Chapter 302: Chapter 160 Moon Maiden
Just like the shadow cast by a church statue, even in the ancient times when the “Eternal Sun Guardian” Amanata was at its strongest, it never spread the scorching brilliance of the sun to every corner of the world.
The night will eventually come.
The shadow has never truly dissolved under the reflection of light.
When the nobles in their splendid robes clink glasses at lavish banquets, there are always those worrying about how to fill their stomachs.
Even in a big city like Neum, behind those grand and magnificent churches and mansions, countless filth filled with sludge and trash is hidden.
To some extent, it is precisely because of the vast scale of the city itself and highly prosperous commerce.
That the stinking land that makes one hold their breath and frown becomes more rotten, deep in darkness, hard to escape.
The sycamore leaves floating down, the comforting light sound of the gushing fountain, the sound of harp strings coming from roadside restaurants…
The autumn evening breeze,
Is always gentle and cool, pleasant for those wealthy people on Eagle Badge Avenue, walking their pets after dinner.
But when under the night sky, people lose the protection of thick autumn clothes and warm houses, exposing their fragile bodies to the cold wind, it reveals its nature of liking the rich and despising the poor.
Neum, Lower City District.
Little Nasal tightly hugged his chest with both hands, wrapping his patched thin linen clothes tighter.
To little avail.
The piercing cold wind is like that miserly fat boss at the newspaper office, no matter how hard you beg and plead, in the end, you can only use all the copper coins you have to exchange for a stack of newspapers that can’t be sold.
Collar and sleeves, the cold seeped through the gaps in the fibers of his linen clothes, lightly touching the skin, soaking into the flesh.
Making Little Nasal shiver uncontrollably.
And at this moment, he could only try his best to move his sore and tired legs, quickening his pace, hoping to bring some warmth to his body.
The road home is long.
But as a child born in this neighborhood, he naturally wouldn’t walk dully along the main road.
Just like a sewer rat avoiding a few dangerous places, shuttling through the complex and narrow alleys.
“Cough… cough…”
The humble little house seemed to blend into the darkness, no lights were on.
Lacking long-term maintenance, the walls were full of moss, and a few unknown vines climbed in the corners.
As if it had been abandoned for a long time.
Only the occasional coughs coming from within indicated someone indeed lived there.
With difficulty, he retrieved a key from a deeply hidden pile of stones that only he knew of.
Little Nasal tucked the newspaper under his arm and quietly opened the door to the house.
“Brother?”
A weak female voice came from the inner room.
“It’s me!” Fearing the other would worry, Little Nasal quickly replied.
Carefully locking the door, he placed the thick stack of newspapers cautiously on the already cleaned table.
There are still two days until the next issue is printed, but more than half of the newspapers remained unsold.
This inevitably made him a bit anxious.
He at least had to sell more than half of them.
Otherwise, next month, he might even be unable to afford the cheapest black bread.
He planned to go out before dawn tomorrow, and with some luck, he might be able to sell a few copies near the station.
Then, in the morning, he planned to find time to go to Griffin Department Store…
In the pitch-black night, Little Nasal lit an oil lamp.
In the flickering and swaying faint light, unconcerned about the gradually spreading metallic scent in the air, he took out a blood-stained package from his bosom.
Survival had already become a dilemma; living in the slums, the youth had long since buried his so-called “conscience” deep within his heart, never fearing a corpse fallen by the roadside.
Let alone if it was an adventurer.
If it weren’t for the gang members passing by on a nearby street, he would have even stripped the armor and weapons from the corpse to bring back.
Of course, even so, Little Nasal’s haul was not small.
He gently unfastened the tied mouth of the bag, revealing a palm-sized statue of a figure resembling a deer or a goat.
Ugly as it was, he didn’t know how much it could sell for.
But after all, it was something from an adventurer, it surely wouldn’t be cheap.
Little Nasal had already secretly decided.
When haggling with the Griffin Department Store owner tomorrow, he wouldn’t sell it for less than seven… no, five silver coins!
Besides the statue, the deceased adventurer had some scattered coins, some of which had already been exchanged for food, while another portion was feeling the warmth of his chest.
He wrapped the statue again with the sackcloth, hearing the sound of coughing from the inner room, Little Nasal showed a trace of urgency on his face, temporarily placing the package on the table and walked in with the oil lamp.
What came into view was a girl incredibly thin and pale, with no trace of blood on her face.
“Brother…”
“Eat up.” Taking out the nut coarse bread bought with the adventurer’s coins on the way home, Little Nasal’s face lit up with a smile.
Without waiting for the girl to reply, he said lightly:
“Today I met a wealthy gentleman in a carriage, who gave a lot of tips!”
“Hurry up and eat, eating till full will help you recover quickly from your sickness.”
“Eat, don’t worry about me, I already ate before I came back.”
With him saying so, the girl could only tuck away her worried gaze, holding the coarse bread with both hands, and nibbling it little by little.
Suppressing the hunger in his stomach, Little Nasal gazed at the girl on the bed ahead, his mind vaguely absent.