The Boy Who Lives in the Food Waste Dumpster
“Hey! Over there, the trash bin!”
“Ugh.. it stinks. Why does that guy live like that? Would I want to live like that.. If it were me, I’d probably just die..”
These kinds of blunt, derogatory expressions were now familiar to me.
Especially since the Empire’s summers were sweltering — sorting through discarded food before the mold grew and it rotted was far more important to me.
Because there was my younger brother waiting at home, starving, waiting only for me.
“... Keep going.”
Instead, what tore at my heart were the pitying gazes of those who treated the poor like charity. Still, I couldn’t refuse their charity.
“Thank you. Thank you..”
She looked like a young lady from a good family. Someone who didn’t belong in the back alleys where trash and filth reeked.
She was from a completely different world than me — the kind of person who didn’t even feel inferior.
I kept bowing and greeting her until she disappeared from my sight, then finally left.
Receiving three coins for bending my waist for three minutes — it was quite a profitable business.
Three coins — that was enough to buy bread scraps for a few days without having to dig through trash.
“Oppa!”
“... It stinks, so don’t get too close.”
“It’s fine! I don’t mind your smell at all..”
Upon entering the shabby house in the corner of the back alley, my younger sister ran over in a trot and threw herself into my arms with a big hug.
The fear that the food waste smell would seep into my sister and she’d fall into the same life as me, mixed with gratitude.
We sorted the food in the sacks together.
Still, today’s harvest was pretty good. There wasn’t much wasted, and the slightly moldy parts could be cut off with a knife.
“... You worked hard, Oppa.”
After roughly sorting the food, my sister approached me from behind, gently rubbing my shoulders with her hands.
Actually, I didn’t feel the massage, but the feeling of being rewarded for the day wasn’t bad at all.
“How is it? Completely refreshing? Feeling great? Like you’re flying?”
... If only she didn’t overdo it, she’d be even cuter.
Still, she was really bright and cheerful compared to her situation, which was fortunate.
I was the same, but I couldn’t attend even a mediocre academy,
and I hadn’t experienced anything that peers my age had. Always feeling heavy and burdened, sorry.
“... I told you not to think about other things while getting a massage? You’re thinking about being gloomy again, really...”
... Caught. Who my sister is, really perceptive.
My sister had been enthusiastically massaging for about twenty minutes before finally lying on the floor and falling asleep from exhaustion.
This was the perfect timing. Carefully, I took out the book hidden under the bed and sat at the desk.
[Basics of Mana].
It was a book I had scavenged from a trash pile somehow, apparently discarded by some academy freshman.
Aside from a few scribbles in the front pages, the book was in really good condition.
To me right now, it was my second treasure.
With my low status and nothing to my name, the only thing I could do was scavenging trash.
I was getting to know the book with the remaining time.
[Basics of Mana] was a book that easily surpassed 2,000 pages,
and every time I looked at it, I felt awe towards the academy students.
If this was the basics, what incredible things did they learn at the academy?
... I had no intention of going to the academy, but it was still curious.
Of course, knowing the content of this book didn’t make it useful. If commoners could handle mana —
they’d be labeled as ‘witches’ and executed.
It was impossible for a commoner to rise.
In a place like the Empire where the class system was rigid, handling mana as a lowly person was simply unacceptable.
“... Uhn.. Oppa.. don’t go..”
My sister was muttering in her sleep. Recently, she’d been having strange nightmares,
grabbing onto me saying not to leave, waking up suddenly with sweat.
... If I had money or power, I’d take her to a doctor, but I felt too sorry for my sister.
Was she sick? Or was something suddenly separating us? The anxiety kept coming.
Still, there was a solution for this.
Like usual, I gently stroked my sister’s hair and sang the lullaby I liked.
“Mommy is in the shade of the island- ... the baby is left alone- ...”
I had no memory of where I learned it, but whenever I sang that oddly familiar song, my sister would fall back asleep peacefully.
After all, I had no idea what ‘island shade’ was, and the words didn’t make sense.
I didn’t know, but it seemed like some precious gem.
My sister was sleeping quietly again. With a peaceful expression, she looked like an angel...
... I had to work harder for my sister.
A few days later, as usual, I was digging through trash under the midday sun when the sound of horse hooves came from afar.
Hearing horse hooves in this back alley was usually a bad sign.
... Today, I had to leave quickly. I hurriedly stuffed a few things into the sacks and slipped into hiding in the trash bins nearby.
Peeking under the lid, a knight in full platinum armor was shouting loudly.
“Trash bin trash! Listen up! The entire territory has finally become the domain of His Excellency Duke Chatrin — starting today, the back alleys will all be ‘cleaned’ according to His Excellency Duke Chatrin’s orders! Come out without hiding!”
Looking around, several kids I recognized from the back alleys were being grabbed. They’d been beaten badly for resisting, so they had no fighting spirit left.
“From now on, this back alley will be completely redeveloped, and beggars who are no different from intruders will be ordered to leave this place starting today! If they refuse to vacate, they will be executed by order of His Excellency the Duke!”
... Ah, my sister, what am I going to do.
Suddenly, my sister’s face flashed in my mind. My sister.. had to run. Before being caught.
As soon as the thought hit, I kicked the trash bin lid and ran at full speed towards home.
“That guy! Catch that guy!”
“Yes, Sir Patrick!”
“It’s an order from Sir Patrick! Beggars, surrender immediately!”
Running desperately and looking back, a group of knights and mages were chasing me.
... What would catching a trash like me accomplish? But if caught, it wouldn’t end nicely.
“Ice Shot!”
“Flame Arrow!”
The mages’ voices of casting ranged magic echoed.
If hit.. I’d really die. This was it.
“What!”
“... I dodged that?”
Luckily, I guess. Had the heavens helped me when it was like this? I seemed to have dodged well.
No matter how great the knights and mages were, the street smarts I’d gained living in the back alleys for over a decade weren’t gone.
Just barely evading them — I rushed home, breathing heavily.
“Ena! Ena! We have to leave right now!”
Good. It seemed my sister had noticed the situation, hiding under the bed.
... Huh, but.
My sister wasn’t a girl with glowing golden eyes.
... No, no. There was no time to think about that. No matter who looked, that was my sister, Ena.
His Excellency the Great Duke was going to exterminate the beggars in the back alleys — if I got involved, it would be eternal separation.
Ena was safe for now, so I hurriedly grabbed some important items —
Just as I was about to leave, the sound of horse hooves approached the door of the shabby house.
... My life was hopeless.