Catching a Thief
The situation finally settled down after the sudden appearance of the mysterious newcomers.
Thanks to them, Max—whose life had been extended by a few more minutes—slid slowly down the tree he’d been leaning against and collapsed onto the ground.
His legs seemed to have gone completely limp. He struggled to stand again, but the effort amounted to nothing more than a futile flailing.
Even if he’d still had the strength to run, he wouldn’t have gotten away.
Tap, tap.
“Asie. Get up. Is that him?”
“U, urp…! A, Azie… da….”
“Yeah, Azie.”
So, was that Max guy the one or not?
Canaria poked Asie’s back with her tiny hand and asked again. But Asie could do nothing except keep retching with his face practically planted in the dirt.
…Azie?
At the familiar name near his ear, Max finally managed to lift his head and, upon spotting the faces he knew, widened his eyes in shock.
“How did those bastards get here already…?”
He’d expected pursuit. He just hadn’t expected it to come this fast.
And the guy over there, clutching a tree and retching—wasn’t he the wizard from the workshop next to his?
“Hey, hey! What is this supposed to mean? Didn’t I tell you to keep watch? Why aren’t you managing the underlings properly? You’ve really got no sense, do you? Things are going well for you these days, huh?”
“...Sorry, boss.”
Molden, watching the ridiculous little scene unfold, scolded his subordinate.
But neither Molden nor the subordinate being scolded seemed to take the situation seriously; both were grinning like idiots.
It was true that he’d ordered someone to watch for visitors, and it annoyed him that they’d let outsiders pass without a peep and then failed to report it.
They were probably off somewhere slacking again.
With a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Molden studied the uninvited guests with utterly dead eyes.
A wizard, a woman who looked like a swordswoman, a man who looked irritatingly punchable, and one little kid.
When he saw the girl in the cape, Molden clicked his tongue.
Maybe his subordinates, knowing his tastes, had let her through because of her looks.
Molden shook his head at the thought.
If they’d secretly skimmed her off without telling him, maybe. But his men weren’t the kind of pests who’d do something that thoughtful for him.
So for a girl who looked like she’d been crafted directly by Edel to appear before him—why, that had to be fate…
At least, that was what Molden thought.
“Today’s my lucky day.”
He flashed a grin, exposing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
“Come here, little miss. I’ll give you something tasty.”
Click-click-click.
“...?”
“What? Why aren’t you reacting?”
Molden narrowed his eyes, puzzled, and made a little beckoning motion toward the girl while clicking his tongue as if calling over a dog on the street.
Normally, people showed obvious disgust when he acted like that. But the girl just stared at his face, saying nothing and doing nothing else at all.
A subordinate who was usually sharp enough to be useful sidled over and whispered, “Boss, I don’t think she understands us. Same with when she was talking to the others earlier—she seemed to be using a different language.”
“Really? What, did she come from some kingdom tucked away in the corner of the continent or something?”
Molden’s guess was, surprisingly, sharp.
A flicker of disappointment passed through his mind, but when he kept looking at the girl’s face, the thought came naturally: maybe she really doesn’t understand a word I’m saying.
And then, if even a few petty words could be dyed with his color, a slick, sticky craving began to rise in him.
“Weak.”
“...Is that really something someone says after treating people that brutally?”
“I’m not a man, I’m a woman, so it’s fine.”
“Sure, you crazy bitch.”
“But I told you to leave quickly.”
“How was I supposed to know you’d carry a person like luggage?”
Asie, having recovered a little strength, staggered back to his feet.
He wasn’t quite as bad off as the other two who’d been retching, but even Da-eun’s corpse-pale face had regained some of its original color.
“Gueeeaagh!”
Though not everyone had fully recovered.
While Canaria looked down at the wizard and muttered something along the lines of, This is why wizards are all like that—an utterly swordsman-supremacist remark—Asie approached Molden.
“Molden, leader of the Red Claw.”
“Oho? Looks like I’m getting pretty famous. If even some mild little bookworm knows me, that says a lot.”
“Congratulations, boss!”
