Vermillion Chapter 21

The wind howled in her ear.

The town was lit by twilight.

The nightscape grew behind her.

A girl covered in black ran.

She ran on the rooftops, tap, tap.

She left behind only the light taps of her footsteps.

A shadow stretched out from her feet.

A fish… A bird… A cat… An arm.

It leaped and swam joyfully.

As it hectically changed its form it showed her the way.

The maiden of twilight 『Kerstin』.

The incarnation of twilight and afterglow, the ruler of twilight.

Aileen followed the spirit's directions and headed to where Lily was.

Kerstin was a spirit that both manipulated and moved within the shadows.

She was a fleeting being that could only manifest after the light and before the darkness.

Compared to Kei's contracted spirit, the maiden of wind, 『Siv』, she had little in the way of interfering with the physical world. As her specialty was manipulating shadows, she also didn't have a way to directly attack, either.

However, that was also why she required such low magical energy and wasn't particular about catalysts. Her magic had effectively no cost. She was easy to use, but she had her limits. A pure mage wouldn't find much use for her—but, she was a perfect fit for a ninja that used only auxiliary magic.

"So, she's here…"

The corner of the Old Town.

Aileen bent over the ledge of the roof and peered down the street, now devoid of people. The shadow that extended from her feet took the form of a hand and pointed to the building across from her.

A two-story brick building overlooked the slightly dirty street. It was undecorated; it looked like a warehouse. Light leaked from various windows on the first and second floors. She didn't even need to spy to tell that people were there. The first floor in particular, she could hear men's rowdy and lively voices there from where she was.

She nimbly jumped to the roof. Without even getting a running start, she easily jumped the nine meter gap, landing silently on all fours. Still on all fours, she crept unnoticed to the window like a cat.

Aileen dangled upside down, holding herself by her legs on the ledge of the roof, and looked in through the gaps of the storm shutter.

It's surprisingly clean in there…

Her first impression of the place was that it looked like no one lived there; it was empty. There was hardly any furniture, only a tasteless wooden floor. In the corner of the room was a small table and chair in which sat a man of delicate features, reading in the desk lamp's light. In the back of the room she could see stairs that led down. She could also see the swaying shadows of the boisterous men.

The pages rustled as the man turned them. He looked to be the only one on the second floor, and he failed to notice the ninja outside the window. After a while, she decided that she wouldn't likely gain any new information watching the man read, so she moved away from the window.

She took a grapple and rope out of her bag, hooked it onto the edge, and descended to the ground.

It smelled faintly of alcohol. She got closer. The first floor was noisy. There was quite the party going on inside.

Wait, isn't that…

Her expression changed to surprise and bewilderment. Inside, seven rowdy men gathered around a table and had alcohol in hand. Out of all the unclean men, she recognized one of them.

—Borris! Why is he here?

He had his arms around some others, red faced from alcohol and laughing loudly with his unkempt, frizzy black hair and wild eyes.

It was without a doubt, the man she saw in front of the workshop a few days ago.

She groaned and leaned against the wall.

Is that a.s.shole part of this too…?

Lily was a smart girl. Montand and Kiska said that she wouldn't carelessly get caught up in something illegal.

A crime committed by a family member.

She set aside whether Borris really could be called a relative—if he was involved in the kidnapping, then it was unsurprising that Lily let her guard down.

The h.e.l.l is he thinking… Borrowing money and relying on them, and then kidnapping their daughter?!

Her bewilderment began to change into anger. Just punching him once wouldn't be enough for her. Despite her anger, she didn't rush in for a frontal attack.

『Kerstin…』 she quietly called the waving shadow at her feet. 『Kie estas Lily?』

The shadow answered her by forming a hand and pointed straight up, using the wall as a screen.

"Unua etago (The second floor)…?"

The shadow waved its hand and then wrote out in cursive,『Neniu.』

"Teretago (The first floor)?"

『Neniu.』

"Tegmonto (The attic)?"

『Neniu.』

"Huh?" She wanted to yell, then where?! But held it back and thought calmly. "Interetago (A mezzanine floor)… A hidden room?"

『Jes.』Kerstin finished writing and gave a thumbs up before returning back to a normal shadow.

She felt a little relief and muttered to herself, "A hidden room, huh…"

If Lily was being confined in a hidden room, then that meant she was still alive. On the other hand, if she was somewhere below ground, Aileen wouldn't be able to keep calm.

