(Part 1)
Ding-Dong
It was the hour when the sun climbs to the highest point of the sky. In a corner of the city, a copper doorbell gave out a satisfying sound. At the same time, an old woman put her head around the open door, peeking into the shop.
“My, having another busy day, aren’t you?”
The smell of baked wheat filled the nostrils. Long tables were placed against the four walls of the room, and over them the many types of bread and pastries we offered were arranged in rows: round ones, square ones, ring-shaped ones and more. All of them were faintly giving off steam, making it clear that they were freshly made. The place, which could never be described as big, was currently bursting with people that had come searching for a tasty lunch.
“Welcome!” While I served the clients in front of me, jotting down their bill, I turned to the new arrival with a smile on my face.
“A loaf of bread, please.”
“I want that one sprinkled with lots of sugar, and two jars of marmalade. Berries, please.”
“Yes, please wait a minute. I prepare the orders in the order they arrive.”
After receiving payment, I grabbed the sugar-top bread from the shelf and the jam under my arm to ready them. It was a motion brisk and smooth; despite myself, I had become accustomed to the job.
“Your skills have really improved,” commented Mrs. Rose, the customer that had just stepped into the store. “How long has it been since you started working here, Lucca dear? It was really hard for you at the start, wasn’t it?” The old woman nodded her head, narrowing her eyes as if recalling something from the distant past. Her smiling face was just like the expression of a grandmother overjoyed by the growth of her own grandchild.
“Heh, I couldn’t stay useless forever, after all…Ah, welcome!” After responding to the bell and its announcement of a new client, my mind went completely blank. Huh? What was I supposed to do next?
“Lucca, the change! You haven’t given me the change!”
“Ah! So-sorry.”
My regular client gave out a big laugh, waving the loaf of bread with one hand.
***
“I’m sorry about before. I was talking to you while you were in the middle of serving clients, sorry.” Once the crowd inside the shop dwindled somewhat, Mrs. Rose came in to speak with me in a contrite tone.
I handed her the usual order of two loaves of rye bread and received the payment. “Oh no, it’s because I still lack practice. The path of a baker is demanding, isn’t it?” As I expected, my troubled expression made a smile presently return to her face.
“d.a.m.n right.” An extremely large man came out of the depths of the bakery, nodding deeply at my words. Certain starling hues could be seen appearing and disappearing in his face. This ap.r.o.n-wearing man was Mr. Bread, the owner of the bakery ‘Guns & Breads.’ He was a gruff yet kind man, with a beard as thick as a bear’s pelt as his trademark.
Because it’s a store where we sell bread so delicious that’s like a bullet to the face, was the reason the man himself told me once behind the name of his bakery.
Isn’t that a bit too exaggerated? I recalled thinking when I first heard that. But obviously, I didn’t tell him that…
“Although in comparison to what you were like a year ago, you are much less of mess now.” Mr. Bread ruffled my hair roughly and sighed. “Since back then, you often misheard the orders from the clients, not to mention the pricing of the bread.”
“Ow, that hurts, boss!”
“And you also hurt your fingers while trying to cut the bread,” Mrs. Rose added in support of Mr. Bread’s grumblings.
“Ah, yes, that happened. And didn’t you knock down a whole set of cooking utensils off the table at that moment?” Mr. Bread peeked at my expression with eyes full of laughter.
“Eh…? Was I that clumsy back then?” Obviously, it wasn’t like I had actually forgotten. I just couldn’t endure their criticisms any longer, so in the spur of the moment I pretended to have done so.
My boss and Mrs. Rose looked at each other, blinking, and then turned back to me…Both had an indescribable expression in their faces.
“Um, by the way, Mrs. Rose, what are your plans for today?” I averted my eyes from their look, a mix of compa.s.sion and surprise, and tried to change the topic in a deft and casual manner. I wasn’t about to let the fact that my boss was staring fixedly at me bother me, since It meant admitting defeat. If I managed to just distract Mrs. Rose, I could call it a successful strategy.
“Ah, yes, since today the weather is fine, after this I intend to go to Queen’s Hill and have a late lunch with my husband. It’s getting quite refreshing already, don’t you think?”
“Oh, that sounds nice. From that hill, you get a great view of the autumn leaves in the surroundings of King’s Mountain, right?”
“Yes, I’m really looking forward to it,” Mrs. Rose laughed, seemingly really happy.
