So what had made the real Leon of this world die? Did he die due to some other reason, or did Leon kill his soul by occupying his body?
He didn't feel guilty that the real Leon was gone. It was not his fault, but there were so many questions, and he had no answers. One thing was clear: now this was his reality.
He was a child beggar. Leon had regretted the way he lived before—his immaturity, his poor decisions in his past life. But now, although he was at the lowest starting point possible, he was alive. He was young. He had to live this life in a way that mattered to him and to others around him. He didn't want to die alone and forgotten like before.
He would find a way out of his current predicament one way or another. He was an adult man in a child's body, so the odds were in his favor. But to do that, he needed information about this world and this gang.
Leon pestered Lisa and Mathew with question after question. The pair told him all they could without complaining.
They were in the capital of the Solarian Empire, the biggest city on the continent of Aurethia.
As the biggest city, Aurethia had a huge population. Aurethia was divided into multiple sectors.
Right now, they were in a sector called Low Town. Although it was called Low Town, it was still very big. It had various streets and was mainly famous for its low cost of living, its red-light district, and its bloody gang wars.
Low Town housed nearly dozens of gangs and groups, but only two gangs were fighting for domination over this sector—one was the Blood Water Gang and the other was the White Fang Gang. Other gangs were their subsidiaries.
And Dan was a member of the Blade Gang, a sub-branch of the Blood Water Gang. Although Dan acted all high and mighty, he was just one of many supervisors of the Blade Gang. The Blade Gang's job was to manage all of the beggars in the Blood Water Gang's territory.
Although their job was to manage, in reality they took all orphaned and abandoned kids from the streets and forced them to beg.
According to Mathew, it was not all that bad here. At least they had a place to sleep. It was better than sleeping on the streets, where one cold night meant death.
"It's time to sleep now, Leon," said Mathew as the whole group huddled under a single old blanket with Roan in the center.
Leon woke up as Mathew moved beside him. He too had woken up moments ago. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Leon stood up. He was going to ask for toothpaste and a brush but realized that, as beggars, they definitely didn't have the luxury of these things.
He saw Mathew rubbing his teeth with his fingers.
"It's ash, get some too," Mathew pointed toward the center. Although they had used the Oil lamp last night , there was ash in there along with some charcoal and half-burned wood may be they had burned some tree branches before to stay warm .
I have seen in documentaries that some tribes use ash for oral hygiene. Is it still okay?
Leon hesitated for a moment but still used some to clean his teeth.
It's better than nothing.
Even after gargling with water, Leon felt the taste of charcoal linger in his mouth. By the time he was done, everyone was up, including Roan. He seemed in better condition than before. The first thing Mira did after waking up was check on Roan as she felt his temple with her palm.
"Thank heavens, his fever is gone now," she said.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief at that news.
As they had not met their quota, Dan had not given them any food. They shared the emergency bread Mathew had hidden in a corner last night as dinner, so everyone was hungry.
Mathew had told him to wait with Roan and Mira as the others were going to line up for food in the courtyard of the building.
To his delight, Mathew, Lisa, and Bear returned sooner than he expected. They brought a bowl of a very thick, porridge-like soup for everyone. It was provided by the Blade Gang to every child beggar in the building.
As he took the first mouthful, he felt a very spongy taste fill his mouth. The soup was downright disgusting to taste, but he still ate it. That's just how hungry he was.
As everyone finished their share of food, Mathew gathered everyone and spoke:
"Today we'll go in two groups. Me, Roan, and Mira will go to streets No. 32, 34, and 35. The remaining ones—Leon, Bear, and Lisa—will go to streets No. 30, 31, and 29. At the end of the day, we will gather at the same alley where we found Leon, okay?"
"Okay," everyone nodded.
As the group parted, Lisa took the lead. They went through multiple alleys and roads. When Lisa told Leon that they had reached street No. 29, Bear asked him from the side:
"Do you remember how to do it, Leon?"
"Uhh, no," Leon said as he scratched his head.
"It's simple. Look at people passing by. Look for someone who looks rich or someone with clean clothes. Go to them and say, 'Please give me some coins, I am hungry.' Simple, right?" said Lisa.
"Also, stay away from people like Dan and other gangster-looking men," Bear warned.
Lisa looked at Leon and said, "We can do that."
"That?" Leon and Bear both looked at her.
"Just follow me around, Leon. Bear, you go on your own," Lisa said.
Bear didn't ask any questions and left with the words, "Okay, let's meet at this spot at second bell."
Leon looked at Bear's back as he walked away and asked, "What's second bell?"
Lisa pointed toward a tall tower in the distance.
"You see that? That's the bell tower of a cathedral. Its bell rings every hour, so by second bell Bear means we'll meet at this spot when that bell rings for the second time."
Leon looked at the big tower. It was so far that only its foggy outline was visible.
It must be ridiculously loud if sound reaches this far.