Now, how should I do this?

She folded her arms and thought.

Surprise them and take control of the building?

Avoid fighting and try to get her out?

Beat them all up, get where she's being held out of them, and then get her out of there…

The thought of personally beating them all up was refres.h.i.+ng. However, after she considered the risks she determined that it would be best to just get Lily out of there.

『Kerstin, mi dedicas al vi ti un katalizilo.』 Aileen took a small fragment of a turquoise jewel and dropped it. It sank into the shadow. 『Vi priskribas la plankon plano de ci tiu domo, kaj vi diros al mi la pozicio de Lily.』She placed both hands on the stone wall. 『Ekzercu (Execute).』

In an instant, the shadow ran along the outline of the building. It was unlikely that anyone inside noticed it.

It slipped into the cracks, under the tables, and even the shadows of the loud men inside.

The shadow stood up in front of Aileen. Jet black lines began to form the floor plans of the building like a 3D animation. It was very difficult to see it in the fading twilight, but she was able to grasp where the rooms and people were.

The plans didn't reveal anything particular strange about the storehouse layout. On the first floor were the seven boisterous men and on the second floor was the reading man. However, she didn't see Lily there.

『Kie estas Lily?』

A shadow hand rose from the ground and pointed to the middle of the model's second floor where a black box had formed. It was right next to the gentle looking man, a small s.p.a.ce in the floor. The hidden room was too small to really be a room. Since it wasn't drawn out, the black box meant that there wasn't any source of light in there.

In other words, Lily was confined to a pitch-black room too small to even move around in.

Aileen's expression turned grim. This was terrible treatment for an innocent child. Her chest tightened at the thought of how scared Lily must be, shut away in the small dark room. Above that, they were drinking and partying, too.

They were the epitome of sc.u.m.

One punch wouldn't be enough.

Righteous indignation burned in her chest. She scowled at the light that leaked out of the first floor window. She told herself to put off beating them up and controlled her breathing, even though she wanted to break down the shutter and run wild.

Lily's rescue came first.

She bent over and lightly jumped, using the stone walls of the building in front of her and behind her to quickly jump onto the roof. She took back her grapple and rope and imagined the model that Kerstin made.

The hidden s.p.a.ce on the second floor… I wonder if there's a way into the second floor.

Like before, she held onto the window and glared inside at the gentle featured man through the gap in the storm shutters. He was probably the one on guard duty for Lily. The nerve he had to unconcernedly read while a young girl was locked up.

Her anger flared up again. A fierce light shone in her blue eyes.

Well, whatever… Let's do this right.

Aileen calmed herself down.

I'll just sneak in.

She reached for the shutter's clasp.

Squeeek.

"Hm?" The man suddenly lifted his head at the faint metallic squeak.

The window's shutters next to the table were open. The shutters swayed as if blown open by the wind. A gentle breeze stroked his cheek.

"That's strange…"

Why'd it open on its own? The wind isn't too strong today, either.

He stood up with his book in one hand, stuck his head out the window, and looked around. The air was calm, there weren't even any strong gusts.

"Weird things happen, I guess…" He muttered with a slightly worried expression. As if shaking off his concerns, he shook his head and closed the shutters.

Suddenly, his vision was dyed black.

Aileen dropped behind him from the ceiling and wrapped her scarf over his face.

"Hna!?" His mumbled shout didn't travel far.

As he flailed and desperately tried to get it off of him, Aileen stood in front of him and raised her fists. She used her whole body as a spring and struck him.

Her fists. .h.i.t him in the gut and twisted, forcing him to bend over. The impact was so strong that he was lifted in the air for a moment. He threw up in her scarf. The man fell to his knees and held his stomach, unable to groan or even breathe through the vomit stuck in his throat. His position looked like that of a criminal about to be beheaded—she spun and kicked him with a roundhouse to the temple, and he collapsed like a bowling pin.

"One down…" Aileen muttered coldly at the man on the floor as she lowered her leg.

It may seem totally merciless and inhumane, but for Aileen, this was still holding back. Her physical strength had fallen compared to when it was a game, however she was still able to use her body to its limit. If she had kicked him with her full strength then his thin neck would've easily snapped.

"Now, where is Lily…?"

