27. A Lucky Day
27. A Lucky Day
A private room in Pnasensia Cathedral.
An extremely expensive private room, but one that only high-ranking nobles can enter, and where treatment records and secrets are kept strictly confidential.
Seeing Stella, completely healed without leaving a single scar and dead asleep, I let out a sigh.
"Sara."
"Yes."
"How did you know I was there?"
"I detected black magic and your Mana at the same time, my lady, so I rushed straight over."
"What about Eurasia?"
"I explained the situation to Eurasia before leaving, so it is fine."
"Yeah..."
She's not even trying to hide it anymore.
I sighed again and looked at Sara.
I had expected Sara to be strong, but I never thought she could sense black magic from that far away.
"Still, we got here comfortably thanks to you. Thanks. You worked hard."
The reason we were able to bring Stella, bleeding profusely, to the cathedral so quietly.
was thanks to Sara bringing a leather sack.
Stella was carried inside it.
Thank goodness she was unconscious. Really.
"...I apologize for acting on my own judgment."
"No. It's fine."
I patted Sara's shoulder as she bowed her head, then leaned back into the chair.
Earlier.
On the way back to the lodging with Eurasia, I had spotted a shabby navy hoodie.
And the two Black Wizards tailing her.
So I sent Eurasia on ahead and tailed Stella, and this is what happened.
I followed from a little distance so the Black Wizard bastards wouldn't notice, but I ended up a little too late.
Anyway.
Where the hell has this girl been and what was she doing, to have Black Wizards—two 4th Circle Black Wizards, no less—following her around?
"...Are you all right?"
"Me? Yeah. I'm fine."
Sara's cautious gaze turned to me.
"What you did was absolutely not a bad thing, my lady. They were Black Wizards, and they were trying to harm someone—your friend, no less. So there is no need for you to feel guilty."
"Ah."
From Sara's point of view, it's only natural she'd worry.
Because a little brat who had spent her whole life shut away in the family estate, doing nothing but swinging a wooden sword, had just killed a person.
But I don't feel guilty.
A bad deed? What I did was a very good deed.
Killing one Black Wizard isn't about to mess with my head.
I've killed just as many people as I have Demons.
Black Wizards, ordinary Wizards, adventurers, knights.
I also killed humans who did not side with the Demon King.
And if anything, those bastards were even more vicious.
If they had sided with the Demon King, I could at least understand. But humans doing that to fellow humans.
Even I, with the most fucked-up personality among our companions, thought it was utter horseshit.
So I killed them. A great many of them.
So.
"It's fine. I'm really all right."
"If you say so... I understand."
Even with my assurance, Sara's worried gaze didn't leave.
Couldn't be helped. It would probably stay like this for a while.
I smirked and popped a candy from the shelf into my mouth.
Grape flavor.
Rolling the candy around in my mouth, I looked at Stella, who was dead asleep.
"Is that back alley where she lives?"
"Probably not. There's a black market in that back alley, so no one lives there."
"Black market?"
"Yes. Sometimes decent items turn up, but most are fakes or things that cannot be sold openly."
"So it's a bunch of swindlers? By 'cannot be sold openly,' do you mean they sell drugs or something?"
"...Yes. The Imperial Capital's black market is a place that handles various illegal goods, including drugs, slaves, and Demon corpses."
"Hmm..."
Drugs.
Stella didn't seem like she did drugs.
She might have been a bit dim, but she wasn't broken.
She'd probably just gone because the prices were a little cheaper.
She was probably happy, not even realizing she had been scammed.
Slaves weren't even worth mentioning.
She probably had no money to buy one.
Same with Demon corpses.
"Then what the hell was she trying to do there?"
And why couldn't she respond to the Black Wizards' attack?
Stella is 3rd Circle.
And she doesn't recite incantations.
Silent Casting.
A talent that makes the speed of spell manifestation exponentially faster.
I can't understand how Stella, with that talent, failed to block that spike earlier.
Of course the Black Wizards were 4th Circle, but the one I killed was a battle Wizard—a Wizard who wrapped himself in magic and fought in close combat.
And I killed that bastard before he could rush at Stella.
That means she only had one 4th Circle Wizard to deal with. Even if she couldn't win, she shouldn't have been beaten this easily.
Betrayal?
Did she already know those Black Wizards?
Or was there something she was counting on?
Artifact.
Defense.
An Artifact enchanted with defensive magic.
"Sara, are Artifacts with defensive magic usually accessories?"
"Yes. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, and so on. They are usually made as accessories."
"Hm..."
I got up from my seat and lifted Stella's hair. No earrings.
Next, her fingers. No rings either.
No bracelets.
Necklace?
The moment I reached toward her chest and pulled down the collar of her worn-out T-shirt.
"...Y-you... what are you... doing...?"
Stella opened her eyes.
"Ah, I just need to check something."
"Huh? Eek, w-wait...!"
Stella met my eyes at close range, flinched in surprise, and clutched the blanket.
I ignored her, pushed her hands away, and checked inside her clothes.
As expected, there were necklaces—three of them, no less.
Were these Artifacts? I couldn't tell with my own eyes whether they were Artifacts or not.
But well, they probably were Artifacts.
A girl who skips meals wouldn't wear three necklaces as a luxury.
