episode_0450

A pitch-black kitten approached the twin sisters with a graceful stride.

One of the girls reached out her hand towards the kitten, and the kitten, with a very relaxed expression, plopped towards their merged shadow.

Swoosh!

“How was it?”

In response to Ruya’s question, the kitten closed its eyes tightly and then opened them.

The image of the kitten’s shadow reporting back was etched in its mind.

Thanks to the kitten carefully observing where the man went, the man’s identity was confirmed.

“He’s the owner of the general store. He went inside his shop.”

“It wasn’t a lie, right? He seemed really suspicious.”

In response to Ruya’s words, the kitten shrugged its shoulders.

However, the older sister still seemed to be full of worries.

“But still, we shouldn’t trust him blindly. Just because he’s the owner of the general store doesn’t mean he won’t commit a crime.”

“I know. But isn’t he a decent guy?”

Even though I said something really mean, I didn’t receive any anger. Instead, I even received praise.

“It seems like you were really worried.”

Although it was a kind gesture, I regretted being so mean.

“You’re too soft-hearted. What if he’s just pretending to be nice to laugh at us? That wouldn’t be good.”

Ruya started lecturing, saying that my heart had already softened.

‘Ugh.’

I must have unconsciously pursed my lips because she caught me in the act.

“Are you sulking inside?”

“I won’t do that in front of you.”

If I wasn’t acting nice, I wanted to tell her not to order me around and do it herself. But I knew that due to our appearances, it was more effective for each of us to take on our roles and act accordingly.

I glanced at her awkwardly, feeling resentful for no reason.

Then, I rolled my foot back and forth and said, “He’s someone we won’t see anymore anyway.”

“He said he runs a general store. If we have to go to the general store for something, we might have to go there.”

Go to the kind man’s store?

I didn’t know what other plans she had in mind, but following what she was doing was my job.

“I’m cold. Let’s go back.”

Sitting on the bench, I started feeling chilly as the night grew deeper.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I got off the bench, held my sister’s hand, and walked down the dark street, relying on the faint light from the street lamps. It was a bit scary to walk like this, but I wasn’t afraid because my sister was by my side.

With my sister, we were invincible.

※ ※ ※

“Hey.”

“!?”

An expletive slipped out unintentionally.

Negeesee, who heard it, looked surprised and stared at me.

“Sorry. I’ll stop cursing in my head.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

It wasn’t a big deal, but it was frustrating.

I had used up all my luck in pulling the SSR new character at once, but no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t get the unique equipment for Danya and Ruya, the new characters.

It seemed like it had been over an hour since I started spinning, and they still hadn’t come out, so I got frustrated and unconsciously used the word ‘damn.’

Negeesee didn’t even realize I was next to her.

“I’ll take a short walk outside.”

It seemed like today wasn’t my day, so I got up from my seat.

I needed to go outside and get some fresh air.

That way, I could shake off this gloomy feeling.

“Sure, take your time.”

Now Negeesee didn’t seem worried about running the store alone.

The initial chaos that had arisen for various reasons had been somewhat sorted out, and the issue that seemed like it would cause trouble with the students had been resolved without any major incidents, so she felt light-hearted leaving the store in her care.

“As for the Viscount Hutton’s side, a fight is about to break out, so there’s no need to worry…”

After putting in a request with the Information Guild, I made sure to receive updates on Viscount Hutton every week.

It seems that Viscountess had taken some time to convince her son, as there was a period of inactivity before she suddenly struck the Viscount from behind.

It appeared that Viscountess had some influence from her family, and with the active support of her secret lover, Viscount Hutton seemed to be too easily taken advantage of.

So, last week, I put in a request with the Information Guild.

I asked them to provide information that would make Viscount Hutton suspicious of Viscountess’s actions.

“This week’s report should be quite interesting.”

By the way.

“What about those kids?”

Ruya and Danya.

When I discussed with the twin sisters, Ruya and Danya, I had not yet seen the information, but when I returned home alone, I read about the situation regarding the kids.

And I found out that the situation the sisters were in was quite harsh.

“Who would have known. I naturally assumed they would be enrolled in the Academy City.”

However, the sisters were not Academy students.

Ruya and Danya, who turned 13 this year.

The two girls were street urchins in Academy City.

“Ruya and Danya have been together since they can remember, wandering the streets without a home…”

Usually, when a child is alone, they are placed in an orphanage, but the girls, thanks to their special ability called “Shadow,” grew up wandering the streets without being sent to an orphanage.

