I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love

Feeling the temperature drop sharply, I rubbed my arms. As I diligently looked through the shops, someone tugged lightly at the hem of my clothes from behind. When I turned around, no one was there.

“Miss, I’ll sell it to you cheaply!”

The voice came from around my waist. A young girl with uncombed, wildly tangled hair held out her skirt toward me. All sorts of miscellaneous objects were tangled chaotically on top of it.

A boy even smaller than the girl was hiding behind her.

They seemed to be children from the slums like me, but the items they had were suspicious. I remembered the gazes of the merchants who had been watching me from their stalls.

They must be stolen goods.

But I wasn’t righteous enough to report wrongdoing. That was something only people who had room in both their lives and their hearts could afford to do.

“How cheaply will you sell them?”

When I bent my knees and began looking through the items in earnest, the girl’s face brightened.

“Cheaper than the original price!”

“Then what do you gain from it?”

“We only need enough money to buy bread for today and tomorrow.”

Since the items had been stolen anyway, she seemed to have no attachment to them. They would have been beaten severely if they had been caught, but they hadn’t considered their own hazard pay at all.

Since these young thieves had only begun selling after the merchants left, I was likely their first and last customer.

Just then, something glittering beneath the fading sunset caught my eye. It was a brooch shaped like a sun blooming outward in many rays.

I suddenly remembered how all of Gerard’s medals had been shattered.

I picked up the brooch.

I wasn’t buying it out of irresponsible pity. I genuinely liked it. I hadn’t found anything satisfying even after wandering for hours.

“How much will you sell it for?”

The girl seemed nervous about naming a price and swallowed once. Her green eyes darted from side to side before she spoke timidly.

“About 300 penil.”

Three hundred penil was three hundred penil. What did she mean by about? Besides, 300 penil was only enough to buy three or four loaves of rye bread. She had probably even named a higher price in anticipation of me bargaining.

“Alright.”

When I readily nodded, the girl’s heels lifted excitedly from the ground.

I placed three crowns into the grimy palm of her hand. It was several dozen times more than she had asked for, and the girl’s eyes widened.

“I, I don’t have any change.”

“Use two crowns to go pay the original owner of the item. You two may keep one crown.”

“…You knew?”

I merely shrugged and slipped the brooch into my pocket.

“If you have nowhere to stay, try going to Melvers Temple.”

I had sensed the distinctive energy of an Awakened from the girl ever since we first met.

If her energy was already this noticeable before she had received any training, she could likely develop into at least a second-rank.

The girl stared up at me, then quickly shoved the gold coins into her pocket and led her younger brother away from the street.

I couldn’t tell whether she was afraid I would report her to the merchants or take back the money I had given her.

As they ran, her younger brother tripped and fell flat on the ground with his arms and legs spread. The girl forced her sobbing brother back onto his feet, and they disappeared completely into the darkness.

Only after they were no longer visible did I begin walking again.

I had paid slightly more than my budget allowed, but I liked the gift. It seemed as though it would suit his uniform too. I could only hope it wouldn’t rust quickly because it was cheap.

* * *

A few days later.

While I was bathing, I sensed a slight commotion in the living room. I shut off the water valve and listened quietly, and I heard voices exchanging words.

“…But aren’t you Lord Castion?”

“I’m often told that I resemble him.”

“Right? I’ve never seen him in person. Then again, there’s no way His Lordship would come to such a shabby… Ahem, please sign here.”

“Theor Kamel?”

The moment I heard that name, I hastily pulled on a robe and flung open the bathroom door. Steam that had gathered inside the bathroom drifted out in clouds.