“...”
Whether they were a mercenary group or a bandit gang, it was hard to tell.
In practice they were probably worse than bandits, but in any case, Asie looked at them with a complicated expression before speaking.
“I’ll be direct. I have business with the man behind you. So would you kindly move aside?”
“Well now. So you’re here for our client, are you? Mind if I ask what’s going on?”
“...He stole something from my master’s workshop.”
“Your master? Workshop? What’s this—were you holding yourself so stiffly because you thought you were somebody? You’re just an apprentice?”
Molden made no attempt to hide his disappointment. He had already taken a dislike to Asie’s refined looks and tall frame.
For some mere apprentice to look down on him?
A filthy rage born of inferiority swelled in him, but he forced it down.
He couldn’t go losing his temper on a day this blessed.
So Molden deliberately made his tone calm.
“You seem awfully bold, trusting some second-rate wizard and a swordswoman. Sorry, but we’ve been paid to protect our man here.”
“Doesn’t look like you’re protecting him.”
“Oh, come on. It was just a little misunderstanding. We’re all real close, aren’t we?”
“P-please! Help me! If you help me, I’ll make sure the reward is plenty generous…!”
“My, my. You really don’t get me at all.”
Life sure was cold.
Molden shrugged and spun his sword in one hand.
Sunlight struck the saw-like blade and shattered into glittering fragments.
“I’ll make you a deal. Give me the girls and everything you’ve got, and I’ll let you walk away with your lives.”
“That’s a lie, and you know it.”
“...Heh. So you really did study under a nasty temper, huh? You’re pretty quick on the uptake.”
“He does have a fiery temperament.”
“How unfortunate, serving under a master like that. But don’t worry.”
As soon as his words fell, the mercenaries circled around them and drew their weapons.
“You won’t need to worry about it anymore. You know the drill, right?”
“You mean leave the girls alone, sir?”
“Aw, boss, we’ve done this kind of job plenty of times. Why make a fuss now?”
“So you’re choosing the hard road after all.”
“Huh?”
Had fear scrambled his wits?
Molden scratched his head and dismissed Asie’s incomprehensible words as the rambling of a lunatic.
The overly calm look on his face must have been because of that too.
“Hee, heeheehee…! It’s all over now….”
A wizard, a swordswoman, a lowly apprentice with nothing but a decent body, and one little kid.
Compared to them, the other side had far more people—and every one of them was a seasoned killer.
Max, who had allowed himself a moment of hope at the newcomers’ appearance, finally lost his mind and let out a grotesque laugh.
“What are you going to do?”
“What else? Kill them all.”
“K-kill them?”
“They’re trash who do nothing for anyone so long as they’re alive. You should clean up trash before it piles up.”
“I’m not a janitor.”
Canaria drew her sword with a slight grumble.
Only then did Molden and the mercenaries notice that she was carrying a sword, but that still didn’t make her a threat in their eyes.
A tiny girl, and a longsword nearly as tall as she was.
At this rate it was questionable whether she could even lift it properly, let alone swing it. If she were the sort of coward who’d tremble over that, she wouldn’t have made money by hurting others in the first place.
Because her arms were too short, the tip of the sword dragged along the ground, leaving a trail behind her.
How adorable.
He’d take that dangerous little thing away soon enough and spoil her rotten.
Molden smiled with satisfaction.
The Red Claw mercenaries slowly closed the distance.
“Hey, kid. Be a good girl, all right? Put that down and come here.”
“If you keep struggling and get hurt, it’ll sting. Right?”
“...What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t pay it any mind. It’s all nonsense.”
“Thought so.”
“Ka, Canaria, fighting…!”
“Mhm.”
Was it really necessary to be cheering her on like that?
Canaria tilted her head but gladly accepted Da-eun’s support.
At the sight, the mercenaries felt something off.
...What is this?
Why were they all so calm?
The response from the group that had just shoved a little girl toward the jaws of death—if not something even worse—was far too blasé.
Well, whatever.
If any random extras had interfered, things would have become a real pain.