After that, the number of clients started to dwindle down, so I enjoyed a nice relaxed chat with Mrs. Rose.
Speaking with the clients about things like the clumsiness my boss had mentioned before, about the taste of our bread and so on, I was able to learn more about how the ordinary people of the city lived their daily lives. I enjoyed hearing those menial conversations. ‘The stores of the main street are having a sale’, ‘There are a lot of robberies lately, so be careful,’ and so on, there were many useful topics for my life there, including learning about the latest topics of the day.
“Oh, my, I was so deep in talk, I’m making my husband wait! See you later, Mr. Bread, Lucca.”
Ding-Dong
With a smile and a bow, Mrs. Rose left the store. My grinning boss retreated to the back of the store, grumbling that even he was being treated as a child.
Mrs. Rose bowed again outside the window and began to walk away. I waved at her retreating figure, when suddenly, as if to hide it from view, a familiar face peeked into the store. Her dark short hair fluttered in the wind. Despite being October, with a cold autumn wind blowing, she wore revealing clothes, more commonly seen in the middle of summer.
Her name was Meyrin. She was…something of a friend. Then again, although I say ‘something of a friend’, she was the only person I could call my friend, so perhaps ‘a splendid friend’ was more apt.
Meyrin moved her lips, while pointing back with her right thumb. From the shapes her mouth was making, she seemed to be saying something along the lines of ‘Are you free now?’
“Boss, can I take my afternoon break now?” I inquired in the direction of the kitchen.
“Yeah! Go on ahead! And you can take the leftovers from the morning!” His loud voice answered me from the depths of the store.
“Thank you!” I also raised my voice, and then placed three or four loaves of bread and pastries just beginning to harden into a basket.
Ding-Dong
I opened the slightly heavy door and the pleasant autumn wind completely enveloped me. I quickly closed the door to keep the fallen leaves from entering the bakery, and cheerfully apologized to Meyrin, who was pouting.
“You took too long!” She complained.
(Part 2)
“It’s getting quite chilly, isn’t it? And to think not so long ago it was summer…Jeez!”
Meyrin and I went to a park with the waterworks. We sat on a bench, and she rubbed her legs which stuck out from her short skirt.
“If you’re cold, you should wear something more suitable,” I began to argue.
“Being fashionable means you endure this sort of thing,” Meyrin stated wagging her finger, before I could finish my argument. “Anyway, I’m starving. What’s in the menu today?” Meyrin’s ardent gaze, full of expectations, focused on the basket I held. Her eyes were twinkling and she was drooling a bit. Unlike me, she was a woman that displayed her feelings openly.
I took out one of the pastries I brought from the stores and handed it to her; she munched it with zeal.
“Ah, this is delicious!”
“That’s a new product. We use a lot of milk and b.u.t.ter, and many layers of pie dough…”
“Oh come on, I don’t wanna hear about it! I hate that yummy things make me fat,” Meyrin broke off my explanation, and nimbly threw the rest of the pastry into her mouth. She mumbled the rest while chewing the high calorie treat with gusto. “Fall came by really quickly, didn’t it? How long has it been since you first started living in this country, three years?”
“Not three, just one year.” I also took out a pastry from the basket and began to chew it. The taste of strawberry jam filled my mouth.
“You are so fussy! I get it, ok? My perception of time is different from yours. It can’t be helped, can it?”
“…I’m roughly the same as you, Meyrin, as sorceresses go. Even if I’m only one-quarter witch.”
“No way, it’s totally different. A whole cake is different from a cake cut in four.”
And the degree of satisfaction is completely different as well, I thought of quipping, but then Meyrin suddenly gasped.
“I didn’t mean to discriminate against you, just now,” she justified herself with an apologetic tone.
I openly laughed at the witch before me, now acting fidgety.
At that moment, there was a rustling sound as the leaves blown by the autumn wind fell to the ground. Even I, heavily dressed as I was, felt cold.
For the time being, it seemed impossible to be as fashionable as my scantily-clad friend. I was still thinking in such flattering terms about Meyrin, when she moved her head, and exclaimed “Huh?” I saw her notice something above my eyes, and then suddenly reach above my head. A moment later, she held in her hand a beautiful fallen leaf, colored crimson. I hadn’t even noticed when it fell in my hair, so she decided to pluck it out for me.
