Chapter 38
“Miss, are you seriously crazy?”
The boy who had guided me this far shouted in a low voice beside me.
“No, I’m perfectly sane.”
“You said we’d just observe the situation! But what do you mean suddenly picking a fight like this?!”
“They were the ones trying to break the kid’s arm first.”
“We should just leave it! Ugh, I must be insane… why did I even follow you here?”
Seeing us bicker, Dumdi, who had been standing blankly, burst into laughter.
“What? Puhaha. Ah, it must be the heat these days. I didn’t expect—”
Starting with Dumdi, laughter erupted among the gang members.
“I guess she’s truly crazy, isn’t she, boss?”
“Hey, you should have warned us if the girl was insane. If we knew the teacher raised her with this much effort, we might have cut her some slack. Hahaha!”
The man who had collapsed onto the floor looked confused, completely unsure what was happening.
“Teacher. I’ll let it slide today since you said you’d pay, but if this happens again…”
I didn’t hesitate any longer and threw a stone at the gang members.
It hit the face of the one at the front, who had been mocking me.
“Gah!”
Nice shot.
The man staggered and collapsed to the floor.
“Hey! Are you okay?!”
“Oi!”
His comrades rushed over to check on him, but unfortunately, he had already fainted.
“That brat…! We let him slide because he’s a kid…!”
“How dare you throw a stone at us!”
As the gang members charged at me, I stepped forward in front of the man.
“You’re in the way. Move.”
The man glanced nervously at me and hurriedly took his son out of the room.
I looked up at the much taller Dumdi and said:
“Sir, don’t embarrass yourself by resisting. Just surrender, okay? I told you—I don’t go easy on people.”
“You think we’d let you get away!”
The gang members charged, and the room quickly turned into a battlefield.
I first targeted the man running toward me and delivered a punch.
“Gah!”
The blow landed directly in his stomach, and he staggered back.
I pushed him back against the wall, causing the gang members behind him to scream.
“Damn it! Don’t push me!”
“Ah! Waaah!”
The gang members rushing toward me toppled like dominoes.
“See what happens when we go easy on a girl…!”
And now he even drew a sword.
“Weren’t you supposed to not go easy?”
I lightly jumped onto the sword he was swinging, and he looked at me in disbelief.
“Too slow.”
Wham!
A stone I had prepared earlier flew from my hand like an arrow and hit the man’s forehead.
As he fell back, the sword I had been standing on wobbled.
As the man’s sword dropped, I leapt into the air and simultaneously shot five pebbles I had prepared in one hand.
The gang members who had rushed at me were hit by the pebbles and collapsed.
“Whoa, Miss! Whoa! What just happened? I thought I was watching a circus! Wow! You never said you were this strong!”
The beggar boy clapped his hands in admiration.
“Hyuh, boss…”
One of Dumdi’s subordinates on the floor twitched, and Dumdi kicked him.
“Stay down, you fools. Getting beaten by a kid—don’t you feel ashamed?”
He stepped forward.
“So she’s strong, huh. A noble girl, no less. At that age, she must have trained a lot. But she’s still just a kid.”
Dumdi slowly took off his jacket and threw it at me.
For a moment, my vision was blocked.
As I brushed aside the jacket, Dumdi’s fist suddenly came toward me.
I dodged backward, but his fist relentlessly pursued me.
“Haha! What are you doing? If all you do is dodge, how do you fight back, huh?”
He began cornering me against the wall.
I tilted my head and avoided the incoming punch.
Bang!
Dumdi’s fist slammed just beside my face, leaving a dent in the wall.
“Miss!”
The beggar boy shouted beside me.
“Hey! Do you even know what family this girl belongs to?!”
“What does it matter? Either way, if this kid or you die here, it’s over. Perfect timing—there was a client wanting red eyes, and we couldn’t find the right one.”
“You’re selling children to a client?!”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Why are you so curious?”
“That’s your misconception.”
I crouched low on the floor.
Dumdi’s fist slashed through the air past me.
I extended my fist and hit his left knee.
“Argh!”
He staggered backward, losing his balance.
I didn’t miss the chance—delivering a punch to his stomach, Dumdi hit the floor with his backside.
“Ugh!”
“Speak. What happened to the kids you took?”
I pressed my sword to his neck, and Dumdi laughed.
“Ah, haha. Even at your age, you’re noble. But we do have a trump card.”
Dumdi flinched.
I quickly reached into his mouth and pulled out the medicine under his tongue.
A white speckled pill, like stars on a black background.
It was a drug used to make mages.
I grabbed Dumdi’s collar urgently.
“Where did you get this drug?”
“H-Ha, you think I’d tell you?”
I tightened my grip on the sword.
“Tell me. Or die here.”
