Leon followed after Lisa like a dog after its owner, and soon they reached a crowded area on Street 29. Lisa held Leon's hand with one hand as they got closer to the crowd.
Lisa had told Leon to just follow her and say nothing. He just needed to make eye contact with people when Lisa talked to them.
And that's how it began.
Lisa scanned the crowd with her eyes. She would look people up and down, calculating and narrowing down possible targets.
She spotted a man in a black tailcoat suit. He was accompanied by a beautiful lady with long black hair, dressed in a silk red gown, her arm entwined with his.
Narrowing her eyes, Lisa whispered to Leon, "You see that pair over there?"
Leon struggled to spot the pair Lisa was talking about because of his height as a five‑year‑old. All he could see were people passing by. But soon, Lisa made a beeline toward the pair and dragged Leon with her. Finally, up close, Leon saw them.
The man with the tailcoat had black hair and blue eyes. He was taller than most men in the area. By his side was a beautiful lady. She also had the same black hair and blue eyes. Even their facial features seemed to match.
'They're siblings,' Leon thought.
Getting closer to the lady, Lisa slightly tugged on her red gown. What surprised Leon was how Lisa had cleaned her hands by rubbing them on her clothes before touching the delicate dress.
Lisa's act didn't go unnoticed by the man.
When Lisa got the lady's attention, she put her other hand in front of her with an open palm. The other hand tightened a little on Leon's — that was their signal for Leon to make eye contact.
Leon did the same as his little green eyes looked into the lady's blue.
On the inside, Leon was cringing so hard he felt like dying. He knew he was a beggar in this life and had come to terms with it quickly, but now that he was actually doing it, it felt like he was trampling on his own dignity and pride.
Even after going through so much in his past life, he had never once asked for money from someone. When his father passed away, he had worked two part‑time jobs to finish his last semester. He didn't even think of asking for help from relatives or friends.
He was quite a prideful individual.
But now he had to swallow that pride, as the emergency bread Mathew had saved was gone. If they failed to meet the quota again, they would go hungry tonight — not to mention what that maniac Dan would do to them.
The lady seemed to hesitate a little, not knowing what to do.
"My brother hasn't eaten since last night, just one coin would do, please," said Lisa, her voice carrying that natural pleading tone. Leon even saw tears welling up in her eyes in real time.
Finally relenting, the lady proceeded to take something out of her purse, but the man with her stopped her with his hand. He bent down to Lisa's level and gently placed two copper coins in her open palm.
"One for the little one and one for his strong big sister," he said with a smile. He even tussled Lisa's hair as he said the last part.
The pair walked into the distance right after.
Watching them go, Leon asked, "He was so kind. Are most rich people like him?"
Lisa, who was more shocked than he was, looked at the pair's retreating backs. "No. It's a first for me," she said.
She had already hidden the coins in her clothes.
Leon and Lisa continued their work. Lisa would identify the target, and both of them would then follow.
She would say some catchy lines with the most natural tone possible — about how her little brother was hungry, ill, or sometimes about how their mother was ill and waiting for them back home.
To her, it seemed natural and normal, but to Leon she was nothing short of a child acting prodigy. The natural vibe her lies had, the way her tears came at just the right moments, was perfect.
Maybe she wasn't acting. For her, it was a reality — some of her lies had truth mixed into them, like how they would go hungry tonight if they didn't get anything.
The more Leon walked with her, the more he understood the world from a different perspective. Except for that first encounter today, they had barely met anyone who looked at them normally. Most drove them away like dogs. Some dusted their clothes where Lisa had touched them. Some just looked at them like pests to be exterminated. Others gave them a coin without even looking at them and shooed them away.
To Leon, a prideful individual, this was a very humiliating experience, but to Lisa, Mathew, and the others, it was an everyday experience.
Despite that, the kindness they showed to each other was extraordinary. Leon thought about the boy whose body he had seen in the trash field, his supposed brother. He was so caring, to the point that he had died protecting them.
Leon remembered how Mathew had called them family. Maybe he was right. In this world, aside from each other, they had no one to rely on.
As they heard the tower ring for the second time, both of them made their way back to the place where they had entered Street No. 29.
Leon noticed just then a commotion going on in the middle of the street. An old man was lying on the ground with blood oozing from the side of his forehead. Some men were helping him stand up, and some were arguing with a thug‑looking carriage driver, who was hurling insults at the old man for getting in his way.
Lisa paid them no mind, as if it were a daily occurrence, and dragged Leon along with her.
When they reached their destination, Bear was nowhere to be seen, so they decided to wait for him.