Interactions In The Slums

“You bastard!! You think you can lay a hand on us and get away with it? The Crows are backing us!! Hey, hey, stop, don’t!!”

“Crows? I don’t get it. Are they going to save you right now?”

The last one of the trio. He should choose whether he was going to act tough or be scared.

“H-higi?! S-stop—”

Tooyama grabbed his neck with all his strength, drove a knee into his stomach, and grabbed the back of his head as it bent forward like the character ku.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Let go! Gyabe—”

He smashed the guy’s face into the wall and crushed it.

Tooyama muttered.

“So weak. Huh, they’re not dead, right?”

The man collapsed face-first with a slide.

There was far too little resistance. Even though they still seemed like brats around eighteen, all of them were taller than Tooyama.

And yet he had beaten all of them so easily that it worried him.

They were far too weak. What was this?

“All right, he’s breathing… Yeah, well, if you die from this, then it means you were weak.”

He dragged the three, who had fainted with their eyes rolled back, and gathered them in one place. If he piled them up against the wall, they would not get in the way.

“Still, they’re seriously light. Hmm… Are they malnourished? But they’re tall… Still, for their height, are they thin? Hmm.”

Tooyama tilted his head after grabbing one by the leg and piling up three humans as casually as taking out the morning trash.

“Cough, cough… H-how did you…?”

“Oh, found my wallet. Good, good. Huh? Hey, shitty brat. What a nice state you’re in. Looks like the kite snatched the fried tofu from you too. I’ll be taking back what you swiped from me.”

“…Ugh. …Do it.”

“Huh?”

“…The moment I started pickpocketing, I was ready for it… You’re going to kill me, right? Do it in one go, damn it…”

“Heh, shitty brat. So even a petty thief has a petty thief’s pride. I see, I see.”

“…I’m jealous of strong guys like you… If I were as strong as you, damn it…”

“Hmph, getting praised by a petty thief doesn’t make me happy. And I’m not particularly strong. No matter how you think about it, they’re just too weak. Well, the most miserable one is you, getting beaten up by such weak guys.”

“…Damn it, damn it.”

Now, what should he do?

Honestly, after beating those three stupid-looking guys to a pulp, Tooyama’s insanity switch, which had been lit, had calmed down quite a bit.

Besides, the pickpocket boy was in that state. It seemed he had been hurt badly. His face was covered in bruises, scrapes, and blood.

“This would be bullying the weak…”

He had planned to absolutely beat him to a pulp once he caught him, but since he was far too injured, Tooyama thought a little. Besides, this pickpocket was quite—

“…Hey, petty thief. How old are you?”

“Cough… Eleven… What, are you going to break bones equal to my age? Heh, sounds like an adventurer’s way of doing things.”

He’s a kid… A fifth grader.

Tooyama seriously struggled as he looked at the kid, who had resolved himself far too much.

This was extremely hard to do.

If he had height, or if he had the visibly scummy air of those guys from earlier, Tooyama could have happily beaten him down, but this was hard to do.

His features were young, and now that his hat had come off, his face was clearly visible.

It was a well-shaped face. His eyes were round, his nose was small but nicely shaped. His lips were glossy too, almost like—

“Are you a boy? Or a girl?”

Judging from the way he ran, his athletic ability, and his bone structure, Tooyama guessed he was a boy, but his face was so androgynous that it was hard to tell.

If he were told the kid was a girl, he would fully believe it. If he was a boy, he would probably be very popular when he grew up. How enviable.

“I’m a boy… Damn it, if I had sharp eyes like yours, I wouldn’t get looked down on either…”

“Ohh, thanks for putting it tactfully. Haah, this is kind of hard to do.”

Tooyama crouched down beside the boy, who was still lying on the ground. He tried to match his gaze as much as possible.

“Why did you steal money from me? Don’t you understand that if you keep pickpocketing, you’ll end up like this someday?”

