Ch.50Chapter 50. About Sewage Alley (5)

# How Did It Come to This?

We were all laughing and sharing meals together not too long ago.

“How long are you going to be stubborn, Arsil? It’s over here!”

“No, we’re starting anew here. We’ll transform this place they call sewage and show those who looked down on us and treated us with contempt how different and remarkable we’ve become.”

The joy of liberation was short-lived as Ravin and Arsil fiercely opposed each other.

“Look at this place! Crops can’t even grow here. We’re surrounded by forest, so people can’t easily find us, which means we can’t trade. If we stay here, we’ll grow up just like the adults and live just like them!”

“Wherever we go, won’t we be treated like vagabonds without a homeland? This is our home.”

“How can this dump be our home?”

“It is our home! If a group with unclear origins wanders around, they could be branded as bandits and killed, even if they’re just children.”

“You coward! Have you ever been outside? Have you? You’re just afraid. If you only think about what can’t be done, you won’t accomplish anything here either.”

“You’re the one who’s not even trying to change this place.”

“Please, Arsil, face reality! The foundation is rotten. This place brings us nothing but pain.”

“This is a place we need to overcome!”

Ravin couldn’t understand why Arsil was being so stubborn.

Perhaps Arsil herself didn’t know either.

Though she never spoke about it openly, as the only child born here and the only one who had grown up here since infancy, she had a special attachment to Sewage Alley.

The adults, including Brak, were like intruders to her, unauthorized rulers.

She didn’t want to abandon this place she had just reclaimed so futilely.

“What if we leave like you say? What then?”

“First, we’ll scout around for opportunities…”

“You’ll only attract extermination squads! That makes you no different from the adults!”

Arsil and Ravin’s opinions remained far apart.

Without either landing a decisive blow, the atmosphere only grew more hostile for hours until Ravin shook her head and left with her followers to the opposite side of the hideout.

“What are you doing, Issi? Let’s go.”

“Hmm?”

Ravin nodded to Issi, pretending it was obvious he should come, but her heart was pounding fiercely.

Apart from her unrequited love, she calculated that if only Issi sided with her, Arsil would have no choice but to follow.

Arsil also looked at Issi with desperate eyes, but Lina tactlessly intervened.

“I… I’m staying here. You don’t know what it’s like out there. Here, people might attack with just their fists, but the world will reject us with more intricate laws and social status. I think it’s still premature.”

Though she wasn’t wrong, the children were irritated by Lina’s unnecessarily complicated words.

She was intimidated by the glares from all sides, but Lina, who had fled after recklessly claiming to be the Emperor’s daughter, remained steadfast.

Then, someone stood by her side.

“Lina is right. It’s dangerous to leave without a plan. Wherever we go, we’ll be outsiders, and it seems best to cultivate our own territory, even if it’s rotten.”

Ravin bit her lip with a hurt expression.

“If only you would come, Issi, we could all be encouraged. We wouldn’t give up.”

“We’re still only fifteen. We have plenty of time.”

“Death doesn’t wait for time!”

Ravin shouted impulsively, surprising even herself.

“I’m sorry for raising my voice…”

The heated argument ended there.

From that day on, Ravin began attacking Arsil’s group to secure Issi.

At first, it was simple deception.

“Issi! Ravin is looking for you!”

“For me?”

“She says there’s an urgent matter to discuss!”

Trying to hurry Issi away without explanation, they were caught by Lina.

Lina had simply informed Arsil because she was annoyed at someone trying to control her self-proclaimed first retainer, but naturally, the entire group was angered and took Issi back from his conversation with Ravin.

Ravin was furious, and so was her group.

Knowing that if only Issi came, Arsil would have no choice but to follow, and believing Arsil’s stubbornness was merely an attachment to Sewage Alley, they grew even more enraged.

The conflict intensified, and since Arsil would treat injuries regardless of faction, they eventually took up weapons.

It took only an instant for puzzlement to turn into resentment, and for resentment to transform into hostility accompanied by irritation and anger.

During this time, Lina’s attitude toward Issi also changed.

“What are you doing, Issi?”

“I’m looking at a guidebook to see how to make the plants we just planted grow well.”

“I need flowers to decorate my room instead.”

“I’ll look around when I go to the forest and bring back something nice if I find it.”

