19. The Beggar Siblings - Settling Down
Leo thoroughly searched around the market.
‘It shouldn’t be too far away.’
He was looking for Cassia in the maze of alleys.
She was the person who had shown them kindness without asking for anything in return in the previous scenario. Even after seeing Lena's appearance, she hadn't reacted significantly.
When his sister was sick, she had taken them to a certain shoemaker’s shop.
He didn’t know the exact location because he had fainted while being moved.
That night, he had looked around while bidding farewell to Cassia. It was a place with a pungent sll of oil and leather, and scraps of tal were scattered around. It seed to be a place where small craftsn gathered.
It was a secluded alley, so he had to search carefully. Fortunately, Lena followed him without complaint, but it wasn’t easy to find.
“Hey, what are you two doing, wandering around alone?”
The beggars they had seen earlier in the alley had followed Leo and Lena.
Lena hid behind Leo, frightened.
“What do you want?”
Leo had deliberately entered a narrow alley, knowing the beggars were following them. He intended to shake them off.
Five beggars stood before him.
“We see you at the market every day, don’t we? Isn’t that a bit much? We don’t know where you sleep, but if you keep coming early and taking all the food, what are we supposed to eat? We share everything among ourselves.”
An older beggar spoke.
His shoulder was oddly twisted, probably because a broken bone had been left untreated.
A younger beggar chid in.
“Yeah, you co early and take all the good stuff, huh? What are we supposed to eat then?”
He looked about Leo’s age, similarly thin and short.
“Did we harm you? We only took what we found, and we left when you arrived.”
“Listen to him talk back. You hide near the market so you can co early and take everything. Do you think we sleep in? I ought to...”
The young beggar raised his voice, but the older one gestured to calm him down. His gestures had an oddly refined touch despite the situation.
“Don’t get too angry.”
“But they’re breaking the rules.”
“What rules?”
“Hey, do you think we can’t survive like you, hiding near the market? We’ve always stayed where beggars are allowed. If we all lived in the market, we’d get beaten and driven out, right? Isn’t that true? They’re just trying to survive on their own, these brats.”
“Calm down. They seem new around here; they might not know better. Don’t scare them.”
The twisted-arm beggar, acting as the leader, stepped forward.
“But as he said, to survive, you need to consider others. It’d be better to stay together than wandering alone. What do you say?”
He leaned in nacingly.
He was speaking nicely now, but it was clear he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Leo, uninterested in beggars' internal politics, declined flatly.
“Sorry, but we don’t want that. We’re leaving now.”
“Leaving? Where to?”
“We were looking for soone. Do you know a place like this?”
Leo described the place where Cassia’s shoemaker shop was located, and a beggar from behind spoke up.
“Isn’t that where Old Man Obert is? Sounds like the leather district.”
“Where is that?”
“If you go straight down the next main street until you see the south gate, turn right into the alley. There’s a place where the sll of oil and leather mixes. I think that’s the only place like that. Other places are too busy.”
“Thanks. We’ll be going now.”
“If you lied and we see you again, you’ll be sorry. I swear...”
The young beggar glared, but Leo scoffed. Even in his current state, he could take down a few beggars.
“That won’t happen.”
He could have taught them a lesson, but he let it slide.
What’s the point of beating up beggars? It might even give him an achievent like [Defeated Ten Beggars].
He was a bit curious but didn’t want to test it in front of Lena. It seed pitiful to fight over sothing so trivial...
Leo left the whispering beggars behind.
*
The place the beggar ntioned was correct. It was indeed a street of small craftsn.
The craftsn were busy tinkering in their modest shops. Cassia's shoemaker shop was in an alley off that narrow street.
Peeking in, Cassia was sitting at a table, lazily watching the shop.
What an unusual person.
She was an attractively young woman. Of course, young by modern standards—she was in her mid-twenties, with droopy eyes, sleek straight hair, thin eyebrows, and alluring lips.
‘Why is she like that? Not making or selling shoes.’
It was a shop tucked away in a remote corner.
The neatly displayed shoes were covered in dust, and it seed like she had never had a custor.
Then, Cassia waved at Lena and Leo.
“Co in. Don’t loiter out front.”
“Excuse us.”
Lena and Leo, wearing mismatched shoes, stepped into the shop. Cassia glanced at the siblings indifferently and spoke.
“No need to excuse yourself for entering the shop. Here to buy sothing? From the look of you, it seems like you need shoes but don’t have money?”
Her tone was flat, with almost no inflection.
“Sorry, but I’m not interested in giving charity.”
“Could we stay here for a few days? We can pay you.”
Leo took out all his remaining {Starting Funds}.
The silver coins clinked as they hit the table, but Cassia didn’t lose her indifferent expression.
“Don’t know where you stole it from, but I don’t need it.”
Without even lifting her chin, she stacked the coins with one hand, forming a tower, and said,
“Not interested in looking after kids, either.”
Leo was a bit flustered.
“Um, then... Could we at least borrow so water to wash her face?”
“Is she your sister? She’s got stuff all over her face. Water’s here, along with a towel. I’ll take one copper coin. Use it properly.”
Cassia pointed to a water container beside her. It was in the sa place as before.
Leo washed his sister's face, revealing her beautiful, clean complexion.
Water dripped on the floor and splashed on their shoes, but Cassia didn’t care, staring at Lena blankly.
Leo pleaded again.
“Could we stay here? She’s my sister, and she looks like this...”
Cassia finally lifted her chin.
“Hmmm~ A pretty little lady. Can she talk?”
“...Yes.”
“Quiet, isn’t she? Pretty and well-behaved.”
She propped her chin back on her hand, tilting her head to look at Leo.
“So you want to leave her here because it’s hard to take care of her, huh?”
