Stealing Would Be Easy Too
The path down to the Light-Eating Stones was, simply put, not easy.
Of course, Oskar’s mine was cutting-edge enough to make full use of magical tools, so it wasn’t a matter of just climbing down ladders. They rode cages—the ancestors of elevators—and even transferred midway, descending vertically the entire way.
The cages, however, had no handles or railings. Every descent meant overcoming the risk of slamming into the walls and the unsteady lurch of the floor. The fear that the rope might snap and send them plummeting hundreds of meters was only natural.
“You okay?”
“Of course. This is nothing.”
Veronica said it as she sidled a little closer to me. The breath she exhaled inside the magical tool she wore over her face—the oxygen mask—seemed rougher than before. Oskar and I were wearing them too, of course.
Once he stepped out of the cage, Oskar strode ahead as if nothing were the matter and led the way.
“You’ve been here yourself, then?”
“Of course I have. All of this is my property—naturally I’ve come down here on my own two feet any number of times. Who checks the money piled in the vault more than anyone else? The owner, that’s who.”
When he put it that way it sounded reasonable enough, though most people would never take a road this dangerous.
“When we first introduced the cages, I was the very first one to ride them. Back then there were only two ropes.”
Taking the lead in everything was very much like Oskar—but did this man place no value on his life? Ah. He’d already said he was looking for a place to die.
“Hahaha! Once I rode it, the miners trusted it and rode too. I only went first because it looked fun, but nobody ever knew that! Ah—here we are.”
Oskar stopped in his tracks. When I halted behind him, Veronica, who had been stuck right against my back the whole way, bumped her head into me with a soft thump.
“Ow.”
She rubbed her forehead and peered past my shoulder at the vein. Where Oskar pointed, raw Light-Eating Stone was embedded in the rock wall—pitch-black ore.
“From here on, we can’t approach.”
Oskar indicated the line drawn across the floor and wall in what looked like yellow chalk, then brought that same finger to the mask on his face.
“The mana coming from these oxygen masks will turn us transparent.”
“So from here you have to take the masks off and dig with pickaxes alone.”
“Exactly. But using strength without a magical tool this deep underground is no different from holding your breath and sprinting flat-out. That’s why even veteran miners have to risk their lives.”
I folded my arms and glanced sideways at Veronica. She seemed to understand; she stretched out her right arm. Closing her eyes for a moment of concentration—
Crack!
Fissures spiderwebbed around the ore clinging to the wall.
“Oh… oh…!”
Just as Oskar began to grow excited—
Crunch!
The ore dropped free as cleanly as pulling a radish from the earth.
“I-it really works!”
Even through the mask, Oskar’s thrilled voice rang clear. Veronica, for her part, treated it as nothing special; she loaded the freed ore onto a mine cart. Advancing deeper into the vein, she stripped every last piece of ore with the casual ease of a stroll.
“Incredible. Truly incredible, Miss Veronica!”
Oskar cried out in admiration at the human mining machine.
“From this point on I couldn’t possibly put the miners to work—and yet you finished it all in one go…”
Not only Oskar; the miners who had followed us stared at the amount loaded on the cart and were struck dumb with shock.
“My thanks, Miss Veronica. And you as well. To think you were keeping such a talent with you.”
He clapped my shoulder and grinned. Talent or not, she hadn’t originally been meant for use as a mining machine.
A little later we came back up to the surface and took a short rest. The open sky and clean air above ground were sweeter than I had expected.
“I’m insanely talented, right?”
“Not just talented—without you it simply couldn’t be done.”
“If I tank my university grades, maybe I’ll just come work here…”
“How about getting accepted first before you talk.”
“My career counselor said I’d make it, you know. What do you take me for?”
“A problem student on suspension.”
“Kh…!”
Veronica bit her lower lip in frustration.
“Come to think of it—if you can move jewels like that, wouldn’t stealing be simple too?”
“Is that the only direction your brain ever turns? No wonder people call you a thug.”
“Just curiosity.”
“To cut to the chase: yes, I could. Steal, too.”
“You answered so fast I get the feeling you’ve done it before.”
