Chapter 64
Chapter 64
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Befriending Street Kids
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lianus began to tense up, wondering if he was already being singled out by the kids the moment he walked in.
The boy scanned the other children in the room, as if checking if anyone knew Lianus. But since none of the other kids had ever seen him before either, no one spoke up.
Lianus hesitantly opened his mouth.
"I... came here with my older brother."
"From another village?"
"Yeah."
"How'd you know to come to the guards?"
"My brother told me to come here if anything happened."
"Where's your brother now?"
"I lost him..."
Lianus knew he wasn't a good actor, so he hung his head low. This was all advice from Nihil.
The boy smirked at him.
"Idiot, he ditched you."
"...Huh?"
"You're abandoned, you moron."
"No!"
Lianus froze at the unfamiliar insults of "idiot" and "moron," then realized he was supposed to get angry about being abandoned and yelled out.
The boy started scolding him like he was pathetic.
"Around here, you don't believe lines like 'Wait here, I'll come back for you.' You think kids like you are the only ones dumped? Your brother probably got sick of you and left on his own."
"But he definitely said he'd come find me here at the guards."
"Man, you don't get it. That was a lie to ditch you."
The boy thumped his chest in frustration. Lianus's mind grew tangled, unsure how much more to argue.
Nihil had said if he ran out of things to say, either keep his head down and stay silent or just burst into tears. Was this that moment?
Lianus tried squeezing out some tears, but his eyes only felt drier, so he decided to just keep his head down. Luckily, Nihil's advice worked—the boy stopped berating him.
With a slightly softened tone, the boy spoke again.
"Well... maybe he'll really come. But if you're on your own, we'll let you join our gang, so don't be too bummed. You know how to pickpocket or steal?"
"...No."
"Then you've just been begging?"
"Begging?"
"Yeah, begging for scraps."
"...Never done that."
Lianus shook his head while wondering if he should lie and say he had.
The boy frowned suspiciously.
"So what have you been eating?"
"...What my brother gave me."
It wasn't wrong—he'd eaten what Nihil packed—but saying it like this made him sound like he was mooching off Nihil, which felt weird.
Sure, Nihil packed things for him, but if anything, wasn't Lianus the one taking care of Nihil's meals?
The boy didn't see it that way and gave him another pitiful look.
"Yep, totally abandoned! Can't steal, can't pickpocket, can't even beg! What can you do? Your brother must've gotten tired of feeding you and bailed! I'd ditch you too!"
"No! My brother likes me!"
"How would you know?"
"He said he likes me!"
He'd even said it today. Really likes him.
The deeper meaning was liking to tease or carry him around, but he'd said "likes," and that was that.
He does like me, right?
Lianus tried rationalizing it to himself but felt a twinge of anxiety. Nihil treated him well, but maybe it was just pity—after all, he had nowhere else to go and got full meals.
To shake off the unease, Lianus muttered softly.
"Nil... likes me..."
At that moment, a faint tap echoed from somewhere.
Lianus thought he'd misheard at first and tried to ignore it, but another tap followed. It was such a tiny noise that only someone with senses like Lianus or Bella could catch it.
Suddenly, he recalled the conversation with Nihil the night before coming to Sharton Street.
'Just in case we can't talk, let's set up some simple signals. If I tap once or make any sound, it means "Do whatever you want."
'What kind of sound?'
'Any sound. Could be tapping the wall or snapping fingers. One sound means "do whatever," two in a row means "yes," three means "no."'
"...Two is yes..."
As he mumbled it, another tap sounded, like praise for remembering right.
With conviction and a bit of longing, Lianus emphasized again.
"Yeah, my brother likes me. A lot!"
Without hesitation, another crisp tap rang out—like Nihil's straightforward style.
Lianus's mood soared.
The boy eyed his sudden cheerfulness like he was some weirdo, then grumbled, "If someone took in a useless kid like you, the others would complain." He insisted Lianus's brother had to come get him.
After this exchange, the kids seemed convinced Lianus wasn't a threat and started chatting with him one by one. Most asked about the cat, and Bella played along, flopping over to ham it up.
"Is that your cat?"
"Can I pet it?"
"Kitty's cute."
"Ibon brother said not to touch animals 'cause of germs..."
"Move over, I wanna see."
"Meow!"
"Ack, Bri, don't get close—come here!"