Completely uninterested in the man now, she squinted and began looking along the floor. Kerstin's 『Search』 told her that the hidden s.p.a.ce was a few meters from the table.

"Here it is…"

She found it right away. There was one place in the floor that had suspicious looking cuts, visible if you looked carefully enough. Aileen stuck the edge of her knife into the crack and popped up the board easily.

Happily, she pried off the board while she thought, this was easy! Only for her expression to suddenly drop from her face.

A metal lid was blocking the way.

Even at a glance it was obviously st.u.r.dy. Its solid build and linked clasps reminded her of a safe. The front of it was all smooth except for a two centimeter hole shaped like a gear. She stuck her fingers in and tried to lift since she had nothing to lose.

"No good…"

It wouldn't open. As she thought, it didn't even budge. In all probability, this was the keyhole. If it were a simple enough lock, then as a ninja, she could easily unlock it, but that was impossible with the tools she had on hand.

She stood up silently and lightly kicked the man slumped on the ground to check if he was still unconscious before she rifled through his belongings. The acidic scent of vomit made her wince as she haphazardly turned out his jacket and pant pockets.

Nothing that looked like it would fit the keyhole turned up. She did find a metal key, although it was too big for the hole. She searched the shelves and such in the room, but no key turned up. The man on the floor showed no signs of waking up, but she wanted to ask him about a hiding place for the key. When she removed the scarf his eyes were white and his mouth was foaming. She tried to pinch his nose shut and she tried slapping him, but he didn't wake up.

What should I do now…?

Aileen sat cross-legged on the floor with her chin resting in her hands and thought for a while. She could use 『Trace』on the lid and find where the key was that way, but then she would be left with essentially no catalysts. Even so, searching everywhere manually was a waste of time.

What to do.

"Gahahaha!"

"Aahahahaha!"

Their thunderous laughter came from downstairs as she was thinking.

Aileen narrowed her eyes and suddenly stood up.

s.h.i.+ng, she pulled her saber out from the scabbard on her back.

—If she was going to use sorcery, this way was still better.

Well, it ended up being like this anyway…

She pulled a crystal fragment out of her s.h.i.+rt while she wore a sour look and shrugged. She stared at the waving shadows of the men downstairs, cast by the lamp light.

To check the condition of her saber, she spun it in her hands.

No problems. She swiped downwards in the air, faster than could be perceived.

A small amount of bloodl.u.s.t welled up, but she left it behind. Before she left, she stopped and whispered, "Wait for me, Lily. I'll save you soon."

Without another moment's hesitation, she leaped down the stairs.

How long had it been since the sun had set?

No one around seemed to care. The noisy people drinking together downstairs gave off the impression of only getting started for the night.

"—then, he stripped 'em naked and hung 'em upside down!"

"Heehehehe, crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

"Gahahaha! It couldn't be better!"

Even though his story wasn't all that interesting nor all that funny the drunkard laughed loudly. If alcohol was involved then even a cat walking was comical. Drinking turned to laughing, laughing turned to drinking. Borris, who initially felt nervous being invited here, was in a good mood and drinking deep.

The smell of alcohol whisked around in the men's heated antics.

The room, filled with too many energetic drunks, was a chaotic scene.

However, amongst all the racket was an intruder clad in black.

"Hn…?" The first one to realize it was the one that sat facing the bottom of the stairs. His immediate thoughts were, there's a s.h.i.+t ton of alcohol, but not nearly enough women. He was captivated, just as he was throwing back a fresh mug of ale, a beautiful girl dressed all in black appeared from the stairs. The man was frozen in awe for a short while and ale spilled from his mug. "—Heheh."

Ah~, I'm too drunk, I'm seeing some weird things. A silly smile crept onto his face as he took another swig.

Conversely, Aileen was the one that was confused. The first person to notice her made no noise and simply smiled thoughtlessly while he kept drinking. It was unexpected. However, she quickly recomposed herself and threw the crystal fragment she held to the shadow at her feet. 『Kerstin!』

She called the spirit and the men in the room turned to look at her all at once.

In the dim light, they stared at the girl in black at the foot of the steps.

They all smiled calmly, hallucinating the image of a woman.

Aileen quickly drew a symbol with the sword in her left hand. 『Kage, Matoi, Otsu.』She traced a line between the men with her finger. 『Vi kovras (Cover)!』

The shadow at her feet shook.