“I have not!”
Veronica shouted at the top of her lungs. As I’d noted before, the moments when she got heated and yelled were oddly satisfying. It was fun to poke at her.
“You mean you haven’t thought about it, or you haven’t actually done it?”
“Both! I don’t do that kind of thing!”
“But you gamble?”
“That was… a c-competition.”
Give me a break. Is a contest whose winner is obvious still a contest? No one could have matched Veronica’s sleight of hand back then. These days the Academy has Laward, former pickpocket-championship prospect, so it might make for a decent match—but she won’t be gambling again.
“Anyway, I can, but I don’t.”
“Gamble?”
“…Steal. Even if I did, the spirit wouldn’t recognize it.”
“If the spirit had recognized stolen money as money, the outcome might have been different.”
“I told you no…!”
While she was still in the middle of getting angry, Oskar returned.
“Miss Veronica, could you manage the other side as well?”
“Huh? Ah… yes.”
She looked reluctant, so I smoothly cut in.
“It’s nothing urgent—let’s continue tomorrow.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m not going anywhere. I still have something to collect from Your Grace.”
“Haha, it would have been nicer if you’d stopped before that last part.”
“I’ll come again tomorrow.”
“Well, if you say so, I understand. Borrow the mansion baths before you go. The public bathhouses won’t take miners.”
“We’re not miners, though…”
“The state you’re in, you might as well be. Hahaha!”
Oskar laughed heartily—this, from a man who looked exactly the same.
“…We’ll gratefully accept the kindness.”
“Good. Come along. You’ve done me a great service today.”
Oskar climbed into the carriage first and waited for Veronica and me to board.
“Why’d you say we’d continue tomorrow? I can still do more.”
“Could you do it without me?”
“Obviously. In the first place…”
“Then who was that person trembling behind my back?”
I pointed a finger at the ground.
“Weren’t you afraid of going down?”
“Th-that’s…”
The earlier darkness must have come back to her; Veronica’s eyes half-closed.
“Looked to me like you couldn’t do it without me.”
“Being scared is… true. But it doesn’t have to be you. Your back or someone else’s—as long as it blocks the front, who cares? You’re just tired and turned it down, right?”
“Your Grace. Veronica says she can still—”
“Ah, I get it!”
She urgently yanked on my collar.
“I-I said I get it…”
“What?”
“I get it, so… keep… coming with me…”
You should have just said so from the start.
“There was a problem with the water system.”
The moment we returned to the mansion, Oskar spoke.
“We can’t refill the water easily. The two of you will have to use the same place.”
“Excuse me…?”
You’ve got to be kidding me, old man. Who gave you the right to say that so calmly?
“A water system that has never once broken just happens to act up today, doesn’t it? Ohoho.”
I had forgotten again. This damned dating-sim game was shoving another cliché-packed development at me. I’m not even the protagonist—why is this happening?
“Never had a problem before, so maybe that’s why it broke now. Ohoho.”
Oskar had started laughing like some NPC and was waving us in as if it were nothing; that especially pissed me off.
“In that case we’ll wash somewhere else.”
“I’m sorry for my guests, but my private baths…”
“I never dared hope for those. We’ll simply find a bathhouse outside.”
“I already told you. Bathhouses don’t take miners. Look at yourselves. You think a bathhouse owner would be happy to see you?”
This insane cliché. It had sealed every escape route and then charged full speed ahead. It had gone berserk.
“Sorry, Veronica. You’re going to have to give up on washing.”
“Wh-why me…! If anyone needs to wash, it’s me!”
“One day won’t kill you. Just don’t come near me, of course.”
“This wasn’t a normal day! We went all the way to the bottom of the mine!”
She tried to charge past me like a striker, but I caught her by the collar.
“Ghk…! Let go!”
“Out of the way.”
I flung her aside and sprinted for the bathhouse; she immediately clung to my waist.
“No! No no no! I’m washing first!”
“If you wash first the water gets filthy!”
“It’s the same if you wash first!”
“Then I’ll just drag you in like this.”
And so the game of chicken began.
