Boy in the back alley (3)
“You’re a pickpocket.”
Burley spoke from behind Vlad, who was looking frustrated.
“It was awkward, stupid, and incompetent. “That’s why I got caught.”
“······.”
Rather than answering Burray’s words, Vlad was examining the state of the child writhing on the floor.
“Did you cut your finger?”
“no.”
“Did you cut your ankle?”
“no.”
Burley smiled as he saw Vlad asking about the young pickpocket’s condition.
Because he was confident that his cute junior would definitely hand over the silver coins.
“It’s so fresh. I just cleaned it up a bit. “Can I go ahead and eat it raw?”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
“then! “I even beat it up a bit to make it taste good!”
The Jorge family behind them burst into loud laughter as if they thought Burray’s words were funny.
“······good.”
Vlad sighed and took out a shiny silver coin from his pocket.
“also! “I was confident that our proud junior would agree to a deal.”
“Next time, don’t call me, just kill me.”
“Why are you doing this? “We are gang members, not killers.”
“On the topic of people who prey on the same family.”
Even when Vlad, the youngest member, said harsh words, the members of the Jorge family just laughed.
Because they already recognized Vlad, who survived the rough back alleys.
The little brother’s harsh complaints were something that could be tolerated by a man.
“Brothers are going for a drink!”
“Go and catch a venereal disease.”
“As expected, a promising candidate! “Vlad’s stick is spicy and his tongue is sharp!”
“I don’t know if the stick in the middle is spicy too!”
“ha ha ha!”
Moreover, Vlad stood out despite his young age.
No matter where you are, sharp awls are bound to stick out of your pockets.
Vlad, who not only survived unscathed, but also captured young outcasts in the back alleys, had already attracted the attention of various organizations active in the slums.
It is an object of envy for young outcasts in the back alleys who have not yet been called to the organization.
The boy is the number one recruit for organizations in need of talent.
That was the value held by a 16-year-old boy named Vlad.
“wake up. “Before I kill you.”
“Eup-eup······.”
Vlad said, tapping the bound boy with his toes.
“Did you see that I just got ripped off? “Know the mood.”
“huh······.”
Following Vlad’s bloody warning, the dark-skinned child, whose hands were bound and gagged, rolled around on the floor and, with all his might, somehow succeeded in standing up on his own.
“Puh-ha! Sorry Vlad. “I tried to get away with it in moderation.”
Vlad couldn’t tell whether he was sorry for pickpocketing or for getting caught, but he could tell that the black boy in front of him was sincerely apologizing.
Sigh!
“evil!”
“I’m really pissed.”
After vigorously hitting the black boy on the back of the head, Vlad rubbed his eyes with both palms as if he were tired.
“5 gold is getting further away again.”
“Do you need money? Then borrow it. To One-Armed Jack.”
“Rather than borrow money from that person. “I’d rather eat rat poison.”
When the name of another boss who controlled the back alleys like Jorge was mentioned, Vlad shook his head.
“Where did it break?”
“no.”
“Then get the hell out of here, you bastard.”
“Are you going to tell your brother?”
Whether or not he knew that he had almost become a half-asshole, the black boy was simply afraid that his older brother would find out what had happened.
“I will receive 40 silver from your brother.”
“no! Vlad please!”
“Then your brother will give me 40 silver and you, idiot, will get 400 silver.”
Seeing Vlad’s blue eyes unwavering, the black boy smiled fearfully and predicted the coming future.
“Don’t get caught next time…”
“Maybe it’s because I’m stupid, but there’s no progress at all.”
Vlad sent the young pickpocket out of the store with a sullen expression, pledging his next success.
Vlad, who watched the black boy disappear at the end of the back alley, raised his head and looked up at Rose’s smile.
Without the flashy lights, Rose’s smile seemed full of silence.
however.
“······Today is a day when I need someone’s comfort.”
——————
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Today, I killed an innocent customer, heard about the corruption of a bright madam, and even had my money stolen by my seniors.
Normally, I would have gone to sleep with a rose-like smile on my face, but I decided to embrace the bright sunlight just for today.
Vlad moves in the opposite direction the black boy moved.
He could feel a thick fishy smell mixed with water mist through the tip of his nose.
※※※※
Jorge, the knight of the whores.
Money-making one-armed Jack.
Pig Butcher Black Bear.
Dice in a gambling hall.
and whale hunter Captain Hoover.
These five were the bosses who currently ruled the slums of Shoara.
“So you came to see me?”
“Do you have any money?”
And the man named Haven that Vlad came to was a member of the whale hunter Hoover’s organization.
“The first thing you say as soon as you see each other for a long time is, ‘Give me money?’”
“5 gold is enough.”
“If I lend money to the person who robbed me, can I get it back later?”
“There was nothing I could do.”
“no. “You have no credibility.”
Haven shakes his head.
Although Haven had featureless brown hair rather than flashy blonde hair like Vlad, his impression was just as strong as Vlad’s.
“You too are too much. “How can you ask a disabled person who is not physically fit to lend you money?”
It was a small room.
A small room that would be full if two people were sitting in it.
Therefore, even Haven, who was crippled on one foot, was able to retrieve a bottle from the cupboard by relying on a cane.
Even with my left hand, which has only three fingers.
“Eat that and get out. “My brother is busy.”
“Is this okay to eat?”
Vlad opened the bottle and frowned as he smelled a suspicious smell coming from the alcohol.
“This is Captain Hoover’s masterpiece, Captain Q. “If two people drink it, three people will die.”
“I guess I can use it as poison later.”
Vlad gave up drinking the suspicious drink and sat in front of Haven and watched him work.
A small room, an unsightly desk filled with stacks of paper and numbers and letters written densely inside them.
