ASE 17

Chapter 17

After a few minutes, the magic’s effect vanished completely.
The whirlwind settled down, and once again the gentle breeze, now its own master, tickled my forehead.
The surroundings had transformed into a completely different landscape.
Total devastation.
The orcs had been blown so far away I couldn’t even see them anymore.
Goodbye. It was a short but amusing encounter. Next time, be born as something harmless.

I offered a silent condolence to the poor creatures who were probably crossing the River Jordan by now, then turned my back.
I was just thinking, “Should I just use up the teleport? …But wait, where was this one set to, again?” when I looked forward.

…Why the hell is he here?

Kenneth was standing a short distance away, staring at me with an expression impossible to describe.
The moment our eyes met, his face twisted as if he had just seen something disgusting.
Ha! Unbelievable. Hey, that’s my expression to make, not yours!

Why on earth did he come back here?
Didn’t he just take off and ditch me at the speed of light like it was his big chance?
And now he comes crawling back?
What the hell is he playing at?

Don’t tell me… he came back because he was worried? That I might not have made it?
Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m alive and kicking.

The urge to cuss him out and run was strong, but I couldn’t afford to dig my own grave like that, so I held it in.
Instead, I smiled. Brightly. Beaming, like the happiest person alive.

He hates my smiling face.

With that dazzling grin plastered on my lips, I snapped the teleport scroll.

He never truly intended to kill Latte.

After leaving Evelyn in a safe place, Kenneth reassured her: “The monsters can’t move right now anyway, so there’s no need to worry.”
A statement that could have easily been dismissed as nonsense, but it was the truth.
The orcs could not so much as twitch a finger against their will. The killing intent lingering in the air had bound their bodies tight.

Kenneth was a man who had reached the pinnacle. Imbuing his aura with mana to bind a few orcs was hardly troublesome.

Leaving Evelyn where she was, he began to walk—slowly, in the direction where Latte remained.

He had never truly borne murderous intent toward her.
If he had really wanted her dead, he would have sent men after her or crushed her family outright. He would never have gone about it in such a roundabout way.

All he wanted was to frighten her a little. She really did get on his nerves.
With that raccoon-like face constantly hovering around Evelyn, Latte grated on him endlessly.
The irritation welled up until he wanted nothing more than to wipe her off the map.

It seemed she was born with a natural talent for provoking people.

If he wanted peace of mind, that arrogant behavior of hers had to be broken.
That was what Kenneth thought, and as luck would have it, an opportunity had presented itself.

The orcs that had survived the hunt disgusted him, but they could be useful here.
He intended to slaughter them right before Latte’s eyes.

Normally, simply being abandoned before a pack of monsters was enough to terrify a person.
And if those monsters were then hacked apart before one’s face—needless to say, the fear would be overwhelming.

Yes, normally.

Kenneth frowned.
What he was seeing now made no sense.

There was no frightened Latte cowering before him.
Instead, she was briskly ripping through scrolls, blowing the orcs away.
The power of the spells proved they were expensive, high-grade scrolls.
She shielded herself with barriers and unleashed offensive magic without hesitation, her movements smooth and practiced.

How…?

He had already investigated Latte after she’d claimed to be Evelyn’s friend.
Her father, Baron Acktry, was not a wealthy noble. Their lands had been confiscated two generations back, and they survived only on a government stipend.
There was no other source of income. Even if they had some savings, she couldn’t possibly afford to splurge like this—not unless she wanted to burn through her entire fortune within a year or two.

So Kenneth stood rooted to the spot, watching everything she did without moving a step.
When their eyes met afterward, his habit kicked in and his face twisted again in irritation.

Her behavior, her actions, the entire situation—Latte was incomprehensible from beginning to end.

And then she smiled at him. Brightly, deliberately. A radiant grin.
Leaving that smile behind, she ripped her teleport scroll and vanished.

Kenneth swallowed hard as he stared at the empty space.

Never in his life had he encountered such a person. Not once. Truly.

In the space Latte left behind, only confusion remained.

I groaned like an old lady at a nursing home with back pain every time it rained as I opened my eyes.
Every single time I used a teleport scroll, it was the same—the dizziness never improved.
Like stepping off a mercilessly spinning carnival ride.

Teleportation was wonderful—except for the price, which was not wonderful—and this, the cursed vertigo, was its biggest drawback for me.

Ugh… motion sickness.

I took a couple of deep breaths and glanced around.
Not just familiar—very familiar streets greeted my eyes.
As I thought.

The wide plaza where the founding emperor’s statue stood. The very heart of the capital’s marketplace, and a common destination for teleport scrolls.

