1 Chapter 1: The hardships of the homeless.

— I need your clothes."

The piercing gaze of the green eyes belonging to the tall young man caught up with the girl. Like a startled rabbit, she froze, her feet frozen to the cobblestones, making it impossible for her to escape. Sofia wasn't even twenty-five, so why had fate played a cruel trick on her? As luck would have it, the streets were empty at night, and there was no one to turn to for help.

The young man, wrapped in rags, held out a demanding hand, causing Sophia to close her eyes.

- A box.

The unexpected continuation did not shake the girl's petrification at all, she did not even understand the meaning of a simple phrase at first. Second after second passed, and only after the hard work of a panicked mind, did the trembling eyelids open.

"Ah... so y-you're not going to... I mean, these are things to throw away." The mistress asked me to throw out the items that don't match her collection, and I'm taking them to…

Before Sophia could finish, the young man opened the box in her hands and took out a white fur coat. Woven from the hide of a horned fox, it was completely unsuitable as a summer garment.

"What a shame to wear women's clothing ... but it's better than what I'm wearing…"

Ragne, as the young man was called, could not forgive himself for such a humiliating position, but there was not much choice. Tearing the dirty linen, the young man left only a rag covering the lower part of the body, after which he quickly threw an expensive, by local standards, fur coat over his shoulders.

— I'll remember the kindness, and I'll pay you back later."…

With a serious look, Ragne leaned toward the stranger, then walked away. He couldn't stay in one place any longer – it was too dangerous. As soon as they were halfway through the noble streets, a hoarse voice rang out from behind them.

"Pretty boy, wait a minute…

Turning around, the young man captured three homeless people. Their dirty faces and wrinkled skin contrasted with their expensive clothing. The nobles often threw away their clothes here, sometimes even new ones. That's why Ragne came here.

"What do you want, you rootless mutts?"

The young man spoke in an even voice, without a drop of contempt, as if hoping for a friendly smile from the other side, unfortunately ... The faces of the homeless people twisted, it is not clear why they moved in a heap in the direction of the brat with very bad intentions.

"Look at him. Behaves like a noble… Geek, we told you not to take anything from our neighborhood. Do you clean your ears with shit, or are you just stupid, because you don't understand the first time? Well, it doesn't matter, my son, we'll teach you the mind.

Two of the tramps were flexing their fists, while the nearest one took a makeshift knife from the bins. Reaching out, he tried to slash Ragna across the face, but instead of enjoying the sight of blood spilled, a wave of pain washed over the homeless man. The hand that held the knife was turned inside out, and the weapon that the young man had intercepted was buried under his ribs.

The punctured liver caused the poor fellow's legs to buckle, and before he could fall, a sharp blade pierced the temporal bone.

The murder happened so quickly that the tramp's companions did not have time to understand anything, and the expression on the young man's face did not change. He didn't seem to care at all, only when the knife left his head with a slimy sound, and a pool of blood began to spread on the ground, the homeless were transfixed.

"The murderer! Do you even know that this is punishable by death?!

The tramps were afraid to approach, they backed away, shooting back threats.

"Execution?"... Do you think the death of the scum will interest anyone? You just need to take care of the bodies, so that the nobles do not stumble over the dead in the morning.

A faint grin curved Ragne's lips as he moved toward the homeless, and suddenly a multitude of shadows loomed ahead, soon revealing themselves in the moonlight. About thirty men, all with the same dirty faces and clean clothes, came out of the gateways.

Little brother, you've only been with us for a week, but you should know that we will carry out the sentence ourselves for the murder of your brother-in-law…