Chapter : 06
Wearing a neatly buttoned white shirt and a red dress,
and carrying a fried-egg-shaped crossbody bag that Aunt Mary had hand-sewn for her,
Lulu, who had been waiting at the door as if expecting Angela, declared solemnly,
“Unnie, can I go to the market with you too?!”
Well, she asked.
But she was already dressed for going out…?
Angela was dumbfounded.
“No, you can’t…”
“Whaat?!”
“Lulu, you still can’t control your flame sneeze.”
“But what if I’m alone with the knight and I get scolded?”
Hmm.
That… she hadn’t thought about.
Angela fell into thought.
…If Lulu were left alone with the duke?
Well, since Velix was locked up, there wouldn’t be much of a problem.
But if our clueless and innocent Lulu started talking about Lian and barged into the storage room again…?
“…Lulu.”
“Yeah?”
“Then no flame sneezing. And no tail-sproinging either. Got it?”
Paling, Angela quickly grabbed Lulu’s hand.
It would be better to take her along. Better than her causing trouble in the tower.
“Okaay!”
At that time, Angela thought the biggest trouble this little dragon could cause was a flame sneeze.
No one knew she was capable of far greater trouble.
“Woooow, a town—!”
After hours of walking and finally stepping out from the shadows of the thick trees, they arrived at a village full of brick-roofed houses.
People repairing massive walls and gates.
Children sharing a single piece of bread.
A broken fountain that no longer worked.
It was a bleak and desolate place, but in Lulu’s eyes, everything looked fascinating.
It had been a whole year since she’d been to a town!
“Unnie! Lulu wants to go there! The sign has a pretty cup drawn on it!”
“That’s a tavern. You’re too young for that.”
“Then what about there, the place with the cool sword on the sign?”
“That’s a weapon shop. They probably make everything to slay dragons, so personally, that’s the place we should avoid the most.”
“Then…! That one, that one! The place with the round circle on the sign, can we go in there?!”
“That’s a bank. You need money to go in there. Lulu, do you have any money?”
No. Lulu didn’t have anything like that.
But she did have her unnie.
“You’re a princess, right? Don’t princesses have lots of money?”
“This princess ran away from home with nothing. If I went back to the castle, then yes, there would be plenty…”
“Oh.”
Lulu’s face grew serious at the honest answer.
“Right… if I think about the house we live in…”
Lulu was no longer just a child.
Comparing the inside of the tower they lived in
with the castles where princesses lived in fairy tales,
she quickly came to a harsh conclusion.
“Unnie, I’ll spend sparingly.”
Angela burst out laughing at Lulu’s determined little-fist pledge.
“Aww, thank you.”
“Mm. Lulu’s not a little kid anymore.”
After all, she was a child who had seen the forbidden book hidden in the basement.
The reality-aware expression of a four-year-old could not have been more solemn.
But her grave expression was shattered when the fried-egg bag began to shake.
—Young dragon, you have safely arrived at the village. Surely the blessing of the gods has reached you!
It was the telepathic voice of Jewel, who was inside the bag.
Apparently, only Lulu could hear him.
“Yeah. I came here with unnie, but where do I go now?”
She whispered softly enough that Angela couldn’t hear.
In fact, this was all part of Lulu’s plan.
Throwing a fit about wanting to go to the market was one thing, but what mattered was getting here.
The next step was the most important: finding Lian and taking him to the knight.
—Please wait a moment. Finding someone who hides their presence takes time.
“Ooh, I see.”
Jewel fell silent, as if concentrating.
“Jewel?”
Unable to wait, Lulu pressed her ear to the bag and whispered—
When suddenly, someone called her name.
“Lulu?”
Recognizing the voice, her ruby-red eyes widened.
“Aunt Mary!”
“Oh my, Lulu, you’ve grown so much in a year! What brings you here? How long has it been?”
“Yes, I brought her for a little outing. Lulu, say hello.”
“Uh. G-Greetings!”
