Ch.47Chapter 47. About Sewage Alley (2)

The first memory Lee had was of himself searching for something diligently.

The small-bodied young boy was carefully looking down at the ground, moving between fallen tree gaps and structures.

“Found it!”

After plucking mushrooms growing on a rotting tree and placing them in the dirty hem of his shirt, he hurried back to the hideout with quick steps.

“Chef! I brought food!”

“Hmm? You little brat, I told you it’s dangerous outside!”

Though Spindle, the group’s cook, was angry, he started sorting through the pile of mushrooms that Lee had dumped on the floor.

“Hey, this one’s inedible. You’ll die if you eat it. This one too.”

“Uh…”

“But the rest are edible.”

“Yay!”

Lee cheered.

Only three poisonous mushrooms were found, so he’d done well.

“Bring your head here.”

“Yes!”

SMACK!

Spindle struck Lee’s head with his fist.

Though he fell down with a thud, Lee stood up bravely only to receive two more blows.

After delivering three hits, Spindle taught Lee how to distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms.

“Got it? I told you this last time too. If you forget again, I’ll beat you to a pulp.”

The cook warned as he tossed Lee a worn book with frayed edges about plants.

Aside from lacking some knowledge, he was quite a useful assistant for his young age.

That’s why they kept him alive.

“Come here, we need to make dinner for the Boss and Arsil.”

“Yes.”

While Lee was frying mushrooms, other children began returning to the hideout one by one.

Most came back empty-handed with dejected faces.

“All of you who brought nothing back, go over there.”

When Spindle gestured, the young children gathered trembling where he pointed.

Adults from the hideout surrounded them with clubs.

“What’s the point of feeding and sheltering these bastards if they can’t earn their keep!”

“I-I’m sorry…!”

With heavy whooshing sounds, the clubs mercilessly beat the children.

Only when the screaming children who had curled up tightly lay motionless did the beating stop.

“Boss is coming! Spindle, is dinner ready?”

“Almost done. Hey kid, set the table.”

Lee efficiently placed dishes, forks, and knives on the wooden table.

Two sets—one for the Boss and one for Arsil.

“Hey- smells good.”

Brak was the only man who had unified Sewage Alley.

He had established himself as the largest force in the alley by smashing the skulls of anyone who opposed him, creating an exploitation system with himself at the very top.

A beautiful system of top-down abuse where Brak exploited the capable, the capable exploited the incapable, and the incapable exploited women and children weaker than themselves.

Yet even he had a child he particularly favored.

“How is it, Arsil? We have mushrooms today.”

“I don’t like it… it smells…”

SLAP!

Struck across the face, Arsil was thrown to the floor.

Brak’s favor meant simply not killing someone when they irritated him.

“Eat.”

“I really can’t because of the smell… ugh!”

The brown-haired girl had her mouth forced open and was made to swallow the fried mushrooms.

The hot mushrooms burned her palate and throat, and the mushroom smell made her want to vomit, but Arsil trembled and forcibly held it in.

She would die if she threw up here.

That was certain.

Following the survival formula forcibly imprinted in her young mind, Arsil breathed quietly through her mouth to cool the heat while Brak ate his dinner in a good mood.

Swish-

A cup of water was extended before her.

It was Lee.

She accepted it without saying thank you.

Last time she did that, Lee was kicked by Brak.

Lee placed another cup of water filled at Brak’s seat.

“Did you make this?”

“Yes.”

“Did you gather the mushrooms too?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, Brak struck Lee’s head with the plate.

The plate shattered, and blood flowed from Lee’s forehead.

“Since Arsil doesn’t like them, don’t bring mushrooms anymore.”

“Yes.”

After finishing his meal, Brak left with Arsil to patrol his territory.

The broken plate pieces and fried mushrooms scattered on the floor, not fully eaten.

Lee couldn’t take his eyes off them, feeling the waste.

Spindle snapped at Lee, who was dripping blood.

“Hurry up and do the dishes, kid!”

—

Late at night, Arsil nudged Lee, who was sleeping beside her, to wake him up.

“Lee, you need to wake up.”

“Mmm…”

As Lee rubbed his eyes and got up, there was dried blood crusted on his forehead.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“I’m fine. What about you? You had to swallow that hot food without cooling it.”

Arsil opened her mouth wide with an “Ah.”

“I’ve healed it all.”

Arsil and Lee were unique existences in Sewage Alley.

Normally, children weren’t born in Sewage Alley.

It was a den of beasts where people who had committed crimes or were fleeing from evil would drift in and settle, a place where people preyed on each other.

Women, being physically weaker, were routinely raped and killed.

Even pregnant women were no exception.

So where did these children come from?

The answer was simple.

They were children kidnapped or abducted from outside.

But Arsil was different.

She was born to a pregnant woman who had made it to Sewage Alley with her last strength.

A woman wearing the robes of a priestess who served a goddess entered while heavily pregnant, gave birth, and died.

Brak found the situation itself so fascinating that he kept Arsil alive and cared for her in his own way.

And Lee?

Lee was simply left wrapped in a bundle in front of the hideout.

This happened not long after Arsil was born.