From here it was only a short walk to the scroll shop I had frequented constantly for the past two and a half years.

I thought briefly how nice it would’ve been if my scroll had been set to a spot nearer home instead of the plaza, but then shook my head.
After all, I had burned through every last spare scroll just now, so I had to restock anyway. In that sense, this was convenient.

Besides, I’d just had a vivid reminder of one truth: in this harsh world, there was no one—no human, no monster, no fish—who would protect me.

Born as a side character~ Life expectancy short~
If no one’s going to extend it for me, then I’ll just have to do it myself.

Humming a parody of a military march in my head, I strode off toward the shop.

Time to turn my bank account back into an empty account! Shopping spree, let’s go!

The thought of spending money had me walking with a bounce in my step and a little tune on my lips.

Indulgence always made me giddy. The thrill of feeling rich! Maybe this is why people say money is everything.

On the way to the shop, I busied myself thoroughly trash-talking Kenneth in my head.

The most pathetic man of the century.
Lower than a fish. Amoeba. Plankton.
Like some “fairy of high blood pressure” descended to save all the hypotensive patients in the world.

By the time I’d dumped every insult I knew onto him, the frustration had faded.

Feeling much lighter, I arrived at my destination.

Stopping in front of the shop, I took a moment to admire the fancy exterior. It always struck me the same way.
Like it was declaring, “Hey you, are you rich? If not, get lost.”

If you tried to walk in with an empty purse, someone would probably leap out and sneer, “You? Here?”

Ah, just imagining it feels unfair.

Praising myself for having brought along the money Buk gave me last time, I walked inside.

“Welcome, customer. Are you looking for something in particular?”

Daphara, the owner, greeted me with a smile.
I could tell she’d already scanned my outfit with her well-trained eye. No fancy accessories, but the fabric was fine, and she’d caught it instantly. Her manner was politely respectful.

I chuckled at how she treated me exactly the same way she had on my very first visit, and said,

“It’s me. Rose.”

“…Oh my! My goodness! Customer!”

Her eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

It made sense she hadn’t recognized me right away. I usually came here with a wide-brimmed hat pulled low. This was the first time I’d shown my face completely.

Daphara circled me, then suddenly began clapping her hands.

“Oh my, oh my! You’re so beautiful! Our customer is a celestial fairy! How could anyone be such a peerless beauty? Why on earth have you been hiding that dazzling face? The empire’s flower is standing right here!”

She poured out praise as if she’d dedicated her life to flattery.

…This is getting embarrassing. Compliments are nice, but being compared to Kim hye-hee makes me want to wave it off with guilty modesty.

By the time she got to “a beauty so radiant it could blind the eyes,” I hurriedly cut her off.

If anyone had heard that outside, I’d have died of secondhand embarrassment on the spot. Thankfully, the shop was empty.

“Daphara, could you show me the scrolls?”

“Oh, of course! Please, this way.”

Still smiling brightly, she led me upstairs.

There, as always, rows of scrolls were neatly on display. Normally, because they were so expensive, you had to pay upfront before handling them. But I wasn’t just a good customer—I was an excellent customer—so I was granted special treatment.

With careful hands, I picked out the ones I needed.
This one, and this one, and this one… ah, might as well take this one too.

By the time I was done, I had fifteen scrolls in the basket. Daphara’s face practically glowed with joy, her mouth twitching with barely contained glee.

I paid the bill on the spot and gathered up my bundle of scrolls.

“Thank you so much, customer! Please come again!”

She even followed me all the way to the shop entrance, bowing over and over. Considering the sum I’d just dropped, it wasn’t surprising—but still, it was a bit overwhelming.

I answered with an awkward smile, then quickly ducked into a side street where she couldn’t see me.

The deserted alley felt gloomy the moment I stepped in.
At least the shade was cool.

Not dirty, but eerie. I walked down the lonely street, mulling over what to do next.

Now what?

It wasn’t too late to go to the tea party I’d originally been headed for, but I didn’t feel like it. If I remembered correctly, Evelyn wasn’t going anyway. What was the point? Unless I was dying of boredom.

Fun events only happened when the heroine was around, after all.

Oh, wait…

I suddenly scanned the surroundings.

Quiet, eerie, deserted… if Evelyn were here, this would definitely be the perfect backdrop for some incident.

Wow, what atmosphere.

It wouldn’t even feel strange if I suddenly ran into a wanted criminal right here.

Of course, the odds of that happening now were slim.

I shrugged off the thought. With just a side character like me around, who would bother making trouble—

Thud.

“Ow!”

“…?”

A criminal?!