Chapter 26: Volume 3 - CH 24

Rico slowly regained consciousness as she heard something crackle. In her eyes, she could see a bonfire. This is what the sound that woke her up was - the scene around it was dark, so she knew it was night.

(I'm still alive. ......?)

Realizing that she was in the real world, Rico put her foggy mind to work. She couldn't remember anything since her arm was ripped off and she was surrounded by saber tigers. For some reason, she was cold. Her head hurt, too.

「Ugh......」

「Oh, you awake.」

A man's voice came from behind her, and Rico's consciousness was rapidly jolted back to reality.

「Ah ......」

Slowly, Rico turned around.

Looking over her shoulder is Satoru's face. The visible upper half of his body is somehow naked, and he is propped up on his elbows, looking at her. Holding her aching head with her right hand, Rico slowly raised herself up halfway. The leather cloth that had been draped over her was flipped open and her upper body was exposed to the cold air.

「Eh........Eeeehhhhhhhhhh!! I-I'm n-naked!」

「Don't make a fuss. I didn't do anything. It's just that your body was cold from losing so much blood, so I was just warming you up.」

Satoru's voice, mixed with a wry smile, gradually brought her back to consciousness.

（Right, I chased after Satoru and was attacked by a pack of saber tigers...)

She hurriedly looked at her right arm. The saber tiger should have cut off her right arm, but somehow it's still there.

「It's been healed with "Regenerative Healing," but it'll take three or four days to regain feeling. Don't overdo it.」

The voice she heard from beside the fire - the [Immortal King] Leia. Rico looked at her right arm, which she had once lost. She was not even conscious of it, but it was trembling finely. It was a strange feeling, as if it was not her own arm, even though it was her own arm. The scars at the base of her middle and index fingers were gone.

「Ah......uuhh, right. Thank you ......」

When the reality finally dawned on her, Rico breathed a sigh of relief.

――I was saved.

「Really」

Satoru shivered slightly as the leather cloth he was wearing was snatched away from him, and he pulled on his own shirt and put it on. Rico felt her cheeks slacken as she realized that she had lost herblood and had become cold, but that she had been able to share his heat with her by embracing her naked.

She thought he had cut herself off, but this mysterious master-servant had saved her again - Come to think of it, why? Why did they help me? She thought vaguely with her head, which was still a little sore from not having enough blood.

「...... You know...」

「Hmm?」

Rico groped around to find her clothes and put them on. Her right arm wasn't moving well, and she was having trouble getting dressed. In addition, there was blood stuck to the right sleeve of her clothes - her own blood. The fact that she was in a desperate situation before she realized what had happened showed her that it wasn't a dream.

「Why did you help me?」

In response to Rico's question, Satoru looked as if he had been hit by a pigeon with a peashooter.

「Did you want me to leave you to die?」

「That's not what I meant. ......」

「What do you mean then?」

When asked that question, Rico was at a loss for a response.

「Because ......」

When I said I wanted to follow you, you said no, you helped me even though there was no reason to help me... She almost said that, but then she remembered that he helped her even when there was no reason to help her in the first place. He simply saved her because he thought it was unbearable to abandon her, and Satoru had no intention of calculating.

All he had was good intentions.

With mere good intentions, he had saved a total stranger's life twice, and Rico had been saved. Both times, for her lives. Rico shuddered as she realized this.

Satoru doesn't say anything, doesn't ask anything. It's too clumsy an attitude to extend good will. Rico gives a small chuckle.

「...... You don't ask anything from my side, do you?」

She wanted him to listen. If he had listened to her, she would have been able to steer the conversation toward sympathy.

However, the person who had saved her life twice with mere good intentions would not allow her to do anything more to induce sympathy. She had betrayed even the first good intention. Even if it's just good intentions, isn't it wrong to rely on Satoru more than this?

「Leia said. She told me.」

Satoru muttered to himself.

「She said there was despair in your eyes.」

The firewood cracked, sending up sparks of fire.

Leia was sitting by the fire, her gaze fixed on the book of magic she had purchased in Galhassan, and she was not looking at them.

