Chapter 5: A Plot Unfolds

Chapter 5:
A Plot Unfolds

 

LAFINE ALSTEA sat on top of the kitchen table in a boorish posture, pouring ale from a bottle down her throat. Outside the window, the moon floated in the sky, and moonbeams crept into the darkened room. The house was silent. All the city had already gone to sleep. The only thing to be heard was the sound of the wind.

She sighed.

Lily had not come home.

She set the now-empty bottle down beside her on the surface of the table and then looked out at the night sky. She saw the moon and the stars. There wasn’t a cloud in sight.

“Guess she finally ran… Heh, well, that’s fair…”

Lafine had always hated seeing that smile of Lily’s, ever since the first moment she laid eyes upon her.

Lily had been born deaf, abandoned by her parents, essentially left for dead all alone in that room in the mansion. And seeing the girl’s blissfully ignorant smile pointed her way made Lafine want to puke.

In her own childhood, Lafine had looked up to her father, a man who was strong and sincere. Though he came from common stock, he had taken up a sword and served his country as a soldier. One by one, he accomplished great feats in border skirmishes all around the kingdom—driving out monsters, rooting out bandits. When he was finally granted a knighthood by the king, their whole family had been there to celebrate.

Knighthood, incidentally, was only a quasi-noble rank, lasting but a generation. If he were to continue gaining such renown, though, there was a chance of his winning a peerage, which could be inherited by his children.

Lafine’s father saved the weak and battled the strong. He wielded his sword in the name of what was right and was praised by peasant and royal alike. As a young girl, she was proud of him. She learned the art of the blade from him. She wanted to be just like him. He probably thought of her aspirations as nothing more than a child’s fancy that had outlasted its time, but still, he put everything he had into teaching her.

Lafine was ten years old when she learned that her father had died.

One day, when she returned home, she had found her mother, weeping in front of one of her father’s comrades. They had no idea who or what had killed him.

A knighthood could not be inherited. The family lost their status and returned to their lives as commoners. The extended family, who had been making their presence known in light of Lafine’s father’s rise to prominence, all seemed to vanish without a word. Granted, they had been commoners to begin with, and even after the knighthood, they continued living in the same home, so on the surface, nothing changed for the family. However, with their sole breadwinner violently ripped away, the Alstea family fell into ruin.

One day, when Lafine returned home, her mother, who had always been there to greet her, was nowhere to be found. She had simply vanished into thin air. For Lafine, it was just like the day she lost her father, except this time there was no one left.

It was then that she felt a shattering deep within. A shattering that could only be her heart.

She had no idea if her mother was alive or dead, nor did she care to know. And since that day, she had believed that this was just how family was. Soon, she cared about nothing. Everything in the world was terrible, and thus, none of it was of her concern.

Still, she did have to eat. So, she put her skills with a sword to use and lived for some years as a hunter. This was the first time that it occurred to Lafine that her sword skills, inherited from her father, were nothing like the knightly techniques the nobles employed. Her technique was not that of the stately, orthodox schools of the knights but a practical one honed in the throes of real life-or-death battles. As a result, her skills far surpassed other hunters of the same rank.

She was savage, ruthless, and indiscriminate. Whether she was up against monster or man, she would strike them wherever a blow could land. Legs, eyes, ears—she slashed them all. Killed all kinds of creatures. Artlessly. Watching her was like watching a beast or monster fight, said her fellow hunters, albeit with more of a sense of chivalry.

Morals aside, Lafine’s skills grew rapidly, to the point that within a few years, she had earned herself a reputation. And it was then that the Margrave Neiham Lockwood took her on.

She had never truly wished to be a hunter. Offered a chance at an easier life, she accepted it without a second thought. At first, she had assumed that she would be his exclusive bodyguard. Apparently, she was wrong. Neiham saw her for nothing but her sex. In fact, when she was instated as a servant of the Lockwood house, her sword was confiscated, and she was made to wear a servant’s uniform.

He often touched her. It was unpleasant. However, as long as she was safe, Lafine did not care.

The days went on like this, until one night, late at night, Neiham came to Lafine’s room.

Yet Neiham’s wife, Ivanna Lockwood, was sharper than most noble wives. So much so, in fact, that you might say Neiham could only acquit his duties as margrave thanks to her help. And the night that Neiham came to Lafine’s room, Ivanna was already there with her, drinking tea. Lafine had thought the woman’s visit an annoyance, but when Neiham arrived, Lafine pieced it all together. Ivanna was protecting her. Or, at the very least, she was protecting her own dignity as Neiham’s legitimate wife.

The way that the half-dressed margrave had paled when his wife glared at him still made Lafine laugh.

After that, Ivanna forbid Neiham all contact with Lafine, but rather than drive her out entirely, she put Lafine in charge of her daughter, bowing her head to Lafine despite their difference in status.

“Please, take care of my Lily,” she said.

Lafine wanted to puke.

What was the point of protecting a daughter they had already cast away? Was this an act of love or some way of assuaging Ivanna’s guilt at abandoning the girl? Or perhaps just a facade—a feigned love that they could parade in front of anyone who knew about the child? Regardless of the Lockwoods motivations, being tasked with such a lowly, hypocritical duty put Lafine’s teeth on edge.

Still, Lafine was now under Ivanna’s protection, and so she decided to remain in the Lockwood home as a servant who did no housework. That was her right. She had been hired as a guard, not a servant, after all.

She grew distant from the other servants. She was the target of jealousy, even hatred, but that did not bother her. What did she care what the others thought of her? What did she care if she got fired?

However, years passed, and still, Ivanna did not dismiss her. Until, one night, tragedy struck the Lockwood home.

By the time any of the occupants were aware of what was happening, brigands had already infiltrated the mansion. Neiham and his wife took their son and their second daughter, Lily’s brother and sister, and fled in their carriage. Only little Lily was left behind.

But, of course, that was just how family was, Lafine thought.

All of the remaining servants, save for Lafine, surrendered. Typically, bandits did not kill anyone who cooperated with them. They knew that killing people would bring down the might of the kingdom upon them, whereas a simple thievery involving breaking and entering would be more easily overlooked.

That said, it was not a happy fate that would await any good-looking female servants of marriageable age, and Lafine had other plans for herself. She had no concerns about maintaining her own chastity, but she also despised the thought of serving the men who had just disrupted her tranquil life, and so she hid.

The truth was that Lafine had not returned just to protect Lily that night.

From the bandit’s perspective, there was no reason to think anything of value might lie in a child’s armoire. So she had headed to Lily’s room to hide from the bandits and dragged Lily into the armoire with her.

Lafine had done it all for her own sake. She had to hide Lily to protect her own life. And, just as she had intended, once the bandits determined that Lily’s room belonged to a child, they had left the armoire alone.

