Simon settled the carriage, then entered the alleys of the East District with Elisa and Eve.
Miss Mabel waved her arms and greeted them.
“Miss Mabel, this is far too dangerous!” Elisa said to her sternly.
“Just call me Mabel. There’s no need for ‘Miss’,” Mabel said, taking Elisa’s hand. “If you hadn’t come, I would have looked around here and gone back. But now that you’re here…”
Mabel smiled mischievously.
Elisa pretended to sigh helplessly. “We’ll only look around the outskirts.”
“All right,” Mabel agreed.
Elisa looked at Simon, who moved ahead to lead the two young ladies.
Before they set off, Miss Mabel had been full of energy, looking around with bright-eyed curiosity. But not long after they began walking, the noble girl’s curiosity and excitement gave way to unease and alarm.
Mabel clung more tightly to Elisa’s arm as she looked at the filthy, crowded, desolate streets. Children watched them from a distance, then immediately ran away when they drew near.
Those children had no shoes or socks and wore tattered clothes. Some of the younger ones had no clothes at all, their emaciated bodies exposed, their ribs standing out sharply beneath their skin.
“Why are they so… thin?” Mabel lowered her head, unable to bear looking at the children.
“Because they…” Elisa was about to say that they couldn’t afford food, but the words felt wrong as they reached her lips.
Unlike the archipelago, this was the royal capital, where jobs were plentiful. Workers might have to endure hard, exhausting labor, but getting enough to eat was not a problem.
She opened [Simon’s Log].
[Simon sighed inwardly. These children were probably orphans who had lost their parents. Those factories belching black smoke, those cold and merciless machines, claimed countless lives every day.]
So their parents were gone, and that was why they couldn’t get enough to eat.
Elisa cleared her throat. “These children are probably orphans who have lost their parents. Haah, those factories belching black smoke, those…”
She was reading directly from [Simon’s Log]. What belongs to the servant belongs to the master. What’s wrong with me borrowing a few words? If you don’t like it, sue me!
Simon fell silent. Although providing the [Log] was essentially providing information, wasn’t reading it word for word going a little too far? Wasn’t she afraid he would notice?
But on second thought, reading it aloud shouldn’t cause any problems. The information in the Log was clearly well organized, whereas actual thoughts were more fragmented and prone to jumping around.
If these were genuine inner thoughts, there wouldn’t have been that long passage just now. There would only have been a sigh.
In other words, the contents of the Log had actually been organized and polished, incorporating subconscious thoughts rather than directly reproducing his inner monologue. She could safely copy them.
“Elisa, you know so much!” Mabel looked at her admiringly. “Eleanor said every poor person can find work to support themselves and their children, but she never said every child has parents!”
Elisa felt a pang of guilt and waved her hand. “It’s hardly a secret.”
Mabel asked another question. “Why are they so dirty? Is there no water? Isn’t the Searl River nearby?”
Elisa pondered. That’s right, the river is nearby. Why are they all so filthy?
She opened [Simon’s Log].
[Simon is lost in thought.]
You bastard of a male servant! Is this really the time to slack off? Hurry up and answer the question!
“Well…” She drew out the word, waiting for Simon to snap out of it.
Her male servant did not disappoint her. After Mabel pressed her for an answer, he provided one.
[Simon sighed. Along the Searl River near the East District lies a bustling pedestrian promenade. The municipal authorities do not allow the poor to appear there, so they can only fetch water from the industrial district, which is a long way away.]
Elisa read the passage aloud word for word, earning another admiring look from Mabel.
She felt even more guilty.
Fortunately, Mabel’s attention soon shifted elsewhere. Beside a narrow alley, a little girl sat alone, unaware of their arrival.
Mabel hurried over and crouched in front of the little girl, her skirt trailing on the ground and gathering dust.
She took off the necklace around her neck and offered it to the girl. “Here, this is for you. It should be enough to buy two or three proper meals.”
Two or three proper meals? Hardly! Elisa glanced at the pearl necklace, and an estimate flashed through her mind.
At least ten pounds. If you were buying it, it might cost more than twelve!
Her own male servant’s annual salary used to be only sixteen pounds!
Giving away something so valuable in a slum… this noble girl really has no experience of the world at all!
Elisa immediately stepped forward and stopped Mabel, making her take back the necklace.
“Elisa, why are you being so stingy?” Miss Mabel was a little angry.
Elisa’s mouth twitched.
Is this really about me being stingy?!
All right, I do feel a little bad about the money, but how is this little girl supposed to sell a pearl necklace for what it’s worth? Someone might scam her with a few pennies, or perhaps not even give her that much and simply snatch it away!
“I’ll explain later.” Elisa took out her purse and pressed a handful of pennies into the little girl’s hand. Then, with a discreet movement, she slipped a handful of shillings into the girl’s tattered skirt.
[Simon noticed that, of the three children who had been following them from a distance, one suddenly ran off.]
Elisa didn’t know much about the royal capital, but she knew plenty about gangs. Those three children were gang lookouts. The moment they saw the women reveal their money, one had gone back to report it.
She pulled Mabel to her feet. “We need to leave, quickly.”
Mabel didn’t understand what was happening, but seeing Elisa’s serious expression, she didn’t resist.
“What’s wrong? Are there going to be robbers like in the novels?” Novels were Miss Mabel’s only window into the outside world.
Elisa nodded, quickly identifying the best escape route.
“But,” Mabel was puzzled as she asked, “the newspapers said there were zero robberies in Basse last year!”
Basse was the name of the royal capital.
“The newspapers didn’t say that poor children are going hungry, either, or that they can barely get access to water!” Elisa used a spell to sense the blood of the living people around them.
Five adult men were approaching rapidly, two of whom were already close.
“What are we going to do?” Mabel’s face turned pale. “Will they kidnap us, cut off our ears, put them in envelopes, and demand a ransom?”
[Simon gave Miss Mabel’s wild imagination a thumbs-up.]
Elisa wanted to give it a thumbs-up too. Miss Mabel had been far too optimistic before, and now she was being far too pessimistic.
The gangs of the royal capital were not the pirates of the archipelago. Their methods of demanding ransom would not be so bloody.
She wanted to reassure Miss Mabel, but the two gang enforcers had already appeared ahead of them.
The two burly men approached, daggers in hand.
Elisa sighed.
Although I wanted to play the part of a delicate young lady from a wealthy merchant family in the archipelago, there’s no helping it now. As a young lady from the chaotic archipelago, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to know a little martial arts, right?
It’s time to rescue the damsel in distress!
Rise, Mabel’s Intimacy!
Elisa took a step forward, ready to show what she could do.
“Elisa!” Mabel clung tightly to her arm.
Mabel was holding on so tightly that Elisa couldn’t easily pull free. Just as she was about to ask Mabel to let go, a figure darted past her.
The two gang enforcers had never received any formal combat training and had only street-fighting experience. Simon’s [Combat], however, had already reached the professional level of LV3, equivalent to a professional fighter who had trained rigorously since childhood.
After two screams, the two gang enforcers collapsed to the ground. Simon bent down and picked up their daggers.
[Simon stepped forward, disregarding the danger, and protected Miss Elisa.]
[He judged that the wise and beautiful Miss Elisa would surely reward him financially, with at least one pound.]
In your dreams!
Elisa was in a daze.
Good news: the damsel in distress had been rescued.
Bad news: I wasn’t the hero.
My plan to win over Mabel, Mabel’s gratitude toward me…
You bastard!
Elisa gritted her teeth, then remembered something.
I’m the one who taught this bastard of a male servant [Combat] over the past few days!
Why did I do that?!
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