Chương 4: Chapter 3: Slums (3)
The following days, Noah encouraged his siblings to bring back any form of food, rotten or otherwise. His light could make it edible, and that was enough to spur John and Leah on the thought of a full stomach. The fatigue that came with each use never really abated with prolonged practice, but his proficiency increased to the point where light no longer showed when he touched the food. He'd use the bare minimum to unspoil food and make it safe enough for consumption.
An adequate diet did wonders to recover from sickness.
Noah could hardly move before, but soon enough his complexion grew ruddier and it became easier for him to stay awake and manage small actions.
John and Leah's cheeks started to get a little fuller, but this was still no way to live. Most food that was discarded were either just scraps, bones, or carbs that lacked proper nutrition. Meats and fish, although possible to scrounge for, were largely avoided out of necessity. Noah could cure the rot, but most meats thrown out whole were raw and spoiled. He'd need to cook them, and although starting a fire was common in the slums, the smell of cooking meat would draw in more trouble than it was worth.
Noah's gaunt features didn't pose the most intimidating sight, and John and Leah were no better. Thin but spirited, there was no way they'd be able to deter thieves.
Therefore, meat was a luxury the three could not yet afford.
"John, keep Leah safe," Noah said one morning while getting ready to head out and earn a living. "Stay at the usual place."
"Are you sure you're okay? You can rest more, and I can find work." John offered.
Noah shook his head. "They didn't hire me when I was nine, they won't hire you."
"But you still did it!" John argued. "I-I can do it too! Trust me!"
"I stole for us to live, John. So don't be stubborn." Noah muttered, rubbing John's head before pushing him towards Leah. "At least you two should stay with honest work. Now remember to keep your heads low and stay out of sight of the senile granny's scavengers. You know what they'll do if they catch you."
John shivered, only Leah was blinking innocently. The two brothers had always shielded her from the darkest aspects of the slums.
The senile granny or the old witch were names used in the slums referring to the boss of the traffickers and black market traders. Scavengers were the people the old witch employed to exert her influence in Amaranth's slum district.
Children regularly disappear and reappear years later in brothels or as slaves. Others that don't appear at all are likely dead.
Noah could not work with his siblings next to him, so from early on, he found a spot for John and Leah to hide in a small crack on the outside of the baker's shop. The crack was only small enough to allow children to squeeze in, making it difficult for adults to detect anyone inside where a part of the building's initial foundation hadn't been properly filled.
The original Noah, John, and Leah had been using the location as a base, but 'Noah' had grown too big to fit. It didn't help that he fell sick, forcing him to erect a temporary shelter outside where his siblings refused to leave him. That was the situation Noah first arrived in.
"Wait there with Leah for me. I promise we won't be living our lives like this for much longer," Noah reassured John.
John wasn't convinced, but he lost momentum when Noah started to get cross with him.
"Good." Noah grinned at John before turning to Leah. "Leah, behave."
Leah stuck her tongue out, and got flicked on the forehead for it.
Noah did not linger.
He'd recovered enough and he decided to first wash himself off in the stream cutting through the slums. He dared not bathe at the foot of the stream for fear of soaking with people's dumped excrement and soiled sundries. Therefore, he made his way to the head of the stream and cleaned himself off where the water was less likely to be polluted by filth.
Tying his shoulder length hair back into a bun, he stared at his dirty clothes and sighed. In the end it was better than nothing. At the very least, he just needed to make himself presentable.
He wore a grungy faded tunic and trousers with small holes near the seams. It was simple, but his natural features and angular jawline offset the general shabbiness. Sometimes, it didn't matter the clothes so long as the person himself was handsome.
Too bad that mentality couldn't apply to everything.
The border city of Amaranth sat near the perimeter of the dark fog that encroached the known world into small pockets of civilizations on the verge of annihilation.
The Elven citadel of Aspen, The Great Dwarven Keep, The Barbarian Orc Lands, and the Human Kingdom of Aletera were all that remained outside of the dark fog for the past hundred years. The fog's advance had stalled for so long that some began to believe it would never continue its spread again, but all remaining pockets of resistance maintained their vigilance.
