Chapter 19: I just wanna go home

"Say no more, young man."

"What!? 'Young man'!? Show some respect!"

"I get it. He must have… Well, I must have committed crimes… in the past. To you and, uh, I… Well, yeah, there you have it. Now let me go."

"I'm talking to you here! Is that how you reply?!"

"Look now. You're not my enemy. Just piss off."

"W-What the— What the actual fuck!? You'll show some respect—Ugh!"

Brushing the guy's arms off, I punched him in the stomach and ran away. Honestly, I didn't know what I was expecting. What should I do now? Touch grass? No, eat it? Or leaves? Dirt, even? Maybe I should wait for the stupid older brothers who abandoned that little guy back in the dark? Maybe my Bro-Ther-Thieves team would come back for me, the Tiny Bro guy. No, they thought I had died.

I ran away to the back alley, not thinking of any better place to go. There, I lay on the ground, still hoping someone would come for me. I dozed off trying to forget the pain. An hour later, I woke up and sneezed. And like a mechanical lifeless robot, I mustered enough strength to get on my legs, then set off to who knew where. I didn't think of any destination, I just thought I'd go.

❮ The new Passive Skill [Pain Resistance] has been acquired. ❯

Oh, so that's why I felt it more faintly.

❮ The Player has reached level 41! ❯

Glad to still be going.

Without really knowing why, maybe because I was used to strolling anywhere in that wide and lively street, I was back in the commercial alley. For a reason I knew about, then, I was headed to the East. Leaving aside my miserable starvation, I was now thirsty, too. To the East lay the closest river. Hence why I went that way. The commercial alley though? I could have just avoided that big street. If anything, walking down that path was more of torture than anything. There were so many kinds of different tasty foods and ingredients around—

Suddenly, my hand went on its own and snatched a fresh apple from the stalls I walked past at present.

"Hey, you!" I had no indications of what to do now. But then again, my body went into the running-for-dear-life mode on its own. I didn't spare a single glance at anything around me. I just hugged my apple tightly, tilted my head forward, and dashed away. My footsteps echoed behind me, I sensed stirring from the stall I stole from. People ran after me. 'Times of difficulties and wars.' That's what the young man said. Maybe they'd catch me? Worrying about tomorrow's problems, I neglected today's own. My footsteps failed me, I fell crashing to the ground. A smarting sensation of pain came from my left cheek, shoulder, and flank.

Everyone around turned to look at the thief boy who had just fallen. Resentment swelled up inside me. I gritted my teeth in fury. I managed to hold back my tears of frustration.

Soon, someone caught up to me. "Think I wasn't watching you! Brat! Have the decency to ask at least!" As tight as I held it, my fresh apple still rolled off my arms, and down to the angry fat merchant. Leaning in, he picked up his goods, then stomped on my hand. "You keep your filthy hands to yourself, next time, humph! You little—"

And then, she spoke up for me. "You should stop. I believe the kid's understood."

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The fat merchant complained. The kid didn't understand, he said. He was in fact right. I didn't understand any of it. That's too bad I had no sword on me and no vigor left. But the ma'am who stepped up in my defense shook her head, insisting the kid had understood. Even if I didn't understand my lesson anyway, the way he treated me wouldn't resolve anything.

"He has… absolutely not! Time and time again he's been caught stealing—"

"Despite all that, please, back away, Sir Merchant."

And that's how I was saved. That's how I met her, and that's how I would always remember her. That kind ma'am—she was the best. Though I have to say, earlier in life, I was taught by a swordsman that 'Might makes right.' If you were strong, you just did as you pleased. If you were weak, you just suffered under the mighty. Hence why I agreed more with Sir Merchant than the kind ma'am. Still, I was glad I was saved.

When her eyes met mine, she gave me a bedazzling smile. That smile alone was enough to give a healthy reddish color back to my pale complexion. I felt the warmth of her kindness washing all over me and meekly smiled back to the lovely madam.

I was still on the ground, but she helped me up. She grabbed my hand and didn't let go of it. She didn't address me so much as a word, most likely because her smile was welcoming enough. And just like that, she started to walk. Timidly, I followed behind her, her warm hand covering mine. To be honest, I didn't quite understand what was happening. I mean, what was the point of her doing that? Being so overwhelmed by her kindness, however, I just followed her lead.

Following her, I went from stall to stall. Each coming after the other. I did, or rather, we did that for quite a long time. Seeing she didn't address me any words first, I didn't ask any questions. She seemed to make supplies of ingredients of all sorts. She bought some kinds of food, but she was mostly after seasonings. At some point, she did let go of my hand, patting my head gently. She was carrying more and more ingredients by the minute. As if it were totally natural, she also started to hand over some ingredients to me. I could help her with the carrying, so I was glad. As she didn't impose them on me, I didn't refuse them. With each item she handed over to me, she first gave me the kind of look who asks whether I could still carry more, and each time, I confidently nodded at her, with determined eyes.

Half an hour passed, and our itinerary reached its end. She stopped by yet another selling stand, but the place where the owner should be was free of any people. Shall we try and steal some food from that reckless person's place? Certainly not. The idea didn't cross my mind. After all, it was obvious the stand was hers. Arriving there, she put all she had of bags on the elevated counter, she turned to me and knelt. "Will you give me those?" she asked gently. Not before I extended the bags to her and nodded did she hold her hands and take her goods.

Taking it all on her, she brought it to her counter with the rest of her goods. Quickly, she turned yet another time to me. We faced each other, and now, she would talk. "See, today, kiddo, we worked," she started to explain, playfully showing off her arm muscles. "It was painful, boring, tiring, and everything… Can you tell?"

I nodded.

"Right. It was really hard and tedious, aren't I correct? Yet, you kept at it and actually helped me out with all those items you see over there. Without you, kiddo, I couldn't have done it all by myself! Thanks for the help. Yes. Today, we worked. We earned our resting time. And you stuck to helping me without running away like a thief, or giving up like a loser. And… seriously, look at you. I can feel pain just by looking at that frail figure of yours. You had all those painfully heavy things to carry, and it was hard, yet you chose to be honest, a good and honest boy, and didn't steal nor harm me. I mean, you could have. Right? Or maybe not since my arms are so big~ Heh-heh… But still, you were a great boy. I'm, and it isn't only me, proud of you. I know you're hungry," she took something out of her pocket and gently placed it on top of my head. "Being hungry is tough. But hey, you worked with me, honestly at that, so you earned your share. Your fair share. Aren't I correct? In life, kiddo, everything has a price. Right now, you just earned it, the price. So smile away."

Was she educating me? I thanked her for it. I accepted her food—no, my food, as she said I earned it and began gnawing it. I thanked her for it, really. Still, however, the fact remained.

"Say, ma'am?"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Where is the monsters' home, ma'am? I'm tired of all of this. I want to get back home, ma'am."

Hearing what I just said, her eyes teared up. I was guessing she was thinking of how sad it was that the boy in front of her, the boy that was so young, even came to call himself a monster. But she was mistaken. I really was a monster.

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