Chapter 89: The Toad Wants to Eat Swan Meat, Pigs Also Have a Wish to Fly
TOM is indeed a little angel, letting me earn enough survival points, from the miserable 500 points to 1000 points. I rarely use points, after all, the Blood Color Anthurium Ring stores many accessories and gold and silver jewelry, just go to the pawnshop to exchange money and buy enough daily necessities. I should be lucky that TOM was only thirteen years old when he arrived at World War II, so there is still enough food now.
For the first time, I experienced the life of children in an orphanage. Overall, it's just a little better than the life of beggars. For these kids, one egg is the most expensive food they can get, and they've never tasted meat before - it's something that's out of their reach. The food at the orphanage is always the same: dry bread, some spoiled milk, overcooked potatoes, and a pot of light vegetable soup.
The children in the orphanage didn't have a single decent set of clothes, and even the best ones had several patches. As for me, I reluctantly put on some old-fashioned dresses so as not to arouse Mrs. Cole's suspicion of anything unusual, and of course, Tom also wore that shabby outfit with a sullen face.
TOM is already five years old, and of course I'm still taller than him because I've been dealing with the main god for a long time. In order not to make others think that I'm a strange child, my body started growing, but at a speed that's simply slow enough to anger both humans and gods. Every time Mrs. Martha, who takes care of the kitchen, sees me, she always looks guilty, as if it's her fault that I'm still so short, so she always adds more dishes to my food.
Of course, I secretly sent all the food to the children in the orphanage, because I really couldn't accept those foods. British food is notorious for being - disgusting! Of course, this doesn't include desserts, which are actually quite good. The main reason I couldn't accept the orphanage's food was, why were they always serving cabbage and radish?!
TOM wasn't pale and malnourished like the kids in the orphanage, but rather fair-skinned and rosy-cheeked. The main reason was me, how could I let my little brother TOM go hungry and eat those unpalatable foods? I usually brought back food for him from outside, of course including some Chinese street food and also some aristocratic dishes, in order to teach him the etiquette at the dinner table so that he wouldn't be bullied when he's in Slytherin in the future, and also the etiquette among aristocrats.
Tom was extremely intelligent and had never taken anything from the room to show the children at the orphanage, because he knew that such expensive things had never been seen in an orphanage before, and if he took them out, he would certainly be regarded as a thief. Another reason was that Tom was somewhat introverted and liked to be alone, but he always stuck with me, which made me wonder if he lacked a sense of security?
Main Quest: Get to know Kuro Rido within 3 days. Reward 500 points upon success, deduct 1000 points upon failure.
When I was teaching little Tom to draw a sketch, the main god's voice came out of thin air in the room. Because of the sudden sound, my hand shook and drew a big curve on the paper.
"What's wrong, sister?" Tom looked up with some concern at his own sister, whose expression was not very good.
"Nothing, Tom. I'll be back in a while. You finish this painting obediently." Erased the extra line with an eraser, picked up a pencil and drew the final stroke on the paper's rhododendron. Picked up the paper and looked at it contentedly, the grayish-white rhododendron on the paper seemed quite three-dimensional from a distance, this was the charm of sketching.
"I want to go too." Tom's eyes flashed with discontent, why did his sister always go out but never take him together, he also wanted to see the outside world.
I took a glance at Tom, who looked displeased, and let out a sigh of resignation. My lovely Tom was becoming increasingly overbearing and introverted. Although I liked this kind of personality in a boy, he clearly no longer regarded me as his sister. "Tom, your sixth birthday is coming up soon, right? As a gift, I'll take you on a one-day outing outside. Of course, from now on, you can also follow me out."
TOM's eyes lit up, and he stopped complaining. After all, it wouldn't be good if Mrs. Cole found out that the two of them were gone, they might get punished for it, at least one of them could cover for the other. But he didn't think his sister would really agree to it, after all she went out because of their daily needs, he thought his willfulness needed to be restrained a bit, at least let his sister relax a bit.
After seeing his sister off, a heavy knocking sound was heard soon after. Tom furrowed his brow and put down the pencil in his hand, getting up with an air of not caring at all, opening the door slowly.
"TOM, I think we should go out and talk." TOM opened the door to see a fat guy who was a head taller than him, he knew him. His name was Bob Thomason, a fat guy who always looked at his sister with a lecherous gaze, which made TOM want to beat him up like a pig's head, but wasn't he already like a pig anyway?
