"Alright, alright." Feeling that he had finally satisfied this young lady's morbid curiosity, Levi urged Seraphine forward. "Let's go. There's nothing to see about a dead person."
"But..." Seraphine still took a step forward at Levi's urging.
She kept her head down, seemingly lost in deep thought. Unconsciously, she even forgot about the garbage flying all over the street, just walking straight through without dodging.
Not long after, Levi and she encountered a few more people by the roadside.
These people sat paralyzed by the street with hollow eyes, both men and women. Their hair was a messy nest, their clothes were in tatters, and broken bowls, cups, or hats were placed in front of them.
"These people are beggars." Suspecting that Seraphine was about to unleash an endless barrage of questions, Levi simply preempted her with an explanation. "Beggars are people who, for various reasons, cannot or will not work, and make a living by asking for handouts..."
"M-Mr. Levi," Seraphine muttered, her face flushing red. "I'm not stupid... I know what beggars are! Even outside the Zaunite community, there are beggars... I've seen them."
"That's good." Levi noticed Seraphine's gaze.
She kept glancing at the pitiful beggars, and after a few looks, her pace gradually slowed.
"You want to give them something?"
"Mhm..." Seraphine looked at him inquiringly. "Can I?"
"Did you bring money?" Levi's money had all gone toward paying his rent.
"I did. Before I snuck out, I swiped the coin purse my dad left on the table."
"Alright then... give if you want to." Levi wasn't going to stop the young lady from showing some kindness. "But be careful, don't give too much."
"Just give them one or two coins, and that's enough."
"Okay." Seraphine nodded obediently, as if she had taken his words to heart.
Then, she pulled a heavy coin purse from her coat, opened it, casually grabbed a jingling handful of coins, and finally handed them to the beggars...
Giving each person two Gold Hex coins.
Yes, Gold Hex coins.
A massive sum that would take Levi months of starving and saving to accumulate was casually tossed to beggars by her.
"Fuck!" Levi was dumbfounded.
I told you to give one or two coins, meaning one or two Copper Rings just as a token gesture.
Why did you just hand out gold coins?
"Wait, Seraphine..."
"Does 'one coin' in your mind actually mean one Gold Hex coin?"
"Or is it that you've only ever seen gold coins in your entire life and have absolutely no idea what a Copper Ring looks like?"
"O-Of course I've seen them!" Seraphine looked at him, her face flushed. "I'm not stupid, Mr. Levi... I know exactly how much money I gave out, but I just wanted to give that much."
"You..." Levi hesitated, swallowing his words.
"Mr. Levi, I know what you want to say." The usually silly and naive Seraphine now wore a very determined expression. "When I was little, I went out with my father once and met a very pitiful beggar. I wanted to give him a little more money, but my father refused."
"He said there are too many beggars in the world, and we could never save them all. No matter how much I gave them, or how many people I gave to, it wouldn't change anything... He urged me not to be so naive, to not do meaningless things."
"Mr. Levi, you probably think the same way, right?"
"But I don't think so..." Seraphine bit her lip, secretly cheering herself on. "I feel that helping one person is still helping one person. Regardless of whether the world changes or not, at least that person's life will get better with my help. How can anyone say that's meaningless?"
"Uh..." Levi was left speechless.
Not because he was persuaded by Seraphine, but because her sheer ignorance left him at a loss for words. "Well... actually, your dad and I don't mean the same thing."
"What I mean is, if you give out too much money, you aren't helping them; you're harming them—especially in the Zaunite community, a place with absolutely no order."
"Huh?" Seraphine looked thoroughly confused.
Levi simply pointed at the beggars. "Look for yourself."
Upon receiving the Gold Hex coins, the beggars were violently plunged into unprecedented surprise and bewilderment.
They froze there foolishly, and then collectively snapped back to reality—
Not snapping back to thank or show gratitude to Seraphine, but immediately clutching those two Gold Hex coins tightly in their palms, shielding them against their chests, and then glaring warily at their companions.
They were guarding against each other, spying on each other.
Like starving wolves protecting and fighting over food.
Their eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty red light.
