Serna’s throat tickled and she shed tears, then broke into a severe coughing fit.

“Serna!”

Aila was startled and held a white cloth to Serna’s mouth, then gently pulled it away.

“!”

There was a small amount of blood on the white cloth, and the moment she saw it, Aila immediately began to well up with tears.

“I need to give her more medicine.”

Serna’s illness was a rare disease.

After Aila had bought all manner of medicines and administered them, they had shown some effect, but the problem was that the medicine was so expensive she could not give it to her in adequate amounts.

Every time she bought that medicine, her debt grew, and on top of that, there was no longer anywhere left to borrow money from.

Serna slumped weakly and comforted Aila.

“Don’t worry, Sis. I’ll kill all these bastards before I die.”

“……?”

Only then did Aila notice that Serna was clutching something to her chest. When Aila gently slipped it out, a notebook came free with ease.

Inside it were names. Jeffrey, the loan shark, Alvin’s father, Thug 1, Thug 2……

“What is this?”

Serna, with her snow-white face, clear and pure eyes, and red lips, spoke like a songbird.

“A death note.”

“?”

“I haven’t managed to kill a single one yet, but……”

As she spoke, Serna looked so pure and beautiful, like a saintess offering up a blessing.

“Soon.”

Having finished speaking, Serna closed her eyes as though her energy had run out.

“Serna!”

Aila placed her fingers beneath Serna’s nose. She was lying there like a corpse, but she was still alive.

As Aila struggled to carry Serna on her back, Melia said she would help and gripped one of Serna’s feet tightly with her small hands and lifted it above her head.

Even as Aila labored to carry Serna home, she fell into deep and serious worry.

She needed to buy a large supply of medicine and give it to her every day, but right now the best she could manage was once every two months, or at most once a month.

Her debt had already grown to its limit, and the merchant guild leader who was the only one still willing to lend her money had at some point started acting like a loan shark, collecting interest that exceeded the debt itself.

On top of that, terrifying news had reached her not long ago.

Word was that the merchant guild leader had hired more thugs to deal with Tael. At this rate, she might end up losing Serna, just as the ruffians had once threatened.

There were many reasons she could not let Serna go, but the biggest among them was this.

“Serna will definitely end up making that person angry.”

Serna was like a sick rabbit that charged forward without looking left or right. And on top of that, a fearless rabbit who cursed every time she opened her mouth.

She would easily end up in serious trouble from mouthing off and acting reckless.

“I’m sure of it. Serna is in danger. I absolutely cannot send her.”

Aila gripped tightly the cloth stained with Serna’s blood. There was no way she could watch Serna get hurt, no matter what.

—

The next day, an unexpected gift had been placed in one corner of Melia’s yard.

It was the doll that had been taken from Melia the day before.

“Mimi!”

Melia ran over and hugged Mimi tightly to her chest. Just then, someone who had been watching Melia from beyond the yard quickly hid themselves.

“Alvin……?”

He was one of the children who had teased Melia. When Melia poked her face over the wall, Alvin was so startled he tumbled backward. Alvin’s face turned beet red as he shouted.

“I didn’t put that there! I hate beggars!”

“Okay!”

Melia giggled.

“I’m serious! I didn’t take it back from Tommy!”

“So you’re the one who put it there!”

“No I didn’t!”

“You like Mimi too?”

“I said no! My father told me not to play with you because you’re a beggar! So why would I bring your doll back?! I just dropped it here by accident!”

Melia paid him no mind.

“My sister made this for me. Should I ask her to make one for you too?”

When Melia held Mimi out as if to show it off, Alvin struck Mimi hard with one hand.

Mimi flew through the air in a round arc and landed with a thud in the muddy ground, and at the sight of it, Melia’s eyes filled with tears.

“Mimi……”

Alvin stared at Mimi in a panic.

“Th, this, I, I didn’t mean to do that on……”

“Mimi!”

At the sight of Melia bursting into tears, Alvin panicked and ran off, hiding himself in the bushes.

As Melia picked up Mimi from the ground and hugged her tightly while sniffling, Alvin approached again from a distance.

“Alvin……?”

“I’m throwing this away!”

Alvin pulled a slice of pie neatly wrapped in paper from his pocket, placed it on the ground, then dashed away. Melia watched him go and smiled softly.

“Okay! I’m coming to catch you!”

Laughing “hehehe,” Melia spread both arms wide and chased after Alvin. Alvin ran as hard as he could, then looked back and was startled.

“Aaah! Why are you following me!”

“Hehe!”

