"Who?! Who stole my bread?!"
A baker with a scraggly beard, wearing a greasy apron and bloodshot eyes, shouted furiously from his stall.
People around were drawn to look, but after one glance they all lost interest. After all, that guy's bread was famously awful—who would even steal it?
Pedestrians came and went along the street. The baker resentfully scanned the faces around him, then indignantly went back inside.
...
In a small alley by the street, a pair of pitch-black eyes withdrew their gaze.
"Tch, this is disgusting! If the bakery on the next street over weren't closed, I wouldn't even look at this place!"
Curled up beside a trash bin, a little boy complained while tearing into a piece of black bread as hard as stone.
The boy's clothes were tattered and ill-fitting, and a closer look showed his shoes didn't even match. The only relatively new thing on him was an armband on his shoulder—a light brown armband.
His gaze shifted to the street outside. Almost every passerby had the same armband on their shoulder. Yago didn't understand what it meant. As far back as he could remember, he'd worn one just like everyone else.
The armband was a marker used by the nation of Marley to distinguish Eldians. Every Eldian had to wear one, or they would face the harshest punishment. Put bluntly, it existed to separate Eldians, treated like livestock, from Marleyans.
Different colors of armbands represented different statuses among Eldians.
The red armband, symbolizing the highest honor, was reserved only for warriors who fought for Marley and their families.
The yellow armband was worn by Eldians qualified to become Marleyan warriors.
The silver armband was the standard for ordinary Eldian soldiers. On the battlefield, they were also Marley's cheapest cannon fodder.
At the very bottom—and the most numerous—were Eldian civilians. The light brown armband represented their lowest, most worthless lives.
Yago didn't understand any of these twists and turns. Ever since he could remember, every day had been about filling his stomach. The grudges between Eldians and Marleyans meant nothing to him.
That being said, Yago's identity was obvious enough: an Eldian orphan with no parents. Orphans like him were born every day in this Eldian internment zone.
Many Eldian parents, barely scraping by themselves, simply weren't willing to raise a child destined to be called a demon by Marleyans.
Yago was no different. Wrapped in nothing but a filthy cloth, his frail body should have frozen in the cold wind like most abandoned infants, slowly losing warmth until his eyes closed forever—never having to bear the title of demon.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—an elderly Eldian scavenger saw the crying baby in the cold wind and couldn't bear it, taking him home.
The old man had no name. He was already at the end of his life himself, yet still dragged along this burden. After Yago began to vaguely remember things, the old man collapsed one winter. Yago understood nothing at the time—he only remembered that the kindly grandpa who always looked at him gently was taken away by several people without armbands, his body cold.
No one cared about Yago, the Eldian orphan who had just learned to speak. Another group of wandering Eldians occupied the old man's shack, and Yago was driven out as well.
Yago had no surname, because the old man never gave him one. Even the name "Yago" was just a few characters the old man could recognize, pieced together from a tattered newspaper.
Homeless, Yago began to wander. Stumbling through these years, he grew up. The orphan who should have frozen to death in the cold wind survived under the nameless old man's kindness—what, then, would he bring to this world?
Forcing down the last bite of black bread, Yago angrily threw the remaining half to the ground.
"Pah! No wonder you have no business—bread this awful, even dogs won't eat it!"
Years of wandering had made Yago quite skilled at petty theft.
As soon as he finished speaking, a stray dog darted out of nowhere, snatched up the bread from the ground, and ran off.
Yago froze, then jumped and cursed at the dog's retreating back.
"You useless dog!"
With his stomach filled, Yago wandered the nearby streets, eventually strolling near a high wall. He looked at several armed soldiers without armbands standing guard at the exit, imagining what the world beyond the wall might be like.
The Marleyan soldiers stood lazily on duty, their eyes fixed on the armband-wearing Eldians with contempt and disgust.
Yago tugged at the armband on his shoulder. In his memory, the only new thing Grandpa had ever given him was probably this light brown armband.
Seeing there was no hope of getting out, Yago pursed his lips and turned to wander off in another direction.
...
"Leonhart? How ridiculous. You don't look anything like that cowardly father of yours. You must be some bastard adopted from who-knows-where, right? Hahaha."
The mocking laughter from around the corner caught Yago's attention. He crept to the wall and peeked out.
Three half-grown kids wearing armbands surrounded a blond little girl with her head lowered. The one in front kept humiliating her while forcing her to hand over her money—they'd seen her leave home with cash.
"Hey! Gray, what kind of skill is bullying a girl? That's hilarious."
Hearing the familiar voice, Gray turned around.
"Oh? Isn't this Yago? What, a little bastard without even a surname wants to play hero and save the beauty?"
The girl, who had been keeping her head down, also looked up. Her light blue eyes stared at the boy in surprise.
Clearly, Yago and Gray knew each other. Though Yago was alone, his presence couldn't falter. He hadn't wanted to get involved, but Gray's use of "bastard" really set him off.
Three minutes later...
Yago, his face flushed red, was pinned to the ground by two kids bigger than him, bruises already forming on his face.
One of Gray's eyes had turned into a panda eye. He bared his teeth and squatted down, poking Yago's head.
"You little brat, you hit pretty hard!"
With both arms firmly restrained, Yago couldn't move at all, so he decisively backed down, grinning awkwardly.
"C-come on, Gray, it was just a joke. We've known each other forever. How about I be your lackey from now on?"
"Heh. I don't need a bastard as my lackey!"
Gray sneered and swung a punch toward Yago's eye.
"I'm done for."
Yago shut his eyes in resignation.
Bang!
A dull thud, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Yago was puzzled.
"Why doesn't it hurt?"
Opening one eye, Yago froze. Gray lay limply on the ground, and beside him, a pair of raised legs slowly lowered. Cold, light blue eyes looked at Yago and the two kids holding him down.
"Damn it! You actually dared to ambush the boss!"
The two lackeys raged and moved to avenge their leader.
Three seconds later, both of them collapsed beside their boss.
"So amazing... so strong."
Yago murmured. The girl's overwhelming skill had left him dumbfounded. It wasn't until she walked away coldly that he snapped out of it, chasing after her with excitement.
"That was—was incredible! What kind of move was that? You took down Gray in one hit $@#*"Yago chattered nonstop around her.
"Can you teach me? Hey—!"
The girl suddenly turned around, her gaze sharp, startling Yago into shrinking back.
"Don't follow me,"
she said calmly.
Yago stood there awkwardly, scratching his head. Watching her back, he gathered his courage and asked,
"Can you tell me your name?"
The girl stopped, seemed to think for a moment, then replied without turning around,
"Annie Leonhart."
Yago repeated it under his breath, then called out,
"My name's Yago. Nice to meet you, Annie!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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