By Zephyria 
The winter in Leiberry was harsh.
Even with corpses frozen to death scattered like trash throughout the streets, no one cared. The barren mountains, devoid of firewood, had long been emptied of weeds and animals, and the best one could do was barely survive by stripping the bark from the remaining trees and eating it.
The situation just a few steps outside the alley was slightly better, but that didn’t change the fact that Leiberry was a slum.
“I was told you hated coming here so much that I expected it to be much more horrific, but it’s not that bad.”
“……”
At Kyle’s words, I once again scanned the scenery of Leiberry. Surely, Leiberry in my last memory was much more miserable than this, but it certainly looked like a place where people could live now.
Just the fact that there were no corpses on the streets…
I hesitated, feeling strangely uneasy, and before I could stop him, Kyle took off the hood he was wearing.
“Where was your house?”
Kyle’s gray-blue eyes sparkled unusually, as if he was very excited. Normally, I would have reached out to touch his pretty face, but I wasn’t in the mood right now.
I told him not to take it off just anywhere, so why is he taking it off so easily?
Despite the fact that his appearance was very different from usual due to the long voyage across the sea, a halo shone behind Kyle’s head. Even with his disheveled hair and shabby clothes, he never looked like an ordinary person.
As soon as he took off his hood, gazes poured in as if they had been waiting for it. Passersby hurrying along, merchants at stalls, people picking vegetables, etc… Everyone’s jaws dropped as if they were watching jewels fall from the sky like rain.
It wasn’t just a matter of being pretty or handsome, but there was an indescribable atmosphere. From the look in his eyes, his actions, and every gesture, even the air around him shouted that this man was no ordinary person.
“We can’t just go back after coming all the way here.”
I don’t know if he doesn’t feel the blatant gazes, or if he doesn’t care even though he knows. He’s not interested in his surroundings, so it’s probably the latter. Maybe he’s used to the attention.
“Where is it? Is it that way?”
Kyle moved his legs, turning his head this way and that. It looked like he was just guessing, but surprisingly, he was right. He’s always had an uncanny knack for everything, but at this point, I wondered if I could simply dismiss it as having a good sense.
The streets were quite crowded, but as Kyle moved, a path opened as if by magic. As if dealing with a patient with an infectious disease, no one tried to enter within a certain radius of Kyle. Kyle didn’t seem to feel anything strange about the crowd parting like water flowing around a huge rock.
Perhaps because I wasn’t moving, Kyle, who was walking ahead, turned his head and looked at me. Then he held out his hand.
“Why aren’t you coming? Don’t you want to go?”
“……No, it’s not that I don’t want to.”
“Why have you been sulking since earlier? Are you pouting because I kept insisting on coming even though you didn’t want to?”
Kyle, unable to wait even for a moment, eventually came to me and took my hand first. He intertwined his fingers with mine, pulling me in with a force that was strong enough to prevent me from escaping, but not painful.
“Is it because you don’t have good memories?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then?”
I muttered as I slowly moved my feet.
“Anyway, the house I lived in is all gone. It’s a bit much to even call it a house in the first place…”
“Gone? Then let’s go near there. Maybe something will still be left.”
Why does he want to see it so badly? And how does he know the way so accurately? Did he come here secretly without me knowing? I had a feeling that Kyle might have investigated it a long time ago.
We arrived near Crow’s Well, which was still there as it was when I lived here. Suddenly, a little boy with a pitch-black dirty face started running towards Kyle at full speed.
To be exact, it was closer to running along the open path to escape rather than running towards Kyle. I reached out my gloved hand to prevent the boy from touching Kyle before he collided with him.
“Get out of the way!”
The expression on the face of the child, who didn’t even look 10 years old, was ferocious. His cheeks, stained with dirt and grime, were swollen reddish, as if he had been beaten somewhere.
“Let go of me, you bastard…!”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Kyle put his hands under the child’s armpits and lifted him up. The child’s face, suddenly lifted off the ground, was filled with bewilderment and fear.
“Why are you running around like this?”
“Wh-What? Put me, put me down…!”
“Stay still. Why is your cheek like that? Who hit you?”
The child struggled and kicked, then paused at Kyle’s question. The ferocious energy on his face just a moment ago was quickly replaced by a fragile one.
“Th-They asked for money…”
“What money?”
“But who are you?”
“Just someone passing by?”
“Are you a noble?”
Judging from the situation, it felt like he was going to get involved. Kyle was generally uninterested in his surroundings, but he didn’t easily ignore the sight of the weak suffering.
That doesn’t mean he helps them kindly. It’s closer to smashing the cause, so it’s unique that even the person who received help usually doesn’t know.
But this time, he seemed to have a different idea, as Kyle bought a bread filled with meat torn and mixed with seasoning and handed it to the child. I didn’t know why he was doing this suddenly, but I had been feeling uneasy since earlier.
“Looking at it, there are two shelters nearby and volunteer groups, so why are you running around and swearing like that? There are quite a few nobles mixed in among the people who come to the volunteer groups.”
“That’s… I’m… Maybe volunteering…”
The child mumbled, gobbling down the bread. Of course, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. I had no idea what he was saying, but Kyle managed to understand it.
“I’m not here to volunteer.”
“Then?”
The child, who had eaten about half of the meat-filled bread, finally swallowed what was in his mouth and raised his head.
“I’m just someone passing by, you know? Like an adventurer.”
“Are you an adventuring noble?”
Kyle’s expression became subtle at the innocent question.
“Why did you swear so much earlier? What if the person you bumped into wasn’t me but another noble?”
“What noble would be standing still in the middle of the road? Especially wearing such shabby clothes. The really nasty bastards don’t dress so shabbily.”
It was a pretty smart remark, but Kyle’s expression wasn’t very good. He had been smiling all along, but his eyes were actually strange. That’s why I had been feeling uneasy since earlier.
When faced with a problem or incident, Kyle tended to consider whether to eliminate the cause first. In other words, he carefully thought about whether to kill or not, and the expression he had now was exactly that expression.
“And here, it’s important to take the initiative. Of course, you might die doing that, but you’re going to die anyway if you’re looked down on.”
“So you’re picking fights with nobles too? Only picking on people who don’t seem like they’ll punish you?”
“N-No, it’s not that…”
The child hesitated and mumbled.
“Actually, I didn’t know he was a noble at first… When I saw his face, I thought he might be a noble… But his tone wasn’t like one… I don’t really know. If I had known he was a noble, I would have avoided him from afar.”
“Why is your cheek like that? Did you get hit by a noble too?”
“Huh? Ah, this…”
“You carried charcoal but didn’t get paid?”
“Huh? Ah, yes… Yes? Yes? H-How did you know?”
The child’s surprised eyes widened like saucers. I was just as surprised. Had he really been here before?
“Because there’s a lot of charcoal dust on your clothes. Why aren’t you eating the rest?”
“I’m saving this for my younger sibling…”
“I’ll buy you another one, so you eat all of that.”
“Really?”
The child happily started gobbling it down again. Meanwhile, Kyle silently stared at him without saying a word. His expression was still not good.
I tilted my head and searched my memory. Had I ever told him about Leiberry? I think I only told him that I wrapped bandages, smeared mud, and lived in the slums.