[His surname is Lee, and he has no given name. Please give him a name and raise him.]

Compared to the neatly written note, the bundle was just dirty.

With a surname like Lee, he didn’t seem to be from any notable noble family.

Brak left him alone for three days and nights, but Lee neither died nor cried.

“A kid like this might become useful when he grows up. He’s extraordinary even as a baby.”

Having become the leader of Sewage Alley, he took in both Arsil and Lee, believing them to be auspicious signs.

Two children born entirely in Sewage Alley.

That was Arsil and Lee.

“Ready?”

“Yes, I’ve prepared the sweet herbs and ferns.”

“Let’s go.”

The two, who slept a bit apart from the other children, got up when all the adults had fallen asleep and secretly went to where the children were.

“Arsil…?”

“Yes, it’s me, Jack.”

“Lupino’s ankle is swollen weirdly.”

“Let me see.”

The children, already awake, made way for Arsil.

Lupino, whose ankle was so swollen that the ankle bone was buried, was sweating profusely.

“I’ll heal you.”

At those words, the children spread out mats they were holding to surround the area.

When the mats covered both Arsil and Lupino, her hands began to glow white.

The swelling gradually subsided where the light touched.

But Arsil stopped the holy power healing before the swelling completely disappeared.

“How is it?”

“Much better, thanks Arsil.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t heal it completely…”

“No, if it suddenly got all better, the adults would get suspicious.”

Meanwhile, Lee distributed the sweet herbs he had secretly gathered and the ferns he had boiled and dried to the children.

The children who had come back empty-handed during the day and been beaten without getting to eat, hastily put the greens in their mouths and chewed.

Thanks to this secret care, the children didn’t envy the special treatment the two received from the group.

Rather, they recognized them as the only trustworthy figures to follow in the group.

“Chew slowly and thoroughly. If you swallow too quickly, you could get sick and die.”

“Next person? Those who have trouble moving or are in pain, come first.”

Every night, the brown-haired girl and the black-haired boy healed and fed the children away from the adults’ eyes.

Neither could remember when it started.

Since Arsil awakened her holy power, since Lee learned to cook and could gather greens by studying the plant guide, they had been taking care of the children.

“I want to grow up quickly. So I can get revenge on them all.”

“Hey, why are you saying such scary things?”

“Arsil, you got punished today too. Those bastards can beat us however they want because they’re adults.”

“But can we really beat them when we become adults?”

“By the time we grow up, they’ll all be bent-over old men!”

Listening to Arsil and Jack’s conversation, Lee wondered.

Will the current adults even be alive by the time we grow up?

More importantly, will we survive long enough to become adults?

“Alright, we’re done. We’ll be going now.”

“Goodnight, Arsil. Goodnight, Lee.”

“Goodnight, Jack.”

Surprisingly, it was Lee, not Arsil, who waved and responded.

Before obtaining the item carrier bag, before he had the name Rin, Lee was an expressive and warm-hearted child except in front of the adults.

“Lee.”

“Yes?”

“Lie facing me.”

“Why?”

“I want to fall asleep looking at your face.”

Lee smiled slightly.

“You won’t see me anyway once you close your eyes.”

“Silly, I like seeing your face before I close my eyes and after I open them.”

“Why do you like that?”

“I don’t know, it just makes me feel good.”

“Alright then.”

As he turned to face Arsil, the girl finally smiled.

This was how Arsil found comfort to end her day and courage to start the next.

“Lee.”

“What is it, Arsil?”

“I really can’t eat mushrooms.”

“I understand. I’ll try to find something else.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

And the next day,

Lee was standing face to face with a silver-haired child with a bluish tint, holding mushrooms in his hand.

“What are you staring at, ugly?”

“Did you just call me ugly?!”

“No, I said you look like shit.”

“Just say I’m ugly. The meaning changes so much depending on how you say it.”

“Whatever.”

“Where are you from?”

“Why do you care?”

Even the good-natured Lee couldn’t help but frown.

“You look even more like shit now.”

“You’re really annoying.”

“Yeah, and you look like shit.”

Better not engage with her.

Grimacing, Lee put away his mushrooms and tried to move away from the girl.

Grumble

Until he heard the girl’s stomach growl.

“Ugh…!”

The girl’s face turned red as she covered her stomach, but she couldn’t hide her hunger.

Sighing, Lee took out the mushrooms again and tore them into small pieces.

Just to be safe, he bit and chewed a piece himself to confirm it was safe before offering the whole mushroom to the silver-haired girl.

“Want some?”

She was too hungry to refuse.

“I have water too.”

Water, precious and rare in Sewage Alley.

The girl felt a tickling sensation in her chest at this kindness she had never experienced before.

Staring blankly at Lee, the girl unconsciously blurted out:

“Actually, I’ve been waiting for a man like you for a long time…”

“Huh?”

“…WHAT?!”

The silver-haired girl, turning beyond red to bright crimson, rolled around on the spot in embarrassment.

‘She’s energetic. Isn’t she hungry?’ Lee wondered, tilting his head.

The girl couldn’t contain her embarrassment.

This was the first meeting between Rin and Rabin.