About Gutter Alley, Part 6
One week.
That was all the time it took for starvation to return.
"They said the Holy Kingdom would support us. They promised the food would never stop."
Arciel had been brimming with joy when she said those words to everyone who gathered to see her off.
Yet now, both Labin and Rina lay huddled on the floor, shivering from hunger.
"They said the demons are ravaging the world. Since I can use holy power, since I'm the Saint, I have to go to the Holy Kingdom to train. I have to prepare for the Hero's party that will be formed one day and defeat the Demon King. If we don't save the world, this place won't be safe either."
Because Agreus had spoken of demons and heroes so often it became a habit, everyone had nodded along back then.
Beneath his exaggerated rhetoric, the children had grown terrified of the demons and the Demon King they had never even seen.
Faced with such a grand, noble cause, Lee had no choice but to accept Arciel's departure.
"I'll definitely come back here. I don't know how long it will take, but I will return. Lee... I want you to wait for me."
Terrified that he might vanish in her absence, Arciel had gripped his hand tightly, her voice trembling with tears—a rare sight for her.
In response, Lee had held out a tiny hairpin.
"What is this...?"
"I realized I've never really given you anything besides food. I found it in the forest, but... haha, sorry. Even at a time like this, there isn't much I can do for you."
"No! That's not true."
Arciel had accepted the hairpin as if it were a priceless treasure.
"I'm so happy."
It was an expression he had never seen on her face before.
Labin had been jealous, but she decided to let it slide since it was a farewell.
However, as Agreus watched the two of them, a subtle displeasure lingered beneath his gentle smile.
'This place is a shackle to the Saint.'
"Goodbye, Arciel!"
"We'll wait for you!"
"We won't have to starve anymore, right?"
The children called out their farewells one by one.
Arciel waved back, fighting to hold back her tears.
"You're really... really going to help our alley, right?"
Arciel had sought reassurance over and over again.
And every time, Agreus had only offered a faint, enigmatic smile.
"That bitch Arciel abandoned us!"
The starvation that followed their brief period of abundance brought a pain incomparable to what they had suffered before.
Lee did everything he could to gather roots and wild berries, but it was not enough to satisfy appetites that had grown accustomed to bread and meat.
When the majority of the children—even those who had once followed Arciel blindly—began to revolt, even Labin was at a loss.
"You guys are getting way too worked up!"
"When the hell is the support coming?! I'm starving! Let's go out right now and steal everything we can eat or sell!"
Surprisingly, the one inciting the children was Rufino.
No one had expected the frailest boy among them to show such a savage side.
While even Labin stood frozen in shock, the one who stepped forward to calm the situation was Rina.
"Doing this will only put us in danger!"
Rina desperately tried to make them listen.
"Right now, we're no different from a mob. If we go out and do what you're suggesting, they'll track us down immediately and send a subjugation force. We'll all be slaughtered!"
"Shut up! You're just the daughter of a concubine who has nothing going for her but her face!"
The children of Gutter Alley already knew exactly who Rina was.
Everyone knew she had only been called Arciel's right hand because she insisted on it. In reality, she was useless, and it was Lee who had actually supported the gang.
"W-what did you say?"
"Get lost, Rina! You acted all high and mighty next to Brack, and on the day of our liberation, you just hid in the back!"
"You... you stupid, lowborn trash!"
"What? Say that again!"
The children were no longer willing to tolerate her, not even out of obligation.
The moment they felt insulted, the look in their eyes shifted dangerously. Rina was seized by a sudden wave of terror and helplessness.
"Hey, calm down! If we're fighting among ourselves already, how are we going to handle anything outside?"
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Labin stepped in to soothe them. When the children, though still huffing, actually began to quiet down, Rina felt a profound shock.
Biting her lip, she spun around and ran off. Lee immediately chased after her.
"Rina! Rina!"
"Pant... pant..."
Exhausted, Rina stopped before she had gone very far, weeping in bitter humiliation.
Feeling sorry for her, Lee pulled out a soft cloth and offered it, but Rina slapped it away.
"Leave me alone!"
"Rina..."
"You think I'm an idiot too, don't you? That I'm all talk and nothing but a pretty face!"
"That's not true."
Although he had been hurt on the day of their liberation and no longer showed her the same overt affection, he still held a place for Rina in his heart.
But Rina refused to see his sincerity.
"You're all a bunch of useless trash! Just look at you, my supposed 'Number One Retainer.' You let things get so bad that your lord had to step in directly. If I had proper retainers, none of this would have happened. It's all your fault! Every single bit of it is your fault!"
