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Chapter 31
“Don’t worry. Tell me.”
At Caron’s gentle voice, El mustered up the courage to begin explaining carefully.
“If we give both the packed meal and the food to eat right now, usually both will just get stolen.”
“…Why is that?”
Caron slowly turned his attention to El’s words.
“Do you see over there?”
Following the direction of El’s finger, Caron spotted a group of men lurking in the alley, watching them.
El continued.
“They’re like the alley bosses of this town. They use the weakest children to keep getting food. Even if you punish some of them, this sort of foul practice in the slums will never disappear.”
“Is there an alternative?”
“There is. Like this.”
Ta-da. El pulled out a notebook and a pen. Caron’s left eyebrow shot up.
“What are you planning to do?”
El tugged very carefully at the edge of Caron’s sleeve. Her pull was so weak that she couldn’t even harm an ant, yet Caron obediently followed her lead.
They stopped in front of the distribution tent, where food handouts were about to begin.
“If they want food, first have them write down their name and age. If possible, their residence too.”
She drew two lines across the notebook and set it firmly on the table.
“And then…”
A flicker of interest passed over Caron’s face. El didn’t realize how much his brown eyes were glimmering.
“Then you only give the portion to eat on the spot. That way they can’t get seconds.”
“Good idea.”
“And when they bring back the empty dish, only then do you give them a packed meal they can take home. The important part is, don’t just put up a tent—set up stalls too.”
“……”
“That way, if you make the rule that food has to be eaten here and dishes returned, they won’t resist. At the very least, they need a place to sit and eat comfortably.”
“I’ll have it prepared immediately.”
At Caron’s signal, the knights took out small, simple chairs that they had brought along for breaks, and lined them up in front of the tent.
“How’s that? Satisfied?”
“It’s perfect! Let’s begin distributing!”
At El’s signal, the knights lined the people up and stopped anyone from cutting in line.
Surprisingly, people kept order fairly well, receiving stew and bread on their trays.
The handout went much more smoothly than in the past—enough that Caron wore a satisfied smile as he looked at El.
El too, feeling she had finally been of help to Caron for the first time, worked eagerly, scooping stew without realizing how tired she was.
“Impressive.”
Caron’s adjutant came over with admiration. Caron nodded in agreement.
Even the men lurking in the alley—whom El had pointed out—spat in frustration and slunk back into the shadows.
At least, for today, the children would not go hungry.
“Now that I think about it, this way we can actually gather population data along with food distribution. I can’t believe I didn’t think of something so simple.”
“We haven’t lived through it ourselves, that’s why.”
“…Sorry?”
“We overlooked what they truly needed.”
Just as Caron finished speaking and moved toward El, she stopped ladling stew and fixed her eyes on something.
Then she untied her apron, handed it to a knight, and quickly walked away.
“……”
Watching her, Caron followed after.
El’s steps led her into a dim alley.
“Why there…”
Caron’s face hardened coldly.
“Wait, wait! Stop!”
El gasped as she shouted into the alley. At her voice, two men turned slowly out of the shadows.
They were roughly handling a small boy.
That was the reason El had dared to enter this dangerous alley—the boy.
She had seen men lying in wait drag a child off violently just after food distribution, and she couldn’t ignore it.
But if she brought knights into it, making a loud fuss, the villagers might see Caron and the knights with fear rather than reverence.
“Leave the child. What you want is the food, isn’t it?”
“Hah! Us? What a naïve little lady.”
“Well, I’ve rolled in the gutter enough to not be so naïve.”
“You? Impossible. At most you’ve whined after a few smacks from a teacher’s stick, haven’t you?”
“If that’s how you see it, thanks.”
The banter ended, leaving a tense standoff between El and the men.
“Hey, miss. No one’s coming to save you, huh?”
The men seemed nervous that knights might arrive in the alley.
Though she had come alone on purpose, El’s nape chilled. Could she beat two men? Almost certainly not.
“It’s been a while…”
Being beaten to a pulp until nearly dead—was she ready for that again? El exhaled bitterly.
But she couldn’t abandon the boy. His hollow eyes in his skinny face reminded her too much of herself, living as No. 8 in the slums.
“You’re worth some money too. If you behave, we’ll sell you without a scratch.”
The men chuckled unpleasantly, pulling daggers from their clothes.
El sighed softly and pulled out the dagger Caron had given her. She only needed to get the boy out.
“Hey. What’s your name?”
Her gentle question drew a small answer.
“Rick.”
“Good. You even have a name. Rick, when I give the signal, you run toward that light. No matter what. Got it?”
“Trying to pull tricks?”
The men lunged at El. She forced herself to recall those days when Nine had sparred with her in real combat.
She locked her gaze on the dagger flashing toward her.
These men weren’t trying to kill her. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be gripping their blades so carelessly.
This was just intimidation.
El knew the ways of the underworld. They were probably dreaming of profit by kidnapping and selling her.
Clang! The sword clattered loudly to the ground.
“Hey, that!”
The man holding the boy dropped him in panic. Rick dashed toward the light with all his strength.
Only once the boy was fully out of the alley did El relax her expression and face the threatening men more calmly.
“What? Can’t subdue me without a weapon?”
El picked up the fallen blade and taunted them. The man who had dropped it grimaced.
“You little—how dare you!”
“How dare I?”
El echoed mockingly, gripping the sword lightly.
Then she hurled it at them. Startled, they flinched, one screaming as the blade pierced his arm.
“Aaagh! Get her!”
The other man, realizing what was happening, charged at El with ferocity.
She had turned to run, but he caught up quickly and yanked her hair hard.
“Ugh!”
El slashed at his wrist with her dagger. Unprepared, he staggered back in pain.
At the same time, El tumbled onto the dirt.
He kicked her hard. Curling up, she shielded her head and stomach, enduring the brutal kicks. It was familiar.
She’d suffered like this countless times.
“Ugh! Aghh!”
But in truth, it was never familiar.
Such violence never became easier or less painful. If anything, it tore open old wounds and amplified the terror.
In that moment, one person came to El’s mind.
Caron Pheros.
No. She couldn’t throw away her life without his permission.
Grinding her teeth, El grabbed her attacker’s ankle and bit down hard.
The foul taste of blood filled her mouth.
“Gyaaaah!”
The man screamed and fell heavily. Spitting out the blood, El staggered up, clutching her dagger.
“You’ll just die here in a thug brawl.”
“S-spare me…”
“I’m only trying to survive too.”
El raised the blade high. How would Caron have dealt with them? Likely with merciless death.
But she resolved to finish it in a single blow. Her blade slashed down.
“Aaagh!”
At the same time, heavy footsteps echoed into the alley, and a familiar scent reached her.
Ah, he’s here. At the worst possible time.
With a sorrowful expression, El curved her lips faintly. She plunged her sword not fatally, but into the man’s shoulder.
She couldn’t kill in front of him.
Leaving the screaming man behind, El staggered to her feet and turned her head.
Against the light, someone stood, staring at her wide-eyed.
Her dress in tatters, her body bruised and battered, hair disheveled, cheek splattered with blood.
This was the wretched state she showed to the one who had saved her.
Still the same Elrum slum’s No. 8, unworthy of noble blood.
Unable to hold back her self-loathing, El let out a hoarse voice from her bloodied lips.
“My God…”
“……”
“Have I disappointed You?”
“……”
The God she spoke of was the man standing before her—Caron.
(To be continued in the next chapter)
