"Why?" The child whispered, his voice hoarse and raspy, a young boy kneeling before a man.
His clothes were tattered and patched, full of stains, anyone who saw him would know he was a beggar, he stared at his food that had been crushed under the man's foot, his gaze so piercing it made the man before him step back slightly.
The man sneered, revealing yellowed teeth. "Why? People like you don't deserve to live, you're just ruining the scenery" He placed his leather shoe on the child's head, pressing down slowly with a disgusted look, as if looking at someone no better than an animal.
The child stared at the man more deeply, even though his view was blocked by the man's leg, he didn't know why he had to be treated like this, he never asked for a life like this, if he could choose, he would certainly want a normal life like other children, school, friends, family, like the other children he saw laughing in the park.
Seeing the child's eyes made the man shudder, and reflexively he kicked the child's face, the child fell to the ground, his cheek bleeding, but still maintained the same gaze, as if questioning what was wrong.
"You're truly disgusting" Uncomfortable with the child's stare, the man intended to leave. "Don't ever steal from my shop again"
The man left, leaving the child alone, collapsed in the dark alley, from the beginning, if it weren't for hunger, the child would never have stolen.
He hadn't eaten for three full days, he had tried asking many people, but every time he approached, people would cover their noses and walk away, the child knew they weren't covering their noses because he smelled bad, the child bathed every night in the park fountain, despite the cold, the child still cleaned himself, hoping cleanliness would make someone, anyone, give him a piece of money or a piece of bread.
Unfortunately, because of his clothes and face that weren't good enough, he was still considered disgusting by the townspeople, but it wasn't the rejection that made him sad, nor was it the hunger that haunted his stomach, rather, he witnessed thousands of people losing their homes, being oppressed, even dying from hunger or disease in the slums where he lived, he witnessed so many people like that.
The child's days were spent stealing and begging, not for himself but for children smaller than him, he couldn't bear to see their condition, he wasn't naive, he knew he was struggling to survive himself, but seeing their condition seemed to cultivate a sense of guilt in his heart, he would be just like those bastards if he only cared about himself, he knew that maybe those children would forget him someday, or even look at him with disgust, but at least he wouldn't harbor guilt.
His mind drifted to what happened last week.
***
Reon, the child he had always cared for and protected like his own younger brother, an eight-year-old boy who once trembled with fear on his first night in the shack.
He managed to awaken a fairly strong power, and fortunately he was recruited by a noble family to be trained as a knight, at that time, the child smiled, he imagined, perhaps someday, when Reon succeeded, Reon would come back and take him along, they would leave this hell together.
But how shocking the human heart was, yesterday he met Reon again, Reon wore a neat training robe, clean and fragrant, forget remembering him, he even pretended not to recognize him, as if forgetting where he came from, Reon looked at him with disgust, he could still remember what Reon said at that time, 'Stop looking at me like that, bastard' It wasn't tears that came out then, but anger, he felt everything he had done for Reon felt worthless, he returned to his dwelling in rage.
The other children waiting for their eldest brother's return rushed out hopefully when they heard footsteps.
"Big brother! Did you get food?"
"Big brother, I'm hungry..."
"Big brother..."
"SHUT UP, GO AWAY!" He shouted full of anger.
The children fell silent, their eyes widened in fear, his was the first time their brother had yelled like that, some of the smaller ones began to sob, slowly backing into the corner of the dilapidated shack.
He saw those small faces, full of wounds, dirty, and now filled with fear, his hands clenched, nails digging into his own palms. "Forgive me..." he whispered softly, almost inaudibly.
He knew he shouldn't expect anything in return for all he had done, after all, he did this of his own will. But everything felt exhausting, everything mixed into one burden too heavy to carry alone.
A small girl, perhaps five years old, slowly approached, her thin hand touching her brother's back.
"Big brother... it's okay" she said softly. "We're not hungry"
A lie, of course a lie all their stomachs were growling, but these children had learned not to complain, had become accustomed to the gnawing hunger.
The child felt something break inside his chest, tears that hadn't come out in so long suddenly flowed just like that, he turned and hugged the little girl, then the others peeking from behind the wall also approached, embracing him in the warmth that was perhaps the only thing they had in this cruel world.
