He was wearing tattered clothes, had messy hair, a face that was swollen from injuries and had several obvious slap marks on it, and his thin body was trembling slightly, making him look very pitiful.
However, Wayne discovered that the boy in front of him, who was less than ten years old, still had clear eyes even after being treated like this. Even though he was beaten all over his body, his eyes were still shining, unlike the numbness in other slums.
He tilted his head and looked at Wayne. After a few seconds, he shook his head and said:
"I'm sorry, sir, thank you for saving me, but I don't remember you anymore."
Perhaps for him, warning someone whose things were stolen was just a casual thing to do.
Wayne reached out and pulled him up from the ground, touched his head, and asked, "You are injured. I will take you to the Temple of Meritelli to find Sister Carol there."
"They will heal you."
Sister Carol is the manager of the Vigma Meritelli Temple, a priestess in her fifties. Last year, Wayne met this old lady several times when he went to the cemetery to pay homage to his mother. She was a kind and benevolent old lady.
The goddess Meliteli is widely believed in throughout the northern countries. Almost all women, from noble ladies to beggars and prostitutes, are believers of the goddess Meliteli.
She is a trinity goddess, often shown as a carefree girl, a mature pregnant woman, or a hunchbacked old woman, symbolizing fertility, conception, pastoral, fertility and many other beliefs.
The priestesses of the Meliteli sect preached love and peace. They established many hospitals, shelters and orphanages, and almost all the herbalists and midwives in the north came from here.
No lord dared to harm the priestess of the goddess Meliteli in the north, because doing so would anger all the women in the north, including their own mothers and wives.
However, when he heard that Wayne was going to send him to Aunt Carol, he immediately shook his head and refused, "I don't want to go. My injury has healed a lot and it doesn't hurt anymore. If I go to Aunt Carol like this, she will worry about me."
“I see.”
Wayne pondered for a second. Alex's injuries were indeed only superficial, so he didn't necessarily have to be sent to the Temple of Meritelli.
"Where is your home? Do you need me to take you back?"
Alex nodded, shook his head, and said:
"I live in the orphanage next to the temple, but that is not my home. My home has been sold to someone else."
"It's the nuns in the temple who are taking care of me, but I don't want to cause them any more trouble. There are many orphans there. I want to learn how to make money and move out as soon as possible."
Seeing Alex's strong character, Wayne was actually a little moved. He planned to adopt some orphans like the demon hunters of past generations, or use the chance of accident to find some talented children.
Of course, he would not let these children risk their lives to perform the Green Grass Trial, but would train them as ordinary swordsmanship apprentices.
Although demon hunters are indeed much stronger than ordinary people, ordinary people are still not without the chance to defeat them. For example, there is a famous demon hunter killer in the south. It seems that three or four demon hunters have died at his hands.
If there is a chance in the future, Wayne will definitely improve the Demon Hunter's Trial of Green Grass, and will definitely find a warlock exclusive to the Demon Hunter. If he cannot ensure the survival rate of the newborn Demon Hunters, he does not plan to create new Demon Hunters.
After thinking for a few seconds, Wayne touched Alex's head and said:
"How about this, I'll take you back to my house and help you treat your wounds."
"Don't you want to work and earn money? It just so happens that I have some odd jobs at home and need someone to do them. From now on, you can come to my house every day to do odd jobs. I will pay you 20 tung nuts a week and provide you with three meals a day. How about that?"
Twenty tung nuts a week was a very small wage, and the salary of an ordinary adult worker was probably five or six times that price.
It’s not that Wayne is stingy with this little money, but for a kid like Alex who is less than ten years old, if he has too much money, it would be a disaster for him.
He did not directly propose to recruit Alex as an apprentice. One reason was that he still needed to observe the character of this child and would not just keep someone around whose background and character he did not know.
Wayne's idea was good, but he obviously underestimated the vigilance of the slum children.
When Alex heard that the man in front of him wanted to take him home, a look of vigilance immediately appeared on his face. He looked around as if he was looking for a way to escape, and said:
"No, I won't go home with you. Aunt Carol told us not to follow strangers because they are human traffickers."
Wayne twitched his lips. Although he felt a little embarrassed, he still agreed with the vigilance, so he said, "How about this, you should know the owner of the Fox Tavern. He is my friend. I will take you to him first. If he guarantees me, you should be able to trust me."
Hearing about Old York from the Fox Tavern, Alex's vigilance was slightly reduced. As a well-known local tyrant in the slums, and the kind of person who was willing to lend a helping hand to other poor people, Old York had considerable reputation in the civilian area of Vizima.
Moreover, the Fox Tavern was not far from here. After Alex followed Wayne to the Fox Tavern vigilantly, he saw that he was indeed Old York's friend. His vigilance had dissipated by about 80%, and he began to be moved by what Wayne proposed.
Although twenty copper coins a week are not a lot, three full meals a week is definitely a huge temptation for these helpless orphans.
Throughout the northern countries, there are too many orphans, poor people or patients who need help in the Temple of Meliteli, and the only income of these priestesses comes from donations from believers, so don't expect them to be treated well. Ensuring that the orphans do not starve to death is already their best effort.
As for work, there are too many people in this world who need work. No one will be interested in orphans who are weak and cannot do heavy work. The only ones who are interested are human traffickers or bad people with other malicious intentions.
Outside the Fox Tavern, Old York was still smoking his old pipe, while Aunt Melissa was helping Alex treat his wounds with some herbs she had found from somewhere.
After listening to Wayne's story, Old York frowned, looked at the bruises on Alex's face, and said bitterly, "It must have been done by those bastards from the Rat Tail Gang. They are just some hooligans from the countryside. Do they really think they are somebody? They dare to bully children on my territory. I'll find someone to deal with these rubbish later."
Upon hearing this, Wayne immediately asked with interest:
"The Rat Tail Gang, is this another new gang? Do you need me to help you? I don't need much payment from you, just give me the bottle of good wine you hid."
He actually liked these gangs quite a lot. They were all low-class guys and it wouldn't cause any trouble to kill them. When he first came to Vizima City, the Wild Dog Gang brought him nearly a thousand orens in benefits, which was just like an ATM.
Hearing Wayne's question, Old York waved his hand and snorted disdainfully:
"Bullshit, they don't deserve to be called a gang, they are just a bunch of thieves, hooligans, and gangsters who commit crimes together. They are mud legs running from the remote countryside, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Any tough guy can defeat them."
The old man glanced at Wayne and said, "When you massacred the Wild Dog Gang last year, you killed more than a dozen people in one afternoon. You scared the scumbags nearby. Many of them left Vizima and went to other places to make a living."
"I don't think there will be any more gangs that can make a difference in the next two to three years."
Wayne shrugged regretfully and said, "What do you think of what I just said?"
"I plan to test this kid Alex. If he's suitable, I'll take him in as an apprentice."
"And please help me find some children who are tough, not afraid of hardship, but not ungrateful, and recommend them to me."
"I don't care about their origins or their talents. In the future world, learning how to use a sword can save their lives in times of danger."
Old York frowned and thought for a long time before saying:
"I do know some poor good children."
"But you have to promise me that you will never let them become some damn demon hunter. I've heard that out of ten children who want to become demon hunters, not even one or two can survive."
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(End of this chapter)