Chapter 35

Chapter 9 The Children

Watching the two figures fleeing in panic, I felt a sudden sense of boredom and pouted my lips.

They just ran away!

Why didn’t they act even more foolishly? At this moment, shouldn’t they have shouted something like “I don’t believe you’re a Papal Knight” and done all sorts of reckless things to make it more interesting?

Or why not just give in to their desires, grab with their claws in the posture of a werewolf, say “Even if you scream, no one will come to save you,” while pulling out a weapon measured in millimeters, drooling as they approached me.

Isn’t that how the villains in novels usually write it? Otherwise, how could the protagonist show off and beat them down? This script doesn’t work.

However, although these two thieves weren’t very smart, they were patient. Their actions were clearly organized and premeditated, unlike those street thugs who only knew how to cause trouble.

Given their usual behavior, I thought there must be some connection behind this development. For example, the largest criminal gang in the Emerald City or some underground organization that robs the rich to help the poor. In any case, perhaps I could trace it back and find out something. If it really was a theft organization, then I would use my fist as big as a sandbag to beat them up, even if it’s for the good of the people in the Emerald City.

After all, the food here is really delicious.

I looked up at the sky and then picked up the cloth bag filled with food, following them quietly.

…………

Abel and his younger brother ran as fast as they could, not daring to look back.

Unlucky timing, they had run into the Papal Knight… Even though he still had his doubts about it.

If it had been someone else, he might have believed it, but that girl, whether in age, appearance, or overall demeanor, couldn’t possibly be related to the majestic and heroic Papal Knight, except for her cuteness which was beyond words!

How can you equate a delicate and fragile beauty whose every glance and smile drives men mad with those powerful heroes? It’s unreasonable, almost unbelievable; it’s just a joke!

But he couldn’t take the risk.

No matter what, the pendant around the girl’s neck, with its genuine flower emblem of the Papal Knight, was undeniable. He had the eye for such details.

Apart from the Papal Knight himself, no one else would dare wear an item engraved with an iris, risking their head!

So he ran without hesitation, dragging his brother through several alleys.

“… Abel, I… huff, huff, I can’t run anymore.”

His younger brother was too young and couldn’t keep up with Abel. After running so far, he was already gasping for breath.

Abel had to stop and turn around, looking behind him in the pitch-black darkness where he couldn’t see any lights, suggesting no one was following. He pulled off the black cloth covering his face, revealing a slightly immature teenage face.

“No one followed us? Then let’s rest.”

The two of them slowly walked to a nearby stone step and sat down on the cold stones. I hid above their heads under the eaves, crouching and listening to their conversation.

“Abel, we… huff, just ran away?”

The younger brother asked between breaths, showing a childlike defiance.

“Would you rather stay and die? Didn’t you see what she was wearing? My goodness, a Papal Knight medal!”

Abel still seemed shaken.

“Could that girl… huff, be tricking us? How awful. Such a noble lady, used to bullying others, looks like she’s never suffered. In my opinion, we should just tie her up, starve her for a day, and she’ll confess everything. Then we can ask her about her family… huff, for money.”

It seems they completely view me as that naive noble lady.

“Don’t even think about it! We can just scavenge a little money here and there. If we get too ambitious, what if we get caught? With our lives hanging by a thread, how can we compete with those nobles? At best, they’d leave us with nothing but our bodies! Besides… that medal is real.”

“How do you know?”

“… Because I’ve seen it. Do you remember when I told you about the Papal Knight who saved me when our village was attacked by monsters? I saw the medal he wore on his chest. It’s unmistakable. If it weren’t for the Papal Knight, I would have died.”

“… But that girl doesn’t look like a hero! She even cried!”

“… Regardless, that girl is at least connected to the Holy Church… such people we can’t afford to provoke.”

“But… tonight we gained nothing…”

“It’s fine, we still have bread to last a few more days. Let’s eat less now and find another chance tomorrow to hit it big!”

“Okay, Abel.”

“… Let’s rest for a bit and then go back?”

“Alright.”

…………

It seemed they were just two half-grown children whose lives had been ruined, possibly younger than

I was much younger.

The two children had now drifted to the Emerald City, living a life of hunger. Their village and family… there’s no need to think about what happened to them.

Monsters… nothing else could be called that besides the Abyss.

Originally, I had just followed out of curiosity, but at this moment, I didn’t know what expression to make.