Rico didn't answer either. At that time, Rico was almost in despair. The only bright spot that she tried to cling to was Satoru.

Satoru added new wood to the fire with a dead expression on his face.

「You also said that you've lost your place...... and I can imagine most of it. I'm sure it's something you don't want to talk about, so I'm not going to ask.」

You're so kind... Rico thought to herself. He didn't want to talk to Rico about something she didn't want to talk about, something that would hurt her if she did, so he didn't ask. Rico felt a warmth deep inside her heart at the kindness that did not match his rugged appearance. She's convinced that she need to be straightforward with this person... She shake her head a little.

「No, can you listen to me?」

She doesn't open her mouth with the intention of gaining sympathy. She open her mouth with the intention of having someone scold her for her stupidity and foolishness.

「In the first place. It didn't end with putting Zareth away. Jim got mad at me. He said I was being selfish. He'd been working with the merchants and the town's top brass, planning to take out Zareth and his cronis when it was most effective. He said I ruined it.」

Jim didn't just sit back and allow Zareth to get away with it. If he couldn't beat him with violence, he would use his intellect, and he would do it slowly and without haste. Jim was not as patient as his father. He was the son of his predecessor, so it was unlikely that he would succeed him in a meritocratic thieves guild. However, Zareth's arrogance cannot be allowed to go unchallenged - unlike Rico, Jim had a plan.

However, Jim's long term plan had fallen apart at the hands of Rico and Satoru.

「It's not the difference between early and late, he told me. "It's about who got it done,"....... I wasn't good enough. He said that the town leaders and merchants would not be satisfied unless Jim took the initiative. He also told me this. "Rico, are you going to be the chieftain of this place?". I have no intention of doing so. I'm not even capable of that. "Then you shouldn't have done that in the first place. The people in the guild will immediately know that you did it with a big guy who looks like a monster. Without Zareth, who will they trust? It's not me, it's you who did Zareth”.」

Satoru don't think every word of what Rico said was correct, but he still got the impression that Jim was pretty smart, just like Rico said. But at the same time, he wondered why such a smart man, who cared only about his credibility, would be so weak to cut off Rico.

「......Jim said he was going to expel me in order to take care of the guild's governance. Otherwise, the Thieves' Guild will eventually fall apart again.」

「I can see the logic in that.」

He's absolutely right. But it would have been smarter to use Rico as a puppet to set her up, and Jim to control her from behind.

It's not like Rico is aware of these things. The most shocking thing was that he hadn't said anything.

「What shocked me the most was that Kai - my brother - agreed to exile me.」

At this point, the tone of her voice changed slightly. The tone of her voice was filled with despair. She never thought that her brother - Kai - would agree to her banishment. Rico smiled to herself.

「He hated me for saying I was protecting my brother, but I couldn't save Kai, who was being fucked around by Zareth.」

Is that really so? Satoru has his doubts.

「I was protecting my own chastity, doing a cheap job as a pickpocket, which I hated so much, and surviving just fine...right? It's only natural, when you think about it.」

At this point, Satoru realized.

The truth was probably the opposite. The younger brother had probably risked himself to save his sister. He chose to free his sister by sacrificing himself and becoming the bad guy.

But he would not tell Rico about it. If he told her, she might break.

But Rico believed it. She believed that Jim and Kai, who she had thought was her place, had cut heroff.

「That's why! I was kicked out of the guild, and now I have no place to stay!」

Satoru paused for a moment and looked at the girl, who smiled brightly. You don't have to be Satoru to know that. Her smile is a smile of strength. Underneath the thin layer of skin, she is still trapped in despair.

Without question, Satoru took Rico's hand and hugged her tightly. He gently pats the back of her head. Rico doesn't resist, but she's confused.

「Wh-What's with you all of sudden?」

「It's okay to cry.」

「!」

With a crisp sound, a breakthrough was made in Rico's thin skin. For the guild, for her brother, for the deceased Threnody, for Jim who had been kind to her like an older brother... the membrane called a place that had surrounded her until now was no longer hers.

