IICSYIRD l CH 04

chapter 04

‘It can’t be just like this here.’

I frowned. After all, this world was meant to be dark and cruel. And slums like this were usually all the same. Filled with kids who didn’t have parents—or worse, would have been better off without them.

“Miss, I’m so sorry. Please show mercy….”

The orphanage director, who had been feeding himself by starving the children, was now begging me with tears in his eyes.

‘Seriously… it would be such a waste if I die early.’

Now that I had real power. I used to mutter, “Ugh, why don’t ghosts come and take jerks like that?”—but now, I was the ghost. And if I died early, it would be such a waste.

I had to save Schloitz no matter what, so I could hold onto this power until I died.

I checked the time and casually asked,

“Hey….”

“Yes, Miss?”

“Where’s the… noble in charge… of this district?”

In the capital, each district had to have at least one noble assigned to it. The wealthier districts were often governed by entire noble families, but for poor and remote districts like this one… it was more like exile. A place where nobles with weak bloodlines were sent to be forgotten.

This was the place where Schloitz’s father had banished him.

“He lives deeper in the central part of the district. But Miss, the situation there is rather complicated, so there’s no need for you to trouble yourself with a visit….”

“Why… complicated?”

“Well….”

The inspector looked troubled. Since we had come here for a surprise investigation, I was sure they’d already looked into everything, including the noble residing here. So they probably already knew that it was Schloitz—a disgraced noble pushed aside by his family.

They probably hoped I wouldn’t get involved. But I had to go.

“Brother said… nobles should always… be polite. Said not greeting them… isn’t proper.”

“That may be true, but….”

“I’m not… a kid, you know….”

The inspector’s mouth smiled, but his eyes were full of despair. He looked like he was silently screaming, “Why is the young master teaching a little girl this stuff already? He should fix himself first!”

In the end, I was allowed to go. I stepped out, heart pounding.

‘I’m nervous…!’

I couldn’t even register the gloomy atmosphere of the Red District anymore. My heart was thudding at the thought of finally meeting Schloitz in person.

People stared as I walked past in my clearly expensive clothes. But no one dared approach me or cause trouble. That was expected—after all, I had just come from an orphanage swarming with knights. And I made sure to arrive in a fancy carriage too.

‘The house is really nice, though.’

Schloitz’s house was quite fancy, especially for a slum. That was thanks to his mother’s family. When they saw that his father divorced and tried to remarry right away, they probably realized what was going on.

Still, Schloitz had failed to awaken any noble powers, so they couldn’t openly bring him back into their care. So they secretly supported him by paying for his home and living expenses.

‘They did want to bring him back, though.’

But Schloitz’s father hadn’t officially disowned him yet. Sending him to this dark, remote district was still technically part of a noble’s duty. And because his father’s family was more powerful than his mother’s, they couldn’t openly fight back.

So they helped Schloitz in secret—though that ended when his maternal grandmother died.

Schloitz was supposed to be the same age as Enricore, so he’d be ten years old now. Still very young—and not healthy, either. His father had secretly been giving him medicine, and the stepmother sent poisoned food every other day.

‘…Who are those guys?’

I stopped in my tracks, eyes wide.

Several well-dressed men—obviously nobles—were swaggering toward Schloitz’s house. Each one was carrying a basket and walking in an arrogant way. They stopped in front of the house and banged loudly on the door.

A moment later, a boy came out.

“……”

Seeing the person I had only ever imagined in my head—someone I’d spent years picturing—was more emotional than I thought it would be. I couldn’t see him clearly because the men were blocking my view, but still….

“The lady said she feels sorry for you, so she sent food again.”

“Ah.”

I realized it was a beat too late. These guys must be the errand boys who were bribed by the stepmother.

“We should be the ones grateful, with the lady being so generous to a brat like you.”

“Seriously, what’s so pitiful about you…? Tsk. Just be thankful and eat it.”

Schleutz took the basket silently. Then it happened. One of the men looked suspicious, and suddenly shoved Schleutz hard. Without caring whether he stumbled or not, the guy pushed into the house, then came storming out angrily.

