Chapter 292: Food

The beggar quickly shook his head. “No, no, I’m just a filthy beggar. Who would pay attention to me? I did the same as before—picked the right people and slipped them the wooden sculptures before leaving.”

The young man opened the door a bit wider, sticking his head out to scan the surroundings. After confirming there were no issues, he said, “Come in.”

“Yes, sir,” the beggar nodded and entered, the door closing behind him.

The inside of the house was a mess, with various items scattered everywhere.

However, one area stood out for its neatness, contrasting sharply with the rest of the clutter.

On a small table sat a pile of wooden sculptures, identical to the ones the beggar had been distributing.

“So, this is where the beggar gets the sculptures,” Helag thought to himself as he continued feeding the pigeons, observing from a distance.

The young man pointed to the sculptures on the table. “Take these and start distributing them in the southern part of the city tomorrow. Make sure you’re careful and choose the right people before handing them out.”

“Understood, sir. Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this for a while now,” the beggar said, nodding and bowing.

He pulled out a cloth bag and carefully placed the sculptures inside, one by one. There were ten in total.

The young man then took a loaf of white bread and a small piece of salted meat from a nearby cupboard. “Here, take this. As long as you do your job well, you won’t go hungry.”

The beggar’s eyes lit up at the sight of the bread and meat. “Thank you, sir! I’ll do my best!”

He eagerly took a bite of the bread, chewing and swallowing it quickly.

For the past while, he had been able to eat his fill every day, all thanks to working for this young man.

Not only did he get white bread, but also salted meat, and all he had to do was hand out wooden sculptures.

The beggar wasn’t stupid. He knew there was something suspicious about the sculptures, but he didn’t care. He was starving, and nothing else mattered.

Even if he were to die tomorrow, as long as he had a full belly and got to eat meat today, he would be satisfied.

At first, the beggar had thought that after completing his task, he would be silenced. He knew he was taking a risk by doing this work.

But that hadn’t happened. The young man seemed pleased with his work and always kept his promise to provide food.

After taking a big bite of the bread, the beggar stored the rest of the food in his cloth bag.

Only those who had starved knew the true value of food.

Since he wasn’t that hungry yet, he decided to save the rest for later.

“Alright, off you go. Remember, tomorrow you’re heading south. Don’t distribute in the east anymore,” the young man said, waving him off impatiently after giving him the food.

The beggar nodded quickly, swallowing the bread in his mouth. “Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Just as the beggar was about to leave, the young man called him back. “Remember what to do if you get caught?”

“Don’t worry, sir. I won’t reveal anything about you,” the beggar assured him.

In truth, the beggar didn’t know anything about the young man.

He didn’t know his name, where he lived, or what he did.

One day, when the beggar was starving and dizzy on the street, a man had approached him, offering food in exchange for doing some work.

At the time, the beggar hadn’t cared about anything else—he was too hungry to think about the consequences. All he wanted was to eat.

This small house wasn’t even the young man’s residence. He only came here at night.

If the beggar were caught, there would be no clues to lead back to the young man.

The young man was cautious. If the beggar were arrested, by the time anyone traced him back to this house, the young man would be long gone.

All that would be left behind was a cluttered house with no valuable clues.

After leaving the house, the beggar headed to his usual spot to spend the night.

It was a low-lying area, warmer than other places, where he didn’t have to worry about freezing to death.

After tidying up the house, the young man locked the door and left as well.

As he walked out, he passed by Helag, who was still feeding the pigeons. He didn’t even glance at Helag, assuming he was just another passerby.

“There’s definitely an Abyssal aura on him. So, he’s an Abyssal cultist. But I have a feeling there’s someone behind him,” Helag thought.

Even though Helag had confirmed that the young man was an Abyssal cultist, he didn’t act immediately.

The source of the wooden sculptures hadn’t been found yet, and this young man might not be the one making them.

If Helag captured him now and he wasn’t the one creating the sculptures, it could alert the real mastermind.

Helag decided to wait and see if there was someone higher up behind the young man.

When the young man had walked past, Helag had scanned him and found that he was only at the level of a second-class wizard apprentice.

If the young man didn’t have any hidden tricks, Helag could easily take him down.

But Helag wasn’t one to underestimate his opponents. Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.

If he were to make a move, he would do so with everything he had, to avoid any unexpected setbacks.

After finishing with the pigeons, Helag leaned back on the bench, watching the sunset.

He was waiting for the young man to walk far enough away before following him.

Once the young man crossed a nearby street and entered a commercial district, Helag stood up, dusted off his clothes, and began walking in the same direction.

The young man was highly alert, constantly glancing around as if checking for anyone following him.

After entering the commercial district, he quickly blended into the crowd. For most people, it would have been nearly impossible to keep track of him.

The area was packed with people, and once he disappeared into the crowd, he was gone.

In this era, everyone dressed similarly, making it difficult to distinguish one person from another.

But Helag was different. With the help of Deep Blue, he kept the young man’s movements locked in.

***

Luchi walked down the street, glancing at the bustling crowd with a hint of disgust in his eyes.

He was sick of this world and had lost all hope in humanity, believing that everyone was ugly and corrupt.

All he wanted was for the great god to descend quickly and cleanse this wretched world.

For that goal, Luchi was willing to give up everything.

Luchi had been born into a poor family. They weren’t destitute, but their income was just enough to cover basic living expenses.

While the Land of Dawn appeared to be kind to commoners, ensuring that everyone had enough to eat, the rigid class structure made it hard for Luchi to breathe.

He had tried to rise above his station, but reality had shattered his dreams.

In the Land of Dawn, the only way for a commoner to succeed was to become a wizard.

Luchi had wizard potential, but only a little—just enough to scrape by.