After coming back to his house and taking a rest for a little while, Noel went around the town to help the people. Of course, he simply wanted to get more Honor Points.
However, when he was strolling around, he encountered an unexpected meeting. It was with the woman he saved yesterday, Kirika.
“Welcome. Do you want any fruits?” Kirika smiled, greeting his customer before finding Noel was the customer. “Eh? Noel Ardagan?”
“Oh?” Noel didn’t know how to respond since Kirika always wore a cold expression during the training. He never expected that Kirika could make a big and warm smile like this. She would become a star in everyone’s heart if she showed such a thing to the trainees. Unfortunately for her, Noel didn’t have any excitement seeing such a smile because he had lost too much, including a part of his emotion toward women. Even though he accepted that his eyes were clouded by revenge, he still couldn’t accept women in general, especially those around his age.
“Oh, my. Who is this, Kirika?” A middle-aged woman rose from the ground after taking out some fruits from the basket on the ground.
“This is… Noel Ardagan.”
“Ah, he’s a noble? I-I’m sorry for disrespecting you, Sir.” The woman panicked and immediately lowered her head. She even went all the way to kneel on the ground to ask for forgiveness.
Noel only smiled and said, “It’s fine, Ma’am. I’m just a fallen noble, you don’t need to respect me.” 𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
The woman was stunned for a second as she didn’t know how to respond.
“He is Noel Ardagan. Although he is a fallen noble, he is one of the most hardworking men among the trainees. He also saved my life yesterday.”
“Ah, so he was the gentleman that saved you from the demons?” The woman widened her eyes in shock.
“It’s fine. I was the one who placed the traps, so it might be my fault.”
“I’ve heard the story from my daughter. Whether it’s the trap or not, I know that the demons are scary. If not for your traps, my daughter would have been in a more dangerous situation.” The woman looked at the fruits and immediately picked some of the best. “Please have this as my thanks for saving my daughter.”
“No, no. You don’t need to.” Noel smiled, rejecting it softly.
However, the woman pushed the basket to Noel and said, “I don’t know much about Fallen Noble, but I know that you must haven’t lived that well in the past few weeks. You should eat some fruits. They’re very nutritious.”
“No, no. Please don’t think much about it. I saved her because of my own traps. If I take all these fruits, your business will receive the impact, so—”
“Please.” The woman looked at him with a sad look. “I can’t do much as her mother. Even these fruits are not equal to my daughter’s life, but this is the least I can do as her mother.”
“Please.” Seeing her mother’s action, Kirika couldn’t help but lower her head, asking for Noel to receive it.
“Is that so? Well, I’ll take it then.” Noel ultimately accepted it. He couldn’t help but remember the time he helped the people here.
They were so nice and sometimes even offered something to repay him even though he only did it only for a mission. Of course, he never expected to receive anything from them.
‘I never harmed or helped commoners before because I wasn’t interested in them. But now… I know that not every help will go rewarded and some will even bite the hands who feeds them, but somehow looking at their actions and feelings puts my heart at ease…’ Noel thought while closing his eyes. ‘This is the life that I’d never know had I locked myself up in my mansion the whole time.’
Little did he know, there was a change in his heart. He might still help people for the mission, but he would do it more sincerely from now on.
“Thank you, Ma’am.” Noel smiled and waved his hands. “I’ll excuse myself then.”
“Yes.” The woman nodded and saw him off until he disappeared into the crowds. After that, she looked at Kirika and said, “That boy is so bright. This is the first time I have seen such a polite boy.”
“He is indeed different.”
“What do you think about him?” She smirked, assessing her daughter’s feelings.
“Eh? What do you mean?” Kirika looked away, knowing what her mother was implying, so she refused to say anything, only to get pestered by her mother for a while.
Meanwhile, Noel went around for a bit and decided to eat one or two fruits by the fountain in the city center.
There he could see people going around and watched everyone’s expression without fearing his status as noble like in the past.
“I don’t know if I can finish all these fruits by myself before they go bad.” Noel sighed, looking at the fruits. Suddenly, he found a kid wearing a tattered rag looking at his fruit basket with watering mouth.
After their gazes interlocked, he slowly approached Noel and raised his hand as if he was trying to beg for fruit. “Sir… Can…”
Noel looked at him for a moment, thinking, ‘Even in the Ardagan Territory, there will always be people like this.’
However, he remembered the lady that gave him the fruits and muttered, “Someone’s kindness goes to another person and it will continue to another person. However, this kid will continue to starve if it’s like this, so…”
After some contemplations, Noel said, “Do one thing for me and I will give you two fruits.”
“That… That’s…” The kid was afraid that Noel wanted him to do bad things.
But that suspicion was shattered when Noel continued, “Dance for me.”
The kid was hesitant but immediately did it when he heard, “I don’t care if it’s bad. Just do it and you will get two fruits.”
The kid awkwardly danced. He looked like a fool, but after one minute, Noel fulfilled his promise by giving him two fruits.
Surprisingly, the kid politely bowed to him and ran away.
“Wait.” Noel stopped him. “Where are you going?”
“Ah…” The kid scratched the back of his head and looked at the fruits. “My sister needs this more than me.”
“So, you have a sister? Is there any other kid like you?”
“Un.” He nodded.
,m “Then, eat those two fruits. The one who earns it has the right to eat it. If your sister wants to eat, she also needs to dance like you. So, after you finish eating these fruits, go back and bring your sister and other kids… I have twenty fruits here, so bring a total of ten people.”
The kid hesitated again, but Noel continued, “Listen, kid. If you keep begging like this, you will continue to starve for who knows how many days. I know that you’re bad at everything, but everyone is like that. But you still need to do it, your hundredth time doing it is better than your first time.
“If you want to eat every day without that uncertainty, you need to work hard for that future instead of letting others decide it. That’s why eat it and bring your sister and nine other kids here.”
After hesitating for another minute, the kid ate the fruits and hurriedly went back to inform his sister and the other homeless kids before Noel left.
Just like the first kid, they danced awkwardly. However, Noel only smiled and clapped his hands as if he was enjoying the show before giving them the fruits he received from Kirika’s mother.
There were people who looked at these kids in disgust, who didn’t bother themselves with them, or just enjoyed like Noel. However, Noel didn’t care about them because helping them opened something in his heart. Although he was just fulfilling the mission, he still sincerely felt happy for helping others. This was a life that Noel would never experience had he stuck in that mansion.