“I don’t know either. The client gave it to us. Said to take it in emergencies.”
“Who is this client? Were they the one who ordered the kids to be kidnapped?”
Dumdi kept silent.
I gripped his collar more roughly.
“Tell me. Or…”
I whispered various torture methods into his ear, and finally, pale-faced, he spoke.
“We don’t know anything about the client. When doing this kind of work, it’s not in our interest to ask questions either.”
“This kind of work? Like kidnapping people and selling them?”
“Yes. People have plenty of uses.”
“What about this girl?”
I showed Dumdi the flyer with Lahad’s daughter. He clicked his tongue.
“Damn. Was it because of that girl? I knew it from the start when we first took her—bad luck all the way.”
I tightened my grip on the sword, and Dumdi quickly said:
“Wait! She’s still alive! So loosen your grip! The client wanted a girl exactly like her, and they’d gone through the trouble of rescuing her. But their mood changed.”
“How do you contact the client? Meeting place?”
“The letters always come from them first. The place is… huh?”
Blood dripped from Dumdi’s nose, and his eyes lost focus.
“And… and…”
The ticking of a clock echoed.
I urgently shouted to the beggar.
“Get out of here!”
Bang!
As soon as we left the room, an explosion went off.
“What… what is that? Why is someone exploding?!”
The beggar boy trembled.
“…I put a binding spell on them. So they couldn’t tell.”
“Binding spell? I thought that was just a rumor.”
“It’s possible. It costs a fortune in time and money. The fact that they even put it on a lowly guy shows they really don’t want their identity revealed.”
Who could it be?
Who could waste this much money and time?
I waited for the explosions to settle and went back inside.
Among the gang members on the floor, none had survived the blast.
I searched Dumdi’s body and found a uniquely shaped token.
‘Never seen this shape before… is it used in trades?’
I pocketed it, hoping it might provide a clue, but the explosion had destroyed everything else.
The ledger on the desk was too charred to read.
“Miss! There’s a door to the basement over here!”
Following the beggar boy’s words, I pocketed the token and headed to the basement.
“It’s really dark in here.”
“Yeah. Let’s search quickly and get out.”
Being in the darkness made me uneasy.
“Please, save me… I beg you, please send me home… I’ll pay anything.”
I could hear people trapped in a narrow prison begging.
I imbued my sword with magic and swung it, cutting through the cage and freeing the captives.
I also found Lahad’s daughter lying on the floor.
She matched the description on the flyer exactly, so it wasn’t hard to recognize her.
The beggar boy asked, carrying her on his back:
“She’s so weak… she’s alive, right?”
“She’s still alive.”
Once outside, everyone bowed in gratitude.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we survived. Really, thank you.”
“It’s fine. It’s no big deal.”
The beggar boy exclaimed:
“No, Miss! No big deal?! Do you know how much trouble we went through upstairs?!”
“Quiet.”
“Are you… a noble? Which family do you belong to…?”
The beggar boy shrugged.
“You’re the young lady of the Clasta Duke family who won this year’s martial arts tournament!”
“Ah! So you’re from such a prestigious family!”
“As expected of the Clasta Duke family’s young lady. Thank you so much! I’ll repay this favor someday!”
“It’s okay. Just make sure everyone gets back safely.”
I checked each person, worried they might have been subjected to experiments.
Fortunately, aside from poor nutrition, none showed any other symptoms—they were just confined before being sold somewhere.
Still, some people lingered behind.
“Is there a problem?”
“Ah… it’s just…”
The girl blushed.
“We have nowhere to go… we were discussing where we could go.”
Dumdi really rounded up anyone and everyone.
He would take people instead of money, or snatch those wandering the streets like beggars.
‘What should I do?’
For kids brought in lieu of debts, even if they went home, they’d likely just be sold elsewhere.
‘I can’t take them to the Clasta Duke family… I’ll send them to Luni.’
I looked at the gathered people.
“There’s a trade guild I know well. They’re going to be busy soon. Shall I get you jobs there?”
Lahad wept uncontrollably as he reunited with his daughter.
He repeatedly caressed her face in disbelief, then hugged her again, sobbing.
“Where… where were you? I was so worried…”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. As long as you’re back safe… I don’t need anything else. I’m so grateful to you, young lady. How can I ever repay you?”
“Would you like to work at our guild? We happen to need an apothecary.”
“Of course. You found my daughter—anything you ask, I’ll do. Just assign me a task.”
I sent Lahad, the beggar boy, and all the rescued people to Luni.
A while later, I received a message from Luni.
“I was surprised when the master suddenly sent people here.”
“How’s work? Going well?”
“Everyone is working hard, wanting to repay the favor they received from you. So, Master, I think it’s time we start selling Bektol powder.”