"Big brother promises, big brother will bring delicious food tomorrow morning." He hugged his four younger siblings, though not blood-related, he had considered them like his own siblings.
***
But this was his situation now, collapsed on the dirty ground, even the food he intended to give to his siblings was destroyed.
The child slowly stood up, his dirty hand wiping the blood on his cheek, his body trembling.
He thought about what he should say to them, they hadn't eaten for two days already, just imagining it felt like choking his heart.
But how ironic fate was, the smell of blood filled the air around him, he witnessed so many corpses of beggars.
The child froze, his eyes widening at a scene he could never have imagined even in his worst nightmares.
Bodies scattered like garbage, people he had seen yesterday searching for leftover food in trash cans now lay lifeless, blood pooling on the ground, flowing slowly toward the gutter already full of trash.
The child's legs moved on their own, running through narrow alleys toward the dilapidated shack where his siblings were waiting, his heart pounded hard, his breath caught, he didn't even know where he got the strength to run.
"No... no... please..."
When he arrived at their shack, the rotten wooden door was wide open, swaying gently in the night wind, a suffocating silence greeted his arrival.
"Mira? Kato? Len? Yuki?" His voice trembled, barely able to call out those names.
He stepped inside, and the world seemed to stop spinning.
Four small bodies lay in the corner of the shack, hugging each other with fearful gazes, Mira, the little girl who had gently touched his back last night, now her body was cold, Kato who was always cheerful despite being starving, Len who was quiet but always shared, Yuki who was the youngest, only six years old.
Sword stab wounds, resting in the bodies of those 4 little children.
The child fell to his knees, his hand touching Mira's face which was already cold, no tears came out, no screams, only an emptiness so deep it swallowed everything.
Then he saw it, footprints in the dust of the shack's floor, neat shoe prints, not flip-flops or bare feet like those of the homeless, and in the corner, a cloth lay there, a black cloth with a familiar symbol, the emblem of Baron Antes.
The child followed the direction of the footprints in front of him, he didn't know why he followed them.
The child walked like a living corpse, his feet stepping following the shoe prints marked on the ground, his gaze empty exactly like a living corpse.
In front of a corpse, he saw them.
Four men in black uniforms with Baron Antes' emblem on their chests, sitting on a pile of corpses while laughing.
"Hahaha, look at their faces when they died, so ridiculous!" One of the men laughed, raising his sword to the sky.
"Easy job, the pay is also decent. The Baron is truly generous" replied another while lighting a pipe.
"Indeed these trashs should be cleaned up. They only dirty our city" said the third man, wiping his sword which was still covered in blood.
The fourth man, who looked the youngest, remained silent, his gaze somewhat anxious looking at the corpses around them.
The child stood in the darkness, his body trembling, not from fear, but from anger so burning it consumed all pain, all sadness, all humanity that remained.
His hands clenched so tightly that his nails pierced his own palms, blood dripped, but he didn't feel it.
"You..." his voice came out, hoarse, cold, making the four men turn.
"Oh? There's still one alive?" The first man grinned. "A little child too, come here, let uncle give you some food"
"Wait..." the youngest man whispered. "Just let it be, let him go besides he can't do anything"
"So what? The order is clear, clean up ALL the homeless in this district" the second man interrupted. "No exceptions"
"But he's just a little child! Look at him, maybe only fourteen years old"
"Listen kid" the second man said in a tone as if explaining something simple. "We're just doing our job, Baron Antes wants to clean this city from... trash, those homeless ruin the view, disturb tourists, lower property values, this is for the greater good of the city, for the greater good of the wider society"
"Greater good?" the child laughed interrupting their conversation, but his laugh sounded like a sob. "Stop saying something so ridiculous, those dirty nobles are even busy enjoying all luxuries, while their people scream in hunger"
"That's true which is why we release them from a life like this, Starving, sickly, stealing? We're actually freeing them from suffering" Said the man justifying his actions.
The youngest man swallowed. "Maybe... maybe we can just leave him... he's still young, I'll take responsibility"
The three men looked at each other. "Alright, let's go back"
The youngest man felt relieved, and quickly approached the child, his steps invisible to the eye.
"Sorry kid" The youngest man made him faint.
The four men finally left the slum area.