Amaranth was one of six border cities that defended the inner capital of Aletera where the central nobility and the ruling monarchy consolidated all efforts to preserve mankind's survival.
The overarching problem of the dark fog was a concern shared by all, but not one Noah could currently afford to dwell over.
His immediate focus was on proper shelter, and an income source that could move him and his family out of the slums. Unfortunately, few if any legal sources would hire a street rat, so all that was available to Noah were jobs anyone could take so long as they could complete them.
Walking out of the slums, Noah made his way to the central street where numerous people ambled passed him on either side. After bathing, he no longer smelled of sweat and grime, and his clean skin revealed traces of his former image growing up a noble. If not for the clothes, his impression might have been even better, and it was the reason he'd bathed.
Noah stopped in front of the marketplace request board and searched for a job within his means to fulfill. After taking a request, he'd have to be accepted by the client, and most would never trust a person from the slums easily. As such, it was better to be presentable than not.
Various requests were posted in front of him ranging from miscellaneous tasks to recruitment notices for Amaranth's standing army.
Noah ignored the smaller requests. They didn't pay enough, and oftentimes due to him living in the slums, some clients could withhold their money and call enforcement if Noah tried to protest. Army recruitment wasn't a possibility either as that would separate him from John and Leah.
Therefore, he needed something credible.
Eyes focusing on the sole request posted on expensive red velvet, Noah was certain that the poster was a noble. Pride and honor would prevent a noble from short-changing or swindling him on the surface, or risk deterioration of their reputation. In the same vein, no one was taking the request as failure could lead to worse complications.
Noah considered his options until he read that the request was for a healer, and then made his decision.
He took the request written on red velvet paper, not noticing that he was being watched the moment he took it.
"Stop!"
A cloaked woman suddenly grabbed Noah's arm holding the request.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Noah turned to the cloaked woman, frowning as he felt pain from the woman squeezing her grip on him. Regardless, he maintained his composure despite the whispers of those that stopped to stare at the scene.
"I'm accepting a request." Noah answered. "Can you let go?"
The cloaked woman only grew more irritable.
"There is such a thing as qualification, boy." She hissed.
"I wouldn't have taken it otherwise," Noah frowned, pulling his hand back, and wincing as his wrist bruised from the woman's grip.
Noah carefully eyed the silver plate armor that flashed beneath the cloak the woman was wearing and quickly sorted his thoughts.
"Mary, wait," Another cloaked woman came forward, conscious of the crowd forming to stare at them like a spectacle. "I'm the one who posted the request so I get to decide if a client can achieve it or not- You're making a scene."
Noah stared at the two cloaked women, one half a head taller than the other. Mary was the tall one, but the shorter girl's words held more weight.
As a former noble, Noah could recognize a disguised handmaid and a naive noblewoman from behavior alone.
Considering the lack of guards and the tension of the handmaiden, their current outing wasn't a regulated activity.
"It could be a scam…" Mary protested.
"Then so be it. There's no more time." The other woman sounded anxious. "He was the only one who took the request out of everyone else."
"That's too hasty!"
The women broke into a hushed argument while Noah's ears suddenly perked up at the sound of small footsteps running through the crowd. An ominous premonition overtook him.
If it was not because of the sound of footsteps, then it was because of the cursing of 'dirty animal' and 'rat' voiced by passersby that alarmed him.
Noah glanced around, looking to the place where the crowd in the marketplace parted like the Red Sea, unwilling to get involved with a dirty slum girl that abruptly burst in. This made the girl incredibly easy to spot as she drew near.
Noah and the two cloaked women were already causing a scene. There was no way he wouldn't be noticed, and the girl ran straight to him before throwing herself onto his waist.
"Noah! Noah!" Leah wailed while grabbing onto his arm and pulling on him.
"L-Leah?" Noah stammered, feeling his heart sink from an ominous chill.
"John! John!" Leah shouted, trembling.
Radio noise echoed in Noah's ears before instinct kicked in. He picked up Leah and started moving in the direction she was desperately pointing.
"Hey wait!" One of the cloaked women called upon noticing Noah's actions.
Noah didn't listen and instead picked up speed.
"The request!"
The woman yelled.
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