“What the hell? This brat barely touched the food we gave last time!”

“Didn’t eat it?”

But the man’s hands were full of spoiled food.

“That’s not what the original story said, though.”

I was confused. In the version I’d read, it said he didn’t leave any food uneaten. As I stood there stunned, yelling erupted. A scuffle broke out—but it wasn’t really a fight. It was just a one-sided beating. A small, skinny boy versus several grown men? That wasn’t a fight.

“Refusing the lady’s kindness when you’re a disgrace to the family? You arrogant, filthy brat! You still think you’re the heir or something?”

“What is this?”

“Hold his mouth open!”

“Got you now, you little punk. You know how long we’ve put up with your cursed eyes?”

One man grabbed Schleutz by the collar and lifted him right off the ground. Then they forced open his mouth and shoved food down his throat. When he gagged and threw up, they tried to force that back in too.

“What the hell is this?”

Wait, seriously—none of this was in the original story!

It all happened so fast. Before I knew what I was doing, my feet were already moving. And somehow, I found myself standing in front of them.

“…Huh?”

“What’s this tiny thing now?”

Three big men were beating up a little boy, and nobody around dared to intervene. That’s why they were doing it so openly. But then a small, well-dressed girl suddenly stepped in. They were clearly thrown off.

“…Looks like a noble?”

“Which house is this lady from?”

They looked nervous seeing my expensive clothes. I didn’t look like one of the dirty kids from the slums.

“Whatever your business is, move along, miss. Shoo.”

They tried to scare me off, flashing threatening eyes. But I was too shocked to move. Schleutz’s face was already covered in blood.

“Holy shit. These bastards.”

Now I truly understood what people meant when they said they “snapped.” Honestly, I had kind of expected something like this. I’d come knowing they were noble lackeys. I was even planning to stir up trouble with them to give myself a valid reason to save Schleutz.

But this? This was too much. Were they doing this just to provoke me?

Even if Schleutz weren’t someone I deeply cared about, how could I just stand by and watch a starving kid get tortured like this?

Then Schleutz choked and coughed. Blood and food came out of his mouth. One of the men frowned at the sight and punched him hard in the stomach.

“Don’t… hit… him…!”

My speech got extremely slow when I was upset. I couldn’t string syllables together properly. I wanted to scream, “Hey you assholes! You wanna die? You monsters!”—but the words wouldn’t come out right. It was suffocating.

“Huh?”

The men exchanged confused looks, hearing my slow speech. One of them suddenly yanked off my cloak. Silence followed.

“Well, well…?”

“She’s really pretty. Maybe someone’s strange little plaything?”

“Yeah, sounds about right.”

“She’s dumb as a rock but her face is something else. Skin like snow. I kind of want to keep her.”

“Dude, are you nuts?”

“No seriously, I mean—urk!”

The sound of laughter was drowned by a scream. One of the men curled up, having just been kicked in the crotch.

“You crazy little bitch!”

The man raised his hand to hit me, but just then—I felt something small wrap around me protectively. And at the same moment, their arms and legs twisted in unnatural directions.

“Aaaagh!”

The screams were sharp enough to split the air. It was over in an instant.

The men lay on the ground, their bodies twisted in pain. One of them was even dangling in midair, still suspended.

“Miss, are you alright?”

A knight pulled me out of Schleutz’s arms and gently set me upright. He asked with respectful concern.

“Venus… I’m fine.”

Venus Eckerot. He had followed me all the way from the royal mansion. A knight with a name like the goddess of love, glowing auburn hair, and a slim figure—but definitely not weak.

At the same time, the knights of the Lefebvre family came out from hiding.

The men were frozen in shock. They now realized that I wasn’t some noble’s plaything—I had the power to treat them like toys.

They couldn’t even speak properly, their mouths bleeding.

“Uuh… uh…”

Looking into their horrified, panicked eyes, I realized—this was the perfect moment to become a ghost.