「When you want to cry, cry as hard as you can. Cry and let it go.」

It was the same for Satoru. His mother died, his father died. He cried as much as he could, and then did his best to change his mind. Because if he didn't, he would have had to abandon his sister.

「I-I......」

Rico hesitated. But her voice was already weak and trembling.

「You have to forget what you want to forget, accept what you have to accept, and move on. There's no shame in crying for that.」

At Satoru's words, the thin skin that had enveloped Rico finally broke. Tears spilled out slowly. Sobbing turned into loud crying. The sound of Rico's crying echoed throughout the outskirts of the street.

「Ugh, uaah, uwaaaaahhhhhhh!!」

She cried until she was crumpled. Clinging to Satoru, she let out all the sadness she could muster for having lost the place where she had lived. Even though she was frustrated, it was because of the seeds she had planted. I had been a fool. I can't go back, I can't see them anymore.

Satoru didn't say anything, but just continued to stroke Rico's head.

The sobs subsided, and once again Rico fell asleep. This time, she was tired of crying.

After laying her down on the leather rug, Satoru looked back at Minerva, who was curled up a little further away.

「Minerva.」

「Guau?」

The flying dragon Nushi looked up in response. Flying dragons are not supposed to be able to communicate with people, but Minerva was able to hear and understand Satoru's words. Satoru didn't doubt it anymore.

「Can you look after her? I'll be right back. I want you to protect this guy ...... Rico for a little while.」

「Gururu.」

Minerva came a little closer and wrapped her tail gently around Rico. It is unlikely that any monsters will come here because of the "Five-Fold Ward" that Leia has put up. But Satoru was reassured by Nushi's attitude that she would protect her if anything happened to her. He said, "Thank you," and patted Minerva on the base of her neck. He then turned back to his own magical slave.

「Leia. Can you take me to the Thieves' Guild in Galhassan using "transfer"?」

She closed the book she was reading and gave her Lord a curious look.

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「It's not a problem, but ...... what is it? Is this some kind of payback for this little girl?

「Wrong.」

Leia looked curiously at Satoru, who had told her so smoothly. She couldn't think of any other reason to go to the Galhassan Thieves' Guild. Leia's remaining Bodhisattva heart led her Lord to help Rico, but she also thought that once she saved her, the rest would not matter.

Satoru turned a sincere face and spoke gravely, as if to say.

「We're going to have a man to man talk.」

＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

The Thieves' Guild in Galhassan-class towns usually does not take a day off, and at all six koku, the building is open for their friends. Even if the number of people in the guild is reduced, it is still the same.

A young man was working in the room that had been used by the tyrant, a building that was less crowded than usual since the tyrant, who had ruled the guild in this town for about a year, had suddenly left the stage with his cronies. The boy beside him, rubbing his eyes sleepily, is helping the man with his work, gathering up papers.

There was a pon sound of air from the room next door. The door that connects this room to the next room was broken down the night before last and is still intact. From the next room, which was supposed to be empty, he heard the voice of a young man.

「Is the Guild Master here?」

「In this room.」

Unperturbed by the suspicious sound and voice from the next room, the young man who had assumed the position of Guildmaster here just yesterday replied. A large young man with a large sword on his back appeared from the next room.

「Yaa, you're the one who helped Rico, right?」

Jim, the young master of the new Galhassan Thieves Guild, called out lightly, as if he was entertaining a friend he hadn't seen in a while. The young man who greeted him - Satoru - walked into the room, found a vacant chair, and sat down.

「Ahh, that's right. I'm going to interrupt you for a moment.」

A girl peeked out from behind Satoru. Jim shivers. As he had heard, the skin of the beautiful girl with red hair and eyes darker red than her hair was pale.

(Immortal, family ......)

The Immortal Family follows close behind Satoru. Right now, it's Satoru that Jim has to deal with, not the Immortal Family――After shaking his head to disperse his evil thoughts, Jim opened his mouth.

