The Stupid Cannon Fodder is Stunning Today

Chapter 10: Pluto Stella

This chapter is brought to you by Privately Owned Spiral Galaxy by Lovejoy. 

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The boy had no name. 

His mother called him Brightstar, but that wasn't really a name. An endearment, perhaps, but not a name to be written out and placed in any records. 

The merchant's caravan came to a slow and he laid low as it entered the city gate. 

He had finally made it. The hidden city of Vesna. He was sure his father would be here, just as his mother promised. 

"Where is he?!"

It didn't take long before the boy was running. 

Running for his life, that was. 

The hidden city of Vesna was not only home to the Imperial Family's dogs but also one of the largest black markets in the Empire. 

The boy underestimated the dangers of this city. 

They were gaining on him, the merchants--who turned out to be mercenaries--with their daggers drawn and out for his blood. 

So perhaps secretly throwing out cargo to make space for himself in the cargo might have pissed some people off. 

How was he supposed to know the things he threw out were precious ores for their weapons?

Why did they have to put it all the way in the back of the caravan if it was so important?

Honestly, they should have planned it better. For mercenaries contracted under the Imperial Family, they sure were incompetent. Didn't they have contingency plans set in place in case street rats snuck into their caravans?

Really, the boy wasn't impressed. 

Not that he had any grounds to judge them. At some point, he found himself staring at a dead end. There was a tall wall covered in ivy leading up to... a window?

The footsteps of the mercenaries were getting closer. 

The boy gritted his teeth and pulled on the vines. 

He started to climb. 

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Nine was lying on the rooftop that bridged the space between Jovette's nursery and The Sun Room, alert but relaxed as he soaked up the midday sun. 

The rooftop was a long stretch of stone and tiles, and he was pretty sure the midpoint between it was the Master Wing of the Claypto Estate, but this allowed him to keep watch over his cousin and his kittens in equal measures. 

His Lady Aunt did not appreciate Jovette's ventures into the Sun Room. With so many kids sleeping in one place, she was concerned they would accidentally crush her if they rolled the wrong way. 

It was a reasonable concern, though Nine would have never allowed that to happen. 

But he smartly shut his mouth and nodded his head like the obedient child he pretended when facing her. 

In the meantime, he slowly left the room, leaving his cowarding-against-the-wall Lord Uncle to her tender mercies. 

The sound of a squirmish reached his ears. 

Nine opened his eyes and sat up, looking over the side of the roof to see what was happening. 

Calypto mercenaries prowled the area with their hackles raised and their daggers drawn. 

Then he heard a slide of windows and a click from Jovette's nursery.

Nine narrowed his eyes. 

He stood up and put on his coat before leaping onto Jovette's balcony.