Sometime after the bandits were gone, Lafine had left Lily, who was sound asleep, and slipped out of the now-abandoned mansion. Like the Lockwoods—and like Lafine’s own mother, who had abandoned her—Lafine cast Lily aside.

She felt no guilt. That was just how this cruel, cold world had raised her.

And yet. And yet. When they were reunited, that little girl had thanked Lafine for saving her. This girl, who had walked an even more desolate path than Lafine, had given her thanks, of all things, with a cheerful smile no less.

How could she smile that way?

She put a bitter taste in Lafine’s mouth, that Lily Lockwood. She filled her with an unnameable dread, as though she were some entirely alien creature. Lafine hated it. She was creepy.

And so, she decided to use her, this stupid, carefree girl, this irritating daughter of the Lockwoods. Now that she could hear, she had many uses. It was quite lucky that she had gained the ability to hear when her parents had abandoned her. She had good looks, and in just a few years she would probably be quite beautiful. And, as it turned out, she was possessed of an immense magical talent, of all things.

Lafine had no doubts that she would grow into a young woman that any noble or wealthy merchant would desire. It mattered not if she was main wife or mistress. Lafine would marry Lily off to someone rich and then leech off of her for the rest of her life, in return for the debt she was owed in saving her.

All that the world had taken from her, Lafine would take from this girl.

Or, so she had thought.

Lafine looked dazedly up at the moon from atop the table.

“Guess she finally figured it out…”

Lily might not ever come back. After all, the only other time she had not returned before the city was asleep was the day she had been deceived by the bandit gang.

Somehow, the quiet, empty house felt lonesome. It was the same house in which Lafine had spent her childhood with her beloved father, but now it felt terribly cold.

She put the empty bottle to her lips and tipped it up again. What was she to do with herself? Something ached within her chest—the same way that it had the night that her mother departed.

Finally giving up on the empty bottle, Lafine, still atop the table, wrapped her arms around her knees. This whole evening had been no good. She was definitely going to have a hangover in the morning.

Just then, the door slowly, quietly opened.

Frantically, Lafine lay down, right on top of the table, the bottle still in her hand. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed as though she were sleeping.

“Ugh, it stinks in here. C’mon, Lafine, what’re you doing sleeping on the table? If you roll over in your sleep, you’re gonna fall and hurt yourself.”

Lily’s hand was on her side, shaking her, but Lafine stubbornly kept her eyes shut. There was, of course, a reason for this—one which she could not bear to have found out.

“I’m just gonna take this bottle, okay? It’ll be dangerous if it falls and breaks.”

“Mm…”

Lafine feigned a half-awake reply as the bottle was taken from her hand. Lily’s footsteps pattered quickly away and then returned. Something blanket-like was packed under her armpits. Perhaps this was a bit of protection to keep her from falling. Lafine nearly laughed at this half-hearted safeguard but carefully suppressed it. Then, a cape was draped over her stomach.

“Okay, that should keep her from falling…”

The cape was still warm, so it was probably one that Lily had been wearing while out of the house. It carried a faint smoky smell, as if she had been eating meat somewhere. It now occurred to Lafine that she had not eaten anything since lunch.

“Good night, Lafine,” said Lily’s voice gently. “There’s a gift for you on the kitchen counter. You can go ahead and eat that when you wake up.”

“Mm…”

A warm fingertip traced over the corners of Lafine’s half-closed eyes…wiping away the tears that she had been trying to keep from falling.

She’d been caught.

Lafine Alstea had been crying all night, just as she had the night that she realized her mother had abandoned her.

“You don’t have to cry anymore. I’m sorry I was late. I’ll always come home every night, so neither of us has to be alone. So, don’t go crying just because you’re hungry,” Lily half-whispered, half-sighed. It was a gentle voice, like Lafine’s mother’s in days long past.

Lafine gritted her teeth, holding back a tremble.

Stop it.

Stop it. Stop. It.

There was the sound of Lily washing her face. Then she left the living room, and a door could be heard closing. Lafine sat up and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

“Why? Why are you always like this?”

Lafine did not yet know. She had no idea what to call this feeling that was bubbling up from deep inside her chest. She huddled into the still-warm cape, her head hung.

I really hate that little girl, she thought to herself.

 

***

 

The next morning, Lily awoke and washed her face, as usual. Her hair was a mess, and she was still a bit tired this morning, after staying out late playing with the kids in the slums.

Lily quickly changed and headed to the kitchen. She had to make breakfast for herself and lunch for Lafine, who would wake up at noon. There was still plenty of the leftover orc meat, so perhaps she could put that on some bread for her with some roast vegetables, Lily thought. However, as she opened the door, her eyes went wide.

“Morning.”

Lafine was awake.

No way, Lily thought. I must still be dreaming. Okay, okay, I better actually wake up now.

“Wait, hang on! Why’re you closing the door and going back into the bedroom?!”

“What?! This is actually happening?! I’m not dreaming?!”

“Need me to smack the sleep out of you?”

Stranger still, Lafine was not awaiting her breakfast. She was already frying orc meat in a pan. And now, she was asking whether Lily needed to be hit with said pan. On the table, there were already scrambled eggs and a fresh vegetable salad—two portions, one for Lafine and one for Lily.

“Um… Who are you? Where is Lafine…?”

“Excuse me?”

She had even changed her clothes already. She was usually in her pajamas until lunch at least, oftentimes going the entire day without changing out of them.

Was this the Twilight Zone?

“L-Lafine, are you going out somewhere today?”

“For a little bit.”

With a gasp, Lily put it all together.

A date. With a man. That had to be what was happening here. There could be no other explanation for such behaviors as waking up in the morning, changing her clothing, and making breakfast—behaviors that were exceedingly normal for anyone else but totally aberrant for Lafine.

This was troubling. Lily would have to cancel all her jobs today and tail her. She gulped audibly. Having been raised on storybooks, in some things she had knowledge beyond her years.

“All righty!” Lafine served the fried meat onto both of their plates. “Eat up.”

“O-okay.”

She was certainly in a good mood. Lily had no idea why, but she was sure of this. Perhaps now she might get some answers out of her. Lily pushed her salad around with her fork.

“Hey, Lafine.”

“What? If you’ve got somethin’ to say about the cooking you can just make your own.”

“No, it’s good.”

“Oh, okay.”

Lafine averted her gaze, looking a bit bashful.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Depends.”

“Do you know where my family is?”

For a moment, Lafine froze, fork in hand. But then she continued moving as though nothing had happened, rolling up a thin slice of orc meat and shoving it into a sliced bread roll.

“No clue.”

“None?”

“No. I have no idea where they are right now.”

Lily blinked. Was it notable the way she had said the phrase “right now”? Perhaps she simply meant that she had some idea of what direction Lily’s parents and siblings had headed in on the night of the attack on the manor. However, after that, they had moved out of her sight, and she had lost track of them? That was probably what had happened.

