A Life is Worth a Meal

CLANG!

The great sword echoed out as it slammed into the floor. The mutated rat shrieked and evaded, then became enraged and launched itself at the guy's throat. He panicked and dropped his sword, then stumbled backwards and fell over. The rat landed on top of his body and dug its fangs into his neck, but then…

CHI!

Miu's spear stabbed through the rat's body, but got stuck half way. The large rodent shrieked continuously, then let go of its grip around the man's throat and began to scramble manically. At this point, Shia grit her teeth and rushed in, then slashed down at the top of the rat's neck with her full strength.

CLANG!

The blade got stuck inside of its neck bone. However, combined with the injury to its body, it soon stopped struggling and became still just a few seconds later.

The man who was supposed to act as the front defensive line smiled wryly when he realised that two young girls had stolen his glory. As for the man on the floor…

"Kuh, Kuh, Ou- peugh!" He coughed up blood and spat it all over the red carpet. Tears dribbled from his eyes and he began to mutter incoherently.

"I, I don't want to die, god, I know I've never believed in you before, but please save m- peugh!"

He choked up a mixture of blood and vomit again. The rat had partially gnawed through his throat, both his food and wind pipe were injured. Miu, instinctively bent down and was about to begin treating him, but then…

"Miu, Shia!" Zhan called out with the loudest voice he could muster without further aggravating his injuries. At the same time, he allocated more stat points.

'0.1 to defence.'

'0.1 to perception.'

'0.1 to agility.'

Every improvement was extremely useful. Although he was only adding 0.1 life-points to each area, which were distributed across various sub-areas, he could feel his strength gradually rising. At the same time, his injuries had healed to the point that he could fight again, though it would tear open Miu's stitches and further aggravate his healing wounds.

Of course, his fractured rib would take longer to heal, but fighting with a single broken rib was nothing much to Zhan, he could endure it for some time if he really needed to.

Shia and Miu shared a glance, then quickly returned to Zhan's side.

"What is it, that man-"

"Don't help him." Zhan cut Shia off coldly and glanced towards Miu. She bit her lip, but nodded and agreed to his request.

"B-but, he might die if we don't help!" Nui cried out. Zhan hated to see those watery kitten eyes, but he needed to ease this girl into the reality of this world.

Or more importantly, the reality of himself.

"Nui, he was creating trouble earlier. Just threatening Shia alone is enough to warrant his death, but we can't have any disruptions right now. Chaos will only increase the number of deaths."

Shia's eyes widened.

'He's saying this because that guy yelled at me? He's willing to let a man die, just because of that?'

"I, that, but life is-"

"Life is worth a meal Nui, no more and no less." Zhan patted her head softly with a kind smile.

"Nui, if you're going to stay with me, you should know something…I have no aversion to killing. I had already planned to kill that person, but since he's dying anyway, we may as well just leave it at that. I think Miu and Shia also need to rest." He glanced at the to girls, who suddenly realised that they were overcome from exhaustion.

"It was just one fight, I only swung my sword once, why do I feel so tired?" Shia frowned and quickly sat down besides Zhan. She was also trying to ignore what he just said. She knew that this was the truth…ever since seeing Zhan cut the hands off that policeman so mercilessly, she realised that he was no saint.

"Because it was your first fight, you were too tense. Every muscle in your body taut and ready to explode out, your mind whirring and thinking of every possible outcome and reaction…it's exhausting when you're not used to it." Zhan explained.

"Mm, you're right, even I feel tired." Miu agreed with a sigh, then sat down besides her sister.

"Zhan, I, I don't think I can kill, I'm sorry." Nui bit her lip anxiously, then bowed her head, her heart aching and feeling conflicted

"You don't need to Nui, I already said that you don't need to fight…definitely not close combat anyway."

Feeling Zhan's large hand stroking through her hair, Nui looked up at Zhan with watery eyes. All of this was too much, she was struggling to take it all in, but..thinking about how Zhan had risked his life earlier, yet played it off as if it was nothing much, she came to a decision.

"I don't know about all of this, but I just want to be helpful to you, Zhan. If there's anything I can do to help, just tell me!"

Miu's eyes widened, but she didn't have the energy to verbally defend her little sister.

"For now, just focus on staying alive. And being cute."

"B-being cute?" She turned red and repeated questioningly.

"Pervert…" Shia sighed out tiredly.

"Damnit, he's dead!" The four of them heard someone yell out in anger and despair. The woman then turned her attention towards Miu. In her rage, she totally forgot about Zhan, the powerhouse seated right besides the outlet of her anger.

"You, you're a doctor, right? I saw you treating others, don't deny it…so why didn't you treat my fiancé?!"

Nui trembled slightly and felt a faint sense of guilt, despite having nothing to do with this situation. Shia still felt exhausted, as did Miu…she didn't want to deal with this situation right now.

Truthfully, despite being strong willed, Miu struggled to keep eye contact with the recently deceased relative of that man.

"He was going to die anyway, I told her to come and rest, got a problem with that? Or perhaps you'd like to try killing me, or taking over these people?" Zhan locked eyes with the enraged business woman, causing her to tremble and take a step back. However, hearing the murmurs behind her, she remembered that she was backed by tens of people and was able to muster the courage to retort.

"That's right! You have the strength to defend us, so it's your duty to do so!"

"Hahaha, my duty, huh?" Zhan burst out laughing, then slowly stood up, now unhindered by his injuries as much as before. He towered over the now trembling woman.

"Everyone has the duty to protect their own life. Who I decide to protect, who I decide to let die, and who I decide to kill, is my own damn business. Fuck off or I'll send you to the next world, then you can meet your fiancé again."

"Zhan, that was a bit-"

"No, he's right." Everyone turned to Nui in shock as she said this. Even Zhan was stunned to hear these words coming from her mouth.

"Zhan has no obligation to help us, it would probably be easier for him to survive on his own, yet he's chosen to protect us anyway. We have no right to demand him to do anything at all…if we want to save people, then we can only rely on ourselves!"

Zhan was moved, hearing such a coherent and heartfelt speech from this little girl. His gaze shifted towards her and he tickled her ears, masking her blush. She closed one eye as she glanced at him with embarrassment written across her face.

"Nui…everyone really. You're going to see me kill people at some point, and maybe you'll disagree with me or hate me for it. But I have my own way of doing things, and I won't change this for anyone. If anyone dares to threaten me or my people, I will kill them without hesitation. If you can't accept this, then you're free to leave whenever you want…but at that point, I will no longer protect you."

"N-no!" Nui suddenly cried out and leaned in closer to Zhan, wrapping her arms around his waist without thinking. She dug her face into his side and scrunched her eyes shut.

"I don't want to leave Zhan, not ever, no matter what!" Nui trembled as she spoke, refusing to let go. She felt that if she let him loose, he would never return to her.

"Your methods are extreme, but…I think I understand you a bit better now. I have no intention of leaving either."

"Haha, the only reason I would ever leave is if Nui went off alone and needed protection, but I'm glad we're able to stay together like this."

"You three…" Zhan didn't know what to say. To think that even after revealing his true, bloodthirsty and ruthless nature, they would still be fine with him. Whether or not that would change after seeing him actually take action was yet to be seen though. Well, except Miu…she already knew that he had no problems with taking human life.

However, fate was a strange mistress, and it seemed like Nui and Shia were about to see his merciless nature much earlier than expected.