“Your hair looks reddish when the light touches it, Lucca. It fits well with the fallen leaves.” While she compared my hair and the leaf, Meyrin said in an enraptured tone, “A woman that matches autumn, I’m so envious!”
“Shouldn’t you be able to dye your hair with a potion?”
“If I did that, everyone around me would know I’m a witch, wouldn’t they? Just having a potion brewing business is witch-like. I don’t want to stand out in the eyes of the Society any more than necessary.”
I was tempted to say that, if she didn’t want to stand out, why was she wearing such revealing clothes? But since I was bound to be shut down with ‘fashionable means enduring it’, I kept my mouth shut.
“In any case, be careful. Lately, the people of the Society seem especially excited, since the Witch Hunt Remembrance Day is coming. They won’t care if you are pure or a mixed-blood witch. Just last week-”
“I know,” I instantly interrupted Meyrin’s words, since I dreaded hearing the words that were coming.
Last week, a witch called Samantha was killed in this city. I can’t say I was especially close to her, but I knew her name and had seen her face before. She was particularly good at raising plants, so she made her living selling flowers, seeds and vegetables. I was still unable to fully grasp the fact that someone whose name I knew was gone from the world. But, whenever I remembered that I wouldn’t be able to see her again nor become her friend, I felt a sense of loss and my chest ached a bit.
“…I wish Witch Hunt Remembrance Day was over quickly,” Meyrin whispered staring at the ground. At some point, she had crushed the leaf in her hand.
In this kingdom, there was a state-sponsored festival on October 31st. According to historical records, a witch was supposedly executed 300 years ago. Back then, the king was somehow bewitched by a powerful sorceress and lost the will to govern. His ministers, lamenting the declining political and economic state of the kingdom, had the witch poisoned. Then, they punished her and her unborn child by burning them at the stake. After her death, the king returned to his senses embarra.s.sed about what happened and devoted all his energies to the reconstruction of the kingdom. It’s said that soon after, the country recovered its previous prosperity.
“Thanks for the food, it was delicious,” Meyrin’s voice rang out, dispelling the serious atmosphere. She stood up while patting her stomach, seemingly very satisfied. “Take care of yourself, I hate losing friends.”
“Yes, I feel the same way. Take care, Meyrin.”
She began to walk away with a parting wave of her hand. I watched grow distant and disappear, still complaining about the weather, then I headed back to the “Guns & Bread.”
More Witch Hunt.
(Part 3)
Since lunch time was over, I expected the number of customers to decrease, which would make my job easier. It was just a matter of serving the occasional client, plus cleaning things and calculating the day’s profits.
Since the boss gave me a bit of the leftover bread and pastries, I should take my time going home. When I get there, maybe I could continue reading the romance novel Meyrin lent me…As I approached the store, I went over my plans for the rest of the day in my mind. The store’s sign, a loaf of bread fired from a gun, came into view.
Yes, this is certainly the place. And to think I’m even used to something this weird. Those were the thoughts running through my head when I stretched out my hand towards the door, and then…
Ding-Dong!
The doorbell rang violently and a man bolted out from store.
“Aaah!” The man was small and slender, but since I was directly in front of him when he rushed out, the force of the impact easily knocked me off my feet and made me land on my rear.
As for him, for an instant he struggled to maintain his balance, then he caught himself, swore loudly and began running. I was left watching his back as he left, wondering what was going on. Then, a big man exited the store. In contrast to the unknown individual that surprised me a second before, this was a face I saw every day, Mr. Bread himself.
“Lucca, that man just now, where did he go?” He inquired while helping me get up.
“That way, but…what in the world is going on?” I pointed towards the road the man chose to escape, but there was no longer any trace of him in that direction; just the peaceful scenery of the city spread out before my eyes.
“Dammit, he got away! He took all the earnings of the store!”
“Eh? He stole your money?” I cried out loudly without thinking. Then, I recalled my previous conversation with Ms. Rose: ‘There are a lot of robberies lately, so be careful.’ At the time, I didn’t think the news concerned me in any way. I was sure I was just going to complete my shift and finish the day like usual. There was no way thieves would come into our store…even now, I could scarcely believe it.
“How could this happen with you inside the store?!” It wasn’t strange for me to be surprised, in my opinion. The boss didn’t have a face suited for the service industry; obviously, that wasn’t something I’d say out loud, but he stated it himself. On top of that, he had a body so big that you could easily mistake him for a bear. Being so muscular, he was able to lift without effort things I couldn’t at all unless I used my magic.
