As Ace cautiously entered the dark alley, snivels from a child continued to come from the end of the alley.
When Ace stepped inside the alleyway, it was pretty dark since there wasn't any light. Only the soft moonlight of the full moon glistened, illuminating the darkness around him.
He could only see a little silhouette at the end of the alleyway in the moon's faint light. When he heard the sniveling voice coming from the little figure, he relaxed a little and slowly walked toward it.
From the mellow voice, Ace guessed this child was probably a little girl.
The little girl also heard footsteps approaching her and was immediately on guard.
She stopped weeping and looked at the owner of the footsteps with tearful yet intelligent eyes. She thought someone was approaching with sinister motives. She suppressed her anxiety and clenched her tiny fists.
The little girl was ready for a struggle!
Ace couldn't see clearly, but he could vaguely make out the little girl stop crying and clench her fists, as if she would fight him if he approached her. He couldn't help but admire her courage.
'She should be around four or five years old,' Ace guessed, with the slightest hint of interest in his eyes.
Even with the dim moonlight, the alley was still quite dark, so he couldn't make out her appearance. Nevertheless, Ace walked a little closer and stopped four meters away from the girl, not wanting to scare her further.
Ace softly said to the little girl in a soothing tone, "I don't have any bad intentions. I'm only here because I heard your cries. Where are your parents? Did you get separated from them?"
Ace inquired as gently as possible, but his voice was a little hoarse, since he hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time. The little girl didn't answer him either.
'It seems she's afraid of me,' Ace thought, smiling bitterly. He hadn't expected her to talk to a stranger in a place like this, anyway.
If it were him in her shoes, he would've done the same, or he might've yelled out loud for help long ago. But this little thing was still quite brave to stand there silently and let him speak first, without crying in fear.
"Look, it's quite late at night, and some bad people might be nearby. If you don't want to get caught by them, go home. It's dangerous to be here all by yourself." Ace earnestly warned her. He didn't want her to be kidnapped by the thugs in the area.
Ace had been passing through this area for almost four years and knew just how dangerous it was. Once, he'd been caught by local thugs while passing through, and after they found out he was dirt poor, they'd only beaten him up and let him go. So he didn't dare imagine what they would do to this little girl.
Since he had already warned her, it was her choice whether to listen. Ace turned around and began walking toward the exit of the alley.
When the little girl heard the warning in his tone, she somehow sensed this person meant no harm. So, she grew less vigilant—but when she saw him about to leave, panic appeared on her face, and she grew afraid after thinking of something.
"W-wait." The little girl called out in her childish, mellow voice.
When Ace heard her voice for the first time, he was a little stunned and wondered, 'How can someone's voice be so gentle?'
He had never really talked with anyone, much less a girl his age, so his thoughts were somewhat naive.
Ace turned around and glanced at her again. The little girl noticed his gaze and said faintly, "I don't know where my parents are or what they look like."
When Ace heard her lovely voice again, he was bewildered for a second and asked softly, "Then why are you in a place like this, crying alone by yourself?"
Hearing Ace's question, the little girl suddenly remembered something, and tears flowed down her cheeks. When Ace heard her sobbing, he felt a pang in a heart that had been cold for a long time.
"What's wrong?" he quickly asked, uncertain.
The girl said, crying weakly, "I'm hungry!"
When Ace heard this, his lips twitched, and unknowingly, a smile crept onto his cold face. 'She's just a child, in the end.'
"I have food at my house; if you have nowhere to go, come with me." Ace didn't know why he said that, but seeing a small child in this situation, he couldn't help but think of his own loneliness. He just wanted to help her.
The little girl immediately stopped crying after hearing Ace's offer. She looked deeply at the person in front of her. She couldn't see his face, but from his voice and stature, she could easily guess he was young too, and he seemed sincere.
In the end, she was still an innocent little girl, so when she decided he was sincere, she agreed: "Okay, let's go!"
It's not as if she couldn't protect herself if things went wrong.
Ace sighed in relief when she agreed to go with him, because after exchanging a few words with her, he hadn't wanted to leave her alone in that place.
Ace didn't want to stay there for long, so he turned and walked toward the alley's exit, with the little girl following behind him.
When they came out, dim moonlight shone on the street, and both of their faces became visible.
Ace was curious and couldn't help but turn to look at the little girl's face. When he saw it, he was bewitched.
Her small face was oval, with pale-white skin, a little nose, hollow cheeks, and a small mouth. Her bright blue eyes shone like stars, and her long, black, flowing hair perfectly complemented her pale skin. She was like a cute little doll that had somehow come to life!
Her otherworldly cuteness instantly captivated Ace. 'She's so cute' was the only thought in his mind.
The little girl looked back at Ace too. The handsome face of the little boy was also pleasing to look at, especially his dark blue eyes, like a dark, starry sky. He was a bit skinny, but nonetheless handsome.
Ace and the little cutie beside him walked toward his house.