Just as she bowed following her unnie’s lead,
—Little dragon, this is no time for pleasantries! Lian’s energy is growing stronger!
So Jewel had finally found Lian!
“Hehe… ah, hello…”
Halfway through lowering her head, Lulu suddenly stopped and hurriedly hid behind Angela’s legs.
“Haha, she’s shy after not seeing you for a year.”
“That happens.”
But Lulu wasn’t hiding because she was shy.
“Where is he?”
She was putting on method acting—ready to rescue Lian in danger!
—Little dragon, from now on, whoever approaches, don’t panic and be sure to catch them. Lian’s energy is racing toward us at a frightening speed!
“…Huh? Racing toward us? Why?”
One, two—
She didn’t know why, but Lulu crouched into a ready-to-sprint stance.
…Three!
“Bread thief!”
It happened then.
“That kid again, seriously!”
Right with Jewel’s signal, Aunt Mary’s scream rang out.
A boy a head taller than Lulu had skillfully stolen bread and run off.
“Oh dear, he’s always stealing like that! Lately, the orphan kids have formed gangs—there’s even been trouble at the fruit store!”
“…There’s no security here?”
Angela’s mouth dropped open as the bread vanished before her eyes.
“The monsters are bad enough. The higher-ups have basically abandoned this place.”
“…Goodness…”
“Still, I feel sorry for that bread thief boy. I could spare a few pieces for him…”
Indeed, the boy had vanished like a stray cat before anyone could talk to him.
“Lulu, we bought bread, so should we go to the vegetable stand now?”
But when Angela turned to look around—
“…Lulu?”
Her heart skipped a beat with a strong sense of déjà vu.
Wait. She had seen this scene just this morning.
The scene where Lulu was not where she was supposed to be…?
“Where did she go again?!”
Angela’s voice was full of exasperation.
At that moment—
“Lian, wanna play tag with Lulu?! Then Lulu will be ‘it’!”
Lulu was happily chasing after the bread-thief boy.
“What the—another brat? Stop stealing bread.”
“Didn’t you steal an apple from the fruit stand last time? Should we catch him or not…?”
Apparently, Lian was somewhat of a local celebrity.
Every person he bumped into while dashing about shouted curses at him.
“Ahem!”
And each time, Lian would cough awkwardly and slip away like a mouse.
“…How is that girl still chasing me without getting tired—cough, ahem?”
Ten minutes into the chase, he finally noticed Lulu.
‘Finally, I can talk to him!’
Lulu, not the least bit out of breath, waved brightly.
“Lian! I have something to tell you! Can we talk?!”
“How… do you know my name?”
“Duke Velix’s younger brother! I’ll take you to the knight!”
“…What?”
A flicker of surprise crossed the handsome boy’s face.
But instead of stopping, his running grew faster.
“…My brother’s long forgotten me! He hasn’t shown up in four years—why would he send some kid like you? You’re a kidnapper, aren’t you?!”
“I’m not a kidnapper, but I will take you to the knight!”
“That’s exactly what a kidnapper says.”
Oh? Is that so?
Lulu made up her mind.
“Then I’ll be Lian’s kidnapper!”
“…Cough! Ahem!”
Lian turned pale and choked on his own breath.
‘What is with this kid?’
From his perspective, this sudden girl chasing him was suspicious.
Well-kept hair, clean clothes—
clearly a child from a warm home.
But she not only knew who he was, she even claimed she’d take him to his long-lost brother.
In the past four years surviving on his own, Lian had learned the truth:
there’s no such thing as kindness without a price.
He needed to shake her off.
If he brought her to the friends at the Black Lake, she’d get scared and run away.
But.
“Lulu doesn’t have parents either. Here, take this coat. And this scarf. Lulu’s not cold anyway.”
“…Guys?”
When he came to his senses, all his friends had gathered around the girl.
“Lulu, thank you so much!”
“You’re such a good kid!”
It was the perfect example of friendship being utterly defeated by bribery.