He asked the boy.

In order to confirm something.

“Heh, hehe. Would someone like you, living properly on the surface, understand? The pain of eating rat corpses to survive hunger, or what it feels like when a little kid smaller than yourself, a kid who was calling you brother until yesterday, starves to death!! Cough, cough!!”

“Unlike Rida and Niko, I don’t have brains or charm… So I pickpocket, do whatever I can, and earn money! So they can eat their fill—cough!!”

He was desperate. Narrowing his eyes and twisting his lips in self-mockery, the boy shouted.

It was painful to see, and somehow noble as well.

But either way, the fact that he was a filthy thief had not changed. And yet, he was also a kid. A kid who knew nothing.

“Ahh, that’s enough. I get it.”

So it was as he thought.

This was becoming harder and harder for Tooyama.

Without thinking, he covered his face.

He had heard it.

Following the arrow’s guidance, when he entered this ruined-looking townscape far removed from the main streets and found the boy, he had heard it while sneaking up.

He had heard why this boy was pickpocketing. Tooyama had held his breath and listened to his exchange with the guys who were now unconscious and motionless.

“…Haah, what should I do?”

Beating up people who pissed him off was one of Tooyama’s desires. So he had no intention of lying about that.

But unlike usual, that impulse that would normally scorch his body—Tooyama’s desire—did not have much motivation right now.

“Luca?! Luca!!”

“Wait, no way! Luca!!”

“Huh?”

As he was troubled over what to do, new voices came.

A slightly low boy’s voice, and a high-pitched girl’s voice.

“Rida… Niko… Sorry… I messed up.”

“Luca…?! Hey, you there!! What did you do to Luca!!”

A red-haired girl with a short bob. She looked strong-willed, with sharp eyes. She was probably around the same age as this pickpocket brat.

She wore a shabby outfit made of a ragged skirt and tunic.

This was getting troublesome.

Tooyama frowned a little. In this situation, from the outside, it could indeed look like Tooyama was tormenting the boy.

And judging from the state of those two, the boy and girl were probably companions of this petty thief.

Now, what should he do? As Tooyama considered how to respond—

“Wait, Niko… Don’t shout. Look around carefully.”

The one who admonished the girl was a boy with clipped hair and a somewhat mature air.

His darkly tanned skin and narrow eyes made him look a little older than he was.

“Huh?! Around… Ah! Those guys… The older ones, the vulgar ones who were bragging the other day about getting work from the Crows!”

The girl noticed the guys piled up with their eyes rolled back.

“Those guys are down, Luca is down, and that brother there, judging by his clothes, shouldn’t be someone from the slums… So that’s what happened. Luca!! You pickpocketed again, didn’t you!!”

The clipped-hair boy shouted loudly at the pickpocket brat.

Eh, huh…? What kind of thought process led to that conclusion?

Tooyama silently watched the situation.

“Eh, wait, what do you mean?! Rida, explain!”

“It’s simple reasoning. Not only Luca, but every one of those blockheads are down. There’s an unharmed surface resident in good clothes here. No matter how you think about it, Luca can’t beat those blockheads. From the situation, Luca probably nearly had his pickpocketing loot stolen by those blockheads, and then this brother, whose wallet Luca had stolen, appeared and beat the blockheads down for him.”

“You’re smart.”

Tooyama laughed a little. The boy’s prediction, spoken quickly, was completely correct.

“Eh, th-then that person helped Luca? I-I-I’m sorry!! I misunderstood!! I spoke so rudely to someone who helped us!”

The girl seemed more honest than he had expected. With teary eyes, she bowed her head again and again.

“Gh, I know I’m saying something convenient!! Judging by your clothes, I take you for a proper adventurer or traveler!! Please, that idiot there is my younger sworn brother!! His mistake is my responsibility!! Put the penalty for the pickpocketing on me!! Direct everything at me! You can punch me or kick me!”

