The Missing Sword
“Wow! So you guys are all going together?”
“Why not?”
“That sounds like a fine idea. I happen to be free today as well.”
I didn’t want to go. My irritation was probably showing on my face, so I kept my mouth shut for now.
“I saw a play in the square yesterday that seemed to be honoring Lady Crowell. Shall we go watch it? It might be suitable for children……”
“No way!”
I’d just watched that thing!
The nightmare I’d almost forgotten came rushing back. Lox really had the weirdest tastes.
“I don’t want to either. A circus would be way more fun.”
Thankfully, Chad agreed with me.
“……You people simply don’t understand! Comparing a circus to Lady Crowell’s play? That performance is sacred!”
“There he goes again. Listen, Lox is a massive Crowell fan. He drags us to see that stuff every chance he gets. I’m sick of it.”
Unlike the thoughtful, delicate Lox, Chad was straightforward and boisterous, as expected of a swordsman.
It made sense that the two of them clashed so often.
“Come to think of it, that Ash kid isn’t much better. The first time he heard the rumors about Jeanie Crowell, he got all worked up and teary-eyed. I thought he’d lost someone he knew.”
“Chad, that story is……”
“He cried because he was moved?”
“I told you, it wasn’t like that.”
Ah. So that was why Ash hadn’t recognized me at all. It finally clicked.
He actually believed I was dead. He’d swallowed the rumors.
Even if he somehow remembered my face, seeing me now would just make him think I was someone who looked similar.
What an ironic situation.
I couldn’t reveal that I was Jeanie Crowell, and Ash had to hide who he really was.
We’d met at the exact moment when both of us needed to stay hidden.
Technically, I was the only one who could tell the truth, but even then, Ash wouldn’t be able to reveal himself.
Thinking about it, I’d basically saved a pair of royals. First the prince, now the emperor.
I could probably pass as a benefactor of the empire. I had to admit that much.
“Huh? Now that you mention it, Miss Jeanie, your name is the same…… and you’re from Dmitry, just like her? Golden hair…… blue eyes…… ‘Jeanie’ is common among commoners, but not so much among nobles. From the way you act, you’re clearly nobility…… Could it be……”
Oh no. Had he already figured it out?
Lox’s eyes were gleaming sharply.
“Are you perhaps a relative?”
“No.”
I am her.
“Then what an incredible coincidence! To resemble her so closely!”
His face said he would never, ever believe that I was the living symbol of sacrifice and the Saint of this era, even if he died trying.
I felt a wave of relief. Everyone else might suspect me, but Lox never would.
Not unless he shattered the fantasy inside his own head.
Even if I introduced myself as Jeanie Crowell, he’d probably treat it as a joke.
With a high chance he’d get offended that I dared impersonate her.
Should I be grateful for this?
[Um…… Master?]
The three men had started discussing where to go sightseeing, while I stood a step away like I had nothing to do with them.
I wanted to go back to my room and grumble at the vase, but now it looked like I was being dragged around town instead.
[Master!]
[What now.]
[What happened to the sword? The one you said you were going to give to the king or whoever, the one you carried out of the lair!]
It wasn’t on my back……
I distinctly remembered carrying it out of my room this morning, yet I looked down at Rai with uneasy eyes.
I really hoped my memory was wrong.
[I-Is it not in the room?]
[It’s not there! I didn’t see it when I came out!]
“Huh? What the……”
I did a frantic little dance like I’d lost my wallet, but there was no way something that big could fit in a pocket.
Magi had given me a lot of things, but the infinite pouch had been confiscated by Adelaide during a search, and while Rai could absorb the sword, he couldn’t spit it back out as a sharp blade. So I’d been stuck lugging it around for a whole month.
Anyone who hadn’t tried carrying something like that through dense forest wouldn’t understand how cumbersome it was.
Swear words rose to my throat. But I’d treasured it with the single-minded goal of bribing the king……
And now it was gone!
“My sword!”
“G-Goodness.”
Ash’s group turned around in surprise at my scream.
“What’s wrong?”
“My sword’s gone!”
“You mean the one wrapped in cloth?”
“When did you last see it?”
I frantically searched my memory. I’d definitely still had it when I left the magic tower.
The sensation of the long object dangling from my back, the shoulder strap constantly slipping, was still vivid.
I’d had it when I bought skewers in the square, when I ate octopus and bread, when I bought a cup of pea soup and haggled for a single grape at the fruit stall. Even when I bought the lollipop.
Damn it, all I remembered was eating.
Then I watched the play…… and Rai showed up……
[Rai, when you found me in the square, did I still have the sword?]
[No. You definitely didn’t.]
Oh dear, my goodness, hohoho. Now that I thought about it, my money pouch was missing too. There had been about thirty gold in there. Lubao’s Compass had been inside as well.
“Damn it. I must’ve been pickpocketed.”
“Pickpocketed?”