Lily got the feeling that would be all the answer she was getting.

“I see. Thanks.”

Lafine continued eating, not even bothering to nod. She seemed to be packing her food away in an unusual hurry. When she was finished, she quickly took up her plate and moved to the counter to wash it.

“Guess you finished all the chores.”

“Yeah…”

“Thank you.”

After she finished washing her plate, Lafine ran her fingers through her hair and tied it in a ponytail at her neck. Then, after securing a leather belt to her waist and taking hold of a shortsword she had picked up from somewhere, she headed to the front door.

“See ya.”

“See ya!”

What did she need a sword for? Wasn’t she going on a date?

“Ugh. This is so annoying. Why me?” Lafine muttered to herself as she left, a foul expression on her face. If she kept making that face, Lily was pretty sure there wouldn’t be a second date in Lafine’s future.

Lily quickly stuffed the rest of her meat and vegetables into her bread, shoving the whole thing into her mouth as she stood. She crept quietly to the front door and opened it—then froze in place. Lafine was there looking down at her, arms crossed beneath her large bosom.

“Don’t follow me.”

She’d been found out.

“Ayff hahweh…”

“And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Lily swallowed.

“He he he. Sorry! I just wanted to see this boyfriend of yours.”

Lafine’s brow wrinkled, but then she relaxed, her gaze drifting up toward the sky. “You can’t see him.” She spat, looking vexed.

“Oh! So it is a date?”

“Yep. It’s an adult date, and you’re not ready to see that kind of stuff.”

“Wha—?! A-an adult date?!”

“That’s what I said.”

Lafine bared her teeth, waving her hands as though trying to shoo away a wild animal.

“W-will you be home late then?”

“Depends. If I don’t get back on time, just leave me some dinner. I don’t need any lunch today, since I’m gonna eat out. But I’ll be using some of your money.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Lafine turned to leave.

Lily raised her fist in a cheer. “Go get ’em, Lafine! I’ll be rooting for you! Let me know if you need a few more coins for your date!”

“…Are you my mother?!”

Lily suspected that now that Lafine knew she might be tailed, she would definitely try to give Lily the slip. Clearly, something was going on here.

Ever since the night that they were attacked by bandits en route to the capital, Lily had suspected that Lafine could not have been any ordinary servant. Was that a dagger she had taken with her? A shortsword? Either way, she had her own weapon, and swords were not cheap. If a normal person who had no need to fight ever had a weapon, at most it was typically the sort of knives that noble women carried, should they ever need to end their own lives when spirited away by bandits—not a blade bigger than a kitchen knife!

What Lafine wore was a sword, however short it and her leather belt might be, and she seemed quite accustomed to carrying it.

“Hmm, wonder who it could be.”

Having blown her cover with Lafine before she could even attempt to follow her, Lily donned her mask and set out for her morning work as usual. She had a favor to ask the grocer, and so first, she stopped by his shop, a rolled-up poster in her hand.

“Good mooorning!”

“Oh, hello there, Lil—er, Hello World Mask. What’s this?”

“Um, it’s a poster I made. I was going to ask if I could hang it up on your wall here.”

She handed over the rolled-up poster, which the man quickly unfurled.

“Hm, I see. ‘From shop deliveries and courier services to culling bandits and monsters—you name it, I can do it, all for a reasonable fee, paid on completion. Hello World Mask, ally of justice, at your service.’ Ha! You drew that mask really well. Ha ha ha, aha ha ha! This is…this is…”

The grocer folded the poster in half twice and put it into the garbage.

“Trash!”

“Whaaat?!”

Lily put her hands on her hips indignantly, pouting at him.

“This is way too dangerous. Plus, you can’t do that kind of false advertising. If you’re gonna do business, your reputation is key. You’re only nine years old, right? Lily, if you want to really be an ally of justice, you need to become a hunter and rise in the ranks.”

“But it’s not false advertising… And I’m not Lily…”

“The same goes for Hello World Mask.”

Of course, the man did not know that Lily had already disbanded three separate bandit gangs, destroying two of their bases without a trace.

“But I worked so hard on that poster!”

“I’m sure you did. Okay, hang on…”

Perhaps feeling guilty at the sight of her crestfallen expression, he plucked the poster back out of the garbage, took an ink pot and quill and crossed out the “eliminating bandits and monsters” line in dark lines.

“I’ll hang it up like this. You should add that you can locate lost items and pets. But then I’d also include something like ‘results not guaranteed’ on the last line. Most lost items never turn up, after all.”

“Oof…”

Lily slumped over, dejected. However, she supposed that he could not risk tarnishing his reputation by displaying a poster that made false promises. She understood at least that much.

It would be fine, Lily thought to herself, perking back up. She knew in her heart that if she could just do every kind of job she could, soon enough she would be known as a hero.

She would earn herself a sterling reputation! It was time to fight!

“All right,” she said. “Go ahead and add that!”

“Sure thing.”

The grocer quickly penned the additions and tacked the poster to the wall of the shop.

“Looks good,” he confirmed. “This should be good for both of our businesses, Lily. Definitely works in both of our favors.”

“Yeah, thanks! Also, I’m not Lily! You’re too young to keep getting my name wrong!”

“Okay, okay. Now, you should probably decide on some rates. How many silver will you charge for deliveries based on weight and distance? Better to agree on a charge in advance than argue about it afterward, right? It’s tough out there, so if you set a low rate or let other people decide, no one’s gonna cut you a break.”

“I guess you’re right. I don’t really know anything about market rates, though. Do you think the Hunters’ Guild would be able to help with that?”

“They might. But you aren’t a hunter. As far as the guild would be concerned, you’re a business competitor.”

Lily’s face fell. “Hmph.”

“Why don’t you let me help you? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna ask for a commission or anything. If your business starts booming, that’ll bring in more customers for me, too.”

“Whoa—really? Thanks!”

Lily clapped, leaping for joy as the grocer looked on, his eyes kind.

With the poster now hanging over the grocer’s counter, Lily began her usual routine of running around the capital, delivering fruits and vegetables.

Come afternoon, it was time to head to the slums. Thankfully, the gathering jobs that F-rank hunters did were typically daily tasks, so nearly every afternoon, Lily could accompany Veil and the younger kids on their excursions.

She headed right to the slums, so as not to be late. As she passed through the plaza, she caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye. Almost reflexively, she ducked behind a building.

“Lafine…?” Lily whispered to herself.

Lafine was standing in one corner of the plaza, her arms crossed. Even from a distance, Lily could tell that she was talking to someone. Who was it? Her boyfriend…?

She giggled to herself. “Hee hee. Found you!” Slipping behind a pillar, Lily peeked out to see who Lafine was with. “Uh… N-no way…!”

It was him—the masked man who had tricked her into taking the bandit’s job counting carriages. The slum broker.

