Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Phantom Thief Dauphin (6) - Living Strongly
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"Daddy, the villagers are really too much."
The girl with orange hair and bright light-green eyes kept complaining with a sulky expression.
"They were calling you their benefactor and hero just yesterday, but the moment rumors spread that the lord was uncomfortable with you, they immediately asked us to leave. How can they be so shameless?"
The middle-aged man gave a wry smile as he soothed the girl, who kept turning her head back toward the village and glaring several times, as if her anger hadn't subsided.
"My cute daughter. You must feel wronged about being chased out without even getting to eat pancakes."
"That's not it at all. I just hate how brazen they are. They were cursing the lord nonstop for not lifting a finger against the trolls around the village and just letting it be, but when he shows up and clears his throat, suddenly everyone's just watching and waiting. They're so cowardly."
"Dalia."
The middle-aged man stopped walking, lowered his body to meet the orange-haired girl's eye level, and spoke.
"The villagers aren't ignoring us because they're evil or selfish. It's just that they're so weak, struggling to survive day by day, that they can't help but watch those around them."
The middle-aged man's reflection appeared in the girl's eyes.
A scruffy beard and rough skin covered in scars.
His armor, repeatedly broken and repaired, was shabby, without any of the splendor people imagined when they thought of a 'knight'.
He couldn't even afford a horse and walked on foot, with no proper squire—only his young daughter by his side.
Knight of the common folk.
Knight of the weak.
Knight of the lowliest places.
No matter how grand the titles he dressed himself in to fool the eye, the reality was that of a vagabond knight sleeping on the ground, unable to receive proper reward even from those he saved.
That didn't sit well with the young girl.
She recalled the knights she had seen in other territories.
They all wore gleaming armor, were accompanied by multiple squires, and strutted around on massive horses as they patrolled the lands.
The people would prostrate themselves on both sides of the road as the knights passed, bowing their heads, or force smiles while praising the greatness of the lord the knights served, chattering in sycophantic tones about how peaceful the territory was thanks to them.
Her daddy could have done that too.
No, he could have lived even more grandly than them.
Her daddy was strong, able to cut down a troll with a single stroke, and there were plenty of nobles who would eagerly take in a wandering knight without a clear lord.
Yet he rejected all those nobles' offers and stubbornly insisted on remaining a free knight.
Even as it drew backlash from the nobles and plunged him into an even harsher situation than before, her daddy never bent his will.
After all, there were already plenty of knights willing to pledge loyalty to those nobles, so someone had to fight for those no one else would protect.
"Protecting the weak and extending a hand to those who ask for help—that is the true duty and romance of a knight."
The orange-haired girl puffed out her cheeks at her daddy, who declared this with the appearance of a seasoned man but eyes like a dreaming boy.
"...While ignoring the daughter right beside you."
"Kuhk!"
The man, who had just delivered such a gallant line, suddenly choked and coughed repeatedly, soon breaking into a cold sweat.
He was bold enough to stand firm before a powerful grand lord and assert his will, but before his daughter—who suffered alongside him because of him—he couldn't help but become endlessly weak.
"No, I mean, if traveling with me is too hard, like I said before, you could stay at your friend's house..."
"Leave a perfectly fine daddy and go live under someone else's roof, watching my every move? Why? Are you tired of even just having me tag along now?"
"How could that be? I'm grateful every single day to have you by my side, truly."
Knowing better than anyone that he might be an excellent knight but could never be an excellent father, the man slunk away, eyes furtively gauging his spirited daughter's mood, his earlier bravado sold off somewhere.
Sighing as she looked at her daddy, the girl felt no hatred toward him. Nor did she think his actions were wrong.
But the people who wouldn't muster courage alongside her daddy still felt spiteful to her.
Even so, the girl tried to understand.
Not everyone could live strongly, as her daddy said.
It wasn't right to demand reckless courage from people already desperate just handling their own lives.
That would surely be another cruel form of violence.
"...This is the worst."
Was that mutter born of a dream, or last night's events?
Not even she knew the exact answer as Dalia faced a gloomy morning.
In her first confrontation with the phantom thief Dauphin, Dalia had ultimately lost.
She had somehow protected the client, but that was it.
She hadn't caught Dauphin, hadn't stopped him from pilfering the mansion's jewels, and had even smashed part of the building where the client was staying with her own hands.
The captain had arrived after the client lost consciousness, showering her with every insult imaginable. Sorting out the chaos had taken time, and she'd only gotten a few hours of shut-eye in the guard barracks.
According to the chatter from her 8th Squad subordinates, truly exhausting days meant you didn't even dream—you just closed your eyes and it felt like sleep was over. If that was true, should she curse her own body for dreaming despite running around all night?
'What random thoughts.'
Shaking her head, Dalia began her morning routine.
