Small but Certain Happiness
Judging by the surroundings, the place where Kkamagi had been trapped looked like an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the slums.
Beyond the bars of the birdcage holding Kkamagi, three neighborhood thugs could be seen snickering among themselves.
In their hands was the leather pouch I had tied to Kkamagi's foot.
"Those thug bastards dare lock up Kkamagi, the one I traded my precious things for?"
My mood turned violently foul.
"You bastards are really going to ruin your lives over twenty thousand gold? Just you wait!"
I immediately pulled a pitch-black assassin's hooded cloak from the wardrobe—one that could completely cover my entire body.
Watching me carefully don a mask to hide my face as well, Beatrice gripped her treasured sword tightly, as if steeling some resolute determination.
"Lady Celia, I shall go as well! They may not be enemies of my house, but I cannot forgive those who have laid hands on a precious member of our shop!"
"Alright, perfect timing. Roughly cover your face and follow me. We can test the skill in real combat while we're at it."
We slipped out through the shop's back door and headed deep into the shadowy alleys of the slums.
After walking for some time, we at last arrived at the abandoned warehouse tucked into the end of a dead-end alley whose walls were thick with moss.
It was the same building I had seen through Kkamagi's vision.
Inside the warehouse that reeked of cigarette smoke and liquor, we had no trouble finding Kkamagi trapped in the cage.
Robbed of every last bit of the leather pouch and money I had given him, tightly bound, Kkamagi was shedding tears in the corner of the cage.
"Who the hell are you lot?"
As we, still hooded, peered into the warehouse entrance, a burly man who looked like the boss of the thugs rose from his seat.
I took a step back and gave Beatrice's shoulder a light shove.
"Go save our Kkamagi."
"Yes, understood."
Beatrice adjusted her grip on her sword hilt and stepped forward.
"Ah, right! Wait a second!"
Beatrice turned back with a puzzled expression and looked at me.
"I'll take the last hit, so call me later!"
"I shall obey the command!"
A crimson Murderous Aura erupted like an explosion in Beatrice's violet eyes.
The next instant, the alley filled with screams, unidentified impact sounds, and the thugs' desperate wails.
I watched the spectacle at my leisure, hands clasped behind my back, arms folded.
"You guys!"
Thud—!
"Why do you always think of fleecing the weak before you think of earning your own keep!?"
Thud! Thud! Crunch!
A merciless thrashing continued as she hammered their solar plexuses and the tops of their heads with the sword hilt instead of the blade.
Wails burst from the thugs' mouths.
"We're sorryyy! Please forgive us!!!"
The thugs' cries gradually quieted, and before long Beatrice walked out of the warehouse.
"Witch-nim, preparations are complete. Please hurry and deliver the finishing blow."
"Good work."
I approached the thugs who were face-down and weeping, then lightly poked their solar plexuses with the tip of my toe.
Crunch—!
"Guh...!"
"Alright, now for the Shop Owner skill scan!"
I flicked my fingers in the air and activated Shop Owner Skill Analysis.
Utterly trivial skill status windows floated above their heads.
Neighborhood Thug 1:F-class 『Thug's Empty Bluster』
Neighborhood Thug 2:Unranked 『Spit Accuracy Radar』
Neighborhood Thug 3:E-class 『Night Market Shell-Game X-Ray Sight』
"...Haa. I can't even look at this. This lineup is genuinely rotting my eyes."
They were too embarrassing to even call skills.
They look like the local spitters. If I leave them alone, they'll just keep running three-card monte and pulling thug stunts while harassing people in the slums. Confiscating those skills would be a public service.
I pulled three crimson contracts from my bosom with a rustling flourish.
"Really now, kidnapping someone else's precious child? Here, I'll give you a choice. Do you want to receive punishment from the treasured sword of that wolf-hunter knight over there? Or will you quietly entrust those lowly skills you possess to this witch's rental shop and earn rental income?"
"W-We'll gladly entrust them!"
The thugs signed the contracts with trembling hands.
I collected the papers and put on a deliberately merciful smile.
"Don't worry. This witch is a reasonable merchant. Later, when your skills get rented out to other debtors, I'll take the commission as per the contract and give you your share too."
The commission applied to them was eighty percent.
No—more than that, nobody was ever going to rent skills like those in the first place.
Don't expect business ethics from a witch when you're a bunch of thugs!
1 F-class skill, 1 unranked low-grade skill, and 1 E-class skill have been bound to the shop inventory.
The moment the notification appeared, I turned without a shred of lingering attachment and headed for the cage in the corner.
The moment Kkamagi, still bound and stripped of the leather pouch, saw me, he burst into pitiful sobs.
"Caw! Caw!"
"Sorry, Kkamagi. The boss was a little late, huh?"
