Wallet Trouble

The gang leader began interrogating everyone in detail.

But it was doomed to be futile. Those who wanted him dead, and the real thief, would never reveal the truth.

He tried his best to spot a different expression on the others' faces, but with his abilities, he was destined not to see what he wanted.

The beggar children outside the courtyard were also called in one by one. At last, a timid child spoke under the shouting. "That day, Akai and the others gave us lots of bread. We really didn't eat it."

Hearing this, Mel Carlo frowned slightly. The three of them had just been beaten, and now they were about to run into this misfortune again.

But as long as they explained where the bread had come from, it would be fine. He had only used a single silver coin so far, so it probably would not lead back to him.

"It was you three who stole it, wasn't it? Then you used the money in the wallet to buy bread. Where's the wallet? Hand it over!" The gang leader snapped his whip.

Akai shielded the other two behind him.

The whip cracked across his face, leaving a striking red mark.

"Grab the three of them and search them!"

Gang members immediately began searching them. Aside from a few copper coins, they found nothing else.

"Where did these copper coins come from?"

"I stole them." Mel Carlo stepped forward.

"Then that wallet was stolen by you too!" The gang leader flicked his whip and glared furiously at Mel Carlo.

But his threats had no effect on the child before him, because an adult soul resided within that child's body.

"Not me. I never stole it."

The moment Mel Carlo shook his head, a whip lashed across him. A burning pain surged through him, but he was not particularly angry. In his eyes, the gang leader before him was already a dead man.

How could they possibly find it within a week? The wallet was in his System space.

Still, to appear frightened, Mel Carlo staggered back a few steps and avoided meeting the man's eyes.

"Go search! You little piglets, if you can't find that wallet, you can all go die!" The gang leader turned away in fury, then continued ordering his men. "Keep a close eye on these little bastards. Maybe they really did steal it and hid it somewhere already."

"And search the pigsty too."

He had never expected someone to be so blind. That was the Duke's Miss. Her clothes alone made it obvious she was different. How could anyone dare lay a hand on her?

After all the beggar children were driven away, they wandered aimlessly through the streets. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold yet. Otherwise, they might have frozen to death outdoors.

Meanwhile, inside the Duke's Mansion, Doll had locked herself in her room ever since her wallet had been stolen. She curled up behind the door.

It was the only gift her mother had left her, yet it had been stolen just like that.

Outside the door, the head maid approached. "Miss still hasn't come out?"

"No. It's all that hateful little thief's fault. That wallet must have been very important to Miss."

The female guard arrived at that moment as well. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken miss out. If we hadn't gone to the market, perhaps this wouldn't have happened."

"Ma'am, you needn't blame yourself. The Duke's Mansion has already pressured the gang responsible for that district. The wallet should be recovered before long." The head maid bowed slightly to the female guard.

It had been her idea to have the guard take Miss out for some fresh air. Miss could not stay shut inside the Duke's Mansion all the time; that would not be good for her physical or mental health.

Ever since Madam passed away, Miss seemed much less lively than before.

Mel Carlo, Akai, and Lily came to a bench that was still lit. This world had no electric lamps, but it seemed to use some kind of magical mineral as streetlights. They were quite bright, like little suns emitting a red glow.

"Mel, are you okay? Why did you step forward earlier? You could have just said I stole them. Now both of us got whipped." Akai sat on the bench. He thought his skin was thick enough that even two lashes would be nothing. A night's sleep would fix it.

But Mel was different. Mel's body was far too frail. A single lash like that would probably hurt for days.

"I'm fine. Someone who loves whipping people that much won't live much longer." Mel Carlo gave a dark smile, acting as though the lash was nothing.

"Really?" Lily poked her head out. Talking about someone else's death so casually felt a little scary.

"Yeah. If he can't find the wallet, he'll definitely die. The person who lost it seems to be some incredibly important figure." Mel Carlo knew this perfectly well. The wallet was on him right now, but he would never take it out.

The only thing that made him wary was the scarred man called Anke. First, he had given him twenty Orens to resolve the crisis. Then, during the matter of the wallet, he had looked at him once more.

The gang had plenty of informants. Perhaps the scarred man had seen him steal it.

What happened next would be complicated. For the time being, he should not go back, lest the gang leader drag him down with him when he died.

For now, his interests aligned with those of the scarred man. After the leader died, Anke would likely become the new leader, while the beggars would still be beggars.

"Do you know how many months until winter?" Mel Carlo asked.

"What's wrong? Three months."

"Nothing. We should start thinking about how to get through the winter. If we don't prepare now, winter will probably be very difficult." Mel Carlo calculated silently. He had only been in this other world for three days, and the information he had gathered was limited.

If he could not escape this place before winter, then he would need to prepare in advance for the cold.

It was like opening up a new game area. He had very little information, yet it felt quite interesting.

While the three of them chatted idly, Chubby approached them mysteriously with a greaseproof paper parcel in his hands.

"Mel!"

"What, you looking for a beating?" Mel turned his head and glanced at Chubby. He thought Chubby had come to provoke him.

After all, they had just been whipped. It was perfectly normal for Chubby to come gloat.

"No, no! I'm treating you to something delicious!" Chubby hurriedly explained, opening the greaseproof paper parcel in his hands.

Inside was a huge pork chop. Its color showed that it had been roasted well, and part of it bore bite marks.

Only then, under the light of the mineral streetlamp, did they notice the grease around Chubby's mouth.

"Where did you get that? Did you steal it?" Mel Carlo looked at the pork chop and felt slightly hungry. He had not eaten anything today since having his fill yesterday.

"No, I definitely didn't steal it. Go on and eat. I'm already full." Chubby patted his belly.

Seeing that he meant no harm, Akai and Lily had already begun swallowing hungrily. Mel Carlo had nothing left to worry about.