Chapter 44
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 44
A sharp, piercing gaze fixed on Rosalina.
“Where have you been at this hour?” a man demanded.
Countless other eyes watched her from the darkness of the alley.
“I believe I told you not to wander around on a night this dark. The mood in town is grim enough as it is. Haven’t I told you time and again what happens if you get caught by the night watch?”
“No, no! I—I wasn’t just wandering around! Just listen. I did this for everyone’s sake…”
“For everyone’s sake? You think wasting energy and making yourself hungrier is ‘for everyone’s sake’?”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that! Just listen to me…!”
“…This is no good. You still haven’t grasped reality. It’s only been two weeks since you came here. If you keep acting on your own like this—”
“Don’t push her so hard.”
A sudden, deep voice cut through their argument.
Rosalina and the man scolding her turned at the same time, bowing their heads instantly.
“…Captain. You were awake?” the man with the gravelly voice asked.
From the shadows of the back alley, the man addressed as Captain emerged.
He certainly had the presence of a leader. His sturdy build set him apart from the other residents of the alley, and his handsome face seemed to shine even in these filthy surroundings. With his brown hair swept back, a well-groomed beard, and a gentlemanly air, he looked the part.
The only flaw was the grime that came from being unable to wash properly. Had he been clean and dressed in fine clothes, he wouldn’t have looked out of place at a noble’s banquet.
Instead of answering, the Captain turned his gaze to Rosalina. Their eyes met. Rosalina swallowed hard.
“A thief shouldn’t be afraid of the night. That’s nothing to scold her for.”
At the sound of that low, weighty voice, the man who had been berating Rosalina quietly stepped back.
“C-Captain.”
“However, wandering off without a word was a mistake. Things are tense right now. Think about how your reckless actions might affect others before you move, Rosalina. This isn’t the home you used to have, where you were always kept warm and safe.”
Rosalina didn’t answer. She simply hung her head, her expression taut.
Beads of sweat dripped through her messy pink hair. The Captain stopped his reprimand and changed the subject.
“Fine. Let’s hear what you were saying. Rosalina. You said it was ‘for everyone’s sake,’ didn’t you? What did you do?”
“Oh, right! Captain! Look at this.”
Only then did Rosalina’s expression relax, breaking into a smile. She quickly unwrapped the bundle she had been carrying over her shoulder. She set it on the ground—a set of black clothes with the sleeves tied together to serve as a makeshift bag.
Inside the clothes were two stark white bones.
“Did you steal these?”
“Yeah, Captain. I felt like I needed to pull my own weight.”
“…And this is all?”
“I thought there’d be a lot more. I searched everywhere, but this was it. There wasn’t a speck of food, and nothing else looked valuable.”
“There’s no way there’d be food left in this territory.”
As if uninterested in Rosalina’s desperate excuses, the Captain picked up the bones without much reaction.
One minute passed, then two. The silence drew the other alley residents out from the shadows.
By the time they had gathered one by one, the Captain had been staring at the bones for a long while. Rosalina watched him nervously from the corner of her eye.
His gaze was one of bewilderment, as if he were seeing something completely unexpected.
Is it something amazing? Seeing the Captain’s reaction, Rosalina regained her confidence and straightened her back.
Only after a long silence did the Captain finally question her. His voice, already deep, dropped another octave, filling the midnight alley.
“Where… did you get these?”
“Those? I got them from the tavern on the main road—the, uh, ‘Evergreen Shelter’! I took them from a really nice-looking room! They were tucked away deep in a drawer, and the bones are so clean… I thought they might be some kind of relic. They look like they’d be worth a lot…”
“Rosalina.”
The Captain’s low murmur cut off her excited chatter.
“Do you even know what you brought back?”
“Huh? They’re bones. I don’t know what kind, but…”
“They’re human ribs.”
“What?”
“Everything you brought back… they’re all human ribs.”
In an instant, the curiosity in everyone’s eyes shifted to shock, then to hostility.
A cold wind blew through the alley. In the heavy silence, where even the sound of someone swallowing was audible, the distant hoot of an owl rang out with unnerving clarity.
It felt as if time had stopped.
A panicked Rosalina took a step back, her face deathly pale. It took several seconds before she could stammer out an explanation.
“W-Wait a minute. Human bones? I didn’t know! I really didn’t know!”
“Are you… sure you actually went to that tavern?”
At the question from another resident watching nearby, Rosalina took another step back.
Whispers erupted all around her.
Even though they were beggars living in the back alleys, and even though they survived by stealing from others, there was one unwritten rule they all lived by.
It had been broken occasionally during more lawless times, but ever since the current Captain took over, the rule had been strictly enforced. Most of their regulations were meant to preserve at least a shred of their humanity.
One of those was the taboo against grave robbing.
“Wait! No!”
Rosalina was horrified, realizing what everyone was thinking.
As if her panic confirmed their suspicions, the alley residents slowly began to stand. She heard the rustle of movement behind her. Several people were blocking her escape.
Rosalina’s heart hammered against her ribs. With an expression that looked ready to burst into tears, she sent a pleading look toward the Captain.
The Captain remained lost in thought. Finally, he raised his head and looked at her.
“Cap… Captain?”
“…It couldn’t have been grave robbing.”
At the Captain’s words, Rosalina collapsed to the ground as if the strength had been drained from her legs.
“If she had robbed a grave, she wouldn’t have shown this off so proudly, and the bones wouldn’t be this clean. These are either the product of someone’s sick hobby or bones used for magic… perhaps they really are relics.”
“Is there really anyone with a hobby sick enough to collect human ribs?” one of the residents asked hesitantly.
