Chapter 6: A Gate, a Child, and Unseen Effort

I watched the kid for a long time.

He struck the gate’s wall with a stone as big as his head, breaking the ore.

Then he moved it to a sack and repeated the same process.

What on earth… is he doing…?

His movements looked surprisingly skilled, yet somehow out of place.

The child seemed about ten years old, small and frail.

It felt unnatural that someone his age was mining ore at a time when he should be in school.

Moreover, the ore he was collecting was also problematic.

It wasn’t close enough to be certain, but most of what filled that sack seemed like worthless rocks.

In other words, he was diligently collecting stones with no value.

After watching him for a while, I got up from my hiding spot behind a rock.

“Hey.”

Startled by my voice, the small kid fell on his butt and froze.

“What are you doing here?”

He really looked frightened.

The closer I got, the more his terrified face became clear.

“I-I… I mean… I was wrong!”

I had a rough idea why he was here.

Sometimes, people like this existed.

It was, of course, illegal, but after the guild had taken everything profitable, the management didn’t care who entered the neglected areas.

And a reasonable person wouldn’t risk such a dangerous place for little money.

If they failed to leave before the gate closed, they would vanish along with it.

“I’m not going to punish you, so don’t worry.”

“Huh…? Earlier….”

He seemed relieved as if he finally recognized me.

“The guy who can’t play games…?”

…What the hell…? Should I just hand him over to the authorities…?

“Don’t change the subject. You’re not mining ore here to sell it, are you?”

He seemed to think I was trying to take his stuff, blocking me while hiding the minerals behind him.

Ridiculous. Those rocks are harder to carry than I could manage—I’m not stealing!

“…I need the money! So please pretend you didn’t see…”

“Ah, alright. Work hard then.”

I had much to say, but I decided against unnecessary meddling.

I was committing the same illegal acts myself.

It felt a bit uneasy to see a child doing this, but he must have his reasons.

I didn’t want to interfere in anyone else’s business.

I turned and moved deeper than where he had been stationed.

I set down my backpack and took out my equipment.

Since I hadn’t awakened, I had to rely solely on my strength to break the stones and extract ore.

Still, my experience coming in and out of gates gave me some skill in picking out valuable materials.

It wouldn’t make me rich, but it was something.

“Ugh… I’m gonna die…”

After swinging the pickaxe a few times, my stamina quickly drained.

My arms trembled, and sweat poured down my neck.

I realized once again how pathetic my physical strength had been at seventeen, before I awakened as an esper.

Though reluctant, I knew I needed to awaken soon to avoid starving.

“You’ll hurt your back if you do it like that…”

Why hadn’t I awakened yet? Normally, I awaken as an esper at seventeen in winter, slightly later than now.

Even now, focusing could awaken the dormant mana within me.

But… I’ve been putting it off.

To be precise, I’m tired of it.

Living as an esper had more bad memories than good, and I had no desire to regain the power.

Once awakened, I’d have to rely on that power to survive.

I wanted, if possible, a life a bit different from my original one.

“Watch your step…! You’ll get crushed by the stones…!”

Yet someone kept giving me instructions… I couldn’t ignore the constant interference.

I eventually put down the pickaxe and turned.

As soon as I straightened my back, sweat dripped from my head.

The kid, as if waiting for this moment, handed me something visible like a towel.

“Here…”

“What’s this?”

“…A towel…?”

No. This was a rag.

Faint light illuminated the gate interior.

Not bright, but enough to identify objects.

Even under this light, the grimy cloth couldn’t be called a towel.

It looked similar to the sack he used for ore earlier.

“Well, thanks.”

I tried not to take it.

But his innocent, cute face looking up at me made it impossible to refuse.

Hang in there, kid. Even if life is hard now, if you grow up with that face, you’ll survive.

But… he looks so familiar, as if I’ve seen him somewhere before.

“Wait. Let me see your hand.”