Lily was shaken. He was Lafine’s boyfriend?

But neither he nor Lafine was smiling. The man was flipping through his bundle of memos. This did not, in fact, appear to be a date.

What was she doing? Was she looking for work? With this dangerous man? Lafine, of all people?

“I wonder if I should say something…” Lily muttered, but as she stood there waffling, Lafine turned and left. Of course, Lily could follow, but she knew it was unlikely that Lafine would tell her anything. If she was going to be questioning anyone, she may as well try the broker. Lily approached the man. “Hello.”

“What’s with that mask? You some kinda pervert?”

“Oh.” Lily removed her mask.

“Ah! You’re the little lady from before. You want yer money? Kinda dragged your feet coming to collect, huh?”

The man put his hand into his breast pocket. However, before he could withdraw it, Lily said, “I’m good. You didn’t get paid by those bandits, did you?”

The bandit gang that would have given him the money was now dissolved—by Lily herself. Presumably, this meant the broker hadn’t been paid.

“Oh, figured out they were bandits, did you? How unlucky. It seems someone wiped them out before they could provide the payment.”

The someone in question wore an uncharacteristically fierce expression. “Maybe,” Lily said, “it’s lucky that you didn’t have to deal with any bandits.”

“Not a fan, huh? That why you didn’t come here before now to collect your pay?”

Naturally, the fact that the bandits’ base had been destroyed had been reported by the guild to the Crown and was now common knowledge. The broker must have been surprised to learn this.

“Well, obviously! Why would I want to earn money from people like that?!”

The man withdrew his bony hand from his pocket.

“There’s no such thing as dirty money. It all spends the same. Anyway, I’m surprised a soft and dumb little brat like you figured out who your employers were all on your own.”

Well, to be fair, she had not figured it out all on her own. If Veil had not put the pieces together for her, Lily would have never been the wiser. She might have even ended up working for the bandits again, doing the same kind of job. However, she got the feeling that mentioning Veil’s name here would only cause trouble for him.

“Don’t condescend me. I’m Hello World Mask—the hero of justice who’s been making a stir in the capital.”

“Never heard of ya.”

Lily’s shoulders slumped.

“But seriously though, take your money. You did the job I gave you like a pro. Fair work gets fair pay. If you don’t need the money, just give it to the kids in the slums or somethin’. They’ll be thrilled.”

Lily grumbled softly but accepted a few silver coins from the man and shoved them into her pocket uncounted.

“Stop bringing people jobs like that.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“All I do is pass on jobs to the people who want them. I’ve got no interest in either the clients or the people who take the work. I provide people with a livelihood. This business saves lives here in the slums.”

“But it’s dangerous!”

“Dangerous? There was nothing directly criminal about the job that you accepted. If you hadn’t gone sticking your nose into things, you would’ve never ended up in any danger at all, would you?”

Lily frowned. “Well, that’s true, but if I knew what the job was for, I would never have taken it! I might’ve been safe, but the information I gave those bandits would’ve put other people in danger!”

“And that’s none of my business. Or yours. Now, are we quite finished here? I might not be very busy right now, but I’m not a fan of noisy little girls. So if you’re done here, then I’d appreciate you getting lost.”

Lily did not know what to say. She wanted to give the man a piece of her mind, but considering what she had just observed between him and Lafine, she decided to hold back for now.

“What were you talking about with that woman who was just here? Did she take a job? Another bad one?”

“Let’s take these one at a time. One, that was an old acquaintance of mine through work. Two, she didn’t take any jobs. That’s not what we were discussing. And three, you have to stop with this ‘bad job’ nonsense. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well then, what was she doing here?”

Even with half of his face obscured by his mask, she could tell that the man was smiling, ever so faintly. He held one finger up in front of his mouth.

“You know how this business is. I don’t offer information about my clients on either side, nor do I try to find out too much about anyone. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. I told you before to get that through your skull. What’s that woman to you, anyway? You know her? If she’s just some stranger, you don’t need to go butting into her business.”

“I’m her family!”

The corners of the man’s mouth lifted, this time so sharply that the mask moved with them.

“Family. Pfft.” A shiver ran down Lily’s spine, but the man continued. “Gotcha. So you’re worried about her.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Don’t worry. I already told you, she didn’t take any jobs. She just came here to buy some information.”

“Information? You mean—”

As if anticipating Lily’s question, the man held his finger up in front of his mask again.

“In a gray area like the kind I work in, there’s something known as confidentiality. If I ever lose the trust of my clients, I’ll lose my life, too.”

She was at another impasse. He was not going to tell her a thing.

“If that’s all your business here, then scram already. If you need work later, come back then. You’re gettin’ in the way of business,” said the man. With that, he resumed flipping through his memos.

As Lily started to protest, an arm reached out from behind her, and a hand covered her mouth.

“Mmh?!”

“Oh, it’s Veil.”

Veil?!

Lily swatted the hand away and turned around to see. Sure enough, Veil stood behind her. Ignoring the man, Veil turned to Lily and said, “You shouldn’t talk to this man anymore. I told you that, didn’t I?”

“Y-yeah, but…”

But Lafine, she started to say, before closing her mouth. If the man was to be believed, Lafine had come to him to purchase information. She was concerned about what sort of information this might be, but at least she was not putting her life in danger just by buying a few tips. In fact, Lily thought, it might be more dangerous for Lafine if Lily were to mention her name in conversation with Veil here in front of this man. Though, apparently he considered her a familiar face…

Lily nodded. “Okay, yes.”

“You were late, so I came to find you. Let’s go.”

Veil shoved Lily from behind and started walking, turning his back on the man and his memos.

“Sorry I was late, Veil. I was worried about something.”

Veil didn’t make eye contact with either Lily or the man in the mask. “Just how long are you gonna keep this up?” he spat. “Or hadn’t you noticed? The slums are different now, thanks to the Crimson Vow.”

The man did not reply. He simply flipped through his memos, ignoring Veil’s words.

Veil let out a deep sigh and picked up his pace. Lily trotted along beside him, chewing her lip anxiously.

 

***

 

Once the pair was out of sight, the man let out a long sigh and slipped his memos into his breast pocket. He hadn’t actually been reading them. He merely had not wished to meet the gaze of that steadfast young man.

He sighed again and then let out a whisper so soft that even the gentlest breeze might have swept it into oblivion.

“So…that’s the secret eldest daughter of the Lockwood family. I’d heard that she couldn’t hear, but clearly that’s not the case. Hmm…”

There would not be any more customers today. He stood up from the fallen pillar that served as his chair and brushed off the rubble from his backside.

