Chapter 1331  Life In The Slums

Neron had five friends, and their group of six were pretty average kids in the slums.

In such a hellhole, having allies was necessary—even five-year-olds like them understood that.

"Hey, Neron! You're late!"

As he approached his smiling friends, Neron took his time to note their faces.

Dan, Ral, Kid, Legris, and the only girl in the group, Yera. As always, he was the last to arrive, and they were all waiting for him.

"Sorry. I guess waking up took longer than expected."

Neron knew his excuses were poor, but even his facial expression made it evident that he didn't care enough to come up with anything better.

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Let's just get started already!"

"You could at least try to sound sorry one of these days."

"Welp, you know the rules."

"Hehe!"

Now that they had all gathered in their usual spot, an open area with dilapidated structures and rubble strewn around, they were ready to do what little kids did best.

Have fun!

And what better way to do that than play games?

Their usual game was simple, a makeshift variant of tag. Each of them would take turns trying to outrun the 'chaser.'

The 'chaser' was to be selected at random, but since Neron always came late, it was trite for him to take on the role.

'This is tedious…' Neron thought as he maintained his stoic gaze.

'What can I do, though? Everyone seems to enjoy it—

especially when they believe they can outpace me.'

In the end, he had to just go along with it.

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"Try to catch me, Neron!" Ral taunted, darting off like a rabbit. His laughter echoed in the otherwise desolate area of the slums.

"You're too slow, Neron!" Yera chimed in, her voice full of playful defiance as she dashed away.

To them, this was all exhilarating.

However, for the chaser, Neron, it was just running—a thing he did with natural ease.

As usual, he ended the game quickly, catching each one of them with barely an effort.

"Why are you always the one to catch us?" Once again, they complained to him while panting heavily.

He was used to hearing these words by now.

Everyone burst out laughing instantly.

Even he—the stoic Neron—let out a little chuckle.

"Shut up, Kid," Legris said good-naturedly.

And then a small smile formed on his face; almost like he was sad about something.

"Just make a wish. Who knows if someone is listening out there."

There was a pause before he continued.

"I'd wish for Magic," he admitted.

Normally, this would but time he would let out a big laugh and crack a joke, but Legris did not.

His voice had lost all of its playful edge.

"With Magic, we could change everything. Eat good food, drink clean water... help everyone here. Maybe even get rid of that nasty noble. But most importantly…" he added with a smirk, staring at his closest friend.

"… I would finally beat Neron in our game."

The others laughed at the last part, but everyone was nodding in agreement to the rest of his words.

Neron was the only one who remained silent.

'Could Magic really do all of that?' He gazed at the night sky.

He turned to his friends, their faces illuminated by the glow of the moon, all of them dreaming of a better life.

A life touched by Magic.

'I don't think it can…'

But there was no way he could tell his friends that.

In the end, Neron remained silent and instead Dan ruined the moment by letting out his weird laugh.

"You're too greedy, Legris! That's more than one wish."

Everyone laughed after that, and all the seriousness dissipated into the night.

In no time at all, they returned to being dumb little kids.

Neron joined in the chuckles, but his mind was pretty far from his friends.

He couldn't help but continuously mull over the words of his friend.

'I… I wonder…'

Neron drifted off to sleep, unable to properly address the questions within his heart.

He just hoped they would go away when he woke up the next day.

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