She, Not 'He'
Yorphang, who had collapsed a short distance away, had still not woken up.
I slipped the subdimensional pocket from her robes.
[It appears to be a subdimensional pocket. To think she carried such a rare treasure. This Lady wonders if she stole that as well.]
As Sierra said, since it belonged to a thief, it was highly likely to be stolen, meaning it had a rightful owner.
"I doubt that is the case. If she had stolen something as rare as a subdimensional pocket, word would have surely spread."
In the game, if you caught Yorphang and tried to take her subdimensional pocket or magic thread...
'That's not stolen! It's mine! ...Really!!'
...You would hear lines like that, so there was no need to worry.
Back then, the player could choose to say:
'Well, isn't it just bad luck for the one who got robbed?'
Unfortunately, because Yorphang was currently unconscious, I couldn't deliver that line.
The subdimensional pocket and the magic thread were rewards given to the player who captured Yorphang.
I reached my arm into Yorphang's subdimensional pocket.
Amazingly, despite being a tiny pouch, it was spacious enough for my entire arm to fit inside.
I rummaged around, found the painting, and pulled it out.
Then, I walked over to the wall where the painting had hung and felt around.
After finding the nail, I hung the painting back in its original place.
Both Sierra and I already knew this painting was here. Sierra had mentioned it to me once before when we were passing through this hallway.
Sierra, standing guard by my side, asked me a question.
[Did you know Yorphang would come here?]
"Well, I had information that Yorphang collects artwork... but I didn't expect her to actually show up."
[Is this painting truly that grand...?]
Sierra stroked her chin, examining the painting closely.
The painting depicted the Hero and the members of the Hero's party. They were huddled together as if posing for a group photo.
Now that both the Demon King and the Hero were gone, the world was in a state of balance. However, if either of them appeared, the scales that were barely holding steady would instantly tilt.
The Hero.
The one and only existence capable of opposing the Demon King.
As you progress through the game, you frequently encounter hints that this existence, bound by the cycle of demon slaying, will one day return to the world.
The Hero 'reincarnates.'
In fact, the Hero had already reincarnated.
But she was still far too young.
She was not yet at a level where she could protect herself.
How to protect a young Hero who could not yet properly wield the Holy Sword?
Protecting the reincarnated Hero from the demons was a major pillar of the main story.
It could be considered the crucial key to reaching a happy ending.
In the painting, the blonde man in the center—the Hero, grinning so widely his teeth showed—stood out exceptionally.
I had to protect him—no, her...
I stared at the painting for a moment, then turned around and walked back toward where Yorphang lay.
Now, it was time to clean up.
'First of all, I need to use the subdimensional pocket myself...'
I pulled out a large sack I had prepared beforehand from my robes.
I emptied everything Yorphang had stolen from the Academy this time into the sack.
From the tiny pouch, accessories and other items that looked highly valuable at a glance came pouring out in a heap.
The items Yorphang had stolen in the past were likely stored separately in her secret warehouse. Even a subdimensional pocket had its limits, after all.
Then, I placed the now-heavy sack into one of the unconscious Yorphang's arms.
Since Yorphang's true identity wasn't known anyway, it didn't matter whether she had used a sack or a subdimensional pocket.
However, seeing Yorphang's poor state, I did worry a bit about whether she would be able to properly confess the location of her warehouse.
"Hmm..."
I pulled out the thread hidden in Yorphang's sleeve and examined it.
Sierra had noticed the moment the thread touched the Demon Blade and had alerted me.
I had decided to leave it be, and this was the result.
'Was it the Arachne's Thread?'
It seemed like it would have plenty of uses, so I decided to keep this as well.
...As for explaining how she stole the items, I would leave that task to Yorphang.
[Hoho, robbing a thief... This Lady finds this irony quite amusing.]
Sierra smiled, looking thoroughly satisfied, as if she found this ironic situation highly entertaining.
Having thoroughly stripped Yorphang of her belongings, I grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hallway.
Before long, I ran into Kaliman, who was looking around with a torch in hand.
"Cadet Zeto, what is that behind you...?" Kaliman asked, approaching me.
"I found a petty thief wandering around," I replied, offering a bright, innocent smile.
Knock, knock.
Following the knock, a dignified voice echoed from inside the room.