During Brak’s time, he would come to her first, wanting to catch her eye, but after liberation, Issi seemed more focused on his own work.

Though it somehow bothered her, now Lina would occasionally seek him out first and act petulant.

Though he accommodated her, there was a sense of distance in his attitude, which made Lina hover around Issi even more.

“Now! This time we’ll follow my strategy!”

In battles against Ravin’s group, the strategies she devised were half successful and half failures.

Even that half was only achieved through Issi’s wit or Arsil’s force, forcibly turning the tide.

There were limits to how much she could manipulate others with her outstanding beauty.

It wasn’t for nothing that Arsil called Lina an idiot and scolded her.

Sensing her naturally diminishing position, Lina instinctively tried to stay close to Issi, which further irritated Arsil.

The breaking point came when Arsil was cornered alone.

That very day when Issi was clumsily diverted to Ravin’s base.

That night when Issi reconciled the two with potato and jam sandwiches.

Issi packed plenty of sandwiches and crossed over to Ravin’s base.

“Wow!”

Everyone was overjoyed.

Letting them steal bread in hopes that Issi would make something for them had been the right move.

Some children devoured it in one bite, others ate carefully to savor it.

Ravin was the former.

“It’s because of you that we can’t easily leave.”

“Me?”

“Because we want to take both you and Arsil with us.”

“For that, it seems you’ve gone too far.”

At Issi’s pointed remark, Ravin sighed deeply.

She already knew this fact.

“The children are becoming increasingly violent.”

The sweet sandwich turned bitter in her mouth.

“Issi, since you’ve mostly stayed at the hideout, you might not know, but we’ve grown up tasting blood since we took our first steps. We’ve lived by wielding weapons, going to the outskirts to harm and rob passing peddlers and merchant groups.”

This was why Ravin was skeptical of Arsil’s claim that they should change from here.

She didn’t believe that human nature could easily change.

“This land is cursed. It corrupts people with evil, and crops don’t grow properly unless they’re wild.”

“Ravin?”

“Arsil is ultimately the same as us. She talks hopefully, but she only knows violence. You’re the only one who shows us that things can be resolved without violence, who teaches us human warmth. That’s why we want to leave here with your warmth and Arsil’s hope.”

The usual playful Ravin was gone.

As a leader of a group, she knew her followers well.

“It’s becoming harder to control them. Even though you secretly provide food, not everyone can eat their fill. Most want to go raiding.”

When he came to give sandwiches, he just wanted to see everyone happy.

He hadn’t expected such heavy confessions.

“Issi, come with us, at least.”

Ravin pleaded.

“With you, I feel like we could succeed anywhere. Though it’s vague, we dream of a normal life too. Working hard all day, returning home, and laughing and talking with family, even if it’s not abundant.”

Ravin’s desperation was palpable.

And because of that desperation, Issi seriously considered it.

“Ravin, I…”

“Boss! Big trouble!”

“Is it Arsil?!”

“No! The outskirts! There’s an army emitting white light coming. They’re heading straight here!”

“An army…? Tell Arsil too!”

With Jack’s urgent cry and the unexpected appearance of an army, Ravin and Issi rushed to the border of the outskirts.

Children standing on the ruins of collapsed castle walls trembled in fear at the sight of an army glowing in the night.

“Ravin! Issi!”

“Arsil.”

Not long after, Arsil’s group arrived too.

Arsil and Lina narrowed their eyes at seeing Issi with Ravin, but given the situation, they decided to deal with the immediate threat first.

“Halt! This is Sewage Alley, our territory! What brings you to this insignificant place?”

Naturally, Arsil climbed to the highest ruin.

As everyone tensed with weapons in hand, the army that approached close by intensified their light.

“Are you challenging us? You’re not the only one who can produce that light!”

When she clashed her fists wearing leather gloves, holy power sparked.

It was meant to intimidate the enemy, but the army, seeing the light, exclaimed in admiration and cheered.

“My goodness! A girl truly surrounded by holy power!”

“All this is the guidance of the Goddess!”

“Ah! Let us offer prayers immediately.”

The alley children were bewildered by their show of goodwill rather than hostility.

“What… what’s going on?”

Even Arsil deflated, releasing the tension in her fist, causing the holy power to fade.

Then, a resounding cry came from the front of the army.

