episode_0002

A bustling downtown filled with vibrancy, the scent of flowers carried on the spring breeze tickled her nose. “Mmm! This is nice.” The girl, with her eyes closed, fully enjoyed the essence of spring.

Even amidst the bustling crowds, the girl possessed a quality that drew attention. Her dazzling golden hair, tinged with a hint of red, exuded luxury, and her youthful face radiated freshness. However, her body was that of a full-grown woman, causing men to grow restless. Only the rapier at her waist proved that the girl was not as delicate as she seemed.

The girl slowly opened her eyes. Her ruby-like eyes reflected the sunlight, sparkling brilliantly. As she looked around, she suddenly furrowed one eyebrow. She sensed the presence of a knight following a short distance behind her.

“It would have been better if I were alone.” The knight’s stated reason for following was solely for escort, but she wasn’t foolish enough not to know it was a lie. It wasn’t an escort; it was surveillance. It was her father’s order, fearing that something might happen to her, diminishing her value.

Her name was Alisa Bretes. The Bretes Count family originated from merchants. Born as an illegitimate child there, she was treated entirely as merchandise within the family. Someday, she would be sold off to a wealthy and powerful noble in marriage.

“Haa… Suddenly, I feel stifled.” Just a moment ago, as she walked through the streets enjoying the spring breeze, she felt free, but in an instant, she was back to being a bird trapped in a cage. Still, she couldn’t resist. After all, everything felt like a predetermined fate from the start.

It was at that moment, as she smiled bitterly. *Whoosh!* “Ah! My wallet!” A young boy, who had stealthily approached from behind, snatched her wallet in an instant and threw himself into the crowd.

Alisa followed without a second thought. “Stop right there!” The wallet contained a memento left by her mother. She absolutely couldn’t lose it.

“Young lady! Stop right there!” The knight’s shout came from behind, but Alisa paid no mind. And at that unfortunate moment, a group of people from the opposite direction pushed their way in, making the crowd even denser.

“Excuse me!” “Make way!” “Aargh! What’s going on!” “Stop pushing!” The street became even more chaotic and noisy as people were pushed this way and that. Even the knight couldn’t escape the commotion.

“Young lady!” With a final gasp, the knight was swallowed by the crowd and disappeared.

*

“Young Master!” Leaving the knight’s shout behind, I chased after Alisa Bretes. It was extremely difficult to keep up with the nimble pickpocket boy, who was familiar with the local terrain, and Alisa’s movements, but I somehow managed to follow their trail. And so, I barely managed to catch the moment of confrontation between Alisa and the pickpocket family, albeit belatedly.

“Looks like you’re a noble young lady, why don’t you just leave? You might get into serious trouble.” A man, seemingly the boss of the family, a towering figure of 190cm with a wicked axe, threatened Alisa. All the while, his eyes busily scanned her entire body.

Alisa, standing proudly opposite him, noticed his gaze and furrowed one eyebrow. “Hand over the wallet. Otherwise, you’ll face a rough time.” It was a chilling warning.

*What level is Alisa right now?* I summoned the veteran’s database to estimate Alisa’s current status.

[Alisa Bretes] Level – 103 Strength: 74 Stamina: 82 Durability: 58 Senses: 112 Magic Power: 88

Since ‘Abel Chronicles’ doubles stat efficiency from level 100 onwards, it means she’s at least ten times stronger than me in pure physical ability. My knees automatically trembled.

But that was just my impression, knowing Alisa’s combat prowess. The pickpocket family scoffed at the beautiful girl’s warning. “Puhahahahat! Did you hear that? She said we’ll face a rough time?” “Kukukhat! What’s she going to do with that flimsy stick? Young lady, be careful. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll teach you a lesson with my stick.” As he subtly appealed by moving his hips back and forth, Alisa’s face flushed red. It was a collaboration of shame and fury.

“Alright. So you won’t listen to words, huh? Can’t be helped then. A stick is medicine for a disobedient dog.” Even after being sexually harassed by the pickpockets, Alisa seemed to believe that killing should be avoided, so she pulled out her rapier still in its scabbard and held it in her hand. Even at that moment, the family still hadn’t grasped the situation and merely swaggered around.

“Surely you’re not going to fight? Maybe you’ve watched too many plays, young lady, but we’re really strong, okay? You’ll get seriously hurt.” “Yeah. Why don’t you just leave? We have consciences too, you know?” These guys couldn’t possibly have consciences. They simply felt that if they carelessly messed with Alisa, who was clearly from a noble family, things could get troublesome. The boy who stole Alisa’s wallet would probably get scolded separately later. That’s assuming there’d be a ‘later’, of course.

“Why are you talking so much? Come at me. Or should I go?” The family fell silent for a moment at Alisa’s confident demeanor, realizing that a confrontation was inevitable to retrieve the wallet. They exchanged glances, then each pulled out their weapons.

“Don’t blame us. You brought this upon yourself, young lady.” “That won’t happen. You just need to take your beating now.” “Hmph, quite confident, aren’t we! With a shout!” The family boss pretended to continue the conversation, then closed the distance and lunged in an instant.

If it were me, I’d probably be saying “huh, huh?” before getting my head bashed in and dying. That’s how powerful his charge was. Of course, Alisa was different.

“Pathetic.” Despite the surprise attack, she calmly tracked the axe’s trajectory, dodged it by a hair’s breadth, and then brought her scabbard up to strike his chin. With a *thud*, yellowed teeth flew into the air.

“Aargh!” The boss’s scream echoed down the alley, and soon, the entire family followed the same process. For a while, only the sound of relentless beating resounded in the alley.