“Tsk tsk, it was bound to happen. Walking around with something like that when you’re not even a swordsman.”
It was too long to tuck under my arm, what was I supposed to do!
“If you wrap it up that tightly, of course people get curious.”
I hid it because I was worried someone would steal it, and someone stole it anyway! What was I supposed to do?
“This…… this……!”
“Was it important? Are the other things all right?”
Everyone except Ash was just making annoyed noises.
My blood pressure had shot up so high I couldn’t even speak. While I’d been distracted by the play, I’d been completely cleaned out.
It was as humiliating as being called a saint.
“Are you an idiot? Carrying something on your back in a shady neighborhood like this, of course you’d get robbed.”
“Chad! There’s no need to say it like that.”
“You should’ve paid attention. It’s your own fault for……”
“Ow.”
“Who the hell carries a sword on their head!”
I kicked Chad’s shin as hard as I could, but it felt like my foot hurt more.
“Just you wait. I’ll make you regret saying that!”
“Hah?”
“First, let’s find the sword!”
“How are you going to find something that’s already been stolen…… Hey!”
“Miss Jeanie!”
The longer I waited, the lower the chances of recovering the stolen goods became.
This wasn’t the time to stand around.
I rushed out of the inn and ran toward the square, summoning my spirits as I went.
“Undine, Undain. Adore!”
Rai stuck close to my side as I ran, while only Undine among the three summoned spirits flew high into the air to start searching on her own.
That’s my clever girl!
“Everyone, find my sword. The thief couldn’t have gone far.”
Undain nodded and flew off in a different direction from Undine.
Only Adore followed me leisurely, sparkling without a care.
Oh, this little brat!
[What are you doing?]
“Idiot! Go find my sword!”
[How?]
“Fly up high!”
[Aha!]
After sending even the densest one into the sky, I kept running until Rai grabbed my collar and tugged.
What now! I was in a hurry!
[Master! The square is the other way!]
“Ah.”
I’d built up so much momentum that I had to take a few more steps before I could turn around.
It had been years since I’d run at full speed like this.
Those thieving bastards. Just let me catch them!
How dare they lay hands on my belongings. They’ll pay for this.
***
At midday, cheers erupted from a secluded alley.
Two men hiding in the shadows between buildings stared in disbelief at the fortune in their hands, counting it over and over.
Their pockets were filled with nothing but gold coins.
“Can you believe this? We’re rich now!”
“That’s not all! Look at the jewels on this sword. The shine…… It’s incredible.”
“Didn’t I tell you? That girl reeked of money!”
They couldn’t contain their excitement.
Stealing the heavy money pouch had already been a windfall, but the cloth-wrapped item they’d taken along with it was a treasure unlike anything they’d seen in thirty years of pickpocketing.
When they unwrapped the cloth, the dazzling brilliance of the revealed sword was so overwhelming they couldn’t even begin to estimate its value.
“Look at this. Remember that bracelet with a gem this size I stole once? Sold it for three gold. This scabbard is completely covered in jewels.”
The gems stuck all over it were clearly extraordinary. Just selling a few of them would probably match the value of the heavy gold pouch.
“Kuh! I’m finally done with this line of work.”
“I still can’t believe it. Who carries around a treasure like this without any guards?”
“Good thing you listened to me, huh? I told you we had to steal the sword no matter what! I knew it wasn’t ordinary.”
After years of pickpocketing, you developed an instinct for which pockets were worth targeting.
And today, while scouting the square for marks, the two thieves had spotted someone who stood out like lightning: a beauty with brilliant golden hair.
She’d caught their eye first because she was strikingly beautiful, and the carefree way she wandered around alone had whetted their appetites.
Her sparkling hair, which she blinked at frequently, was a clear sign of wealth, her skin was radiant, and her clean, unworked hands made it obvious she was nobility.
Nobles’ pockets were always fat!
“My eye for targets is flawless!”
“Hey now, what are you saying! Without my skills, we wouldn’t have gotten the sword at all! If it were just you, you’d have only managed the pouch!”
“Her being distracted helped a lot too! She was so absorbed in the play she didn’t even notice us cleaning her out!”
“Kahaha! Anyway, nobles are easy marks.”
“Yeah. If we get caught, they’ll kill us on the spot, though.”
The pickpockets laughed heartily, thrilled that their high-stakes gamble had paid off.
The greater the risk, the greater the reward—if “reward” was even the right word for theft.
“Carrying around that kind of fortune is basically charity! Don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. Nobles live well even without this money anyway. They’ll probably think they did a good deed!”
“Puhaha! I doubt it.”
“Who cares. They should do good deeds once in a while! It’s all our tax money anyway! I haven’t paid taxes in decades.”
As the two thieves chuckled in delight, a drop of water suddenly fell on their heads.
Drip.
The amount was enough to run down their necks, so they reflexively looked up at the sky.
The narrow strip of sky visible between the buildings was a clear, bright blue.