Coincidence
After that, the man foaming at the mouth was dragged away by the soldiers.
But as the victim was just some slum kids, he wouldn't receive any real punishment.
I was a bit angry at this fact. If this hadn't been a world from a novel, that man would have been finished.
Child molestation is a serious crime.
But in this world, it was the opposite.
Rather than children, it was adults with social status. Rather than the lowly people in the slums, it was nobles or students attending the academy.
The difference in social status.
When I was young, I didn't feel it much because I lived at home, but as time passed and I became a student at the academy, looking around, it felt very strongly.
"Unnie." "Noona."
The little ones who looked like siblings called out to me, bowing their heads and giving thanks.
"Thank you."
They seemed about 10 years old.
Their voices had that childish lisp unique to kids, and I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Had I ever received thanks like this before?
Both had brown hair and brown eyes, looking like real siblings. The bandage on the boy's head made me feel sorry for him.
I gave a kind smile.
"No need to thank me. From now on, be careful so this doesn't happen again."
"Got it~."
From what the kids said, they were working as errand boys at a bar, and apparently, they spilled the drink because they accidentally bumped into the man.
I was angry that they had to suffer such injustice for such a small reason, but I couldn't hit them anyway.
Still, if I hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have seen that smile.
I smiled without realizing it.
"By the way, what's your name?"
At that, the kids beamed with sunny smiles.
"Dennis." "Rumia."
"I'm Therese."
"Then you're Therese unnie."
The girl who introduced herself as Rumia said cheerfully.
And the Rumia who had her back to me extended her hand.
In Rumia's small hand was a single white flower.
"I want to become someone like unnie when I grow up."
"... Yeah."
I took her hand and accepted the flower.
The flower still had some warmth left.
For some reason, my eyes felt a bit red.
Originally, I had a steel-like heart that couldn't feel any emotion from such things, but when did I become so weak?
I waved my hand and saw off the kids.
I gave them a few coins so they could eat something delicious. They could eat well for a few days.
"Has it ended?"
"Yeah."
"That guy was apparently a mercenary from the nearby area. Since the victim was a slum kid, it probably ends with just a warning."
"Calling it a warning after nearly killing someone."
Ophelia said that and looked far away.
In the original novel, Ophelia was a character who properly showed what noblesse oblige was.
Her hobby was patrolling and catching bad people, nothing more to say.
A bit extreme, but...
"Speaking of which, you. It seems my teaching you had some effect."
Ophelia said with a sidelong glance.
"Yeah, really. My body moved on its own. It felt weird."
Confidence comes from effort.
That was a line Ophelia often said when teaching me. Indeed, the man I subdued this time wasn't because I had high mana or talent.
It was the result of my own choice and effort.
While walking beside me, Ophelia opened her mouth as if casually saying light words without any particular feeling.
"I thought I should help you when you were shaking a lot. Really, it was cool."
"Eh..."
"Cool, I said."
Saying praise in such a casual expression is unfair.
I felt a bit, no, very embarrassed and deliberately exaggerated my laugh.
"Hah... haha. It's because I'm really a good person, right?"
With awkward acting, I flipped my hair back and said.
At my words, she let out a small snort.
But she didn't look bad or unpleasant.
After that, we walked in silence for a bit, then found a bench on the street, and she gestured for me to sit, so I sat next to Ophelia.
"What kind of drink do you want?"
Ophelia extended her finger and said.
After seeing the drink shop lineup, without looking closely, I said roughly what I saw.
"Um, then strawberry flavor."
"Strawberry... I got it."
After Ophelia walked to the place, she came back a moment later holding two drinks.
"Here."
"Thank you."
At my words, she sat next to me with some remark, along with "no big deal" or something.
For a while, only the sound of slurping juice from both of us was heard.
How was Ophelia thinking about this slightly awkward atmosphere right now.
"Why were you wandering the streets again? Did you have a fight with your friend?"
"Elly?"
"We share the same dormitory floor, so we see each other often. Today, her face looked gloomy. We slept together."
"... I think it was fine."
"Hmm."
How did she know we slept together?
The gloomy face was because I returned first. I should apologize later.
But if not for that, I wouldn't have had the timing to see Lapis, and I might have gotten caught by the dorm supervisor...
I muttered excuses in my mind while gulping down the juice.
It wasn't as good as what I ate before coming to this world, but the strawberry juice tasted pretty good.
Ophelia also drank the juice. Judging by the color, it seemed like lemon juice. Could one even drink something so sour?
"... Anyway, good work. I'm going now. I have something to do. You should head back to the academy."
