Thud, thud, thud.
“I didn’t cook just to feed a beggar like you!”
Every time the restaurant owner yelled, a club flew towards the curled-up girl on the ground.
Even when striking the small girl who barely reached his chest, he showed no mercy.
“Just because you filthy beggar keep lurking around, customers aren’t coming to the shop, you know!”
He knew the girl was an orphan.
There was no consequence for beating her up; she was too small and weak to seek revenge.
So, the restaurant owner unleashed his violence on her.
Blaming her for the restaurant’s poor performance, he seemed to take this opportunity to relieve his built-up stress.
If only the girl could speak, she could’ve replied that the reason for the restaurant failing was the food tasting terrible.
But not understanding his words, she had no choice but to endure the man’s wrath.
She just thought today was simply unlucky.
“…Huff, huff. Hey, beggar. I’ll leave it at this just to avoid bad luck after cleaning the corpse in front of my shop… If I catch you again, be prepared to die. Damn, what a stroke of bad luck.”
The violence continued until the restaurant owner’s stamina ran out.
After spitting on the girl, who lay battered on the floor, he tossed the blood-stained club on the ground and slammed the back door shut.
A moment later, the girl, who seemed dead in front of the trash bin, slowly got up.
She tried to stand on the ground but fell back down with a thud.
Maybe something broke during the beating, as one of her legs wouldn’t move properly.
Lying on the ground and groaning for a moment, she grasped the wooden club that had just beaten her, using it to barely push herself up.
How absurd.
The very club that made her this way was now the only thing she could rely on to get up.
Struggling to stand, she turned around, gazing blankly at the scene before her.
There lay her torn bag, which had contained her meager food supplies, now splattered in mud.
She felt even sadder that today’s provisions were ruined than the beating she had just taken.
With the rain coming down and her physical condition so poor, getting food today would be difficult.
With a sorrowful face, she sat in front of the torn bag and scraped together whatever food she could find that looked edible.
In the end, it was barely enough to fill her tiny hands.
But even this was necessary to alleviate her terrible hunger.
Gripping the meager food tightly in her hands, she awkwardly tucked the club under her armpit and slowly made her way toward her hideout.
She was incredibly hungry, but she didn’t want to eat in the rain, and thoughts of getting back to her hideout quickly filled her mind as she stumbled over the unfamiliar crutch.
“Ugh… Ugh. Huh? Who’s that? It’s the beggar.”
At that moment, she heard the voice of someone drunk out of their mind.
Of course, it had to be that dangerous drunkard.
The approaching drunkard blocked her path, forcing her to stop.
To make matters worse, he did not look very pleasant today, as he staggered towards her through the rain.
As the girl stood still, the drunkard, with his glossy eyes, began speaking.
“Hey, hey. Beggar. Listen to my story… I lost a lot while gambling today, see…? But that’s strange. I’ve gambled so much in my life… how can I lose that much? Obviously, it means someone is messing with me. I can’t just let those bastards who thought they could fool me get away… So, I’m on my way to deal with those scamming gamblers, you see.”
The drunkard ranted on with a loud voice, expressing his irritation and excitement.
Of course, none of it registered in the girl’s ears.
Her thoughts were solely consumed with the desperate desire to get home as quickly as possible, as her body was in no shape to delay.
However, the drunkard didn’t care and laughed at her state mockingly.
“By the way, you’re looking really messed up right now. You got beat up, didn’t you? Heh heh, those guys sure made you look like a beggar… Heh heh, they can’t get around now that I’ve smashed their heads in.”
As he cackled, he glanced at the food the girl was holding tightly.
“Anyway, I can’t help but drink since I’m in a bad mood because of those guys. I brought a few bottles from the bar, but I forgot to grab any snacks.”
Then he gestured toward the food in her hands.
“So, hand over what you’re holding. It’s bound to taste like garbage anyway, but I need something to munch on while I drink.”
At his request, a moment of silence fell.
The girl didn’t understand exactly what he was asking, but she knew what he wanted.
It was the same as always: he was asking her to offer up her food.
In an unavoidable situation.
It made sense to comply before anything worse could happen.
But,
“What’s with that expression? You’re not saying you can’t give it to me, right?”
The girl couldn’t bring herself to hand over the food she clutched tightly.
The drunkard mumbled threateningly, but the memories of the things she endured to get that food clouded her mind, numbed by the recent violence and intense hunger.
…Is he really demanding I give this up?
The food she struggled desperately to obtain.
How hard she fought for it.
If she gave this up, she would have to spend the day without eating.
With nothing to show for her efforts, she’d suffer the gnawing of hunger…
…No, that was something she absolutely refused to accept.
Because of that, she ultimately couldn’t make the right decision.
Despite the drunkard’s threats, she shook her head and pulled the food into her chest.
She wouldn’t let this go, no matter what.
“Hah, haha… This is ridiculous… I can’t believe a beggar like you is looking down on me?”
The drunkard’s eyes turned a menacing red from her defiance.
“Damn it!”
Immediately after, the sound of a curse and a resounding thwack echoed as the girl fell to the ground.
The drunkard seized the club she was using for support, unleashing his wrath upon her.
“You little trash don’t know your place… When I speak, you’re supposed to obey, how dare you resist! No one is allowed to look down on me, even in this damn place!”
The drunken beating was much more vicious than the restaurant owner’s, causing continuous groans to spill from the girl’s lips.
She curled up, not for self-defense, but to protect the food tucked into her clothes.
This, she wouldn’t let go of. This was the one thing she wouldn’t relinquish.
Muttering this to herself, she endured the torrent of violence.
After a long period, it seemed the raining blows would never cease.
“Hah… You ignore your place, and this is what happens… You little maggots will all end up like this if you look down on me…”
After punishing her, the drunkard snapped the club in half.
Then he laughed at the sight of the girl, now a pitiful mess in the mud.
“Ha! You look great. You little insects should live just like that.”
With squelching footsteps, his laughter faded into the distance.
In the dark alley, only the ragged girl remained.
For a while, she remained motionless on the ground.
In the absence of mercy, the girl miraculously clung to life and slowly uncurled herself from her curled-up position.
Upon relaxing her body on the muddy ground, a strange sound escaped her lips.
To the ears, it sounded like a mix between crying and laughter.
If it was laughter, what exactly was she laughing at?
Was it the joy of somehow managing to keep the food she fought so hard to protect?
Or the self-mockery for still being alive, despite her desperation?
At the very least, she couldn’t distinguish if it was crying or laughter.
Her face, stained with rain and mud, surely wouldn’t allow anyone to see the tears flowing.
In any case, the girl survived; somehow, she survived.
She felt a hunger more intense than ever before.
She wanted to return quickly and alleviate this hunger, even just a little.
Hungry, hungry.
She repeated the only words she knew, searching for the club to help her rise, only to find the broken piece and let out another strange sound.
Her legs wouldn’t move right, and she had nothing to support herself with.
With no choice, the girl crawled through the mud.
Just as the drunkard had described, like a worm.
The sound of a worm crawling through the mud resembled laughter.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.