「How's Rico doing?」

「She was attacked by a saber tiger. She was injured, but nothing serious.」

「Is that so?」

Jim was relieved by Satoru's answer. If he said it was nothing serious, then it must be true. He had received a report from a member of the guild that Rico, who had been expelled from the guild, had left the town. He thought that she might have gone after the young man from that time, but it seems that he was right.

Meanwhile, Satoru saw Jim's expression of relief at the disappearance of Rico, whom he had supposedly expelled, and his conviction grew.

He was convinced that they had banished her on purpose.

「Let me ask you something. Why did you pretend to kick Rico out?」

Jim cowered exaggeratedly in response to Satoru's question.

「That's because Rico is in the way. I'm not a big enough person to work in the shadow of the force that destroyed Zareth.」

「I don't care about the pretense. I'm here to hear your true intentions.」

Jim smiled bitterly as he easily saw through the pretense.

There is a technique called "truth judgment". It is a medium level magic of the mental system to see through the lies of the other party, but if you are a member of the immortal family, you can at least use that, and moreover, he doesn't think that a man who followed by that immortal family can't use it――Well, actually, it's overrated.

Jim understood immediately that there was no point in lying, and with a sigh, he spoke his mind.

「She's not going to make it here, she's just going to be unhappy. That's why I chose to get rid of her. ...... You seem to be an intelligent man. You have a rough idea, don't you?」

「I may be totally off base here.」

Satoru looked a little bitter, but Jim kept his smile pasted on his face and urged him to go on.

「She's ...... not only her, but also you and her brother. To prevent further unhappiness, you've decided to make yourselves the bad guys and get rid of her.」

He heard Kai gulp. Leia looks around at each of the three men in the room with a small surprised look on their face.

「......continue.」

Jim crossed his arms with a smile on his face, as if he could afford it.

「Rico's situation, her brother's――Kai's situation. I don't know if you're aware of all the circumstances before and after.」

Satoru cuts off his speech and gives both Jim and Kai a sharp look.

「Jim, you called Rico a nuisance. Kai, you rebuked Rico for not liking her. You said some unkind things to get her to let her go, and then you sent her away - that's about it, isn't it?」

There was a puff of air. It was hard to tell which of the four of them had exhaled. After a moment of silence, Jim slowly opened his mouth.

「...... Almost as you guessed.」

「Jim-san ......!」

Kai stood between Jim and Satoru as if in a hurry to mend things. It was as if he was trying to protect Jim from Satoru's hands. Kai is a beautiful boy with thin lines, but Jim is too thin to be a thief. Even if it wasn't Satoru, a warrior with a bit of skill would have no trouble defeating these two. As the master of the Thieves' Guild, he must have some interests at stake, but there were no other members of the guild in sight. Leia finally comes to terms with her discomfort.

「I did it! I'm the one who asked for it! I had to let my sister go!」

The boy shouted to Satoru. Kai was about thirteen or four years old. He is only a little taller than Leia, smaller than his sister, and slender in a very boyish way. He has seen Satoru's strength when he defeated Zareth and his cronies. A boy who would have been blown away like a leaf with just a few blows, not to mention a sword, is standing up to Satoru.

「My sister was holding me hostage, working for Zareth, and she hated it. That favor can never be repaid.」

――I knew you were thinking that.

Satoru sighed in his heart.

On the other hand, Rico feels guilty that Kai was able to serve Zareth as a male prostitute so that she would not be forced to become a prostitute.

It's a strange relationship where they both protect each other. But who was truly more devoted to the other, Kai or Rico, was probably Kai. The boy knew. Rico knew that as long as she left Kai, she could live without this town. As long as she stayed in this town, Rico would remain tied down.

「I think it's better that she hates us. That way, Rico will hate this town. She can give up.」

With a small chuckle, Jim interjected. "Still," he added.

「Even if Rico kills me, I don't have a choice.」

Hou, sighed Leia. She felt the unmistakable manliness of these two thin men. She understood that Satoru had come here with the intention of talking to these two men. Indeed, it was a conversation between a man and a man.

These two men understand. There is a possibility that Rico will resent them and try to kill them. They know that this is unlikely, but they have accepted that it is inevitable, and have chosen to expel Rico.

