CHAPTER 198: FOLLOWER

The young girl glanced at the clean bowl in her hand with hesitation.

She pursed her lips and wanted to drink it immediately.

However, she recalled how those who used the clean bowl were forever banned from receiving any more porridge.

"Drink it with ease." Leonard calmly said.

"I’m the one who took the clean bowl, so you won’t be affected. Is that right?" He turned to the person in charge and inquired.

The person in charge remained silent, but ultimately nodded their head. They didn’t know why they felt a sense of inferiority toward a mere slum man.

"See, there’s no objection." Leonard urged the young girl to drink.

"Thank you, big brother." The young girl smiled lightly and hurriedly drank the porridge.

Looking at her hungry state, Leonard was filled with a mix of emotions. But pity wasn’t one of them. Pitying the young girl was essentially looking down on her.

Moreover, he had his reason to treat the young girl with courtesy.

He could sense a dense amount of mana that was dormant in the young girl.

In other words, she was a Mage with high potential.

Unfortunately, given her circumstances and lack of resources, she was unable to tap into her potential.

Since he came to the slum to recruit his own set of force, this young girl could be of use.

Some might call him immoral or even straight-up vile to target a young girl, but being taken under his wing by him was still better than leaving her alone to fend for herself in the slum.

’Those scars and bruises are really unsettling.’ Leonard’s eyes narrowed. The young girl was dressed in tattered and loose clothes. Her arms and legs were also bruised with a dark blue color.

To sustain such injuries yet still remain agile and lively meant her recovery was something else.

Nevertheless, what truly caught his attention was her reaction speed.

Although the guard spilled some of the porridge, she was able to react in time and catch it with her own bowl.

Alas, it was just a pity that she was quite uneducated—or naive, to be more specific.

Her bowl had parasites on it, but she remained oblivious or unbothered.

Maybe because of the environment that she was living in at such a young age, which made her believe it was a common and normal thing.

"Do you want another round?" Leonard asked when he saw the young girl still licking her bowl clean despite having no more porridge inside.

The young girl looked at him with a hesitant expression. She wanted to nod but then shook her head. This particular action was repeated over and over again.

"Scoop up another bowl." Leonard turned to the person in charge and said.

The person in charge was about to reject his request until Leonard discreetly flashed his Crown Prince token.

As soon as the token was viewed only from their perspective, their expression changed slightly.

’No wonder I felt threatened.’ The person in charge finally realized why they had a sense of dread.

As they glanced at Leonard’s appearance and attire more closely, they held the suspicion that he was traveling incognito to check over them.

Sometime later, Leonard grabbed the clean bowl from the young girl and handed it over to the person in charge.

In response, the person in charge scooped another round of porridge and filled the clean bowl to the brim.

The young girl’s mouth began drooling at the glistening white porridge that was piping hot with white smoke.

Just when everyone thought Leonard would hand over the clean bowl to her, his action suddenly caught them by surprise.

"Want this porridge? You must follow me and become my follower from now on."

THUD!

Almost everyone in the crowd was shocked speechless by his words.

As for the young girl, she tilted her head slightly.

"What does being your follower mean?" She asked curiously, her eyes staring deeply at the clean bowl.

"Does it mean I get to keep eating the porridge if I agree?"

"Not just porridge, but even more delicious food in the future if you become my follower."

"I agree!" The young girl swiftly said and snatched the clean bowl from Leonard’s hand. She then began drinking the porridge greedily.

Meanwhile, Leonard glanced at his empty hand that was originally holding the bowl.

’What a fast speed.’ He was a bit alarmed by the young girl’s agility. To think she was able to snatch the bowl so cleanly away from his hand without him noticing was a feat in its own.

"Young man, do you even have any shame?"

"The porridge is free, and you use that to swindle a little girl. Do you have any ethics?"

"How can he get another second filling? Isn’t this against the rule?"

In the blink of an eye, the crowd became agitated and complained. At first, it appeared that they were seeking justice and morality for the young girl being scammed. But in the second half, they exposed their actual intention.

Rather than being agitated at Leonard’s action in swindling a young girl to become his follower, what they cared more about was that he got a second scoop on behalf of the young girl.

This was the reality for those living in the slum.

The majority of them couldn’t care less about morals or criminal activities.

They simply cared about their own interests.

Even the original kind elderly woman who gave a bowl to Leonard turned a blind eye to the situation.

"Young man, do you think my kids can also get a second scooping?" The elderly woman approached Leonard and asked. She had witnessed how the person in charge seemed afraid of him, which made her think he held a special identity.

Leonard smiled slightly in response. Truth be told, he wasn’t surprised by the elderly woman’s motive. The young girl had no relationship with her, but the three kids following her definitely did.

"No problem," he agreed to her request. He considered this a repayment to her earlier kindness and to end this karmic tie.