50 – The Old Man From The Countryside Kicks Around

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“Haah, what rubbish,” Lucy said with an expression that read, “Good grief.”

The expression didn’t feel as excited as when she won a battle, and she didn’t feel as satisfied as when she dueled with me.

However, even with that disappointment, Lucy threw a cold gaze at the fallen man.

No, wait a minute: what did she do just ow?

When I thought that Twilight had raised his right hand and Lucy raised hers in turn, Twilight was suddenly down.

“Wh-What just happened…?” I asked unintentionally.

Seen from the sidelines, it looks like Twilight suddenly collapsed.
Without the prior knowledge that Lucy was a mage, it seems that he just suddenly self-destructed.

“Hmm? You’ve seen it once, haven’t you, Beryl?”

“Huh…? … Ah…”

While I was twisting my head in confusion, one thing came to mind.

That was it.
The first time I met her, she said she was going to test me.
At the very end, she cast her special magic.
By chance, I dodged it.

I don’t know the spell’s name.
All I know is that her “specialty” is a magic that’s hard to dodge, let alone defend against, and is directly life-threatening if you were hit.

“Relax, it can’t kill someone,” Lucy said.

“Oh, I see…” I said.

I can’t relax by any means but I have no choice but to believe her.
Anyway, I can’t do anything about it.

“Moving on… 5 people, it’s a hassle,” Lucy said, her gaze moving from the fallen Twilight to his subordinates.

“… Hiii…!” they squeal, from the violent gaze you couldn’t imagine coming from someone so small.

I understand their feelings.
I definitely don’t want to get hit with that sort of magic.

“Beryl,” Lucy said.
“I leave the rest to you.”

“Huh…?”

With that, Lucy points the remaining thieves’ eyes at me.
She beckoned Miu over and pulled up a chair near her.
Now that there were seats for two, they sat down.

Miu seems to be confused, wondering “What am I supposed to do?”, but perhaps after succumbing to Lucy’s pressure, she sits uncomfortably in the chair beside her.

The insanely awkward face on Miu is impressive.
It’s about right.

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However, even if she said she left it all to me: what am I supposed to do?

It’s not like they’re going to let us go.
However, it’s physically impossible for me to capture everyone by myself.
I wonder if I should just leave it at Twilight fainted and rolling on the ground.

“Fuck… FUUUUUUCCKKKK…!”

The thieves had been silently listening to my conversation with Lucy until one of them roared and attacked with conviction.

Well, I guess there aren’t the types of people who’re that good at fighting.
They weren’t even as high up as Alexia and Henblitz, their speed was inferior to the ordinary Knights.
If that’s the case, it’s quite likely that everyone here will rush in at once.

“Tei,” I said.

“Oguh?!”

After a massive wind up, a man swung his fist, I easily dodged him, and swung my wooden sword up.

It struck almost perpendicular to his unprotected jaw.
I feel like he wouldn’t die if he didn’t bite his tongue off.
Since I usually repeatedly ran simulated battles with the Knights of Revelio, his capabilities and the situation were both to his disadvantage.

The man who attacked me is knocked down.

Even if he had some training, he wouldn’t be able to stand after taking such a strong blow to his unguarded chin.
Quietly in my heart: I feel sorry for them, but I’m not enough of a saint to have complete sympathy for them.

“Fucking hell! Rush them all at once!!”

When one of the remaining men drew his sword, those hesitating had their fighting spirits reignited.

Well, it’s not a bad move.
They can’t move well in cramped indoor quarters and it wasn’t a bad idea to turn the fight into an all-out brawl.

Even if Miu is unable to fight, Lucy is sitting on a chair as a spectator, so it’s just me alone.
Pushing the numbers advantage is their best weapon.

However:

It’s limited to well-trained and well-disciplined teams and animals that work together on an instinctive level.
I’m not so vulnerable as to lag behind pickpockets who don’t have any combat training.

“–Fuh!”

“Gohah?!”

I feel sorry for the two men that tried to rush me simultaneously.

I take a half step back to dodge the man about to grab me, and then strike the head of the other man who reacted too late.

The second man got his face smashed and fell back then and there, and on the return swing, I downed the first man with a strike to the back of his neck.
He sank to the ground without a word.

“Uuooohhhh…!”

“Hoi-to.”

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“Gugeh…?!’

I dodge the man trying to thrust his dagger up, it cuts into empty air.
My wooden sword makes a straight line for his throat, he faints in agony even though I held back a bit.
My condolences.

“You bastard…!”

Another man tries to strike with his body, he tries to elbow-drop me from above.

Martial arts is sometimes better than any weapon.
Specifically, in a scenario where speed is of the utmost importance.
I wasn’t just practicing how to handle swords.
Though, my strongest point is my swordsmanship.

“Ogoh…!”

The man gets hit in the back of the head, he lands and stumbles.
He stopped on the man that I chopped in the throat, that man squeaks like a crushed frog.

“–Hii, hiii…!”

“Ouh-to.”

Fear seems to have overwhelmed the remaining woman, as the men were all collapsed and fainted.
With her hips pulled back, she was moving away.

Yeah.
I really don’t like raising my sword against women but she’s a thief.
I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to knock her out.

“Forgive me.”

“Ahgeh–!”

I close the distance in two steps and gave her a quick strike in the stomach.

