While Butler Song was concerned for the little chick-like girl, Ling Yu was focused on the girl before her with an astonished look.
The teenager was clutching Butler Song's trouser leg like it was her last anchor to this world. Thin arms, knobby knees, her hair tangled like ivy. Her school uniform was wrinkled and three sizes too big, probably borrowed from a cousin who didn't want it back. Her voice was hoarse from use, desperation scraped raw at the edges.
"I can do it!" she said, voice cracking. "Just pick me, please. I'll protect the investor with my life! I won't get in the way of whatever the Mister wants, I promise!"
Song, composed as ever, made no move to shake her off. He simply stared down at her, lips pressed into a thin, polite line.
"I've already explained," he said calmly. "My Master does not accept underage applicants without proper procedures. Also, you aren't qualified to protect someone."
"But I'm almost seventeen!" the girl blurted. "Just—please—I'll prove it—!"
Ling Yu's steps came to a halt. Her gaze locked on the girl, scanning from scuffed shoes to scraped elbows.
Something buzzed at the back of her mind. A name. A face. A future washed in blood and ice.
Isn't that the prodigal Awakener of the century, Ye Qingxue?
In her last life, Ye Qingxue had awakened late, but when she did, her power had torn through enemies like winter through dying fields. Ice storms wrapped around her fingers. She leveled up and killed many S-Class beasts by herself, even swiping clean S-class dungeons all by herself.
A true example of a One-man army. A progidy.
Later, she also became the second-highest-ranked guildmaster in the Federation.
At sixteen, though, she was just... this.
A discarded girl with wild eyes and a voice too loud for the room.
How absurd, Ling Yu thought.
How tragic.
She moved forward without hesitation.
Butler Song turned to her the moment she came within earshot. "Miss Ling, I'm sorry for being late. I didn't think it would take this much time."
"Back Off, Song." She said simply.
He obeyed.
Ling Yu stepped in front of Ye Qingxue and crouched, folding herself neatly so they were eye-level. The girl stared at her, confused. Maybe she expected to be slapped or mocked.
Instead, Ling Yu studied her.
The cracked lips. The swelling around her knuckles. The smell of stale ramen noodles on her breath.
This girl had slept in bus stations.
This girl had crawled here on scraped knees.
This girl would one day slaughter monsters in the thousands.
Ling Yu tilted her head. "Why him?" she asked.
Ye Qingxue blinked. "What?"
"Why cling to his leg like he owes you something?"
"I— I don't know!" The girl flushed red. "He looked like someone important. I thought... maybe if I held on, someone would listen."
Ling Yu's lips curled slightly.
Not unkind. But not soft, either.
"Then, where do you study?"
"I-It's...! I study at Nanjing First High School! But I'm a Senior there, and I'll graduate this year!" Ye Qingxue panicked as she stared at Ling Yu with scared eyes.
For an agent who'll protect Ling Yu, she is considered to be someone without experience, right? And since she was still underage, what if the client backs down?
But Ling Yu's eyes were too calm and perceptive for someone who would kick her off just because of her young age. Ling Yu reached forward, gently pried Ye Qingxue's fingers off Song's leg, and helped the girl stand.
"You want someone to listen?" she said, voice low but clear.
Ye Qingxue nodded, flinching.
"Then don't scream. Speak with your actions." She turned to leave.
Ye Qingxue stared, confused. "Wait, that's it?"
Ling Yu glanced over her shoulder, eyes gleaming under the fluorescent lights.
"I'm going to build something. I need people who are willing to follow without needing to be begged."
A pause.
"Follow me, and I'll give you that chance."
Ye Qingxue's breath hitched.
"But what do you want from me?"
Ling Yu turned fully. Her face was young— too young to be saying what she said next.
"Loyalty. Effort. Growth."
"And when the world starts to burn, I want you to stand at my side and not ask why."
"But for now, just grow safely and steadily by my side. Didn't you say you needed a job? Isn't that why you were clinging to him so desperately?" Ling Yu smirked with an alluring charm that caught Ye Qingxue off guard.
"Y-yes?"
"So be it. From today on, you'll become my bodyguard for 24/7. Understood?"
Ye Qingxue didn't understand.
How could she?
But she nodded anyway. "Okay. I'll follow you."
Ling Yu smiled— just a sliver of satisfaction.
"Good."
"Song, can I ask you to handle the paperwork for me?" Ling Yu turned towards Butler Song as she said.
"Of course, master. However, there is a problem. Because this girl didn't sign under a guardian, currently, she doesn't have a protector who'll sign the papers of agreement on her behalf." Butler Song was composed as ever. Ling Yu was intrigued that he didn't even ask her why she would want to take in such an immature and incapable brat as her bodyguard, nor did he show any hint of curiosity as to what Ling Yu was thinking.
Truly dedicated, ah!
"What do you say?" Ling Yu turned towards the person in question as she lifted up her lips in a smirk.
"W-well, there is no guardian. I-I'm an orphan! Yes! That's it!" Even though Ye Qingxue seemed anxious and on guard, she still yelled at the top of her lungs without hesitation.
Indeed, she was an orphan with no parents. However, even if she was one, as a returnee, Ling Yu did know this much that she indeed had a legal guardianship, unlike Ling Yu, who was independent after getting out of the Royal family.
But the guardian Ye Qingxue had... was far from being a responsible one.