Orion sighed in relief; it seemed Seele had no intention of pursuing the matter.
Seele sighed softly, feeling her empty cloth bag, and her voice dropped: "There's nothing to eat in Rivet Town either... The Fragmentum monsters are increasing, and it's not safe outside the town. There's less and less to find."
"I was so hungry I couldn't bear it, so I thought of coming back here to look, but I didn't expect..."
She didn't say anything more, but her meaning was clear.
It turned out her days these past few days had been just as difficult.
Grumble...
Just then, a loud and untimely sound broke the silence.
It was Orion's stomach.
That accursed hunger was still gnawing at him.
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Orion's face, but the sharp pain in his stomach made him unable to care.
He could only instinctively cover his stomach.
However, to his surprise, Seele hesitated for a moment, looking at his discomfort, then pulled out a small piece of something from her embrace and handed it over.
It was a piece of bread that looked very dry and hard, but at least it wasn't moldy.
"Here. This is the last piece I found today."
She looked at Orion, "You should eat something first."
Orion was stunned.
He hadn't expected Seele to share her only food with him in this situation.
He looked at the bread, then at Seele's equally tired face, took it, and silently tore the bread in half.
Orion put one half into his mouth and slowly chewed it.
Then, he handed the remaining half to Seele.
Seele, however, shook her head and stepped back half a pace: "I don't need it, you eat it."
Her gaze drifted elsewhere, and she whispered: "Before... when you found food, you shared it with me too."
She still remembered.
She remembered this boy, even thinner than her, giving her half a biscuit or a frozen potato when she was about to faint from hunger.
Although it was a trivial matter, in the Lower District where hunger was the greatest threat, this care was precious.
Now, it was her turn.
Orion, however, pushed the bread into her hand: "I just ate a piece, I'm not that hungry. Half more is enough. You take it, you're starving too."
He was referring to the moldy bread Hu Zi had thrown away; although it tasted bad, it at least filled his stomach a little and wouldn't let him starve to death.
Seele looked at the half piece of bread in her hand, then at Orion's insistent gaze, and finally did not refuse, nibbling on it in small bites.
The alley fell silent again, with only the faint sounds of the two chewing bread.
But the atmosphere was no longer as tense as before.
"Just now..." Seele swallowed the last bite of bread and finally couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened?"
Orion's eyes flickered, and he didn't hide anything: "They wanted to steal my things and hit me. I was just defending myself."
He told the truth.
Although the process was a bit excessive in self-defense, the cause was indeed that.
Seele listened, then fell silent again.
She lowered her head, making it impossible to see the expression on her face.
After a long while, she looked up at Orion: "How about... you still go to the Orphanage?"
"With Natasha JieJie (Older Sister), at least you can have a meal, right?"
Orphanage.
The place founded by Doctor Natasha, which took in homeless children.
Orion, however, shook his head without hesitation.
"I'm not going."
"Why?" Seele was puzzled, "At a time like this..."
"I don't want to see those eyes."
Orion interrupted her, "Those children in the Orphanage... their eyes when they look at people are too empty, like little puppies waiting to be picked up by someone. It's too pathetic."
"And, Natasha JieJie (Older Sister) is very kind, but every time she sees me, she wants me to stay."
"I don't like owing people favors, especially not wanting to be stared at with that kind of gaze from her."
"I'd rather starve to death than go into the Orphanage."
"Besides, don't you know? The Fragmentum erosion is getting more and more severe recently. There's no food to be found in Rivet Town, so the Orphanage there must not be doing well either. I don't want to take away the already scarce food from those children."
Seele listened quietly, saying nothing.
After a while, she pulled at the corner of her mouth, revealing a helpless smile: "Is that so... You're really the same as before, stubborn and always thinking about useless things. You're almost starving to death yourself, but you're still worrying about others."
"Aren't you the same?"
Orion glanced at her, retorting.
"Preferring to run around rummaging through trash rather than staying in the Orphanage, and you're talking about me?"
Seele snorted and turned her head away: "I just suddenly realized something about myself; I simply don't want to stay in an unfree place like the Orphanage. It's not as complicated as you think."
"Whatever you say."
Orion shrugged indifferently.
The two fell silent again.
Half a piece of bread had been eaten, but the emptiness in his stomach had not completely disappeared.
Seele occasionally looked up, her gaze sweeping over Orion, then quickly over the several gradually cooling bodies on the ground, wondering what she was thinking.
Finally, Orion stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes.
"Seele, I'm leaving."
"It's not very safe here; the smell of blood will quickly attract other trouble."
Seele nodded, not trying to make him stay.
She looked at Orion, hesitated, then added: "Recently, those Silvermane Guards have been acting crazy, patrolling the Lower District much more often and being stricter than before."
"Be careful yourself."
This sentence was both a reminder and a kind of promise.
She wouldn't report him.
"Got it."
Orion responded, giving her a deep look.
Then, he didn't linger, turning and walking towards the other end of the alley.
Seele watched Orion's thin figure disappear around the corner, then looked down at the bodies on the ground, her eyes changing uncertainly.
Finally, she gritted her teeth, turned, and quickly left the alley in the opposite direction from Orion.
However, after confirming that Seele had gone far and no one was in the alley.
Orion returned to the side of the three people.
His gaze fell on Hu Zi, who was still lying on the ground, unconscious.
To cut weeds, one must remove the roots.
Leaving a living person behind meant leaving a hidden danger.
He walked up to Hu Zi, expressionlessly raising the brick in his hand.
Towards that defenseless back of the head.
Smack!
[Villainous Act Judgment: Eliminating Future Troubles! Gained Villain Points +50!]
Orion threw away the brick, not even looking at the bodies at his feet, turned, and walked out of this dark, dirty alley, now with a few more lost souls, without looking back.