Simple.
“It primarily survives on trade; it’s the largest merchant capital in this region! Many rare things, whether on the surface or in the black market, can be found here.”
“However, because of that, there are many small mercenary groups and adventurer teams stationed or passing through the city and its surroundings. The population flow is massive, with thousands of people coming and going every day.”
“Ah, but the guards also check very strictly because of that, especially with unfamiliar faces.”
Mentioning this, Helen looked at Aurelia again and asked carefully, “Sister Lia, your old Order… did they issue a Pope’s Pursuit Order against you? Or… some other kind of private wanted notice?”
“…Pope’s Pursuit Order? I don’t… think I’ve heard of it.” Aurelia rubbed her long black hair, looking puzzled. She could guess what it was, but after she was expelled from the Base, she had bolted immediately, eventually reaching the Warehouse, meeting Helen, and boarding this carriage.
Helen looked at the expression on Aurelia’s face—a mix of confusion and total indifference—and then at the coarse cloth dress she wore, which had become even more tattered and stained during the long journey.
Given their current situation, Aurelia’s current attire was a major liability in the mixed bag of people in Twilight City.
A young girl who looked destitute, disheveled, and so provocative to the imagination was naturally prone to attracting unnecessary attention, whether from thugs, patrolling guards, or other ill-intentioned individuals.
“Not being openly wanted… is a good thing; at least it saves us a layer of trouble.”
He paused, his gaze quickly shifting away from Aurelia, his ears heating up slightly, but he tried to maintain a calm and practical tone.
“But, Sister Lia, after we enter the city… I’m afraid we need to find a way to change our outfits as soon as possible. Your clothes are… really too conspicuous. It’s neither safe nor… convenient to move around the city.”
***
Aurelia followed his gaze and looked down at herself, tugging at a cuff that was nearly falling apart, and gave a bitter smile.
“Ahahaha… true…”
【This little brother has a point. In my current state, I’m no different from having a sign over my head saying ‘I’m a destitute girl waiting for a kind person to lead me astray.’ Even though… I already had a plan for the clothes.】
She immediately looked up, her gaze scanning Helen’s similarly tattered clothing, though the originally fine tailoring and material could still be vaguely discerned.
Even if covered in filth, the style and remaining embroidery patterns—so different from commoner clothing—were still a hidden danger.
“Your outfit isn’t much better. Even if only a few threads are left of that Noble young master’s style, it’s still glaringly obvious to some people.”
Hearing this, Helen subconsciously pinched the corner of his own heavily worn clothes. He had been so focused on worrying about Aurelia’s situation that he forgot his own Noble attire was also a potential source of risk.
“…True, we both need to change.”
“So…” Aurelia’s gaze swept back and forth inside the carriage, finally landing on several empty coarse burlap sacks in the corner used for cargo.
The bags were large, with a thick and rough texture. Although covered in dust and unidentified stains, they were intact and… free.
Her eyes lit up. She reached out to grab two relatively clean burlap sacks and shook off the dust. “Let’s make do with these for now.”
Helen looked at the sacks emitting a mixed scent of aged grain and dust. A flash of shock crossed his eyes, followed by confusion: “Sister Lia, you’re…?”
“Temporary outfits.” Aurelia was brief, gesturing with her hands.
“Look, cut a hole in the middle for your head, then cut a hole on each side for your arms. Tie it at the bottom with a rope or torn strips of cloth—wouldn’t that make a simple robe?”
“It might be ugly, but at least it covers everything tightly, and you can’t see the original figure or the tattered state. Plus…” She tugged the burlap. “These can serve as blankets at night. Two birds with one stone.”
Helen watched Aurelia begin to measure holes on the sack with a small knife she carried, his lip twitching slightly.
Making clothes out of cargo sacks… this was completely outside the scope of his knowledge from his past fourteen years as a Noble, and it surpassed the lowest limit of anything he had ever done.
But logic told him Sister Lia was right.
Without a penny to their names and an uncertain path ahead, this was the most economical and least conspicuous solution. Ugly? Indecent? Compared to staying alive, none of that was worth mentioning, right?
“…Alright.” He suppressed the awkwardness stemming from his past upbringing and reached for a sack, beginning to mess with it as Aurelia had.
“Entering the city like this… won’t the guards find it even more suspicious?” Two people in rags versus two people draped in sacks—it seemed the latter would be more likely to be stopped and questioned.
Aurelia’s knife sliced a hole in the sack with crisp, efficient movements. Without looking up, she retorted.
“In a place where thousands of people enter and exit every day, which do you think is more suspicious: a tattered young girl with a similarly tattered boy wearing remnants of Noble styles and embroidery, or two impoverished refugees wrapped in burlap who clearly have nowhere else to go?”
Helen started to speak, stopped, and started again. After a moment’s thought… he nodded, abandoning the idea of not wearing the burlap sack. “…I understand.”
***
The carriage moved slowly through the dusk, getting closer and closer to the towering gray-black city walls. They could even see the flickering torches on the gate tower and the figures of guards moving about. Scattered shacks and denser crowds of pedestrians began to appear along the road.
Aurelia signaled The Coachman to stop in a secluded corner a short distance from the city gate. “Uncle, here is fine. Thank you for your hard work.”
The Coachman mumbled something, probably confused about why they were getting off early, but he didn’t ask much. After all, the fare had been paid long ago, and after tasting Aurelia’s varied cooking for a month, there wasn’t much to complain about.
“Well… be careful, you two. I won’t see you off further.”
After thanking him again, the two jumped lightly off the carriage and quickly moved into the shadows, heading toward the gates of Twilight City.