But in contrast to his appearance, my boss was always concerned about the well-being of others, so he let me handle the customers while he slaved behind the scenes, in order to avoid ‘scaring the kids’, in his own words.
Still, even though he was alone tending the store while I was out relaxing with Meyrin, I could’ve never dreamed that a man like my boss could become a victim of a robbery during business hours.
“There were two thieves,” my boss said.
At this, I glanced inside the store through the open door, and chanced to see another man, almost as big as my boss, unconscious on the ground.
From what I was told, while he was minding the store, the thin client came inside. “I was busy preparing his order, when I heard a noise coming from the kitchen. It was supposed to be empty, and the sound was too loud to be mice, so I had the client wait and went to the back to check. There, I found this burly guy, who knows where he came from, brandishing a knife.” As soon as he saw my boss, the unexpected visitor tried to stab him.
“I made him taste my fist immediately, and thankfully he pa.s.sed out. But when I dragged him towards the counter by the scruff of his neck, I discovered that the slim man had escaped with the money from the shelf behind the counter.” At this point of the story, my boss let out a big sigh.
It‘s my fault, I thought blaming myself, as I gazed upon my boss’ dismayed look. If I hadn’t been out on break, he wouldn’t have been minding the store on his own, and the money wouldn’t have been stolen.
“Don’t worry about it, Lucca.” Perhaps my face betrayed my feelings, because my boss decided to console me. Even though he should’ve been the one being consoled, not the other way around…those thoughts spurred my feelings of guilt even more.
“How much did he steal?” I was beginning to feel increasingly scared of the answer.
“A month’s worth of earnings,” he replied in a flat voice.
A month’s worth…Did he just say a month’s worth?! What on earth was he doing, keeping such a large amount on the shelf of the store?! I had many insults and admonishments I wanted to hurl at him, but I swallowed them all. There was no point in saying anything after the fact, and besides, my boss had been hurt enough already.
“Well, I did catch one of the culprits. I’ll make him confess the whereabouts of his partners, I’ll go to their hideout, and then…” But even as he spoke those slightly hopeful words, I could see that Mr. Bread didn’t truly believed them. Each and every syllable was tinged with dismay.
The earnings of a whole month –it wasn’t just a problem of money. How early did my boss had to get up every day to bake bread? How hard did he work inventing new recipes for delicious pastries? The crystallization of all the effort of a month had been stolen away in one moment.
The more I thought about it, the closer I was to spilling tears of frustration. But if the boss saw me like that, it would only make things harder for him. So I faced the ground in order to hide my expression from him and stared at own feet.
At that moment, I realized there was something on the ground, something that wasn’t supposed to be there.
“What’s that…?”
There was a shoe on the ground. A worn-out, flimsy right shoe. “It’s a shoe from the robber, isn’t it? He left in such a hurry that it came off.” Mr. Bread picked up the shoe and turned it in his hands, while looking in the direction of thief’s escape with an indescribable expression. “But this isn’t too much of a clue…,” my boss said in a barely audible whisper.
In marked contrast, a faint hope began to grow inside of me. That old shoe might look like trash and nothing more to a normal person…but I’m not a normal person. For me, the thief’s lost property was our only clue and salvation from despair.
I had to make a decision: this was something only I could do. I had to find the thief.
“Please, lend me that for a second!”
“Oh? Um, sure…” As soon as my puzzled boss handed me the old shoe, I ran in the same direction that the thief used to escape.
“H-Hey, Lucca, where are you going? Come back here!” From behind, I heard the boss’ voice, trying to stop me. But I kept running. Come to think of it, this was the first time I disregarded his words since I started to work in the store.
And your favorite spotlight-stealing girl makes her debut!
Remember, kiddos. Luka in this story is named Lucca and Miku is Mich.e.l.le.
( Part 4)
Since I spent some time discussing things with my boss, the thief had probably managed to get quite far from the store. I didn’t know where he was going, but I followed his ‘invisible silhouette’ until finally I reached a big marketplace.
This marketplace, En Pa.s.sant, drew huge crowds of people every day, especially at that hour of the day, when it was so jammed with shoppers that it made one wonder if everyone in the city was gathered here. I had no choice but to thread my way through the crowd; my intent was to run, but it wasn’t possible to do anything but walk in the direction I was heading.
