Debt
I stand in front of the gaudy man in order to protect Priscilla-san and the others. I couldn’t ask for more than for him to back down as it is but, no way that’s going to happen huh~.
“Oi, brat. You’re gonna pay for it if you get in the way, got it?”
The gaudy man who says that and readies his knife. The other man also readies his knife.
“You, you don’t have to bother about us so, please run away!”
Priscilla-san shouts at the back. However, there’s no way I can leave this situation be and run away. I turn just my face towards Priscilla-san and the others, and with a smile
“It’s fine so stand back”
I say. But perhaps Priscilla-san isn’t convinced, she looks like she wants to say something. Over there
“Looks like you ain’t gettin’ it til’ you taste some pain, huh!”
the gaudy man thrusts his knife out at me. However, there’s no way such a slow thrust will land.
I dodge it by just shifting to the left, grab his right wrist that holds the knife with my left hand, and twist it.
“Guu! Ow ow ow ow!”
I twist it until the gaudy man releases the knife. I twist the gaudy man’s right hand until it’s roughly up to his head’s position and, maybe because he couldn’t take it anymore, he drops the knife. After that, I release my hand, kick the gaudy man’s abdomen, and send him flying.
“Guheh!”
Over there, the other man approaches in order to substitute the gaudy man. This man has better movements than the gaudy man just now. He swings the knife downwards, swings it to the side, immediately brings it back, and thrusts at me.
Although his movements are accustomed to using a knife for an ordinary human, as I thought, it’s slow. I’d been training with the strongest monster every day. This isn’t even nearly enough for me to play around.
I enter the man’s bosom while evading the knife and punch his jaw with my left hand. With this, the man faints.
“Wha, what’s with you!”
“Me? I’m just a shopper. Leaving that aside, you’re going to experience more pain if you don’t quickly leave, got it?”
When I say that, the gaudy man clenched his teeth in frustration, shouldered the unconscious guy, and left.
“Re, remember this~!”
While leaving behind a threat.
I confirm that those men left and turn towards Priscilla-san and the others who are behind. Priscilla-san looks at me even as she pacifies the children who had burst into tears. She makes a bitter look.
“……My apologies. I dragged the unrelated you into it as well”
“It doesn’t particularly matter though……nn? You’re hurt, you know?”
I looked at Priscilla-san and blood was coming out from her right arm. Priscilla-san tries to hide that arm but I grab Priscilla-san’s arm.
“Ah”
“Please don’t hide it and show it to me”
I look at her right arm and……uwa, this is terrible. Her right arm has a hole like it’s stabbed by something and the blood doesn’t stop. The children saw that and burst even louder into tears. The people around has also been looking over here since just now.
I look to the stand and, I don’t know whether it’s when the gaudy man kicked it or when Priscilla-san crashed into it, but a part of the stand has been broken and a nail is out in the open.
I suppose that stabbed her since there’s also blood on the nail. It should be quite painful and yet this person, without even screaming, worries even for me.
“It, it is fine”
Furthermore, she still tries to hide it. Even though there’s no way she’s fine. Priscilla-san’s bad complexion is speaking volumes.
“Listen, bring your arm out. Since it looks like an ordinary Heal will leave a scar. Water Magic High Healing”
I heal Priscilla-san’s arm with Water Magic. Maybe because they found it mysterious that a blue light comes out from my palm, the children stopped crying and are looking fixedly. ……Alright, the wound is sealed up with this so
“Water”
I wash off the blood.
“There’s……no other wounds huh, the skin went back to being beautiful”
I take out a clean cloth from the ring and wipe Priscilla-san’s wet arm.
“Sor, sorry. On top of having you save me, I even have you heal me. ……Erm, um, about the healing fee”
“Healing fee? Aah, it doesn’t particularly matter. I just did it at my own whim anyway”
“But, I do not feel good otherwise!”
Priscilla-san says. U~n, what should I do. I really just did it at my own whim.