The break room grew noisy in no time. Worried Bella might not escape unwanted pets, Lianus scooped her up protectively.
Bella nuzzled his cheek with a purr, drawing coos from all around.
"So you're the one raising that cat?"
"Uh? Oh, yeah."
Lianus absentmindedly agreed to one kid's question. No street kid short on food would tote a cat around, but calling her a stray wouldn't fly—too many giveaways.
Soon, a circle formed around Lianus and Bella. A few kids hung back, but most clustered to see her. Lianus wondered if Nihil had sent Bella not for protection, but to win the kids over easily.
"Knew it! Never seen a cat this friendly."
"Yeah, strays are too busy stealing food or digging trash."
"Sis, this one's clean!"
"Bri, come here!"
"Hey, can I pet it once?"
"Hey! Then who's feeding the cat?"
"Uh, huh?"
Lianus floundered amid the barrage when a little kid, clinging to an older girl, piped up.
"Is the kitty emergency rations?"
"...What?"
In the Harpen Kingdom, eating cats wasn't a thing, so the innocent prince's eyes shook at the thought of poor kids hunting them.
Bella meowed.
Lianus snapped back and frantically shook his head.
"N-No! We don't eat it! It's not food! You can't eat cats."
"Then what does it eat? What're you feeding the kitty? Does big bro handle it?"
"Uh, y-yeah. My brother does."
"Your bro's brother is awesome!"
"Yeah, super awesome."
In seconds, Nihil became "the boy head of household feeding his sibling and cat," but Lianus beamed at the praise for his friend and started bragging about his "awesome brother."
Thanks to that, the kids' attention shifted from the cat to the "awesome brother."
"Does your brother pickpocket or steal good?"
"No! He doesn't do that stuff!"
Lianus realized his mistake too late.
He'd snapped because they were calling Nihil a thief, but pickpocketing and stealing were how these kids survived day-to-day.
Nihil had even packed a wallet for pickpocketing just in case.
To them, it was normal, life itself—and he'd dismissed it as "that stuff."
Lianus ducked his head, fearing he'd ruined things. But the kids didn't seem bothered, maybe figuring it was a lie.
"So how does he get food?"
"H-Huh?"
"No stealing or pickpocketing—where's he getting meals? Is your brother pretty?"
"H-Huh? How'd you know? My brother's really pretty..."
"Ah..."
Suddenly, all the kids looked at Lianus with pity.
Confused by the shift, Lianus blinked, but Bella got it and thumped her paw on his forehead with a long, drawn-out "Meeeooow."
"Ha... Your brother... Nah, better you don't know. Maybe he's out working right now."
Lianus tilted his head.
Where would Nihil—probably hiding and watching—have gone to "work"?
He couldn't fathom their looks. He glanced at Bella for clues, but she sprawled limp on his lap like whatever.
The boy patted his shoulder.
"How 'bout learning to steal for your brother's sake? Market folks are nice and overlook some stuff. Guards are super kind too. This used to be their break room, but they cleared out for us. That bread's from a guard bro, right?"
The kid nodded at the bread Lianus had been holding.
"We all ate that. You haven't touched yours?"
"...Oh, yeah..."
Lianus wasn't hungry—he'd eaten lunch recently—and he'd promised only to eat what Nihil gave him.
To win them over, he cautiously offered the bread.
"Here... wanna share it?"
"What? For real?"
"Yeah, it's yours."
"Sweet!"
Fearing it'd vanish, the kid snatched it and divvied it up among his group. Watching the quick grab, Lianus finally got why the guard had eyed him weirdly for refusing.
"You're a real good guy!"
Lianus's eyes trembled slightly at the kids sparkling over mere bread.
"...Don't follow people just 'cause they give you food."
"I won't follow you, so it's fine."
"Oh... okay."
"You gave us bread, so I'll teach you the ropes special-like."
The boy introduced himself as Kane and started chattering away. Lianus nodded eagerly at everything, asking questions, which egged him on—soon other kids joined in.
Kane spilled tips on thieving and pickpocketing, shops to never hit, why not to wander Sharton Street at night, how many kid gangs there were and their sizes, even which ones got along or hated each other.
None of it helped Lianus much, but it was fascinating—he peppered them with questions. Mostly, it thrilled him to chat with peers for the first time in ages.