Chapter 54: Is only the decision left?
Ava and Isla were standing in their spot without moving. As Ava could see, all around her, many soldiers were coming in their direction.
Ava and Isla were only a few meters away from the May tent when she saw a red-haired lady running toward them with two handguns in her hand. She couldn't see her face, but she could see that her clothes were different from those of the other officers, and she was tall.
The rude soldier, noticing the leader was coming toward them, was also standing in position, glaring at the crazy soldier who had fired the bullet earlier, thinking to himself.
'If this bastard was not crazy, they should have resolved this situation without causing a commotion.'
But he doesn't care much as he is not the one who has done anything wrong, so he stands there casually with a folded arm, sometimes glaring at the soldier while other times at the two little beggars who are accountable for everything.
May, from a distance, can see two little beggars hugging each other and standing at a place without moving much. From the distance, she can also see that one of them has an injured foot, as she can see red blood.
She thought that someone must have fired the bullet at the feet of the little beggar after finding out they were stealing something and trying to run away from them.
But she doesn't think these thin little beggars could outrun any of the soldiers present; she felt pissed knowing someone had shot at two underaged beggars; even if they were running away, they should have apprehended them and released them after some warnings.
They could also give them some food to eat, as she knows how hard it is for them to live in the slums. While thinking about these things, she further noticed that she had become softer toward kids, as she had helped many children during the past year.
But before her niece was born she wouldn't have cared that much and felt angry for them so she thinks she had become softer and it also doesn't bother her she feels proud helping them as it would remind her of her little niece and nephew.
Usually, she would only scare them away, however after the birth of their niece and little nephew, she has become softer toward children, and the two beggars in front of her are around the age of her niece, so she felt a little sympathetic toward them, and from a distance she also thought they were boys yet wouldn't change her opinion just because of her horrible past.
She reached them, seeing their ragged clothes and dirty appearance. She noticed that one of them was crying, and the other one appeared to have cried earlier and stopped, as tear marks could also be seen on the beggar's face.
She can see they are frightened of her, as one is hugging the other little beggar tightly, trying to protect him. As May recalled that she had guns in her hands, she looked into Ava's eyes, who was also looking toward her, and said in her cold voice without exhibiting any emotion on her face while putting away the guns in her holster.
"Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you. See, I am putting the guns away, so don't be scared. Don't worry, if any of you are injured, I will make sure to get them treated, okay?
Ava sees the cold-faced, red-haired, beautiful lady standing in front of her, saying she is not going to hurt them while putting her guns away; she doesn't trust her at all, because previously she could tell the two solid faces that one of them wanted to help them.
But seeing the beautiful, red-haired, tall lady in front of her who could be the most beautiful lady, she had seen in her life without emotion on her face, she still didn't trust her, as the previous psychopath was also normal-looking, but they don't think he would be so crazy.
But hearing her say that she would treat her sister even if it turned out a lie, Ava decided to trust her, as she knew that it would be too hard for her to get her sister treated, so she could not let such an obvious opportunity in front of her slip by just because of her bias.
Ava said in a pleading voice, looking at the beautiful red-haired lady in front of her "Are you telling the truth? Will you treat my sister?"
She decided it would be wise to tell her the truth about their gender, as she would find out later when treating her sister, so making herself sincere she decided to tell the truth as she couldn't lie in front of the person who seemed going to help them.
Isla was at present hugging her sister, her face resting on her chest, which meant May couldn't see her face right now; otherwise, she would have noticed they looked the same, and both were girls; she thought they were brothers and sisters.
May said in her firm voice, reassuring the little beggar and his sister. "Don't worry, I have said it, therefore I will do it, and you probably don't know, little one. I am the leader here."
Upon approaching the little beggar, May realized that the injury was not gunshot-related; instead, it appeared to be caused by cutting or crushing.
She also felt relieved knowing that her soldiers had not shot a little girl, but she is pissed right now knowing these soldiers from her command are somehow responsible for the wound, but if it was some accident, she would forgive them after giving them a light punishment.
As she knows these two little ones are not innocent, as they are in the area where the army is settled, and they would probably have tired of stealing food or something else.
She had to know the truth to decide what she would do next and, more importantly, who was the one who had fired the bullet.
She was about to ask the beggar if he knew something when suddenly she saw two soldiers who were in front of her coming earlier coming closer now, as she had forgotten to pay attention when she noticed the injured girl.