Somehow, he sensed busier days ahead…

 

***

 

Mel, Chimley, and the other children were scattered around a field, gathering herbs. Though they stood in the middle of the group, Veil spoke softly, his words for Lily’s ears alone. “So Lafine left the house armed and bought some info from the slum broker? That is a bit concerning.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them had their backs to one another as they spoke, keeping watch in opposite directions. In order to properly chaperone the gatherers, it was crucial that they never let their guard down. After all, monsters could appear from anywhere.

“Veil, do you know that guy?”

“I do, yeah. Don’t know his real name, though. For the past few years he’s been coming to the slums, recruiting poor kids and orphans to do his jobs. As you’re aware, he casts a pretty wide net, which pulls in both honest work and…less savory opportunities.”

Lily tilted her head.

“But when I was there the other day, there weren’t any other kids there besides me. And today I didn’t see anyone besides Lafine. Who is taking those jobs? How does he stay in business?”

Veil scratched his cheek with his finger.

“Well, there’s a bit of a story there, actually. I helped clean the orphans up a bit, so that they could get better work. I gave them clean clothes and helped them start bathing. Then, they were able to do the better jobs that kids in the orphanages usually did. It’s cheaper for employers to hire the urchins from the slums, after all.”

Mel waved at them from where she was gathering. Lily waved back with a smile and said to Veil, “That seems bad. Didn’t that cause conflict?”

“It did. All I wanted to do was create a better life for my brothers and sisters, but I ended up making trouble for the kids at the orphanages. However, just when fights were starting to break out, a C-rank hunting party called the Crimson Vow stepped in to intervene and helped make peace between both sides. Thanks to that, we were able to find a peaceful compromise, instead of having the city break out into a full-on turf war.”

A C-rank hunting party, the Crimson Vow. Lily had heard this party’s name around the city. She hoped that she could meet them one day… (Little did she know, she had already met them, before she ever came to the capital.)

“Oh! So that’s why you do so many gathering jobs.”

“Yeah. All the urchins who are qualified as associate hunters have been allowed to take on these daily tasks, instead of taking jobs from individual townsfolk. That way their work doesn’t overlap with the jobs the kids at the orphanage usually take.”

“Don’t they want to be hunters, too?”

“Some do. But still, they don’t take each other’s jobs. There’s no set number of individuals who can do these daily tasks, though of course, if too many people went foraging, the market price of herbs would probably fall. But if that happened, they would probably get a rank promotion, or go mine ore or something.”

A chaperone was necessary for associate hunters to take these gathering jobs. That, Lily now understood, was why Veil had not joined a party—despite being a full-fledged C-rank hunter—and why he never took jobs very far from town.

“I can’t thank the Crimson Vow enough. The urchins have been able to get proper work, and the orphanages have received more funding from the Crown. Those girls are really amazing. They’re on a completely different level from normal people like me.” A distant look in his eyes, Veil murmured, “I wonder if I’ll ever be able to catch up with her…”

Lily grinned, flashing her pearly whites.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about, but the way I see it, you’re already pretty amazing yourself, Veil.”

“I am? How’s that?”

“Well, you’ve been looking after all of these orphans by yourself. I’ve tried working, so I know how hard it is to earn money. It’s difficult enough on your own, but you have all these kids to watch over, too. That’s pretty amazing.”

“Ha ha, well these kids are my family, after all. Helping each other out is just what family d—”

Veil stopped short, falling silent for a moment. The wind blew across the grasses. The sound of the orphans’ cheery voices tinkled in Lily’s ears.

“I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me to say.”

Lily Lockwood had been abandoned by her family. Either that, or her family was gone from this world. Neither could be considered a fortunate situation.

Even so, Lily replied cheerfully, “It’s fine. I still haven’t given up on my family. If they are out there in trouble somewhere, I’ll go and save them, no matter where they are. But for now, if Lafine is trying to do something dangerous, I’m going to st—well, I don’t think I could actually stop her, but I can at least maybe go and help her? She’s my family, too.”

Backs still facing one another, Lily and Veil looked over their shoulders, sharing a smile.

“Well, when the time comes, I’ll help out as much as I can. Just let me know. Whether it’s the Lockwoods or Lafine, I’m your guy.”

“Thank you. But there’s no way I could afford to pay you.”

Lily felt the warmth of Veil’s back shift slightly against her own.

“Ha ha ha. Well, Lafine is one thing, but when it comes to the Lockwood family, I think I’d just ask for payment from the margrave himself. Plus, the guild might even pay some reward, depending on the circumstances. But if I get nothing, I get nothing. As long as you keep helping us out here in the slums, that’s all the payment I need. It really is hard for me to look after all of these kids by myself.”

“Well, then—it’s a deal,” Lily said. “I’ll look forward to it.” The pair smiled at one another again. “You’re a good person, Veil.”

“I don’t need to hear that from someone who got swindled by that broker.”

Lily grimaced. “You’re still going to give me a hard time about that, huh?”

Veil cleared his throat and pulled away. Joining the nearest group of orphans, he started to help with their gathering. Lily went over to Mel, peeking into her basket. Perhaps because Mel was the youngest of the children, she had made little progress. She always seemed to be falling behind. Somehow, she reminded Lily of herself, back before she could hear.

“All right. Lemme give you a hand, Mel.”

“Thanks, Miss Mask!”

When she thought back to all the time she had spent locked away in that mansion, it was nearly impossible to fathom the enjoyment she took in her new life. There could certainly be worse things, she thought, than to continue living this way.

 

***

 

Contrary to what Lily had feared, Lafine returned home before the chiming of the second evening bell. The moment their eyes met, Lafine grumbled, “What? I told you to go ahead and eat. You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“Food tastes better when you eat together.”

Lafine cringed visibly.

“Eating alone or with someone else doesn’t change the taste of the food. And besides, it’s tastier to eat something when it’s hot and freshly made.”

The lamplight swayed. The food sitting on the table had not been touched. Lily had started cooking around the first evening bell, so the meal had already gone thoroughly cold. Lily bounced to her feet.

“Well then, I’ll just reheat the soup! It’ll probably still taste good.”

“Okay.”

Lily lit the flame beneath the pot of soup.

“You’re home late, Lafine.”

“And you’ve been late before, too.”

“True. I guess we’re in the same boat,” Lily giggled.

“Got a bit caught up,” Lafine shrugged. “Couldn’t get home until now.” She shed her overclothes, letting out a big yawn.

“How come?”

“Well, because I was on an adult date.”

Ah, so Lafine was going to lie to her. Even after buying that information from the slum broker. It made Lily a little sad. If something was bothering Lafine, she should have told her right away. Couldn’t she rely on Hello World Mask?

“Really?” Lily stirred the soup, not letting her worry show on her face.

Lafine sat down at the table.

There was a long pause. Then: “What’s with the quiet? I expected you to try to pry every single little detail out of me. I don’t suppose you saw me while I was out?”

“N-n-nope, I didn’t see you.”

There was another long pause. A very long pause.

“Hmm…”

Lafine narrowed her eyes, her gaze almost painfully sharp.

