After asking about her recent living conditions, Fanny prepared to take her younger sister back. She had to first greet the orphanage director and then pay a care fee.
Since Priestess An Li was very aware of Fanny's situation, under her special authorization, the orphanage director only charged a small fee, allowing Fanny to take Lilika.
Holding Fanny's hand, Lilika was overjoyed all the way.
Led by An Li, the three arrived at the church entrance.
At their farewell, Fanny said gratefully, "Priestess An Li, thank you so much. You allow me to confidently go out and complete my quests."
"You're welcome."
"Lilika." Fanny shook her younger sister's small hand, "Quickly say goodbye to Big Sister An Li."
Nodding, Lilika waved to An Li, saying in a tender voice, "Goodbye, Big Sister An Li."
Seeing this, An Li showed a gentle smile and also waved to Lilika.
"Goodbye, be careful on your way."
After bidding farewell, Fanny took her younger sister and avoided the main road with stalls, taking a small, roundabout path to return to their residence.
She did this to prevent Lilika from seeing something she liked and asking her older sister to buy it. Fanny knew she couldn't resist her younger sister's persistent nagging and would eventually grit her teeth and buy it, followed by endless regret.
Their residence was located in a secluded alley in the Northern area of East Rise Fortress, where it was dark, damp, and reeked, with a truly terrible environment.
Along the way, Fanny recalled her experiences from childhood to adulthood, feeling deep sorrow and couldn't help but sigh.
"Sigh—"
"What's wrong, Big Sister?" Noticing something amiss, Lilika looked up at Fanny.
"Nothing." Fanny forced a second smile at her younger sister, "Let's walk a bit faster, get home earlier."
"Okay."
The two slightly quickened their pace.
Fanny's family background was not originally poor. Her parents were small merchants who traveled between various towns, reselling goods to earn a price difference. Although not much, they had accumulated some wealth over a few years.
Shortly after her younger sister was born, when Fanny was ten years old, it was discovered that she possessed a good amount of magical power, qualifying her to become a magician. This delighted her parents; although they couldn't afford expensive magic academies, a relatively cheaper adventurer Academy was certainly an option.
Thus, Fanny was sent to the adventurer Academy to specialize in magic courses.
However, before the courses were finished, bad news arrived. Fanny's parents encountered bandits on their way to a small village. The outcome was self-evident: only her younger sister, hidden in a secret compartment of the carriage, survived, discovered and rescued by the Guards.
Afterward, Fanny and her younger sister were adopted by someone who claimed to be a distant relative.
That distant relative was very wicked; he not only embezzled all of Fanny's parents' savings but also stopped her courses at the adventurer Academy. He only made Fanny do dirty and tiring work at home, and when he was in a bad mood, he would beat and scold her.
Considering her younger sister was still young, Fanny silently endured it all. Otherwise, she would have long run away; why stay and suffer?
Until two years ago, that relative accumulated a mountain of debt due to gambling. One night, the creditors came knocking again. This time, they actually sat at the table and talked quite peacefully.
This alerted Fanny; she quietly hid behind the door to eavesdrop and heard very shocking news—the relative planned to sell Fanny and her younger sister together to an underground black organization to pay off his debts.
This underground black organization specialized in providing female flesh trade for nobles and wealthy merchants, capable of satisfying various special preferences of clients.
What was even more despicable was that the scoundrel relative even somewhat uneasily asked the creditors if Lilika, being only four years old, was too young for the organization to pay for her.
The creditor sneered, replying that they would buy her, because there was demand; there were indeed such perverts in this world.
Fanny, behind the door, trembled with rage. She couldn't stay there any longer; she quietly left, returned to her room to wake her younger sister, and then escaped through the window.
During their escape, they endured all sorts of hardships and finally chose to settle in East Rise Fortress. Relying on her own magical Aptitude and the little magical knowledge she learned at the adventurer Academy, Fanny successfully registered as an adventurer.
To this day, as an adventurer, no party dares to invite Fanny anymore; she's almost unable to make a living in East Rise Fortress.
Perhaps she was simply not suited to be a magician, Fanny thought.
Initially, she chose to become an adventurer as a magician because of her parents' past expectations for her. Now, she had to consider whether to pursue other work to earn money, as her younger sister was still young and couldn't always suffer with her.
Thinking about her future plans all the way, Fanny and Lilika unknowingly arrived at the front door of a small wooden house.
This small wooden house was their residence, very dilapidated, leaking when it rained, but still barely habitable if they squeezed in. Although the living environment was very poor, the rent was cheap.
At this moment, the wooden house's door was wide open, and the lock on the door was long gone. Fanny saw clutter piled at the doorway and her face immediately changed drastically.
Just as she was about to enter the wooden house, the person inside walked out first—a middle-aged woman dressed very flamboyantly, holding a pipe in her hand.
Exhaling a puff of smoke, the woman looked at Fanny with a stern face, displeased, "Oh, so you still know how to come back, I thought you had died outside."
"My Big Sister won't die, she's a great magician!" Lilika stepped forward and loudly retorted.
"Lilika."
Knowing that the other party was not to be trifled with, Fanny quickly pulled her younger sister back and whispered to her, "Listen to Big Sister, don't say anything later."
Seeing Lilika nod slightly, Fanny then looked up at the woman at the door.
"Ahaha, Madam Diana, why are you at my house?"
"Hmph, your house?" Diana sneered, "You've been five months behind on rent, do you still think this is your home?"
"I just received my reward at the Guild, I have money now, I'll pay the overdue rent right away."
Saying this, Fanny deftly pulled out her money pouch from her clothes, but before she could hand it over, the other party snatched it.
"Let me see."
Opening the money pouch and glancing inside, Diana immediately showed a disgusted expression.
"Only this much money? It's not nearly enough to pay off your five months of overdue rent."
"Please, could you be a bit more accommodating? I will pay the full amount of overdue rent in a few days."
This was the second time Fanny had begged someone today. If they lost their home, she and her younger sister would be homeless again.
"Still accommodating? It's not like I haven't given you chances, but you can't keep exhausting my patience, can you?"
Taking a puff from her pipe, Diana continued, "I'm taking this house back. I'll have someone repair it in a few days, raise the rent, and rent it to someone else."
"Madam Diana, could you please give me one last chance? I promise I will never fall behind on rent again."
Fanny continued to plead bitterly and made a vow, hoping the other party would change her mind.
She was now just short of kneeling to beg her. However, because her younger sister was beside her, she wanted to preserve her last shred of dignity.
"No." Diana flatly refused, showing no mercy whatsoever.
Immediately after, she took out most of the copper coins from the money pouch, leaving only 5 copper coins, then threw the money pouch back into Fanny's hand.
"Don't say I'm heartless; I left you 5 coins inside, and I won't ask for the remaining overdue rent."
With that, Diana turned around, closed the wooden house door, and put on a new lock.
"I've reclaimed the house, you can go wherever you want."
Leaving that remark, she walked away without looking back.
Fanny stood rooted to the spot, watching Diana's retreating figure gradually shrink. Now that they didn't even have a place to live, where else could they go?.