At the moment their eyes met, for some reason, an awkward atmosphere spread between the two.
“Come down. Do I need to coax you?”
“If you want me to come down, then come catch me!”
The girl taunted while sticking her tongue out at Lucas.
“I’m trying to reason with you right now. Since you won’t listen, I’ll have to try another method.”
Lucas reached behind his back and pulled out his gun, firing a shot into the wall just a few centimeters in front of the girl.
The bullet embedded itself into the wall mere centimeters away from her.
“Wahhh!!!”
Startled, the girl lost her grip on the wall and fell—landing squarely in Lucas’s arms.
He had to catch her; falling from that height, landing face-up, she could have seriously hurt herself.
“You… you… have no honor!”
The girl lying in Lucas’s arms pounded weak little fists against his chest.
Completely powerless, soft and limp.
“Behave yourself.”
Lucas put her down.
“Stay put. Don’t try to run.”
As soon as he set her down, the girl started squirming again, trying to pull some tricks.
Lucas quickly grabbed her hand to prevent any mischief.
“Ugh, today really… just let me admit defeat. It’s not like I didn’t steal your money, but I already paid you back…”
The girl turned her face away, complaining with obvious reluctance.
“Stealing is one thing, but do you even know who you stole from? You stole from the Princess of the Kingdom, do you realize that?”
“What? I don’t even know any princess.”
“You’re about to.”
Lucas grabbed the girl by her collar and tucked her under his arm, heading back toward the tavern where they had just been sitting.
“Let me go… let me go…”
The girl’s arms were tightly restrained by Lucas.
Unable to break free, she could only kick her legs while loudly protesting to show her defiance.
But to Lucas, her resistance was far too weak and ineffective.
***
Inside the tavern’s private room, the girl sat timidly in a chair, not daring to look at Lina even once.
Nori stood guard by the door, while Lucas remained behind the girl.
“So… what do you want to do? I already said I stole the money, but didn’t I already return it? What else do you want from me?”
“Why did you steal the money?”
Lucas asked the girl in the chair.
“That… that’s none of your business! Stealing is nothing strange in Debis Port.”
The girl turned her head away, muttering quietly.
But Lucas clearly saw her hand slipping into her pocket, ready to make a move at any moment.
Lucas took a step forward and grabbed her hand.
“Nori, search her.” Lina gestured to have Nori check the girl’s body.
“Hey, what are you doing? Why are you treating me like a criminal?”
The girl still tried to resist, but Lucas had already pinned her hands behind the chair.
She had no choice but to let Nori search her.
One by one, small gadgets were pulled from the girl’s person, including but not limited to pellets, a small knife, a telescopic claw, smoke bombs…
How many things did this girl hide inside that tiny jacket?
Even during the search, her hand wasn’t honest, still attempting to use a barbed ring on her finger to sneak an attack on Lucas.
After a long struggle, they finally emptied the girl’s collection of gadgets.
No doubt, she had some skill; she carried quite a few flashy little tools, even hiding a small dagger in the heel of her boot.
Despite all those metal trinkets, she was still incredibly agile.
Even Lucas couldn’t help but admire her physical fitness.
“All right, now tell us why you stole the money, and why you’re carrying so many things on you.”
“You! You’re bullying me!”
The girl stomped her foot angrily, trying to stand and retrieve her gadgets, but she couldn’t resist Lucas’s strength and had to obediently sit back down.
“Behave yourself.”
Lucas held the restless girl down.
“We’re not going to kill you.”
“Hmph…”
The girl turned her head stubbornly, refusing to answer any questions from those present.
A loud “gurgling” sound suddenly echoed in the private room, so loud that no one could ignore it.
Lucas looked at Lina, Lina looked at Nori, and Nori looked back at Lucas.
Obviously, the sound didn’t come from any of the three of them.
The “gurgling” sounded again, and their gazes all turned in unison toward the girl.
“W-why are you looking at me? It’s just that I haven’t eaten in days. If I hadn’t been starving, I would have run away from you long ago.”
“You didn’t buy anything to eat?”
Lucas pressed.
The girl hung her head and tearfully confessed the truth.
“I’m out of money. Not a single coin left.”
Now Lucas and the others finally understood why she stole the money.
“No money? Doesn’t your family cook at home? Where are your parents?”
Lina asked with concern.
“None of your business!”
Despite being hungry, the girl stubbornly resisted.
“Who knows where my mom and dad went?”
So that’s it—a left-behind child growing up in Debis Port.
No wonder she resorted to petty theft. In such an environment, it’s hard not to be affected.
“Do you have a job?”
Lina asked.
“I used to, but not anymore… no job, no money, no food, so I just starve.”
Lucas and Lina exchanged a glance before letting the girl off.
“Ow, ow, ow! You don’t know how to be gentle!”
Lucas gave Nori a look.
Nori nodded and left the room.
Not long after, she returned with some toast and a bowl of porridge, placing them in front of the girl.
“Since things have come to this, eat first. We can talk after you’ve eaten.”
Seeing the food, the girl ignored everything else and immediately started wolfing it down.
Although it was just dry toast, she finished it all in less than five minutes.
“Th-thanks. You guys are really weird. I’m the one who stole your money first…”
“You just wanted to eat, and we understand that.”
Lina didn’t mind the theft very much.
“But food isn’t free. You’ll have to work for it.”
“Of course, you’ll be paid.”
Lucas pulled out a few gold coins and tossed them to the girl, then glanced at Lina and Nori before continuing.
“Your job is simple: tell us if anything strange has happened recently in Debis Port.”
“J-just that?”
The girl asked, stuffing the coins into her pocket.
“I thought it’d be something more… weird… Hmph, if it weren’t for the weird things lately, would I have ended up so hungry?”
It seemed the girl really knew something.
Now that things had reached this point, Lucas no longer bothered to hide it.
“Then, can we pay you to buy information? Airoma.”