It was powerful but not a warrior’s voice—a gentle tone that somehow gave reassurance.

“Please, do not extinguish that beautiful light.”

“A nobleman? No, this is the speech pattern of Goddess Church priests.”

Lina, the most educated among the group, immediately identified what class of people they were.

Hearing Lina’s words, Arsil anxiously raised her holy power again.

Seeing the light enveloping her entire body, the man with the gentle tone smiled and extinguished his own light.

The army’s light had been coming from him.

When the light, which had been brighter than Arsil’s, went out, both the alley gang and the army could see each other clearly.

“Ah, my goodness! How pitiful!”

“Pitiful? Us?”

Ravin bristled at the man’s lamentation, but Lina hastily pulled her back.

“Stop it, priests are even more theatrical than nobles. If you interrupt their show, they’ll hiss like cats.”

“These emaciated faces! Yet so young, clearly boys and girls in their prime growing years!”

The man spread his arms toward the sky.

“I am Agreus, a humble follower of the Goddess! I temporarily hold the undeserved position of shepherd to guide the young lambs. Months ago, I witnessed a pillar of light shooting from the sky! Taking it as a revelation from the Goddess, I arrived here with my comrades, and behold! I am greeted by the Saint chosen by the Goddess!”

“Saint? Me?”

She frowned at the embarrassing words, but the man paid no mind and smiled even more broadly.

That doll-like smile.

“Holy power! Only those chosen by the Goddess can use it. Their number is countable on one hand! Since the time of the 2nd Hero, among women, only the Saint can use holy power! And like a true Saint, you have been sheltering these poor, pitiful creatures!”

“No, we just were born and raised here…”

“I, Agreus, cannot hide my tears at the Saint’s grace! How much you must have suffered! How much pain you must have endured! But worry no more! I, Agreus, and the priests who serve the Goddess will save you all!”

The truly bizarre thing was that despite speaking this way, his tone remained consistently gentle and subdued.

Spouting what seemed like madness, the man called out to those behind him.

“Isn’t that right, my comrades?”

“Indeed it is!”

“We behold the Saint!”

“I could die without regret…!”

Even Arsil stepped back.

It was sudden and confusing.

The children felt uneasy seeing these people barging in without context and making a fuss.

But that didn’t last long.

“Now! Receive the salvation of the Goddess!”

The children cheered excitedly at the sight of bread and meat piling up under his arms.

Even Lina swallowed at the endless food and ingredients emerging from a large leather pouch.

“Though it’s quite late, shall we start the feast?”

“Yeees!”

Before long, fires were lit and meat was skewered, sizzling as it cooked.

Wow! Children who hadn’t eaten properly rushed forward.

“Here, the juices are overflowing, aren’t they?”

Even Arsil, who had been wary, took a bite of the skewer offered by the kind-faced man and sat cross-legged by the bonfire with gusto.

But Issi couldn’t join in.

Somehow, he felt as if his place had been taken.

Before he knew it, he was back at the hideout.

But he wasn’t alone.

“Let’s go together, Issi!”

“Really, abandoning your lord when you’re just a retainer!”

Ravin and Lina had followed him.

“You two should go back and eat something delicious there. I have things to organize.”

“No way, I haven’t even finished the sandwich you gave me.”

Ravin pulled out a jam-soaked sandwich from her pocket and crunched into it.

Watching her, Lina frowned.

“Hmph, there’s no kindness in this world without expecting something in return.”

“Wow, when you say it, it just sounds like something a pessimist would say.”

“This is the truth!”

Issi smiled slightly at the two arguing.

He was very grateful they had followed him.

But it took less than a day and a half for Issi, Ravin, and Lina to open their hearts to Agreus, who stayed for three days and nights, providing food.

The priests were kind and didn’t hit the children.

That alone was enough to capture the hearts of the entire alley.

“What? To the Church State?”

“Yes. Arsil, you are the Saint. Naturally, you must go to the Church State.”

“But, but I need to protect the alley…”

“Don’t worry. Would we just leave this place that the Saint has taken in? We will support it in every way possible. Until you return after defeating the Demon Lord.”

“Really?!”

Agreus nodded deeply to the delighted Arsil.

His long navy blue hair rippled.

“Of course, absolutely.”

And in just three days, Sewage Alley lost one of its few central pillars.