Chap 3-A Disciple Who is Only Sought When Needed

 

A moment of silence.

In that stillness, I simply waited for my master’s reply.

My master stared at me for a long while, then sighed as if the ground would cave in.

“Doesn’t something sound strange even to you when you say it?”

“It’s really me. I was frustrated too, so I tried not to seek you out if I could help it, but I came because I had to.”

“I believe you.”

“Huh?”

My master, upon hearing my story, grinned slyly.

She recognized me?

Looking in the mirror, everything was completely different except for the hair color.

“I believe you. That unique scent, that insolence, that look in your eyes that shows absolutely no respect for elders, it’s exactly the disciple I know.”

“That’s a relief.”

I had gone through so much trouble just getting here.

I never dreamed I’d have to show the Thieves’ Guild and even the hero party pendant.

“What I find absurd is asking if that’s really your body. I’m asking if you’re playing a surprise event for your master with some kind of magic or some other crazy stunt. That’s what I’m asking.”

“I have no reason to do that, and am I the kind of person who would?”

“I suppose not. So, you came to find out why you suddenly became a woman?”

“I was hoping you might know something.”

“It’s not that gender transformation magic doesn’t exist. But you would have predicted that much, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes. If it were that, I would have known already.”

Frankly, that kind of magic isn’t easy to do.

I thought it was some kind of curse, but I had only seen it in records as magic. Even Helia, the next head of the Magic Tower, probably wouldn’t know.

Besides, there was nothing like that in the carriage.

If I had to guess, it would be the coachman.

But the coachman didn’t seem like a magician capable of that.

“Or maybe it’s some kind of gender-bending artifact. But you’re not the type to pick up just anything. What did you do before you fell asleep?”

“I read the Sacred Tome I stole from the Saintess.”

That’s the only thing I remember.

The sparkling light was quite intense, thinking about it now.

Now that I think about it, maybe it’s because of that Sacred Tome.

“Ha, how carefree, a stolen Sacred Tome. What? A Sacred Tome?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Show it to me.”

Seeing that she didn’t believe me, I took out the Holy Sword, the Ancient Grimoire, the Sacred Tome, and the Spirit Orb from my Subspace Pouch.

“Holy Sword, Sacred Tome, Ancient Grimoire, an Elf’s Spirit Orb, seriously crazy bastard. No, is it crazy bitch now? At least the Spirit Orb, the easiest to sell, is intact.”

“I drank it and filled it with water.”

The Elves have plenty of Spirit Orbs anyway.

That Kayla will just get a scolding from the Great Forest, and that’ll be the end of it.

Considering how much I’ve been exploited, that’s a cheap price to pay.

“You really are a diligent one huh?.”

“Didn’t you say, Master, that you have to know how to steal a country? Robbing a hero party is nothing.”

My master put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it with a match.

After thinking for a while, smoking and staring at the ceiling, she carefully opened her mouth.

“Hoo. Yeah, maybe that Sacred Tome is the problem.”

“This thing?”

“Don’t show it to me. I don’t want to become a man.”

Oh. Wait a minute, could it be that the Sacred Tome is really that kind of thing?

Hey, no way, even if it is a Sacred Tome, if it has gender transformation magic engraved on it…

If those incomprehensible shining letters I saw then were some kind of formula to change my body…

Then that Saintess would originally have been a man with a dangling thing down there.

If that’s true, then isn’t that bastard gay?

One more reason not to look at those things in the future.

It’s not that I’m narrow-minded, and I respect preferences, but to change your body into a woman for the man you love…

I feel like I’ve gained some new, unnecessary knowledge.

I naturally handed the Sacred Tome to my master, and she naturally pushed it away.

Too bad.

It would be unfair if only I changed genders, so it would have been nice if my master had gone with me.

Quick to catch on, my master openly pushed the Sacred Tome towards me.

“So, what do we do now?”

“This bastard only looks for me when she needs me.”

She put the cigarette back in her mouth.

“What’s the point of having a master?”

“May you have a disciple just like you.”

“Well, I’m not planning on having any disciples. So, there’s no way to go back?”

So, I have to live as a woman. Is that what you’re saying?

Then I have to get used to it.

To suddenly live as a woman after living as a man.

“Yeah. It’s clear that this Sacred Tome did something, but we don’t know yet. I’ll have the guild’s informant look into it for now.”

“Oh. What’s this?”

“We’ll talk about that later. What were you planning to do after robbing the hero party?”

“I was just going to hand over all the hero party’s stuff to the Empire, which is the Kingdom’s rival.”

Except for the Elf’s Spirit Orb, the other things are meaningless even if I have them.

I wasn’t planning on using them for anything anyway.

I only took them to make the hero party angry.

“To start a war?”

“Surely a war won’t break out. Eventually, it will all end up in the hero party’s hands.”

“You’re just going to give them the humiliation of having it returned by the Empire, is that it?”

Exactly.

They have to start over as much as I worked my ass off.

And of course, the kingdom that produced such an arrogant hero party is the same.

Kayla and Helia aren’t from the kingdom, but anyway, the ‘Hero Party’ was founded in the kingdom, so it’s only natural that the kingdom should be humiliated.

“Yes. If the items stolen by the thief are ‘retrieved by the Empire’ and returned to the hero party, wouldn’t that be a good picture? I understand that the main force of the Eastern Army has already been sent to the front line because of the hero’s request.”

