Wrong Genre! - Chapter 32.2
When Rueg stared at him with a shocked expression, Yuri’s face softened.
“You look incredibly foolish right now. It would be troublesome if anyone saw you, so hurry and compose yourself.”
“…Uh, ah, um, y-yes!”
Rueg quickly turned his head and fiddled with his cheeks. When he cautiously looked around to see whether anyone had been watching, he realized that Yuri had already positioned himself beside Rueg and blocked him from everyone’s view.
‘He’s kind…’
After composing his expression, Rueg looked up at Yuri again, and Yuri spoke as though it were nothing.
“There are too many eyes over there. If the two of us remain together, they will stare even more. As you have learned, Versha Verdic and I are notoriously on bad terms.”
…How in the world had he figured out that Rueg had heard that too?
When Rueg nodded, Yuri naturally led him toward an alley.
“You only need to move these supplies farther inside. The alley becomes too narrow from here for a wagon to enter.”
As he spoke, Yuri pointed toward a secluded alley.
‘Will he really go in?’
That alley was one of the paths even the volunteers at the site were reluctant to enter. Sick people lived crowded together deep inside, and the poor security was another reason.
However, the greatest reason of all was…
“A person, it’s a person…!”
“Looks like he’s coming all the way in here…!”
Countless young children who still knew nothing of the world lived crowded together there.
It was where those who had been driven to the very edge by poverty and starvation, even among the commoners, lived.
The moment Rueg entered that alley, the children would rush toward him.
Some would ask him for food, while others would approach simply because they found him fascinating. Some might even try to threaten him.
Most of the nobles Yuri had seen until now hated filthy children who had no sense of personal boundaries.
What would Rueg do?
Yuri held his breath and watched Rueg. If Rueg showed even the slightest displeasure, or furrowed his brow as though they were filthy…
Then Yuri would be able to point his sword at Rueg without feeling a single pang of guilt.
‘Go on, give me a reason to hurt you.’
As Yuri held his breath and watched Rueg’s reaction,
“Do you mean these over here?”
Rueg picked up one of the boxes neatly stacked on the ground and entered the alley without hesitation.
“…Um, big brother. Is that for us?”
“This? Yeah, it is. But I don’t know where I should put it… Would you mind showing me the way, if that’s alright?”
He did not look at the child speaking to him with an expression of disgust.
“Your clothes are soft…”
“They look warm…”
The children murmured among themselves as they stole glances at Rueg.
“These clothes? Do you want them?”
“……!”
“I’ll take them off and give them to you after I move this. So I’d like you to tell me where I should put it.”
At Rueg’s words, the children began moving busily.
Most of the nobles who had come here until now had either become irritated or tried to finish the work as quickly as possible.
However, Rueg answered every word the children muttered. Even when someone tugged so hard on his clothes that he staggered, he did not show the slightest irritation.
“…Hah.”
Yuri, who had been watching from behind, let out a breath of disbelief.
“Is he really a noble?”
At this point, he began to question even that fundamental fact.
Every noble Yuri had seen until now had looked at commoners as though they were animals.
Even when they showed kindness, it was merely closer to the way humans treated animals that could not speak. Nobles never treated commoners as fellow human beings.
Then why…
“Whoa? Little one, be careful there. If your foot falls in, you’ll get an ouchie, okay?”
Why did Rueg Verdic…
“Big brother, what’s your name?”
“My name? I’m Rueg. And what’s your name, little friend?”
Why was he treating them as individual human beings?
Yuri, who had been standing there blankly, unconsciously took a step into the alley. He was desperate to know whether that kindness was genuine or merely hypocrisy.
As Yuri quietly approached Rueg, Rueg stopped abruptly while crossing a wide open space.
“Uh…”
Letting out a brief exclamation, Rueg looked around with confusion in his eyes.
Finding something strange about his behavior, Yuri strode closer. At that moment, Rueg asked the children,
“By any chance, is there somewhere nearby… where all of you live together?”
As though he had been here before.
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