"What were you all doing here?"
As the girl's voice echoed through the alley, the fighting abruptly ceased. Even El, who had been lost in a trance, snapped back to reality upon hearing her. Everyone turned to the source of the voice, including El, and to his surprise, he recognized her. She was the girl he had seen from his table in the restaurant, emerging from the shadows of the alleyway with a boy and other small kids who came after the food.
She approached from an intersection opposite to El had originated, moving from the deeper part of the alleyway, which was shrouded in darkness.
"I asked what… oh…" As she drew closer and caught sight of El, her gaze then swept over the breathless group, noting Sill clutching his injured hand and Glam being the 'cautious damned' he was.
"What do you all intend to do with him? You all must be out of your minds! Let me guess, this is Glam's idea again, isn't it?"
The others exchanged furtive glances, avoiding her piercing stare. Glam replied defensively, "We need money. What better opportunity do we have right now, with a kid from the upper side here?"
"And what if the guards come? Who will deal with them? You?" she retorted, sarcasm dripping from her words.
"I have a plan. As long as we're careful, everything will be fine," Glam insisted, with his frown deepening.
"Ha! You mean the plan from the other day when you and the others almost got caught? Is this going to be the same scheme as before…"
Suddenly, El interjected her words to the arguments, while raising his hand high. "Excuse me. I think we have an actual problem. I'm actually not from around here. I mean, I'm not from the upper side or even the city."
He went on to explain that he wasn't born in Mirthwater but came from a village far away, located on the border between the Ryxhaton Empire and another kingdom whose name he didn't know. It was a free territory, somehow not officially recognized by either the Empire or the other kingdom.
He deliberately omitted details about his lost memories - or the fact that his village had been a war-torn region. There was also a truth that its residents had refused to acknowledge for years: which is, they would all face death sooner or later, either from hunger, thirst, disease, or bandits. Another thing to made it worse was, the war for reasons unknown – though some had whispered it was due to witches – had rendered the land barren, killed all crops and turned fruit-bearing trees into sources of poison. Even the seeds had perished, unable to survive long enough to sprout.
"What? So, it means, we... no, you are being dumb then?" Sill remarked, after hearing El's brief summary of who he was actually were. His gaze while saying that was fixed on Glam, who appeared sullen under the weight of the others' stares. Glam had been the one to initiate the plan to kidnap El and demand a ransom from his supposed parents, and now, the scrutiny was palpable.
"You were the one who was dumb. How did I even know if he was from outside of Mirthwater. He didn't even say anything hearing us wanting to kidnap him," Glam defended himself, pointing an accusatory finger at El. "It was this kid fault. Why didn't you say anything before, you freaky b*stard. You must be purposely picking a fight, isn't it?"
The truth was, El was tempted to agree with that accusation. He had, in fact, been looking forward to the confrontation, which was why he had kept silent. However, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to remain quiet, allowing himself to appear as the innocent lamb, which only made Glam glare at him even more intensely.
"You…" Glam started to approach El, but Sill is there to caught his buddy by the shoulder.
"Calm your butt, Glam. It's indeed your fault this time!" he then whispered at the side of Glam's ear. "Besides, do you think you could even land a hit on him?"
"Tchh… anyway, you're also agreed with the plan!?" Glam said, now glowering at Sill too.
"Not me who talks. Not me who plans. It's all on you, bro. Besides, I was the very first to suggest letting him go…" Sill said, shrugging his shoulders and gesturing with his hands to indicate he had nothing to do with the initiation of the plan, and all the blame was on Glam.
"Maybe the kid is lying. Look at his face. I bet his family is rich…" Glam insisted.
"I don't have a family, though. The person who brought me here has been missing for a whole week now," El interjected.
"Uh… you're lying…" Glam responded, still glowering at El.
"Alright, that's enough. By the way, what were you doing here?" This time, it was the girl who directed the question at El.
"Ah, right. I wanted to go to the mayor's office. You were there too, right? Merriment Restaurant???" El mentioned to the girl about the time when they caught a glimpse of each other in the restaurant. He subsequently continued, "I heard the people who work at that 'restaurant' will be executed today."
Just as El finished speaking, the alleyway all of a sudden fell silent, their expressions turning somber and filled with despondency.
After a few moments had passed, the girl broke the silence, her voice cutting through the gloom. "That's about right. We wanted to go there too. Come with us."
"Is it fine?" El asked, while suppressing his curiosity about whether they were actually close to the people who worked at that restaurant, given their sudden 180 degrees shift in attitude upon hearing about the execution.
"Yes, it's fine. Come with us?!"
"Alright," El replied, walking steadily and calmly to the side of the girl, while the others exchanged glances before following El and the girl.
On the other side, Glam glared not only at El's back but also at the girl. He only managed to shake off his emotions and follow the others after Sill tapped him on the chest with the back of his hand.
"My name is Ran, by the way. What about you?" Ran said, extending her hand to El in a gesture of greeting. Contrary to her cold demeanor, she seemed quite warm in El's opinion, even without a smile on her face.
"Ah, my name is… my name is El…" El replied after a moment's hesitation. He almost blurted out the name Gabriel, but fortunately still managed to hold it at the back of his throat. He realized he felt genuinely happy when being asked about his name, and even more so when he told Ran about it. He wondered why.
'Maybe because I didn't have a name before,' he recalled, remembering that in the village, everyone called him…
'Damn, I can't remember,' El thought, feeling a wave of depression wash over him. Yet on the outside, he managed to squeeze out a smile as he welcomed Ran's hand with a shake. He felt fortunate that the late auntie had taught him about handshakes. She had cared for him in the village like her own son from the moment he was a baby.
"Just El?" Ran inquired.
"Yes, just El. How about you? Just Ran?" El asked in return, curious about her.
"Hmmmm… I guess so…" she answered vaguely just like El.
…