Seraphine's Thoughts

"Alright, alright." Li Wei felt he'd finally satisfied this young lady's morbid curiosity, so he urged Seraphine behind him to keep moving. "Let's go. There's nothing worth seeing about a dead body."

"But—" Seraphine still took a step forward under Li Wei's prompting.

Yet she kept her head down, as if lost in thought, deeply absorbed. Without realizing it, she even forgot about the trash flying through the streets. She just walked on, not even dodging.

But they hadn't gone far before Li Wei and she encountered a few more people by the roadside.

Those people sat slumped by the path with hollow eyes, men and women alike. Their hair was a tangled mess, their clothes tattered and torn, and in front of them were broken bowls, cups, hats, and the like.

"These are beggars." Suspecting Seraphine was about to launch into another round of "why" questions, Li Wei preempted her this time. "Beggars are people who, for various reasons, can't work or won't work, and live off begging."

"M-Mr. Li Wei." Seraphine blushed and mumbled, "I'm not stupid. I know what beggars are! Even outside the Zaunite Community, there are beggars. I've seen them."

"Good." Li Wei noticed Seraphine's gaze.

She kept glancing at those pitiful beggars, and after a few looks, her pace gradually slowed.

"You want to give them alms?"

"Mm." Seraphine looked at him inquiringly. "Can I?"

"Did you bring any money?" Li Wei had spent all his on rent.

"I did. Before I ran away, I swiped the money pouch my dad left on the table."

"Alright then. Give if you want." The young lady wanted to show kindness, and Li Wei wasn't about to stop her. "But be careful—don't give too much."

"Just a coin or two will do."

"Okay." Seraphine nodded obediently, as if she'd taken it to heart.

Then, she pulled a heavy money pouch from her bosom, opened it, casually scooped out a handful of clinking coins, and handed them to the beggars.

She gave each one 2 gold Hexcoins.

Yes, gold Hexcoins.

A fortune that would take Li Wei months of scrimping and saving to amass, and she just tossed it to beggars.

"Holy shit!" Li Wei was dumbfounded.

I said give one or two coins, meaning one or two Copper Rings as a token gesture.

How the hell did you just hand out gold coins?

"Wait, Seraphine—"

"Does 'one coin' in your mind mean one gold Hexcoin?"

"Or have you only ever seen gold coins in your life, with no idea what a Copper Ring looks like?"

"I—of course I've seen them!" Seraphine blushed as she looked at him. "I'm not stupid, Mr. Li Wei. I know how much I gave away, but I wanted to give that much."

"You—" Li Wei started to speak, then stopped.

"Mr. Li Wei, I know what you want to say." Seraphine, usually so naive, now wore a very determined expression. "When I was little, I went out with my father once. We met a very pitiful beggar, and I wanted to give him more money, but my father wouldn't let me."

"He said there were too many beggars in the world, and I could never save them all. No matter how much I gave or how many I helped, nothing would change. He advised me not to be so naive, not to do pointless things."

"Mr. Li Wei, you probably think the same way, don't you?"

"But I don't agree." Seraphine bit her lip, silently encouraging herself. "I think helping one person means helping one person. Whether the world changes or not, at least that person's life gets better because of me. How can that be called pointless?"

"Uh—" Li Wei was at a loss for words.

Not because Seraphine had convinced him, but because she'd left him speechless. "Well, actually, your dad and I don't mean the same thing."

"What I'm saying is, if you give away too much money, you're not helping them—you're hurting them. Especially in the Zaunite Community, a place with no order at all."

"Huh?" Seraphine looked confused.

Li Wei just pointed at the beggars. "Look for yourself."

The beggars, after receiving the gold Hexcoins, were all suddenly immersed in unprecedented joy and shock.

They stood there stupidly for a moment, then all snapped to attention at once—

Not to thank or express gratitude to Seraphine, but to immediately clutch those 2 gold Hexcoins tightly in their palms, press them to their chests, and then eye their companions warily.

