's head, she doted on this kid and it pained her to see how much scars she had on her body.

Saly merely nodded without saying anything, she would always sit on the bed motionless without doing nothing.

Arthur and Lucy couldn't force her to do anything, so Lucy would stay next to her and play little games with her to cheer her up.

In the first few days Saly only acted like that, however, as time slowly passed, her behavior gradually changed for the better, she would now ask for food and even engage in conversations with Lucy and Arthur.

.......