There Are Righteous Thieves in This World, After All

Because even in this world, there are such things as righteous thieves.

I chose Ene as the Child of the World Tree.

I raised her through every method I could think of to make her worthy of that title, and I had just shown everyone the result of that work.

'She defeated Asuka.'

It was only a mutual destruction, granted — but she had managed to put the first crack in Asuka's flawless record.

And naturally, the one wedging herself into that crack would be Ene.

Half-baked or not, she was still a child born and raised beneath the World Tree. If she used this incident to build influence and prove herself further, she could absolutely become the Child of the World Tree.

"My, what bold people you are. Murder in the middle of the Academy, no less."

Assuming things wrapped up cleanly, that is.

An elf with long platinum hair came walking slowly toward me. Unlike Asuka, she was fairly tall. Around her, uniformed elves encircled me in full armament, glaring daggers.

Their skill... was above the professors'.

"I trust you're prepared for what comes next?"

"I'm innocent, actually. Murder? Really."

Granted, I had driven Asuka into a corner — but I never intended to kill her. Even if she had died, I was planning to bring her back.

Not that any of that mattered now.

'They came in waiting for an opening.'

If Asuka's position wavered, the one who profited most was Merni.

The title of Child of the World Tree was, by rights, Merni Elfosis's to begin with. She'd been pushed aside when a sister born with talent beyond her own arrived — but after Asuka, the next most likely candidate was always Merni.

Sword God must have known that too. That's why he latched onto her.

Up to this point, it was simply one possible 'route' — the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠obvious story. And yet...

Why was Sword God carrying the Release Sword?

You could assume he'd done what I did — partially unsealed his own restrictions — but lifting those restrictions was never an easy feat. It required understanding the system itself, grasping the relationship between soul and body.

And on top of that, the stabilization update had made the soul's integrity and security tighter than ever. I highly doubted a mere user like Sword God had punched through all of that to smuggle in his own weapon.

Which left one hypothesis: this dungeon's connection to 'Merni'.

This was an Erosion dungeon. It ran on an episodic format, but when we first entered, it had been introduced explicitly as an erosion dungeon.

Three hundred and one years ago, Asuka — the Child of the World Tree — and her older sister Merni vanished at the same time. Even with Asuka missing, the sacred sword remained where it was, and it has never returned to this day.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Two missing people. And an erosion dungeon inside the World Tree itself.'

If the place they disappeared into was this dungeon — and if they were still alive in here, which was why the World Tree judged itself still alive...

"......."

It wasn't certain yet. It might be a wild leap, but the possibility wasn't zero.

"It was a fair duel. I only stepped in because Lady Rana suddenly tried to intervene."

"A fair duel?"

Merni gave a shrug, glanced briefly at Asuka sprawled out behind her, then walked toward the barrier. The barrier — reduced to little more than splinters by now. When she touched it with her hand, it collapsed entirely with a crackling burst.

"You call using that absurd power a fair duel? My little sister ended up like this because she was trying to respect the limits you people set."

"I stayed within those limits."

"Spare me the nonsense, Ria Elfosis. I did some digging, because I expected exactly this."

With a single sweep of her hand, an image etched itself into the empty air like a screen. Information about me.

"Ria Elfosis. Entered Class C, but her magical talent was so exceptional she caught the professors' eyes. She even made wagers with them, I hear. And yet—"

She paused.

"The Ria Elfosis I know can barely handle magic."

Ria Elfosis was the noble daughter of House Elfosis. And it went without saying — Ria's talent lay in archery, not magic. The spells she commanded had always been utterly, unremarkably ordinary.

'Until I became Ria.'

Anyone in her family could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have confirmed that fact.

"Furthermore, after joining her club, she didn't receive instruction — she was the one teaching Ene. Except Ria has never once held a spear in her life."

"......"

"And suspicious things? There's more than one or two."

The room began to murmur. This had all been laid out deliberately, for everyone to see — a picture scripted from the very start.

She, with every eye in the room upon her, glared at me.

"Just who are you?"

"......."

The suspicion was only natural. When I first became Lily, the villagers thought something was off about me too — they just chalked it up to 'adolescence'.

But what Merni was voicing wasn't simple suspicion.