I snipped the leather cords with a knife, and Kkamagi immediately dove into my arms.
I held the tear-and-snot-smeared bird tight and gathered up the leather pouch along with the twenty thousand gold.
"Let's go, Beatrice. I'm starving—time to buy something to eat."
"Yes, Witch-nim."
There had been a bit of a ruckus, but Kkamagi was safely rescued and the thugs seemed to have learned their lesson. All in all, not a bad outcome.
We headed for the grocery store.
"Kids, pick out whatever you want to eat!"
We loaded up on bread, milk, eggs, black tea leaves, ham, and more—practically cleaning out the entire grocery store.
We were walking past the recently opened street of market stalls in Ash Valley, both arms heavy with bags, when a strangely sweet and savory butter scent suddenly brushed my nose.
I stopped and turned my head. An old man was selling crepes from a worn stall.
He spread sweet chocolate jam over a thinly cooked wheat crepe, piled on fresh fruit and a generous mound of whipped cream, then rolled it up.
It was the kind of high-end dessert you usually only saw in the bustling districts of the imperial capital.
"Crepes making it into the slums? Ash Valley really has come up in the world!"
I glanced beside me and realized Beatrice, who had been sticking close the whole way, was gone.
She stood in front of the crepe stall, staring blankly at the rising sweet steam.
In those violet eyes, an indescribable mix of wistfulness, longing, and bitterness crossed paths.
She must have been remembering days when the whole family had laughed together over crepes for dessert at a family dinner.
Watching the young lady suddenly wear that story-filled gaze, I couldn't bring myself to just walk past either.
Besides, I was an asset holder with a billion gold sitting in my account right now!
With my free hand I casually pushed back the black hood and strolled up to the stall at a leisurely pace.
Then I pulled a fistful of gold coins from my bosom and thumped them onto the counter with swagger.
"Old man."
"Yes, customer?"
I tilted my chin and swept my finger from one end of the stall to the other.
"From here all the way to there. Every flavor, every variety—wrap them all up. Keep the change."
"Yes! I'll prepare them at once!"
The crepe man's hands began moving so fast they nearly vanished.
Behind me, Beatrice's eyes went round as saucers at the sight.
Tears of pure emotion welled up as she carefully caught hold of my cloak hem.
"Lady Celia... are you really buying all of that...?"
"Yeah. I was craving something sweet. Well? Don't they look delicious?"
I answered with deliberate casual elegance and plopped the entire pile of wrapped crepes into Beatrice's arms.
"Here! These are all yours."
She accepted the crepes with a deeply moved expression, then broke into the happiest smile in the world.
...If that catastrophe hadn't struck her household, Beatrice would have been eating crepes like these every single day.
Suddenly she looked so pitiful I couldn't help myself.
When you get right down to it, that young lady is the reason a billion gold landed in my account. A flex this small is nothing.
Back on the second floor of the shop, we immediately laid out a full spread of the food we had bought on the table.
Freshly baked soft rye bread, thick-sliced smoked ham, golden fried eggs, and the still-warm crepes we had just purchased.
"Alright, everyone worked hard—dig in as much as you want!"
I elegantly took a sip of Earl Grey and reached for a piece of bread first. Beatrice carefully picked up a crepe.
Then she bit into it so deeply her cheeks puffed out.
"Wow! It's packed with fruit and whipped cream! Aung, it's so good!"
Beatrice chewed with her mouth full, wearing the happiest smile on earth.
Whipped cream was smeared all over her lips.
"Caw, caw, caw!"
Kkamagi looked thoroughly satisfied with the portion set aside for him as well.
Every time he opened his beak to snatch another bite, the silly feather sticking up from his head fluttered along as if dancing.
Seeing their happy faces made my own mood lift right along with them.
That's right. A billion gold might not buy a building in the imperial capital's shopping district, but it could buy this kind of thing as many times as I wanted!
The perfect sweet-and-salty harmony of rye bread, fried egg, and salty ham.
The flawless pairing of the crepe's sweetness with the black tea that cleansed the palate.
Outside, adventurers might be prowling around looking for us, but this moment—safely eating delicious food together in our own room—felt like paradise on earth.
I patted my full stomach, set down my teacup, and was just about to wear a thoroughly satisfied smile when—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
From the quiet first-floor shop entrance, a heavy, oppressive knocking thundered through the building hard enough to shake it.
My expression crumpled.
Just who the hell dared interrupt my sweet after-meal teatime?
...Could it be a new customer?
I hurried to the second-floor window and peeked outside.
"...Huh?"
Standing in front of our shop door were figures utterly alien to the slums.
Clad in dazzling pure-white silver armor and holding shields engraved with the clear crest of the Empire, they were knights of the Imperial Elite Order.