When Melia leaped on top of Alvin with a thud, he was completely flattened. Alvin burst into tears, buried in the sticky mud.

“You’re really ugly. You look like a sweet potato!”

Melia’s face lit up.

“I like sweet potatoes!”

Alvin was flustered even through his tears.

“Th, then a carrot!”

“Hop, hop!”

Melia mimicked a rabbit.

“Ugh.”

When neither one thing nor another worked, Alvin made a tearful face.

“Then you’re poop!”

Melia burst into gleeful laughter.

“Ew, gross! Oh no, so gross!”

“It’s not gross!”

As Melia kept laughing, Alvin huffed and then burst into full-blown tears.

“No! It’s not gross! Poop is not gross!”

Melia, who had been laughing, was startled and stared at Alvin. Alvin was already wailing loudly.

Melia thought for a moment, then tossed a cookie from her pocket onto the ground, picked it back up, and put the dirt-covered cookie into Alvin’s mouth.

“It’s good, right?”

When Melia asked with wide round eyes, Alvin abruptly stopped crying.

“Sniff. It tastes like dirt.”

Alvin burst into tears again. He did not chew the cookie but opened his mouth and sobbed loudly. Melia took the cookie back out of his open mouth, blew on it, and put it back in.

“Stop crying now. I blew on it.”

Alvin sniffled and asked.

“Blew on it?”

“Yes!”

Only then did Alvin smile bashfully and chew the cookie. It was sweet and good. Alvin chewed the cookie and looked at Melia. Melia was still giggling. Alvin’s face turned a little red.

The boy turned his head away quickly and said whatever came to mind.

“But this tastes exactly like what I ate the other day.”

“Yes! That’s the one!”

Melia smiled brightly.

“?”

“I got it from your trash can! There was a whole lot of it!”

Alvin burst into even louder tears.

—

Alvin was upset. He had gone and fought with Tommy just to bring the doll back, and she had fed him a cookie from the trash. Every time he thought about it, tears came to his eyes.

Alvin sat in front of freshly baked cookies and bread and sniffled.

“I’m going to eat a new one.”

He did not like the taste of dirt.

“I’m not eating anything from the trash can.”

And then he broke into sorrowful sobs.

“Why was I so mean. Now Tommy won’t even talk to me.”

He had fought with Tommy over taking Melia’s doll and ended up losing his friend over it.

Feeling upset, he reached for a cookie to eat, then hesitated. A thought suddenly struck him.

“But that beggar girl, she probably hasn’t ever eaten a new one, has she?”

Alvin gathered himself, stuffed cookies into his pocket, and quietly got up.

Without even wiping away the tear tracks still on his face, he headed to the same spot as before. Alvin was looking around when he spotted Melia and broke into a bright smile, only for his expression to quickly stiffen.

“Who is that person?”

A tall, handsome man was giving Melia a piggyback ride. The man tossed Melia, spun her around, carried her on his back, and then gave her a piggyback ride again, and the corners of Melia’s mouth stretched as though they might tear.

Alvin stared intently at the scene, and then finally recognized who the man was.

“Isn’t that the beggar who was eating cookies with Melia the other day?”

Melia shouted.

“Brother! Being up here makes me feel super tall! Wow, this is so fun!”

“Is that so.”

“I really like you, Brother!”

“I’ll give you a ride every day, so tell your sister to keep me around.”

“Okay!”

“Also tell her not to nag me about not being able to peel potatoes.”

“Okay!”

“And tell her to consider marriage while she’s at it.”

“Okay!”

Alvin, who had been catching bits and pieces of the conversation from a distance, went blank as though in shock.

“Really like him……? Consider marriage……?”

Alvin huffed and ran toward Tael, then headbutted him straight in the leg. Tael only moved his eyes downward to look at Alvin.

“Do you want a ride too?”

At those words, Alvin’s face flushed with what looked like eager anticipation, but he quickly narrowed his eyes fiercely again.

“Beggars playing together, how nice!”

“……”

“I’m not going easy on you just because you’re older!”

“?”

“I’m going to grow up way cooler than you!”

“Hmm, that won’t be easy.”

At Tael’s matter-of-fact tone, Alvin felt a little deflated but tried not to show it.

“No it won’t! It’ll be easy! I’ll be way cooler!”

“If you resemble me even a little, I’ll praise you for the effort.”

The moment Tael smirked and looked at Alvin, the boy was immediately struck dumb by his looks. But this was not the time for that. Alvin spotted something approaching and flinched, trembling in fright.