I grabbed the necklace and yanked it.
Rrrip—the gold chain tore away without resistance.
The chain looked like it was gold-plated.
A sigh escaped me before I knew it.
"What is this?"
"Uh... huh?"
Only then did Stella, who had been hugging herself and blushing, come to her senses.
"Ah... Artifacts."
"Artifacts with defensive magic?"
Stella slowly nodded, then belatedly looked around and tried to figure out where she was.
Her eyes darted around. Her frightened, trembling eyes steadied. Then, when she saw Sara, she flinched and clutched the blanket, but when Sara bowed her head, she relaxed again.
"...Hello. But wh-where is this?"
"Pnasensia Cathedral. Sara, these aren't Artifacts, are they?"
I answered vaguely and held the necklace out to Sara. Sara nodded without even needing a closer look.
"Yes. They have been cleverly made to look enchanted. It is a shoddy trick often used by low-ranked adventurers."
"There you have it. How much did you pay for these?"
Stella's face clouded with confusion, then twisted.
"...Two million sel each. Four million sel for all three."
"What? How does that math work? Did you steal one?"
"Wha—what?! No, I didn't?! They said if I bought two, I'd get one free, so I bought... them..."
"Goddamn. Why would they give away something worth two million sel for free? Are you an idiot? You called yourself a genius Wizard once, but this really isn't it."
"That's not... ugh... that's not true. They were trustworthy. There must have been some... mistake. Maybe they were the ones who got scammed."
I expected her to lash out and get angry, but she just deflated.
"Who did you buy them from?"
"...It's a secret."
"I need to know who it is if I'm going to get your money back."
"What...? Get my money back?"
"The money you were scammed out of."
"Scammed? No. They're not that kind of person. If I go and tell them, they'll definitely exchange them for something else."
What the hell is she even saying right now?
Is this naivety, or is she just a dumbass?
"...Are you a dumbass?"
I meant to say naive, but the wrong word came out.
Well, whatever.
"D-du... y-you... I said don't talk to me like that!"
"...My lady."
"No, I just don't get it. Is the person who sold you these your parents or something?"
Stella's face twisted again at the word 'parents.'
That was answer enough.
They probably aren't her real parents, but a swindler who played the role of a parent.
Did they approach her because of the name Verheigen?
Or just because this girl is an easy mark?
Both.
If I were a swindler, I would have approached a clueless kid like this too.
"Fine. You deal with this. Next, why did you go slinking into that back alley?"
Stella, who had been crumpled and sniffling with a sulky look, suddenly snapped to attention as if remembering her earlier purpose.
"Oh? Ah, right!"
She rummaged inside her hoodie and, apparently finding something, quickly looked relieved.
"Um, first... thank you."
"Yeah."
I've noticed since last time.
This girl is really good at expressing gratitude.
She does it almost like it's mandatory.
Even in the Labyrinth, every time I gave her macarons, she'd pout, but she never missed her thank-yous.
"So why did you go there?"
"...Do I have to tell you?"
"If you don't, I'll tell everyone you went to buy drugs."
"D-drugs?! What are you saying! There's no way!"
"I know. But I'll say it anyway."
"What the... who would believe that?!"
"Why wouldn't they? Hey, listen. You went to a back alley where a black market thrives—wearing a hood, no less. And it turned out black magic was used there. And I was the one who found out—me, the Duke of Eustetia's daughter. And there's another witness too."
I looked at Sara.
Sara, looking troubled, reluctantly nodded.
"So I asked the person who was there why she was there, and she couldn't answer. So what else is it? What could it be but hiding because she's afraid of being caught by House Eustetia, which stands at the front lines of eradicating Demons, Monsters, black magic, and the Demon World?"
"Eep... hic... urk..."
In the end, after hearing me out, Stella—unable to argue—clutched the blanket tightly, her eyes brimming with tears.
And after murmuring with her lips for a long while.
She spoke.
"...A lottery ticket."
"What?"
"Lottery. Lottery, lottery, lottery!! I won the lottery!! And... hic... I'm a minor, so I can't collect the money, hic... so I went to ask the person there! Why!!!"
"...How much?"
"Five million sel!!! Hic..."
"So while going to collect it, you got attacked by a Black Wizard and got a hole poked in your thigh?"
"Waaaaah!"
Good Lord.
How can anyone be this pitiful?
Feeling strangely unsettled, I patted Stella's back.
"Um... Sara, could you collect the prize money for her?"
"Yes. I will go and collect it right away."
"Okay, thanks."
I reached out to Stella, who was hiccuping and crying.
"Give it here."
"Sniff... hic..."
Stella, tears dripping down, rummaged through her clothes and held out a piece of paper that was sweat-soaked and crumpled.
"This is worth five million sel?"
"Yeah. It's... third prize. M-Miss Sara. I'll give you... a 10%... no, 15% fee. Thank... hic... thank you..."
"What fee... haa, forget it. Just take all of it."
"But still..."
"You need to pay for the treatment you received here at the cathedral."
Stella, her eyes bright red, looked at me and tilted her head.
"Huh...? Ah, right, that's true... How much is it...?"
"How much was it again, Sara?"
"Seven million sel."
"There you have it."
"Hic..."
With a hiccup, the lottery ticket in Stella's hand slipped weakly to the floor.