“Lily.”

“Mm-hmm?”

“What kind of work is it you’re always doing with that hunter boy Veil? And where? In the afternoons, that is. I saw that weird odd jobs poster up at the grocer’s shop, so I know you do that in the mornings. But that can’t be earning enough for the both of us.”

“Oh, I help Veil’s younger siblings out with their gathering, and I serve as a chaperone to protect against monsters. They need the extra help.”

“Monsters, huh? Depending on the type, I guess that’s a lot better than you fighting bandits.”

“Well, I say monsters, but it’s only been orcs and goblins and jackalopes, so it’s not that dangerous.”

Lafine slumped over the table, letting out a deep sigh.

For some reason, Lily’s heart was racing.

“Well, I guess that’s all right. An opponent like that doesn’t stand a chance against you. Just don’t go doing anything too dangerous.”

Lily poured the warmed soup into a wooden bowl, hands trembling faintly.

“Lafine, were you…worried about me?”

Lafine whipped her head up. “I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about my own future. You, as my little sister, are going to get married to a noble or a wealthy merchant someday. I won’t forgive you if you go do something weird and mess that pretty face up.”

Marriage, huh? Lily couldn’t even picture it yet.

“I see… I’ll be careful.”

“You’d better.”

Lily set down the bowls and sat across from Lafine.

“Plus, if you get hurt, who’s going to take care of me? Let me make this clear: We would probably both starve to death.”

“But the breakfast you made this morning was sooo good!”

Lafine turned her face down to the salad on her plate as if to escape Lily’s gaze, a pained look in her eyes.

“W-well, obviously. Nothing I made would ever taste bad.”

“Of course!”

Though Lafine’s face was turned down, when Lily looked closely, Lily could see her expression was soft. As soon as she noticed Lily’s eyes on her, Lafine’s expression hardened swiftly.

“Just eat already,” Lafine barked. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“I am.”

And then, the scene at their dinner table was the same as it always was. Lily monologued happily about all that had happened that day, and Lafine ate in silence, nodding every now and then. Lafine never shared any thoughts about the food, but she ate up all of Lily’s cooking without fail. Sometimes, she even went back for seconds.

For some reason, this made Lily Lockwood almost happier than she could bear.

 

***

 

The next morning, Lafine woke before Lily and made breakfast again. Like the day before, she was making preparations to go out. But, of course, she would not say what she was going out for. After she saw Lafine off, Lily left the house as well. And so, she had no idea that, shortly after her departure, a group of mysterious men in hoods and robes arrived at the empty house.

In a practiced fashion, the hooded men shared a series of hand signals and then unlocked the locked door, slipping easily inside. After checking all the rooms to confirm that no one was home, they looked to one another, shook their heads, and left without touching a thing.

Lafine, who stood in an alleyway watching this unfold from start to finish, returned to the house as soon as they had left, checking every corner of every room. After finishing her cursory check, she wiped the sweat from her cheeks.

“Looks like we may’ve opened a can of worms here.”

Tailing Lily and watching the house for some time had paid off. To think she’d witness thieves breaking into her own home! The men had left no traces behind, either. There was nothing missing, and naturally, nothing new. Politely, they had even left the sack full of silver coins that she had purposely set out in an obvious location. They were not thieves, and clearly, they weren’t deliverymen.

She put a hand to her mouth. “This is bad…”

In fact, it would have put her at ease if they had stolen something. The fact that they had taken nothing meant that they had some business with one of the two members of this household. It was unlikely that they were mere bandits. Of course, the fact that they had managed to pick the lock flawlessly also meant that they had likely done so before.

Lafine could only imagine what this meant: that this had something to do with the Lockwood family—and that meant that the men who had attacked the manor that night had not been after money.

Neiham Lockwood was an influential noble, a margrave who possessed both the reputation and the experience to be entrusted with safeguarding the borders of Tils. He may have been a worthless man who was ruled by his controlling wife, but there was no question as to whether he deserved his title. He was not a duke or a marquis, merely a margrave, tasked with protecting the regional areas from other lands—a task well within his capabilities.

So, if Lafine was correct that the thieves had not been after money, then this was most likely tied to someone who felt that the margrave and his family were a nuisance. It could be some other powerful noble within Tils who had his eyes on the margrave’s lands, or if not, someone on the other side of the kingdom’s border. In other words—spies from the Albarn Empire to the south.

Lafine sighed and put her head in her hands.

No matter what, this was already too much for a mere former hunter to be dealing with. However, if it turned out their enemies were international spies, that became an even bigger issue. She couldn’t do much about something that should rightly be handled by the Crown. There was probably little they could do besides disguise themselves and run away. Moreover, there was a fairly strong chance that it was the Empire they were dealing with. After all, if it were a matter of internal rivalries, the noble in question would have already put their name forward as inheritor of the margrave’s still-unsecured lands. There was no reason that the king would leave such a crucial border unguarded in perpetuity.

“So the Albarn Empire is behind this…”

This was something much bigger than Lafine had ever imagined. Her heart was beating so fast it hurt.

At first, she had simply been acting on a whim, beginning the search for Lily’s family in a bit of out-of-character frivolity. But now, she had come upon something far more outrageous: the revelation that the Lockwood manor had been attacked, in the dead of night, by agents from the Albarn Empire, of all places.

How had they found her now? There should have been almost no one who was aware that Lafine Alstea was concealing the eldest daughter of the Lockwood family: only Lafine, the girl in question herself, and Veil.

“That boy! Him…!”

Lafine didn’t know anything about the boy or his background, other than he was a C-rank hunter who hailed from the slums. It was Lafine’s own fault for letting it slip that Lily was the sole remaining Lockwood, but it was even more foolish of her not to have kept a closer eye on the boy.

She was letting strangers get too close to Lily.

Lafine grabbed the sack full of coins and hung it at her side. For now, she would set out post-haste, and she would make Veil talk. Depending on how many people knew what, Lafine and Lily might have to abscond from the capital.

“All right.”

The moment she stepped out of the front door, she came face-to-face with one of the hooded men. He flashed a sneer.

“Are you Lily Lockwood?”

“…?!”

For a moment, Lafine’s face froze in shock, but then, she simply smiled. “Do I look that young to you?”

“Oho! Sounds like you actually know her.”

Crap. She’d gotten carried away.

At least, Lafine was quick to react. Quicker than the hooded man.

She clicked her tongue, drawing her sword and swiping at the man from the side. The sound of steel rung out as the man caught Lafine’s shortsword with his own blade just in time.

“You little bitch…”

“Out of my way!”

She kicked the man away with a foot to the gut.

“Whoa!”