The clipped-hair boy seemed to steel himself as he knelt down on the ground and pressed his head hard against the stone pavement.

It was close to a dogeza.

“S-stop it, both of you. Hey, you, it was me. I’m the one who did everything wrong. So if you’re going to kill someone, kill only me. Please. I know I’m being selfish, but those two are good people, so…”

The ragged pickpocket brat crawled along the ground, lifted his body, and directed a thin voice at Tooyama.

“Luca!! Shut up! Brother! I’m the oldest among these guys! Please, make me handle it somehow, somehow!”

“Wait, stop, wait! I don’t want this! I don’t want Luca or Rida to die! I don’t want you to die! Waaah!!”

The short-haired boy pressed his head to the ground, the pickpocket brat became ragged and tearful but tried to take responsibility for his actions, and the brown-haired girl with a short bob looked between the two of them in confusion and burst into tears.

Surrounded by three children who, from Tooyama’s perspective, could be called kids, and begged in tearful voices,

Tooyama instinctively placed a hand on his face.

“S-so hard to dooo…”

This was impossible.

Completely disarmed, Tooyama sighed as he checked the contents of the leather pouch.

While wondering how much food bought here would cost.

…………

……

…

“A-am I dreaming? Niko, is this a dream?”

“I-I-I don’t know! I don’t understand what’s going on either!”

“…………Looks tasty.”

The boys and girl opened their eyes wide and groaned.

The central district of the slums, an illegal shop area, mainly filled with people who could no longer do proper business in the adventure city, or people who never intended to do proper business from the start.

“Here you go, thanks for your business. Scrap meat skewers for three people, five copper coins, confirmed. Heh heh, you’re a strange one, brother.”

“Shut up, octopus. I’m never coming again.”

Tooyama took the overcooked, rock-hard skewers of unknown meat from a shabby stall made of scrap wood.

In the plaza, chairs and tables that seemed to have been forced together from old boxes and other junk were arranged haphazardly.

Men who clearly looked like vagrants, women with dead eyes, and people who could be recognized at a glance as dropouts ate as they pleased, downed the contents of shabby bottles all at once, and made noise.

If the public order of a shopping mall food court were made worse than the worst, would it look like this?

“Here, brats. Don’t look at me like that. There’s enough for three. Sit.”

Tooyama sat in an empty seat. He brushed the surface of the chair with the hem of his robe, pushed the trash left on the table into a corner, and urged the children to sit.

“I-is it okay? Brother, my younger sworn brother stole from you, you know.”

The clipped-hair boy spoke as if he could not believe it, but his gaze was fixed on the skewers placed on the table.

“………”

Tooyama glanced at the pickpocket brat, who was silently looking downward, and sighed.

“He already paid for that, didn’t he? I was actually planning to break about three of his finger bones, but it’s fine now.”

“…Scary.”

The pickpocket brat, who was still walking while protecting his leg, muttered.

The moment Tooyama was a little irritated by that attitude, it seemed someone else became more irritated than him.

“Luca! What’s with that attitude?! Apologize to Brother! Not only did he let you off, he even treated us to food! Food!!”

Thud.

A small fist, but a good punch with proper hip movement, caught the pickpocket brat in the face.

It was the red-haired girl’s full-strength right straight.

She had good form.

“Ow!! Niko, stop it! It still hurts!”

Staggering, the pickpocket brat raised his voice.

“Luca!! Niko is right!! There’s something you should say to that brother!”

The clipped-hair boy shouted at the pickpocket brat in a heavy voice.

I see. I’m starting to understand their relationship a little.

As Tooyama observed them, the pickpocket brat came closer.

“…I was wrong. Sorry.”

“Huh?”

He did not like the way the boy apologized, so he unintentionally directed genuine killing intent at him.

“Eek. I-I’m sorry!!”

The boy must have understood it. He straightened his back sharply and lowered his head.

His small body was trembling slightly.

