Chapter 10
"Put that down. It's already over."
"Yes, as long as the old man keeps his mouth shut."
Her hands were as small as a child's, but the eagerness they held was real.
"Ugh… huh."
She was trying to look threatening, but Zemina’s hands were shaking because of fear and not knowing what to do.
...
The old man saw a boy who was very nervous about the approaching threat and a girl who was crying and didn't know what to do.
Young children who had been abandoned by the world stood in front of him. They both looked pitiful.
"I am really going to stab you. Hiccup."
"I get it, so be quiet. It's okay now."
The old man gazed silently into the eyes of the crying girl with insight only age could provide.
Tears welled up in her eyes because of fear, but determination glimmered in her pupils.
"...Alright."
This child could indeed stab him for the boy standing beside her.
"What's going on? Speak up."
The old blacksmith asked quietly as the voices of the men in the background faded.
However, the words didn't come out easily from the boy's mouth. He seemed to have difficulty saying those with his own mouth.
"We lost."
That’s all he said, but the old blacksmith understood.
He had been living in the back alleys for a long time, after all.
"Jorge is dead."
"...He was a good boss."
"Hiccup! Sob!"
Thick tears began to flow from Zemina's eyes as Jorge's name was mentioned.
"I understand the situation. So, put down that piece of metal for now."
"Hiccup! No!"
However, even though her emotions were crumbling, Zemina knew exactly what she needed to do.
"Give me the sword!"
"What?"
She has to send Vlad out of the city.
"Give me that sword hanging there! Even if Vlad gets out of the city safely, he might still be killed by monsters!"
"No, but this girl..."
She was mumbling, but Zemina's words were not wrong.
Even if Vlad escaped One-Armed Jack's eyes and escaped Shoara, it was now dark dawn and a cold winter day.
It was a very harsh time to move to the next village without proper preparation.
"This isn't a joke! If Vlad dies, I'll die too! So give it to me!"
The piece of metal in the girl's hand reached up to the old man's chin.
"You, you bitch!"
Though it was held in her childish hand, the blade was still sharp.
The uncontrollable emotions were swirling in the girl's tear-filled eyes.
"Are you crazy?"
"Bring out the sword!"
The old blacksmith felt a deep bitterness as he faced Zemina's threats to hand over the sword.
‘Fine…’
This was the nature of people living in the back alleys. The nature of those who had to take from others to survive.
He himself had been that way, and the time has come for the kids before him to be like that too.
Just like he did.
"Zemina! Put it down!"
They heard Vlad's muffled cry, but Zemina's hand continued to shake dangerously.
The girl had made up her mind to swing the piece of metal in her hands.
She was prepared to do anything to save the boy.
"Zemina!"
The blade gleamed when Vlad shouted.
"..."
The old blacksmith closed his eyes, expecting something sharp to dig into his throat.
"I'll repay you."
However, the blade the girl was holding wasn't aimed at the old blacksmith.
"This might not be enough, but I promise I'll repay you later. I swear!"
The old man opened his eyes, and froze upon seeing what was sprawled out before him.
A mass of curly red hairs filled his vision. The red hairs were the pride and joy of Zemina.
"You little bitch..."
"Please, just give it to me. Please."
The girl had given up her most precious possession for the sake of what was most important to her.
The girl's eyes, filled with eagerness, were not yet tainted by the back alleys.
The teary eyes of the girl were looking at a different place from where he had been in those days.
"Ha."
The old man’s eyes stinging from the dazzling flames in front of him, so he turned his head to look at the boy.
"Are you going to leave?"
"Yes."
The kids before him were doing things he had dreamed of his whole life but never accomplished.
They are accomplishing all this with the wings that had not yet fully matured.
"You kids bother me so much."
The old man was an adult. And there were things adults had to do for children even without getting anything in return, especially for children with potential.
"Come with me."
The old man decided to raise his head and look at the stars, just for today.
It was something he had wanted to do his whole life but had never done.
※※※※
Late at night.
The back alley seemed quiet on the surface, but it was filled with hungry gazes.
There, the old blacksmith and a short boy were pushing a cart.
"It's so heavy."
"Quit complaining and push."
The creaking sound of the cart filled the dead silent back alley. The place they were heading to was one of the outskirts of Shoara.
The overflowing garbage of the city was dumped there, and a place where only those at the bottom of the back alley lived.
That's why it was a place that people didn't easily seek out.
