Chapter 8

Absolutely do not touch Eldmia Ega - Chapter 8 (8/599)

No one raises their hand.

Instead, chaos unfolds amidst screams and terror.

“Aaaah, the leader is dead!”

“Kyaah!”

“Mom!”

“What the hell, talking about mom in front of an orphan who lost their parents?! Is this the leisure of the privileged?! How dare you mock me in front of me?!”

With a roar, silence fell over the chaotic warehouse.

“From now on, those who call for their parents will taste the wrath of an orphan who lost theirs. Who was the one who just called for their mom?”

Instantly, everyone pointed at one kid. The kid, trembling in fear while searching for their parents, turned pale and began to shiver.

“Why are you looking for your mom here, you brat? Didn’t you come here?”

As I stepped forward, the ruffians parted, and they fled towards the warehouse door I had blocked. Some even pushed the kid towards me as if offering a sacrifice, and the kid, unable to think of escaping, approached me, trembling.

The kid, with a messy hairstyle that made it hard to see in front, was immediately given a hard kick and had their hair pulled.

“Ouch!”

“Ouch? What did you do right to whine? Are you a war orphan?”

“No, no! I’m not!”

“Then what are you?”

“...Uh, that...”

Despite not having eaten well, the kid was less emaciated than the others. They were about 5 centimeters taller than me. Their skin and face were rough, but their hair was relatively well-kept. Their clothes, though worn out, were clearly not originally bad. Capturing all these clues, a good Eldmia with a ring on her head seemed to whisper in my ear.

-This kid is a runaway teenager! Kill him!

Huh? It seems that the good Eldmia was actually a bad Eldmia. Then, a horned Eldmia started whispering in the other ear. Indeed, judging by appearance is not a good habit.

-Right, right! Make him regret not appreciating having parents and a stable home in this dog-eat-dog world!

What? Where is the good Eldmia?

“I, I left home to become an adventurer...”

“What? An adventurer? Is exploring sewers in back alleys your adventure? You might be going through a life-or-death adventure now, but did you want this? Do you want to end up like him?”

“Sob, please, save me. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“Do you want to end up like him? Why aren’t you answering, you brat!!!”

Is the ruffian trait to answer irrelevantly? It’s making me angry again.

“No!! I don’t want to end up like him!! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry for talking nonsense!!”

“Are you looking down on me, an orphan who couldn’t even protect their parents? Are you thinking I’m easy to mess with because my parents are dead and yours are alive? That’s why you’re answering irrelevantly?”

“No! Absolutely not! I didn’t know! I’m sorry...! Sob! Sob! Please, save me. Save me.”

Holding the kid’s hair and shaking them, they finally burst into tears and began to beg with their hands clasped.

Interesting? Even here, when confessing sins and seeking forgiveness, do they clasp their hands? It’s surprisingly a universal gesture.

“How long have you been away from home?”

“Two, two months.”

“Two months and you’ve already become a ruffian in Ogwen? How old are you?”

“Fifteen...”

A fifteen-year-old boy can usually find some odd jobs by begging for work. Especially in Ogwen, where job opportunities have recently increased, even well-off kids help out local merchants for pocket money.

But this kid didn’t even do that. He just lay around here like a loafer, preying on others.

“Fifteen? Fifteen? At that age, you couldn’t even work hard to save money and pursue your dream of becoming an adventurer, and instead became a ruffian brat?!”

“Eek. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being a ruffian brat!”

“Go over there and lie down and do push-ups!”

I had to check the others, so I let go of the kid’s hair and turned to point at the leader’s chair (which used to be a chair) when the kid’s eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“Huh? Did you just ask a question?”

Thinking he was resisting the punishment, I glared, but fortunately, he wasn’t that lacking in common sense.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what lying down and doing push-ups means!”

“Oh. I see. That’s understandable. Just lie down there.”

You can’t do what you don’t know. My anger, which was about to flare up, completely subsided, and I kindly corrected the kid’s posture.

“There. Keep your upper body up with your arms... Yes. That’s the push-up position. Stretch your back. Now, your body will stick to the ground, so try to endure.”

Turning to look at the others, I saw the ruffians and vagrants, all frozen like mokgeunhwa flowers blooming.

“So... Are you orphans or runaways?”

Eldmia Ega’s chick identification facility was open.

Ashley’s prediction was almost accurate. Out of 17 people, only one girl was an orphan.

Among them, only one girl and two boys had valid reasons for running away, while the remaining 13 were just rebellious teenagers.

The adolescence in this world was truly tumultuous.

Thus, 13 were doing push-ups, 3 were kneeling with their hands raised, and 1 was only kneeling. Seeing this, I sighed.

“Even I, a war orphan and the sole survivor of the first demon army attack, try to live honestly, but you guys are really over the line.”

Thinking about it, it’s a really grand and pitiful title. If it weren’t for Ashley, I would have had to seek out a religious institution to survive. I didn’t even know where Ogwen was, so I might not have found a proper village.

Why did you run away from a perfectly fine home without any skills?

“I’m from a very far place, but I don’t have the fare to get home, so I have to live here. If you’re in this situation, raise your hand while lying down.”

No one changes their position.

“I’d rather die here than go back home. It’s not a home but a hell. I’d rather you kill me. If you think this, raise your hand while lying down.”

Of course, no one changes their position. They weren’t even prepared to die. Ultimately, the reason they couldn’t return home was due to pride, liking this lifestyle, or other factors.

The average age of the kids doing push-ups was 14, and the longest anyone had been away from home was 3 months. Even that was the longest, while the rest had been away for less than 2 months.

“Who am I?”

“Eldmia Ega!!”

“Eldmia Ega?”

“Absolutely!! Do not!! Touch!!”

The brainwashing was complete.

No one knows the ruffian leader’s name.

There was no need to call him by name, so he was just known as the leader.

In fact, the reason they tried to steal my practice longsword was due to the leader. For some reason, the spirit of a knight burned in him, and he sent the kids to steal the sword. Unfortunately, they met me, and the kids, who had never seen a proper sword, didn’t even know if it was real or fake, just thought it looked easy to steal. Typical ruffian brats.

Zigmel, the most treacherous of the traitors, stayed to help search for me, while the others who got hit by me fled. In the end, there were no other searchers, and the people present were all there were, which made me feel a bit disappointed.

Still, I was less disappointed by the pathetic adolescence of this world than by the unexpected. With a sigh, I left my seat, retrieved my practice longsword that was blocking the warehouse door, and opened it.

“Get out and go home, all of you. I have a good memory. If I see your faces in Ogwen, I’ll break your legs like Zigmel. If you’re confident you can survive, you don’t have to go home. Otherwise, go home and take a beating from your parents with a stick.”

There was no need to look back at the kids who were fleeing from the warehouse at full speed. Instead, I naturally focused on the kid who was still lying down.

The kid with the longest 3-month runaway record. As I approached, he was visibly trembling but didn’t get up.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you going?”

“I, I can’t go home!”

“You didn’t raise your hand earlier.”

“I, I didn’t want to die, so I didn’t raise my hand! I’m sorry!”

I meant to ask if he was that desperate, but seeing a body on the ground probably made him too scared. Still, staying without trying to lie must mean he had some reason.

“Kneel with the others.”

The kid, who jumped up and knelt with his hands raised without being told, stood in front of the remaining kids.

“Do you want a chance to live honestly, or do you want to crawl out as a half-cripple?”

It’s a moment of choice.