Lollipop Justice
“Aaaargh!”
A scream tore through the alley.
The man who’d been hit lost his glasses, which shattered on the ground, and his pathetic, low-stamina body was driven helplessly into the corner.
When the thugs made a show of kicking him, he curled up and shrieked.
“I swear that’s everything I have!”
“If we find anything when we search you, it’s one copper per punch!”
“Can’t we just talk this out!”
I stopped at the entrance of the alley when the commotion reached its peak.
“Lox?”
The man getting beaten—Lox, that is—squinted hard, eyes narrowed because his broken glasses left him nearly blind, trying to figure out who I was. Looked like he had terrible vision.
“What are you doing over there?”
When I spoke again, Lox finally recognized me. His face lit up and he dashed toward me, weaving past the three thugs.
I was sucking on a lollipop. He crammed his taller frame behind me and immediately started tattling like he’d suffered some terrible injustice.
“Miss Jeanie! These people! They suddenly dragged me here and then—”
“Hmm.”
“What the hell is this?”
As the thugs approached, Lox quickly ducked behind me despite his poor eyesight, using me as a shield.
Seeing how he’d been limping when he ran over, it was clear they’d handled him pretty roughly.
“And who exactly are you lot?”
“Us? We’re the ones who run this district…”
“So, thugs.”
I popped the candy from my lips with a loud smack and pointed at them with the stick.
The thugs who had closed in threateningly all boasted impressive builds. They were so muscular that a scholarly type like Lox wouldn’t have dared fight back even in his wildest dreams. Their faces were ugly, and both their faces and bodies were covered in more scars than I could count.
If it had been Chad, he would have fought instead of getting beaten. But from Lox’s perspective, a quick surrender had been the smart move.
“Puhaha! Hiding behind a woman, how pathe—”
Slap.
“Hey, pretty thing, forget about that loser and come with us—”
Slap.
“What the hell do you think you’re—”
Slap.
Even though they were muscular, the feeling of smacking their mouths was no different from anyone else’s.
I’d slapped all three in quick succession, so I shook my slightly stinging palm, wedged the lollipop between my molars, and bit down hard.
“Someone’s trying to talk here!”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
I crunched the shattered candy pieces noisily, then snapped my fingers twice.
Undine appeared, revealing her small body between me and the thugs.
“By the way, were you about to call him pathetic?”
The thugs’ attitudes changed the instant the cute-looking Undine transformed into over a dozen long spears.
It all happened naturally, without sound or warning, like a breeze simply blowing through.
Nothing like how mages had to chant spells and raise their staffs—this was on another level.
The thugs looked utterly bewildered by how so many spears had suddenly appeared, all aimed at them.
In case they thought the spears were weak just because they were made of water, I flicked a finger as a demonstration and drove one straight into the ground.
“Let me ask again. It wasn’t that, right?”
The spear had plunged between the legs of the thug standing closest to me.
Daniz was a wealthy city, so its streets were neatly paved with stone. The water spear shattered the pavement, leaving a fist-sized hole, then spun gracefully and rose back into the air.
The spears grew sharper at the tips, precisely targeting the thugs’ heads while emitting a terrifying whirring, swirling sound.
“Y-yes, ma’am! It wasn’t!”
“Of course not! No way!”
“Looks like you three were the ones bothering my kid.”
“We’re reflecting on our actions!”
“You’re reflecting while looking down on me from up there?”
My neck was starting to hurt.
When I jerked my chin, all three thugs quickly dropped to their knees in front of me.
Only then did Lox hesitantly emerge from behind me. He craned his long neck, looking around.
After staring at the bowing thugs and the water spears cutting through the air with a bewildered expression, he finally bowed to me like someone who’d just taken a hit.
“Th-thank you, Miss Jeanie… I don’t know who you are, but…”
I felt the same way.
If I hadn’t entered the academy so early, I might have been the one ruling these back alleys.
Normally I wouldn’t have dreamed of letting them off at this point, but Lox hated violence, and it wasn’t me who’d been beaten, so I decided to stop here.
Besides, I’d finished my candy and my mouth felt empty now.
I flicked the empty stick toward the thugs and thought I should go buy some more.
“You guys should consider yourselves lucky. Letting people off like this happens maybe once every ten years.”
“Thank you!”
“Hand over the money you took from Lox. And pick up that trash over there.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Pay for the glasses too.”
The alley sparkled beautifully in the sunlight reflecting off the obedient thugs and the water spears.