"Come in."
A woman immediately opened the door and entered.
The room, which appeared to be an office, was quite dark, illuminated only by a single, hastily lit candle.
The woman approached the man who was sitting at his desk, writing something down, and spoke.
"Master, the Phantom Thief Yorphang has been captured."
"Who captured her?"
"It was Cadet Zeto."
"Haha, that name again. It seems he is the one resolving every incident that occurs in the Academy."
The Sage, currently disguised as Hubert Graham, the Chairman of the Academy, chuckled heartily.
Because it was currently the open class period, the Sage was staying in the Chairman's office rather than his usual spot in the deep levels of the Labyrinth.
They had already been aware of the Phantom Thief Yorphang's existence.
The Sage had preferred not to interfere in the Academy's internal affairs as much as possible, so he had intended to leave her be. However, her targeting the Dew of the World Tree had crossed the line he had drawn.
Thus, he had sent Itea to handle the matter quietly.
Although Itea looked like an ordinary maid or secretary on the outside, she was actually a golem containing the absolute essence of the magic engineering the Sage had researched.
Her combat power went without saying.
But it seemed there had been no need for that.
"I returned immediately after witnessing Yorphang lose consciousness the moment she touched Cadet Zeto's Demon Blade. Perhaps it was close to a coincidence this time," Itea reported, bowing her head slightly.
"She must have been corrupted by demonic energy. Coincidence or not, that young man certainly gets involved in many things. First the Sword Saint, then the Saintess... and now, how did he happen to run into the Phantom Thief?" the Sage asked, setting his fountain pen down on the desk.
"Yorphang had tampered with the painting of you and your companions in the main building. Cadet Zeto happened to be nearby."
"The painting...?"
The Sage's brow furrowed at the mention of someone daring to touch the painting of the Hero's party.
To him, it was an incredibly precious painting.
It was a painting he had hung to remember them by after founding Innocence Academy.
Of course, the people in the Academy had no idea that the painting depicted the Hero's party.
Even though there were statues of the Hero's party members inside the Labyrinth, the Sage's aesthetic sense was rather bizarre, resulting in the painting looking completely different from the statues.
"Fortunately, she was captured immediately," Itea added gently, attempting to soothe the Sage's anger.
"Sigh... Regardless, since it occurred within the Academy, it falls under our jurisdiction."
The Sage sighed, and Itea nodded in agreement.
Since Innocence Academy did not belong to any nation, it possessed the authority to handle such matters independently.
"Then... let us send her to Gehenna."
"Understood. I shall convey that to Principal Juliut Klaus."
Just as Itea bowed her head in response, the magic lamp on the ceiling flickered on, brightly illuminating the room.
The Sage looked up at the lamp and spoke.
"It seems it has quickly returned to its rightful place."
"Master, Cadet Zeto will officially be credited with capturing the thief. How do you plan to reward him?" Itea asked, looking at the Sage.
Contrary to their plan of handling it quietly, Cadet Zeto's intervention had turned it into an official matter.
At her question, the Sage let out a low hum.
"Hmm... A reward..."
A cold draft circulated inside the carriage, which lacked even a single window to look outside.
The carriage was rattling along toward Gehenna, the continent's largest maximum-security prison, where only the most heinous criminals were locked away.
It was an infamous prison from which no one had ever successfully escaped—so much so that it was commonly said that death was the only way out of Gehenna.
Inside the carriage, a woman sat shaking her leg in irritation, while opposite her, Yorphang sat with her arms and legs securely bound.
Since the uniform Yorphang had been wearing at the time of her arrest was also stolen property, she was currently wrapped in coarse rags.
The brown-haired woman sitting across from her, Reina, muttered under her breath.
"Why the hell can't I ever win...?"
An Academy official was required to accompany Yorphang during her transfer to Gehenna.
Since it would be troublesome if she escaped or if bandits attacked during the transfer, someone who could ensure maximum security had to step up.
Naturally, the Trio of Black Blood was brought up, and the task was dumped onto the three of them.
Although they were instructors, it was currently the open class period, so they didn't have any classes to teach.
Even so, traveling to Gehenna was a tedious chore for them.
In the end, at Reina's suggestion, they resorted to their long-standing tradition of playing rock-paper-scissors.