Ace suddenly asked, "What's your name?"
The little girl answered after some consideration, "Alina!"
'Alina, huh—good name,' Ace thought.
After some hesitation, the little girl asked, "What's yours?"
"Ace!" he answered without even thinking.
After some time, they reached Ace's house. It was a standard-sized house, the only thing his parents had left behind. He opened the door, and the inside was immaculate. He had been living there alone for three years now.
That a little boy like him had survived alone until now was proof of his unyielding and resourceful nature.
"Come in," Ace said to Alina as he entered the house.
Alina followed him inside after a brief hesitation.
Ace then quickly began preparing some special dishes for himself and little Alina for dinner. He'd learned to cook from his grandma while she was alive, and now he was an excellent cook. Over the years of work, he'd also saved some silver coins, and since he lived alone and spent little on himself, he could afford to feed her one or two good meals.
(AN: Money System in the Lands of Cities, or Low-Level Lands: 1 Ruby Coin = 100 Gold Coins, 1 GC = 100 Silver Coins, 1 SC = 100 Bronze Coins)
When little Alina saw the warm dishes on the table, she drooled a little. Her stomach growled, and she couldn't hold herself back any longer. She ate ravenously, with little regard for Ace, who watched her from the side.
He couldn't help but smile. 'She seems like a hungry little ghost.'
After dinner, Ace was about to wash the empty plates when he noticed little Alina looking at him with a strange gaze, as if he were her father or something. He found it quite amusing and cute. Before, little Alina had looked at him as if he were a wolf who'd eat her alive. But now she looked more cheerful and friendly than before.
With a cheerful smile, she said, "Thank you, Big Brother Ace!" Her cute smile nearly melted his heart.
Ace felt warmth in his little heart when she called him Big Brother. How long had it been since he'd felt like this?
Looking at the innocent little girl, his eyes felt hot. When he touched them, they were moist. Maybe it was from all those years of loneliness, or maybe he'd finally found someone to talk to. But for the first time in many years, he was simply happy.
He quickly wiped his moist eyes and said warmly, "You're welcome. You can stay here too, if you like."
Little Alina became overjoyed at this, since she had nowhere else to go. And this big brother seemed like a genuinely nice person. Most importantly, he could cook delicious food.
"How did you get into the city if you don't have parents or any other relatives?" Ace finally asked the question that had been bothering him.
'How did a little girl get into the city unharmed, with the guards at the gates not even stopping her if she was alone?' Ace was quite confused about this.
When she heard the question, she seemed to remember something painful. Her eyes grew teary as she spoke in a sad tone: "I was living with my old grandpa in the forest, but yesterday, while I was playing in the woods, grandpa came to me and said he had something to do, so we had to leave the forest. He brought me to this place called a city.
"After we got here, he left me in that alley where we met earlier. Before leaving, Grandpa promised he'd come back after taking care of his important business, and that I had to wait for him there obediently." As she recalled what had happened, she began to cry again.
Ace was intelligent and could guess what had likely happened. 'So that's how little Alina was left alone. It looks like her old grandpa has abandoned her, or he ran into some trouble.'
After weeping for some time, little Alina fell asleep. She was exhausted from the whole ordeal.
Afterward, he and Alina went to the same dark alley every day for an entire week, waiting for her old grandpa, but he never returned.
Alina became sad and dejected, but she slowly accepted that her grandpa might have abandoned her, or that he'd gone off to do something important elsewhere.
---
That's how a little sister came into Ace's lonely life—something he came to treasure deeply, as he grew very fond of her.
After some time, little Alina opened up to Ace, and she began to think of him as a real big brother.
Ace always cared for her, told her random stories, and played with her. He became happy again as he spent more time with Alina.
Finally, in his bitter life, spring came again with Alina, and the scars from the past began to heal.
A year passed in happiness and joy. But it didn't last, as little Alina fell sick at the start of winter.
At first, it wasn't serious—with some medicine, she got healthy again. But after a week, her illness came back, and this time with a vengeance.
Ace grew terrified, as his childhood trauma began to resurface. He panicked because his parents and grandparents had left him one by one, and now his little sister had fallen ill too. How could he take it lightly?
'If something happens to her...' He didn't dare imagine it, so he did everything he could to cure her strange illness.
However, even after four months, the illness only grew worse. It was strange—sometimes it would flare up and show signs of fading. But nothing worked for long, no matter what medicine he gave her.
Many doctors examined Alina's condition, and they all said it was just a cold and that she'd get better after taking some medicine.
But Ace had a terrible feeling about this and thought it wasn't simply a cold—that something was wrong with her. After mulling it over for a long time, Ace finally made a difficult decision.
Since ordinary medicine wasn't working, Ace pinned his hopes on the Alchemy Pills made by the mighty "Alchemists," who were masters of wondrous medicines. But he needed money, since alchemy medicines were extremely expensive.
So, decisively, he sold his parents' house for ten gold coins and bought Alchemy Pills!