26. A Lucky Day
26. A Lucky Day
Stella Verheigen.
Today her mood felt like it could soar into the sky. It was because the lottery ticket she'd bought a little while ago had won third place.
A whopping five million sel.
With this money, at the academy she'd be starting in two days, she could buy lunch—a proper lunch, not whole-wheat bread—a thousand times over!
Of course, since she'd have to eat dinner too, that would drop to five hundred times. But if she was a little frugal and bought diet meals, it could last longer than that.
The silver lining was that she'd gotten in as second place.
No—it was thanks to Eliarnes Eustetia that she'd been able to get special admission as second place, which meant she received a scholarship and a dignity-maintenance allowance.
Except for the scholarship, she had already spent it all.
A new staff. And no fewer than three necklace-type Artifacts enchanted with defensive magic.
It wasn't a waste.
To go to the Demon World during vacation, she needed to prepare.
This was part of that preparation.
Actually, she'd meant to buy just one Artifact, but when they said buying two would get her one more, she'd snapped them up on the spot.
But! It was definitely not a loss.
This shield Artifact could block even 5th Circle magic, so for something worth her life, the price was incredibly cheap.
"Heh, heh heh."
Having finished rationalizing, Stella smiled softly and hummed a tune.
Without knowing that bracelet was defective.
Light steps. The hem of her hood swayed gently.
Her steps led her to a place with few people.
The back alleys of the Imperial Capital. A place where all sorts of backdoor deals and black markets flourished.
But these back alleys were familiar to Stella.
For someone with no money, there was no better place. It was where she could buy all kinds of magic ingredients (rip-offs), Artifacts (defective), and even disposable scrolls (cheap junk) at low prices, so Stella had no reason not to come.
But today's purpose was different from usual.
This lottery ticket. Since Stella was still a minor, she couldn't claim the prize money.
So she was on her way to ask the auntie (swindler) she was closest to in the back alleys to claim it for her.
"Still... I should give her a cut, right?"
The auntie's name changed all the time, but she'd always been kind to Stella, so Stella figured she should set aside a commission.
10%—no, a little more, 15%?
Yeah. That should be enough.
A smile spread across Stella's face.
And then the smile disappeared again.
She felt like she should only give 10%.
Eliarnes. The macarons she'd received from that girl alone numbered a whopping eight. And they were top-grade macarons. The price of a single macaron could buy a whole meal.
Anyway, since she'd eaten them, she had to pay her back.
Her budget was already tight, but she didn't go into debt. Since that was Stella's belief, she thought she had to repay the macarons.
Eight of them, so roughly sixty thousand sel.
God. She already had to spend enough money for twelve meals.
"That's insane... insane, insane. How could anyone eat something like that...?"
Her body trembled, but that trembling was because she remembered the sweetness of the macarons.
"They were... delicious, though. The way they melt in your mouth..."
Gulp—
Maybe because Eliarnes had kept insisting they were fake.
Or maybe because she'd seen her beat a Basilisk to death with that tiny body.
Now, thinking of the macaron she'd eaten in that terrifying moment, inside the Labyrinth where she could no longer even tell what was real or fake, her mouth began to water.
Still, she had five million sel. No, 4.44 million sel. Couldn't she buy just one with her own money?
Yeah. She could eat one. Just one.
Stella nodded and looked once more at the lottery ticket she was carefully holding to her chest.
It was certain. Five million sel.
"Heehee."
That day really was a lucky day.
Wearing a smile that seemed like it might melt away, she stopped in front of the house of the auntie who would act on her behalf.
"...Ngh!"
She felt as if a blade had been pressed against the back of her neck. She immediately deployed her Mana. She carefully tucked the lottery ticket into her pocket and took out the staff she had just bought.
At that moment, —fsssh! The sound of ice crystals gathering above her head reached her. Judging by the flow of Mana, it was 4th Circle. There was no need to block it.
Ice crystals. Icicles. A spike.
A spike dyed black shot toward Stella's thigh.
Trusting her defensive Artifact, Stella immediately prepared Offensive Magic. But that was a mistake.
—Clang! The barrier summoned by the Artifact shattered. It should have been only 4th Circle at best—why? Before she could resolve that question.
Thud—
"Kyah...!"
The spike pierced through her thigh.
Stella's body tilted. Drops of blood scattered. Flowed out. But the blood didn't touch the ground. It rose into the air and gathered to one side.
Before long, when her body had completely collapsed.
She saw her blood gathering at the end of the alley. What it formed was a bow.
Black Magic.
She hurriedly tried to deploy defensive magic.
Silent Casting. Mental calculation.
It wouldn't work.
Her head spun. Her thoughts wouldn't connect. Her body trembled from the terrible pain. The flowing blood didn't scatter on the ground but kept rising into the sky, and that blood became an arrow.
One, two, three, four.
A total of four arrows formed. They were nocked on the bow. The bowstring drew back, and the arrows were loosed.
At the same time.
"What's with today? Why the hell is everything blowing up?"
Cherry blossoms. Two streams of cherry blossoms. Roughly rippling pink hair blocked her path.
A pure-white hand held the four arrows.
Pink eyes curved gracefully, reflecting her own pale, frightened face.
A smile that bloomed extravagantly in those eyes.
"Hey, you. I told you not to go around doing bad things."
Small, cute lips with something smeared on them parted.
"When an adult tells you something, you should listen. Tsk."
Speaking with strawberry and bits of sugar smeared around her mouth, the girl held in her other hand a corpse whose throat had been pierced through by a wooden skewer.
*****
The red arrow in my hand disappeared. What remained was sticky blood.
