TLWRO 12

Chapter 12

The woman gazed at me silently for a long moment, then asked.

“But… to protect it, you need power, right? If my uncle takes it away, it means nothing.”

“As I said, I can’t sell this for you.”

I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“I can lend you money against it as collateral, though, ma’am.”

“You mean… you’ll hold it for me?”

“No, no holding. We don’t provide storage services here. We absolutely do not keep customers’ valuables.”

No matter who comes, I’ll always deny like this.

With that in mind, I winked casually.

She seemed to understand.

“Then I’ll borrow money using this as collateral. How much can I borrow?”

The jewel was an exquisitely crafted ornament, a sacred relic, possibly a treasure of a powerful noble family.

It was easily worth tens of millions of gold.

But the customer before me wouldn’t exchange it for any amount of money.

Right now, she was just acting impulsively out of grief.

“A jewel you can’t put a price on.”

So I offered one gold coin.

To mean it’s priceless.

“The term is three months, interest rate ten percent. If you miss the deadline, interest will accumulate, but given the amount, I won’t charge you any interest.”

She accepted the one gold coin carefully.

“Please be sure to come back for it. Really.”

As she toyed with the gold coin, the pale corners of her lips lifted slightly.

“Okay. I will. Three months… I’ll definitely come to pay it back by then.”

“Yes. Since it’s a pawn, I have to write it down. What’s your name, ma’am?”

She hesitated, but answered in a clearer voice than when she first came in.

“…Lina. My name is Lina.”

“Alright, Lina. See you again.”

“Yeah. See you.”

Watching her retreating figure, I rubbed the stiff back of my neck.

“She looks barely my age at most. To think someone would threaten a girl like that to take her inheritance.”

Listening to Lina’s story made me angry as if it were my own.

No, what’s the difference? I recalled my past life where I was helplessly robbed by relatives.

Maybe the reason I wanted to hear Lina’s story was because I sensed we were in the same position.

Like the desperate me in my past life.

“If only someone had helped the me in my past life… No, what good is thinking about it now?”

Fanning my hand to calm down while keeping the pendant stored away, I spotted a familiar figure.

Huh? Isn’t that Hugo?

Hugo, frowning deeply, approached with a tired-looking aide. He even had a long sword strapped at his waist.

Clearly, he intended to intimidate.

“Bringing a sword just to threaten a girl? Good job, really… But I guess coming now is commendable.”

Hugo must have chosen the night after closing time after spying whether my uncle was around.

Well, I expected Hugo to come soon, so I had also requested some security magic.

I even hoped he would come at night. No particular reason—just didn’t want the customers to be scared.

But I liked that Hugo chose tonight.

“You came at the perfect time, you bastard.”

Because I’m really pissed off right now.

Cracking my stiff neck, I smiled.

Lina, walking among people in robes on a nighttime street, paused briefly.

She looked down at her hands.

In one hand, a crumpled tissue; in the other, a single gold coin.

“No one will cherish it more than I will…”

Chewing on those words, her steps felt somehow lighter.

Was it because she had left the pendant behind, or because she had left the worries weighing on her heart?

She glanced back quietly. The pawnshop’s lights still shone brightly in the distance.

It seemed like the kind farewell of the owner who had smiled warmly and sent her off.

“She helped me. Without even knowing who I was.”

She had cried herself to sleep from her uncle’s threats. When she came to, she was on this street.

She couldn’t even remember how she got there.

She must have been so exhausted she thought she might as well just sell it rather than hand it over to someone she hated.

But when the pawnshop owner spoke firmly, it was like a splash of cold water, waking her up.

“And yet, she didn’t ask for anything in return.”

If the owner had taken it and sold it right away, she would have made a fortune.

But the woman did not. On top of that, she readily offered a helping hand.

Recalling those clear, pure light purple eyes, Lina repeated the woman’s words like a chant.

“No one will cherish it more than I will. So… I have to protect it. I will protect it.”

Lina headed to a quiet corner.

In the deserted place, she spun the blue gem on the ring worn on her right ring finger.

Katarina Preslipe

Reading the name engraved on the ring, and glancing toward the distant imperial palace, Lina closed her eyes.

In an instant,

the blue light flashed.

She disappeared as if swallowed by the light.

“Are you sure your uncle isn’t here?”

Hugo looked around the pawnshop quickly, uneasy despite his aide’s answer.

It was closing time. If her uncle had been here, he would have been counting money, but the counter was empty.

“Then what about the pink-haired girl?”

Humming happily, spraying air freshener.

She surely never expected him to come!

He intended to seize the initiative while she was off guard.

Hugo kicked the door open vigorously.

Thud! He expected the wooden door to splinter.

“Aaah!”

But he was the one who got hurt.

Grabbing his calf and hopping in pain, Hugo locked eyes with Elisha, who held the spray.

“What are you staring at!?” Hugo snapped, furious as if stabbed.

“Looks like there’s some security magic in place, huh? You think that’ll stop me? Open the door right now!”

“Huh? Magic?”

Elisha pointed at the door with a puzzled look.

Pull

A sticker was attached.

Right next to a “No Smoking” sticker.

“They say the word ‘Pull’ is the hardest for Empire citizens to read…”

At her mumble, Hugo’s face flushed as he pulled the door.

It opened too easily, the fresh scent of the air freshener wafting out, making him even angrier.

“Damn it!”

The initiative was lost.

Still, it was a relief. Even in this chaos, her uncle didn’t show, so he really wasn’t here.

Besides, seeing Elisha ask “Magic?” suggested she barely knew what security magic was.

Meaning, it’s no problem to intimidate that girl at will.

“Go outside and guard the door. Don’t let that girl run off like last time.”

Ordering his aide, Hugo sat arrogantly in a chair.

The long sword at his waist was clearly visible.

Just as planned, Elisha turned pale at the sight of the sword.

“You know why I’m here, don’t you? You little con artist.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play innocent! You think I don’t know what you did?”

“You must be misunderstanding. Why don’t we have some tea and talk this through…”

“Shut up! You think I don’t know you’re stalling? Stop lying!”

Elisha, who was about to bring out a tea set, hesitated.

That innocent, pure look. As if she knew nothing.

But if I fall for it again, I’m a fool.

And now she even comes prepared with tea?

“Do you think I’d drink that?”

Hugo sneered cruelly.

“You drink it first.”