As before, Minseo's consciousness receded, and the weary Leo's mind took its place.
The stench of waste assaulted his nose. The damp alley floor, littered with trash, licked at Leo's backside.
"Brother... I'm hungry..."
"What? Le...na?"
Lena, sitting with her back against the wall, looked up at him, seemingly indifferent to the filthy ground. Her golden eyes and delicate features were noticeable, but her appearance was pitiful.
Her face and hair were sared with gri, her ears crusted with dirt. The area around her upper lip was white from wiping her runny nose with nothing available. Her mouth was sared with sothing—who knows what she had scavenged to eat.
Leo wanted to clean her face, but he had no sleeves on his tattered clothes.
Looking at his own clothes, he realized Lena's face was cleaner in comparison. He was wearing filthy rags that seed likely to cause a rash on his skin.
Lena was also clad in a dirty, single-piece dress, looking more like a ragged cloth draped over her body, with her bare skin showing through the holes.
He had no choice but to rub his pitch-black hands hard to remove so dirt, and then he wiped a few spots off Lena's face.
It didn't make much difference, but it was a matter of the heart.
This Leo couldn't understand why he had left his sister's face in such a state. Looking around, it seed it had rained recently, making the ground wet. Showering... no, even that was a luxurious thought. Getting soaked in the rain could lead to catching a cold and dying.
"Brother. I'm thirsty too..."
Lena whimpered in a parched voice and closed her eyes wearily.
Leo understood her.
He, too, felt like his eyeballs were about to turn inside out from hunger. His skeletal stomach warned him that he would die if he didn't eat sothing soon.
Now that he looked, his body was in terrible shape too. His limbs were devoid of any flesh, his finger joints sticking out prominently. It was a wonder his twig-like fingers could even move.
Having been in the strong body of Leo Dexter, this was hard to adjust to. Compared to the Leo he had been in Demos Village and Avril Castle, this one was the shortest, likely due to malnutrition.
He grabbed his trembling legs and stood up.
Staying like this ant death.
He rembered seeing a market nearby in the intro video. He recalled the direction and had to find food there sohow.
He stroked his sister's head, who was trying hard to endure the hunger with her lips tightly shut.
"Lena, can you wait here for a mont? I'll bring sothing to eat."
Instinctively, Leo knew he was Lena's older brother.
His sister nodded silently.
As he left the short alley, his body wobbled, so he used the wall for support. He now understood why beggars stayed close to walls.
Hunger made his vision flicker black.
Instinct drove him to scan the ground and trash cans for anything edible. He even considered scooping up dirt to eat if necessary.
Recalling the intro video, he turned left and right at the alleys, and a bustling market unfolded before his eyes.
A fragrant sll.
'Food!'
The food laid out on the stalls beckoned him. Unconsciously, he walked towards the roasted chicken, his hand reaching out.
But all the rchants had noticed Leo's arrival.
'Why did he co here? What a nuisance.'
The chicken shop owner frowned.
Beggars often pretended to walk weakly only to suddenly snatch sothing and run off.
It was best to preemptively block them.
The shop owner stood up abruptly.
He grabbed a club used to tenderize the chicken and blocked the approaching beggar boy.
"Hey. Leave while I'm being nice."
Leo looked up at the man blocking the chicken. The man was tapping his thigh nacingly with the club. One hit from that club, and Leo wouldn't get up again.
Terrified, Leo licked his dry lips with his dry tongue and begged for rcy.
"S-Sorry. I wasn't trying to steal."
"I said go away."
The cold dismissal froze Leo in place.
Leo glanced around.
All the nearby rchants were watching the situation intently. If he retreated now, they would all chase him away the sa way.
He gritted his teeth and pleaded.
"Um... could you spare anything? I'll repay you."
"Ah! I don't need any repaynt, just go away. Do you want a beating?"
The shop owner even made a motion of raising the club, but the beggar didn't back down.
If I retreat, we both die!
Desperation drove Leo forward. He looked the shop owner in the eyes and pleaded earnestly.
"Even chicken heads or feet... anything you cut off and discard would be fine. Please."
Chicken was considered a primary processed at, usually sold after removing the innards and feathers, without being divided into parts, and it was rare to cut off heads and feet in this era.
Leo knew this well. Chicken shops would have piles of heads and feet.
The shop owner scratched his head, looking troubled.
There were occasionally such audacious beggars. They were the most troubleso type. Often, young beggar children who had not yet resorted to mischief behaved this way. Beggars who had done wrong before would shy away from rchants out of guilt.
"Hey, if I give you that, the other rchants will curse at . Understand? They say I'm encouraging beggars like you."
"I know I'm being unreasonable. I'm really sorry, but I feel like I'm going to die. My little sister is over there too. I will never forget your kindness. Please, I'm begging you."
The rchant was troubled.