"I never get used to this no matter how many times I come here."
The stench reached their noses even in the dead of winter.
‘If they are blocking off even this place…’
This was the last stop.
One-Armed Jack's henchmen had already infiltrated various parts of the back alleys.
It wasn't clear whether it was to capture any surviving members of Jorge's organization or to find the unknown assassin, but One-Armed Jack wanted to keep a tight grip on anything trying to escape his sight.
So the old blacksmith and Zemina had been pushed to come this far.
"Old man."
However, contrary to their hopes, Jack's henchmen had already taken positions in this place.
"What?"
"Why did you come here in the middle of the night?"
"Can't you see?"
"...To dump garbage?"
"Then what does this look like? Have you eyesight already gone bad at such a young age? You bastards."
The old man tried to stand his ground against the hyenas, who were clearly agitated.
"But why dump it now?"
They were treating the old blacksmith with respect because he had been in the back alleys for a long time, but Jack's henchmen had something they needed to find right now.
"Well, I have no choice but to dump it at this time. You guys have been blocking the alley all this time, fighting and causing trouble. The forge is going to explode with all the stuff I couldn't dump!"
"...Who's this guy?"
One of Jack's henchmen pointed to the boy standing next to the old man. They had heard that the old blacksmith always worked alone.
"I am getting old and weak, so I asked him to help in exchange for some bread. Or you guys can push the cart instead!"
"Wait."
It was a plausible explanation, but they needed to confirm it at this moment.
"Don't move."
The boy, who had been pushing the cart, began to panic as he saw the man approaching.
“Stay still. Today is a day when swords may come out instead of fists.”
"..."
In the end, the hooded figure was grabbed by the ruthless hand and lifted up.
"What’s with you? It's fucking hard to believe. Seriously."
"..... Pass."
It was the red-haired boy.
Judging by the dirt smeared on his face, it seemed he had been working quite vigorously at the blacksmith.
"What are you guys looking for?"
"The blonde kid of Jorge. He's the only one missing. And... tsk."
The inspecting man bit his tongue and stopped talking.
"And what! If you're not going to tell me, can I leave now?"
"Just one more thing."
The man turned his head and gave an order to someone.
"Hey, black guy. Check this cart."
At the man's words, the three who had been holding their breaths swallowed hard.
"Don't let the dirt fly here, do it somewhere else."
"Yes."
Zemina looked at the man approaching the cart with trembling eyes.
He was a huge man in shabby clothes. His skin was black.
"Go to that guy."
"You son of a..."
The old man grumbled with a trembling voice as he began pushing the cart.
Although he pretended to be composed on the outside, sweat was already soaking his back.
‘Should we have gone somewhere else?’
However, it was too late for regrets. There was nowhere else to go besides this place.
They came here with their last hope, but One-Armed Jack had his eyes set on the dirtiest parts of the city.
"You've brought quite a lot."
"There was a lot piled up over time."
The old man replied with a weary voice to the dark-skinned man.
"Let's check it... shall we?"
At that moment, Zemina's eyes met the dark-skinned man who was trying to lift the cart.
"..."
".....!"
Zemina quickly lowered her head, but she wondered if he recognized her. Because Zemina knew the man in front of her.
"It's quite dusty, perhaps because it's garbage from the blacksmith. We should move it further ahead."
The dark-skinned man muttered to himself as he pushed the cart forward.
The two quietly followed behind him.
"But why did you cut your hair?"
"..."
As they moved away from the people around them, the man spoke to Zemina in an indifferent voice.
“W-what are you talking about?”
Zemina managed to reply with a trembling voice, but she bit her lips in panic at the thought that the man might have recognized her.
"..."
At the same time, the pile of garbage inside the cart started to shift subtly, creating a small opening where a sharp blade could emerge.
“You looked like a boy after cutting your hair. Maybe it’s because you are flat from front and back.”
The dark-skinned man was talking to Zemina, but his eyes were fixed on someone inside the pile of garbage.
"Nobody will recognize you as long as you keep doing that."
The cart that the old man had brought was steadily moving away from Jack's henchmen, perhaps because the man was pushing it.
“I guess this far will be enough.”
As they walked away from the men who were checking them, the dark-skinned man took out a skewer.
It was an unremarkable and rusty skewer, but to Zemina, it looked sharper than any sword.
"This is my job."
Slish-
And he mercilessly began stabbing the garbage pile inside the cart.