“In that case, I guess I’ll have the stand’s vegetable? How about this?”
Although Priscilla looked like she wanted to say something when I said that, maybe it conveyed to her that I won’t go any more than this, she accepted it albeit reluctantly.
“Thank you very much. Everybody, stuff the vegetables into the bag”
“””Yeーs!”””
And then I asked about those fellows just now while looking at the children cheerfully stuff the vegetables into the bag.
It seems Priscilla-san is working as an apprentice sister in a small church that is behind this street and these children are apparently orphans. It seems Priscilla-san herself was also originally an orphan, having been raised by that church’s sister, she’s helping the church to pay back the favour.
It’s a small church and on top of that, nobody comes because it’s behind the street so their everyday life is to somehow earn even just the orphans’ food expenses, but because the church itself had become old and the roof leakage and such were also terrible, they apparently decided to fix it. It seems the sister borrowed money from a moneylender for the sake of that. They’re those fellows just now.
That sister had heard that she can borrow at a low interest rate so she borrowed about 300 thousand bel from that moneylender and it was a contract to repay monthly but it seems it inflated to an outrageous sum the next time she went to pay it.
It seems the sister told the moneylender that it’s strange but, there’s no way the moneylender would listen to such things and only said to return it.
And then, she was shown the contract and over there, it seems there’s an interest incrementation term written that wasn’t there at the time of the initial contract. Because of that, the debt inflated all the way up to about 3 million and it seems she’s giving her all just to pay the interest every month.
The sister had been doing her best working but now she’s apparently upset her health and is staying in bed.
“Why did she borrowed from a place like that? Besides, she didn’t tell the knights?”
“Apparently, there was nowhere else that will lend her money. Everywhere was unwilling and in the end, that’s the only place……. She told the knights but they won’t respond to her at all”
Priscilla-san who says that and looks down sadly. Uーn. It’s too strange no matter what. Moneylenders who won’t lend money to them. The only moneylender who would lend to them was a loan shark. Knights who won’t deal with her for some reason. It’s like they’re being set up by someone. As I’m thinking about such things, Priscilla-san
“……Sorry. I talked about such things to you who I just met today. Please forget everything I just said. Sorry”
apologizes to me. I’m thinking about what I should say and,
“Onii-chan, it’s done!”
Mei-chan shows me a bag that’s filled with vegetables with a smile. I remember about Filia when I’m looking at these kids. I wonder if she’s doing well.
“Onii-chan?”
“Aah, thanks”
I pat Mei-chan’s head and she happily squints. I’m relaxing like this and
“Lei~. It’s almost time to assemble~!”
Dargris calls from a distance away. It’s already that time huh.
“I got it, I’m going at once! Priscilla-san, my apologies but I need to get going”
“Ah, no, likewise, my apologies for only talking about useless things. And thank you for saving us”
“””Thank you!”””
Priscilla-san gives her thanks and the children also give their thanks altogether. How admirable.
“Well then, I’ll be off”
“Ah, pl, please tell me your name!”
……Now that I think about it, I didn’t say it huh.
“Excuse me. My name is Leivelt・Runwalker. Please call me Lei”
“Yes, thank you very much, Lei-san!”
Although I want to do something for them, this is Arcadia State and not Nanor Kingdom. It’s probably not good for a person from another country to intrude too much. I head towards the location where everybody is assembling while thinking about such things.
“……Lei-san huhh”
Unable to hear such murmurs.
◇◇◇
“And then, you guys ran back with your tail between your legs, is it!”
“Hii! Sorry, Aniki1. But that fellow is strong!”
“Tsk, well whatever. It’s probably just today anyway. Come to think of it, there are young girls and brats in that sister’s church, yeah?”
“Yeh, there are but what about it?”
“You guys abduct them back. If they can’t get ready the money then we make it ourselves”
“Got, got it!”
Good grief, even though the day to pay the government money is near, what a useless bunch.