Crap. I scared him too seriously.

Tooyama sighed deeply and spoke to the pickpocket brat.

“Stupid brat. When someone treats you to food, there’s something you say before apologizing.”

“Eh?”

“Don’t ‘eh’ me, octopus brat. Look into my eyes. You know what words you have to say, don’t you?”

Leaning forward from the empty-box chair, he matched gazes with the pickpocket brat.

Tooyama’s chestnut eyes and the pickpocket brat’s chestnut eyes met.

“Th-thank you… very much…”

This time, he must have apologized sincerely. He looked down, but at the end he raised his gaze, looked into Tooyama’s eyes, and bowed his head.

“Mm, that’s fine. You brats over there too, hurry up and sit down and eat. Eating food while it’s hot is manners.”

Tooyama urged the brats to sit on the bench opposite him.

The three timidly sat on the bench and stared at the skewers placed there.

“…It’s been a long time since we could eat bought food near the shop, Brother.”

“Does it get stolen?”

Tooyama guessed from the stares he felt.

“Y-yeah. Kids like us can’t beat adults no matter what.”

The red-haired girl looked down and murmured quietly.

The children were probably at the bottom of the hierarchy here.

All the vagrants in the plaza were sending their gazes toward the children.

“Tch. Hey, you old men over there, do you need something? Don’t stare.”

“Eek.”

“N-no, nothing at all, Adventurer-sama…”

Tooyama glared at the vagrants and called out to them. With that alone, they scattered like baby spiders, giving ingratiating smiles as they vanished somewhere.

I see. The weak.

Everyone here was weak. And because they were weak, they could only survive by stealing from those even weaker than themselves.

“What a terrible way to live… Have you guys been here long?”

They were the type Tooyama hated most, scum worse than octopuses who could only face their own weakness by throwing it at those even weaker.

Suppressing the slight anger welling up in him, he asked the children.

“We’ve been here since we were born. Always.”

“Yeah, like Luca said, we’re kids, but we’ve been here since we became aware of things. But, Brother, why would someone like you come to the slums…? No, wait… You’re looking for someone?”

The clipped-hair boy, who had supplemented the pickpocket brat’s words, stopped speaking, fell silent for a bit, and then arrived at the answer all at once.

This time, Tooyama was honestly quite surprised.

“…You’ve been really sharp from earlier. Like Sherlock Holmes. Why do you think so?”

He liked people whose minds worked quickly. He did not have to feel stress during conversations. Tooyama became interested in the tanned, short-haired boy.

“It’s simple reasoning. First, that robe of yours is a luxury item. Even someone uneducated like me can tell the quality of the material. I don’t think someone who can spend money on a cloak has any proper business in the slums.”

“Hmm, and? That isn’t all, right?”

The pleasant conversation continued.

The clipped-hair boy closed one eye and scratched his nose.

Then he looked straight at Tooyama.

“These are the slums of the adventure city. A darkness of the city where even outlaw adventurers don’t usually come. Adventurers hate getting into trouble with the Crows. But even if your wallet was stolen, you entered this city. Of course, I think your purpose was to chase Luca, but if that was all, once you got your wallet back, your business should have been over. There’s no benefit in treating people like us to food.”

“Hmm.”

Good. This feels good.

Tooyama prompted him to continue without interrupting.

“You’re probably a mixed person. You have both profit-and-loss thinking and emotions that ignore it mixed together. You don’t do useless things, but you end up doing things that aren’t meaningless. Treating us to food might be useless, but it isn’t meaningless. And you asked whether we’ve been in the slums a long time. That’s it. You wanted to confirm whether we knew this place well.”

Surprisingly, he seemed to have already finished profiling Tooyama.

Tooyama felt his desire begin to ignite a little.

With this kid, maybe—

“Once you get this far, there’s only one answer. You don’t know the slums, but what you’re seeking is in the slums. But there’s nothing valuable here. If there is, then it’s a person. Because this is the perfect place for people with complicated circumstances to hide.”

