The 'little' thief miss (Rope) closed her eyes in despair, waiting for Jeanne's fist to land on her body. Meanwhile, she calculated that if Jeanne called the police, would the Guard Department help bandage her up, or would they just be collecting her corpse?
Though she felt terror, she also knew she couldn't escape Jeanne's terrifying speed. Thus, she could only close her eyes and wait for the heavy blow she imagined would fall upon her.
However, the surroundings remained quiet for quite a while. The 'little' thief didn't feel the pain she had anticipated. When she opened her eyes, she found Jeanne looking at her with an expression of utter helplessness.
"While I don't know what you need, I still hope you can return that satchel to me. There's nothing valuable inside, but that bag is quite important to me personally."
Jeanne looked at the 'little' thief clutching the satchel. Seeing the purple hair and those purple rabbit ears, she realized it was Rope; she had been chasing too fast earlier to notice.
Actually, Jeanne wasn't angry. In this place where poverty and chaos were intertwined, she didn't plan to make an issue out of the robbery. What choice did people have when they lived here and had to do this to survive?
Jeanne just wanted her satchel back; once she had it, she would leave. But perhaps due to nerves, Rope was hugging the bag so tightly that Jeanne couldn't pull it out. If she wanted to take it by force while keeping the satchel intact, Jeanne figured she'd have to consider breaking the girl's hands to do it, which seemed a bit too much.
"He... here you go."
Hearing Jeanne's words, Rope tremblingly handed the satchel over. Even though she was this frightened, she never thought about using the fact that Jeanne valued the item to blackmail her or demand that Jeanne not touch her afterward. If Jeanne truly didn't want to let her go, it wouldn't be too late at any time. Even if she had some connection with Officer Hoshiguma of the LGD and could hide in prison for a few days of free meals, what difference would it make?
Jeanne breathed a sigh of relief seeing the satchel was unharmed. She didn't want to go out on a field assignment and ruin the bag she had used for several years. Regardless of its plain appearance, to Jeanne, its commemorative significance far outweighed its practical existence. She had been careless today, thinking she would use it to keep a low profile.
This bag was actually a birthday gift—or rather, the first birthday gift Talulah had given her after they met. Back then, the bag Jeanne used to hold her things had been accidentally ruined by Talulah. Because they were busy at the time, Jeanne hadn't had the chance to make herself a new one.
To her surprise, whenever Talulah had free time, she had secretly sought out Alina's help to craft it. Just before her birthday, Talulah had managed to sew this barely presentable satchel with great difficulty. Do you know what it means for someone with sewing skills that are basically negative to create a presentable satchel?
In any case, after that, Jeanne never saw Talulah sew anything decent again—not even a simple pouch. At that time, Talulah had essentially performed a miracle.
"Alright, there's nothing more for you here. You can go!"
Hearing this, Rope showed a look of disbelief. She doubted what Jeanne actually meant—was she really letting her go, or was this a hint of something else?
"Really... you're just letting me go like that?"
"Otherwise? What else do you want me to do with you? If you feel a guilty conscience over an attempted robbery, you can go turn yourself in to the Guard Department; there's no need for me to handle it."
With those words, Jeanne turned, intending to leave and continue searching for clues. However, the Revelation had only given her "The Slums" as a hint, leaving Jeanne somewhat at a loss after arriving. Standing on the roof, Jeanne began to gaze at the surroundings, planning to pick a direction that looked right and keep moving. If she still couldn't find a clue, Jeanne would have to resort to the last traditional method: find an empty spot and throw a shoe to decide the direction.
"Um... excuse me, Miss..."
Rope, behind her, was still nervous. She barely suppressed her trembling heart as she stumbled through a conversation with Jeanne.
"Yes? You haven't left yet? Do you have some business here?"
Jeanne looked at Rope, not quite understanding what she wanted to do. According to the rules of her "trade," shouldn't she be staying as far away as possible from her victim?
Rope's face still bore traces of nervousness, and she even dodged Jeanne's gaze when she looked over. However, thinking of her own situation, she still spoke up:
"Are... are you here in the slums looking for something, or investigating something? If you don't mind, I can serve as a guide."
Through her observations just now, Rope guessed that the woman before her wasn't the type who had snuck out just to see the world; she was most likely trying to find something in the slums.
"My fee isn't very expensive, only a thousand Lungmen Dollars... no, five hundred is fine. Just five hundred Lungmen Dollars."
Rope looked at Jeanne nervously, waiting for an answer. If she weren't forced by life's circumstances, she wouldn't want to deal with Jeanne at all. But because Jeanne looked like the type who had "I am a good person" written on her face, and because she had forgiven her theft, Rope felt that even if Jeanne refused, she wouldn't do anything to her.
Thinking of her wallet, if she couldn't get money today, she really might have to choose to turn herself in to the LGD in exchange for a decent room and a few full meals.
"Five hundred Lungmen Dollars, huh..."
Jeanne thought to herself. Five hundred Lungmen Dollars was nothing, but was it too dangerous to involve this girl in this matter for that money? Her target was no "good person." If those guys discovered her, she could escape, but if they found they couldn't touch her and turned to deal with Rope instead, even Rope's local knowledge wouldn't save her.
"If you're worried about me getting into trouble, don't worry about those things. I have my own ways of surviving in a place like this after being targeted."
Before Jeanne could refuse, Rope seemed to see through her and spoke up quickly. As she spoke, she patted her chest and smiled to show she was capable.
Seeing how desperate she was for money, Jeanne was a bit curious as to why. What reason could drive her to risk her life for a mere five hundred Lungmen Dollars? She knew this girl had some connection with Hoshiguma, so it was impossible for her to be on the verge of starving to death. If things truly got unbearable, she could just find any excuse to turn herself in. Out of respect for Hoshiguma, the officers would at least keep her fed for a few days in prison.
"Five hundred Lungmen Dollars is no problem, but I want to ask: why exactly are you prepared to take this job? I'm telling you, you really might be in mortal danger."
Jeanne couldn't help but offer a reminder. This job really might cost her her 'little' life. Risking her life for five hundred Lungmen Dollars really wasn't worth it. If there was something she truly needed money to solve, Jeanne wouldn't mind giving it to her for free; five hundred Lungmen Dollars was nothing to her now.
Perhaps she could even use this to let her help promote Reunion. Talulah had mentioned the idea of promoting Reunion in other countries before; wasn't this a perfect promotional method? An organization that could provide help when you need it most would be quite attractive to the Infected in the Lungmen slums, and even to some non-Infected.
"Well... mostly because of the pressure of life. Whether it's food or the protection fees for housing, it all requires cold, hard cash. Especially the protection fees; if you don't pay, those gang members nearby really will kill people."
At this point, Rope couldn't help but grit her teeth and speak with hatred. It seemed she had suffered much persecution from those thugs. However, in the next moment, she put on a smiling face again for Jeanne. But from Jeanne's look, she only believed about sixty percent of that.
Thinking about it, it made sense; that reason alone wouldn't really make a thief like her risk her life. In the time it took for this, she could probably maintain her livelihood by stealing a few times in the city.
"Actually... I also want to buy some medicine. Both I and the people near me are Infected. Recently, everyone's symptoms have suddenly started getting serious. No matter how much we ration the painkillers, there's never enough..."