Ruya and Danya are still wandering the streets even now.

“I should have just let them go back then.”

But the kids had already disappeared, and even if I tried to find them later, Ruya and Danya wouldn’t just pop out of thin air.

To those kids, I must have seemed like a strange man with a wide reach.

Thud-

“?”

As I was thinking about Ruya and Danya in a secluded place away from the shop, a rock suddenly rolled towards me for no apparent reason.

It was strange for a rock to roll towards me in an empty place.

“What’s this?”

It could have been easily dismissed as insignificant.

But it didn’t seem like it should be.

While I had never had a gut feeling during item draws, now it was sharp and alert.

“If there’s something that feels like there’s something in an empty place, could it be an ambush?”

The most likely possibility was an ambush, but there could be other ways to hide and watch me without just that.

While preparing to defend against any attack that might come from anywhere at any time.

I felt a presence behind me.

Whoosh-!

Swiftly turning my body and assuming a defensive posture.

“Why is the shopkeeper so jumpy?”

From the shadow of a tree not far away, two figures suddenly emerged.

“You guys?”

I was genuinely surprised and almost attacked.

But as soon as I saw the shadows, I heard a familiar voice and was able to stop the attack.

“Hello.”

“The kids we saw at the lake at night.”

“You remember us, sir?”

Ruya and Danya.

The twin sisters appeared before me out of nowhere.

I never thought the twin sisters would drop right in front of me.

“What brings you here? Is it a coincidence? Did you really come to find me?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

They really came to find me?

I couldn’t guess why they came to find me, as the only connection between the twin sisters and me was the incident that happened that night.

“While I was contemplating whether to go looking for the kids, I was taken aback by their sudden appearance. Why did they come to find me?”

I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep the kids with me as I was completely unprepared.

Did I have anything that would make the kids feel safe in my hands?

“I can’t let them go like this…”

But I couldn’t just tell the kids that I knew about their situation and wanted to protect them.

Ruya and Danya still hadn’t even told me their names.

“Since it seems like there’s something to discuss, shall we go inside first?”

“Yes, thank you.”

I led the kids into the building next to the general store, not the store itself.

“This isn’t a general store, is it?”

“This building is also mine.”

“!!”

Danya’s eyes widened.

I entered the building first, followed by Ruya and Danya.

Danya looked around nervously, showing caution like a cat entering an unfamiliar place.

“Do you like sweet things?”

“Yes, I don’t have any food preferences. Thank you.”

“….”

Danya rolled her eyes, and Ruya answered on her behalf.

I seated the kids on the sofa and went to the kitchen to make cocoa.

As I prepared the drinks, the shadow wriggled and transformed into a small bug, perching near the wall this time.

“Is it monitoring to make sure I’m not adding anything harmful to the drinks?”

With such a high level of caution, it seemed like she had experienced a lot living on the streets.

I couldn’t understand why such harsh circumstances were created for these cute kids.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

I placed cocoa in front of the two, and a cup of coffee in front of me.

As I watched the kids enjoy their treats, I organized my thoughts.

It would be better to listen to why the kids had come to me rather than jumping straight to my business.

“What brings you here? I’m curious how you found your way here.”

To avoid raising suspicion, I pretended not to know about their abilities.

If I pretended to know, the kids would be more wary of me.

At times like this, it was best to act harmless.

“They seemed suspicious when we first met, so I followed you secretly. It was hard to believe you were the store owner.”

“I see. So, has the misunderstanding about me being suspicious been cleared up?”

“A little?”

Danya replied promptly while munching on bread.

I thought she wouldn’t talk much due to her strong sense of caution.

“Is it because of what happened at the lake that you came here?”

Ruya, who had momentarily shifted her attention from the cocoa and bread, was the one who spoke.

“No, it’s not because of that.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Hmm.”

After swallowing the bread in her mouth, Ruya wiped her lips delicately and spoke.

“We want sponsorship.”

Sponsorship?

I wanted to offer help to the kids, but I never expected Ruya to ask for it first.

And I was curious how they knew about the sponsorship I was already providing.

“You want sponsorship?”

“We are Awakened Ones too.”

Ruya revealed that they were Awakened Ones, and Danya clenched her fist and shouted.

“Sir, you’re strong enough to subdue us in an instant!”

Danya seemed eager to prove herself, as she was ready to swing a toy sword at me.