Ophelia, having finished her juice, said without hesitation and stood up.
Leaving like this?
I was startled and stood up following Ophelia.
And I followed after Ophelia walking without hesitation. Since my stride was a bit longer and I was taller, it wasn't hard to keep up.
Thud thud. Her footsteps quickened, and accordingly, my steps quickened too.
The twin tails of cute Ophelia swayed.
Why does her mature head style have twin tails? Watching Ophelia, I thought that.
"... Why are you following?"
"You should be the one asking why you're running away."
"... Hah."
At my words, Ophelia stopped and stood still.
Turning her back with a straight, unyielding posture, Ophelia looked at me as if I was a troublesome person.
"Look behind you."
At that, I turned around and saw three unfamiliar men.
Based on the leather and combat-focused clothing similar to the man I subdued earlier.
In their hands were weapons. Not light swords, but axes or hammers, terrifying things.
I instinctively took a step back.
As I took a step back, Ophelia took one step forward.
"They were tailing us. It seemed like they were the companions of that dumb guy, so I wanted to handle it separately... but they followed without noticing."
"..."
It was embarrassing.
I groaned inwardly.
In this atmosphere, if I said anything, it would be like lighting a fuse, so I had no choice but to stay silent.
Ophelia walked towards them with a thud thud, stood within reach of touching them, and opened her mouth.
"Do you have business with us?"
With an expression that was neither provocative nor mocking, but truly indifferent, saying you have no interest in the likes of you, Ophelia said.
At that, the veins bulged on the forehead of the man in front.
The man in front, who seemed a bit taller than Ophelia, opened his heavy mouth.
"... Because of the woman behind you, that guy is now broken at the waist. He said he has to stay in the church for a month."
Saying that, he raised his empty hand and snapped his fingers.
I understood what he was trying to say. Essentially, it meant to pay the medical bills.
At the words "broken at the waist", I exclaimed in surprise.
I was only thinking of subduing him, not breaking his waist.
Unlike me, Ophelia narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, glaring at him.
"... I think it's a cheap price for committing assault."
"Aunty doesn't know the world because she's young. If you act so ignorant of the ways of the world, you'll end up in big trouble, kid."
The man placed his hand without a weapon on Ophelia's shoulder.
Due to the weight of his hand, Ophelia's shoulder tilted slightly to one side.
With his clearly condescending tone, she closed one eye and said.
"Watch your mouth. After all, we've been repeating mistakes, and with you like this, it's not a good mood."
"What..."
At that, the man tried to say something with eyes wide open.
Ophelia grabbed his arm, twisted it once, and pulled it down.
Crack!
Before he could finish screaming, Ophelia stabbed her knee into his side and knocked him to the ground.
Thud!
Dust from the ground spread everywhere.
"Hey! ... You brat!"
One of the men who seemed like a companion rushed at her and swung his fist.
A hard-looking fist, lumpy arm.
It wasn't just form; it was a fast strike that I could see as a mercenary.
But Ophelia quickly ducked like a beast and at the same time punched from below up, an uppercut as it's called in boxing.
With a small bone-cracking sound, the man staggered with stars in his eyes.
Ophelia kicked his head with a high kick in that state.
Boom!
The man hit by the kick collapsed on the ground like a rag.
"... Are you going to do more?"
To the remaining man, she shrugged her shoulders and said.
The man thought she was underestimating him and his face turned red.
After exchanging a few more blows, he looked at the knife on Ophelia's waist, then at the one behind her. Then he lowered his eyes.
While supporting the fallen companions who were staggering, he left.
"Well, in the end, it was just an excuse to take the money."
Despite the stormy moment, her expression was as calm as ever. How many incidents had she experienced to be able to do this?
"... Impressive."
"Compliment accepted."
With a smug expression, she brushed her hair.
'She's really cool.'
Ophelia seemed to know she was good at it.
I let out a bitter smile, and feeling that what she said earlier was bothering me, I asked.
"Speaking of which, Ophelia, you said you made a mistake, what were you doing?"
At that, Ophelia looked at me for a moment.
After staring intently at my eyes, she let out a sigh and muttered as if it was okay to tell.
"... Actually, because there was a disappearance incident in this area, I was investigating. But it was all in vain..."
Hearing Ophelia's words that sounded troubled, I had no choice but to grab her shoulder.
In that troubled state, while worrying how to ask for help, she was trying to investigate the same thing as me.
I said with an excited voice.
"Actually, I was looking for it too! That thing!"
"Really?"
Hearing my words with surprisingly poor vocabulary, she made an odd expression.