The men's shadows wriggled and squirmed as if resonating.

The shadows burst.

A jet black stream poured out.

A long silence.

However, the men were entirely wrapped up by the shadows.

Their voices boomed.

"Waaaaaaa!?"

"The f.u.c.k is this?!"

"Ahhhh!!"

The place fell into chaos in an instant. From the men's perspectives, a shadow suddenly gushed forth and swallowed them whole.

They flung their chairs back in surprise, attempting to shake off the shadow, and even froze in fear—each had their own reaction. However, Kerstin's shadow did no physical harm. Starting with the ones that didn't make a fuss, they realized that losing their vision seemed to be the only effect.

Aileen wouldn't give them time though.

The first man. She stepped toward the one who fell off of his chair and was prostrate on the floor. His head was at her feet and she punted it like a soccer ball. Thud, the man fainted in one hit.

The second man. He held his head and groaned. He probably hit his head after falling over the chairs. Aileen stabbed him in the thigh, preventing him from using his legs.

The third man. He desperately struggled to shake off the shadow. She slashed his right arm and as the pain made him stop struggling, she delivered a severe blow to his head. The knuckle guard and pommel of her saber smashed into his face.

The fourth man. He froze in his seat, unmoving. Aileen's movements flowed as she blew him head first into the wall with a roundhouse kick.

The fifth man. The magic seemed to be wearing off; the shadow around him began to fade. He crawled to the door, so Aileen stopped him with a cut to both of his calves in one sweep.

The sixth man. Aileen took care of the men around the table in a counterclockwise fas.h.i.+on before she noticed him. He sank to the floor, trying to shake the shadow off of his face. This man was none other than Borris.

"Borris, you piece of s.h.i.+t!!"

His body gave a start and trembled when someone suddenly called his name in the darkness. Aileen grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to his feet.

"Ah, w-who… what!?"

Borris, even while frightened, tried to tear at the hand that gripped his collar, but Aileen stabbed her saber into the floor and ruthlessly punched him down.

Bam! He staggered and put his hands on the wall, his head was spinning. For better or worse, the blow knocked the shadow off his face and he regained his vision.

Immediately, a cry stifled in his throat.

"That one was for Lily…"

Borris' eyes darted around—the unfeeling expression on Aileen's face sent a chill down his spine. However, her blue eyes were lit with rage.

Wham! She broke his jaw with a left uppercut.

"Agh!"

He bent over backwards. Stars filled his vision under his eyelids. Blood filled his mouth.

"That one was for Montand!" Aileen yelled and raised her right fist.

She struck him with a strong body blow, making him spew all the alcohol he'd drunk.

"Gah…!"

"That one was for Kiska!"

Borris retreated a few steps, clutching his stomach.

Aileen pulled back her right leg and said, "And this," she spun and threw her kick with all her might, "is for me!!"

Her foot hit him in the solar plexus. It was her sure knock-out roundhouse kick.

He couldn't even scream. He flew back, just like in a funny story, and crashed into the stone wall. "Ah, gu…"

He slowly dragged himself up and leaned his back against the wall. He kept puking all the while moving his hands about as if trying to find something. "Ugh…" He used up the rest of his energy without finding it, and collapsed in a pool of his own vomit.

"Hmph…" Aileen narrowed her eyes and snorted.

"—Ah, d.a.m.n it, the f.u.c.k, what the h.e.l.l happened?!" Finally, the last man managed to shake off the shadow. "Huh…?"

When he recovered his vision, his movements stopped. He looked around and saw that he was the only one uninjured. All around him were the bodies of his comrades.
"Nice timing."

Right in front of him, she pulled her saber out of the floor and tapped the back against her shoulder, tap, tap. The unknown, beautiful girl clad in black.

Her smile contained a ferocity that didn't suit her young beauty.

He stumbled back and fell on his b.u.t.t. As he still tried to draw back, he involuntarily gave an ingratiating smile.
She put the end of her saber to his throat and said, "—I have some questions for you, dips.h.i.+t."

The man could only nod stupidly.

It was cramped and pitch-black.

Her hands and feet were tied up, and she had a gag in her mouth.

She sat with her knees to her chest, unable to stir in the slightest.