“That makes sense. While the Empire is bleeding, the hero party was doing crazy things. That’s how it can be interpreted.”

“Yes.”

In the end, the hero’s prestige will fall to the ground.

In the first place, I wasn’t a regular member of the hero party in the kingdom.

The higher-ups in the kingdom have never liked me.

They’ll just turn their heads as they please because a thief committed a theft.

“But now, what are you going to do in that form? Go to the Emperor and give it all to him?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

That Emperor would probably be overjoyed.

He’ll be able to pick up the pride that fell to the ground because of the hero.

On the other hand, the hero party will probably be giving up and going back by now.

“Stop it. Doing that in that form will only add to the confusion.”

“So, I was looking for someone influential in the Imperial Family.”

I stared intently at my master.

Yes. This person has influence in the Imperial Family.

To be precise, it’s a network of connections.

The reason why a dangerous guild like the Thieves’ Guild can stay in the capital until now is because of the tacit consent of the Emperor and the nobles.

It is said that the Thieves’ Guild holds the weaknesses of the nobles and the Imperial Family.

The Thieves’ Guild is said to be balancing the Emperor and the nobles, or the nobles among themselves.

“You want me to do it?”

“Yes.”

What’s the point of having a master? You have to use them at times like this.

“Ha, even in that form, you’re still shameless. You’re the one who committed the crime, but I’m the one who has to clean it up. How diligent?”

“Yes. I’m diligent.”

Originally, you need someone to pass this kind of thing on to.

Anyway, the kingdom has what the hero did to the Empire, and if the Empire retrieves it, it’ll be fine.

“But I can’t do it for free.”

“Ha, that’s just like you, Master.”

“Don’t you have any conscience? There must be something in return for what you get.”

My master stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and smiled leisurely.

As if she had come up with something very brilliant.

“So?”

“I just happened to need someone with excellent skills.”

“Yes?”

She leaned over and brought her face closer.

Close enough to smell the lingering cigarette smoke on her lips.

“Let’s work together.”

My master was smiling very deeply, very viciously.

Katarina von Adelheid Bathory.

The guild master of the Thieves’ Guild, and the Iron Lady who ironically restored the peace in the Empire’s underworld by taking control of the Empire’s slums early on.

She glanced at the woman in front of her, presumed to be her disciple, with an indifferent gaze.

At first, it was just when she was working in the royal palace. She had taken in a child who was rotting in the gutter and could die at any time as her disciple.

But the child grew up to be big enough to join the hero party.

And even became a woman.

And those breasts.

‘They’re too big for a man to carry around.’

Well, since she’s become a woman, I can’t help but look at that side of her.

Frankly speaking, Katarina wanted to laugh but couldn’t.

No, she was so dumbfounded.

-You? The hero party? Stop talking nonsense and just do the guild’s work.

-Ah, I want to start a new life.

It’s not the rebellious period of youth. The guy who ran away saying he was going to make a new start came back, and he became a woman.

And she robbed the hero party and came back.

It seems like she became like that after looking at the Sacred Tome or whatever of that hero party.

Is this what they say, you reap what you sow?

Knowing full well that the foolish guy would be backstabbed by the hero party, he insisted on joining the hero party, so this is all his fault for being used.

As a thief, she was quite lacking.

That’s why she joined a hero party or something.

According to the news that came in every day, she was doing a good job as a thief, but the kingdom’s reaction was still cold.

She did what she was told without saying a word.

But doing it to survive is different from being a thief by nature.

So, this time will be a good experience for this kid.

She said she wanted a new start, so I have to let her start.

“What work?”

The ugly disciple was asking with a girl’s face, so goosebumps rose.

“The Second Empress Marina is my close friend.”

“A close friend? A thief?”

“I’m also a Baroness, you idiot.”

It’s a relief that she seems to be willing to do it.

Well. What if she doesn’t accept it here?

She was kicked out of the hero party and harbored resentment, so she robbed the party.

She’s screwing over the kingdom, but that doesn’t mean the Empire can protect her disciple.

“So?”

“Her daughter, the Fourth Princess Arietta, is caught up in the battle for the throne.”

It’s not a lie.

It’s just that the disciple, no, the girl, is doing that role.

Now that she’s in that body, her face won’t be recognized.

There are many ways to use her in many ways.

First of all, her appearance is quite good.

“Don’t tell me you’re helping her, Master.”

“I just have to watch over her. Anyway, unless she’s an idiot, the other heirs to the throne won’t think that Arietta is really aiming for the throne. But.”

“It means her life is in danger.”

That’s right.

The Empire’s battle for the throne is really dog-like.

Maybe a lot of people will die.

The disciple is perfect for that.

Protecting one princess in the battle for the throne should be enough.

It would be nice to send her to the academy as well.

“So, you have to go to the academy first.”

“If you’re talking about the academy?”

“Schperen Academy in the capital.”

Schperen Academy in the capital.

That academy that any intellectual in the Empire must enter.

It’s just around the time of the new semester, and the princess has also entered, so the timing is amazingly good.

How could the disciple come to the Thieves’ Guild at this time?

“Schperen Academy? Are you telling me to go in and study or something?”

“Arietta von Feilob. While you’re going to the academy, take care of that princess.”

“Usually, you tell me to steal something, don’t you?”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t want to steal something from Schperen, but I don’t feel the need to do so right now.”

Her appearance is pretty good.

Well, this can be called a new start in its own way.