Chapter 10
As dusk fell, a fierce-looking man with a cross-shaped scar on his forehead, Daiham, sat in a chair waiting for someone.
He was constantly spinning the knife in his right hand with movements so skillful they seemed almost supernatural. Anyone who saw him might have feared for their life and tensed up, but Daiham’s men knew better.
That habit of constantly spinning his knife was a telltale sign that their boss was nervous.
“Big Brother, do you really think she’ll show up?”
Hanson, Daiham’s second-in-command, asked with a face just as tense as the boss’s.
“The gems we got up front were real, so I suppose she’s worth trusting.”
As he spoke, Daiham took a pouch from inside his clothes, untied the cord, opened it slightly, and peered inside.
Even in the dark room, small blue gems about the size of pebbles gleamed brilliantly without losing their luster.
The gems were called Raylight. They were a type of ore said to form when the blood of countless monsters remained in contact with a special mineral for a long time.
Equipment made from it had the effect of amplifying magical power, making it extremely valuable. But with supply unable to meet demand, the ore was worth a considerable sum.
Even this handful of ore in Daiham’s hand was worth enough to buy a small mansion.
A woman had offered such precious ore as payment for a job.
“Isn’t this dangerous?”
Daiham hadn’t even seen her face.
“Don’t worry, Boss! I’m telling you, she was a really petite woman!”
Dale, a sly-looking man who’d been quietly listening to their conversation, spoke up.
He was a low-ranking member of the organization and normally wouldn’t have been allowed to be there with them. But since he was the one who’d brought the ore, he was waiting in the same place as a precaution.
If this turned out to be a trap, Daiham intended to kill Dale no matter what.
“I’ll trust you, then.”
“Thank you!”
Dale, however, looked perfectly calm.
No, more than calm—he seemed positively consumed by greed.
In a way, it was only natural. The boss, Daiham, had promised him a generous reward if the job went well.
That was why Daiham honestly didn’t think the greasy-looking man would dare lie to him. But even if this were a trap, it wouldn’t be a problem.
He’d handpicked the strongest of his men and brought them into the room with him. His other men were waiting in every room of the building.
On top of that, he was a skilled fighter himself. Even if a Swordmaster showed up now, he was confident he could survive.
Knock, knock.
“Boss, your guest has arrived.”
At last, it seemed the client had arrived.
Since the men outside hadn’t said anything else, she hadn’t come openly leading a group of people.
“Mm.”
Daiham answered his subordinate as calmly as he could, putting on a deep, imposing voice.
Then the door opened, and a person with their hood pulled low entered the room.
She looked under 160 centimeters tall, with a petite build that even her robe couldn’t conceal.
“Welcome.”
“Hello.”
And her voice was as lovely as the sound of rolling jade beads. She was definitely a woman.
But Daiham didn’t let his guard down.
There were plenty of strong women in the world, and with her wearing a robe like that, there was no telling what concealed weapons she might be hiding.
“Phew, this is heavy.”
Thud.
She calmly walked across the room full of rough-looking men and set the bundle she was carrying on the table in front of Daiham.
It was so heavy that the moment it touched the table, a loud thud echoed through the room.
At the same time, Daiham gave Hanson a nod, signaling him to check what was inside.
“It’s all there, Big Brother.”
Hanson rummaged through the bundle for a moment, then nodded at Daiham.
“Well then, may I tell you what I’d like you to do?”
“By all means.”
Daiham answered her politely.
The other men in the room were taken aback by his behavior.
That was because, just as Dale had said, if a petite woman came alone, they’d planned to kidnap and intimidate her.
Daiham had intended to do the same at first, of course, but after seeing how she acted, he changed his mind.
‘She isn’t tense at all.’
Even though the cramped room was packed with rough-looking men, she didn’t seem nervous in the slightest.
Besides, any woman capable of bringing this much Raylight had to be someone out of the ordinary.
And from Daiham’s perspective, he could make a huge profit simply by completing the job and receiving the ore, without taking any unnecessary risks.
“I’d like you to put on a little act for me.”
“An act… you mean?”
“Yes. Tomorrow, when I go out into the street with a certain man, I want you to harass some helpless merchants right in front of him.”
