Free Web NovelThe storm was drawing closer and closer to the town.
People on the streets had long since hurried back indoors, shutting their doors and windows tight to prepare for the coming wind and rain.
On the way, Flaviel decided she couldn’t really help with anything right now and simply vanished on her own.
Along the road home, Vieya ran into several patrol knights who kept calling her “little sister,” telling her to hurry back home and not mess around outside so late.
She was puzzled that these knights didn’t recognize her, but since her original plan was to get home as fast as possible anyway, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with them.
“Wow, still out here alone this late at night. She’s got some guts...”
The patrol knight clicked his tongue as he watched the white-haired little girl’s back disappear into the distance. But very soon, his gaze shifted toward the storm pressing in from outside the city, his tone shading with faint concern.
“With a storm this big, I’d bet the Lord Mayor’s manor is about to activate the magic formation. Let’s hope we get through this in one piece.”
“What’s there to worry about? The one who subdued the Holy Sword is still living in our city!”
The other knight didn’t care at all, his voice full of worship.
“A natural disaster on this level, Sword Master could wipe it out with a flick of her fingers.”
“How are you any different from a brain-dead fanboy at this point... Forget it. Let’s keep patrolling. It’s exactly at times like this that those shady monsters love to crawl out and make trouble.”
After discussing it for a while, the patrol knights once again broke into a trot down the streets.
At the same time—
On her way home, Vieya was blocked by a stranger.
The woman didn’t look very old—sixteen, seventeen at most. Her eyes were big and round like a husky’s, but her entire body was dressed in rags. Even the pair of old cloth shoes on her feet had a hole worn through at the toes.
You couldn’t quite call her a beggar. “Pitiful” would be more accurate.
Vieya frowned.
“Hello, little sister. If you don’t have anywhere to go this late, you can apply for aid at the convent. There’s food and drink there, and a roof over your head.”
“I’m not a beggar. And you’re the little sister here.”
The beggar girl answered lazily, her black-and-white eyes roaming up and down over the short white-haired loli in front of her. Her expression couldn’t hide her curiosity and surprise.
“You look rich. Can I go eat at your house for free?”
The beggar girl rubbed her stomach and started begging outright.
“I’m so hungry it feels like I’m on fire inside.”
Her brain’s broken, huh.
Vieya casually grabbed a handful of copper coins from her pocket and slapped them into the beggar girl’s hand.
Without even glancing at the beggar who’d frozen up at the sudden jingle of coins, her figure flashed—and she was gone.
However, in the very next second—
Vieya was blocked again.
She lifted her eyes.
Still the same beggar girl.
In that instant, the slime girl realized the other party was here specifically for her.
“I don’t want money. But please take me to your house to eat.”
The beggar girl took a step forward as if to hand the copper coins back, but Vieya immediately stepped back a pace, pulling open the distance.
“What do you want from me?”
Vieya frowned as she spoke, while also taking a more careful, serious look at the rag-clad beggar in front of her. Besides checking whether the other’s body showed any abnormalities, she quietly activated Appraisal.
Once she confirmed the girl wasn’t a monster, she slowly let out a breath—only for another suspicion to rise in her heart.
This beggar girl... could she also be one of Ghost’s members?
In that case... I’ll just kill her.
“When the beggar girl once again shuffled over all blank and clueless, trying to return the coins—”
Vieya’s eyes went cold.
The Holy Sword suddenly appeared in her hand. With a twist of her wrist, the blade lunged straight for the beggar girl’s throat.
The thrust was incredibly fast—so fast that before the girl could finish saying her last word, the sword was already at her neck.
“......”
However—
The beggar girl merely tilted her head.
The blade skimmed past her throat, only shaving off a lock of her hair.
Vieya pressed the attack, rushing in close.
This stretch of street was lined with shops that had closed early because of the approaching storm, so she didn’t have to worry about harming any innocents—she just needed to control the range of destruction so people wouldn’t show up at the Academy demanding compensation afterward.
The slime girl had always taken very good care of her own feathers—of her reputation.
Swish, swish, swish!
Three more thrusts lanced out, but the beggar girl dodged every one of them by a hair.
Her body technique is really good, flashed through Vieya’s mind.
Very quickly, she braced herself for having to pay for whatever she wrecked tonight and began pouring mana into the Holy Sword.
In a moment, the sword erupted with dazzling gold light.
“Sigh, I just wanted to beg a meal off you. It’s not like I hurt anyone. Did it really have to go this far?”
“You’re a member of Ghost, aren’t you! So don’t stand there pretending you’re innocent!”
“Ghost... what’s that? I don’t know it. I’ve already been hungry for so many days. And I saw you treat other girls to so much food for free, didn’t I? Why can’t you treat me to a little? It doesn’t have to be expensive—coarse grain is fine.”
