Meeting
A dark alley.
"Ghk… hhk…"
A man dying without even knowing what had hit him.
"…"
The moment he crumpled and fell, a small figure came into view.
Lily, her entire body swallowed by a cloak.
She crouched before the fallen man's corpse—
and drove her blade in.
This one was trash too…
The man Lily had killed was one of the criminals who had slipped into Drax. After murdering an entire family, he had fled here to escape the Empire's wanted list.
He had gone around bragging about the killings as if they were some kind of achievement. The moment Lily overheard him, she tailed him in secret, confirmed there was no one nearby, and stabbed him without a second's hesitation.
Thuk—
Only after carving countless wounds into the corpse did Lily finally stop. She rose and wiped the blood from her hands.
It isn't time for Unnie to come home yet.
Thinking she could probably kill at least one more, she walked out of the alley.
This was far from the first time Lily had taken a life.
The instant she became able to use the Enchant technique her sister had taught her, she had started killing. Hoping even a little that the number of dangerous people around her sister would shrink, Lily slipped outside every time her sister left the house and hunted criminals through the streets.
Wandering in search of her next target, she happened to overhear two men passing by.
"Haah… I was on a hot streak, too."
"You crazy bastard. Lord Bram summoned us. You think that gambling crap matters right now?"
"I know, I know. I'm just saying it's a shame, that's all."
"Quit whining and move."
Bram.
Fury settled into Lily's amethyst eyes.
A name she could never forget even if she tried. The piece of trash who tormented her sister more than anyone.
If only Bram hadn't existed, her sister would never have had to spend every day drowning in sorrow.
She glanced down at the knife in her hand.
Right now… I can kill him…
The first time she had faced Bram, his sheer presence had crushed her. She had been able to do nothing but tremble.
But now that she could use mana, she was certain it would be different.
I'm going to kill him…
Murderous resolve hardened inside her. Lily pulled her cloak tighter so her face wouldn't show, then quietly began trailing the two men.
She hadn't followed them long before they arrived at an underground gathering place packed with people.
And standing before that crowd was the enormous, hated bulk of a man.
Lily bit down on her lip.
Bram…!
A low hum of power—
Mana flooded into her blade.
Lily lifted her feet from the ground.
After running all kinds of experiments with my test subject—no, with Charlie—I was taking a break alone.
Charlie had left muttering that he never wanted to see me again. He looked so drained his soul might as well have left his body, like a man who had achieved enlightenment through pure suffering.
Did I push him a little too hard?
I had ordered Charlie to make me angry by any means necessary.
He started with light insults, and by the end he was throwing out genuine, heartfelt family-related slurs. When he crossed the line with one of those, I almost actually beat the hell out of him without meaning to.
He tried all sorts of other provocations too, and succeeded quite a few times.
For better or worse, Charlie seemed to have a real talent for pissing people off.
Still, thanks to him, I managed to get a feel for my ability.
It wasn't just raw strength. Every physical capability in my body had skyrocketed.
I took a big bite of the bread I'd bought.
Where did the money for bread come from?
I borrowed it. From Charlie.
When I asked him to lend me money, he stared at me like I was completely insane.
Couldn't be helped. I was planning to keep fighting, and there was no way I was going into it on an empty stomach.
Bram had supposedly flooded the streets with his men looking for me, so running into them shouldn't be hard.
"Alright. Time to go."
I stood, dusted off my hands, stretched, and stepped out of the alley.
Just you wait, Bram.
Okay, so I figured I'd run into them without much trouble—but I didn't think it would be this fast.
"Yeah, this looks like the one."
"Hey, kid. You're gonna have to come with us for a bit."
Apparently a lot more people were looking for me than I'd expected. I hadn't even wandered around that much before I found myself surrounded.
"Where are we going?"
I asked the three men ringing me in.
"Where else? Somewhere nice."
"Kehaha. Nice for us, yeah."
"Don't be so scared, little girl. We're all nice guys."
Honestly. Listen to these lines.
They sounded exactly like the kind of third-rate thugs who spout garbage right before getting their faces rearranged. Then their eyes landed on my face, and ugly little smiles crept across their mouths.
"Yo… damn, this bitch is seriously hot."
"Did the boss say to bring her back in one piece?"
"Nah. Just said bring her. Nothing about that."
"Heh heh heh. Then maybe we can have a little fun first?"
Wow. They really can't go five seconds without being scum. Criminals through and through.
"You'd be better off just taking me there."
I snapped the warning out in an irritated voice. They found that hilarious and burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Feisty, aren't you?"
"Gonna be fun breaking this one."
"Yeah, the rebellious ones always taste better. Haha!"