"Thomason I don't think we're familiar enough for you to call me by my name, are we?" Tom gave the fat guy in front of him a disdainful look.
"...Why don't you go out with Riddle for a bit?" Bob was clearly not pleased with the handsome young man in front of him, and glared at him with some annoyance while the young man continued to leisurely fiddle with a piece of paper.
"I don't think I'm obligated to go out with you, Thomason." Tom didn't have time to go see that pig-like fat guy, he didn't want to be bothered by this pig and fail to finish the painting. If he couldn't finish it, the consequences would be severe, which meant he wouldn't get to eat his sister's handmade cookies. Although he wasn't too fond of overly sweet things, he had to admit that his sister's creations were really delicious.
"You! Don't get too cocky, Riddle. Tsk tsk, poor Riddle, still sitting in this rickety chair and at this table that looks like it's about to collapse. Mrs. Cole got me a brand new bed, but maybe later she'll get you a set of furniture that's not too shabby either." Thomason said with a loud guffaw, laughing to himself like an idiot.
Tom looked at the fat man who was laughing and lying on the ground like a madman, should he ask Mrs. Cole to take away this madman who accidentally ate rat poison and was having an epileptic seizure?
Although he didn't know why, except for him and his sister, everyone else seemed to think their room was extremely old-fashioned. Although there were exquisite items placed around them, they all looked shabby when seen by others, perhaps he should ask his sister about it.
TOM put down his pencil and looked at the drawing he and his sister had done, which was almost identical. He carefully put it away in the cabinet. "Alright then, I'll go out with you this time."
"…Huh? Oh, come with me." Thomason didn't react in time, he still thought the arrogant kid in front of him wasn't going to answer him.
TOM followed Thomason out, and also saw a worried-looking Mary, who was the freckled girl mentioned by his sister. His sister often gave her food given by Mrs. Martha, saying "Anyway, it's not wanted, if you secretly throw it away and are discovered by Mrs. Cole, you'll die miserably. So give this food to other orphans, so that they will be grateful to you, and naturally won't harm you, sometimes even getting unexpected gains." The fact proved that this introverted girl was indeed staring at him with a worried face.
Followed Thomason into the yard, there were not many plants in the yard, only a few trees, and some weeds grew around.
"Spit it out already." Tom looked at the fatty in front of him with some impatience.
"I, I want you to help me pursue Miss Sakuragi!" Thomason said with a red face and stuttering.
TOM narrowed his eyes, and the bloodshot eyes revealed danger. He didn't mind teaching this toad who wanted to eat swan meat a lesson using some small tricks. His sister would have liked that, he admitted, but if she were here, she would definitely say a series of words that would hurt their self-esteem, such as asking him who he was. To avoid trouble, of course, he had to help his sister, didn't he?
"I refuse your request, I think I don't have the obligation to help you, and my sister will absolutely not accept your confession of love." Although there was no aggression in Tom's words, his tone was full of sarcasm.
"Hey!" The fat man rushed over in anger, and the sudden attack made TOM unable to dodge. He instinctively raised his hand to block the incoming fist.
"Ow!" Tom clutched at his arm, which had been punched by a fist.
"Joseph, Joshua, Jonathan, let's give this little brat a good thrashing and teach him a lesson!" the fat boy growled through gritted teeth.
TOM furrowed his brow, clearly unaware that this damned fatty had actually called for backup, and with his strength he couldn't even beat these few boys who were taller than him. His sister hadn't taught him how to fight yet, and now his sister was out...
Tom was somewhat flurried, and just caught sight of Mary hiding in the corner of the wall, to whom he mouthed "Go fetch Mrs. Cole". Apparently she understood what he meant, for she turned round and ran off at once.
All Tom could do was to dodge their attacks as much as possible before Mrs. Cole arrived, unfortunately he was attacked from behind. The person behind tied up his hands, Tom struggled desperately, but his strength was obviously not as big as that of the several boys, and he couldn't break free.
Biting back the pain, he glared at the several boys in front of him who were many years older. The anger in his heart burned brighter and brighter, his rationality completely disappearing, as if a certain door had been fully opened, and a strange power was emitted from his body.
TOM's vision was getting increasingly blurry, the last thing he saw were the boys' terrified faces and the shouting in his ears, they were yelling about a demon, were they talking about him? Where is my sister now? Has she come back yet……no way……if she sees me like this, she'll worry…………
In the last second before closing his eyes, he saw a light blue skirt hem, and a pair of hands were stroking his cheeks, a pair of hands with a faint warmth...