“I’m surprised. Seriously amazing. Brat, what’s your name?”

He had passed. More than enough.

Tooyama asked the boy’s name again.

“So I was right. I’m Rida. I’m the one who keeps together the orphans around my age here. Though it’s only a group of about five, including me, Niko and Luca here, and two others.”

Rida. I see, this boy is the leader.

Tooyama began assessing him.

“Heh, I see. So the pickpocket brat over there is still alive thanks to you.”

Tooyama grinned toward the pickpocket brat looking down beside him.

“…Aren’t you kind of harsh on me?”

“Brat, do you still not understand unless I break your finger bones? Should I start by teaching you how to speak?”

A quiet tone, with a little anger mixed in. He tried mixing it in.

“Eek… I-I’m sorry.”

As expected, the pickpocket brat seemed to notice it.

I see. The quick-minded Rida and the sharp-sensed pickpocket brat.

These two were the key to these children making a living by themselves.

“Tch. Don’t get scared there. It makes me look like the bad guy. Rida, was it? Honestly, I’m surprised by how fast your mind works. Just as you said, I’m looking for someone here.”

Tooyama took the leather pouch from his chest.

His entire fortune: the remaining twenty-five copper coins, and the gold necklace, or adventurer badge or whatever it was, that Drako had given him as a souvenir.

“…Brother, what is this?”

Rida closed one eye and quietly asked Tooyama.

He was probably thinking about the meaning behind Tooyama’s action.

Tooyama grinned.

“Advance payment. I want to talk business with you. How much will it cost? I want you to help me find someone.”

“W-wow, amazing. Rida, you’re being properly hired with money.”

While sitting in her chair, the red-haired girl called Niko began bouncing with excitement.

I see, no one here pays children to request work from them. Tooyama probed for information from the children’s reactions.

“…………”

The pickpocket brat, Luca, also froze with wide eyes. He looked back and forth between the leather pouch he had stolen and Tooyama.

“I-is that okay? My companion stole from you, you know.”

“Rida, you’re the one holding the reins, right? Then I’ll trust you. Not your personality or character, but that quick mind that noticed what I was after. I want to borrow your strength. And Luca, was it?”

“…Yeah.”

“There won’t be a next time. If you try to steal even a speck of dust from me, I’ll make not just you, but everyone here, every one of your friends, pay the price. Got it?”

“I-I got it. I understand.”

The pickpocket brat, Luca, nodded deeply again and again.

If he reached for Tooyama’s things again after this, Tooyama could dispose of him without hesitation.

Tooyama was adhering to the warped rules within himself.

“…Brother, you’re not just some soft-hearted person, are you? I honestly thought you were one of those rich people playing around, looking down on us as pitiful beings.”

“It helps that you understand quickly, Rida. What matters in work is correctly recognizing the other party. Let’s do this equally and fairly. You’re not poor little brats for me to pity, and I’m not such a soft-hearted person that you can look down on me as prey.”

Equally. That was Tooyama’s basic stance toward others.

If someone had ability and a head that understood what was being said, then even if the other party was a baby, he had to treat them with respect.

At the very least, Rida was someone who deserved enough respect from Tooyama.

“I’m looking for someone. You tell me information about the person I’m looking for, or the person’s location. The compensation is money. Any objections?”

“None. Of course there aren’t… The price can be whatever you say.”

“Rida, your head is extremely good, but you’re a little naive. No. The seller decides the price. That’s the rule of healthy economic activity.”

At Tooyama’s words, Rida fell silent. Then he opened his palm and raised five fingers.

“Five… copper coins. With that much, I can buy food for the other little ones.”

“Okay. Then I’ll pay ten copper coins. The contract is established.”

“Wha?! Why are you going out of your way to pay more?!”

Tooyama casually took ten copper coins from the leather pouch and placed them on the table.

