Downfall The Crying Demon

West Market

After an hour passed and everything set, I said goodbye to my uncle as I walked up to the edge of the placed down staircase.

"Bye uncle Reeve!" I shouted while waving my hand to him.

He stopped midway reeling in the anchor to waved back, "Don't get lost now rite!?"

"If you need me to pick you up, I'll be here for the next week for a trade!"

"I'll think about it!"

"Alright! Good luck and take care!"

I gave him my last goodbye before walking down the stairs and set off to my adventure.

As I stepped on the steady wooden platform, I was immediately greeted with the reeks of the seawater below me.

"Ugh, the smell!" I said as I quickly plucked my nose with my fingers before running off to the docks.

I managed to pass through and endure all the smells. After a long run and I made it on the solid brick surface where there I found myself in front of a marketplace.

The port's marketplace was fully packed with people, carrying their bags and barrels, moving carts pulled by horses, supplies being carried out from the boats, and to the stalls or storage. It was a busy time even during a cloudy day.

Without further ado, I took a deep breath before entering the walking crowd, following the flow in a small single lane that led the way to the deeps of the market. Being inside the flow, I had a small walking space so my pace needed to be balanced while keeping my distance between me and the people in front of me. Moreover, it was hard to focus where all I could hear were shouts of merchants left and right.

I checked on my right at the stalls ran by merchants; they had various items for sale, food, drinks, cosmetics, household items, and many more as if they had everything in one place. Most of the items were sold differently but there were some sold the same, although with a different price and quality.

"I got your fresh meat for sale! Delicious meat!"

"Freshly made soup! Come get yer soup!"

Shouts from different merchants went on forever while walking in the crowds, though I was like a ghost to them when I passed by. I expected them to try to reel me in, or they didn't see me as a foreigner at all.

Although, despite the cloudy weather, they were energetic and trying their best to reel in the customers, which led me to become curious about their item quality.

I stopped by a stall; it was a clothing stall that had a colorful display of various types of wear.

"Heya Missy! Do you want to buy new clothes?!"A merchant pop out of nowhere and approached me with clothes in his hands, "They are at a low price with just two golds each!"

"W-wah! U-uh I'm good!", That startled me and made me declined him immediately as I back off.

"Haw about some small rations dearly?" An old lady merchant approached me from behind, carrying a big smile while holding a tray full of canned food. "Oh, they ar the best taste."

Unfortunately, I declined her as well while waving my both my hands at her and trying to keep a smile on, "N-No thank you, I'm not hungry!"

"Got the rite' stuff for you, Miss!" A man said behind me.

Thump Thump

Tumbling footsteps appeared behind me, I turned around and the first thing I saw was a big and tall silhouette.

It was another merchant or rather one who looked like a giant warrior, carrying swords over his back and on his belt.

"Yer look like a lady that knows how to use a sword!" He said with full confidence as he unsheathed one giant sword and showed it in front of my face.

"No! I'm sorry!" I immediately declined and ran off.

I ran off without one chasing me, running away took out almost all my stamina and forced me to stop and take a short rest to get my breath back.

"Ugh... The people here sure are active in trying to get me to buy their stuff...!" I thought.

"... and that's a lie- I'm not even good at holding swords- or even carrying one...!"

"Hey you!!" A man shouted out loud which startled me.

I quickly turned around and...

Bam!

"Ah!"

I let out a small scream as something bumped into my stomach, but luckily I managed to control my balance without falling.

It was all of a sudden, my eyes blinked twice in surprise while gathering my thoughts together before looking down to see what bumped into me.

On the ground, it was a little girl who had an oversized purple scarf wrapped around her neck that covering half of her face from the neck to the nose, her scarf overshadowed her white one-piece dress and her fair skin. Another that stood out was her silver-color hair tied into a twin tail, silver color hair which is a rare color.

I shook my head and kneel to give her a hand, "A-are you ok?"

The girl shook her head several times until she stopped briefly before opening her eyes slowly and looked at me.

Her eyes were beautiful blue including with her fair skin and silver hair, her beauty stunned me.

