Before I realized it, my gaze had turned toward the direction the voice had come from.
The first thing that caught my eye was a piece of bread on the ground.
It was too small to really call it bread, and just from a glance, it looked so hard I wondered if it was even edible.
As I slowly lifted my gaze, I saw a boy, his face full of anger.
At most, he looked like he was in his mid-teens.
His clothes were completely worn out, faded to a dull gray from improper washing, and his hair was in the same state—its original color unrecognizable.
There was only a faint hint of something that might’ve once been sky blue.
“D-Don’t be like th-that. You’ve b-been starving for so l-long, r-right?”
Opposite the angry boy was another boy, likely a friend.
They looked to be the same age, but this one was smaller and more delicate than the angry one.
And both of them… were terrifyingly thin.
“Get lost. You’re just the same! Pretending to listen to me up front while sneaking around with those bastards behind my back, huh?! I didn’t need to be saved by a coward like you, you little son of a b—!”
Yikes. That’s not something he should be saying.
The moment I thought that, I was already beside the boy, covering his mouth.
He stiffened in shock at my sudden appearance, then began to struggle violently.
Honestly, I was surprised by how strong he was—but not strong enough to overpower someone like me.
‘Well, I am taller and better nourished. That’s probably part of it.’
“Calm down. I’m not trying to hurt you.”
I couldn’t tell if my words got through, but I felt the tension slowly leave his body.
I gently removed my hand from his mouth.
“What the hell?!”
The way he swore made it obvious he was trying to act tough.
He spun around to face me and then suddenly looked flustered—like he’d just realized he was yelling at the wrong person.
“Wh-What the…?”
He seemed confused about how he ended up like this too.
Maybe it was that strange tendency people had to instinctively trust me at first sight.
Either way, it worked in my favor.
I cautiously looked around.
Whether this kind of thing happened often, or for some other reason, the priest handing out meals showed no interest in the commotion.
There was another priest managing the line, but he didn’t react either.
Which made it even more suspicious.
Sure, maybe they didn’t care about a kid kicking away food, but if their goal was to feed more children, shouldn’t they at least show some concern?
“You were surprised just now, weren’t you? Sorry about that. Still, you shouldn’t say such mean things to a friend. It hurts them—and you’ll regret it later.”
“…That’s…”
The angry boy, full of protest, faltered and lowered his head.
“…That’s true…”
“See? As long as you understand.”
I gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, then looked to the other boy.
His hands were empty. He hadn’t received two portions to share—he’d gone through the line to give his own meal to his friend.
I gently tugged both boys a little closer to me.
And then…
‘I came over just because I was curious about what he said…’
I felt like they might actually tell me if I asked.
Even if they couldn’t say it all, I could probably piece it together.
‘…These kids are way too thin.’
I had more than enough means to give these two a warm, filling meal.
Hell, I could get them new clothes, let them wash up in warm water.
But the problem was—what impact would that one act have on them?
‘Or… maybe I just don’t want to be seen as handing out cheap pity.’
The thoughts made my head spin.
I gave a slight shake to clear them.
‘Let’s keep this simple.’
“I want to know what you meant by what you said earlier. If you tell me honestly, I’ll pay you for the information.”
A transaction. That felt right.
“You too,” I said to the other boy.
“If you tell me why your friend said those things, I’ll pay you as well.”
The two boys looked at each other.
The fiercer one—just for the sake of convenience, let’s call him that—was the first to speak.
“What kind of… payment are we talking about…?”
“Well, I’m getting something I want, so it’s only fair you get something you want too, right?”
“Then… can I ask for… like, a lot of bread? Is that okay? I mean, like the baguettes bakeries throw out.”
His words left me speechless.
His idea of “greedy” was asking for a bunch of stale, discarded baguettes.
“If not, then… it’s okay…”
I didn’t reply because I was at a loss for words, but he mistook that as rejection and immediately backed down.
I could see a familiar resignation in his face.
I thought he’d ask for more.
This was Crete Island, after all—a place where even street kids know what luxury looks like.
But maybe they held back because they knew asking for too much could backfire.
Like anywhere else, the wealthy on Crete Island could be whimsically cruel.
“You must be really hungry.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Y-Yeah.”
The boys answered without hesitation.
‘Ah, screw it.’
I looked around again.
The priests really didn’t care about us.
“Well then, how about we go get something to eat first?”
They should’ve been wary, but the boys looked at each other, and the fiercer one nodded quickly.
He grabbed the other boy’s hand like he was saying, ‘Don’t even think about leaving me behind.’
“Alright. Let’s go.”
I took the two boys and walked away from the line.
None of the priests even glanced at us. It was like they didn’t notice two kids had left.
Conveniently, there was an empty carriage nearby.
I tipped the driver generously in gold coins, and he grinned ear to ear, letting the kids in without a fuss.
“….”
Just before stepping into the carriage, I caught a very familiar scent.
I turned around instinctively—but the face I expected to see wasn’t there.
∗ ∗ ∗
I brought the two boys home.
Told them to wash up as long as they wanted with warm water, and left clean clothes outside the bathroom.
I’d grabbed them on the way—just a rough estimate based on their sizes.
While they were washing up, I ordered food from all kinds of restaurants.
Since most catered to the rich, they all had quick communication systems.
On Crete Island, every shop had its own network number.
‘This must’ve been what landline phones were like back in Korea.’
As I waited for the food to arrive, Seol suddenly showed up.
When she asked why I brought two kids home, I told her everything—what I saw, and what I heard.
[The temple’s behavior really is suspicious. That kid probably reacted like that for a reason.]
Seol responded like this was all news to her.
It was odd.
She hadn’t been on Crete Island that long, but she’d been going out regularly.
I thought she was gathering intel during her walks… but if it was just walking, her outings were oddly long…
‘Well, maybe he really just went for a walk. Or maybe he’s just pretending not to know on purpose.’
If Seol had reacted like he knew everything at that point, I wouldn’t have been able to help feeling guilty.
Even with everything going on, I was holed up in here, acting like my feelings were all that mattered.
Either way, I was just grateful to Seol.
When I reached out my hand, he rubbed his face against it as if he’d been waiting for me to.
[Hmm? What’s this? That face is totally saying he’s proud of me.]
“Haha.”
I gently scratched under Seol’s chin and fell into thought for a moment.
‘Honestly, I just hope it’s nothing serious.’
That the wary boy was only hostile toward the priests out of deeply personal reasons.
That he suddenly started doing good deeds at the temple, and that’s all there was to it.
“……”
But whatever it was that only I could see had been speaking since a while ago.
[Quest
Hear about the temple and the priests from the two boys.]
Telling me to quit daydreaming.