The man started poking the garbage pile all around with his skewer, and Zemina couldn't bear to watch and closed her eyes as if finding it too difficult to look at.
"Rumor has it that Harveon had sailed a boat on the river."
"..."
He cleverly avoided spaces where a person could be hiding.
"All of Jack's men have flocked there now. They said there must be a reason why that cripple asshole put the boat on the river.”
"What are you talking about?"
Although Zemina pretended not to know and continued acting ignorant to the end, Vlad, who was hidden inside the cart, could hear and understand what the dark-skinned man was saying.
"Just know it for now. Alright, you can pass."
"...... thank you, Otar."
A small voice came from inside the cart, but Otar, the man addressed as such, didn't seem to hear and only turned his head.
"Go."
As soon as the words "You can pass" were spoken, the old man and the red-haired girl quickly clung to the cart and began pushing it.
"My brother's 40 silver debt has been paid off with this."
The black-skined man said as the cart passed by.
The price of a life can only be paid with one's life. The cart began to move again after his last words.
Creak!
They started to move towards the hole in the city's wall, the one that led outside.
The sadness welled up in the girl's eyes as they approached the hole.
Now it was time to say goodbye.
"Farewell, Vlad."
The old man and a girl pushed the cart toward the mountain of trash and the hole lay beneath it.
"You need to stay healthy."
Zemina choked back tears but thought of the boy's well-being until the very end.
Whoosh-
As the cart was lifted all the way up, tears fell from the girl's eyes.
“Do you have to come see me?”
The trash was falling outside the city under the moon in the night sky with the tears of the red-haired girl.
These tears were shabby things that no one in the city cared about.
Everyone holds onto what shines dearly, even without realizing it.
"Ha..."
The boy stood on the pile of garbage outside the city’s wall and looked up at the night sky.
His vision was blurry from tears, but the sparkling stars in the night sky were still there.
But tonight, only one star was shining on the ground.
The star that the boy was holding tightly was made from the old man's dream and bought with the girl's tears.
"I'll definitely come back."
Even if you aren't up in the high night sky, even if you're stuck in a back alley where no one can see you, if you want to shine on your own and still have light in your heart, then you can become a star. Just like what's shining in the boy's heart.
Chapter 10
"Put that down. It's already over."
"Yes, as long as the old man keeps his mouth shut."
Her hands were as small as a child's, but the eagerness they held was real.
"Ugh… huh."
She was trying to look threatening, but Zemina’s hands were shaking because of fear and not knowing what to do.
...
The old man saw a boy who was very nervous about the approaching threat and a girl who was crying and didn't know what to do.
Young children who had been abandoned by the world stood in front of him. They both looked pitiful.
"I am really going to stab you. Hiccup."
"I get it, so be quiet. It's okay now."
The old man gazed silently into the eyes of the crying girl with insight only age could provide.
Tears welled up in her eyes because of fear, but determination glimmered in her pupils.
"...Alright."
This child could indeed stab him for the boy standing beside her.
"What's going on? Speak up."
The old blacksmith asked quietly as the voices of the men in the background faded.
However, the words didn't come out easily from the boy's mouth. He seemed to have difficulty saying those with his own mouth.
"We lost."
That’s all he said, but the old blacksmith understood.
He had been living in the back alleys for a long time, after all.
"Jorge is dead."
"...He was a good boss."
"Hiccup! Sob!"
Thick tears began to flow from Zemina's eyes as Jorge's name was mentioned.
"I understand the situation. So, put down that piece of metal for now."
"Hiccup! No!"
However, even though her emotions were crumbling, Zemina knew exactly what she needed to do.
"Give me the sword!"
"What?"
She has to send Vlad out of the city.
"Give me that sword hanging there! Even if Vlad gets out of the city safely, he might still be killed by monsters!"
"No, but this girl..."
She was mumbling, but Zemina's words were not wrong.
Even if Vlad escaped One-Armed Jack's eyes and escaped Shoara, it was now dark dawn and a cold winter day.
It was a very harsh time to move to the next village without proper preparation.
"This isn't a joke! If Vlad dies, I'll die too! So give it to me!"
The piece of metal in the girl's hand reached up to the old man's chin.
"You, you bitch!"
Though it was held in her childish hand, the blade was still sharp.
The uncontrollable emotions were swirling in the girl's tear-filled eyes.
"Are you crazy?"
"Bring out the sword!"
