CHAPTER 667: NOIR (1)

The little boy was eventually taken to the local police station by a kind passerby, where he was listed as a missing person. But the main problem was— he truly did not have the slightest idea about himself, making it difficult for the officers to record his data.

"Err... you really don’t remember your name? How about where you come from, and what your parents look like?" the officer asked, scratching his head with a troubled look.

Blankly, the little boy shook his head.

"Okay, how about this? What’s the last thing you remember? Who did you come here with?"

Again, the boy shook his little head left and right. He truly remembered nothing. His mind was akin to a pure white canvas, devoid of even the faintest color. He did not know where he came from, nor what he was doing alone at that place.

The local police station fell into silence, with the officers exchanging hesitant glances with each other. Although they spoke in hushed voices, for some reason, the little boy could hear them loud and clear,

"What should we do now?"

"Do you think there’s something not right with him... here?" The officer pointed at his own temple, apprehensive. "He hasn’t even spoken a word all this time."

"Judging from his height and build, he should be around six or seven years old. It’s really strange that he can remember nothing. Has he gotten into some kind of an accident or... gasp, do you think he’s the victim of human trafficking?! Look at his hair and eyes—he must be a foreigner!"

The officer discussed heatedly amongst themselves to no avail, while the little boy sat obediently on the other side, doing nothing but stare at the floor with a blank look on his face. With his soft brown curls, round emerald eyes and exquisite features, he looked just like a lovely little doll, melting all the female officers’ hearts and making them feel distressed.

Who the hell had abandoned such a cute boy? How could they have the heart to—?!

"Are you thirsty?"

The little boy raised his gaze to find a female officer crouching in front of him, smiling softly and gently, "You’ve been here for quite some time. Do you want to drink water?"

Thirsty...

The little boy thought for a while before nodding in a hesitant manner. He... He should be?

When the female officer handed him a paper cup, he clumsily held it in his small hands and clumsily brought it to his mouth, which resulted in the water splashing all over the front of his shirt.

"Aiyah!" The female officer exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly supported the boy’s wobbly hands. "It’s okay, drink carefully. No one’s going to take it from you..."

With the officer’s help, he finally managed to take a few tentative sips, the plain water sliding down his throat. It was such a cool and refreshing sensation that the boy’s eyes lit up at once. After he finished it, he handed the plastic cup back with clear anticipation in his eyes.

The female officer blinked. "You... want more?"

The little boy nodded firmly, "En!"

Officer: "...!" Such a cute child! He’s a little angel!

"Drink, drink! Drink however much you want!"

The little boy ended up drinking four full cups of water before releasing a satisfied sigh, while the young female officer watched over him from the side with loving eyes like an old mother.

Alas, the consequences of his greed soon arrived and the little boy fidgeted nervously in his seat, pressing his short legs together.

Looking at his demeanor, the female officer guessed accurately, "Do you want to go to the toilet?" she asked with smiling eyes.

The little boy had no idea what the ’toilet’ was, but he instinctively knew it was what he needed right now, so he gave a small nod.

He was then led to the toilet by another male officer, but not even one minute later, a sharp cry sounded, "AH!"

The officers outside froze for a second before they rushed toward the toilet at once, scrambling to ask, "What’s wrong? Did something happen?!" But they only saw the little boy with his usual blank face and half of his pants down, while the excited male officer held something in his hand.

"Look, this fell out of his pocket!"

On the officer’s palm lay a small piece of rough, unpolished bark that looked like it had been cut straight from a tree. But it’s not the item that excited the officer so—it’s the tiny characters scrawled neatly on the surface, just like a crude form of identification.

"No... ir...?" the officers’ eyes widened in realization as they shifted their attention to the little boy. "Noir... Noir, is that your name?!"

Confused, the boy echoed, "My... name...?" his voice was soft and milky, with a stiff pronunciation as if his tongue had not gotten used to the language.

The surrounding officers were both shocked and elated hearing that:

"You can speak!"

The situation finally turned for the better. At least now, they found out that the little boy was not mute, and that his name was Noir. However, that’s as far as they could discover. They still had no idea who this boy was and where he had come from. Even checking the surveillance footage along the streets bore no results, it’s almost like the emerald-eyed boy had magically appeared out of thin air.

With no other options, the boy could only be sent to the orphanage as the police continued sending out the missing child posters.

But day after day passed, and still, no one came to claim him.

And so, the boy—Noir—could only settle in the orphanage, becoming a new member of the large family.

His new life in this world began.

***

Little Noir was a peculiar boy, to say the least.

He learned speaking much slower than his peers and his basic knowledge was quite literally blank, leading to his withdrawn and taciturn temperament. What others took as common sense was a foreign concept for him. He needed a lot of navigation and assistance before he managed to settle in his new living place.

Luckily, the kind orphanage director was there to help and accompany him every step of the way.

Unluckily, no one wanted to hang out with Noir, whom they dubbed as a weird kid.

Noir was isolated from the other children, but strange as he was, he did not take it into heart. On the contrary, he very much enjoyed the solitude and abhorred the noises, leaving the director both worried and helpless.