“Sorry, I really have something urgent. I can’t stay and chat with you!”
Fran immediately tried to find an excuse to escape.
But her right hand was grabbed tightly by the bald thug.
“Hey, hey, hey~. You think you can just walk away after bumping into someone? That’s pretty rude for a Noble~! Next, let us teach you some real manners~!”
“Hehehe~! Yeah, the kind of manners you’ll be learning for the rest of your life~!”
The two thugs eyed Fran with ill intent, as if calculating her exact worth.
“Wait, what are you trying to do?! Let go of me, let go of me right now!”
Fran was completely panicked, pulling at her sleeve with all her strength, trying to break free.
“Heh, hand her over!”
One of the thugs, the younger one, came over, wrapped his arms around Fran’s waist, and slung her over his shoulder.
“Wait! What are you trying to do!? Put me down right now! Help, someone help me! Help—!”
“Cover her mouth!”
“Yes, Boss.”
The thug with the buzzcut set Fran down, grabbed her at the waist with one hand, and clamped her mouth and nose shut with the other.
“Hel—mmph, mmph…”
Unable to breathe, Fran struggled in agony.
The bald thug immediately barked, “Idiot! Be gentle, don’t hurt her! Or we’ll get her price knocked down!”
“Sorry, Boss!”
The buzzcut thug loosened his grip a bit, but Fran only struggled even harder.
“Help… mm… mmph…”
“Damn brat, you’re really feisty!”
The buzzcut thug cursed, having no choice but to tighten his grip again.
The bald thug looked around, growing impatient. No one was paying attention, but this was still a Noble they were dealing with—there was always a risk of things going wrong.
“Enough with the chatter, let’s move! Once we get back to the base, we’ll have plenty of ways to make her behave!”
“Yes, Boss!”
With that, the two thugs carried Fran and quickly slipped into a nearby dark Alley.
“…Did I just hear someone calling for help?”
At the end of the street, Shurim stopped in her tracks.
Although this Street District had always had poor security and cries for help were commonplace, normally Shurim wouldn’t pay much attention—unless the voice sounded familiar…
Shurim glanced back at the nearly deserted street, tilting her head slightly.
The cries for help had already faded, and there was no sign of anyone in distress.
It almost felt like a hallucination.
But Shurim wasn’t the type to mistake illusions for reality. Years of combat training had given her a clear sense of herself—she didn’t hallucinate.
Since she hadn’t misheard, she might as well check it out.
Shurim set off, retracing her steps down the street.
Before long, she stopped near the corner of the street.
“Judging by how close the sound was, it should be around here… But where?”
Shurim carefully surveyed the surroundings. There were no signs of a struggle, which meant no clues.
No, even without clues, there ought to be witnesses…
Shurim looked toward someone sitting at the corner of the street not far away—a person who looked rather “pitiful.”
“Excuse me—”
“Ah, my leg! My leg! You broke my leg! Pay up! Compensate me—”
The man, who had been sitting on the ground in a “pitiful” state, suddenly started yelling the moment Shurim spoke, clutching a “broken leg” he had pulled out from who-knows-where. The scene was quite unsettling.
Anyone passing by who didn’t know the situation might easily think Shurim had done something terrible to him.
Yet, for some reason, the Victim fell silent the moment he met the gaze of his “wrongdoer.”
“…”
“…”
Whoosh!
The Victim, who had been “missing a leg” just a moment ago, suddenly leaped up and ran away at full speed, all four limbs perfectly fine, not even bothering with the broken leg.
Shurim watched the fleeing figure, tilting her head once more.
A minute later,
The Victim, now with all limbs intact, was kneeling before Shurim, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.
“…It has nothing to do with me! I was forced! I’m a Victim too!”
“No… I’m not asking about you. I just want to know if you saw a girl about my size around here a moment ago?”
“Huh? That’s what you’re asking! Why didn’t you say so earlier? I thought you were here to cause me trouble!”
Hearing it had nothing to do with him, the “Victim” immediately changed demeanor, pulled out a flask hidden in his sleeve, and took a swig to calm his nerves—that was the real source of those tears on his face.
Shurim: “…”
“Uh… ahem, well, I did see her, I did.”
Sensing the mood shift, the Victim quickly stowed his flask, his attitude turning cautious.
“Right at the entrance to that Alley!”
The Victim pointed at the Alley where Fran had been abducted.
“Two outsiders grabbed the little girl and took her away.”
“Outsiders?” Shurim glanced at the Alley. Just this much wasn’t enough to find anyone, so she asked again, “Where did they go?”
“That’ll cost extra.”
“Cost?”
“Uh… no… sorry, force of habit.”
“I’ll tell you where they went…”
Thanks to the friendly local resident, Shurim learned where her suspected classmate had been kidnapped.
Although “friendly” might not be the most accurate term for the people around here, at least in Shurim’s eyes, that’s how it was.
There was a time when Shurim had been delayed by some trivial matters and nearly late for training. To save time, she decided to cut through this Street District.
She hadn’t expected the residents here to be so “hostile to outsiders.” Shurim had even considered never taking this shortcut again, but when Semilys found out, she insisted Shurim keep using this route.
“This is training too! The dangers you’ll face in the future aren’t just external; if anything, the threats from within are even more dangerous. Think of this as early adaptation!”
“…”
So Shurim continued taking the shortcut, and after many “friendly” interactions with the “hostile” locals, they eventually became “friendly” toward her.
Now, whenever Shurim passed through this Street District, no one would treat her rudely. Even if she accidentally did something out of line, they’d immediately apologize sincerely, just like that man had—though Shurim herself didn’t think there was anything worth apologizing for.
However, it now seemed these residents changed their behavior depending on who they were dealing with. They were polite to Shurim, but not so much to her classmates…
Then again, maybe it was just because they were outsiders?