Why… why did it turn into this? she thought absentmindedly with a vacant stare.

Lily's gaze wandered around the darkness.

This was where she was when she came to her senses.

Cram school ended as usual today, but she was late on her way home. The Cornwell's son, Juli, pulled her aside to study with her.

Lily wanted to go home, but she couldn't waste his good will, since he was to be the successor of the Cornwell inst.i.tution. She ignored his rather uninteresting talks of poems and literature while enjoying some tea. By the time she was able to leave, it had already gotten very late.

Juli was worried for her, so he offered to take her home. However, she wanted to get back quickly. She thought that she'd be fine on her own, and there was no reason to make the son of a n.o.ble personally escort her, so she turned him down.

That was her mistake.

She thought that if she had just listened to him, she might not have ended up like this.

Lily took the main road as she always did.

A boy that she didn't know called out to her.

His clothing wasn't bad and he was a little older than her, but his eyes had an evil look to them. He told her, "I'm bringing food to Borris-ojichan's place in celebration of his job, but there's too much so I was told to get Lily to help."

To be honest, it sounded strange. Borris lived in the old town, which was dangerous to walk around in at night.

However, from this morning, Borris said that giving the money back by himself would be tough, so he wanted her to go too. She read too much into it and ended up going along with it.

The boy took out a piece of honey candy, which was maybe a little too big, and offered it to her, "Want some?"

She took it and put it in her mouth and marched into the old town with the boy leading the way.

Then—that's where her memory became fuzzy. The last of what she remembered were the roads looked like they were turning into alleys, and the candy in her mouth broke apart and released a strange tasting powder. After that, the world started to spin and, as if she were in a dream the whole time, she woke up like this.

I wonder… What's going to happen to me… she asked herself over and over with a dead expression. She was vaguely aware that she had been kidnapped and was being confined. She cried, she screamed, and she struggled—but her stamina had already run out.

Will I be taken by some scary guys… and forced into labor…?

The first things that came to mind were 'slavery' and 'prost.i.tution'. She imagined a scary man with a whip and being forced to do hard labor in a mine or something.

She was still too young to imagine what other, possibly worse, outcomes there could be.

However, that didn't change the fact that she was terrified. She quietly sobbed into the gag. Maybe she had cried too much already, as no tears came from her already red eyes. Mom… Dad… Save me… I won't be selfish, I'll study harder, I'll listen better. I want to see you, Dad, Mom…

She scrunched up her face in the dark.

She prayed. Without speaking, she cried.

A loud metallic clang suddenly came from above.

She jolted in surprise and looked upward. The sound of metal on metal screeched. Her eyes widened at the sudden change of the situation and she began to tremble like a criminal on death row awaiting the time of her execution.

More and more light poured through the crack as it gradually widened. Her only thought to the warm light was, the outside.

Will I get out of here?

Or… will I be taken out of here?

"Mmmn!! Mnmnnn!!" Lily's sense of fear suddenly returned, and in spite of hardly being able to move, she mustered her strength to try to resist and twisted around.

"Lily! Lily!!"

But the voice she heard sounded familiar and kind. She stopped moving.

"Lily! Are you okay?!"

Lily saw Aileen's face peering down at her from the opening.

"Are you hurt?! Wait one sec, I'll get you out right away!"

Aileen leaned over and with her right hand grabbed onto the rope on Lily's back. Then, with unimaginable strength in her slender arms, she pulled Lily out in one go.

Aileen narrowed her gaze at the gag and tightly bound rope around her. "So cruel, to such a small kid… What a thing to do."

Lily couldn't keep up with what was going on, she blinked with surprise.

Aileen quickly cut the rope with her knife and removed the gag.

"I'm here to save you, Lily. It's alright now."

She smiled softly and ruffled Lily's hair to try and give her peace of mind.

Lily was able to realize that somehow, she was saved. Her red eyes that she thought had run out of tears quickly welled up again. "O…nee-chaaan!!"

"There, there. It was scary, wasn't it?"

She clung to Aileen, hugging her and crying. For a moment, Aileen looked like she was about to cry, too. She closed her eyes and held Lily's tiny body close to her. "It's okay… It's all okay now."

Lily's face was covered in tears and snot. Like a comforting a baby, Aileen slowly rocked her back and forth. Aileen gently stroked her back. "Now… No more crying. It'd be a shame if you ruined your pretty face, Lily."

