That was the problem.
The recent downturn had made the atmosphere inside the church feel heavy, and Moff had noticed it.
He was more sensible than kids his age—but he was still only seven.
Maybe he simply thought that if he could earn money, he could help them.
"You really don't let me have an easy moment."
After getting a general grasp of the situation, Luke could basically guess what Moff was thinking.
With a sigh, Luke said, "Let's split up and search. Those kids shouldn't have gone far."
Barrett added, "I already sent someone to notify the city guard. They'll help search too."
"Mm." Luke nodded, looking in one direction. "I'll check over there."
"Then I'll go this way." Kahina chose the opposite direction and ran off anxiously. It was obvious she was deeply worried about the safety of those five children.
Even when they met earlier, Luke had noticed her forehead was slick with sweat.
"I'll help." After saying that, Fiora followed after Kahina.
"Let's go." Luke glanced at Lux and started forward.
Lux hurried to keep up.
She didn't know if they could really find them, but she truly didn't want anything to happen to those kids.
For Luke, though, finding them was inevitable.
Right now, in his vision, a red beam of light was shooting straight up from a certain spot in the capital.
"A bunch of little brats… and they managed to run pretty far."
Sighing helplessly, Luke quickened his pace.
The moment he'd gotten that note from under Moff's pillow, he'd already used it with the Godspeed Tracking Decree.
The Godspeed Tracking Decree required a personal item belonging to the target. Moff's note naturally counted.
It lasted five hours, and during that time it would keep tracking the target.
So Luke headed straight toward where the red light was.
Lux followed behind in a complete fog, basically running around with Luke without understanding why.
She wasn't even sure they were searching the right way.
Could they really find Moff and the others like this?
After a while…
Lux was stunned. She stared at the children right ahead of them, then looked back at Luke in disbelief.
They really found them?
How?
Inside Miss Crownguard's small head, a very big question mark appeared.
"How did you know they were over here?" Lux couldn't help asking.
Luke gave the most all-purpose answer possible. "Lucky guess."
Of course, Lux didn't believe that.
But for the moment, she couldn't think of any other explanation either.
She couldn't stop herself from stealing a few looks at Luke's profile, then forcibly suppressed the urge to keep pressing him.
Meanwhile, Luke was watching Moff and the others.
Moff had no idea where he'd gotten a woven bamboo basket. He wore it on his back, stuffed with all kinds of things. With his hand, he held onto a little girl as they walked step by step.
Behind him were three boys slightly taller than he was, each with a basket on their back too.
The sight drew quite a few second glances from passersby.
Moff ignored the stares and kept walking.
"Moff, I think this stuff can sell for a lot!"
"Look how much I picked up!"
"Let's go sell it, Moff!"
"Moff?"
The kids were still riding the excitement of running away. They chattered happily—until they noticed Moff had gone quiet, and they felt a little confused.
In Moff's line of sight, Luke and that idiot sister were standing not far away, watching them.
The other kids also saw Luke and Lux and immediately started to get scared.
After thinking for a moment, Moff walked up. He tilted his head down and didn't dare look Luke in the eyes, rubbing at his nose as he mumbled, "Why are you here?"
Luke smiled. "Didn't we agree to meet today?"
Moff remembered the promise too. He still didn't lift his head. "Are you here to make us go back?"
"Of course," Luke said. "Everyone's really worried about you."
Moff hesitated. He listened to Luke—he always did.
But this time, he steeled himself and blurted, "I'm not going back!"
Luke asked, "Why not?"
This time Moff raised his head. His eyes were full of stubborn resolve as he stared at Luke. "Because we can take care of ourselves now!"
Behind him, the other kids nodded hard, chests puffed out.
Even the little girl he was holding onto put on a determined expression.
"Is that so?" Luke's interest rose. "I heard you came out to earn money. How much have you earned so far?"
"A lot!"
Moff proudly jammed a hand into the pocket inside his clothes, then pulled out all the money and shoved it toward Luke.
Luke took it and looked down.
A fistful of flattened copper coins—uneven, grimy, and dirty—but there were quite a lot of them. More than thirty, probably.
To them, copper already felt like a fortune.
"This is just the beginning. We can earn even more."
Moff was brimming with confidence, his innocent eyes filled with longing for the future.
Seeing that, Luke's smile vanished, and he asked again, "You're sure you're not going back?"
When Luke stopped smiling, Moff felt a rush of fear—but a second later he still gathered his courage. "No!"
"Fine." Luke handed the money back. "Then don't go back. Pretend we were never here. Keep doing what you think you should do, and let me see what you're capable of."
Moff froze, stunned.
He'd thought Luke would scold him, drag them back by force, and be completely unreasonable.
Because that felt like Luke's style.
After the surprise came joy. Moff nodded seriously, excitedly. "Watch me. I'll prove it to you!"
More than anything, he wanted Luke's approval—this man who, in Moff's eyes, held immense status, and the only man who didn't treat him like a child.
If even Luke could acknowledge him, then that meant he really was fine now… right?
4:00 PM.
Moff led his four companions onward, stepping confidently into their "journey."
Luke kept some distance, following behind and quietly watching.
The kids went from worrying at first to gradually relaxing, becoming bolder.
Moff's "income" came from picking up discarded scrap metal, thrown-away boxes, and anything else they thought might be worth money.
Maybe they'd researched it, because there really were people who bought those things—after all, even trash could be reused.
One trip could sell for ten or twenty copper coins, and with good luck, double that.
In Demacia, one gold coin equaled ten silver coins, and one silver coin equaled one hundred copper coins.
Silver and copper were the mainstream currency. Someone like Luke, who spent money using gold coins directly, was already far beyond what an ordinary family could touch.
But that was normal—his starting point was simply that high.
The places he spent money were high-end places too.