“H-hmph. Go ahead. I’m confident, you know?”
“Fine. Hold on tight. We’re almost at the door.”
“You should drop the pride and yield already. Anyone can see I’ve got a firm, well-proportioned figure, so it doesn’t matter to me—”
Is that so. She meant you could tell even through work clothes in the bath. Remarkable confidence. Or did she actually plan to undress in front of me? I had no such intention.
“M-maybe you’re not? You could be a total flop, right?”
“Impossible. I’m excellent enough that even Kairon acknowledged me.”
“Who’s that…? And excellent at what…?”
“Last chance. One more step and we’re right in front. How about it, Veronica? Quit now and I’ll forgive you.”
“No? I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Bang!
I kicked the bathhouse door open. Hot bathwater must have been prepared already; a wave of steamy mist slammed into my face.
Ah.
Veronica or no Veronica, the urge to dive straight into the tub surged up. I’d thought going in with clothes on would be unpleasant, but that no longer mattered.
“W-wait. Are you actually going in?”
“Too late.”
“Hwaaaaah!”
Still dangling her, I leapt straight into the bath. The hot water stripped away dirt and dust in an instant. Ignoring the girl I’d dragged all the way in, I scrubbed myself furiously.
A little later I felt a gaze and looked back. She was glaring at me with only half her face above the water.
Blub blub blub.
When she spoke underwater, all I heard was bubbling.
“What are you saying.”
“…Are you crazy?! What do you do if you actually come in?!”
“You should have given up, then.”
“I thought… you would give up…”
She said that and sank back under until only her eyes showed. The work clothes had stains, but they were basically white, so her shoulders showed through blatantly. In truth it was more than just the shoulders. There was no convenient special effect like the pure white steam that cleverly hides things in comics.
“What are you staring at like that…”
“I’m looking at the see-through parts.”
“Why would you just admit that?!”
Splash!
She brought her arm down and a jet of water erupted.
“Hey, it got in my mouth. This water’s dirty.”
“You get out first.”
“Why? I’m in no hurry to leave this warm-and-cool place.”
“What does ‘warm-and-cool’ even mean?”
“Korean.”
“So what does that mean…”
“There’s a thing you people don’t know. Anyway, right now is perfect. If the water were clean I’d dive under.”
“D-don’t!”
At the mention of diving she yanked her top down between her legs and yelled. Not that it mattered—the water had already clouded, so you couldn’t see well underneath. Still, pulling the clothes down like that stretched the top and made other things visible…
“I was just saying I wouldn’t. You came in of your own free will and now you’re making a fuss.”
“I didn’t want it to go this far!”
“Seems I looked too soft to you.”
“A-anyway, you get out first. If I get out first… everything… shows…”
“I just don’t look, right?”
“As if you wouldn’t.”
“Fine. Rather than be doubted like that, I’ll leave first. But then my side will be visible.”
“I absolutely won’t look. Absolutely. No way that happens.”
She covered her eyes with her hands and even turned her head. Hmm. If she was going that far, I ought to get out quickly.
That was how our first bath ended.
It's Because of the Heat Anyway
I look like a real idiot.
How had it come to this? Veronica let out a deep breath, as if releasing the regret welling up inside her. Through her fingers she watched Karma’s retreating back as he walked away in clothes still dripping water.
Finding the work-jacket stuck to his body annoying, he stripped it off, stood before the water channel, and braced a hand against the wall. He tried the faucet, but no water came.
“What are you doing? It’s broken, remember?”
“Ah. Right.”
Karma scooped water from the basket to pour over himself, then glanced back at her.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t look?”
“Th-that’s because you’re doing something stupid…!”
Whip!
Veronica snapped her head away again. She had already taken in the sight of his body, though.
Karma clearly never neglected training; he was solidly muscled. On top of that he was tall with a large frame, so seen from behind he looked even bigger than usual.
Not a single scar.
As the owner of the pleasure quarter, as Karma, she had expected knife wounds or tattoos, yet he simply flaunted smooth skin.
Is he just oblivious or what? As long as he’s fine by himself, that’s all that matters?