"Ehu, onee-cha, onee-chan."

"Your mom and dad are waiting…let's go home."

"Y…eah, le..t's go…" She pulled away from Aileen and stood up, rubbing her eyes and nodded.

Aileen gave a small smile. This whole situation was unfortunate, but at least she wasn't harmed.

They descended the stairs. Aileen carried Lily on her back since her legs were unsteady from being confined for so long. Lily gasped in surprise at the men groaning on the floor—especially Borris, who remained unconscious on his stomach. Aileen ignored it and left straight out the door.

"So, which way is home?"

Currently, they were somewhere near the middle of the old town. She believed it would be best to get to the main street, so following her memories from before the sun set, she moved toward the center of the district.

However, before they even walked for one minute, Aileen said, "What's that…?"

Straight ahead were a large number of swaying lights. They could hear the sound of metal chaffing metal and many footsteps running toward them.

The people running were a group of guards carrying lanterns.

"Ah! Aileen!!"

And then from behind them, the face that popped out suddenly was—

"—Kei?!" Aileen shouted, almost letting Lily slip off accidentally.

He came out fully equipped with all of his quivers, giving him an appearance similar to that of a hedgehog. His face was flushed and under his leather helmet his bangs stuck to his forehead from the sweat of running around.

Having not yet grasped the situation, Kei rushed straight to her. "Are you hurt anywhere?!"

Aileen shook her head, taken aback. "I-I'm fine."

"It looks like it's already over… I guess I was too slow."

He saw Lily on her back and breathed a sigh of relief as he exhaustedly put his hands on his knees. From behind him shouted a familiar voice, "Lily!! Lily!!"

"Dad!!" With eyes wide open Lily jumped off of Aileen's back and ran toward the voice.

Montand staggered as he ran out from behind the guards.

"Lily!! You're fine?!"

"Dad!! Daaad!!"

Lily dove into his arms. They sank to the ground in the middle of the street and both began to cry.

"I'm so glad! I'm so glad that you were safe! Oh… Lily!"

"Dad! I was so scared!"

Kei and Aileen watched the two with gentle expressions.

"Umm. Well, er…" A voice interjected from the side. It was one of the guards, an older man with a splendid black beard. "Ah, you're the one from that time!" He pointed at Aileen. He was the inspection officer during the incident with her Hi-Potion back at the gate.

The man removed his helmet and scratched his head with an embarra.s.sed expression, "Sorry, but could you explain what happened?"

"Sure… Well, it's exactly as it looks." Kei shrugged slightly and pointed at Lily and Montand. "Aileen successfully rescued that child."

"Uh, well, I get that much, but…" He looked even more embarra.s.sed, but looked at Aileen suspiciously. "I heard that a skilled magic fighter was on their way for the rescue, but it was her…?"

"Yeah, that's right. She's the magic fighter… Aileen, where did they end up confining her?"

"Not even a minute down this road, in some warehouse thing. There were eight men inside, but I left them all alive… Borris was there too." She added the last part in a low voice.

"What…?" Kei knit his brow and his face turned serious.

The black bearded man looked confused, and while still somewhat doubtful, decided not to pursue it and shouted at his subordinates, "Hey, you all! The kidnappers' den is close!"

"Wait a sec, what are you doing here, Kei?"

Kei smiled as if to mock himself, "Well… After you left I linked up with the guards and persuaded Montand to come… I thought we could back you up. Although, it looks like we were too slow…"

"Well, there's that too. But how did you know to come here?" She tilted her head with an awkward expression.

Kei looked away.

Behind him, lanterns shone against the dark sky. Aileen thought she saw a girl in an angel's raiment smiling bewitchingly.

"W-whaat?" Her jaw dropped. "You used an emerald…? That's such a waste!"

"It's fine! What's it matter…." He had a sour expression, but turned serious and looked at Aileen, "We can buy a jewel or two whenever we want! But…"

But… he thought. His gaze wavered, and his mouth hung open without him saying anything. He looked away again. "Well, um, at any rate… Sorry we're late." Kei lowered his head.

Aileen blinked at his unexpected action. After a short while her expression changed as if to say, there's no helping it, and she lightly pushed his head. "Don't worry about it… I'm just happy that you came. Also…"

She remembered that what she said to him before she left seemed to hurt him. However, would bringing it up again and apologizing cause it to be an issue again?

