The Laughing Swordsman

Galileo jumped, then hurried off towards the scream.

A scrawny woman was holding onto her son. In her hand was a fruit of light, albeit a small piece. She was on her rear, trying to crawl away.

"My baby is starving! I just want him to live..."

Her son's eyes were languid, blinking out of sync.

"Waah..."

A tall and muscular man marched towards them. A frown was plastered on his face.

"If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have anything to eat!"

The man pointed to himself.

"What happens when I starve? That means there is one less scavenger to collect the fruit of light!"

The inner corner of the man's eyebrows dipped downwards.

"Are you willing to take responsibility when the rest of the village has nothing left?"

The woman shivered.

Galileo hurriedly ran in between them.

"Hold on! What is the situation, we can work this out peacefully! We are all villagers striving to survive together!"

The man scowled.

"Striving to survive together? This fool clearly isn't doing that. She doesn't understand that the village depends on the scavengers to survive!"

The man pointed at the woman.

"If she thought about the village, she would've given me the fruit of light!"

Galileo began sweating.

"Did she take your portion?"

The man rolled his eyes.

"No, but the portions are getting smaller and smaller! At this rate, I won't have enough to scavenge properly."

Galileo frowned.

"But... you are already given double the amount compared to normal villagers."

The man narrowed his eyes.

"And how is that supposed to be enough? If it wasn't for me, countless people would've died of starvation! Is it too much to ask for a little more?"

Galileo bowed.

"I thank you for your service. I also do think that you deserve much more..."

His hand balled into a fist.

"But... we are simply in a difficult time. The rest of the village is given just enough to survive. Please reconsider, they will starve."

The man pushed Galileo, causing him to stumble backward.

The man crossed his arms.

"So what if a few people starve? I have already saved countless from starving by risking my own light. Even if a few people die so I can be fed, it is far made up by the people I saved."

Galileo was at a loss for words.

It hurt his heart to hear those words from the people he looked fondly upon.

"...We are in harsh times now, but soon it will improve. We have already called upon exterminators to get rid of the monkeys. Once that is accomplished, there will be more for everyone."

The man laughed derisively.

"And how long will we have to wait for that? I bet that they won't even do their job properly. We don't even know who is taking care of it. For all we know, a kid is the one we hired."

Galileo fell silent.

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it was a kid that was hired."

The man turned to Apollo and raised an eyebrow.

"And who are you?"

A smirk appeared on Apollo's face.

"I am the person tasked with killing all the shadow monkeys."

The man froze.

Then burst out laughing.

"That's a good one. Now, back on topic."

The man pointed at the woman.

"Give me the fruit of light."

Galileo simply lowered his head and closed his eyes.

He tried. At least he could reassure himself that way.

Apollo watched on apathetically.

The woman had caved in, holding out the fruit of light.

The man smiled and walked forward to grab it.

...But it wasn't there.

Layla cheered enthusiastically.

"Yay, I win!"

She held onto the fruit of light proudly.

Then, she ate it without a second thought. A dreamy smile appeared on Layla's smile.

As for everyone else, they were dumbfounded.

The woman felt like she was in a dream. She directly fainted.

The man looked back and forth between his empty hand and Layla. His eyes popped out.

Galileo was blinking incessantly. It was as though he wanted to dispel the 'illusion'.

The corner of Apollo's lip twitched. He should've expected this.

Layla playfully hummed, oblivious to the looks she was getting. Her tail swung from side to side as she danced, letting out soft jingles.

Once the man processed what just happened, he walked up to Layla in a fit of anger.

"You thief! How dare you steal from me?"

Layla giggled.

"Sore loser~"

She waved her hand dismissively.

"I am the winner, so naturally it is my prize."

The man clenched his fist. Blue veins were bulging on his forehead.

"You brat!"

The man swung his fist at Layla, however, she easily stepped out of the way.

Layla winked at the man, then hopped off.

"Catch me if you can!"

With that, the man chased after Layla, who was skipping and singing a lullaby.

The village got to witness quite the spectacle.

A little girl with cat ears was chased by a man angrily shaking his fist. They ran laps around the entire village, causing them to pass by everyone a couple of times.

Apollo looked at Galileo, while Galileo looked at Apollo.

After a few moments, Galileo broke the silence.

"So... is she your companion?"

Apollo sighed.

"Well, not by choice."

Galileo nodded slowly.

"I see..."

Layla and the man passed by the two of them, still running across the village.

Galileo's eyes looked off at their departing figures.

"Say, will your companion be alright?"

Apollo chuckled.

"She can run... believe me. Even if that guy has limitless stamina, he won't catch up anytime soon."

Galileo forced a laugh.

"Haha... I see."

The sky began to flicker.

Although the sky wasn't bright to begin with, it started to darken.

Galileo furrowed his brows.

"Damn, it's nighttime. Quickly, we must get your companion and get into a house!"

The man who was chasing Layla suddenly stopped. He stared at the sky with a solemn expression.

After giving one last look at Layla, he clicked his tongue and ran back to the barracks.

The whole village became restless.