From outside, a carriage leapt with a bouncing sound and landed just in front of the barn, like a messenger from the heavens.
It drifts as fast as the mysterious vehicle and blocks the barn’s exit.
In the coachman’s seat sat a gentleman with a bandage on his face.
He was wearing a winter cloak, and his appearance was that of a mysterious justice of the peace.
He stood on the coachman’s seat with his cloak flipped, shouting in an ostentatious manner.
“you can’t run away from me now! You’re going to get your butt poked and prodded!”
There were two boys on board, and they braked suddenly just before they collided with the carriage.
“Why… here!”
The gentleman says triumphantly to the startled boys.
“I heard from a girl in the park that you were heading to this mountain! Not only did you prank my carriage, but you also came to play a prank on my family’s vacation home….!”
The gentleman suddenly noticed the presence of men rushing from the back of the barn.
“Oh? The villa is off-season and there should be no servants… Why are there people there?”
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Weiss and Leopin arrived at the mountain where they had forgotten their mother, and found themselves at a villa halfway up the mountain.
They find a barn in the courtyard of the villa, where they find Kanoko being held captive.
It seems that this barn is the hideout of the “saint-hunting” thieves.
Weiss and Leopin, who had been peeping through the barn door, took action.
They took advantage of the chaos and dared to surprise the thieves, snatching the Kanoko in one fell swoop.
With only one step to go, the rescue would have been a great success.
The new teacher who came after them cut off the retreat.
In the end, Weiss and Leopin were also taken prisoner.
Weiss and Leopin were separated from each other, tied up and rolled to the ground.
As soon as the thieves saw Leopin’s face, they exclaimed with surprise.
“Hey… if you look closely, isn’t this the kid who pretended to be a hero at the cathedral in the favela?”
“Really!? We fed him mushrooms, but why…?!?”
“And this was a secret place that even the guards could not find out! Why are these little boys…?!?”
The bandits were in a deadly mood. However, the man who seemed to be the leader calmed everyone down.
“Well, don’t be so flustered.The shipment is already finished, so we have plenty of time to find out.Drinking sake while hurting these guys is not a bad idea.”
The new teacher, who was standing a short distance away, suddenly spoke to the leader.
“Well… may I ask you a question? Are you a gardener who works in our house?”
The man, who was looking like a gardener on the outside and the leader of the “Saint Hunting” on the back, bowed politely.
“I didn’t expect a boy to come to a place like this even though it wasn’t the season to use a villa.Are you all right with the bee sting?”
“Oh, the swelling has subsided a lot, and the bandage is coming soon… I don’t care about that! Why are you in my cottage?”
Then the leader looks surprised and says, “What?”
“Didn’t you hear anything from Mother?”
“Huh? Mother?”
The leader pointed to the girl, who was sitting in the corner of the barn, tied to a chair.
“Your Mother asked me to take her away,”
“What!? Did my Mother…?!?”
“Oh, I suppose she seemed to like the brave, and wanted to flatter them.”
“Well… there’s something wrong with that! My mother is the Vice-principal of an elementary school, and she’s a fine woman! She would protect her children, but she would never kidnap them!”
“Oh, no, you didn’t know? We kidnapped a prestigious saint this time, but we usually kidnap and sell off saints from the favelas, you know? The person in charge of that is your Mother. That’s why I’m allowed to use the barn of the villa.”
“Well… well…!”
Kanoko kidnapping case.
She was initially mistaken for a slum saint, and was thought to have been involved in the hunt for a saint.
But unexpectedly…!
It was a trap from the start, and the mastermind of it… … Vice-principal…!?