episode_0454

Living day by day through thievery had been our entire existence up to this point, but in reality, we had not completely neglected preparing for the future.

At the age of 13, isn’t it about time to start thinking about the future?

Compared to other common children roaming the streets, we were in a relatively good situation.

We could dream of a vastly superior future, knowing that we could harness our abilities.

Deciding how to use our abilities was our biggest concern.

We knew that we couldn’t live by thievery using our abilities forever.

Not like this.

“Doing bad things is too easy.”

That was the warning that kept us from getting carried away by our actions.

Our abilities were so powerful that it was too easy to turn a perfectly fine person into a mess.

“Aaah-!!!!”

Thud- thud- thud-!

“Li…ve! Ugh!!”

The bear shadow was riding on the mercenary’s body, relentlessly pounding the man with its fists.

Thud! Thud!

Each blow was heavy.

With every punch to the face, blood splattered, teeth flew out and rolled on the ground.

Thud-! Thud-!

The bear shadow would continue to pummel him until it was told to stop.

The sound of the beating made us feel refreshed.

But the feeling of refreshment was short-lived.

The fight ended too easily, and the mercenary, unable to overcome the pain, slumped unconscious.

With no response, the excitement of the battle quickly faded.

“What, that’s it?”

“He appeared in front of us with such weak resolve? Hmph!”

The bear-shaped shadow we had carefully planned and created together.

In fact, this was the first time we had used the bear shadow to attack a person.

So, we didn’t know it would be so effective.

“Enough now.”

We had never used the shadow to strike a person before.

We could live well enough just by thievery.

“He’s not dead, right?”

“No. He’s alive. Look, he’s an Awakened.”

His chest was visibly rising and falling.

It was hard to say whether it was fortunate that he didn’t die even after being beaten so severely, or if he was just tough.

In truth, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for this man to die.

But we didn’t have the heartless mindset to commit murder.

He may be a bad person, and his death might even benefit the world, but we weren’t strong enough to bear the guilt of killing.

“What should we do now? Just leave him like this?”

“Um… what if we leave him and he dies?”

“If we kill him, we’ll go to jail. I don’t want that. Besides, this man is a noble.”

As much as we disliked it, the mercenary was also an Awakened from a noble background.

Despite his current state as a mercenary, he still held the ‘status’ of a noble.

“Right. I think the same way.”

If the mercenary died, an investigation would follow.

If the crime was revealed during the investigation, it could spell trouble for our future.

We discussed for a while how to handle the unconscious mercenary.

He still showed no signs of waking up.

As the flow of blood from his chest began to slow down, a brilliant idea came to mind.

“What if we ask that eccentric man for help?”

“That man?”

“Yeah. Since he’s an adult, maybe he’ll know a good solution?”

“If we ask for his help, we’ll have to tell him everything. Are you okay with that?”

“I’m fine.”

I had already made up my mind.

It seemed like we could rely on the eccentric man.

Just looking at him gave me a sense of calm rather than panic.

I didn’t think there would be any problem no matter how much I acted up.

With a face that exuded confidence, it wasn’t a bad idea to talk about our situation.

“So, should we ask for help?”

“Really? I thought you would object.”

“We’re strong now. No matter what happens, we just need to knock them down like we did today.”

“Yeah! That’s right.”

Even my sister seemed confident, perhaps because she easily defeated the mercenaries.

Normally, she would have acted cautiously, but realizing that we were strong gave her courage.

I was really happy to see that change in her.

Since meeting the eccentric man, only good things had been happening.

Of course, encountering the old fate was unexpected, but now I thought it was better that way.

Meeting him allowed us to comfortably deal with the past.

“I should treat the eccentric man well.”

Where else could we find someone who would support us without any conditions?

“But I don’t think that will happen. The eccentric man is a kind adult. Right, sis?”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

“How should we repay him?”

The fact that he didn’t expect anything from us actually made us anxious.

“He said we should study hard, get stronger, and enlist in the academy.”

“Will that really be enough?”

Despite his eccentric behavior, calling him an eccentric man, I couldn’t understand how that would be a repayment.