She'd head to work and pick up where yesterday's reprimand left off, but showing up disheveled wouldn't set an example for the soldiers or inspire trust from the residents.
She didn't particularly enjoy dressing up, so aside from basic hygiene, hair was the only time-consuming part.
Honestly, she'd often wanted to just cut it short, but the female guards of the 8th Squad had wailed, "If the captain does it, we'll all have to go short too!" So she grudgingly kept it long.
With everything else done, as she reached for her armor last, Dalia frowned.
Part of it was badly dented from yesterday's fall.
She should get it repaired, but she had no time now, and no spare armor either.
There were off-duty female guards sharing the barracks, but their chest sizes didn't match, so borrowing was pointless.
After a moment's thought, Dalia placed the dented section on the floor and pounded it flat with her palm.
At least visually, the armor looked decent again.
Defense-wise, she'd need proper repairs eventually, but it was fine for now.
Problem solved, she left the barracks and headed to the captain's office.
Probably curses the moment they locked eyes.
Suppressing a sigh that threatened to escape, she knocked on the captain's door.
Knock, knock.
"8th Squad Captain Dalia reporting."
-Ahem! I've been waiting!
"...?"
Her bewilderment at the oddly upbeat tone lasted only a moment.
Before she could resolve her doubts, the captain himself opened the door to greet her.
"Come in! Hero of the Revrurk Guard!"
Dalia blinked for a second.
She briefly wondered if it was some new form of sarcasm, but the captain's face was too bright for that.
It was hard to believe this was the same man who'd berated her to leave last night.
Noticing her bewildered expression, the captain cleared his throat awkwardly and continued.
"Sorry about last night. My anger toward that vile thief Dauphin was so great that I got a 'bit' carried away with you."
Dalia's mind flashed back to last night's barrage of abuse.
Some squad members had nearly lunged in outrage at his words, so calling it a 'bit' seemed questionable, but she decided to let it slide.
Pointing it out to a superior wouldn't change anything, and she'd let the culprit escape, so she deserved the reprimand.
That said, the captain's current attitude was all the more baffling.
"Don't just stand there talking at the door—come inside first. Hey, you! Bring something to drink!"
Having even ordered refreshments from the duty soldier—a treatment she'd never received before—the captain spoke to the stunned Dalia in a subdued tone.
"Before you arrived, the tax officer regained consciousness. He was greatly satisfied with this outcome."
"Satisfied...?"
The culprit escaped, and valuables were stolen.
How could 'satisfied' apply here?
Dalia thought so, but the captain stated firmly.
"It's different, Dalia. Dauphin 'fled'. In the end, he couldn't lay a hand on the tax officer, could he?"
Until now, Dauphin had breezed through every guard, countermeasure, and trap to steal treasures, even capturing targets and displaying them mockingly around the city.
For the upper class, who valued face and reputation above all, this was more fatal than death.
But this time, blocked by Dalia, he'd only stolen some wealth to redistribute to victims. The tax officer, waking from his faint, highly praised it.
After all, losing some fortune meant little to him, son of Count Sarnos.
"Word of last night's events has already spread. Even among the nobles, praise for you is pouring in. Such a swift reaction means many were closely watching yesterday's incident. 8th Squad Captain, you've saved our guard's face."
Even as the captain lavished uncharacteristic praise, Dalia showed no joy.
No matter the good words, last night's clash was a defeat for her.
Her stoic demeanor irked him, cracking his smile briefly, but it soon returned.
He needed her power now.
"The 8th Squad will continue as the dedicated unit for the upper district. Dauphin's targets are all there, so it's only natural."
"...That's fine, but won't the other squads complain?"
Dalia wanted another shot at Dauphin too, so she welcomed the opportunity.
But those displaced because of her—would they diligently work the common districts?
"Of course they will. If they couldn't catch Dauphin, they need to prove their worth there at least. They'll work very, very 'hard', so rest easy."
His tone implied he'd cut them down himself if they didn't.
The phrasing of 'that place' grated on her, but if the captain pressured the other captains, they'd avoid slacking—a good thing.
Colleagues didn't need to be kind or just.
Even if it was to boost the captain's prestige, if it helped people and let ordinary folk live peacefully, that was the guard's true duty.
"The collapse of order might bring bloodshed and chaos. But is ignoring those suffering under order right? Rather than leaving the pus to fester out of fear of spilling blood, isn't it better in the long run to squeeze it out, painful as it is?"
Dalia pondered Dauphin's question echoing in her mind.
If his selfish acts shattered order and toppled noble authority, would they submit quietly?
No way.
The nobles would lash out, clamping down on people even more oppressively to maintain power.
People weren't strong enough to endure that blood and pain.
They were weak, burdened just surviving day to day.
So don't incite them.
Don't force them to challenge a unwinnable fight.
Even if painful, even grueling, it was better than dying from reckless defiance.