“Is that all?”
For the amount of compensation she’d offered, it was a surprisingly trivial job.
Of course, if they did that openly, the Rebellin guards might take them in. But Daiham already had an accomplice inside the guard force, so he could get his men out easily.
The job had none of the risks he’d expected. That was why Daiham was confused.
But the woman in front of him simply replied,
“Yes, that’s all.”
as calmly as ever.
Seeing her like that, Daiham wondered if she might be some dimwitted noble girl who didn’t understand the value of the ore, but he didn’t let it show.
Even if she was a foolish woman, she was a noble with enough ore to spare this much. It was best not to mess with her.
Besides, there was no risk to the job in the first place.
“If that’s all, then we can certainly…”
Daiham smiled and was about to accept her request.
“Oh, one thing: you’ll have to do it yourself, Boss. And just so you know, the man coming with me is Theo Rebellin.”
If the woman before him hadn’t interrupted him with something so strange.
Daiham stared at her in confusion and questioned her, but she paid no attention to his reaction and continued speaking.
“In other words, you and all your men will make trouble, then get caught by Theo Rebellin. You’ll beg him for forgiveness and hand over all your property…”
“Heh heh. You’re insane.”
After listening to her, Daiham reached a conclusion.
This was a trap. If so, he had to subdue the woman in front of him quickly.
With a swish, he pulled a small knife from his right pocket and swung it at her.
“W-what…”
No, he tried to swing it.
But his body wouldn’t move.
It was as if someone had grabbed him and was holding him firmly in place.
And that wasn’t all.
“B-Boss!”
“Guhhh!”
His men beside him seemed to be in the same predicament.
“You shouldn’t go waving a knife around so carelessly.”
Daiham panicked and desperately racked his brain.
She couldn’t be a mage. Casting spells took time, so using magic on this many people at once was practically impossible.
But if that was the case, then what on earth was the woman before him…?
“Could you be… a dragon?”
A race hailed as the progenitors of magic.
If she was one of those legendary creatures said to require a national state of emergency whenever one appeared, then perhaps this was possible.
He’d never heard of anyone seeing one in person, but the situation made so little sense by Daiham’s standards that he was grasping at even stories from legend.
“Well, think whatever you like. So, will you take the job?”
“…What happens if I refuse?”
The woman nodded as if pondering his question, but her face was hidden by her hood.
Since he couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all, Daiham’s unease grew.
After a brief silence,
“Something happened to me a long time ago.”
the woman suddenly began telling a story that made no sense to him.
“My younger sibling liked ‘Home Rabbits,’ so I wanted to catch a lot of them for them, you know? But they were so quick and good at hiding that I’d only ever see one or two at a time.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Daiham couldn’t understand why she’d suddenly started telling him this story, but she continued as if she didn’t care in the least.
“But I had all sorts of abilities. One of them…”
The woman before him reached out toward Daiham, and, as if responding to her gesture, a soft blue light began to glow from his body.
He tensed, wondering if she’d used some kind of magic, but he didn’t feel any pain.
The light simply streamed out, gathered in front of Daiham, and condensed.
“What was that?!”
“To put it simply, if I put this inside someone, I can find out where that animal is, and if I need to, I can attack it too. Like this…”
With a sharp crack, the table between Daiham and the woman split apart.
At the same time, the sound of someone gulping echoed through the silent room.
“So I kept putting one of these into every Home Rabbit I found. And then, would you believe it… They all started living together in one place, like ants.”
“That’s when I had to decide. Should I eat them all right away, or take my time eating them since I already knew where they were…?”
Then the woman before him took off her hood.
At the same time, Daiham met her blue eyes through the curtain of golden hair falling around her.
“Back then, I chose the second option. I thought it’d be better to eat them slowly. But I think you people should go with the first option.”
On the surface, her eyes were beautiful, as though they held a lake within them.
But…
“What do you think?”
They were the eyes of a predator.
A predator at the very top of the food chain, the sort he’d never encountered before—the kind no human could ever defeat.
There was nothing a lamb standing before such a predator could do.
“…We’ll do as you say.”
All he could do was hope she wouldn’t eat him and would let him go.