Rida, Niko, and Luca. The three business partners shouted with wide eyes.

“It’s simple. It’s so you don’t back out. I absolutely want to find this person. A certain man in these slums. For that, I want to make maximum use of you. If you run away or can’t find him, you’ll pay compensation worth ten copper coins. That’s work, isn’t it?”

“…I’ve never met someone like you before, Brother. I’m in! I swear to my companions, I’ll definitely find the person you’re looking for.”

“Contract established, then.”

Tooyama extended his hand toward Rida.

His right hand.

“What is this?”

“A handshake. We didn’t do it much back in my homeland, but for some reason, when fulfilling a work agreement, we do this.”

“Understood, Brother. I’ll definitely do work worth ten copper coins. Niko! Luca! Call the little ones. All of us will answer this brother’s expectations!”

A firm handshake.

Surprisingly, Rida’s strength was weak, and his palm was small.

Again, nutrition…? Somehow, the difference in strength among the people of this world seemed far too great.

“W-wow! Amazing. Ten copper coins?! Amazing! Now we don’t have to let everyone feel hungry!”

“Niko, it’s too early to celebrate! No matter what, we’ll answer Brother’s expectations!”

Leaving Tooyama’s thoughts aside, the children were making a huge fuss.

“…Um, Brother.”

“Ah, what is it, pickpocket brat?”

“…I’m not pickpocket brat. I’m Luca… Luca. Um, really, I’m sorry. For stealing a wallet from someone like you…”

Tooyama was a little surprised.

He had not expected Luca to apologize again on his own.

“…Luca, raise your face.”

“U-um.”

Tooyama stared hard at Luca.

“Honestly, I dislike you. Even now, I can vividly remember the anger I felt when my wallet was stolen. I don’t care if you pickpocket or whatever, but I don’t like that you reached for my things.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Luca stammered as he answered.

Before he knew it, Luca and Rida were silently watching the exchange.

“But, well. Maybe you just don’t know the way. Listen. Money has a proper way to earn it. Do you know what that is?”

“I-I don’t know…”

Luca shook his head. Tooyama looked at the human who had stolen from him, as an equal.

“It’s whether you feel happy when you look at the money you earned. You look at the amount in your bankbook and remember the work you did to earn it. At that time, whether you can think, ‘Well, it was rough, but if I got money, then it was good.’ That’s what matters. That’s proper earning, Luca.”

“Happy…?”

Luca murmured quietly at Tooyama’s words.

“That’s right. When you looked at the money you got through pickpocketing, what did you think? It was money precious to someone else. Everyone struggled in ways only they understand to earn it, and like you, it was money earned for someone. When you stole it and counted it, what were you thinking?”

“I… thought it couldn’t be helped. That stealing from blessed people couldn’t be helped. …It wasn’t fun at all.”

His voice was thin. Tooyama exaggeratedly sighed.

“That’s the worst pattern. You fundamentally have no talent for it. Honestly, there’s no good or evil in how to earn money. That’s what I think. Money earned by hurting something and money earned by helping someone are no different. But making excuses for your work, for what you did, is the worst. You seriously don’t have the talent, so you should stop.”

“But then, what should I…?”

“Who knows? Think for yourself. I can say it with pride.”

He thought of it. His first exploration.

“Earning money by killing monsters was fun.”

His first exploration, when he exterminated a giant lizard monster by beating its head over and over, then dragged its tail and brought back the whole corpse.

Thirty thousand yen per monster. Because the corpse was badly damaged, the reward was halved. Even that was a good memory.

“Beating down people I didn’t like, idiots who picked fights with me, was fun too.”

Sometimes idiots interfered with his exploration. Without exception, none of them were in this world anymore. They all got along inside monsters’ stomachs.

“Everything follows my desires. Lies are not allowed there. Neither deception nor justification is allowed.”