Even though the eccentric man liked strange things, he didn’t seem to dislike receiving gifts.

“It’s the first time I’m giving a gift to an adult.”

I felt like I should take out my precious treasure box that I had worked hard to collect.

I wanted to convey my gratitude and ask for his continued support.

The items in the treasure box were things I really liked.

So, although I felt a little reluctant, I didn’t change my mind.

“Danya, let’s go now.”

Lost in thought for a moment, my sister turned back and reached out her hand, which I promptly grabbed.

Should I discuss with my sister to choose a gift?

“No. If I do that, she might also contribute to the gift preparation. I’ll handle this on my own.”

I hoisted the luggage in my arms once again, worried that the eccentric man might be pleased with the gift but also excited about it.

***

I was willing to actively help the twins, but I didn’t expect them to ask for help so soon.

They had gone to pack their things, but they returned after beating someone up.

“I wonder how badly they got beaten up for knocking someone down like that…”

They had really beaten the person up.

I knew the twins were not to be underestimated, but I didn’t expect them to be so sure.

Judging people solely by their endlessly cute appearance was not the way to go.

I knew they were hiding sharp claws, but it wasn’t a big deal.

It wasn’t like they randomly attacked someone passing by; it was a fight with someone who had a grudge.

“A guy who trafficks children…”

Fixing up such a person and letting them go as if nothing happened would only lead to more trouble.

It was a good thing the kids called me.

Leaving such a person alive and letting them go would only lead to repercussions.

When dealing with someone, it was best to be harsh and decisive.

“But first…”

Before starting the operation, I needed to take them somewhere out of sight of the public.

It was best to do this discreetly, so doing it late at night was preferable, but didn’t we have a plan to do it when the shop closed?

With the kids in tow, there wasn’t much time to spare as we had to go shopping for various items.

After years of mercenary life, I was an expert at ruining someone’s life with my skills.

“Here should do.”

A dark alley where no one would come to help even if someone was bleeding out.

That’s where I started the job in earnest.

I covered the man’s face and tightly bound his hands and legs in preparation for when he woke up.

Of course, using ropes on an awakened individual was not very effective.

But I knew how to make the ropes usable.

Even if someone was awakened, with broken hands and legs, would it be possible to break free from tightly bound ropes?

The answer is ‘no.’

“Weird old man!”

Hurrying to finish the ‘job,’ I returned to the general store, where the twins greeted me enthusiastically.

It was quite different from how they usually reacted to me.

“So… what happened?”

Ruya asked cautiously.

She seemed very curious about how I had dealt with that guy.

“He won’t be doing any more bad things to people. And I treated him so he won’t die, so don’t worry.”

“Wow!”

Danya’s reaction pleased me.

She looked adorable gaping in pure admiration.

I wanted to pat her head, but I knew our relationship wasn’t at that level yet, so I held back.

“I’m sorry for suddenly asking you to do something difficult. And thank you.”

“It’s okay. How’s your body?”

“My body?”

“Yeah. Are you hurt anywhere? Were you really scared?”

“No. We won because we fought!”

Danya said, clenching her fist.

“Then let’s close the shop for today and go buy some stuff at the store. Can you come with us?”

“Of course!”

Danya readily accepted my suggestion, while Ruya asked cautiously.

“Is it okay for us to come along?”

“We’re going to buy clothes and various necessities. It’s better if the person who will use them chooses the items, right? Also, these items are supported by donations, so feel free to accept them without any burden.”

“Thank you.”

“Great! But we have money. And things to sell.”

“Things to sell?”

“Yeah. Like this.”

Danya ran to where her belongings were and pulled out a sword.

“How much do you think we can get for this? It looks pretty good, so we might get a good price.”

“Where did this random sword come from?”

To the kids, the sword seemed too long and heavy to handle.

“It belonged to the guy we took care of today. Since the weird old man is an adult, we might get more money for it, right?”

Frowning at Danya’s innocent remark, I asked, “Why does the amount of money vary depending on age when selling items? Can you explain in more detail?”

I wanted to know more about the guy who had messed with these poor kids.