Ch.51Chapter 51. About Sewage Alley (6)

# One Week

It took only a week for hunger to return.

“The Holy Nation said they would support us here. They said they would ensure we never ran out of food.”

Arsil had been full of joy when she spoke those words to everyone who came to see her off.

But now both Ravin and Rina were lying down, suffering from hunger.

“They say demons are ravaging the world. They told me that I, who can use holy power, I who am a saint, must go to the Holy Nation to train and prepare to join the hero’s party that will form in the future to defeat the Demon King. They said if we can’t save the world, even this place will be in danger.”

Everyone nodded since Agreus had always spoken about demons and heroes.

Under his exaggerated expressions, the children feared the demons and the Demon King they had never seen.

With such a grand cause, even Issi had to understand why Arsil was leaving.

“I’ll definitely come back here. I don’t know how long it will take, but I’ll definitely return. Issi, I… I hope you’ll wait for me.”

Afraid he might disappear, Arsil held his hand tightly and sniffled, uncharacteristically tearful.

Issi handed her a very small hairpin.

“What’s this…?”

“Besides food, I haven’t really given you anything proper. I found it in the forest, but… haha, sorry, even at a moment like this, there’s not much I can do for you.”

“No! That’s not true.”

Arsil received the hairpin preciously.

“I’m happy.”

It was a face of the girl he had never seen before.

Ravin was jealous but decided to let it go since it was a farewell.

However, Agreus, watching the two, secretly harbored displeasure beneath his smile.

‘This place is the saint’s shackle.’

“Goodbye, Arsil!”

“I’ll wait for you!”

“We won’t have to starve anymore, right?”

The children each offered their farewells.

Arsil waved her hand, holding back tears.

“You’ll really… really help our alley, right?”

Arsil had sought reassurance multiple times.

Each time, Agreus would only smile ambiguously.

“Arsil abandoned us!”

The hunger that followed abundance had become a pain incomparable to before.

Issi gathered roots and berries as best he could, but they couldn’t satisfy palates accustomed to bread and meat.

Most of the children, even those who had followed Arsil, rose up in protest, shocking Ravin.

“You’re all too excited!”

“When is the support coming? I’m hungry. Let’s go out right now and take anything worth money or anything edible!”

Surprisingly, it was Rufino who was inciting the children.

No one expected such roughness from the one who had been the most frail.

While even Ravin was too shocked to step forward, the person who tried to calm the situation was Rina.

“This will only put us in danger!”

Rina earnestly expressed her opinion.

“Right now, we’re no different from a mob. If we go out and act as you say, we’ll be caught immediately, and the subjugation squad will come. Then we’ll all be slaughtered!”

“Shut up! You’re just a concubine’s daughter with nothing but a pretty face!”

The children of Sewage Alley knew well what kind of person Rina was.

Everyone knew that she had only been called Arsil’s right hand because she insisted on it, and that she was incompetent—it was Issi who had actually supported the group.

“W-what did you say?”

“Get lost, Rina! You acted all high and mighty next to Brak, but on the day of liberation, you were hiding in the back!”

“You… stupid slaves!”

“What? Say that again?”

These were no longer children who would reluctantly follow her.

The eyes of the insulted children changed in an instant, and Rina felt fear and helplessness.

“Hey, everyone calm down! If we’re already fighting among ourselves, we’ll fight when we go outside too.”

Recognizing the seriousness, Ravin tried to soothe them, and though the children were still grumbling, they showed signs of calming down, which shocked Rina deeply.

Biting her lip, she turned and ran away, with Issi chasing after her.

“Rina! Rina!”

“Haa… haa…”

Tired after a short distance, Rina stopped but shed tears in dejection.

Out of concern, Issi took out a soft cloth and offered it, but Rina roughly knocked it away.

“Leave me alone!”

“Rina…”

“You think I’m a fool too, don’t you? That I just rely on my face and talk too much!”

“That’s not true.”

Having been hurt on the day of liberation, he no longer showed the same attentive behavior as before, but he still held Rina in his heart.

However, Rina didn’t recognize his sincerity.

“Useless people everywhere! Just look at you, Retainer Number One. You only make situations worse to the point where your lord has to step in herself. If I had proper retainers, things wouldn’t be like this. It’s all your fault! All your fault!”