I had to find the culprit soon. He might use the boss’ money or store it inside of a hiding place no one else knew about. Worse still, he could leave the country, which would make pursuing him a tad inconvenient.
Although my thoughts were troubled, my pace was uncommonly calm. Eventually, I came across a long queue before a fruit stall, and couldn’t continue forward.
“Excuse me! I’m in a hurry, please let me pa.s.s…!” My voice was mercilessly swallowed by the roar of the crowd around me, without reaching a single person. I attempted to use some force to break the queue, but the sea of people didn’t budge.
It occurred to me that, given the hour, even if I followed the thief’s trail, it was possible for him to escape by mixing in with the crowd.
At that moment, as I hung my head overwhelmed by sadness, I heard a girl’s voice behind me. “A-are you…in a hurry?”
When I turned, I saw a girl garbed in a white robe standing very close to me.
“Yes, I need to go past this marketplace. If I don’t hurry…” The latter part of my sentence was said between sobs, in a voice hard to comprehend even to my own ears. I had set out with the strong notion of ‘capturing the culprit’, and yet here I was, rendered immobile by the crowd. How pathetic.
The robed girl met my depressed gaze with a concerned expression. The eyes peeking out at me from under the hood were a beautiful green. “T-this way…” The girl abruptly grabbed my left hand and began to pull it vigorously, as she started walking through the crowd.
“Ah…hey!” The girl advanced gradually, taking me towards parts unknown. I was shocked by the sudden development.
“This isn’t the right way!” I warned her, since she was leading me in the opposite direction to my destination.
“It-It’ll be fine,” she said and continued walking.
I remained puzzled about what she was doing, and yet I strangely began to recover my cool, in response to her voice. I decided to trust her judgement, since at the moment I was helpless.
For a little while, she lead me through the ma.s.s of people, and it struck me how smoothly we proceeded past them, like mermaids skimming across the waters. My surprise grew as we reached the road I was originally aiming for, at the other side of the marketplace. Barely a few minutes had pa.s.sed.
“Thank you…that was incredible!” I expressed both my surprise and my grat.i.tude with that exclamation, and she responded by laughing awkwardly and taking off her hood with her left hand. Her hair gathered in twin tails spilled out and fluttered at both sides of her head, catching my eye. It reflected the sun’s rays with a pale blue-green shine. She then gasped and her right hand quickly dropped mine.
“That was amazing, it really was.” I continued. “I’ve been in this country for a year, but everything is still so unfamiliar to me…” As I gazed at my left hand, which still had a trace of her warmth on my skin, I muttered, “the way you moved just now…that was just like magic.”
I immediately regretted speaking my thoughts so freely. The people of this country had such a negative view about discussing witchcraft that she was sure to take offense. I stole a peek at my benefactor’s face, increasingly nervous, and found that her expression was the opposite of what I expecting.
“Hehe, magic? Wouldn’t that be something! But if I were a witch, I’d have to be careful to keep the Society from noticing me, right?” She quipped laughing. “Oh, by the way, weren’t you in a hurry?”
I had just enjoyed a moment of relief, after she answered with a light joking tone to my comment about magic. But then, my heart began to pound quickly. “Th-that’s right! Thank you! Someday I’ll repay for this, I promise…Goodbye!” Once more, I lowered my head and then bolted down the small street beyond the marketplace.
That girl had saved me. Just as there are people who will steal money from others, there are kind ones that will reach out to help those in trouble. I rushed down the deserted street, somewhat comforted by that gentle feeling.
It"s always surprising to me when I see or read about people drawing blood out of their thumbs by biting them. How is this even a thing?
(Part 5)
There were many roads to choose from, beyond the marketplace. Even though I wasn’t certain that the road I chose was the one the thief used to escape, it was the most intricate road crossing the residential district, with many side roads connected to it as well. Another thing of note was that there were cords stretching freely from home to home. The people that lived there had a great number of shirts and undergarments hanging from them, so the clothing would dry in the sun. The garments fluttered in the breeze above my head; for the most part, sunlight didn’t quite reach the ground…all in all, it seemed like a very convenient road for someone looking to hide, like a thief, given the reduced visibility.
But it also was convenient for me. If the culprit came to his sector…I had a chance to capture him.