Lena turned her head sharply towards Leo, a look of shock on her face, afraid that he might abandon her. Leo shook his head firmly.
“No! It's dangerous to wander around without a place to stay. We want to stay here. Lena, I'm not leaving you behind. I need a place to work and a place to wash.”
He hugged the tearful Lena tightly, pleading with Cassia.
“I just need a place to sleep and wash. Please let Lena stay here.”
“Why should I?”
“...Please help us. I’m begging you.”
“Help, huh? Help...”
Cassia twirled her finger around her hair, thinking.
“Fine. There's an empty bed in the back anyway.”
“Thank you! We won’t forget your kindness.”
“But I’m taking this. And occasionally, I’ll ask for another one. Make sure to have it ready.”
She picked up one of the silver coins and dropped it into a jar beside her, then got up.
“You can eat whatever I leave in that corner. Water is delivered by cart in the morning, so don’t worry about that... What else? Oh, you can use the bed inside. I always sleep here.”
Behind the counter was a small makeshift bed, where Leo had woken up before. It was clear that this shop rarely had custors, given the state of disarray.
Cassia briefly introduced the place before returning to her seat behind the counter. Despite having new housemates, her deanor didn’t change.
“Cass... no, excuse . What should we call you?”
“What?”
“Your na.”
“Call Cassia. That’s my na.”
“Cassia, thank you.”
Cassia grimaced at the formal tone. It was the first ti Leo saw her make such a face.
“Just call Cassia.”
“Okay, Cassia, thank you.”
“Sure.”
“I’m Leo, and this is my sister, Lena.”
“Got it.”
“.....”
She really is a strange person.
Cassia propped her chin on her hand and stared blankly outside again.
The front of the shop faced a wall, so there wasn’t much to see.
*
“Lena, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Leo brought the water container into the room.
When he turned around, Lena had already stripped off her clothes.
Even though she was malnourished, her developnt was... No! Why did she just take off her clothes in front of ?
“Lena! You can’t just take off your clothes like that!”
Leo turned away, flustered.
“Why? Oh!”
His sister neatly folded the clothes she had tossed aside and placed them back on the floor.
“No, that’s not it...”
“What?”
“...I’ll wait outside. You clean up.”
“???”
He quickly closed the door behind him.
They must have been living together for a long ti, likely washing together in their beggar state without much privacy.
‘I need to teach her quickly, but do teachers even cover such things?’
Lena seed to need a parental figure more than a teacher.
Leo glanced at Cassia, but... she didn’t seem reliable either, given her unusual deanor.
“Brother, I’m done washing.”
When Leo went back in, Lena was just picking up her clothes from the floor. Embarrassed, he covered his eyes with the door.
“Lena.”
“Yes. You wash too.”
“That's not it. From now on, you shouldn’t take off your clothes in front of .”
“Why?”
“It's embarrassing to show your naked body to others.”
“Are you ‘others,’ Brother?”
“No. But there’s no need to show it. Now that we have a room, only undress when no one else is around. Got it?”
“Okay.”
“...I need to wash now, so could you step outside for a mont?”
“...Alright.”
Lena pouted but went out.
It was hard to gauge how long they had lived together.
When Leo asked Lena her age, she said she would be of age in two years. Surprisingly, she was only a year younger than the Lena from the childhood friend scenario. He realized anew the importance of environnt.
Leo washed and went outside.
Leaving his sister with Cassia, he spent half the day wandering the streets but couldn’t find a job.
This Leo looked similar to the other Leos (Leo from Demos Village, Leo Dexter), but he was much more handso.
Was it the influence of his bloodline?
His nose was prominent, and his features were bold. Thick eyebrows and lush hair gave him a rugged look, but his slender jawline and deep dimples when he smiled left a gentle impression.
Despite his appealing appearance, this Leo had no muscles and no skills.
Thanks to his good looks, he could easily find jobs like soliciting custors or serving, but those jobs didn’t pay well.
He tried negotiating for wages, but the rchants thought feeding and housing him was enough. Here, a man’s looks didn’t translate into money.
To educate Lena, he needed a lot of money to hire a tutor.
Although he had decided to be content with seeing a happy ending in this scenario, he didn’t want to waste years keeping his sister cooped up in a shoemaker’s shop.
Once she had basic manners, he planned to introduce her to a kind, wealthy man or a noble’s son.
That didn’t seem too difficult.
eting a prince was hard and marrying one almost impossible, but... with Lena’s looks, she could easily attract a nobleman at first sight.
Leo felt relieved.
All he needed to do was earn money.
No need for elaborate plans.
Lowering his goals made life seem much easier.
‘But how will I make money?’
That was the problem.
Apart from his good looks, this body had no skills.
In the previous childhood friend scenario, he had quickly found a job at a tool shop due to his hand skills.
He tried asking the craftsn here for work, but they turned him away after seeing his clumsy attempts.
He was hopeless with his hands.
Without muscles, he couldn’t even do manual labor for now.
The only skills he could use were {Hunting} and {Swordsmanship}, but there were no mountains near Orville, rendering {Hunting} useless.
‘And becoming a rcenary isn’t an option.’
Even with his boyish fra, he could use {Swordsmanship} to beco a rcenary. The test to beco a rcenary involved one-on-one combat, and he was confident in that.
No matter how weak he was, {Swordsmanship} would let him find an opening. A well-placed stab with a sword could kill anyone.
But rcenaries often had to travel far for escort missions, which he couldn’t do.
He couldn’t leave Lena alone. So rcenary jobs involved guarding large estates, but those required a solid reputation.
Leo, with no connections, couldn’t do that.
‘Is that the only option left? It’s a bit...’
In the end, he was left with only one option.
Reviews
All reviews (0)