Talking wasn't going to work.
I pressed my middle finger against my thumb and said,
"I did warn you."
Then I set it against one man's forehead—
"The hell is th—"
WHACK!
I flicked him.
The impact sounded nothing like a forehead flick. It was the kind of noise you'd expect from hitting someone with an iron club.
The man dropped straight to the ground, foam bubbling from his mouth.
"What the fuck—hey!"
"He's… he's dead."
Ah. I hadn't meant to kill him. Still having trouble controlling my strength, I guess.
"You fucking bitch!"
Maybe it was rage over their dead buddy. The laughter from a moment ago was gone, replaced by vicious faces as one of them swung a fist at me.
I slipped the punch easily and set my hand against the other man's jaw.
CRACK!
"Ghk… hhk…"
This one didn't die—just collapsed unconscious.
"Sh… shit!"
The last man left standing tried to back away from me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
I kicked his leg out from under him and he went down hard.
"AAAAAGH!!!! My leg!!"
He clutched his leg and rolled side to side, screaming.
Ugh. So loud. People are staring.
Listening to the murmurs rising around us, I crouched in front of him.
"The activation condition for my ability turned out simpler than I thought."
"W-wait… please, spare me… I'll do whatever you say… just let me live…!"
"Apparently all it takes is genuinely wanting to beat the shit out of someone."
"AAAAAGH!"
Thud—
The last man's eyes rolled back as he went down.
I dusted off my hands once and stood back up.
"Ah. Maybe I should've left one of them conscious."
I still didn't know where I was supposed to go.
Well, if I walked a little farther, more of them would probably come find me on their own.
And my thoughts lined up with reality in a way that was almost creepy.
Before long, another pack of Bram's men showed up. I disciplined all but one of them with forehead flicks. Once they were all down, the survivor stared at me like I was a reaper crawled up out of hell.
I got Bram's location out of the one begging for his life, then put him to sleep so he could rest easy.
"Once I take that place… meat first, maybe. A cold beer wouldn't be bad either. Nah, I'll just have both."
I was grinning to myself over those happy thoughts when I heard someone running toward me.
Alright, Lord, one more incoming.
I pinched my fingers together, ready to flick, and turned toward the sound—
"P-please… help me!!!!"
"Huh?"
What appeared in front of me was nothing like a criminal. A beauty with silver-grey hair and a mature air about her.
The woman who had come sprinting toward me, begging for help, looked like she had been crying. The skin around her eyes was raw red, her lips had gone blue, and she was trembling hard.
"Please… hic… please… help me…"
"…Eh?"
Gone. Lily was gone.
At first Dania thought it was one of Lily's pranks and searched the house, but there was no trace of her anywhere.
Thump—thump—
Her heart hammered. Her mind went white. Her breathing shook.
This was a lawless zone. Nothing good ever happened to a little girl who vanished here. Every kind of horrific possibility flooded her mind.
"No!!! Lily!!!"
Screaming, Dania burst out of the house.
"Haa… hhk… haa…"
The shops she visited often. Bram's stronghold. The dark alleys.
How long had she been running? Her legs wouldn't hold her anymore.
She had torn through the streets like a madwoman searching for any sign of Lily, and found nothing.
"Haa… hic… huuhk… Lily… please…"
You have to be safe. If something happens to you, I…
Her breath came shorter and shorter until it caught in her throat. Overwhelmed by despair, she planted a hand on the ground and nearly collapsed—
—WHACK.
A dull impact rang out nearby.
Dania turned toward the sound.
What met her eyes was a black-haired girl casually sending several grown men flying.
That child…
She matched the information Dania had heard at the tavern.
This was definitely the girl of monstrous strength who had blown Rick's head off.
If it's her…
In a city where no one could be trusted, Dania hadn't been able to ask anyone for help. Not Bram, of course—and not even the people who followed her. Every last one of them was Bram's subordinate, ready to stab her in the back at any moment.
But racing alone through streets this vast was impossible. She desperately needed even one person's help. And in that moment, this unknown girl had appeared.
Clutching at straws, Dania ran to her.
"P-please… help me!!!"
At Dania's desperate cry, the girl turned—and their eyes met.
Skin so pale it was almost white. A face beautiful enough to belong to a fairy. And those two red eyes, gleaming with something ominous, were terrifying—and at the same time held something you couldn't look away from.
A witch. She looked exactly like a witch who could bewitch people at a glance.
"Huh?"
But what came out of the girl's mouth was a cute little voice completely at odds with the atmosphere.
Caught off guard, she just stood there, unable to form a proper response.
"Please… hic… please… help me."
Dania begged the girl for help with everything she had.