And the boy who had caused this confrontation saw the family being swept away like autumn leaves [a metaphor for being easily defeated] and turned to flee. The direction he fled happened to be exactly the same alley where I was hiding.

“Ah! You, stop right there!” Alisa, who had been diligently beating the family, noticed it belatedly and shouted. That’s when I fell into a dilemma.

*What should I do?* Should I pretend not to know and leave, or should I help her and build some kind of connection with Alisa? The former wouldn’t harm the original story at all, while the latter offered the advantage of naturally getting closer to her. Soon, I made my decision.

“Waaaaah! Help me— Ack!” The boy, who was trying to use his age to ask for help from those around him, didn’t see my protruding foot and tripped. With a *scrape*, his face dragged across the ground, becoming covered in blood. In the meantime, I quickly picked up the wallet from the ground and headed towards Alisa. *In this world, one had to be careful of old people, women, and children.*

Alisa, who had been rushing after him, saw me and her eyes widened. “Here’s your wallet. It’s yours, right?” “Uh, ah! Yes!” When I held out the wallet, Alisa quickly snatched it and checked its contents. Judging by the smile spreading across her lips, thankfully nothing seemed to be missing.

She let out a sigh of relief, then lifted her head and expressed her gratitude. “Thank you! Thanks to you, I found my belongings.” “I was just passing by.” “Even so! My name is Alisa Bretes. May I know your name?”

“……” I remained silent. Revealing my name would be problematic. If she were to find out that I was the infamous scoundrel of that Marquis family, my favorability would plummet immediately.

I shifted my gaze behind her. “More importantly, are you okay?” “Huh?” “The pickpockets are running away?”

“Ah, wait! Those sneaky bastards!” In the direction I pointed, the family was stealthily retreating with cat-like steps. Alisa hurriedly tried to stop them, but they darted out of the alley at full speed. The boy whose face had been scraped was also gone by then.

“Tch! They got away.” Alisa clicked her tongue, but there was no great disappointment visible on her face. It was due to her kind nature. She hadn’t experienced killing anyone yet, so she was content with just beating them up sufficiently.

This was not a good turn of events for me. “So, what’s your name? You seem to be around my age. Are you perhaps an academy freshman?” Helping her retrieve the wallet seemed to have left a remarkably good impression on her. I never imagined she would ask so persistently. Just as I was pondering how to get away without revealing my identity,

“Found you!” From the alleyway across, a brown-haired man who appeared to be in his early thirties emerged. His bloodshot eyes gave off a very unpleasant feeling. The man, who had shouted upon seeing Alisa, grinned wickedly and strode towards them. And naturally, our eyes met.

*Who is this person?* “Who the hell is this bastard?” Our gazes crossed, as if each was looking at an unexpected variable.

I had a hunch. *Something’s different.* While I hadn’t met many people in this world yet, this man was distinctly alien. Just as another possibility came to mind, the man turned his head towards Alisa, as if uninterested in me.

“Alisa Bretes. That’s right?” “…Who are you to ask that?” “You’re not denying it, so it must be true, huh? Wow, damn. You’re super pretty. Almost missed you, didn’t I? Why are the streets so damn complicated? This game is total trash.”

The man, who seemed to have poor social skills as he muttered to himself, used a very familiar word. At that moment, I was certain. That there were other transmigrators in this world besides me. To meet another Earthling… I felt a sense of familiarity, but a sense of crisis came first. Because I didn’t know his objective.

It seemed the same went for Alisa. *Shing!* She, who had only used her scabbard against the pickpockets, drew her rapier and pointed it at the man.

“State your purpose.” “Huh? State my purpose? What if I refuse?” “…I’ll cut you down.” “Kukukuk! Really? You’ve never killed anyone, have you? Can you even do it?” Finding Alisa’s warning amusing, he chuckled and approached, teasing her.

Soon, Alisa’s patience ran out. “Don’t come closer!” *Swish!* The rapier was swung with lightning speed, incomparable to when she struck the pickpockets. However, what was cut was the air, not him. His lack of tension even before Alisa wasn’t just bravado; he had quickly retreated and pulled his body out of the way.

He contorted his face into a menacing grimace. “Whoa~ You actually swung that? What if I had died?” “I told you to back off. If you understand now, just leave.”

“Puhahat! Are you serious? Why? I’m stronger, aren’t I? You said you were curious about my purpose, right? My purpose is to screw you. If you want me to let you go quietly, just spread your legs.” “S-screw? S-spr… What in the—!” Hearing such a sudden, explicit demand, Alisa stammered in confusion. Her face was flushed with even more shame, fury, and bewilderment than before.

“What do you mean, you bitch? Do you know how much I wanted to screw you while playing this damn game? The cum I’ve spilled because of you could fill a swimming pool!” “G-game? What on earth are you talking about—” “Ah, whatever! So, are you going to spread them or not? If you cooperate, I’ll be gentle.”

At his arrogant attitude, as if he were being generous, Alisa bit her lip tightly. She pointed her rapier at him again.

“I’d rather die than be with you.” “Is that your final answer? Can’t be helped then. But don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I’ll train you and cherish you for life. Khuhuhuhu!” He chuckled disgustingly and pulled out a bag of white powder from his pocket, shaking it.

There was no need to explain what it was. “You piece of trash. Die!” Seeing the drug, Alisa drew out her sword ki and thrust her rapier forward.

*Clang!* He blocked it with a longsword imbued with sword ki.

“Khuhuhu… Feisty, aren’t we? That’s what makes it fun to screw you.” “I’ll carve out that mouth of yours.” *Clang! Clang-clang-clang!* Starting with their first exchange, the sound of clashing steel began to echo ceaselessly within the alley.