The Captain answered while carefully examining the bones.
“The world is full of trash who amputate their slaves’ limbs for decoration. You never know. They might not be ‘human bones,’ but the ‘bones of someone who used to be human.’”
For instance, a Necromancer studying Necromancy often used parts of a corpse as reagents or catalysts for spells. Since Rosalina had only brought two ribs, it was more likely something like that.
Above all, the Captain was certain of one thing: Rosalina had neither the reason nor the courage to rob a grave. Thinking about it rationally, the suspicion was almost laughable.
“Rosalina, you said you got these from the ‘Evergreen Shelter,’ right?”
“Y-Yes, Captain.”
“…Then I’m telling everyone here who’s awake. This is important, so listen well. From now on, no one is to go near the Evergreen Shelter. Don’t even think about loitering around there. This isn’t advice; it’s an order.”
A collective gulp rippled through the crowd.
“Also, if you see anyone acting suspicious, do not approach them. Someone might be wandering our territory looking for these items. If anyone asks about them, deny everything. Do not, under any circumstances, let on that you know anything.”
Those who studied Necromancy and Black Magic were dangerous. And if the person looking for the bones wasn’t a Necromancer, that might be even more dangerous.
“Rosalina, don’t ever do something this reckless again.”
Rosalina nodded vigorously.
The hostile atmosphere dissipated instantly. With that, everyone who had been focused on Rosalina and the Captain returned to their spots to lie down. Only a few people, including the man with the gravelly voice, remained.
“So she worked hard, but there’s no real profit.”
“I’m… I’m sorry, Captain. Sorry, Toth.”
The man with the gravelly voice, Toth, simply turned his head away without a word.
The Captain picked up the black clothes Rosalina had used as a bundle.
“This is actually a decent piece of clothing. Once the sun is up and everyone is awake, I’ll give it to whoever needs it most.”
It wasn’t clean, and there were signs of mending here and there, but it wasn’t so worn out that it couldn’t be worn. In fact, the fabric was of a quality that could be called top-tier. Having developed an eye for luxury goods in the past, the Captain was sure of it.
…This is suspicious as hell.
At a glance, it looked like a shabby robe a beggar might wear, but the weave was incredibly sturdy. He’d need a proper appraisal to be sure, but there was a high probability it was enchanted.
And that wasn’t the only suspicious thing. As he held the garment, the Captain’s brow furrowed.
It was heavy. Not incredibly so, but it had a weight to it that was unusual for clothing made of this fabric.
—There was something in the pocket.
The Captain glanced at Rosalina again. When their eyes met, she looked tense, clearly unaware of what his gaze meant.
She must have been in a frenzy. She wouldn’t have checked the pockets. The Captain cut his thoughts short and reached inside.
As expected, his hand closed around something heavy, and he pulled it out.
What emerged was a neatly folded piece of paper.
It looked like something was written on it, but it was too dark to read. Frowning, the Captain unfolded the paper. There was something inside it as well.
Gold coins.
And they were one-ounce coins. Not just one, but five.
“…They’re not fakes, either.”
As if entranced by the gold shimmering faintly in the moonlight, the Captain muttered to himself.
He swallowed hard. These were gold coins, a denomination far too valuable for commoners to use and thus rarely seen in circulation. This was an amount of money a commoner would have to work themselves to the bone for a month to earn. What commoner would want a coin that brought more danger than convenience?
And there were five ounces of them.
The thought that followed was one of dread. What kind of people carried human ribs on their journey and left gold coins like this in their pockets as if they were nothing?
The Captain turned toward Rosalina, but her gaze was fixed entirely on the gold. A girl like her couldn’t possibly know any secrets.
“Rosalina, I’ll explain the details later. Logically, no ordinary guest would have items like these. For now, I’ll be taking charge of the clothes, the bones, and the gold.”
“Huh? B-But, Captain?”
“Trust me.”
“…Okay, I understand.”
Rosalina nodded. She felt uneasy about handing over the gold found in the clothes she’d brought, but the Captain was the most trustworthy person here.
After a moment of thought, the Captain hurried to put the gold back in the pocket. He was just about to gather the clothes and bones when a new shadow fell over the dark space.
“Man, it was a real pain in the ass finding this place. But it looks like we’re in the right spot, Boss. Isn’t that your robe?”
“Ah… found it. Thank goodness…”
“What a relief. My precious, beautiful things are there too.”
A rather cheerful voice echoed through the dark alley. It didn’t belong to any of the residents, nor was it a voice anyone there had ever heard. As if they had no consideration for the people sleeping nearby, the voice was loud and clear.
Everyone who was awake—and those who had just been woken up—raised their heads.
A man in shabby attire and an armored knight.
Two beings, appearing out of nowhere, stood tall before the Captain and Rosalina.
“Now then. Everyone, eyes on us. You’re probably wondering who we are… but I don’t even need to ask. Wow, look at those faces. I can see the guilt written all over them. Saves us the trouble of finding the culprit.”
The knight chuckled.
“Listen up, you damn thieves. We’re here to take back everything you stole.”
Phase 3
Swallow and Patrick had to circle halfway around the territory before they finally arrived here in the back alleys.
When they first realized they’d been robbed, they were at a total loss. Neither Swallow nor Patrick had any skills for tracking down a thief. A special constitution for following traces, or tracking magic to find an object’s location—such things were foreign concepts to them.
They were, after all, an Ancient Monster and a Death Knight. They were monsters who knew how to hit and break things, and not much else.
So, they did it the old-fashioned way—on foot.