I lowered my gaze. Stella was looking up at me with a tear-soaked face, and a black spike was lodged in her white thigh.
Black Magic.
And people still say this world has good Black Wizards?
"What a load of shit."
I clicked my tongue and looked straight ahead.
The remaining one had already disappeared.
I lowered my gaze again and looked at Stella, who was trembling.
If I chased after him right now, I could catch him, but...
Another Black Wizard might target Stella.
No helping it.
I approached Stella.
At that, as I drew closer with the corpse still oozing blood from its throat, Stella flinched violently and crawled backward.
"Scaredy-cat."
I tossed the corpse into a corner and crouched in front of her. I grabbed her chin and lifted her bowed head.
Her eyes were a little unfocused, but not enough to collapse right away. Shock from pain. Blood loss.
She'd be okay for about fifteen minutes.
The problem was the spike stuck in her thigh.
"Does it hurt?"
"I-It... doesn't... hic... doesn't hurt..."
"Really? Then should I just go?"
"Ng, ugh... huuugh..."
A white hand crept over and grabbed my sleeve.
I smirked and reached for her hood.
No, wait. This kid has no money—if I rip this, she won't be able to buy another one, right?
Probably.
I shook my head and tore a strip from my own hood—rrrip.
It came out a little short, but it looked like it would be enough to tie around Stella's thigh.
"Here. Stretch out your leg."
"U-uh... hic, heek... hic..."
She tried to stretch it out while whimpering, but her leg wouldn't move, and her movements were sluggish.
"I'll straighten it for you. Bear with it even if it hurts. I'll do it on three."
I grabbed her calf and thigh.
"Three!"
"Hngaaaah!"
At the same time, I straightened it.
Stella's arms hugged me, and her hand pinched hard around my ribs, but it didn't hurt.
She'd really lost a lot of strength.
"Th-three... you said you'd do it on three, on three!! Hic..."
"Doing it like this is what makes it not hurt. Shut your mouth."
She let go of the arms she'd been hugging me with, and I brought the torn cloth to her thigh.
A little below her groin.
I tied the cloth tightly above the bleeding area.
"Now I'm going to pull this out, okay?"
"Eh... ehh...?"
"It's Black Magic. If I don't pull it out, it'll seep into your body and you could end up poisoned by Demonic Energy. So bear with it."
"No, wait. I'm f-fine. Really. Just leave this and let's... go to the hospital."
"The entrance ceremony is in two days—what hospital? If we just go to a priest, it'll be done in no time. Hold still. I'll pull it out in one go."
Ptui, ptui. I spat on both hands and grabbed Stella's thigh firmly.
"Ah, ah... please... please, can't you just leave it...? Hm...? What if it goes wrong, hic... if it goes wrong...?"
"I've pulled tons of these out. There's no way it'll go wrong. Here, at least bite down on this."
I crumpled up part of the hood I'd taken off to make it easier to use my strength and shoved it into Stella's mouth.
"Mmph! Mwf! Mmph!"
She trembled all over and squeezed my hand with both of hers.
But she couldn't stop me. I'd already reinforced my body with Mana.
"I'm going to count to three again. If you move, you might end up half-crippled for life, so be careful."
"Mmph!"
"One..."
"Mmf... mmph... mmmph..."
"Two..."
"Mmmmmmph!! Mmph!!"
"Two and a half..."
"Mmph...?"
"Two and a half of a half..."
"M-Mmph?"
"Three!"
Squelch!
I pulled out the spike. The moment it came out, it dissolved into Demonic Energy and scattered into the air.
Beside me, Stella—now unable to even scream—thrashed and pounded at my body. It still didn't hurt.
"You saw that, right? If I'd been just a little later, you'd have been in serious trouble."
Stella's face was already a mess of tears and snot.
"Ugh, gross."
I pulled my sleeve over my hand, carefully wiped her face, and took the hood out of her mouth. A transparent strand stretched, and drool ran down her chin.
Blood overflowed from the open wound in her thigh.
Trying to stop the bleeding wasn't doing much.
"No helping it, huh."
"...Ngh."
When I stood up from my spot, Stella's trembling hand clutched my hem.
"Whoa there. I'm not leaving. I'm just going to hide that thing. That way, later we can come back for it or not."
I took hold of Stella's trembling hand.
"Do I look like the kind of bastard who'd leave you here and go?"
Nod nod—
"Right. Good eye. Take care. See you in two days."
I shook off her hand and stood up.
Shake shake shake shake—
Tears dripped down as she shook her head.
Warm droplets spattered onto my calf.
"I'm kidding. Wait here."
I grabbed the corpse by the scruff and looked around.
Box. Box. Barrel. Barrel. Drum barrel.
A drum barrel.
If I folded him up right, he looked like he'd fit perfectly.
I dragged the corpse along and walked over to the drum barrel.
At the same time, a familiar voice came from behind.
"Lady Eli."
"...Hah."
I turned my head and looked toward the owner of the voice.
A blunt bob and sharp eyes.
Underneath them, a striking tear-shaped mole.
Sara.
Sara was standing behind Stella, her hand to the back of Stella's neck.
Stella hung her head as if she'd fainted, as though she didn't even have the strength to cry.
It was a sight that made me sigh without meaning to.
"...There's a reason for all this, okay? So first—"
"Should I dispose of her?"
"...What?"
"If there are no witnesses, it's an assassination."
"What the hell kind of nonsense is that—no... You can't kill her."
"Is there information to extract from her?"
"No, she's just... she's just my friend."
Sara's face went pale.
"...I'm sorry. I've already knocked her unconscious."
So it wasn't just that she looked like she'd fainted.
She really had been knocked out.
"...Right. Good job."