As the man stumbled backward, Lafine clicked her tongue again and took a quick step back into the house, violently kicking the door shut. She bolted the door from within, though she knew this would provide little obstacle to the men who had already broken in earlier that same morning. Next, she ran to the bedroom, leapt up on the bed, crossed her arms over her chest, and hurled herself through the window. She landed in the alleyway and immediately took off running.

Soon, she heard a shout. “Around the back! Don’t let her get away! She’s not the girl, but we can probably use her as a hostage!”

With the sounds of many footsteps rounding the house, Lafine pelted down the alleyway, nimble as a stray cat. She jumped over piles of refuse, turning corners and slipping through the gaps between houses, using back alleys to make her way to the slums.

 

***

 

In terms of swordsmanship, Veil was well ahead of the curve for a C-rank hunter. Still, his reaction was nothing short of miraculous.

As he and Lily walked through the slums toward the outside of town, leading their gathering troop, a shadow suddenly appeared overhead. For a moment, he wondered if a cloud had moved in, blocking out the sun.

Even Veil had no idea why he drew his sword in that moment.

Yet some instinct made him act, withdrawing his sword from his belt as he simultaneously shoved Lily back and then caught the flashing steel that came cutting down from above, slicing through the air.

“Wha—?!”

“Found you!”

Lily stumbled backward and fell on her backside. Her eyes went round—Lafine had just leapt out of the air behind them, her unsheathed sword bearing down on Veil. They locked blades, before Veil shoved Lafine back with his superior strength. Lafine fell several steps backward and shouted to Lily, “Lily, get away from him! He’s with the enemy!”

“Huh? What? Lafine? What?”

Lafine moved to shield Lily, who was still too disoriented to move. She kept her guard up, the point of her blade still leveled at Veil.

The other orphans were startled and confused, their eyes wide.

Lafine was sweating, shoulders heaving with ragged breaths. Across from her, Veil was lowering his blade with one hand, holding the other arm out as a counterbalance.

“H-hang on now, Lafine! What do you mean ‘I’m with the enemy’?”

“Don’t play dumb! You sold Lily out to the Empire!”

Lafine dashed forward, slashing her blade diagonally. Veil deflected the blow, retreating.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Lafine kept on him with one blow after another, steps nimble and erratic as a wildcat, Veil catching every blow with practiced precision. As he sliced down to repel another one of her diagonal slashes, Lafine continued in one fluid motion, turning about and redirecting the energy of her swing to ward him off.

“Whoa!”

The blade scraped at the surface of his skin, leaving a faint scratch on Veil’s forehead. Then, Lafine came twirling at him again, her skirt billowing.

“Hold on!” Veil cried. “Just listen to m—gah!”

Veil halted her blade and then knocked it right into the ground, stepping on the flat of it with his heel and burying it into the dirt.

No less than a moment later, Veil found his chin struck—by the toe of Lafine’s boot.

“F-footwork?! So you’re not just good with a sword…”

Without hesitating, Lafine took this opportunity to free her sword. She pointed the tip right at Veil, kicking low off the ground and aiming for his thighs.

Lafine’s sword fighting was not characteristic of the chivalric technique used by knights. It was a wild, unpredictable art she had learned from her father. There were no set stances here, nothing that would pass for common sense. Should the need arise, she even knew how to throw her own sword and fight empty-handed. To any normal knight or swordswoman, this would be utterly nonsensical.

Even so, Veil held his own. He repelled her unpredictable motions with speed and accuracy. Still, he was sure that, had he not been able to practice with a certain absurdly fast and powerful member of the Crimson Vow during his school days, he would not have been able to stay on his feet.

Sparks and the sounds of ringing steel filled the air.

“Lafine, stop it!” Lily shouted, but her voice was drowned out by Lafine’s.

“This morning, my home was attacked by brigands involved with the margrave incident! They were looking for Lily! They wanted to abduct or assassinate her! Besides us, you are the only one who knows about her!”

“Just calm down already! I haven’t said anything to anyone!”

Veil took the smallest hop backward, avoiding a low blow aimed for his ankles. If he left too large of a gap, the next moment would probably see him dismembered.

“Liar! There is no one else with a connection to both myself and Lily who knows her true identity!”

Lily, who had been trying to move between the two of them, stopped short. Veil gritted his teeth, avoiding the tip of Lafine’s blade with a twist of his body.

“Fine! I guess I’ve got no choice!” Veil shouted as he gripped something in his left hand. “This might hurt a bit. Please don’t hate me!”

It was just an air bullet—a simple spell. But although it was nonlethal, it was also invisible, so it was nearly always effective against an opponent who had never seen it before, even if that opponent was a skilled A-rank hunter.

“I’m the one who should be saying that! Once I’ve got you pinned, I’ll make you talk!”

Lafine, meanwhile, drew a long, needle-like weapon from her boot with her left hand, still wielding her sword in her right. This hidden defense had been the ace up her sleeve during quite a few battles against other humans during her time as a hunter. Like Veil’s air magic, it was very effective against an opponent who had never seen it before—hence, the reason for her keeping it concealed.

Both sides kicked off the ground, when Lily’s voice rang out.

“There is! There is someone else!”

Both pitched forward, losing their balance.

“That broker knows me, and also you—doesn’t he, Lafine?!”

Lafine looked puzzled.

“By broker, do you mean that guy in the slums?”

Lily, now becoming annoyed, balled her fists and shouted, “Yes!”

“How’d you know I was buying information from him?”

“Because I got a bad job from him before! The one that Veil rescued me from! And also, I was watching when you met up with him! Although, he wouldn’t tell me what it was that you wanted information about.”

Veil let out a sigh of relief and slipped his sword back into the sheath at his waist.

“Phew… It looks like we’ve found the culprit.”

“But he shouldn’t have known there was a connection between me and you,” said Lafine. “Nor should he have known your real identity. I didn’t let anything slip to him. I may as well tell you now: I was trying to get information about the whereabouts of the Lockwood family—but there was no way that alone would’ve been enough for him to figure out the connections between you, me, and the Lockwoods.”

“Yeah, well, but after that, I was worried about what you were doing, so I went to ask him! He wouldn’t tell me, but… Oh, I see. That must have been enough for him to figure out who I was…”

It was all coming together. Lafine slapped a hand to her forehead, sheathing her own sword. A cold wind blew past them as she folded her arms over her ample chest and looked sheepishly to Veil.

“Ah, um…”

She had launched a surprise attack and actually tried to kill him based on a false assumption, but Veil, the target of this violence, only stood with his own arms crossed, a troubled expression on his face. Lafine, on the other hand, looked as though she was practically about to cry, as she balled her fists and put them to her mouth, turning her upper body away demurely.

“V-Veil… Mr. Veil? I’m… I’m sooo sorry!”

There was no reaction. After several moments, Veil turned back to the orphans.

“Okay, everyone. You cannot tell anyone else about what just happened here. People’s lives depend on it. Also, we’re not going to go gathering today. There’s something I need to do.”