They were on guard against each other, and they were sizing each other up.

Like starving wolves guarding and fighting over food.

Their eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty red light.

"Wait—" Even the naive Seraphine realized something was wrong at that point.

But she could do nothing, and she couldn't stop it.

No one knew who made the first move.

Almost in an instant, the few beggars who'd gotten the coins went mad, grappling, snatching, and fighting each other.

"Hand over the money if you don't want to die!"

"Mine. It's all mine!"

"..."

They had all gone bloodthirsty in an instant, the scene descending into chaos.

Even if someone tried to flee, others would drag them back, stomp them into the ground, and ransack their pockets for money.

In no time, every ugly side of human nature was on full display, malice sprouting everywhere.

Passersby who noticed what the beggars were fighting over didn't hesitate to join the looting mob.

Some, drunk on bloodlust, even turned their greedy eyes toward Seraphine, who had kindly given them alms.

Fortunately, her noble lady's attire kept them from daring to act rashly, and with Li Wei guarding her like a bodyguard, the situation didn't spiral further out of control.

"Wh-why did this happen?"

"I just wanted to help."

"Because your father was right—you're too naive." Li Wei criticized bluntly. "You might know how much one gold Hexcoin is worth, but you don't know what one gold Hexcoin means to a Zaunite, especially a Zaunite beggar."

"To you, a few gold coins might just be a fancy dinner. But to a Zaunite, those few gold Hexcoins are enough to cover several lives."

"Honestly, if it were the 'me' from before..."

"I'd have fought tooth and nail for them too."

Fight? Why not?

Get them, and you could pay rent, treat your sister's illness, avoid being kicked back to Zaun—life would still have hope.

Compared to that, morality was worthless!

And Seraphine, by casually tossing a fortune to Zaunites who couldn't protect their own property, without the ability to keep order, only stirred up a bloodbath.

"I-I didn't want this."

"I didn't know it would turn out like this."

Seraphine bit her lip hard, tears of guilt welling in her eyes.

She had only meant to do good, yet like a cruel spectator at a Noxian arena, she had used money to stage a bloody drama of kin killing kin.

"Do you understand now?"

"Sympathy won't save them, and charity won't save them. Even if you actually help them properly, the result will be just like your father said. You can't change the big picture, let alone save this world."

Li Wei felt this might be an opportunity.

A chance for Seraphine to see the cruel world clearly and start thinking seriously.

So he gently guided her thoughts:

"Seraphine, think carefully..."

"What real way is there to truly help those people you can never help enough?"

This question was hard, and Li Wei himself was only an explorer.

He didn't expect Seraphine to come up with an answer, only hoped she'd fall from the clouds back to the ground and think from a realistic perspective.

And Seraphine seemed moved.

She began to ponder, deep in thought.

"I've got it!"

Suddenly, Seraphine's eyes lit up.

"What did you think of?"

Li Wei encouraged her to voice her idea.

No matter how naive or childish, it was still progress for her.

That's what he thought to himself, and then he heard Seraphine say seriously:

"When my parents were in pain, sad, angry, and fighting, I always sang to them. As soon as they heard my singing, their emotions would relax. Through my voice, they could hear each other's hearts, understand each other, and care for each other."

"So I thought..."

"If I could spread my voice, let everyone in Zaun and Piltover hear it, maybe they could understand each other and care for each other too."

"That way, maybe more Pilties would be encouraged to help Zaunites like I do, and Zaunites could unite and live in harmony like family."

Li Wei: "..."

I asked you to think about how to solve the main problem, and you tell me you want to debut as an idol singer?

Holy sh—never mind.

She's already naive, no point scolding her.

"Mr. Li Wei."

"What?"

"Are you calling me stupid again?" Seraphine pouted pitifully.

"Huh?" Li Wei was slightly startled.

He hadn't even touched Seraphine.

"Did you read my mind again?"

"No... you just admitted it yourself."