'Edward is one thing, but why is Kaliman so uselessly lucky whenever we make these bets...'
Once again, the loser was Reina.
Whenever there was a bet like this, luck rarely favored her.
Reina leaned her head back and stared at the trembling Yorphang in front of her.
The fact that Yorphang was a surprisingly young woman had been quite a shock to Reina as well.
Judging by the tone of the advance notices, she had assumed Yorphang would be a man with a mustache.
'More importantly...'
Just then, Reina's eyes met Yorphang's.
"..."
Yorphang quickly avoided Reina's gaze and hung her head low. Her body was still trembling.
'They said the one who caught her was Zeto.'
It was impressive enough that a blind cadet had captured a notorious phantom thief rather than a common burglar, but had something happened during the capture?
Yorphang looked as though she had been severely tortured. Yet, far from any signs of torture, she didn't have a single scratch on her.
Besides, Reina couldn't even begin to imagine Zeto torturing someone. There didn't seem to be any reason for him to do so, either.
Once Yorphang had regained consciousness and assessed the situation, she had immediately admitted to being the Phantom Thief and even confessed the location of her warehouse.
She hadn't denied a single thing.
The location of the warehouse had been forwarded to the local guards, who immediately launched an investigation, exposing the secret warehouse of the continent-renowned Phantom Thief Yorphang to the world.
However, when asked to explain how she had been captured, Yorphang had suddenly thrown a fit, foaming at the mouth in a state of severe panic.
When they asked Zeto about it, he simply said he had lightly knocked her out.
Furthermore, Priscilla, who had examined Yorphang's condition, firmly stated that there were no issues with her health.
During the examination, Priscilla had noticed the lingering demonic energy inside Yorphang's body, but she chose not to report it.
Ultimately, Edward had dismissed everyone's doubts, saying, "The criminal has been caught, and that is the end of it."
Still personally curious, Reina spoke to the girl sitting across from her.
"Did something happen with Zeto...?"
The moment Zeto's name left Reina's mouth, Yorphang's eyes widened. She covered her ears and began to mutter.
"Purple... purple... purple... purple..."
As Yorphang trembled violently, she could only repeat the incomprehensible word over and over again.
"..."
Watching her, Reina clicked her tongue and closed her eyes.
In a small village on the continent, inside a humble orphanage, there lived a young girl.
While the other children of the orphanage ran around the fields, shouting brightly, the girl seemed completely uninterested in such things.
The woman who ran the orphanage quietly approached her.
"Ray, are you not interested in playing with the others?"
The director was worried that the girl wasn't getting along with her peers.
"...I am not Ray."
The girl replied curtly, crossing her arms and looking at the director with a pout.
"Ah, right. You asked to be called Leon. Ray... I mean, Leon, you must really like the Hero...?"
Leaving the director's gentle voice behind, Ray looked up at the sky.
'I can still feel the resonance of the Holy Sword.'
The girl reaffirmed her existence as she felt the energy of the Holy Sword high in the sky.
She remembered her past life as the Hero Leon.
The Hero Leon had reincarnated.
Into a young girl named Ray, who possessed the same golden hair and crimson eyes as Leon.
However, for a healthy adult male to be turned into a newborn baby had been an utterly agonizing experience.
Now that several years had passed and she had grown into a proper young girl, things were somewhat better.
Though the fact that she was a 'girl' remained a problem.
Ray stood there, deep in thought with a serious expression, completely ignoring the director who had come over to check on her.
For some reason, she still couldn't properly wield the Holy Sword.
She couldn't even summon it.
Did the Holy Sword deem her current body too weak to handle it?
Ray had been secretly sneaking out of the orphanage every night to train, but it seemed she would need a little more time.
"Ray... Do you want to play with me?"
A boy of her age approached her, scratching his head and asking shyly.
He was a boy who had recently been showing interest in Ray—specifically, 'romantic' interest.
"D-Don't look at me like that!" Ray snapped, waving her arm to draw a firm line.
The director gasped, covering her mouth in shock at Ray's blunt behavior.
Ray's personality had become far more cranky and eccentric compared to her days as the ever-smiling Hero Leon.
But for him—no, for her—it was unavoidable.
It was necessary to maintain her dignity as the Hero Leon, and to ensure she didn't lose something vital to her identity as a man.