Heroine

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Now then, the second function of Devour should have been activated and deposited the appraisal skill in my arsenal.

As soon as I desire to view the stats of myself, the holographic panel pops up on my retina.
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Skill Activated: Appraisal
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One star magician
Title: None

Skills:
-Appraisal(lvl 1)
-Iron Defence
-Flash Steps
-Swordsmanship(lvl 1)
-Devour(lvl Max)

Talent: None

Hidden Private Skills:
-Mana Manipulation(Lvl???)
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Appraisal(lvl 1)

View the relevant status of your opponent.
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The Hero Awakening Ceremony should be in a month from now. It's time I start moving.

There are three sections in the Lupis Kingdom, the first is the Royalty section, followed up by the Commoner's section, followed up by the slums.

Since I've gotten an adequate amount of money from those I killed, normally I would get myself better-looking clothes and wash up. But... I can use this to get Yuki's attention.

Yuki is of a commoner origin and her family works at an inn. Although she doesn't attempt to solve the slum problem, because she can't, she still helps whoever she can whenever possible. That's her weakness: her radiant "hope" of kindness.

Unbeknownst to her, most of the people she helped faced a bad end regardless of her aid or not.

I move across the slums and out of it, to the commoner's section. The road connection between the two areas has little to no activity.

The moment I step into the commoner's section, despite them being a commoner, many have thrown glares of disdain.
===================
*rumble rumble*

Downpour accompanied by rumbling fills the sky.

Yuki, holding a broom, sweeps the dirt in the wooden cavern. There isn't much business lately due to tough competition.

Her father, Amani Glenn, is wiping the counter of the bar. At first glance, no one can tell that they are family as Glenn has brown hair and eye whereas Yuki takes after her mother's features.

An adventurer yawns while walking down the stairs and left the inn in the rain.

"What!?" The adventurer exclaims after he stepped out.

"Is there a problem sir?" Asks Yuki.

The adventurer steps aside to reveal a body of a young me laying outside of the inn, wearing nothing but rugged clothes.

!!

Yuki gasps and runs out in the rain to me and checks for any vital signs. When she confirms I am still alive, she carries me back into the inn.

"Yuki? What are you doing?" Glenn exclaims.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

Glenn sighs. "We are already running low on funds..."

Yuki glances at me. "He is a young child..."

...

Glenn gives in. "Fine. The room at the end of the second level is empty, bring him there."

Yuki carries me up the stairs and places me in bed as Glenn carries a bucket of water and towels to dry and wash me.
Thereafter, although embarrassed by it, she changed the shirt I am wearing.

I wake up the next day to find myself in a comfortable and soothing warm atmosphere.

...

*creaks*

Yuki opens the door and widens her eye when she sees me awake. "U-Uh hello!" She says, wearing a big smile on her face. "You collapsed outside yesterday so we brought you in. I hope you don't mind."

I shake my head.

"You look younger than me. What's your name?" She asks.

My name... I can't remember it. But after Kazuki calls me Akuma, I adopted that name.

"Akuma," I say.

Yuki frowns. "That's a...peculiar name."

...

"Ah! Sorry, your name meant a bad thing in my hometown language but that doesn't mean you are bad!" Says Yuki.

I nod.

"Uhm... You can stay here as long as you want-"

"No!" Glenn, who overheard the conversation, says at the door. "We are running low on money."

"But-"

"No buts! We've already taken in 2 people and we are not an orphanage." Says Glenn.

Yuki stares down and nods.

Afterwards, Glenn left us.

"Akuma, I will try to persuade my father. Since business isn't blooming, you should be able to have a roof over your head at least." Says Yuki before leaving.

...

A mirror is in the corner of the room. Beside the bed are a wardrobe and a window. Truly... This is a comfortable inn.

I get up and look in the mirror. I am about 5'1 feet tall and have green eyes and black hair. Someone my height can be a teenager of 15.

...

I close my eyes and clear my mind.

To trick Yuki, I need a facade. A naive facade will not work for a "child" that had experienced hardships. If so, I can be cynical and ignorant of the world.

Decided, I open my eyes and adjust my face. I practise forming smiling faces, sad faces, angry faces, and all kinds of emotions I need to show to deceive people.

In short, I'm forming another persona.

Good.

...

It's time I move on to the next step.
=====================
The Amani inn has 2 major inns to compete against. Amani once was the powerhouse of inns in the Lupis Kingdom but misunderstandings and rumours have led to the fall of the inn's reputation.
Although the issue was eventually resolved, it takes effort to rebuild a reputation.

At the same time, the other two inns, Golden Wind and Life's Best, are thriving and improving at an exponential rate. Thus, people would rather visit those inns than The Amani inn.

I visit the Golden Wind inn late at night, wearing a cloth mask and a hood.

Settling down near the bar counter, I hear a few people gossip at the table behind.

"Nowadays, Amani inn seems to be holding out." One of the men says.
"I have no idea how. Isn't their business failing? I've seen only a few people walk in and out of that building." His friend replied.

"Do you want to know why they are still running?" I say, talking to the people behind me.

?

They turn their attention to me.

"It's because they hold a big fortune inside the inn." I lie.

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