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~Chapter 63~
Edwin woke from his memories and focused on the present again.
The inquisitor’s gaze was sharp. Depending on how he answered, Vincent looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.
“You really are a hothouse flower.”
“What?”
“You grew up seeing only good things in your beautiful, pure Holy City. Just touching the evil from the north wall scares you to death, huh? Truly God’s favorite child.”
“What do you know?”
Vincent’s eyes twitched.
Whenever Vincent had met Edwin before, Elicia was always there.
In front of his wife, the Duke was always polite, sometimes lazy and indifferent, with a sly way of thinking—just a typical high nobleman.
But now, everything was different.
His tongue was sharp, his sarcasm direct, and his gaze fierce like a beast that had tasted blood.
It was like facing a sinner just dragged up from hell.
“What should I know? That you lot always use ‘could die any time’ as an excuse to do whatever you want, acting like big, spoiled kids?”
“Watch your mouth.”
“If you really believed I was a demon, you would have killed me by now. But you haven’t—because deep down, you know I’m still human.”
Vincent ground his teeth.
If he had been sure Edwin was a heretic, he would have attacked—even if it meant starting a war. But he wasn’t sure.
Could an ordinary human face divine power and still overwhelm an inquisitor without a scratch?
He didn’t think it was possible.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from the hallway—someone limping a little.
“What’s that?”
“Master, urgent news from Bellamare…”
Bertolt, who had just left, came back in. Edwin’s face was calm as usual—until he opened the message. Suddenly, his eyes turned cold as ice.
“When did this arrive?”
“Just now.”
Inside was a report that Elicia and Gareth had gone missing the previous night.
The innkeeper said they left for a walk in plain clothes.
By the time the military carrier hawk arrived, it had already been a day and a half since Elicia disappeared.
There was no more time to waste with the inquisitors.
Edwin stood up without hesitation.
“I’ll play along with you since His Holiness sent you here.”
“But remember—my patience has its limits.”
It was a clear warning.
The Duke hurried out of the dining room. Left alone, Vincent looked at the windy, empty hall and smirked.
“Heh… Things are getting interesting.”
“Who are you?”
“…Ha…”
Right now, Gareth and I were in a very awkward situation.
We’d just gone for a walk by the sea at night to clear our heads, and by chance saw a group of thieves.
We tried to sneak away, but the thieves ended up running right into our alley—
and, by mistake, grabbed Gareth and me and started running.
We ran for a long, long time.
‘If this keeps up, I’ll die from exhaustion!’
As memories of my cat and gold coins flashed before my eyes, we finally arrived at… a hideout.
“Who’s the idiot who brought outsiders to the base?!”
“I… I think it was me…”
It looked like an underground cave—it was the thieves’ hideout.
While Gareth and I stood to the side, the man who dragged us here started getting scolded by everyone.
“Why would you bring strangers here? Are you crazy?!”
“Why pick on me? None of you noticed anything weird while we were running!”
“I thought she was someone’s girlfriend or something. She’s dressed just like anyone from our town…”
“But why is a southerner wearing our clothes?”
Watching a fight is usually fun, but not when everyone’s looking at you.
My mother was a princess from southern Marsen, so I looked a little different from the northerners.
Not a big difference, but enough to notice.
The cave became noisy.
“Is she a spy?!”
“Would the governor use a southerner as a spy?”
“He might. That bastard would sell his soul to the devil if it helped him crush us.”
The inquisitors at the mansion would love to hear that kind of talk.
While everyone argued, I whispered secretly to Gareth.
“Gareth, you’re really good with a sword, right?”
“Should I kill them?”
“No, don’t just kill people…”
I grabbed Gareth as he tried to step forward.
He might have odd thinking, but he seemed reliable. At least, I probably wouldn’t die here.
Still, if they didn’t want war with the royal family, they’d have to protect me—but even if not…
‘These thieves are pretty sloppy for having a hideout.’
The only weapons they had were rusty farm tools. The place looked more like a house than a secret base.
The arguing thieves finally made a decision and turned to us.
“If the governor finds out about this place, we’re finished.”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to die here.”
Not a great outcome.
Gareth asked again,
“Should I kill them after all?”
“Maybe just break a few bones if you can. Is that possible?”
“I’ll try. I’m used to fighting big monsters, so I’ve never held back before.”
‘Hmm… I can see their heads getting smashed like watermelons… Maybe I should get a different bodyguard next time.’
Just as Gareth reached for his sword,
from deeper in the cave came the sound of children’s laughter, followed by quick little footsteps—lots of them.
“Brother, brother, you’re home?!”
“Hey! Mom said not to run in the house!”
“I’m sleepy… Dad, hold me…”
‘Kids? In a thieves’ hideout? What is this?’
Even the men who’d just threatened to kill us looked stunned.
“Dad, Dad, I’m sleepy…”
“Ch-Charlie, Daddy’s busy right now…”
“Waaahhh!”
A child in rags tugged at the man’s clothes—the same man who’d dragged us here.
A few women came running to gather the wild children, but the kids slipped away as soon as they were caught.
‘There’s no way they’ll be able to catch them all. Should I help?’
In the awkward silence, everyone just looked around uncomfortably.
Then, someone else entered from outside the cave.
“Why did you bring outsiders to our base?”
“Th-There was a reason…”
Suddenly, everyone’s attitude changed.
Even the wild kids turned quiet when they saw the newcomer.
He must be the boss.
I looked at him without thinking—and he looked back at me.
“Oh, the rich merchant lady?”
“The sardine guy…”
It was the fish stall owner from the docks—
proud of his fish, but not really good at cooking them.
He was the leader of the “rats” eating away at Bellamare port.