Once I made sure no one was near and there wasn’t anyone peeking through the windows of the residences around me, I placed the thief’s shoe on the ground. This road had little pedestrian traffic, but if the worst happened and someone saw me doing this, I would be in great danger. While my mind was focused on my surroundings, I bit on my thumb; the tip of my finger felt hot and ached, as drops of blood trickled down to the ground. With the liquid, I drew a perfect circle around the shoe on the sand.
“Pactum et ritus! (Covenant and Ritual)”
My hair and the laundry rustled, streaming in the wind. Above me, the clouds began to cross the sky at an incredible speed. Inside the magic circle of blood, a whirlwind came to life; a moment later, the sun hid behind the huge silhouette of a cloud.
“Please, search for the owner of his shoe,” I stated my command in as low a voice I could manage, while still watching my surroundings carefully. The blood I used to draw the circle evaporated and a faint laugh began to reverberate through the air.
I looked around searching for the origin of the laugh, and out of the blue, a fairy about the size of my fist peeked out from between the male undergarments hanging out to dry above my head. It regarded me with huge eyes, its bug-like wings fluttering.
It was a type of wind fairy, Sylph.
Even for fairies, they were notorious fickle. Under normal circ.u.mstances, I would’ve never called upon one of them within a city like this. But these was an extraordinary situation, so I didn’t have time for hesitation.
“Shh, be as quiet as you can!” I mouthed without using my voice to convey my meaning.
The sylph examined the shoe placed on the ground, then flew away with incredible speed. An instant later, the multicolored laundry along the street wavered in response. The owner of the shoe (that is to say, the culprit that stole the money) was at the end of the trail of shirts, undergarments and sheets affected by the sylph’s movements. Once again, I hastened my steps while looking up at the fluttering articles of clothing.
You better believe I laughed when I saw how Luka uses her magic powers here XD
(Part 6)
I fervently followed the culprit’s footsteps, taking care not to lose sight of the trail that the fairy was leaving behind.
Once we left behind the residential district, there was no more laundry; although you might think I was in danger of losing the sylph, I continued onwards, relying just in its ‘fairy dust’, the magic powder the fairy produced as it moved forward.
“Ah, there it is…!” For me, that only had a limited amount of magical powers, usually tracking fairy dust was pretty c.u.mbersome; I had to strain my eyes to see it, so it wasn’t reliable as trail marker.
If I made even a small mistake and confuse the sand and ordinary dust in the air for it, I would lose the chance to capture the thief. That thought was firmly engraved in my mind, and I believe that’s why I was able to chase the fairy without losing track of it until the end.
Finally, I reached a street called Diagonal Alley and followed it for a while, until I saw a figure I recognized. A small, slender man with only one shoe…that silhouette was unmistakable. It was the man that b.u.mped into me in front of the bakery and ran away.
Diagonal Alley was full of drinking establishments and was a lively place at night, but at noon there was little activity. Despite being somewhat close to the En Pa.s.sant Marketplace, the difference in population density was staggering. The thief probably had chosen this street to take a breather, since it was deserted; he was sitting by the shade of some barrels placed on the street, with the bag of stolen money open before him. He seemed to be in the middle of counting his loot.
“Please…return that money!” I shouted hotly at him, making him extremely startled. He jolted and immediately turned around. But when he saw me standing there with an angry expression, his face relaxed; I was only a woman, and moreover, I was alone, after all.
“What’s this, a broad?” With calm movements, he gathered the money on the ground and placed it back inside the bag. He seemed to be pondering what a nuisance I was, as he stood up.
“…That money is very important. Please return it!”
“How did you find me? You managed to follow me? Did you tell anyone?”
“Please give that money back! If you don’t…” Clearly, it was pointless to try and reason with him, since he was completely ignoring my insistent attempts. His att.i.tude was completely mocking towards me.
“Oh, if I don’t…what are you going to do?” While he asked in a menacing tone, his hand slipped into his pocket. Suddenly, he threw something directly at my face, something shiny and pointy, aimed towards my left eye.
It was too quick for me to react; by the time I realized it was a knife, everything was already over.
Although the thief’s aim was precise, the thin blade changed course unnaturally, right before it could penetrate my face; it brushed past me, and I could feel the air shift and press against my eyeball.
“Wh-what the?! What did you do just now?!”