The two children only took a short rest before getting up and leaving.

I hesitated for a moment, then silently followed them, walking all the way to the southern corner of the city, far from the city center, to a place that was completely out of place with the prosperity of the Emerald City.

The streets here were narrow and uneven, unpaved, covered in filthy mud, with rotting garbage piled everywhere, polluting the air with a foul stench.

In such a harsh environment, some dilapidated buildings stood scattered. Most of these buildings were left with only dark skeletons, with only a few slightly intact ones still flickering with firelight.

It wasn’t quite right to call it a slum; it was more like Nalanda’s large dumping ground, with no room to step, and the stench made me wrinkle my nose.

Humans in this world had only continued their civilization for a little over a thousand years, and many things were still too backward.

Abel and his brother skillfully maneuvered through various piles of debris and walked to a house where a candle flickered, knocking lightly on the door.

After a moment, a little girl who looked to be around seven or eight opened the door and let them in.

After the door closed, I switched the cloth bag in my hand to my right hand, rolled up my skirt, and tiptoed over.

The windows of the house were nailed shut with wooden boards, and I leaned my head over, peering through the gaps to see inside.

The room was very dimly lit, and隐约看到除了阿贝尔两人外，还有三名年龄不超过十岁的小女孩。此时，几个人正围在一起啃着干硬的面包。

“阿贝尔哥，你怎么不吃啊。” 一名小女孩见阿贝尔没有和他们一起吃，天真地问道。

“你吃吧，哥不饿。”

“骗人，你一天都没吃东西了。”

“哥真的不饿。”

“哥你不吃，那我们也不吃了。” 另一名小女孩放下手中的面包，赌气地说。

“阿贝尔哥没骗你，我们俩在外面都吃过了。” 弟弟这时开口了，”今天不是那个，狂欢夜嘛，街上好多吃的！我们俩趁人不注意偷偷拿了好多肉串，这会儿已经吃不下了。”

“真的吗？”

“真的！” 弟弟说话的同时悄悄咽了咽口水。

“肉串……香不香？”

“香！可是今天太着急了，下次哥一定多拿一些，带回来给你们也尝尝。”

“嗯！”

“……面包是不是太硬了。”

“还好。”

“哥给你变个魔术。你看，就像这样。” 阿贝尔端起一碗水，浇在小女孩手中的面包上，”你再尝尝，是不是好吃多了？”

“……真的啊！阿贝尔哥好厉害。”

“阿贝尔哥，今天见到英雄大人了吗？”

“嗯，见到了噢~”

“他长什么样子！是不是，可帅可帅了！”

“可帅了！身穿亮银铠甲，身披白色斗篷，手握华丽宝剑。那样子英明神武的，看起来就让人感到很安全。”

这话让靠在门外偷听的我脸上微微一热。白天那副丢人模样竟然被阿贝尔说得如此……咦，白天我干了什么吗？

什么都没干，忘记它吧。

不过，阿贝尔口中的英雄的样子，怎么感觉有些熟悉？

“我们还见到教宗大人了哦！”

“真的啊！教宗大人长什么样？”

“教宗大人啊……”

接下来的话没必要再听下去了。

我转身走到腐烂的木门前。犹豫了一下，再犹豫了一下。

再三犹豫之后，我将手中装满食物的布袋放在了门前，轻轻叩了两声，闪身没入黑暗之中。

过了一会儿，其中一名小女孩打开了门，发现没有人影，有些疑惑地四处望了望，随后便看到了脚下的布袋。

“这是什么……吃的！这么多！” 小女孩有些激动，”阿贝尔哥！快来看，有人在门口放了好多吃的！”

“什么吃的……咦？这布袋怎么有些眼熟。”

“阿贝尔哥，这不是那个女的手里提的布袋吗？”

“……我们被人跟踪了！”

“阿贝尔哥！这里面全是吃的！有山羊奶酪，炸鱼干，还有香果！这个可贵了，我都没有吃过！”

“……别乱动，那是别人的东西。”

“诶，可是真的好多吃的啊……”

“阿贝尔哥你不是老说，不管是谁的东西，拿到手里就是我们的东西吗？”

“可是……”

“我不管，我要吃香果……”

我踏着泥泞离开，背后的交谈声逐渐远去。

要是能帮到他们就好了呢。

明天问问卡洛斯看吧。