'She's already certain.'

Merni had known from the beginning that I wasn't Ria. And that certainty wouldn't be the kind that came with being a so-called 'NPC'.

'She may genuinely be tied to this dungeon.'

First, I cast a spell.

"There are three options."

"One: we fight it out right here and now."

With those two intervening, the episode dungeon was already a mess. Trouble had been stirred, so there was no way the Academy would run as it should — and once this incident concluded, odds were high the story would barrel toward its ending at breakneck speed.

If it came to that, it might be better to simply crush and suppress everything outright.

However.

"My goal isn't limited to this dungeon."

From the moment I learned Sword God and Merni were meddling with the dungeon system, winning might prove rather difficult. Compared to my current self, Sword God held far more resources — and above all, Merni's abilities were an unknown.

It was all but certain that she was using, or perhaps even managing, part of the dungeon. If it was mere exploitation, fine. But if she truly had control...

'Worst case, the World Tree itself could turn on us at any moment.'

In my current state, I could never defeat the World Tree. At minimum, I'd need to go all-out outside the dungeon — everything except the Crown of Succession and the Sacred Fire.

And more than anything, I needed to find the Asuka of 'the present'.

"Compliance."

I let myself be taken, exactly as they wished. Then, seizing an opening, I'd slip away and head to 'that same room' where the World Tree awaited — the place we'd been sucked into when we entered this dungeon.

"Once I'm there, I'll find out what it all means."

Because there was certainly something inside it.

And the last option was...

"You clearly have a lot on your mind. Out with it, quickly."

Clang!

"Leaving a criminal to wander the Academy is hardly good form."

"A criminal... I can't say that's entirely wrong."

"Just one last question, if I may."

"What is it?"

"Lady Rana? Over there?"

Rana. Sword God turned toward me, the Release Sword still clenched in his grip. He'd been peeling Aisha off of him — she'd been clinging, demanding to know what was going on — and from the look of it, Aisha hadn't been told a word of this plan.

He'd clearly received some kind of orders, though.

"Got something to say?"

"Look behind you."

"Behind me?"

Sword God didn't turn around, keeping his eyes locked on me. The right call. He and I were enemies, and the Sword God of this moment was poised to cut me down at any instant.

Besides, everyone here — Merni included — was wary of me.

Whiiing~

Which is exactly why they had no choice but to miss it.

"What a faithless world this is. I tell people the truth, and still they refuse to believe me."

"...?!"

At some point, Asuka — who had been lying sprawled behind them — was hanging from my hand.

Blink-step, riding the Wind Spirit King's gale. Three hundred and four years ago, the Spirit King of Wind had already been awake, and her wind still blew even within this World Tree's domain. By rights, the restrictions should have made it unusable — but I had brushed those restrictions aside without a second thought.

Merni's eyes went wide, and Sword God's blade had already swept through the space where I'd been standing.

CRACK! The floor split with a bone-deep chill, and I launched myself skyward.

BOOOOM!!!

The ceiling shattered, and light poured in.

"Come to think of it, I'm already an attempted murderer of a princess. One more charge on the pile hardly seemed worth worrying about."

"Ria Elfosis!"

"So she finally shows her true colors!"

"That crazy bitch!"

If the whole world insisted on painting me as a villain and calling me a criminal —

then I would gladly accept the title.

'Because even in this world, there are such things as righteous thieves.'

"I've been wanting to say this for a while now."

Smirk.

"This is mine now. Which means I get to use it however I like."

And with that, waving Asuka's limp arm in the air, I delivered my grand exit line and vanished — leaving the two of them standing there, utterly dumbstruck.

"Just as I thought."

Somewhere within the World Tree.

I checked the messages with a bitter taste in my mouth. The sensation of being hunted by everyone was never a pleasant one — even after experiencing it more than a few times.

"I suppose I just can't live with sins on my conscience. It doesn't sit well with me."

"Time to get moving."

Asuka and Ene, both in my grasp.

At first, I'd intended to make one of these two the Child of the World Tree — but my mind had changed. The moment they came at me this recklessly...

'There's no reason for me to ride the brakes anymore, is there?'

I released every last restriction.

I would become the Child of the World Tree myself.