Right now—

She said nothing, put her hand on his shoulder, and gave him a smile. "Although it really is just that you came, heh! I appreciate the thought, but to be honest, you didn't do jack s.h.i.+t!"

"Ugh… I can't argue with the truth…!" He looked vexed as Aileen laughed.

"What's with all this stuff anyway? Plan on waging a war? There's no way you'd ever use this many arrows!"

"You never know what might come in handy! Leave me alone!"

"I thought you couldn't use a bow in urban combat~."

"I planned on shooting through walls if it came to it!"

With the guards in a circle around them the two pestered each other noisily. Next to them the parent and child couple cried.

The black bearded man looked up at the moon as he replaced his hat and sighed. "I want to go home soon…"

†††

Afterwards, the guards arrested Borris and the other abductors.

After they examined the inside of the building, they found various narcotics and illegal goods. It turned out to be a large-scale drug cartel's den.

Borris seemed to be an underling in their organization.

They arrested more members of the organization after thoroughly investigating, and Borris included, were mostly sentenced to decapitation. The others were all forced into slavery, working until death in either the mines or processing waste in the northern section of Satyna.

The only useful information that they managed to get from the members was that there was a manager; a thin man named Tristan. Even if they searched within the city, it was highly likely that he had already left.

From the past events, Montand and his family were exhausted mentally and physically.

Particularly Lily, who temporarily stopped attending cram school and was recovering from the shock at home. Montand also took a short break from his work.

"We are spending time together as a family," Montand said earnestly, forcing a smile as he returned the silver that Kei lent him. He gripped Aileen's hand and said, "Really, thank you so much." The amount of times he bowed his head to her was impressive.

Kei and Aileen stayed in Satyna for another three days after the incident.

They wanted to find a job as escorts as well as wait for Connor to finish Mikazuki's hide.

For better or worse, because of the incident they—primarily Aileen—were able to gain some fame and reputation.

The magic fighter that gallantly invaded the kidnappers' den and admirably rescued a child. For that person to be a beautiful young girl as well, there was no way that people wouldn't talk about it. The tales of her heroism became so popular that rather than their previous day of searching for escorting jobs, shopkeepers came to them with escort requests.

The largest one of them all was Montand's client, the Cornwell company. Apparently, the suspected cause of the kidnapping was that Juli, Cornwell's son, kept Lily at the mansion until late. He seemed to be tormented by his feeling of guilt. Juli was so grateful for Aileen saving Lily that he made his way to their inn to deliver a large amount of money as a reward personally.

The reward came from his own pocket money, but even then, the sum was equivalent to a few gold coins. Kei and Aileen were both surprised and wanted to accept the money, but honestly, walking around with so many coins would be a pain.

The boy was clever; he understood that magic cost a catalyst such an emerald or jewel, and so with the approximate gold coin that he had left, bought them new ones the next day. The jewels and labradorite[1] were of such a fine quality that Aileen wouldn't have to worry about her usage, and Kei could use his 『Manifest』 again, after having run out of emeralds. Kei did suggest one or two jewels, but he got them faster than expected.

Juli also wanted to arrange for Lily to have a bodyguard to bring her to and from cram school once she returned. The idea he proposed was for Aileen to be the bodyguard. If the guard was a man, then Lily might feel scared, and on top of Aileen's good looks and abilities, she was already close to Lily. While it was another eye-popping addition to the reward, neither Kei nor Aileen intended to stay in Satyna and regretfully turned him down.

With the prospect of Aileen being Lily's bodyguard gone, Juli looked awfully disappointed. However, he was aware that Kei and Aileen would be heading to Urvan and began to speak of work. There was a caravan of merchants that needed escorts traveling north to Urvan via the highway. They'd received treatment that they couldn't have imagined a few days ago on top of a great reward. Kei would never have imagined they would receive such treatment from a boy that they had no interaction with until this point.

—The good you do for others is good you do yourself, huh.

The morning of their departure. That saying was something that he couldn't help but think of as they stood in front of the northern gates.

The merchants that they were going to guard were finis.h.i.+ng their final check of their luggage. Kei and Aileen were all ready to go. Kei rode Sasuke while Aileen rode one of the plains people's horses, recently named Suzuka. They sold the other two horses through the Cornwell company.