Shortly after my eyes shifted upon her forehead which something caught my attention. There was an odd yellow symbol on her forehead; a yellow ring with four arrows pointing at the center. I couldn't recognize where it came from or what it represented.

"Could she be...? It could be just something else..."

I shook my head and ignored whatever I could think of about her appearance.

"Hey!" A man yelled.

They yell startled the girl and shortly she quickly got up and hid behind me.

At my north, a merchant came running to us carrying a big white sack and a fierce look on his face.

I felt a bit intimidated by his fierce look but I stood up and tried to ask him, "W-what's wrong?"

He drew his hand and pointed at the girl peeking over my waist behind me in fear, he yelled with the top of his lungs, "Dat girl! She stole some food from my stacks!"

His yelling triggered shivers under over my skin yet I was not the one at fault but I felt pressured all of a sudden. It also caught the attention of everyone in the area making me feel nervous and heat up my body full.

"You better give me back my food girl! Those things aren't easy to get!" The man yelled once more.

"U-u! Uh! Umm!", I tremble with panic.

I didn't want things to escalate further, so I confronted the girl behind me. I could feel the small gripping hand on my shirt as I turned to look at her under my right arm.

I showed a soft smile and asked nicely, "Did you steal something from him?"

The girl looked down with guilt showing through her eyes looking away, but shortly then gave a small, slow nod and admitted.

"Can you show me what did you took?" I asked once more.

Without hesitation, she slipped in her hand into her scarf and pulled out a small brown bun bread wrapped in brown paper.

"It's just a piece of bread... and this kid is being yelled as if she did a murder...", I thought before giving a sigh.

Stomach growl~

The stomach of the girl growled loudly.

There I decided.

I took out my fat hand-size purse from my side belt pouch and asked the angry merchant while showing a soft smile.

"Mister, how much is for the piece of bread?"

That question struck the man's face in shock as if he didn't expect me to help the girl.

"...Are you sure?", He asked with hesitation but shortly after he gave me the answer, "5 silver coins..."

"...Heeeh... only 5 silvers coin is relatively cheap than the places I've went to...", I thought.

"Umm, can I order a few more?"

Again that struck the man and including the people around us in shock, made me feel that my decisions were something alien.

However, he complied and gave me my order; a medium-size paper bag full of buns which were too much base on the number I requested. But then due to me having only gold coins, we were force to follow the quantity base on the payment.

Moments later, the man bowed before taking his leave by walking away into the crowds and everything went back to normal.

What a commotion, it was too sudden for me and made me feel uncomfortable to walk around in the market.

I looked inside the paper bag full of bread and thought, "This is too much for me..."

Stomach growl~

The girl's stomach growled once more which caught my attention. She was obviously hungry and the paper bag full of buns it was something she needed compare to me.

I kneeled down in front of her and showed a smile.

"Hey, you must be starving." I said.
Then added,"Don't worry about the man- you can eat your food now."

The girl looked at me before down at the bread in her hands, then back to me once more.

"Hm! Hm! Hm!"She mumbled with nodding her head happily.

Her response surprised me a little, I asked, "Hm? Can you not say a word?"

In response, she shook her head which led me to assume she was a mute but not deaf. Looking up close now, I began to notice how dirty her clothes were, the white fabric had stains of dirt and her scarf had some torn ends and parts.

"She's probably one from a poor district..."

I hand over the paper bag to her with a soft smile, "Here you go- I bought these for you."

The paper transferred into her arms, hugging it like a pillow in a way almost the same size of her upper torso. After receiving it, she responded with more happy nods and "Hm! Hm! Hm!", which made me feel relief and happy.

Afterward, she gave me a head bow to thank me before shortly after she turned around and ran off.

"...H-hey.",I called out for her with my hand reaching out, but she ran off fast until out of my reach.

I watched as she ran into the moving crowd and disappeared, leaving me to wonder,

"...She ran away..."

"I wonder where she ran off too..."

"...I guess to her parents..."

I got up while I wondered about the girl's safety.

But I shook it off and continued back to wandering the marketplace, it was the time for me to explore not to chase.

I returned to exploring.