Simulated Lives: The Sorrow of the Sword Maiden-Chapter 31 – The witch has been saved by you

The girl gripped the small knife tightly with both hands, her only source of security. Her oversized dark green pants, so large that the legs dragged on the ground, rustled as her legs trembled incessantly.
Clearly, she was a robber.
But the unease, the fear, made her seem more like a tormented victim, utterly lacking in intimidation.
"Stop... give me the bread!"
The girl realized her own shortcomings.
She tried hard to put on a fierce expression, pointing the sharp tip of the knife at Xu Xi, like a young beast baring its new teeth, shouting hysterically for Xu Xi to stop approaching her.
Her gaze was filled with longing, fixed on the half-eaten white bread in Xu Xi's hand, marked with bite marks.
Involuntarily.
Her throat, long dry and parched.
Swallowed with difficulty.
To be honest, the atmosphere was strange, almost comically absurd.
In the early morning, the large steam engines of Allenson City roared to life, the vast steam clouds covering the sky like a miracle, with mages occasionally flying through them.
In a secluded alley where no one paid attention, a half-demon girl of mixed demon blood held a ridiculously small knife, attempting to rob a prominent figure of Allenson City.
Xu Xi, who was publicly declared an Official Mage, but was actually an Elite Mage.
Such an event.
More illogical than the mythic epics sung by bards.
Even setting aside Xu Xi's mage status, the physical strength of an adult male alone could easily subdue this frail demon girl.
However, Xu Xi did no such thing.
"Hungry?" Without casting a spell to punish this disrespectful demon girl, nor scolding her harshly, Xu Xi simply looked at her calmly and asked.
The girl's actions paused slightly, and she nodded gently.
"Here."
Xu Xi tore off the top part he had bitten and handed the remaining bread to the girl. She didn't take it immediately, but watched Xu Xi warily from a distance.
A look of confusion and bewilderment flashed in her eyes.
It seemed she had never thought she would get food so easily.
One step.
Two steps.
The girl cautiously moved her feet, holding the knife in one hand and reaching for the bread with the other, approaching Xu Xi with extreme caution.
After grabbing the bread, she quickly retreated to the depths of the alley.
She sat curled up on a rotten wooden box in the corner of the alley.
Her feet in a yellow, greasy puddle.
Under Xu Xi's gaze, she first took small bites, and after confirming there was no problem, she began to devour it.
...
"I heard that true pureblood demons have exceptionally resilient organs, able to endure hunger for up to a year, surviving normally on magic alone during that time."
"By that logic, half-demons of mixed blood should also inherit some ability to endure hunger."
Watching the girl wolf down the bread.
Find the original at "pawread.com".
Xu Xi shook his head.
He couldn't imagine how long this girl had been on the run, or what experiences she had gone through to end up in such a filthy, scarred, and pitiful state.
After a while, the demon girl finished the white bread in her hand.
She looked at Xu Xi again, or more accurately, at the piece of bread he had torn off earlier, marked with his bite.
Only at this moment.
Seeing food, her eyes showed a hint of longing.
"Can... can you... give... give it to me..."
Perhaps Xu Xi's act of giving food had raised her favorability slightly, this time the girl didn't threaten with the knife, but stammered her request.
Unconsciously.
With a hint of flattery and pleading.
Her emaciated body stood up from the rotten wooden box, her bare feet stepping on the muddy water and sand, stumbling towards Xu Xi.
Trying to grab the piece of bread in Xu Xi's hand.
However—
Xu Xi ignored the girl completely, tossing the piece of bread into his mouth, then turned and left the alley without looking back, leaving the girl with a receding figure.
"Why... why..."
The girl froze.
The light that had appeared in her eyes dimmed again, becoming vacant and dull.
She lost her balance and fell to the ground, landing in the slippery, foul-smelling alley, pain surging through her, with fresh blood flowing from her forehead.
The girl didn't cry out, for she was long accustomed to it.
She didn't get up either, remaining in her fallen position, lost in the muddy water.
"Mom... did I do something wrong again..."
"Mom..."
"Why is it like this... I'm so hungry... I'm so hungry, Mom..."
The feeling of hunger struck again, the deadly cramp twisting her stomach far more intensely than the pain of the bleeding forehead, causing the girl to cry out suddenly.
She curled up, clutching her abdomen tightly, rolling back and forth in the muddy water.
As if doing so could lessen the pain.
She wanted to cry, but that emotion had long been lost, completely destroyed in repeated despair.
In the end, she could only lie in the mud, eyes vacant, staring at the sky, quietly waiting for death to come.
Once dead, she wouldn't be hungry anymore...
Such a simple thought flashed through her mind.
But just then, footsteps approached from not far away, drawing closer, until they stopped in front of the demon girl.
A warm, strong hand lifted the girl up, and she saw that the owner of the hand was the young man from before, who not only returned but also brought new bread.
"Eat."
"The previous bread was bitten by me, not very clean, eat these new ones."
Xu Xi said.
Not minding the girl's stench, or the mud dripping from her body.
He extended his hand, casting Level 5 Life Magic, using the vast life magic to heal the girl's wounds.
Then he helped the girl up from the ground.
Letting her sit in a slightly cleaner spot to eat the bread.
"...", the girl remained bewildered throughout, seemingly unable to comprehend the development of events.
Until Xu Xi handed her the bread.
She finally reacted, taking bite after bite, mechanically eating the bread.
A bag of bread was quickly devoured.
Xu Xi then used Water Magic, summoning a large water ball to replenish the girl's hydration and clean the dirt from her body.
Finally.
Xu Xi crouched down, making his eyes level with the girl's.
Trying his best to appear gentle.
In the filthy, chaotic alley where even rats didn't want to stay, he extended his hand to the girl who was just as real and alive.
Offering such a simple invitation:
"Come with me."
The girl, who had been as quiet as a puppet, looked at Xu Xi with vacant eyes, like a marionette doll, showing no sign of self-awareness.
She still didn't understand what had happened, but there was an impulse inside her, driving her, telling her.
So, she did as it urged.
Slowly grasping the man's hand in front of her.
"Okay..."
Her voice trembled.