Maybe the girl might even end up with a scratch or two.
Molden stood there at ease, waiting for his subordinates to bring the girl before him.
But one second, then two, then more than ten, and his men were still frozen in the exact same positions beside the girl.
“You bastards….”
Up close, maybe they’d gotten so enchanted by her beauty that they’d been stunned stupid.
Though he thought he understood their feelings, Molden still screamed in fury at his men for daring to look at what was his.
“You damn idiots! Move, already!”
Still, the mercenaries did not move.
At last, with rage boiling over, Molden stepped forward himself.
And then—just as if they’d been waiting for that exact moment—the bodies of the mercenaries who had approached the girl were sliced by a diagonal line.
Fwoosh—!
Thunk!
They toppled like puppets with their strings cut.
The upper and lower halves of their bodies, once one whole, sprawled apart on the ground.
Roll…
“...!”
When Molden’s eyes met one of the bodies that had been abandoned by its soul, he sucked in a breath.
A face fixed with a hateful grin.
A face that had never even imagined it could die—that it had already died.
Maybe it was still alive, after all.
Molden denied reality, but his own body was already backing away, step by careful step.
“W-what did you do!”
The edge in his shouting voice had vanished completely; not a trace of the earlier ease remained.
“Magic! Yes, that’s it! That wizard must have done something…!”
“Th, that—gwaaah! Gak, blergh!”
Molden simply could not imagine that this horror had been created by the tiny girl.
Which was only natural.
Even players like Da-eun, accustomed to endless fiction, were astonished by Canaria’s combat ability.
For Molden, whose worldview was that of a Silian, her actions were not merely absurd—they were impossible.
Meanwhile, Canaria watched his blundering with a slight tilt of her head.
Expert, huh.
Pathetic little scum, and still only that level?
She thought nothing of the possibility of making an Expert seize his neck and collapse from embarrassment.
They looked stronger than his subordinates, but only by that much.
If they all swarmed him together, maybe they still couldn’t win—but why were his men following a guy like this in the first place?
Hmm, no idea.
Well, there must have been a reason.
Thinking that, Canaria swept her eyes over the remaining men.
There were seven left, including the leader.
They were stronger than the ones she’d just cut down, but none of them were any real threat.
To Canaria.
“You there.”
“Y-yeah?”
From behind her, Da-eun, who had been watching in comfortable safety, jumped at Canaria’s sudden call.
W-wait, why is she calling for me all of a sudden?
Da-eun answered before she could stop herself, then asked in a trembling voice as unease crept over her.
“C-Canaria, you’re not going to say something weird, are you? Huh? I believe you’re a kind kid.”
“Mm. Thanks.”
“Heh, heh heh.”
Canaria’s mouth corners lifted ever so slightly.
Just as Da-eun was relaxing at that harmless smile—
“Come here quickly. It’s time for training.”
“...”
Words came that shattered her heart into pieces.
“We already did it today!”
“Training is better the more you do it.”
“Th-that’s... true. It is true, but...!! This is too dangerous! You said they’ll kill people without hesitation if they’re paid enough!”
Da-eun, momentarily robbed of speech by Canaria’s completely reasonable argument, finally came to her senses.
“Don’t worry. I’ll never let you die.”
“...That’s moving and all, but am I supposed to thank you for that?”
“Do whatever you want with it. Just come over here.”
In the end, realizing there was no changing Canaria’s mind, Da-eun trudged forward.
Behind her, Asie’s pitying gaze followed along.
The way she hesitated while drawing her sword showed not the slightest trace of enthusiasm.
“Take back the part about Canaria being kind….”
“...Why?”
“...You really have to ask?”
Canaria tilted her head, looking genuinely puzzled.
The thought of pinching those soft, annoying cheeks began to swell in Da-eun’s mind.
“How is this in any way kind!”
“Mmm….”
If it helped her improve her skills without any threat to her life, wasn’t that kind?
At that utterly indifferent answer, Da-eun couldn’t help herself and grabbed both of Canaria’s cheeks, stretching them long.
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