The snow at night fell heavily and rapidly; I don't know how many people will pass away on such a snowy night, lamenting the insignificance of life.
Why say it like that?
Because a little girl finally collapsed in front of a village. The girl was just that close to the village, but she could no longer hold on; her legs were frozen stiff, and her consciousness was already unclear.
In this heavy snowfall weather, the little girl was only wearing a set of tattered clothes; this outfit couldn't even cover her whole body. In this season, it should be considered a miracle that the little girl could survive until now.
It is a pity that if no one discovers the little girl, then the miracle will end.
A completely frozen body, blurred consciousness, and an empty stomach; this could be called a desperate situation for anyone, let alone a little girl.
Needless to say, she is our protagonist, Kaede.
At this moment, Kaede felt a bit bitter in her heart. She never expected that the first thing she would encounter upon arriving in this world would be such a situation.
At first, Kaede wanted to find a place to warm up, but contrary to her wishes, Kaede searched for a long time without seeing even a single animal. As fate would have it, just when she was about to collapse, she discovered a village.
However, she no longer had any strength, and her consciousness was already blurred. Some things cannot be achieved just by wanting to persevere. At the very least, even if her mind were clear, such a frozen body could no longer move an inch.
However, as the protagonist, how could Kaede just die like this, and die right in front of a village at that?
Therefore, an old woman discovered Kaede.
The old woman looked at Kaede with a very strange gaze. After watching for a long time, the old woman's eyes finally revealed an astonishing light, as if she had figured something out. Her face showed excitement, and she directly picked up Kaede, walked into the village, went to the village chief's house, and regardless of how late it was, she knocked directly on the village chief's door.
"Sigh! Coming, coming." The village chief opened the door and shivered, as if stimulated by the cold wind blowing in.
"Oh, it's the Eikura family, what do you need?"
The old woman opened her eyes wide and said, "I found my granddaughter!! Look!"
"Huh?" The village chief looked confused, thinking, Didn't you only have one grandson? Then he saw Kaede in the old woman's arms and looked surprised. "Who is she?"
"She is my granddaughter, my granddaughter, right! Right!" The old woman opened her eyes wide, filled with chaos. Her wrinkled face seemed even more ferocious.
The village chief looked at the old woman, who looked as if she would kill him if he didn't acknowledge it. The village chief thought about it and finally understood why. After all, he was the village chief and had to consider the village. Compared to outsiders, he still favored his own villagers, so he nodded.
"Mm-hmm!" The old woman nodded, and the ferocity on her face vanished in an instant, turning back into that 'kindly' looking old lady.
"Then, I'll leave my granddaughter to you, Village Chief!" The old woman shoved Kaede into the village chief's arms and left.
The village chief looked at Kaede and finally sighed, "This era, child, don't blame us either; we can be considered to have saved your life."
Seeing the clothes on Kaede and feeling the temperature of her body, the village chief immediately understood what was going on and could only say that.
As for Kaede, although her consciousness was a bit blurred, she still heard their conversation. At first, she thought the old woman had saved her, but now it seemed it wasn't that simple.
However, no matter what, at least she would be fine for now; at least she wouldn't die now.
After realizing this, Kaede's consciousness, which had been struggling not to dissipate, finally faded away, and she fell into a state of complete coma.
The next day, Kaede opened her eyes and sat up. The quilt slid off her body, and the cold morning air made her shiver. Then she saw the tattered cotton-padded jacket beside her.
Fortunately, Kaede had not yet developed the habit of staying in bed, so she put on her clothes very nimbly.
"Creak~"
"Who?" Kaede heard the sound of the door opening.
"You're awake." The village chief's eyes showed surprise; to have been frozen like that and to wake up so early was unexpected.
"Mm." Kaede heard the voice and understood it was the village chief.
"Mm, sit down, I have some things to tell you." The village chief sighed and said.
"Mm." Kaede sat down, knowing that what he was about to say was definitely not anything good for her. Just listening to the old woman's tone back then, even when she hadn't been fully conscious, she had felt a shiver down her spine.
"We are just a very small village here. Originally, our village was very peaceful, but recently the Empire has been demanding children from every village and locality, seemingly to build something." The village chief didn't know too much about it either.
"And then?" Kaede seemed to understand a little.
"And then our village also had to provide a child, and the result of the draw was the Eikura family." The village chief sighed.
"It's that person who picked me up, right?" Kaede said very calmly, with no intention of gratitude in her words, because she also understood.
"You actually know?" The village chief was surprised again.
"So you're saying I have to replace the child from her family, right?" Although she was asking the village chief, Kaede's tone was basically confirming it.
"Uh." The village chief looked at the little girl in front of him who wasn't even a few years old; his inner shock was imaginable, but it was a pity. "Don't blame us, we have no choice."
Kaede shook her head and said, "I won't blame you. After all, you did save my life. However, I have replaced the child from her family, so I no longer owe you anything."
Although Kaede said this, her heart slowly became icy cold, very cold, freezing.
Yes, this is no longer the world from my sister's side; this world is much more cruel than I imagined.
Even, it didn't even give her a chance to get used to it before hitting her head-on, pressing her hard into cold water, leaving her body feeling freezing cold.
"Of course, that is of course." The village chief looked at Kaede, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind, "Perhaps, this little girl might be able to survive there."
However, after thinking about it, the village chief shook his head. How could that be possible?
"Forget it, let's compensate her a little." The village chief still felt a bit guilty. After all, they had saved Kaede with certain motives, and the village chief still had some conscience, so he felt a bit uneasy.
"In the afternoon, people from the Empire will arrive. Is there anything you want before then? Consider it our compensation to you."
"Mm." Kaede nodded, looked outside, and finally turned her head, her crimson eyes looking at the village chief, her lips parting slightly.
"I want to eat."
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