In order to save her.

「I'm a man, too. It is a man's job to be stubborn, isn't it?」

「............」

Satoru chuckled. The two of them are showing more of a man than he thought they would, thinking about Rico. They had probably guessed that Satoru would be here as well. It was hard for these two to expel the person who had been like family to them for a little over ten years. But there was no way they could let the other guild members hear about it - if they found out the reason for the expulsion, they'd be out of luck. That's why the two of them were probably waiting for Satoru to come.

「I'll take that guy. Is that okay?」

Satoru decided to respond to the manly spirit shown by the two.

He thought that if Rico was going to be released, she should be taken to a town where she could be on her own. Until then, he decided, he would protect her with the help of the two of them.

Kai nodded vigorously and replied, "Yes".

「She is just a weak person who pretends to be strong-minded. It's better to have someone by her side, but it can't be me or Jim-san.」

Once he cut off his words, Kai bowed deeply to Satoru. No more trembling.

「Onii-san. Please take care of my sister.」

There are no tears there. It's the face of a man who has made up his mind.

「Boy. You're a good man」

Satoru couldn't help but sigh. He's still just a boy, but he has a promising future. Jim, the newly appointed guild master, is also quite smart. With the two of them, the guild in this town would be safe.

「As long as she continues to do the right thing, I'll protect her. That's a promise between you and me, man to man.」

「Yes」

Satoru then held out his right hand to Kai. Sensing his intention, Kai grasped the large hand with both hands and nodded. "It's just," Satoru said.

「Instead, if it doesn't work, I'll just throw her away. It depends on her what I will do then」

「I'm sure it won't come to that.」

Jim added with a laugh. Satoru couldn't help but smile as he felt the dazzling hint of trust in Rico coming from both of them. I'm completely defeated by these two. He released the handshake and looked back at his own magical slave who hadn't said a word.

「I'm sorry to interrupting you. We should get back, Leia.」

「That's all right. It's not much, but please accept this.」

As Satoru was about to leave, Jim took out a small bag and placed it on the desk. A heavy crunching sound - the contents must be gold. He can tell that there are quite a few pieces in there.

「I didn't do it because I wanted to get something like that, though.」

Satoru muttered, shrugging his shoulders. The reward for crushing Zareth was information about the labyrinth in the suburbs, which Rico had already given him. He can't get any more than that. It would be a double reward. But Jim tells Satoru with a smile.

「That money is Rico's dowry. If you were to abandon Rico, you could give it to her.」

It's a strange story. How can someone who is being banished have a dowry? It would be as foolish as giving severance pay to someone who was about to be disciplined and dismissed.

「Of course, you, who will become the Lord to Riko, may use the money as you wish. As far as you're concerned, I paid you to help us get rid of Zareth. Isn't that good enough reason?」

”Hmm," Satoru groaned. For the guild, it would be more respectable to do so. It would be less inconvenient for the guild to operate if Jim asked Satoru for help, rather than Rico personally asking Satoru. He can make people think that behind Jim there is a big warrior with the Immortal Family, who has easily defeated Zareth. Satoru read Jim's intentions about 70% of the time and accepted the sachet without any choice. It was heavy. The weight of the bag may not necessarily be due to the amount of coins.

「.......I can't eat that guy. Ah, right, right.」 [TLN: sorry bit confused here: 食えねぇ奴だぜ。あ、そうそう]

As if remembering, Satoru looked back at them again.

「Of course, I'm not going to tell her about this. Not now, but maybe one day she'll notice your intentions.」

Rico, like Leia, is quick-witter, but she's not stupid. She's probably too panicked to believe it right now, but there's a good chance that when she takes some time to cool down, she'll notice the manliness of the two men. If she did notice. Perhaps Rico will make the choice to return to them....

「At that time, please accept her with a smile. Okay?」

「...... Of course!」

Tears trickled down the boy's cheeks as he replied strongly. Satoru pretended not to notice and turned around.

It was at this moment that the boy said goodbye to his sister.

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