City of the Defeated.
There was a city that went by such a nickname.
When this city started being called that, no one knew.
Whoever initiated this name was either a resident of the city or someone who had already perished, lamenting their own circumstances.
It was indeed a horrendous nickname.
To refer to the city by that name was essentially to call all of its inhabitants losers.
Naturally, the residents were appalled by the name, but that was merely superficial.
When they first heard the nickname “City of the Defeated,” they had no choice but to think it suited the city well.
One could surmise that the person who first named it was someone who either lived in this city or had perished, forced to mock their own plight.
Perhaps someone who had been nothing but unlucky since birth, or one who blamed fate for their own failures, plunging themselves into the abyss of life.
An individual who trailed behind and lost in competitions with others for various reasons.
They lived in this secluded city on the fringes of the continent, as though they had been cast out, and saw themselves as part of such a tribe.
Naturally, the atmosphere in such a city was far from pleasant.
With no room for leisure in their hearts, instead of extending a hand to others, they were busy gnawing at one another and chasing only momentary pleasures like gambling or drink, having abandoned any thought of a future. The place was truly a cesspool.
And in this cesspool of humanity,
“Aah, you filthy beggar! Don’t you dare stand there!”
A girl was struggling to survive.
“Stand there, you orphan! How dare you show up near my restaurant looking all dirty again!”
The girl, with a shabby appearance and a height not reaching the waist of an average adult male, had no name.
If someone were to ask her name, she’d have no choice but to reply with “beggar” or “orphan.”
Everyone here called her by those terms.
In any case, what she was called was meaningless to her.
Since the moment she regained consciousness, she had been a beggar and an orphan, never having learned to speak, and thus she didn’t know why people referred to her that way.
Of course, even if she understood the meaning, she wouldn’t have cared.
What mattered to her was solely how to fill her empty stomach today.
“If I catch you, I’ll break your legs!”
Even though the girl didn’t quite understand the words, she had a rough idea of what it meant when a man shouted behind her, swinging a club menacingly.
It meant that if caught, she wouldn’t fare well.
The girl had learned that from experience.
It wasn’t the first time she rummaged through this man’s restaurant’s trash bin.
She had been beaten badly back then.
The only difference this time was that the man looked angrier than before, meaning if caught, the beating would be worse.
Huff, huff, huff.
Thus, the girl ran desperately.
Using the clutter littering the streets and the tangled alleys, she moved with such agility that her small size seemed negligible.
That was the skill the girl had honed to survive in this city.
“Hah… Hah… Damn, that beggar is quick… Hey, you! If I see you again, I won’t let it slide! Got it!”
The pursuer finally lost sight of the girl and, in frustration, turned away, yelling.
As she caught her breath in the alley’s corner, watching the man disappear, she suddenly shivered.
A horrible stench of alcohol wafted from somewhere.
“Gah… Huh, what the hell… Is that a beggar?”
Sure enough, from behind came the sound of hiccups and a voice.
Under normal circumstances, she would have bolted at the scent, but having just finished sprinting, she assessed that it would be tough to escape again and slowly turned around.
And there, standing behind her, was a burly drunkard with a flushed face.
At this point, it was too late to run away.
One might say, why be afraid of a drunkard, but the girl had seen it.
Last time, this drunkard had turned another man into a mangled wreck.
This guy was stronger than he looked, and quicker, with a temperament far worse than his façade suggested—a dangerous character.
Rather than risk inciting the anger of someone who wouldn’t hesitate to strike another, the girl thought it wise to placate him and stood still as he chuckled and reached toward her.
“Hic… Where’d you scrounge up some food this time, eh? Perfect timing… I could use something to go with my drink, though it’s probably tasteless as always… Hand it over.”
Casually demanding the food she had found, as if he had a right to seize it.
In response to his words, the girl trembled with indignation, but eventually, she had no choice but to surrender what she clutched tightly.
The drunkard took the somewhat dried jerky she offered, grimaced, and muttered.
“Ew… I guess this is something a beggar would eat—disgustingly tasteless… Ha, whatever… I’m feeling generous today, so I’ll let it slide. Just bring something edible next time…”
Muttering that to the girl, the drunkard shoved the bottle to his mouth and staggered off.
The moment he completely vanished, the anger in the girl’s face faded as she glared at the drunken figure.
Returning to her hideout, which appeared to be just a pile of trash in the shadowy alley, the girl uncovered a bundle she had concealed within her tattered clothes.
Inside the bundle were food items that looked far more appetizing than what the drunkard had taken from her.
To survive in this city, having a stash like this was elementary.
In fact, it was astonishing that anyone could survive in a place like this.
There weren’t any kids her age living alone nearby.
She might not know it, but whether alive or dead, people fetch a decent price.
And in this city, unless one has the ability or luck to protect oneself, it wouldn’t be surprising if anyone became money at any moment.
Yet today, too, by some stroke of luck, she had managed to survive miraculously in such a place.
She could find food and fill her hungry belly.
Despite the perpetual hardships and scant joys, she would likely continue to fight stubbornly for survival tomorrow, just as she did today.
The instinct to eat and survive was the most fundamental of all living beings’ instincts. It was the only thing the girl had learned in this world.
*
It rained.
Rain ranked high among the many things the girl despised the most.
Her shabby hideout, constructed from gathered odds and ends, regrettably lacked the ability to keep the rain out completely.
She had no precious items to protect from the rain, but the mere fact that it leaked was problematic.
Rain means losing body temperature, and losing body temperature means using up energy to maintain warmth.
In simpler terms, rain made her hungry faster than usual.
Yeah. That’s the biggest reason the girl hated rain.
“… I’m hungry.”
As her stomach growled, she clutched her belly, about to cry.
As explained, the girl never had the chance to learn to speak.
Yet there was one phrase she understood clearly from eavesdropping: “I’m hungry.”
The extreme sensitivity she had to hunger stemmed from it being the most loathed of all things she detested.
The girl was quite patient, though.
The mere fact that she continued her existence in such a place was proof enough.
However, the intense hunger that gradually pierced her from within felt sharper than any pain or cold she could bear.
It was far more tormenting than getting beaten by a restaurant owner.
For her, “I’m hungry” was practically synonymous with “I’m in pain.”
“… I’m hungry.”
Thus, the girl, holding back tears, had no choice but to venture out into the rain she loathed to seek food.
Even though she truly hated being soaked, staying still would only make her hungrier, and ultimately, she’d have to go out and search for food in an even hungrier state.
She couldn’t afford that.
Whoosh!
“…”
Stepping outside her hideout, the rain drenched her in an instant, prompting her to resolve to find food as quickly as possible.
Naturally, she headed toward the restaurant where the man had chased her just before.
The reason she chose this place was simple.
The food served there tasted horrible.
Thanks to that, plenty of edible scraps were often left in the restaurant’s trash.
To a girl prioritizing filling her belly over flavor, it was the perfect spot.
See? Just like today.
With a smile on her face, she rummaged through the trash bin, stuffing her bundle with the scraps.
Of course, there was no time to spare.
Especially on days like today when it was raining, she had to act quickly.
The rain severely limited her senses of sight, hearing, and smell, which helped her detect nearby threats.
Because of that, tricky situations sometimes arose.
Bam!
“… Gotcha, you beggar! I said if I see you again, I won’t let it slide. Today, I’ll make sure to teach you a lesson.”
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