"Rina!"
Finally unable to take it anymore, Lee raised his voice. Rina froze, her tears stopping instantly as she stared at him blankly.
He was yelling? Lee?
"I am not your retainer."
"Lee...?"
"And even if I were, I'm just a useless bastard, so you don't need me anyway."
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"I think I've done more than enough for you."
"Lee, wait...!"
"Goodbye."
Lee turned his back on her.
The weight of that gesture hit Rina like a physical blow.
He was walking away.
Panic seized her, and before she knew it, she had reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Let go."
Who was he to make her feel this way? Why did his coldness cut so deeply into her chest?
"Don't go, Lee. If you leave me too, I won't have anyone on my side."
"I told you to let go."
"You said thank you! When I said I'd make you my retainer, you definitely said thank you!"
Lee let out a heavy sigh.
"Not anymore."
No.
Lee pulled his arm free and started to walk away again.
There was no hesitation in his steps, no lingering attachment.
"I was wrong!"
Rina broke down.
She uttered words that a noble would never deign to speak.
"Lee... from the moment I first came here, nobody liked me. You were the only one. Everyone kept talking down to me and trying to tear me apart, so I had to put up my thorns!"
"..."
"Lee, please...!"
"...Even so, you went too far."
He answered.
He was willing to talk.
He was willing to listen.
Rina clung to that sliver of hope with desperate intensity.
"Yes, I was wrong. I won't do it again. But... but I can't do this alone. I need someone to help me change, someone to guide me."
"Even if I help you, it won't matter unless you truly want to change."
Rina stumbled toward him.
She stepped directly in front of him, forcing him to meet her gaze.
Looking into the pleading eyes of such a beautiful girl, Lee's heart skipped a beat in spite of himself.
They had never stared at each other for this long before.
Unlike the tomboyish Arciel and Labin, Rina possessed a delicate, feminine allure. Her soft, pleading gaze easily captivated the inexperienced boy.
"I'll start by changing how I treat you."
A pale, slender hand brushed against Lee's cheek.
"I won't treat you like a retainer anymore. We'll be equals."
"Equals?"
"Yes, equals. A relationship where we stay by each other's side and care for one another."
The girl had cleverly left a loophole in her words, but the boy was in no state to notice.
And even if he could have, she gave him no time to think.
"For that to happen, you need to become someone meaningful to me."
"You're using too many complicated words."
"It's nothing major. Actually, maybe it is."
After a moment's thought, Rina offered him a radiant smile.
"Rin."
"What's that?"
"It's your name."
"What?"
Her smile alone seemed to brighten the dreary surroundings.
But now that she had even bestowed a name upon him, Lee felt as though his heart might burst.
"Calling you 'Lee' all the time doesn't sound like we're equals, does it? Since you said you didn't have a name, I decided to give you one."
"Why Rin?"
The girl pointed to herself.
"Rina."
Then she pointed to the boy.
"Rin."
"Rina, Rin..."
As he repeated the names blankly, the girl gave a shy laugh.
"Well, since your family name is Lee, I guess it would be Lee Rin? Commoners usually put their family names first."
"I see. I didn't know that."
"Of course you didn't. You've only ever lived in this place."
She took his arm in both of her hands.
"Do you like the name?"
The boy nodded with earnest sincerity.
"I'm glad."
With that, Rina gently rested her head against his shoulder.
He caught the faint scent of sweat mixed with her sweet fragrance.
"We have to leave this place eventually. But we need to prepare first. The other kids don't understand that."
Before they knew it, the hostility had melted away, replaced by a warm, tickling sensation in his chest.
"I've made too many mistakes. If I try to tell them now, they won't listen to me."
Whispering so that only he could hear, Rina subtly pressed her chest against his arm.
"I'll change. So please, help me."
Her whisper was desperately pleading.
Rina did her absolute best to ensure she didn't slip up, determined to slip the leash back over his neck.
Taking a brief pause, she drew a deep breath and whispered a single syllable, engraving it into his mind.
"Rin."
Flushed with embarrassment, the boy could only nod.
The girl wrapped her arms around him, her smile dazzling.
Lee—no, Rin—wrapped his arms around Rina's back, intoxicated by a reality that felt too good to be true.
Inhaling her sweet scent, Rin felt a premonition that everything would truly change from this moment on.
And that it would change for the better.
Though it was a bittersweet and painful memory in hindsight, this was how Lee had received his name.
It was also the beginning of a foolish woman who had sown the seeds of her own first and final regret.