“Ah, u…”

At Tooyama’s words, Luca froze as if struck by something.

“You think about it too. What you really want to do. Look at your own desire, one you won’t regret and belongs only to you.”

“What I… really…”

“Well, personally, I think you can do whatever you want to bad guys or people who piss you off. Isn’t it fine to steal or take from people like that? Well, Luca, listen.”

“Wah.”

With a soft pat, Tooyama stroked Luca’s head over the hunting cap.

He thought Luca might dislike it, but apparently not. Luca did not resist.

“Your desire belongs only to you. It is the one and only thing no one else can touch. Do what you want. You have that right.”

“Only… mine…”

“Use it well. Desire is hard to use, but it is the greatest and strongest ally. It is you yourself. Making excuses to yourself means betraying your desire. If you keep repeating that, you’ll really rot.”

“Y-yeah, I understand… I’ll think about what you taught me.”

“Yeah, do that. If that’s your desire, I won’t deny it. Do what you want. That’s what matters.”

Tooyama smiled broadly.

His comrades used to tease him, saying that when a venomous beast laughed, it became his smile. He felt a little nostalgic for the past.

“Still, Luca, you’re tougher than you look, huh? You were hurt pretty badly, weren’t you?”

“…Ever since long ago, only my wounds heal quickly… Brother.”

“T-that Luca is listening to an adult talk…? H-hey, Rida, what is that?”

“I-I don’t know. Who is that brother…?”

As if they had seen something unbelievable, Rida and Niko froze.

“Now then, after somehow ending up having a serious talk, let’s get back to work. The person I want you to look for is a lizard. A lizard man. His name is Lazaar.”

“A lizard? Do you mean a Lizardonian?”

“Ohh, I think he was called something like that too. Well, that’s him. He has a noticeable appearance, so have you seen him?”

“…Actually, exactly one month ago, a wandering Lizardonian came to the slums.”

Rida answered Tooyama’s words.

“Oh.”

“I haven’t met him directly, but he’s a little famous. After all, it seems the Crows were looking for him too.”

“Crows? Like the bird?”

“They’re people nesting in the darkness of the adventure city, no, the Empire. Theft, assassination, threats. They take on all kinds of dark work. You could call them a criminal guild.”

“Hmm. Pickpocket brat—no, Luca. Those weaklings who were messing with you said something about the Crows, right?”

—The Crows are backing us!

The weaklings he had left at the previous place. The last one had been shouting something like that before passing out.

“Yeah… They bragged about it before. I remember them making a huge fuss, saying they got work from the Crows or something.”

Niko murmured.

“I see. Lazaar, impressive as expected. He’s managed to get noticed by what sounds like troublesome people.”

It had indeed been the right choice to come early. He should find Lazaar quickly and get out of the slums.

“Also, Imperial officers and church knights were often searching for that Lizardonian for a while too. …Apparently, he was a clue to the man who killed the dragon.”

“I still can’t believe it. The Gathering Dragon-sama, you know? Is it even possible for a human to kill her? Even orphans like us know how terrifying dragons are.”

“Niko, but that is true. If it were only rumors, I’d still doubt it, but the fact that knights and others actually came to the slums is more proof than anything. Oops, Brother, sorry. We got off track.”

“No, it hasn’t really gotten off track. …Oops, is this half my fault? Crap, I’ve got to apologize to Lazaar.”

Was that dragon really such an amazing person?

It seemed even street orphans, likely beings who had spilled out of society, had the same understanding of dragons as those important-looking people.

“? Well, anyway, that Lizardonian has become a rumor in the slums because of all that, but there is something strange.”

“Heh, you’re well-informed. Looks like paying you was worth it. Rida, what is it?”

“…No one knows where that Lizardonian is.”

The clouds were starting to look suspicious.

“I don’t follow. Is he here or not?”

“He is. That is certain. I have seen him several times too. But no one knows where he sleeps, or where his base is.”