I wiped my sweat with the towel, but my gaze landed on his hand.

There was a red mark under his thumbnail.

“…Did you get hurt while working?”

His hands were tiny.

Are all kids like this?

The dusty fingertips were scratched as if torn by something sharp.

“Just…”

Rolling up his sleeve, I saw bruises on his forearm as well.

I tried to look closer, but he quickly pulled his arm away.

“Just… got hurt…”

“Alright. …Be careful.”

Until a moment ago, he was noisy, but now he ran straight back to his working spot.

Is this adolescence…? His mood swings fast.

I gave up on mining and turned to herbs.

Among what looked like weeds, I found some edible or medicinal plants.

The ruthless guild members likely took the profitable ones, leaving me with the less valuable ones.

Yet… I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

That kid making loud noises as he worked far off… Why was he so stubbornly industrious?

And those fingers were probably hurting too…

He might get hurt again, and if a rock fell on those thin fingers… Ugh, terrifying.

I eventually walked over to where he was working.

“Kid, come here.”

I brought the dazed child over.

I wiped his hands with water, applied ointment from my bag just in case, and wrapped a bandage around his finger.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious injury, but even minor wounds could be fatal if he touched poisonous plants with an injured hand.

“Don’t come into these gates. Do you know how dangerous this place is? What if a monster appears?”

“When you kill all the monsters, the entrance changes color…! From red to green. Then it’s safe. The guild leaves one weak monster alive and takes the meat and ore!”

“….”

Huh. He actually knows a lot…?

My scolding felt unnecessary.

I decided to stop interfering and finished the treatment.

“Th-thank you… sir….”

It annoyed me.

For some reason, being around this small kid twisted my thoughts in all directions.

I didn’t want to interfere, yet wanted to lecture.

But a few words wouldn’t help him.

I threw my gloves at his feet instead.

“Use these. I wasn’t going to wear them anyway.”

…They were new last week. Expensive, durable material.

“Wow… thanks, really! You’re such a good person!”

His gentle voice echoed inside the gate.

A good person…

I realized again I’d made a needless effort.

I’d seen it many times—how people praised me, then turned against me later.

Those saved by my help often ended up betraying me.

I feared this kid might too.

It was time to end work for today.

Because I left the gate early, today’s earnings were poor.

I had to earn as much as possible, not knowing when I could enter again.

Selling ore and herbs to the underground buyer, I earned less than 200,000 won.

Even though I’m a minor, that was robbery.

But what could I do? The bald man was the only buyer in town.

“Hey, this is all rocks! And this is just weeds!”

As expected. The kid who also found a buyer fared worse.

His bundle contained more useless things than usable ones.

“Here, take this and go. Bring better stuff next time!”

The buyer gave him only 20,000 won, despite his bundle being much larger than mine.

He couldn’t distinguish valuable items, and the buyer sneaked some usable ones into the trash pile.

Why are there so many jerks here?

“…Thank you….”

Hearing his weary voice, I almost helped, but stopped.

This was meddling! Unnecessary interference!

I decided not to involve myself in others’ affairs anymore.

I left the store and headed home.

Climbing the steep hill, I sighed.

“Ugh… haah…”

This town was dilapidated.

Buildings looked like they could collapse at any moment, and the people matched their environment.

If I hadn’t awakened as an esper, I’d be living here forever.

I had to awaken to escape—but not yet.

Tap, tap.

Someone kept following me.

The same presence from the gate exit earlier.

“Kid, why are you following? I’m not helping anymore.”

I stopped midway up the hill to clearly state my intentions.

Even a small help doesn’t mean following me home.

“Th-that’s not it…”

“No, it is. I saw you following from earlier. I treated you, gave you gloves, even a doll—what else do you want?”

“…It’s just… this is my home.”

He pointed to a rusty iron gate.

I realized I’d misunderstood. …Embarrassing.

“…You’re a neighbor… Want to eat with me…?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the awkwardness.