She remembers both of them as they are part of the team that she led for this mission, she had noticed the clothes of one of them were a little dirty as if he had fallen down.
The two soldiers saluted her at the same time; they both were coming almost at the same time.
May seeing them saluted she saluted them in return, without wasting any time she wanted to ask them what was happening and who fired the bullet, as they would probably know because both of them were here before she arrived, so they must know.
But she noticed the atmosphere between the two soldiers and the beggar was somewhat tense, and the little beggar who had talked to her earlier was staring at one of them.
She looked at all of them, and one soldier was also glaring at this particular soldier. She doesn't know what happened, but he must be responsible for the beggar's sister's current condition, so he is staring at them but she doesn't jump to the conclusion.
However, she also felt angry thinking that if the beggar's sister's condition was not an accident and done intentionally by someone, she would not let them go, whoever is responsible for it she would let them know, as they are about the age of her niece.
She was about to ask the soldier what happened and why it resulted in a bullet being fired but suddenly heard one of them speaking himself to her.
"Mam, I am the one who fired the bullet earlier, and I am sorry for that. Please allow me to explain how it happened." Mark said in a sincere voice, trying to explain the situation.
May looked at the soldier who just said he was the one who had fired the bullet. Now she looked at his face she remembered every single soldier's face, so she recognized him.
She may not remember everyone's name, but she especially remembered this one as this soldier is very diligent when following the commands like a machine.
This caught her attention not because of this but because he would do stupid things following the exact commands, so his name was Mark if she remembered correctly this one had a neutral image in her mind even being a man as she found him funny and his character is good.
But she is not going to go easy on him if she finds him responsible for the little girl's condition while she is thinking more and more soldiers start to arrive where they are.
May was about to say something, but she stopped as she knew probably all the soldiers were going to come here hearing the sound of bullets, and she didn't want to be interrupted by their greeting when listening to the important things, so she waited a few minutes as all the 30 soldiers are present here.
She replied to their greeting and ordered them to be on standby and soldiers, who only knew that there had been a bullet fired.
They can guess just by looking at the wound on the little beggar that it's something related to them; they don't know exactly what happened, but they can guess one of the two soldiers who was standing right in front of the leader is responsible for the injuries.
At least half of them don't feel anything, as according to the law if their age is above 14, they must have done something to get into the condition they are now, as most of them had developed a natural superiority towards the citizens of the Tier 3 cities.
But even most of them felt that they felt the wound was too much for the kids their age, they should be punished a little less, but it should be solid punishment but not involving so much blood.
In conclusion, they think they should give them treatment and let them go, as for punishing the soldier who is responsible for the beggar condition, they didn't think it should be given as it's not illegal and it's not a life-threatening wound, so soldiers from upper cities should not be punished because of some beggar boys.
The other half have different thoughts. They don't believe a soldier from their team could do something so horrible to a child. Even if it's an accident, they believe there should be reprimands. The little beggar boys deserve compensation, especially if they were trying to steal food due to hunger.
While there are some rare ones who don't care whatever happens, they would follow the leader's commands without any complaint and would stand by their position without thinking anything in their mind.
Currently, 28 soldiers are standing behind May and two in front of her, and right next to her were twin sisters Ava and Isla hugging each other; they felt very initiated by the so many soldiers being so close to them.
May notice the beggar's boy's sister's face while everything was happening. As Isla was conscious and hearing all the commotion, she took her face away from her sister's chest and stood there while being supported.
She hadn't heard everything up until now clearly however she heard almost everything, she is not clueless about what's happening and stands there quietly supported by Ava.
May seeing the beggar sister's face thought to herself. 'I think I have guessed wrong; these two are twin sisters hiding their identities, trying to look like boys.'
She praised them in her heart as it was the right decision for girls their age to disguise themselves in this lawless city, especially when these two were from slums.
Now she focused her attention on Mark, who was about to explain everything that happened until now, as she said in a chilling voice.
"Continue with the explanation and don't try to hide anything from me otherwise you will regret it."
While saying this, she looked toward the rude soldier who was standing with a nonchalant expression on his face, as she could tell just by the look the little beggar was giving him that he played a big role in the beggar's sister's condition.
If it turned out to be an accident, she would punish him a little for not being careful, and if she found out it had been intentional, she couldn't decide what to do with him without finding it how it happened and what extent of punishment she should give him.
But before that, she ordered a female soldier to give treatment to the injured little beggar.