Back at the archery booth game, when the owner saw Luke and Lux shooting arrows at each other, his grin practically split his face.
Why?
Because a single arrow cost three silver coins—and three silver coins was no small amount.
5:00 PM.
Moff and the others had gone back and forth to the scrap-exchange stall four times.
Those four trips sold for a bit more than two silver coins in total.
The kids' faces were full of smiles.
Moff wasn't the oldest among them, but he definitely had the strongest "boss" aura. The other kids listened to him first in everything.
During this time, the city guard arrived.
At first glance they spotted the children and were about to approach—then they saw His Highness.
The prince ordered them to withdraw, and to go back and inform the others that he was watching the situation here.
So the city guard acknowledged the order and left.
6:00 PM.
The sky was gradually darkening, though the sun hadn't set yet.
Hours of running around finally put exhaustion on the children's faces, but even though they were tired, they were still happy.
Because they could earn money—money they'd gotten through their own hard work.
But soon, their first lesson from society arrived.
They weren't the only ones collecting scraps. Some adults did it too—and when the children wandered into those adults' "territory," they got angrily chased off. Some even looked like they might actually hit them.
Those people didn't go easy on them just because they were kids.
The children were frightened and ran. Afterward, Moff comforted them for a while.
That small incident didn't crush them—but not long after, a second blow landed hard.
After the kids managed to gather another batch of scrap, they returned to the buying stall with hopeful faces.
By coincidence, two adults also arrived, carrying baskets on their backs.
"This is yours—one silver. Take it."
The buyer handled the adults' batch first.
Then he checked Moff's group, weighed it, pulled out a handful of copper coins, counted, and said, "This is yours—forty copper."
Moff frowned in confusion. He stared at the coins, then asked, "Why is ours so little? We didn't collect less than they did."
He'd noticed it clearly: those two adults didn't have more scrap than they did, yet they got one silver.
And Moff's group only got forty copper.
Faced with the question, the stall owner couldn't even be bothered to explain. He snapped impatiently, "That's what it is. Take it or leave it."
Moff froze. Looking up at the expression on the man's face, he learned—for the first time—how nasty the world could be.
He wanted to stand his ground and say, then we won't sell to you.
But thinking of the others behind him, he forced a smile. "Fine. We'll take it."
This time the stall owner tossed the copper coins over.
Moff and the others turned and left with their baskets empty.
On the road, their spirits were low.
"So… does that mean the earlier times we sold, he was cutting our price too?"
"Why do they get more money than we do?"
"Moff, should we stop selling to him?"
They trudged along listlessly.
This one incident hit their confidence hard.
They'd worked so long, and yet what they earned wasn't even half of what the adults got.
"Because he thinks we're easy to bully." Moff's face was full of defiance. "The more he looks down on us, the more we have to prove him wrong!"
The kids were encouraged by those words and perked up again.
They hadn't left the church with some casual, halfhearted attitude.
7:00 PM.
In summer, it got dark late—but now the sun was finally sliding toward the horizon.
When the children returned with another load of scrap, they discovered the stall owner was gone.
Closed up for the day? Or moved somewhere else?
They didn't know.
But after searching around, they couldn't find anyone else willing to buy from them either.
So they could only carry their heavy scrap—too reluctant to throw it away—and walk slowly through the streets, faces blank with uncertainty.
And right then…
When it rains, it pours.
A raindrop fell—then, quickly, a downpour began. A sunshower: the sky was still bright, but the rain wouldn't stop.
Water hammered down as people scattered to dodge it.
Moff and the others were instantly drenched like soaked rats. They hurried under an overhanging eave to take shelter, standing there and staring out—lost, lost, and nothing but lost.
Their planned income had been cut off, and they were soaked.
At least it was summer, so they didn't feel cold.
But their stomachs started growling again.
The sunshower came fast and left fast. When it stopped, Moff decided they should fill their bellies first.
Only then would they have the strength to keep working.
Following the smell of food, they found a restaurant by the street—but the prices made them take one look and run away.
Even the simplest bowl of meat soup with a piece of bread cost one silver coin.
They finally found a cheaper place: one bowl of vegetable soup and a piece of bread cost twenty copper per person.
Five people meant one silver coin total. They did the math—they still had a little over three silver coins left.
Five people, one day, earning four silver coins… for them, that felt pretty good.
8:00 PM.
Night had fallen. Moff and the others walked along the street.
The girl named Moxi had actually started getting sleepy right after they ate.
Her eyelids kept drooping, but she still forced herself to keep moving.
Only now did Moff notice. He asked, "Moxi, are you sleepy?"
Moxi shook her head. "I'm not."
"What about you guys?" Moff turned and asked the other three companions.
"Not sleepy!"
"We still have energy!"
"Where are we going now?"
They looked tired, but they answered like that anyway.
Moff thought for a moment and decided that for today, they should find somewhere to stay and rest.
An inn wasn't hard to find.
Soon, they walked into one.
The owner asked kindly, "How many of you?"
"Five," Moff, as the leader, replied.
The owner counted. It was five, sure enough. Then he asked, "Where are your adults?"
But after Moff answered…
The owner's expression changed instantly.
"Go get your adults to rent a room. We don't rent to children."
The kids walked back out, faces full of confusion.
They clearly had money—so why wouldn't the inn rent to them?
"Let's try somewhere else," Moff decided.
But after asking around, it was either the same refusal, or the prices were too high.
Even at ordinary inns, a single small room for one night still cost two silver coins.
Moff thought that if they acted pitiful, maybe some adults would soften and take them in for the night.
But the moment that idea appeared, he thought of Luke.
He remembered that he was supposed to prove it to Luke—that they could earn money, that they could live on their own, that they could become grown-ups.
Begging for sympathy might get them through tonight… but what about after that?
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.