And Haven, who goes through it without stopping.
“Obviously I can read and write, but I don’t know what’s written there.”
“I told you that too.”
“I only know how to read numbers, though.”
“I told you that too.”
A smile stayed in Haven’s eyes as he listened to Vlad’s grumbling words.
Haven was like a benefactor to Zemina and Vlad.
Because he was the one who gave his blanket to Gemina and Vlad, who were rolling around in the back alley when they were children.
If it weren’t for the warmth he provided, Zemina and Vlad would have frozen to death long ago, and if it wasn’t for the bread he stole, they would have starved to death long ago.
“Still, the kid was lucky. “They set pickpockets and cut them here and there, like I did.”
“Hmm. “There are good times, too.”
The three of them made a living by pickpocketing when they were wandering around the back alleys, but that ended when Haven became a half-asshole.
“…So, unlike the last bishop, this bishop is more interested in other things than pickpockets.”
Haven wasn’t so lucky.
This is because the bishop who was in Shoara at that time was sensitive to theft and pickpocketing.
Normally, this would have ended in a beating, but as a demonstration of the bishop’s tendencies, Haven had his fingers cut off and his left ankle slit.
Haven’s pitiful screams echoed through the back alleys, but no one came to protect the young outcast, who was like the dregs of the city.
Fortunately, at a time when Haven was unable to earn a living, Vlad had grown to the point where he could feed the three of them.
In the nick of time, Vlad, Jemina, and Haven were able to survive by feeding each other.
“What did this bishop say he was sensitive to?”
“Pedophilia.”
“Oh, that’s right. ha ha ha! “I remember my Mina making her bolmen noises.”
Depending on the inclinations of each bishop in the city, the doctrines issued by the church changed slightly.
Unlike the previous bishop, the new bishop who was appointed to Shoara five years ago was more interested in children than thieves and pickpockets.
“That’s why Jemina’s debut date was forcibly postponed, right?”
“Madam is being careful. “Because the store is famous, it will attract attention from the church.”
It was natural for young girls in the back alleys who had nothing to sell but their bodies to engage in prostitution, regardless of their age.
However, all of that was banned due to the newly appointed bishop five years ago.
Anyone who has sex with a girl who is not an adult will be excommunicated.
Because this was the main doctrine put forward by this bishop.
Unfortunately or fortunately, as a result, Jemina, who has not yet become an adult, ends up doing nothing more than washing dishes.
Perhaps, until she reaches her age, Jemina will have no choice but to remain a virgin under the protection of the church and her madam.
“What a chaste wannabe whore! What a pregnant virgin! ha ha ha!”
“Besides, my body still hasn’t grown at all. Even if Jemina becomes an adult, she will definitely be excommunicated if she sleeps with that guy, right?”
“Hehehe! “He won’t grow up until he dies, right?”
Haven, who had been giggling about Gemina for a while, was smiling but unconsciously looking at the wall.
cell.
When I cleared away the smell of dust and paper and concentrated, there was a smell that could be felt.
It was the smell of the river.
Captain Hoover’s base, which mainly engaged in smuggling, was located on the dockside, and beyond the wall facing Haven was the river that fed the city of Shoara.
A river that is wide and green and can go anywhere.
Unlike Haven, who was tied up here.
“what. “Just like my Mina can’t grow up until she dies, I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of here until I die.”
“······.”
Vlad felt sad that he couldn’t say no to Haven’s words.
“By the way, Vlad, there was something I wanted to say to you.”
“huh?”
The brilliant Haven looked over his shoulder and learned how to read and understand numbers.
I did this because I knew that I could survive if I carried more things than others.
Because he was such a bright Haven, he was able to get a job even though he was physically uncomfortable.
Because Haven was such a brilliant person, even though he was in a small room, he was able to understand the letters and numbers written on the documents and how Shoara worked.
“be careful.”
“what?”
“I heard there was someone playing with a candle at Rose’s Smile this time?”
“······Has it already spread here?”
Although it was somehow alleviated by Vlad’s improvisation, the players were probably aware of it all.
The fact that the only person who can touch the candle is Madame Marcella.
“Marcella is not that type of person.”
“yes.”
“If you did it even though you weren’t the type of person to do that, it means there was a reason you had to do it.”
“reason?”
Vlad looked at Haven through the shaking bottle of wine.
“I guess you need money. Marcela. And that too in a hurry.”
Haven’s face was distorted as he looked through the sticky brown liquid.
“There is only one case when an organization is in a hurry to raise money. “Vlad.”
Haven spoke to Vlad in a serious voice.
“Only when there is a war with another organization.”
“······.”
Vlad had nothing to say in response after hearing Haven’s words.
All I did was shake a bottle of alcohol.
※※※※
“Be careful.”
These were Haven’s last words to Vlad, who was getting up with a bottle of alcohol.
But even if he had heard the warning, there was no way Vlad could have been careful.
“Wow… the alcohol tastes really dirty.”
This was a place where you had to take something from someone else to survive, and to take it from someone, you had to hurt someone.
In the meantime, it is inevitable that you will get hurt.
“Two people eat together and three people die.”
Maybe I will die.
This back alley was where the moth-like beings who lived with such danger gathered.
And Vlad also knew that very well.
That you are also just one of the fleeting moths.
“It shines…”
Although his vision was fading due to strong alcohol, there was one shining thing shining through Vlad’s eyes.
The boy stood in front of it and looked at the endlessly shining thing.
“······It’s a light worth 5 gold.”
Although he was comforting himself with cheap solo drinks in a dark back alley that was difficult to escape from, the boy was still looking at the stars.
Like a moth chasing a fire.
I stared at the old blacksmith shop for a long time.
