Episode 9: Something like Crime and Punishment

"Haa, haa, haa, haa...!"

　Marie was on the run.

　Holding a bag full of gold coins in both hands, she runs through the castle town shrouded in twilight.

(I did it... I stole it...)

　Although Marie grew up in poverty, she never engaged in crime such as stealing.

　And yet, I started doing it.

　I stole the money of a man who was nice to me. A gentle man who gave me sweets.

(I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Please forgive me...)

　At first, she had no intention of stealing money.

　The mysterious power he displayed in the back alley overwhelmed the three men.

　Seeing this, I approached him, hoping to get help for my ``sister.''

　But... Uta said he would be leaving town tomorrow. There was no time to save her sister.

　She was feeling disheartened when she was shown a large sum of money, and in the heat of the moment she stole it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!"

　Marie runs through the slums, crying.

　Run, run, run, run...

　When I was out of breath and my heart and lungs were reaching their limit.

　I arrived at my destination.

　The building was in a back alley and looked so grand it seemed out of place.

　It was the base of a gang that controlled the underworld of the Kingdom of Fafnir.

"Huh? You are...?"

　Just in time, I spotted the man I was looking for in front of the building.

　They were the same men who had harassed Marie a few hours earlier and were trying to take her away somewhere.

　There should have been three men, but for some reason there was only one left, and that man's clothes were also stained with blood.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"You bastard, how dare you show your face in front of me!? My subordinate was attacked by a monster and died because you didn't follow me obediently!?"

　The man's face was angry and he started yelling at Marie.

　Marie had no idea, but the men who had been teleported by Uta were sent to a forest a short distance away from the castle town.

　It wasn't something Uta had intended to do.

　As a result of being randomly teleported outside the town, he happened to be in the middle of a forest.

　Although the forest was not far from the castle town, it was still a dangerous place where monsters dwelled.

　Two of the three men were attacked by a wolf monster and lost their lives, while the remaining man barely managed to escape back to town.

"Where has that man gone? Find him, I bet!"

"Um, um!"

"What..?"

"With this money... with this money, please give me my sister back!"

　Marie hands over the bag of money she stole from Uta.

　The reason she stole it was to rescue her older sister who had been taken by a group of gangsters.

　Marie is an orphan.

　She made a living by doing day jobs such as helping out at the general store run by an old woman, but she was originally the daughter of a merchant family.

　After losing her mother at a young age, she lived with her father and older sister, but her father failed in business and, on top of that, he got into a lot of debt by gambling.

　My father just ran up debt and then ran away without taking responsibility.

　As a result, her older sister, who is five years older than her, was taken by the men in her place.

"With this money, I should be able to repay my debt... Please, give me my sister back! Give me my sister back!"

"…………"

　The moneylender put away his earlier anger and looked down at the bag of money Marie handed him.

　He takes the bag, examines the contents, and then quirks his lips sarcastically.

"Oh come on...where did this brat get all that money?"

"it is……"

"Well, whatever. I bet you stole it somewhere."

　The man puts the bag of money in his pocket.

　Then he turned his back to Marie and started to walk away.

“I’m a legitimate moneylender after all… Since I’ve paid you back, I don’t need you anymore. I won’t sell you off. Just get out of here already.”

"W-wait! Where's my sister? Where is my sister...?!"

"Huh? Your sister died a long time ago."

"picture…O^O…?"

　Marie froze at the words the man spoke.

　I don't know what was said.

　My legs were shaking and I felt like I was about to collapse to the ground.

"What...huh...?"

"Your sister was working at a brothel to pay off the debts her father incurred... but unfortunately your sister ran into a bad customer. He punched her over and over again and she died."

"That's... a lie..."

"I'm not lying. She couldn't pay back the money, so we wanted you to pay instead. I don't understand it though... I guess it's because people who enjoy tormenting a brat like you hate it."

　The man turned his head and spoke with a mocking look on his face.

"I'm glad... at least you were saved. You should thank God."

"Ah.... ahh...."

　Marie collapsed to her knees and placed her hands on the ground.

　What I did was in vain.

　Her sister, whom she had even gone so far as to steal from in an attempt to save, is no longer there.

"Uh... Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

　Marie's screams echoed hollowly through the night town.

"Aaaahhh! Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

　My sister died.

　I wanted to help her. I wanted her to live.

　But she was dead.

　I worked so hard to save my sister.

　I even committed theft.

　All of it was meaningless.

　The family that Marie wanted to save is no longer there.

"Aaaaaahh ...!"

　In the dark alley, Marie continued to cry.

　A sense of hopeless despair and emptiness spreads in my chest.

　I felt like I wanted to just let it flow away with my tears and disappear.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

　At that moment, someone suddenly spoke to me.

　Even as they screamed and lamented, their voices penetrated smoothly into my ears.

"you……"

　When I looked up after hearing someone call out to me, I saw a familiar boy standing there.

　Black hair and black eyes.

　A boy with physical characteristics that are rare in this world, yet with an ordinary physique and appearance.

　Flower scattering Uta.

　The boy whom Marie had tricked and stolen his money from was looking down on her.