If the beggar started crying and pleading on his knees, it would likely create a situation where he could drag him away as the atmosphere intensified. If a commotion ensued, it was okay for a rchant to handle a beggar a bit harshly. Dealing with the noisy situation quickly ant fewer complaints.
Then,
"I'm sorry, but I'm not doing this for free... It pains too, but I have no choice."
If a compassionate custor ca to help the beggar, the rchant would wear a sheepish expression. This was the typical scenario.
But this kid stood still, only speaking clearly without moving an inChapter Forcing out a child who was just standing and talking made the rchant look bad. This could affect his business.
The rchant discreetly checked the reactions of the onlookers.
Passersby had gathered to watch the situation. He hoped soone would step forward to buy sothing for the beggar, but no one did.
'Damn, I stepped in it.'
"Wait here. Don't touch anything..."
The rchant grumbled as he went inside.
Soon, he returned with a basket filled with chicken offal. He looked at the beggar with a scowl.
'Ah, wait. This kid doesn't even have anything to carry it in. I have to give him the basket. What a ss.'
Leo accepted the basket and bowed his head in thanks to the rchant, who glared down at him. He had to leave quickly before he collapsed.
Behind him, so other rchants seed to be talking to the chicken shop owner, but it was no longer his concern.
Leo staggered back to Lena. When she saw what he was carrying, her face brightened.
The siblings devoured the chicken heads and feet in the filthy alley. They chewed on everything, including the eyeballs and the chicken combs, leaving nothing behind.
It was better than the rotting food in the trash. Though it was raw at from unsavory parts, it was at least freshly butchered.
With their stomachs full, the next problem was water. In the city, clean water was not sothing readily available, like the chicken offal.
Cities usually had rivers or streams nearby, but in the worst-case scenario, there might only be wells. Beggars couldn't access wells, making it hard to survive in such cities.
However, the city in the intro video was quite large. With such a scale, there must be a source of water nearby, and they needed to find a place that supplied it.
"Lena, do you know where we can find water?"
His sister shook her head.
Her eyes showed confusion, as if asking why he was asking her.
The little food they had only made their thirst worse.
Lena must be thirsty too.
Puddles of water were visible on the ground, but the dirty water was undrinkable.
Leo had no choice but to lick the building's exterior. Drinking the rainwater running down the walls, Lena followed him but soon looked at him with a face that questioned what he was doing.
The sight made him wonder.
'Has she never drunk water this way before? She must have found water sowhere, but why doesn't she know?'
This was a common difficulty at the start of every scenario.
Leo had no past mories.
Asking his sister was equally challenging.
'What is this?'
With their thirst partially quenched, Leo noticed a necklace hanging from his neck.
It was a white tal pendant with so symbols engraved on it, and Lena wore the sa one. It felt significant, but there was nothing he could do with it now.
He decided to focus on what he could do imdiately.
Leo led his sister, searching every trash can they ca across.
Sotis, they found food that looked mostly spoiled, but if there was a part that seed okay, he would carefully scrape it with his fingers and put it in his mouth. If he found sothing truly edible, he gave it to Lena. They also managed to find a few scraps of cloth.
"Brother, my legs hurt... Let's go ho now."
His sister, now exhausted, tugged at his clothes.
The sun was already setting.
Leo, though he agreed, couldn't lead the way because he didn't know where their ho was. Lena rubbed her tired eyes and insisted.
"Are we not going? It's getting dark..."
"Yes, we should. But I've lost my way. Where are we?"
"Hehe. Brother's not good at sothing. I'll show you."
Lena, happy to be of help, giggled and guided him. Their ho wasn't far from where they had started.
Behind a building, what seed to be the siblings' ho ca into view.
The building had a small protruding arch as a decorative touChapter The siblings' ho was made by leaning wooden planks against the arch and covering it haphazardly with pieces of cloth.
Around it, there were various items that looked like household goods, and a small cup left outside had collected rainwater.
'Why are we living like this?'
This place was next to a perfectly livable building, but building a ho against it was dangerous.
If the building's owner found out, they would surely destroy the makeshift house and beat them.
And it was strange for the siblings to be living alone.
In a city this large, there should be enough beggars to form a community and find so shelter. Living in groups reduced the risk of being beaten by residents and allowed them to scavenge together.
Living in a beggar's community would be much better, but these two weren't doing that.
'Have they only recently beco beggars?'
Questions arose, but Leo followed Lena into the small shelter.
The space was too small to lie down properly. They had to sleep curled up, hugging each other.
Before sleeping, he decided to clean his sister a bit. Seeing her so dirty had been painful.
He thought about using the small cup of rainwater outside but decided against it. That was for drinking tomorrow.
Instead, he soaked the cloth scraps he had found in the puddles and carefully wiped Lena's face.
As he did, everything beca clear.
Reviews
All reviews (0)