"Onee-chan… You're leaving?"

"Yeah, sorry. I have to go to Urvan no matter what." Aileen looked apologetic.

Aileen and Lily said their goodbyes next to Kei. Lily hung her head. She didn't ask Aileen not to go. She didn't cry. She knew it would be selfish. All she did was silently hang her head.

"I know. I'll give you this." Aileen nimbly jumped off of Suzuka and squatted down to Lily's level.

"What's this…?"

"It's a charm."

The thing she put in Lily's hand was a rose quartz gem hanging on a chain.

"I made it last night. I put a spell on it, as long as the sun is set, you can call me just once. If anything dangerous happens again and you call me, I'll come save you right away."

Although, she said Lily could call her, she couldn't teleport to her. It would use『Manifest』so that they could talk for a short time. It was believable enough for a child that the charm could send a shadow over a long distance.

Nonetheless, Aileen's words had a magical effect on Lily. She grasped it preciously with the sparkle back in her eyes. "Thank you, onee-chan…" She did her best to put on the bravest smile she could and expressed her thanks, but tears soon welled up in her eyes and her smile crumbled. "Onee-chaaan…"

"There, there…" Aileen held the crying Lily to her chest as she softly stroked her head.

Kei watched silently from his horse.

"Kei-san…"

Kiska and Montand came up to Kei's side, careful not to bother Aileen and Lily.

"Hey there."

Kei moved to dismount, as it would be rude to stay up there, but Montand stopped him. "Kei-san. I can't thank you enough for helping us."

"I didn't do anything… It was all Aileen." Kei smiled awkwardly as they both bowed to him. His smile wasn't exactly forced, but you couldn't call it natural either.

"We've already said our thanks to her many times. Of course, it's not a matter of the number of times…"

Kiska held a basket out to Kei while Montand flailed his arms in a panic and tried to correct what he said.

"They're sandwiches. I apologize that this is all it is, but I hope that you and Aileen will enjoy them for lunch today."

"Oh, thank you… what about the basket?"

"Keep it, of course."

"Thanks." Kei smiled with his reply as he fastened the basket to Sasuke's saddle.

Montand recovered himself in that time and took out a medium sized quiver. "I'm sorry if this seems simple, but… I've made a few more long arrows. I hope you find a use for them.

"Oh, this is… I already have a bunch of arrows, but… is this okay?"

"Of course it is." Montand nodded deeply.

Kei seriously had a lot of arrows. He purchased most of them from Montand, but the problem was their volume. He had four quivers counting the one on his back, the ones on either side of Sasuke's saddle, and the one on Sasuke's back. Three of them were quite large to boot.

"I'll gladly take them. But there's still a lot of s.p.a.ce in the quivers I have, could I just take the arrows?"

"Yes, certainly, certainly."

Kei took the arrows from him and put them into the quiver on his back. He felt that these were somehow made even more carefully than the others.

"Alright. It's about time that we head off!" The head of the caravan shouted from the front.

The merchants boarded their wagons and the escorts straightened up in their saddles.

It was time to leave.

"It's time."

"Yes… Take care."

"Truly, thank you so much."

Montand and Kiska bowed to Kei and Aileen and gave them their thanks one last time.

Kei removed his gaze from them and looked up at the sky absentmindedly.

The sound of wooden wheels turning began and the wagons slowly started to move forward.

Kei lightly kicked Sasuke's flanks and he, too, moved forward.

"Onee-chan! See you again!!"

"Take care!! I'll definitely come see you again!!" Aileen shouted and waved back at them from next to Kei.

It had been approximately ten days since they were brought to this world.

Just why were they brought here?

Kei and Aileen began their trip to solve that mystery.

Their destination, north. The center of the Ri'leir region.

—The fortress city, Urvan.

Afterword

Left to right: Borris, Tristan, Ahito

Two wonderful ill.u.s.trations from Mr. NAKA! Thank you very much! Ahito is a character from the second volume, so he hasn't made an appearance yet.

His figure has only been seen from the back, yet he's been made to look this cool! Thank you very much!

By the way, Ahito is a plains person. The plains people have his general features.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

[1] labradorite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labradorite

Ill.u.s.trations courtesy of Mr. NAKA. Find him at  (opens in new tab).