I hadn’t done a thing. No, I couldn’t have done a thing. I just stood there, with an image reflected in my eyes: the figure of the sylph floating behind the man, an instant before vanishing. It seems like the fickle fairy had done an extra service for me before parting, out of sheer capriciousness. Thanks to it, I narrowly escaped a harrowing fate. If the fairy had erred even a little, I would’ve ended up with an injury I would regret for the rest of my life…or I would be dead.
Thanks to the sensation conveyed by the blood running down my cheek, all of the sudden my body was a.s.saulted by chills. My legs wobbled and my chest was bursting with fear.
I’m so scared, I hate this. I want to run away right now…but I can’t. I decided to do this, didn’t I?
I could never forgive this man for wronging my boss. Besides, even if I tried to escape at that point, the man before me wasn’t going to just let me walk away after seeing his face. There was no turning back now, I had to get the money from the store somehow with my powers.
I thought about my boss’ face and got my shuddering body under control. Then, I collected the blood flowing down my cheek in my hand, took a deep, slow breath and used the magic invocation.
“Pactum et ritus,” I whispered the words as softly as I was able, to keep the thief from hearing them. My voice was so shaky and thin even I would’ve laughed at it.
The magic force condensed around me. Then my body turned light, as if the high pressure attempting to overturn it a moment before was nothing but a lie. I kicked the ground with utter determination and leaped towards my adversary.
“Wh-what the…?”
The feeling of being weightless wasn’t just my imagination. The magic power had removed my weight, making me as light as the wings of a dove. The feet that kicked the ground now danced gracefully in the skies, and as if doing a running leap, they brought me directly within the reach of the thief. For an instant, I saw his face frozen in shock at the incomprehensible and sudden event.
“Remissionis de magia (Magic Spell Cancel)” I curled up my body, bracing for impact and hit the man like a cannonball. This was the second time we crashed into one another, counting the time he exited the bakery and run into me. Unlike then, the one that cried out in pain was him.
“Aaarg...!”
The man’s body acted as a cushion, as I landed on top of him. My head hurt from crashing into him, but beyond that, I was unharmed. For his part, he sported a b.l.o.o.d.y nose and had fainted. Apparently, my head hit his face and since I had returned to my regular weight in the middle of the jump, I collided with him with the strength of a bullet. It wasn’t a surprise that he would sustain this kind of damage.
Ultimately, I had won. Thanks to this, I would be able to return the money to the store. My legs, moments ago shaking with fear, now quivered with joy.
I investigated the man, and retrieved the bag. It felt heavy enough to be a month’s earnings, like my boss had claimed. Once again, I enjoyed a sense of accomplishment. When I looked around me, I noticed that the impact had spilled some of the coins and bills from the bag. While I gathered them, I planned my next steps.
Once the money was back in the bag, I’d have to go inform the palace guard before the man woke up; then, I’d go back to the store to return the bag and give my boss the happy news. Then…
“Hey” Suddenly, a loud and hoa.r.s.e male voice rang out behind me.
When I turned, I saw a man standing there, about my boss’ size…no, probably bigger. His face was full of scars, he had a slovenly moustache and one of his irises was whitish. He had an utterly creepy look, and the stench of tobacco and alcohol emanated from his body.
“What are you gonna do with that cash? Was it you that messed him up?” The man before me had appeared so suddenly, I could do nothing but look up at him silently.
It wasn’t a two-man operation, there had been one more thief with them. The small man was probably going to join up with this large one in that spot. It was embarra.s.sing that an eventuality like this hadn’t even crossed my mind. My mood fell from the peaks of joy to the depths of despair.
“Say something, dammit!” The man lifted a rocklike fist.
I closed my eyes, but even after a long time pa.s.sed, the man’s hard fist didn’t hit my body.
“Wh-what the heck…” After hearing that troubled tone coming from above my head, I opened my eyes, still afraid. The man’s fist was completely static, still in mid-swing.
It wasn’t the only strange thing before my eyes. When I took a closer look, I realized there was a silver thing wrapped around his log-like thick chest.
“A-aren’t you ashamed to use violence against a woman?” I heard a feeble voice coming from behind the man. He was so big I couldn’t see the owner of the voice at first. But I recognized it as one I had heard very recently.
“You dammed…“ The man tried to turn towards the source of the voice, lost his balance and fell down, hitting the ground with a thud.
“Aah…” My field of view become unrestricted, revealing the owner of the voice. The white robe was fresh in my memory.
“We…we meet again, don’t we?” It was the same girl I met at the marketplace, looking at me with an awkward smile.