“Rina!”

Finally unable to hold back, Issi shouted, causing Rina to stop crying and stare at him blankly.

Getting angry? That Issi?

“I’m not your retainer.”

“Issi…?”

“Even if I were, I’d be a useless one you don’t need.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“I think I’ve done enough for you.”

“Issi, wait…!”

“Take care.”

Issi turned his back on his own.

The significance of this hit Rina hard.

He’s walking away.

Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself grabbing his arm.

“Let go.”

How could this person, this coldness, cut so deeply into her heart?

“Don’t go, Issi. If you leave too, I’ll have no one on my side.”

“I said let go.”

“You said thank you! When I made you my retainer, you definitely said thank you!”

“Sigh.”

Issi exhaled.

“Not anymore.”

No.

Issi pulled his arm free and started to walk away again.

There was no hesitation or lingering in his steps.

“I was wrong!”

Rina crumbled.

She uttered words that a noble would never say.

“Issi… from the moment I arrived, no one liked me. I only had you. Everyone kept criticizing and belittling me, so I had no choice but to put up my defenses!”

“……”

“Issi, please…!”

“…Even so, you went too far.”

Good.

He’s responding.

He’s willing to talk.

Rina desperately seized this opportunity.

“Yes, I was wrong. I won’t do it again. But, but… I can’t do it alone. I need someone to help me, to tell me that I’m changing, that I’m trying to change.”

“Even if I help you, it’s useless if you don’t really change.”

Rina staggered toward him.

She went directly in front of him and met his eyes.

Issi’s heart raced involuntarily at the desperate gaze of the beautiful girl.

They had never looked at each other for so long.

Unlike the boisterous Arsil and Ravin, the feminine girl’s tender gaze easily captivated him, who had no immunity to it.

“I’ll change how I treat you first.”

Her white, slender hand touched Issi’s cheek.

“I’ll treat you as an equal, not a retainer.”

“An equal?”

“Yes, an equal. A relationship where we stand by each other and care for each other.”

The girl cleverly left a loophole in her words, but the boy had no room to notice.

Even if he had, the girl didn’t give Issi time to think.

“For that, you need to become someone meaningful to me.”

“Your words are too difficult.”

“It’s nothing special. No, actually it is special.”

After pondering briefly, Rina smiled brightly at him.

“Rin.”

“What’s that?”

“Your name.”

“What?”

Her smile alone seemed to brighten the surroundings.

And now, with Rina giving Issi a name just for him, his heart felt like it would burst.

“Just calling you Issi makes it hard to see us as equals, right? Since you said you don’t have a name, I gave you one.”

“Why Rin?”

The girl pointed to herself.

“Rina.”

Then she pointed to the boy.

“Rin.”

“Rina, Rin…”

As he repeated dazedly, the girl smiled shyly.

“Hmm, since you’re Issi, maybe it should be Lee Rin? Commoners usually have their surname first.”

“I see. I didn’t know that.”

“It’s natural you wouldn’t know, having lived only here.”

She grasped his arm with both hands.

“Do you like the name?”

The boy nodded sincerely.

“I’m glad.”

Rina gently rested her head on his shoulder.

He could smell both a faint sweat and fragrance.

“We’ll have to leave eventually. But we need preparation. The children don’t understand that.”

Somehow, the hostility had disappeared, replaced by warmth and something that tickled his heart.

“I’ve done so many things wrong that they won’t listen to me now.”

Whispering into his ear so only he could hear, Rina subtly pressed her chest against his arm.

“I’ll change. So please help me.”

She whispers very desperately.

To avoid making mistakes until the end, to regain control, Rina did her best.

After a pause and a deep breath, she engraved one word.

“Rin.”

The boy, embarrassed, could only nod.

The girl embraced him with a dazzling smile.

Issi, no, Rin, intoxicated by the surreal reality, put his arms around Rina’s back.

Inhaling Rina’s fragrant scent deeply, Rin felt that things would truly change from now on.

In a more positive direction.

In many ways regrettable and disappointing, this was how Issi got his name.

And it was also the beginning of a foolish woman who created her first and last regret.