"Wait..." Even the naive Seraphine realized something was wrong now.
But she couldn't do anything, nor could she stop it.
It was unclear who made the first move.
In almost an instant, the beggars who had received the gold coins went mad, tangling, snatching, and slaughtering each other.
"Hand over the money if you don't want to die!"
"Mine... this is all mine!"
"..."
Their eyes instantly went red with murderous intent, the scene descending into total chaos.
Even if someone tried to run away, they would be forcefully dragged back by the others, viciously stomped into the ground, and searched for their money.
For a moment, all their ugly traits were exposed, and malice ran rampant.
Passersby who noticed what the beggars were fighting over joined the robbery without a second word.
Some, blinded by the killing, even turned their greedy eyes toward the kind-hearted Seraphine who had given them the charity.
Fortunately, Seraphine's high-class aristocratic attire made them hesitant to act rashly, and with Levi guarding her closely like a bodyguard, the situation didn't spiral into something even worse.
"W-Why is it like this..."
"I clearly just wanted to help."
"Because your father was right. You are too naive." Levi criticized her bluntly. "You might know how much one Gold Hex coin is worth, but you don't know how much one Gold Hex coin is worth to a Zaunite, especially a Zaunite beggar."
"To you, these few gold coins might just be a high-end dinner. But to a Zaunite, these few Gold Hex coins are worth several human lives."
"To be honest, if it were the 'me' from before..."
"I definitely would have fought to the death to snatch them too."
Snatch them? Why wouldn't he?
If he snatched them, he could pay rent, treat his sister's illness, avoid being chased back to Zaun, and still have hope for his life.
Compared to these things, morality was worthless!
Yet Seraphine casually tossed a massive fortune to Zaunites who lacked the power to protect their own property, while lacking the ability to maintain order herself. The only possible result was stirring up a bloodbath.
"I-I didn't want it to be like this."
"I didn't know this would happen..."
Seraphine's lip trembled, tears of guilt swirling in her eyes.
She clearly just wanted to do a good deed, but ended up like a cruel spectator beside a Noxian arena, using money to create a bloody spectacle of cannibalistic slaughter.
"Do you understand now?"
"Sympathy can't save them, and charity can't save them either. Even if you truly managed to help them properly, the result would be exactly as your father said—it wouldn't change the grand scheme of things, much less save this world."
Levi felt that this might be an opportunity.
An opportunity to let Seraphine see this cruel world clearly and make her start thinking seriously.
So he patiently guided her thoughts.
"Seraphine, think about it carefully..."
"What method is there that can truly help those people you could never finish helping?"
This question was difficult, and Levi himself was merely an explorer.
He didn't expect Seraphine to come up with an answer; he only hoped she could come back down to earth and truly think from a realistic perspective.
And Seraphine seemed to be moved.
She fell into deep thought, pondering...
"I've got it!"
Suddenly, Seraphine's eyes lit up.
"What did you think of?"
Levi encouraged her to speak her mind.
No matter how naive or childish it was, it would still be a step forward for her.
Just as he was thinking this, he heard Seraphine say in all seriousness:
"When my mom and dad are in pain, sad, or angrily arguing, I always sing to them. As long as they hear me sing, their emotions relax... They can hear each other's inner voices through my singing, understand each other, and care for each other."
"So I think..."
"If I can broadcast my singing, let everyone in Zaun and Piltover hear it, maybe it can make them understand and care for each other too."
"This way, maybe it could encourage more Piltovans to help Zaunites like I do, and at the same time, allow Zaunites to unite and live in harmony with each other like family..."
Levi stared at her, at a complete loss for words.
"I asked you to think about how to solve the core problem, and you're telling me you want to debut as an idol singer?" Levi muttered. "Holy sh—forget it... She was already stupid to begin with. No point in cursing at her."
"Mr. Levi..."
"What?"
"Are you calling me stupid again?" Seraphine pursed her lips in grievance.
"Huh?" Levi was slightly startled.
He hadn't made any physical contact with Seraphine.
"Did you read my mind again?"
"No... you just admitted it out loud yourself."
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