The old blacksmith felt a deep bitterness as he faced Zemina's threats to hand over the sword.
‘Fine…’
This was the nature of people living in the back alleys. The nature of those who had to take from others to survive.
He himself had been that way, and the time has come for the kids before him to be like that too.
Just like he did.
"Zemina! Put it down!"
They heard Vlad's muffled cry, but Zemina's hand continued to shake dangerously.
The girl had made up her mind to swing the piece of metal in her hands.
She was prepared to do anything to save the boy.
"Zemina!"
The blade gleamed when Vlad shouted.
"..."
The old blacksmith closed his eyes, expecting something sharp to dig into his throat.
"I'll repay you."
However, the blade the girl was holding wasn't aimed at the old blacksmith.
"This might not be enough, but I promise I'll repay you later. I swear!"
The old man opened his eyes, and froze upon seeing what was sprawled out before him.
A mass of curly red hairs filled his vision. The red hairs were the pride and joy of Zemina.
"You little bitch..."
"Please, just give it to me. Please."
The girl had given up her most precious possession for the sake of what was most important to her.
The girl's eyes, filled with eagerness, were not yet tainted by the back alleys.
The teary eyes of the girl were looking at a different place from where he had been in those days.
"Ha."
The old man’s eyes stinging from the dazzling flames in front of him, so he turned his head to look at the boy.
"Are you going to leave?"
"Yes."
The kids before him were doing things he had dreamed of his whole life but never accomplished.
They are accomplishing all this with the wings that had not yet fully matured.
"You kids bother me so much."
The old man was an adult. And there were things adults had to do for children even without getting anything in return, especially for children with potential.
"Come with me."
The old man decided to raise his head and look at the stars, just for today.
It was something he had wanted to do his whole life but had never done.
※※※※
Late at night.
The back alley seemed quiet on the surface, but it was filled with hungry gazes.
There, the old blacksmith and a short boy were pushing a cart.
"It's so heavy."
"Quit complaining and push."
The creaking sound of the cart filled the dead silent back alley. The place they were heading to was one of the outskirts of Shoara.
The overflowing garbage of the city was dumped there, and a place where only those at the bottom of the back alley lived.
That's why it was a place that people didn't easily seek out.
"I never get used to this no matter how many times I come here."
The stench reached their noses even in the dead of winter.
‘If they are blocking off even this place…’
This was the last stop.
One-Armed Jack's henchmen had already infiltrated various parts of the back alleys.
It wasn't clear whether it was to capture any surviving members of Jorge's organization or to find the unknown assassin, but One-Armed Jack wanted to keep a tight grip on anything trying to escape his sight.
So the old blacksmith and Zemina had been pushed to come this far.
"Old man."
However, contrary to their hopes, Jack's henchmen had already taken positions in this place.
"What?"
"Why did you come here in the middle of the night?"
"Can't you see?"
"...To dump garbage?"
"Then what does this look like? Have you eyesight already gone bad at such a young age? You bastards."
The old man tried to stand his ground against the hyenas, who were clearly agitated.
"But why dump it now?"
They were treating the old blacksmith with respect because he had been in the back alleys for a long time, but Jack's henchmen had something they needed to find right now.
"Well, I have no choice but to dump it at this time. You guys have been blocking the alley all this time, fighting and causing trouble. The forge is going to explode with all the stuff I couldn't dump!"
"...Who's this guy?"
One of Jack's henchmen pointed to the boy standing next to the old man. They had heard that the old blacksmith always worked alone.
"I am getting old and weak, so I asked him to help in exchange for some bread. Or you guys can push the cart instead!"
"Wait."
It was a plausible explanation, but they needed to confirm it at this moment.
"Don't move."
The boy, who had been pushing the cart, began to panic as he saw the man approaching.
“Stay still. Today is a day when swords may come out instead of fists.”
"..."
In the end, the hooded figure was grabbed by the ruthless hand and lifted up.
"What’s with you? It's fucking hard to believe. Seriously."
"..... Pass."
It was the red-haired boy.
Judging by the dirt smeared on his face, it seemed he had been working quite vigorously at the blacksmith.
"What are you guys looking for?"
"The blonde kid of Jorge. He's the only one missing. And... tsk."
The inspecting man bit his tongue and stopped talking.
"And what! If you're not going to tell me, can I leave now?"
"Just one more thing."
The man turned his head and gave an order to someone.
"Hey, black guy. Check this cart."
