Chapter 4 - Heroines are dumb and oblivious (Part 2)

Cecile and I parted ways since we have different agendas for our little shopping trip today. I weave my way through the crowd and end up somewhere near a fruit stall manned by a middle aged lady who has her ways with words.

"Come now come now! Freshest fruits picked from the forest - you eat one, you won't forget the taste for days! Buy 4 get 1 free, Buy 10 get 3 free! You cannot find other stalls selling for this cheap. This woman here doesn't make money, I only get satisfaction from seeing my customers happy."

Hahaha…. See, she doesn't even need to go to attend a marketing course at a university, she got her PR strategies all planned out.

I eye at the apples displayed on the table shining bright red, their size is not bad and they look quite fresh. I'm actually craving for dessert after my oily lunch, and I have some spare money after shopping.

I should buy 4 apples to get one for free.

As much as I judge her frivolous words, it is also me who fell for them. I have no comments. I'm happy with my purchase.

Holding a paper bag with 4 apples, I bite the free apple in my other hand. My teeth sink into the tough skin and the flesh of the apple tore with a crunch. Juice drip down my hands but I lick it clean just in time.

Mhmm! This is satisfactory.

I close my eyes and feel the bliss of sweet crunchy apple tingling my tastebuds. My life is not bad at all.

When I open my eyes, what enters my view was a small kid grovelling on the floor with his dirty clothes. His hands full of scratches, his face dirtied with mud. He grabbed people's foot to beg for money, only to be ignored. If the person was bad-tempered, they would even kick him before spitting and going on their way.

Eyes glued on the kid, I stand from a small distance away and can only feel pity.

"Why don't you go help?" - That question… I can answer. Or rather, that pink haired lady walking down the market will demonstrate for you.

The pink haired lady was Aria, my neighbour's daughter.

Since last time her family invited me over for dinner, I have not conversed with her much. Rather, she would try starting a conversation and I would end it with short replies.

I've seen a few colourful hair men lingering near her house in order to interact with her in the past few days. This brings me headache whenever I recall.

Why is it that I can't even relax in my own neighbourhood?!

But that's another story for another day.

Seeing the poor child, Aria the main character whose head was filled with cotton candy, runs to help the kid up. She dusts the child and pats his head gently, without caring he was ever filthy. Truly worthy of the title "heroine".

NOW! HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART.

Ladies and gentlemen, standing on the opposite side of the road, is a knight commander who is patrolling the market to prevent crimes and chaos. His red hair combed neatly, making his sharp facial features even more prominent. His fine brows usually furrowed together are now relaxed and his eyes hold warmth upon sighting Aria caring for the child. A small smile play on his lips, making this 'strict and cold' man even more handsome.

If I may even caption his thoughts, this is probably what's going through his mind.

"Ah— such a virtuous woman who does not discriminate between rich and poor, she cares for all people. This is so different from the crowd of people who ignores the child."

Sfx: BATHUMP BATHUMP BATHUMP

"Oh? Why is my heart beating so hard at the sight of this?"

Yada yada yada and so on.

Aria leaves gentle words for the young boy and leaves him a gold coin. Where she got the money from when her family is dirt poor, I don't know either - this too must be for the convenience of the plot. The economy can go down the drain when it comes to heroines.

A gold coin is a high valuable for people. Openly speaking, I can survive for a year on one gold coin. Giving it away like that, I can only applaud Aria and her stupidity.

She smiled and walked away, thinking she had done a huge deed. The knight commander normally follow her with his hot gaze, already showing stalker tendencies as he hides himself around stalls to watch over her.

I feel my hair stand on the end realising the storm I just avoided.

Now, back to the kid.

The young boy hides the gold coin in his small pant pockets, but with how Aria made a big deal of giving it to him after several minutes of coaxing and patting him, it would be surprising if no one knew. They either lack eyes or ears if they didn't know.

A bunch of older stronger looking boys surrounded the kid, threatening him to hand the coin over. They push him around, using large number to their advantage and even start kicking the boy. The boy curls into a ball, trying to protect his gold coin with his life.

See, this is why heroines are dumb and oblivious. They think they've done a great thing, only caring about their self-satisfaction and patting themselves on their back about how they did good deeds while ignoring the consequences their actions might bring. They truly have nothing but flowers in their head.

Ah boy. My rant can go on, but if I do I fear the boy may actually end up dead.

I check around the market to see if the coast is clear before heading towards the boy.

"AH! HERE HERE SIR KNIGHTS THERE IS A FIGHT OCCURING!" I yell with a loud voice, not loud enough to overwhelm the already noisy crowd, but enough for the boys to hear.

The boys look flustered upon hearing this and immediately dispersed, sending disdaining look towards the boy still curling on the ground.

I look at the injured child and cannot help feeling sorry. His life was already poor, he didn't need more kicking.

Even if he tried to use the gold coin, who would believe it is his? They would assume he had stolen the coin. It would be lucky if he didn't end up in jail.

Seriously, why are heroines so dumb?