I supported Lox, who had sprained his ankle and could barely walk, and returned to the inn.
We still hadn’t found another place, so we were stuck at that same expensive inn.
“Ash!”
The moment I stepped inside, I shouted his name at the top of my lungs.
Soon I saw Ash rushing down the stairs in a panic. I practically threw Lox at the startled man who came running over.
He’s heavy!
This body is so frail—why am I the one who has to support a grown man!
If his glasses hadn’t been broken and made him look like some class president, I would’ve left him lying in the street!
Sigh. Why am I so nice?
“What happened? Lox! How did you end up…”
“He was getting beaten up in an alley.”
“Oh dear.”
Lox’s face was already blooming with bruises from the alley fight.
His split lip was swelling, and a dark bruise had formed on his forehead.
“Ow, ow… I was looking for a cheaper inn… and since Enk and Gail should be arriving soon, I thought I’d put up a note in the square… but I had terrible luck.”
“Did you hurt your leg too?”
“Just a little. Luckily Miss Jeanie was passing by and saved me.”
“…Are you okay?”
Fortunately I’m fine. They just let me go.
Ah, so he was asking if the thugs were okay.
You know, this Ash guy really does treat me like some kind of explosive.
While I stood there with my eyebrows raised in irritation, Ash helped Lox up the stairs.
Unlike me, who had been huffing and puffing, he carried him to the room with ease.
Lox, still shaken from the street incident, collapsed onto the bed with a groan. I stood by the door for a moment, watching.
Ash couldn’t hide his worry for his closest friend’s injuries.
I was terrible at comforting people, and I had no desire to force myself to do something I wasn’t good at.
There was no reason to keep standing there, so I turned and walked away. I still had things to do outside, so I strode quickly down the inn corridor. Before I could get far, Ash came out after me.
He stood right beside me, looking down with eyes that were… how should I put it…
“Jeanie, thank you for helping Lox.”
It felt like the gaze of someone who liked me.
I often got that feeling when I looked at Ash. This guy likes me a little.
As one person to another, of course.
“It was nothing.”
“If you hadn’t been there, it would have been a disaster.”
“We’ve known each other longer than a day or two. Can you drop that ‘miss’ already?”
I stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked up at him.
Ash might have an ordinary face, but his body was incredibly solid. Standing face-to-face, his chest was right at my eye level.
It looked ordinary at first glance, but it was packed with perfect muscle.
A body like that was one of the things I envied. The urge to poke it hard suddenly hit me.
Holding back that urge was strangely itchy.
“…Jeanie. Thanks.”
“Drop the formal speech too.”
“Ahem. Thanks.”
“Properly.”
“Thanks, Jeanie.”
He had a body that could probably fight a wild beast bare-handed, yet his words were so obedient. Men really were cutest when they yielded.
“Not bad.”
I gave him a wide, playful grin and patted his cheek like I was praising a good boy.
Ash looked a little embarrassed. I couldn’t quite pull my hand away from his face after that light touch, so I slowly traced his jawline instead.
What fascinated me was how different the face I could see looked from the one my fingers felt.
The curves beneath my fingertips were completely different from what my eyes saw.
If you looked closely, it seemed like my fingertips were sinking halfway into his skin.
It meant the necklace was working properly.
Of course. The ordinary face I was seeing right now was nothing but an illusion created by magic.
Ash seemed to realize it too. He quickly grabbed my hand and pulled it away from his face.
An awkward silence stretched for a few seconds.
“…Your skin’s really nice!”
“Jeanie.”
Ash, who had let go of my right hand in a panic, looked like he had a lot to say. Instead, he pressed his lips tightly together.
I knew there were things he simply couldn’t tell me.
Hating the awkwardness, I turned to leave, but he was being annoyingly persistent.
“Where are you going?”
“To have fun. It’s festival season.”
“…Let’s go together.”
Ugh! No way. I put on a serious face and stepped backward.
“Absolutely not! Do not follow me!”
“It’s dangerous to go alone. You saw what happened. Even Lox…”
“He’s him, and I’m Jeanie… remember?”
“But—”
“Ah! Fine, I won’t kill anyone. Happy now?”
I waved my hand vigorously and made my escape.
I got away from Ash as quickly as possible.
“Take good care of Lox!”
Truthfully, I could have healed Lox’s bruises right away.
But there was something I wanted to do without him tagging along, so I planned to leave him like that for a few days.
I left Ash behind with that obvious “I want to follow you” look on his face and headed to the square alone.