The kids are drooling out of the corners of their mouths when they see us holding the meat spit. Some of the children's bellies let out loud squeals.

　But the one with the meat is accompanied by a blind-eyed elven sorcerer and two golems.

　What kind of eyes will I face if I approach them........

　And I somehow understood that everyone in the place was looking at us with that kind of eye. While noticing the signs of those who are spying on us in the vicinity, I smile at the woman who stands to protect the children.

As I said before, I have no intention of harming you. For now, would you please let your guard down?

　When I told her that, the woman looked away from the flesh that had been staring at her and looked at me with a huff.

'Well, I'm supposed to believe those words? We have all come here to escape something that is hard for each of us. It's not so easy to trust you guys for the first time...

　He was speaking with a grim expression, but in the middle of the dialogue, my stomach rumbled with a sound that could be heard even here.

　

　The woman remained silent for a while, but eventually she opened her mouth again.

''........What is the reason you called out to us? Why did you bless that child with bread?

　And the woman continued to talk as if nothing had happened.

　You seem to have the mentality of steel.

　As I was admiring the woman in my heart, Eira stepped forward and opened her mouth.

''Oh, um.......if you want, would you like to eat some meat, too? If you suspect it's poisoned or something, I'll eat it first.

　When Eira said this fearfully, the woman grunted and pulled her chin back with a grunt.

　Maybe Eira's sincere words made the woman feel guilty. Puzzled, the woman turned her eyes from Eira to Yuri and me.

''........What are you guys.......''

　He is the king of the smallest country in the world. There's also the princess of the Atul Kingdom, the royalty of the Frieder Empire and the former court magician of the Blau Empire.

　There's no way I could say that, so I smile vaguely and cower my shoulders.

''I'm a traveler, sir,''

　When I answered that, the woman narrowed her eyes with a difficult face.

''........With a sorcerer who can control a golem as an escort, right? For all intents and purposes, he's a man of more than adequate status, but...

　However, the woman's expression loosened slightly as she said this.

　The suspicion didn't disappear, but for now, the woman seemed to be willing to listen to me.





''U, yummy........''

Delicious....

　The children mumbled their thoughts as they chewed on the stain and meat. Some of the children cried and couldn't eat well.

　A woman turned a sad face at the situation and let out a shallow breath.

　We had moved out of the place and into a dugout in the corner. Incidentally, the woman, who looked like a sister, her name was Leticia, apparently.

　The dugout Letitia led us to was an awkwardly shaped tenement, as if it had been added or remodeled afterwards. The ground was lined with planks and used as a floor, and the walls and ceiling were similarly pieced together from uneven boards.

　It's worse than a livestock shed, but the interior is unexpectedly clean, probably due to the lack of extraneous items and Leticia's thorough cleaning.

　It doesn't look so spacious, but I wonder if they are sleeping here with their children.

　When I was thinking about that, Leticia opened her mouth shyly.

''........I'm sorry for the dirty place. It's just that it's too public in there.''

　When Leticia said that and smiled fragilely, Eira hurriedly shook her head from side to side.

''I, no, dirty is not such a...''

　Eira tried to follow up with a few choice words, but Letitia returned a wry smile.

''It's a fact.......only, as you can see if you look at this house, we can't even thank you for the meal. The only thing we can do is to say thank you....

　I've been thinking about it with my arms crossed as Letitia said that with some uneasiness.

　I don't really care if you want to thank me, but this living environment makes me want to do something for you.

　However, I'm not afraid to speak of such an arrogant thing.

''Ah, um...?''

　Nevertheless, while I was silent, Leticia looked more and more anxious.

　I had no choice but to open my mouth.

''No, I don't need to thank you. Instead, may I ask you one question?

'What? Ah, yes ... well, if you can answer that question ...

　I look at Leticia, who is puzzled, but then I speak the question.

'If you and your children could get behind these walls and into the city, what would you do?

I'm staying. The kids can't come in, either.

　Letitia answered immediately. The answer was unexpectedly that it would stay here, but I still felt like it was a good idea.

　However, if there is a clear reason, I want to hear it.

''........and why is that?''

　When I ask, Leticia's expression relaxes slightly.

''........As I thought, you guys are noblemen who came from somewhere else. I had a feeling that way.

　Smiling to herself as she said this, Leticia took a deep breath once and began to talk about an aspect of this country.

''This country is populated by merchants from all over the world, where all sorts of goods are bought and sold. That tax alone is enough to make the country's royalty and aristocracy incredibly wealthy. The merchants who ply their trade with the great numbers of peddlers, travellers and mercenaries, and the adventurers and mercenaries who provide bodyguards, would be equally wealthy. However, there will also be those who have not made any money in the process. The future that awaits those people is either criminal slavery or debt slavery.

　As Leticia said this, she peeled off her robe, exposing both shoulders.

　I couldn't help but look at her overly slender shoulders and neck, but what caught my attention more was the large slave seal that spread from the back of her neck to both shoulders.

　Eira, who also held the slave seal, gasped as she assumed a posture that covered her mouth with her hands, and Aifa made a deep crease between her eyebrows.

　Yuri's eyebrows furrowed into a c shape and pressed silent, but his eyes were shaking with pity.

''........I was a nun of the Calistoe Church in this city. We fed the orphans with the donations that were paid by each of those cities, as taught by the Calistoe Church.

　When she broke off there, Leticia turned over and let out a thin breath.

'But no matter how much we tried, it wasn't enough. There were too many orphans for the donations. At first, the priest admonished me and forced me to convince myself, but when I saw orphans starving to death, one by one, stealing food and becoming slaves because of their stringiness, I couldn't stand it anymore.

So you're stealing food?

　When she heard that, Leticia laughed again, fragilely. Then she said the unbelievable words.

'No. I couldn't resist stealing things, so I sold myself into slavery and donated to the church myself.

　It was an insanely heavy story.