“Hehe, that’s the right choice. Your life is precious.”
Fortunately, she seemed pleased with Daiham’s decision and smiled.
“Then keep what you know about me a secret. We don’t need to set a specific time tomorrow—actually, after lunch would be better, don’t you think?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
At the same time, the woman rose without hesitation, as though her business was finished, and headed for the door. She glanced back and slowly looked around at everyone in the room.
“Once you’ve completed the job I asked for, everyone in this building will turn themselves in together. It wouldn’t look very loyal if only the boss got punished, would it? Gangsters are nothing without loyalty.”
“Understood…”
“Hand all that ore over to Theo as your property, too.”
“…”
“You know what’ll happen if you try to run, right?”
Daiham didn’t answer, but he’d already given up on everything.
The woman—no, Edel—nodded, apparently satisfied with Daiham’s expression.
“Then I’ll be counting on you tomorrow.”
Then she left the room.
A little while later,
a man’s scream rang through the entire building.
* * *
“Haa, I’m exhausted.”
It had taken longer than I’d expected, so I didn’t get back to the mansion until nearly dawn.
Lately, I’d barely been sleeping, and I’d been going out every night to catch criminal organizations, so the fatigue had already become chronic.
Honestly, I hadn’t thought it would take this long.
I figured it’d be easy to catch the low-ranking members, but that wouldn’t have meant anything.
So I remembered how I’d hunted in the forest and started going around at night, spreading spiritual energy over the gang members. It seemed all that effort had finally paid off today.
“Still, I never imagined that pebble would be worth so much.”
Was it called Raylight? My younger sibling had told me to take just one, so I’d kept it with me. If Sully hadn’t told me about it, I might never have found out.
Back when Lazuli wanted to collect every pretty thing they came across, I’d grumbled that they were always bringing trash home. Who’d have thought we’d be able to put it to use like this?
So I went straight to the forest and brought back a whole lot of the things my younger sibling had collected.
Of course, my younger sibling complained that I’d finally come to visit after so long only to take their treasures, so I was sentenced to an hour of hugging. But I got to hug them and talk with them after all that time, so honestly, I was happy about it.
Just like when Theo hugged me today…
“Maybe I’ll visit Theo’s room for the first time in a while.”
I used to visit him every day, but lately I’d been so tired that I’d only set up a barrier instead of going to see him.
Maybe the reason I’d felt such a strong sensation when Theo hugged me this afternoon was simply that it had been so long.
From now on, I should get my body used to it more often. I was so embarrassed today I thought I’d die.
Blushing just because I hugged a man—what am I, a pervert…?
I walked down the hallway I’d grown used to and arrived at Theo’s room. When I carefully opened the door, I saw him fast asleep in bed as usual.
It was quiet, so thankfully, he didn’t seem to be having a nightmare tonight.
Thinking about it, the first time I hugged him while he was asleep was because I wanted to do something to help when he was suffering.
When I was little, if I woke up scared from a nightmare at night, I’d go into my parents’ room, hug my sleeping mother, and fall asleep. When I was in her soft, warm arms, I could relax and drift right off.
Besides, I have a pretty big chest. Maybe it made him feel cozy, too.
I’m jealous… No, I’m not jealous. If I want to, I can go sleep with my younger sibling, too!
“Mmm…”
Just then, Theo turned his head in his sleep toward me. Since I was sitting on the floor beside his bed, I could see his face straight on.
And looking at him, for some reason…
“I want to draw on his face.”
I was working so hard to repay him for saving me, yet he was always frowning at me.
It was hard to believe he was the same boy who’d smiled so sweetly at me back then.
No, maybe he’d just changed with time, and since we’d only spent one night together, perhaps this was simply what he was really like.
Still, if I helped him sort out his troubles one by one, and Theo could smile like he used to,
maybe we could get along like friends someday.
I was sure we could. So I’d just have to keep trying a little longer.
“Hup!”
I had things to do tomorrow, too, so I should hurry back and get some sleep.
But before that…
“Good night, Theo.”
I hoped the rest of my benefactor’s night wouldn’t be filled with nightmares.
With that wish in my heart, I gently stroked Theo’s forehead.