At the man's words, the three who had been holding their breaths swallowed hard.
"Don't let the dirt fly here, do it somewhere else."
"Yes."
Zemina looked at the man approaching the cart with trembling eyes.
He was a huge man in shabby clothes. His skin was black.
"Go to that guy."
"You son of a..."
The old man grumbled with a trembling voice as he began pushing the cart.
Although he pretended to be composed on the outside, sweat was already soaking his back.
‘Should we have gone somewhere else?’
However, it was too late for regrets. There was nowhere else to go besides this place.
They came here with their last hope, but One-Armed Jack had his eyes set on the dirtiest parts of the city.
"You've brought quite a lot."
"There was a lot piled up over time."
The old man replied with a weary voice to the dark-skinned man.
"Let's check it... shall we?"
At that moment, Zemina's eyes met the dark-skinned man who was trying to lift the cart.
"..."
".....!"
Zemina quickly lowered her head, but she wondered if he recognized her. Because Zemina knew the man in front of her.
"It's quite dusty, perhaps because it's garbage from the blacksmith. We should move it further ahead."
The dark-skinned man muttered to himself as he pushed the cart forward.
The two quietly followed behind him.
"But why did you cut your hair?"
"..."
As they moved away from the people around them, the man spoke to Zemina in an indifferent voice.
“W-what are you talking about?”
Zemina managed to reply with a trembling voice, but she bit her lips in panic at the thought that the man might have recognized her.
"..."
At the same time, the pile of garbage inside the cart started to shift subtly, creating a small opening where a sharp blade could emerge.
“You looked like a boy after cutting your hair. Maybe it’s because you are flat from front and back.”
The dark-skinned man was talking to Zemina, but his eyes were fixed on someone inside the pile of garbage.
"Nobody will recognize you as long as you keep doing that."
The cart that the old man had brought was steadily moving away from Jack's henchmen, perhaps because the man was pushing it.
“I guess this far will be enough.”
As they walked away from the men who were checking them, the dark-skinned man took out a skewer.
It was an unremarkable and rusty skewer, but to Zemina, it looked sharper than any sword.
"This is my job."
Slish-
And he mercilessly began stabbing the garbage pile inside the cart.
The man started poking the garbage pile all around with his skewer, and Zemina couldn't bear to watch and closed her eyes as if finding it too difficult to look at.
"Rumor has it that Harveon had sailed a boat on the river."
"..."
He cleverly avoided spaces where a person could be hiding.
"All of Jack's men have flocked there now. They said there must be a reason why that cripple asshole put the boat on the river.”
"What are you talking about?"
Although Zemina pretended not to know and continued acting ignorant to the end, Vlad, who was hidden inside the cart, could hear and understand what the dark-skinned man was saying.
"Just know it for now. Alright, you can pass."
"...... thank you, Otar."
A small voice came from inside the cart, but Otar, the man addressed as such, didn't seem to hear and only turned his head.
"Go."
As soon as the words "You can pass" were spoken, the old man and the red-haired girl quickly clung to the cart and began pushing it.
"My brother's 40 silver debt has been paid off with this."
The black-skined man said as the cart passed by.
The price of a life can only be paid with one's life. The cart began to move again after his last words.
Creak!
They started to move towards the hole in the city's wall, the one that led outside.
The sadness welled up in the girl's eyes as they approached the hole.
Now it was time to say goodbye.
"Farewell, Vlad."
The old man and a girl pushed the cart toward the mountain of trash and the hole lay beneath it.
"You need to stay healthy."
Zemina choked back tears but thought of the boy's well-being until the very end.
Whoosh-
As the cart was lifted all the way up, tears fell from the girl's eyes.
“Do you have to come see me?”
The trash was falling outside the city under the moon in the night sky with the tears of the red-haired girl.
These tears were shabby things that no one in the city cared about.
Everyone holds onto what shines dearly, even without realizing it.
"Ha..."
The boy stood on the pile of garbage outside the city’s wall and looked up at the night sky.
His vision was blurry from tears, but the sparkling stars in the night sky were still there.
But tonight, only one star was shining on the ground.
The star that the boy was holding tightly was made from the old man's dream and bought with the girl's tears.
"I'll definitely come back."
Even if you aren't up in the high night sky, even if you're stuck in a back alley where no one can see you, if you want to shine on your own and still have light in your heart, then you can become a star. Just like what's shining in the boy's heart.