Whether from the heat rising off the bath or something else, Veronica’s cheeks flushed. She lowered her gaze and lightly massaged the legs faintly visible beneath the water.
To think I’d end up working in a coal mine.
She pressed her fingers into the legs that had suffered all day and sank into thought. When Karma had dragged her all the way to the south she had wondered what he was thinking—then they had run into the mysterious connection that was Grand Duke Oskar. Karma had even brazenly demanded jewels and minerals from that feudal lord.
And the reason, absurdly enough, had been for Veronica’s sake. So she could handle gems she had never touched before. So she could earn money.
Why is he so good to me? For a thug.
When she peeked again, Karma was carefully rationing the hot water in the basket. Not only that—he had hidden her origins in front of Grand Duke Oskar. He had even noticed she was afraid of going down into the mine and postponed the schedule.
Why is he so thoughtful? For a thug.
She swirled the innocent bathwater and felt her face grow even hotter. Not knowing Karma’s purpose only made the confusion worse. Their first meeting had been the worst, after all. Why help her? There was no benefit he could expect.
The thought brought her sponsor to mind.
Daywin Hasgard.
Goodwill was simply goodwill. He asked for nothing in return.
In that respect the two men were far too similar.
It’s so arrogant.
Karma just happened to act like Daywin. Theft, assassination—looking at everything she had seen of Karma’s words, deeds, and reputation, the two should have had nothing in common. Even if Karma, like that faceless sponsor, simply wanted to help her, she could never look at the two men with the same feelings.
She sincerely respected Daywin.
Karma, on the other hand—
Huh?
Veronica’s pupils froze.
Why did I trust that man enough to come all the way here in the first place…
“Veronica.”
“Huh? Wh-what?”
“I’m leaving first. Getting ready will take a while, so wash at your leisure.”
“Ready? Ready for what?”
Karma gave no answer and simply left the bathhouse on his own.
“What the…”
Once she confirmed he was gone, Veronica climbed out of the tub. She meant to wash thoroughly and leisurely as he had said, when—
Come to think of it, I don’t have a change of clothes.
Realizing that, she sank to the floor with a blank face. While she was fretting over how to get past yet another obstacle, a knock sounded.
“Hello, Miss Veronica.”
A woman’s voice. One of Oskar’s maids, apparently.
“I’ve brought a change of clothes; I’ll leave them by the door.”
“Ah, yes… thank you.”
That ray-of-light voice revived her enough to stand. A change of clothes probably meant a servant’s uniform on temporary loan. She hadn’t expected to end up in a maid outfit all the way out here, but she decided to be grateful for whatever was available and opened the door.
Oh.
The neatly folded clothes were not a maid uniform but a dress that looked as if it belonged in a high-end boutique. A short, comfortable-looking dress and a soft outer coat as well. Different from the long dress she had worn here, and exactly the sort of clothes she liked.
I never thought they’d go this far.
Pleased at receiving clothes she actually wanted, she smiled bashfully and changed. As she awkwardly adjusted the unfamiliar outfit and stepped out into the corridor, the waiting maid offered a graceful bow.
“Do the clothes suit your taste?”
“Yes, they’re exactly the feeling I’ve always wanted to wear… I really like them. Thank you for preparing something so pretty.”
“Heehee, is that so?”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because we didn’t prepare them. The guest purchased them in a great hurry.”
The guest…
That’s Karma.
“W-wait a second. You’re saying that man bought clothes for me?”
“Of course. He brought them back in the blink of an eye.”
“There were… underthings too, though?”
“Yes, I saw those as well. Ah, do they not fit? Well, he wouldn’t know the details that precisely.”
The size was… scarily perfect.
“Ugh…”
“He seems like a truly kind person.”
“…Yes.”
Veronica lowered her still-hot face, the heat not yet gone. She was moved by Karma’s attentiveness. At the same time she found it contemptible how well he chose women’s clothes and how, after only a glance, he had even guessed her size—behavior that reeked of experience.
He’s so damn arrogant… for a thug…
With those complicated feelings she trudged after the maid.