I felt too bad striking her in the face, but I was having an adrenaline rush, the impact lifted her off her feet and threw her into the wall.

Oh, sorry.
I may have made a slight mistake in adjusting the force.

“… Fuu,” I sighed.

And then, as a result of downing the last thief:

The noisy single-family home has become strangely silent.

“… Pops, you’re so strong…” Miu said muttered as he looked at the scene.

“Yeah? Well, they were at a low level,” I said.

That I looked like a hurricane of violence probably meant that these thieves weren’t versed in martial arts or that disciplined, as I expected.

I was wondering what to do if they weren’t only thieves but also violent thugs and murderers.
No, it’s not like I’d do anything against Miu.

“Fuah… thank you for your hard work,” Lucy said as she bit back a yawn.
Seven suspects including the leader.
It’s enough for interrogation, isn’t it?”

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“Interrogation?” I asked.

I wonder if the case is over, having caught Twilight and his goons.
It felt that way as I looked back at them as I listened to Lucy.

“Look at the ornaments on this guy,” Lucy said.

“… Huh? Yeah… I mean, he is all flashy, isn’t he…?” I said.

We investigate the fainted Twilight.

However, even if I was told to look, I have had neither an eye for appraisal nor an eye for aesthetics.
For the time being, my only impression was that he was dressed flashily.

“It’s all magical equipment,” Lucy said.

“Huh?” I asked.

When it comes to magical equipment, I know Thyssel likes them.
Also, as their name suggested, Thyssel explained to me that they had various magical effects.

When I went to the West District with Kuruni and Thyssel once, we visited a magical equipment store.

“These pickpockets have some excellent skill, don’t they?” I said.

Magical equipment is expensive.
I didn’t know by how much just by looking at them but every product as far as I could see asked for a handsome sum.

If all the accessories that Twilight is wearing are his entire collection, he’s got quite the sum on him.
The effect of each item is not clear but all together, these must cost a fortune.

“I’m almost certain 9 of 10 people fence their magical equipment to him,” Lucy said.
“Maybe he’s our real mastermind.”

“I see…” I said.

At best, they’re the ones who are in the business of circulating expensive magical equipment to bandits.
You have to be scared by that.
What the hell are they planning? Well, it’s not my business.

“Now then, I’m going to summon the Knights,” Lucy said, standing up from her chair.

“I can’t carry them alone, yeah,” I said.

It would be safest and the most reliable to have the Knights of Revelio come here.
I’m sorry, I don’t have that kind of authority, so Lucy will go to Alexia.

I mean, I haven’t thought too much about it, but what is my position in the kingdom?

I’m not a knight because I haven’t been appointed one.
However, now that I’m a special instructor, I think I’m a little different from a totally ordinary citizen.

Do I have the jurisdiction to capture or sentence criminals? On this note, I don’t think it’s a big problem because Lucy, the Head Magus of the Magic Division, is here, but if it was just me, how far can I move or what could I do?

I’ll ask Alexia about this later.
It’s a useless problem if I just taught swordsmanship at the Order but there’s no guarantee I won’t be involved in any more of these kinds of situations in the future, so I should definitely figure out where the line’s drawn.

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“Beryl, I’m going to find a communication device,” Lucy said as she prepared to leave.

“Oh, right… well, what else am I supposed to do…?” I asked.

Considering the situation, it’s quickest for me to watch over the thieves and for Lucy to report.
Rather, I don’t have the authority or the status to do anything else.

“…”

“… What?” Miu asked.

“No, nothing…” I said.

And now: me and Miu will remain here.

I don’t think it’s necessary to strike up an unnecessary conversation but this subtle uncomfortable feeling is a bit awkward.
We’re in the middle of the thieves’ den, there are six men and one woman who’s downed before us.
I know I haven’t done anything wrong but it feels a little unbearable.

The gaze that Miu throws Twilight is complicated.

There will be anger.
There will be a disappointment.
However, it was also true that he had taken care of her, in a twisted sort of way.

It’s a difficult story to tell a young child to break with their past right away.
I think it would be better to follow up on that.
In this area, Landrid would be good at it, but he’s at Bidden Village, so what do I do?”

“For the moment, I’m going to tie them up…” I said.

“… I see,” Miu said.
“There should be some rope around here.”

I don’t want to be ambushed by the men rolling on the floor and I don’t want them to run away.
I’m not particularly bothered by the idea of letting them go, but I’d prefer not to because Lucy would probably rag on me if she came back and found them gone.

Miu starts hunting around the room.
She must have been here as her safe house, so she probably knows the bare minimum about it.

What is she thinking right now? I don’t know.

However, since I got her involved like this, is it selfish of me to want to make her life richer and happier than it has been so far? Or is it overcompensating? I intend to live for a long time, but this world is still so full of things I don’t understand.

“Found it,” Miu said, returning with rope.
“… Is something the matter?” she asked, interrupting my dark thoughts.

“Mm… no, nothing,” I said.
“Well then, let’s tie them up quickly.”

Well, an adult who’s worried about kids would stand out, wouldn’t they?

The moving hands of a clock cannot be stopped, much less turned back.
As long as the events have played out, I and Miu have no choice to but accept them.

“… Heave-ho.
Miu, can you grab that?”

“Tch, fine,” Miu said.

Unconscious humans are insanely heavy.

My first collaboration with Miu began with the capture of these unhappy thieves.

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