“Normally, the slums seem wide but are narrow, so you mostly know who lives where. Especially since he is a newcomer and a Lizardonian, right? He should stand out whether he wants to or not.”

“Hmm, I see. Is there a possibility that he already left the slums?”

Even as he said it himself, Tooyama somehow felt that probably was not the case. After all, the arrow was still pointing to various places in the slums.

This message was hopping around here and there.

Now, what should he do?

Come to think of it, they still had not touched the meat. Had they held back because they had talked first?

Just as Tooyama was about to urge them to eat the skewers—

“Ah, there you are! Rida, Niko, Luca!”

“Ah-uu.”

A carefree and lively young voice, and a voice that had not formed words, approached.

“Pero?! Shiro?! You can’t do that! You shouldn’t walk around here on your own!”

Niko was the first to stand from the bench and run over to the newly appeared little kids.

I see, she’s a proper big sister.

“Ahh, Niko, it smells like food. That’s nice.”

A blond, curly-haired kid.

He was probably even younger than the three, and on his back, an even smaller child, possibly around two or three years old, a super tiny kid, was tied with a baby-carrying strap.

“Honestly, here, I’ll give you some, so eat. Ah, wait, properly thank that robed brother over there. He treated us.”

“Pero, eat mine too. Share it with Shiro. Sorry, those are the rest of the kids I look after.”

The brats each gave food to the two little kids.

“…Did you guys not eat the meat because you were going to share it with them?”

He realized it.

Judging from how they had stared at the meat, these kids must have been incredibly hungry, and yet they had not put the food in their mouths at all. Now he understood why.

“Well, yeah. It’s natural for the older ones to look after the younger ones, right?”

“Rida, Niko, let’s split mine. You two have to eat too. You haven’t eaten for about two days, right?”

Luca split his skewer with Rida and Niko.

“Yeah, sorry. Honestly, I really wanted to eat. Mm, tasty.”

“Here, Niko too.”

“Thanks, Luca. Thank you for the food, Brother.”

The two each took turns biting into the skewer Luca offered.

One bite. Truly, only one bite each.

No, this is impossible.

“…Wait a bit.”

Tooyama clenched his wallet and stood from his seat.

“Ah, yeah?”

No, this was, you know. When he was shown something like that, it was, you know.

Tooyama thought of various excuses.

It was not sympathy or anything like that. Right, because Rida’s explanation had been clearer than expected and he had smoothly received the information he needed, this was a formal bonus, and so on and so forth.

After leaving his seat, Tooyama walked without hesitation, frowning as he stood in front of that stall again.

“Oh my, back so soon. …You really are a strange one. Thanks for your business.”

Tooyama paid five copper coins to the stall owner, who smiled as if he had known, and returned to the orphans with more skewers of unknown meat.

“…You guys eat properly too. What are kids going to do without eating?”

While scratching his head, Tooyama roughly handed them the skewers wrapped in some kind of leaf.

This time, they were properly still hot.

“N-no way. I-is it really okay? Thank you, Brother!”

The girl, Niko, blinked, looked at the skewered meat she had received, and her eyes sparkled.

“…Sorry. I owe you. Thank you, Brother.”

The clever brat with clipped, short hair, Rida, bowed deeply.

“…………So cool.”

Luca was staring at that scene with sparkling chestnut eyes.

Welcomed by small cheers, the search in the slums began.

They also asked the two little kids, who were happily munching on skewers, whether they knew the lizard man.

Well, they were probably too young, Tooyama thought, but then one of the little kids, a cheerful one who laughed easily, Pero, twisted his head and answered.

“Ah! Could you mean Lazaar? I know him! He was here today too!”

Posun.

The sound of a message that only Tooyama could hear.

Letters danced above Pero’s head.

“Oops, so it’s that kind of pattern.”

Tooyama was quickly approaching the tracks of the lizard man who had managed to escape even the Empire.