"Rise and shine you little shit."

  *Spsh*

  "Bfff... Huff... W-who-"

  Before he got to take a clear look at which bastard spshed him with cold water, after removing the water from his face with full intention to vent all his anger on whoever did that to him.

  "Whoa!" But a gigantic hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed before snatching him up into the air.

  'Giants?' He thought once he saw the blonde-haired man using one hand to do such a feat without showing any signs of struggling to carry him single-handedly at all, 'Why is he wearing an armor? Is this some sort of movie being casted?' He asked himself while looking around searching for cameras and the wire which is supposed to be tched on his body for this man to accomplish this action.

  "Huh!" Bryan gawked once he saw the short legs and the arms on his body before looking up at the blonde man and the cloaked person next to him which he concluded is in fact a woman judging by the curves on her body, "What's going on here?" He asked while scrunching his nose in disgust once the nasty smell from his own wet clothes entered his nose.

  Suddenly he felt the urge to empty his stomach but his abdominal muscles convulsed in vain because he immediately noticed that there's nothing there for him to force out!

  *Growl*

  *Snort*

  "Humph. You still dare to talk you little runt? How dare you steal dy Linnet's ring?" The blonde soldier ignored the sound of the little boy's stomach when it loudly rumbled to announce his extreme hunger.

  *Sp*

  The soldier immediately raised his other arm and gave Bryan a ruthless sp on his face!

  The person on the receiving end was momentarily dazed before looking at the soldier in disbelief then shifting his gaze slowly towards the cloaked woman behind him.

  "I didn't take your ring. If you want my help to find it then order your dog to let go of me first before we talk." Even Bryan was shocked at how calm he sounded at the moment, especially when he's in fact boiling from anger beneath this expression of his.

  "Y-you!"

  "Stop."

  Right when the blonde soldier was about to reward the dirty and smelly little boy with another sp on his face, a calm voice ordered him to stay his hand from behind and his open palm stopped a mere inch from the boy's face.

  But what surprised his dy and annoyed him was how the boy kept looking at him directly in the eyes without flinching at all.

  'Is he that courageous or is he acting brave?' The soldier squinted his eyes while letting go of the boy and watched him fall with a smile which failed to form once the result he expected didn't happen.

  Especially when Bryan seemed to expect to receive this treatment and nded safely on his feet after keeping his knees soft to absorb the fall.

  "How are you going to help?" The girl's voice was melodious and the cloak gave her an air of mystery which added to the charm in this situation.

  Bryan looked at her and seriously said: "Of course I'm going to look for it for you, but I'm not going to work for free."

  "You little rascal. How dare you talk to dy Linnet in such a rude manner? See how I'm going to fix your attitude." Before the girl called Linnet got to speak, the blonde man was pulling at his sleeve and approaching Bryan with a menacing expression on his face.

  "Spencer. You're in the way, stop being a hassle and go stand to the side." This time her voice had a touch of coldness and the blonde man broke out in a cold sweat once he heard it.

  His posture changed instantly and he immediately nodded a few times before scurrying away, he only dared to stop once his feet reached the end of the dark alley.

  Bryan was shocked by the reaction of this blonde soldier to the woman's order then seriously looked towards her while squinting his eyes.

  Her hand was slowly extended towards the hood and slowly pulled it down to expose the face below it.

  Bryan felt like someone hit him on the top of the head with a hammer and his shock from earlier multiplied many times over once he saw the face of his next-door neighbor staring at him with an amused smile on the corner of her mouth.

  "Like what you're seeing?" She asked while leaning forward to give him an even better look in the dim light.

  "Why are you dressed like that? Where are we?" Bryan asked while looking around at the buildings around him which not only looked old and delipidated, but also cking any resembnce to the futuristic style in both design and floor-count.

  "This... I'm afraid I can't tell. But you're welcome to find these answers yourself," After saying so with a mischievous smile on her face she added : "I might answer one or two of your questions if you do find my ring for me though."

  Bryan frowned before crossing his hands while muttering : "And here I kept your secret for years and endured day after day without compining. Humph... so much for being a gentleman!"

  Seeing his cute action of pouting his lips while tapping his foot on the ground repeatedly made her smile before blushing deeply once she heard what he just said.

  "Little brat! Are your buttocks itching for another spanking? Did you forget our promise already?" She leaned further and whispered while ignoring the stench coming from his body.

  'What promise?' Bryan wanted to ask but held back at the final moment.

  Something in this strange situation just didn't fit, first her ckey started by domineeringly asking him for some ring which he supposedly stole... then here she's acting all cute and intimate with him as if the two of them are familiar with one another!

  'What's going on here?' Bryan asked himself before saying : "Let's just find your ring first, I believe that's the most important thing to do."

  "Mh-mmm." Linnet nodded before saying : "Last time I had it on me was earlier today when I was strolling in the market, you were the st one to hold my hand while begging for some money to buy food."

  Bryan rolled his eyes at this exact replica of his neighbor before pointing a finger at his own stomach, "Does this sound like the stomach of someone who ate anything?" His cynical tone of voice was ridiculing the girl while deep inside his anger was bubbling because she just said that he's a beggar!

  'Fuck this shit... I don't know what's going on but I'm pretty sure I'm not a beggar.' Bryan took a deep breath in to calm himself and watched Linnet frown with a smug shadow fleeting deep within his eyes.

  Now that she thinks about it, the boy's arms and legs does have fresh bruises on them and there's long red traces on his neck which resemble adult fingers!

  On the ground where he used to y down there's a few lines which signify that he was struggling with his ankles, thankfully there weren't that much water in the bucket which Spencer spshed on the boy... otherwise she would've missed everything if the water washed the traces.

  "Little Brayden. What happened to you after you stole my ring?" Linnet whispered while looking him directly in the eyes.

  'Who the fuck is Brayden?

  'And didn't I just say that I didn't steal no damn ring?

  'You threaten me of spanking my buttocks and shamelessly accuse me of stealing your belongings then snder me of being a beggar!

  'Not to mention that your fucking dog of a ckey spshed me with dirty water and freaking spped my face... Even a saint would start hurling vulgarities at delicate goddesses if they dare treat him this way.

  Bryan was feeling so angry and struggling to contain his emotions that he started to shake.

  Linnet noticed his emotional state and felt sorry for him, "Don't be afraid and just tell big sister the truth, I promise not to be angry at you and give you a delicious treat afterwards."

  Bryan's eyes rolled to the back of his head all of a sudden and fainted from anger.