“......”
Vieya stared at the beggar girl leaning against the wall, emerald-green eyes full of disbelief and confusion.
Good grief, is this weirdo really a member of Ghost?
How can she say stuff like that with such a straight face, like it’s the most natural thing in the world?
And also—what do you mean “other girls”? Have you no manners?
“...Do I know you? Are we that close?”
Vieya took a deep breath and glanced up toward the distant guardian formation that had already lit up. That helped her settle her thoughts a little. She looked back at the beggar girl leaning on the wall and asked,
“Didn’t I give you coins? You can’t go buy food yourself?”
“All those food stalls are closed...”
The beggar girl said gloomily.
“And I can’t accept your money.”
Vieya looked at her like she was an idiot, but a new thought was rising in her mind.
This one is very strong, but she really hasn’t shown any killing intent. Maybe... I should think this through a bit more? Maybe I shouldn’t have swung first and asked questions later?
With this beggar girl’s level of strength, if she had even a bit of malicious intent, there’s no way she’d be reduced to this state.
Vieya rubbed her brow, a little troubled. Her bloodlust really did seem to be getting heavier lately. That was not a good sign.
She stayed silent for a while, then retracted the Holy Sword and asked the beggar girl,
“You’re this strong. How did you end up like this?”
“I didn’t ‘end up’ like anything. This is training,” the beggar girl corrected her.
“Fine, you win.” Vieya conceded. “I can treat you to food. But—”
She put extra weight on her words.
“That girl you saw just now had to be a hug pillow for me every night while I was sleeping before I’d treat her. What about you? What can you do for me? You’ve got both hands and feet; I’m not going to just feed you for nothing.”
“I can sleep with you too,” the beggar girl said.
“......”
Vieya’s eyelid twitched. She ground out,
“You look this filthy and grimy and stinking— I wouldn’t take you if you paid me!”
“Ah... I am a bit dirty.”
The beggar girl sniffed at her own clothes, then said in a daze,
“But I don’t stink, though?”
Vieya was just about to speak when a strange laugh suddenly echoed through the street, which should have held only the two of them—
“Ah-hahaha, with your charm you still think you can seduce someone? Are you an idiot or what!”
Just as Vieya tensed up at this sudden third voice, the owner of that voice didn’t bother hiding. It floated right out from behind # Nоvеlight # the beggar girl and into the air.
It was a strange little creature, only palm-sized. frёeωebɳovel.com
It looked like a teacup dog at first glance, but with wings on its back and a coat of white fur. Each of its paws wore a tiny black shackle, making it look eerie and oddly cute at the same time.
What the hell is that thing? Some kind of little sprite from the astral realm?
Vieya’s brows knit even tighter. She suddenly felt that this beggar girl’s identity might be even more complicated than she’d thought.
“It’s called Pike. No need to be scared.” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
The beggar girl was utterly unruffled.
“It’s been following me for a long time. Says it wants to record my whole life.”
“Come on, stupid Marlam, did you forget we came here to cause trouble? We’re the bad guys!”
Pike complained.
“And anyway, this little brat in front of us is anything but simple. She’s just like that—”
The white teacup-dog realized something was off mid-sentence and hurriedly ducked back behind Marlam.
“...This white little brat is that Sword Master!”
“You only noticed now?”
“Then hurry up and make a move! Beat her up good! Tie her up and take her back!”
“Why would I tie her up?”
“The mission!”
Marlam stayed calm as ever.
“Forget the mission. I’m about to starve to death as it is.”
“I’m hungry too,” the little white dog muttered. “Are you really not doing the mission?”
Marlam: “What’s that got to do with me.”
Pike: “You... unbelievable...”
Off to the side.
Vieya watched the girl and the dog chattering back and forth, listened to what they were saying, and her expression gradually turned... complicated.
After a pause, she hesitated, then asked,
“Do you still want to eat or not?”
“I do.”
The beggar girl nodded like a pecking chick. The flying little dog at her side hurried to chime in as well,
“We only took on a bounty request regarding the Sword Master, but we have just mutually agreed to give it up.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
The beggar girl raised both hands in agreement.
“I’m just a martial monk who strictly keeps to the precepts. We rushed on the road for a week for that bounty request—walking from desert to rainforest, from rainforest to here—and now we’re honestly starving. I heard every Holy Sword wielder of every generation is upright and aboveboard, a great person whose heart is with the common folk. That’s why I thickened my face to beg food from you.”
Is that so? Just a bounty request? Why do I not believe a single word...
Vieya was speechless inside.
The acting of this girl-and-dog duo was painfully bad, and that script-reading tone had the corner of her mouth twitching.
It felt like she’d been waging a desperate battle of wits and courage against thin air, only to discover in the end that the opponent was just a dog.