The children, who had been looking forward to the excursion, groaned in disappointment, but Chimley and Mel pushed the others from behind and kindly herded them away. Then, only the three—Lily, Lafine, and Veil—were left in the corner of the slums.

Just as Lafine was about to apologize again, Veil bowed his head deeply toward her.

“Sorry. Looks like the slum broker made trouble for you.”

“Huh?” Lafine was stunned. “No, uh, I mean I’m the one who should be apologizing…”

Lily tilted her head to the side. “Why are you apologizing, Veil?”

Veil sighed. “That guy is… Well, he’s my big brother. Me and the other orphans here.”

As previously stated, once people in the slums reached a certain age, they tended to disappear. Some young men became hunters and went to live on their own, and some girls became lovers to wealthy merchants or nobles. In other words, there was hardly anyone who chose to remain in the slums after they were old enough to have other options.

Veil’s older siblings were no different. Once they became adults at fifteen, they left the neighborhood behind.

Veil had decided to remain in the slums because he didn’t want to abandon his little brothers and sisters. He hoped that if he became a hunter, and helped his younger siblings achieve positive things, they could change the face of the slums entirely.

“I had thought that I was the only one from the slums who had the idea to stay here, but apparently I was wrong.”

Veil did not know the man’s name. In the slums, no one had names unless they offered one up themselves or were given a new one by their fellows. And so, this man was known only as Big Bro.

“He used to be so responsible. This was when I was about five. Though there wasn’t any way for all of us to get hunter qualifications or individual work like there is now, until he was fifteen, Big Bro spent all of the money that he earned taking care of the rest of us. We didn’t have a luxurious life, of course, but we had at least one piece of bread every day, which at the time we were thankful for. Everyone loved him.”

However, once he turned fifteen, Big Bro had left the slums behind, just like all the others. The next eldest, Big Sis, looked after the children, but naturally, the moment she came of age, she stepped into a beautiful carriage and never looked back.

That was just the way it was. Back then, Veil had never even thought to question it.

Incidentally, once the girl known as Big Sis had become the eldest, there was a sudden increase in job requests. In the slums, where they often lived hand to mouth, this was a welcome development.

When the seasons changed, and Brother Dahl became the eldest, he told Veil—then the second eldest—about the slum broker. He was a mysterious figure, his eyes obscured by a hood, his nose and mouth hidden by a mask. His voice was muffled through the cloth so that one could tell only that he was a man. It was thanks to an introduction from Big Sis that Dahl had known of him, and he introduced Veil to the man in turn.

Veil, however, realized something. It was around the time that this broker had first appeared that life started getting better for the orphans of the slums. Thanks to the jobs that this broker offered, hardly anyone was left starving.

Who was he? Veil burned with curiosity about this man.

One day, he happened to glimpse the broker when he had removed his mask. His face was that of the nameless Big Bro, who had left the slums when Veil was only five years old.

Yet even after his identity had been discovered, the broker continued quietly doing his job. There was a not insignificant number of cases where one of the jobs he’d offered brought trouble in its wake, as he didn’t distinguish between good work and the bad, but even now, Veil thought of it as an accomplishment on the man’s part that the number of starving children had decreased over the years he had been operating.

“Then, I realized something.”

There was a way to support the slums without leaving them behind. That was why Veil became a C-rank hunter—so that he could keep providing the children of the slums with the means to live through daily work.

Time passed by, and the first thing that Veil did upon graduating from the Hunters’ Prep School was to bring new order to the neighborhood. First, he helped the children keep their bodies and their clothing clean. As a result, they would be able to accept jobs directly from the merchants in town. This, however, caused a bit of a conflict.

When the urchins from the slums began setting their sights on the odd jobs in town, they began taking work away from the orphans who lived in the orphanages. This was something that Veil had not predicted. However, the C-rank party, the Crimson Vow, had succeeded in bringing both sides together, and the matter was resolved without incident. Thanks to their efforts, the orphanages began receiving more funding from the Crown, and worries about one group taking work away from the other faded. Additionally, now that Veil had been able to recruit the children of the slums as hunters, they could do daily tasks from the guild, further improving their quality of life.

“Eventually, the children weren’t even aware of the broker who had been supporting the slums. Our Big Bro was forgotten by the very people for whom he had stayed here.”

Now, the only people who took jobs from the broker were ignorant newcomers like Lily, or those children so young and lacking in physical strength that they could not even go out gathering—though even these young ones could normally live reasonably comfortably on the money their older siblings brought in.

Even so, Big Bro continued to appear in the middle of the slums, with his stack of memos, and would for as long as there was even a single person around to take jobs from him.

“He wants to be the final safety net for the slums, even if it means that he falls into ruin himself. All I want is for him to be free. He doesn’t have to keep sacrificing himself for the orph—”

Veil cut himself short. Lily was grinning hugely at him and began to crow excitedly, “He really is a good person, then! He’s like the hero of the slums! He stays here, supporting everyone behind the scenes! That’s so cool! The way he’s going about it is wrong, but, wow, I really admire that!”

“Y-yeah. I guess you’re right. A hero…huh? I see. That’s true.”

Lafine teased Veil, a devilish smile on her face, “Really makes you look stupid, huh? And here you are, always trying to do the right thing to support the slums.”

“Uh…”

“No, wait!” Lily quickly added. “I mean, you’re like the father of the slums, Veil. The Papa!”

“That still seems like a step down from hero…”

“Also, I’m not that old—at least not yet.” Veil smiled softly. “Anyway, I’m the only one who knows the broker’s true identity. Not even Big Sis or Dahl knew. So, I’m the only one who can stop him. I want him to get away from this dangerous life. I want to let him know that the orphans of the slums can thrive now, without anyone else suffering.”

Lily nodded fiercely.

“I want to help him, too. Plus, we have to figure out this Lockwood problem sooner or later.”

“Yeah. This involves us, after all. I’ll do what I can to help, both with Big Bro and with the Lockwoods.”

“Okay.”

Lafine, who had been sitting on a toppled barrel and listening, hung her head and put a hand to her forehead. All she had meant to do was seek out a little bit of information about Lily’s family. But now she knew she’d opened a whole can of worms. No matter how desperately she brandished the truth before this pair’s eyes, they were unlikely to back down.

Plus, they were still up against the Albarn Empire.

Now that the agents in question knew her name and location, she would never be able to escape this. She certainly could not return home, lest she be spotted and spirited away. She already knew too much. All she could do now was prepare for the worst.

Lafine sighed. “I’ve determined the location of the Lockwood family. And I know why they’ve been attacked and imprisoned.”

Both Lily and Veil whipped their heads around, taken aback.

“But before I say anything more, I have to ask you: This is going to be incredibly dangerous—do you still want to know?”

It was a pointless question. The pair nodded at once.

“Of course we do.”

And so, that was that.