Chapter 10

“…Hmm.”

Baron let out a quiet sigh and adjusted his monocle again.

Now that Ibi had left, he was puzzled by Hedius’s statement that she had not been trying to kidnap Leo.

But, in truth, there was some validity to Ibi’s story as well.

This was a world where even perfectly innocent children were mercilessly abandoned if doing so was necessary to make a living.

So how much more likely was that to happen to someone like Ibi?

Besides, judging by her refined appearance, she might even have been a noble. And nobles tended to be even more sensitive about shortcomings. It was entirely possible that her family had simply wanted her dead and thrown her into the Black Forest.

Ibi was amazed by how beautiful the world was, but even in such a world, cruel things like this happened all the time.

So even if everything she said was true….

“Even so, I’m worried she might cause unnecessary trouble. Is there really any reason to keep such a suspicious and unsettling woman in the village?”

At Baron’s cautious addition, Hedius pointed something out sharply.

“Just the fact that Ibi didn’t leave despite my offer proves, for now, that she isn’t a kidnapper. So what reason do you have for sending her away? We don’t have a convincing one yet.”

Just as he said, Leo was currently trusting Ibi almost blindly, as though he genuinely believed she was an angel.

If they forcibly sent Ibi away under these circumstances, there was no telling what unpredictable thing Leo might do next.

Frowning as though even thinking about it gave him a headache, Hedius continued.

“If she were a kidnapper, she would have accepted my offer. But she didn’t.”

“…Now that you mention it, that is true.”

The Shadow Thieves’ Guild was the only group in the empire that knew the paths through the Black Forest.

Even if Ibi tried to flee with Leo later, surviving in a forest crawling with swamps and beasts would be difficult.

And avoiding the pursuit of thieves who knew the forest better than anyone else was not merely difficult—it was impossible.

That was why Hedius’s offer had essentially been his final test for her.

Realizing that he had failed to grasp Hedius’s intention, Baron flushed.

“I merely….”

Hedius watched Baron silently with his hands clasped behind his back.

His usually calm gaze contained an unusual trace of confusion.

“Of course, I still can’t let go of my suspicions about her. Everyone we’ve accepted into this village until now had a clear reason for ending up here. But we don’t even know the basic details of her background, so I can’t blindly trust her.”

Then Hedius murmured so quietly that only he could hear himself.

“And she may have a purpose other than Leo.”

She was the only person who could touch him without hesitation.

If he wanted to discover why, it would be better to keep her close.

Hedius remembered what Ibi had said moments ago about helping him and squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again.

What exactly had she meant when she said she would protect him?

No. Had there even been any real meaning behind those words?

What am I expecting from her right now?

Hedius let out a hollow laugh before speaking to Baron again.

“Anyway, it would be best to keep an eye on her for the time being. As you said, we still don’t know whether she’ll be someone who harms our guild or someone who helps us.”

Baron lowered his head.

“You’re absolutely right, Guild Leader.”

That troublesome Imperial Prince had been surprisingly quiet during the several days since Ibi arrived.

Perhaps he was afraid that Hedius would drive Ibi away, because unlike usual, he had not once refused his training.

Even after falling down countless times, rolling around in the dirt, and getting scraped up, those bright red eyes kept filling with a fierce determination rarely seen in him.

To be honest, it was a satisfying result.

If he wanted to look at it positively, then yes.

For now, there was no doubt that Leo needed her.

For the sake of the Imperial Prince who would one day return to the Imperial Palace with his head held high…

Having made his decision, Hedius spoke to Baron.

“I hear Leo gets along well with Ibi. Since things have turned out this way, perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep Ibi by his side so that Leo doesn’t cause any more trouble.”

“Ahhh! I’m crazy, I’m crazy! I really am crazy! Even if it was just an act, how could I do something like that?!”

After returning to my bedroom, I started pounding my fists against the goose-down pillow.

I hit it so many times that feathers floated into the air before gently settling back down over my head.

“I’m not actually starting to go crazy, am I?”

Grabbing Hedius’s hand had been an intentional attempt to defuse the situation, but bringing his hand to my cheek had been completely impulsive.

Why? Why on earth?

“Ugh, I’m the only one who has to deal with the embarrassment!”

I flopped face-first onto the flattened pillow.

I wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

Even so. Everyone already suspects me…. And then I went and did something even stranger.

There was no way to turn back time.

So….

“No, no! Who cares about something like this? I need to grow a thicker skin, Ibi!”

I shot upright and clenched my fists, steeling my resolve.

“Since things have already gotten this far, I might as well start shamelessly putting on a poker face. No matter how much weirder I act from now on, it’ll probably seem perfectly normal to them anyway, so who cares?”

But despite my determination, word had already spread that I would be staying in the village, and interest in me outside was blazing hotter and hotter.

Like a hot potato.

At the hour when everyone was asleep.

Smoke from the bonfire in the middle of the village rose high into the night sky.

The thieves, who had stuffed themselves with delicious roasted wild boar, corn soup, and wheat beer, gradually began bringing up today’s hot topic.

“The Guild Leader, that absolute fortress of a man, actually let the woman who grabbed his hand without permission live! Even after she practically acted crazy! I honestly couldn’t believe my own eyes!”

A freckled thief’s words were the starting point.

“Exactly. I thought for sure he’d kill her. But he let her live. I never expected that. And to take in a woman whose background we don’t even know….”

“But haven’t there been several cases where the Guild Leader accepted people whose origins were unclear?”

“That’s true, but she was with Leo after he ran away from home. It was hard not to suspect her under those circumstances, wasn’t it?”

The conversation gradually became more animated.

“Don’t tell me… the Guild Leader has fallen for Ibi’s beauty?”

“What?”

“I mean, think about it. Just look at the people in our guild, Vice Guild Leader. I’ve never seen anyone as fair and flower-like as her.”

“Exactly. Just like Leo said, I thought she really was an angel who had dropped straight down from heaven.”

“When I first saw her, I thought a flower had come down and taken human form.”

“The Guild Leader is just your excuse. Sounds like you lot are the ones who’ve fallen for her!”

“N-No, sir!”

The conversation soon grew hotter as they began praising Ibi’s appearance.

Hustler stroked his beard.

“Ahem. Surely the Guild Leader knows what he’s doing.”

Then one of the thieves gave a drunken, floppy grin.

“This is just a joke, but… what if the Guild Leader has fallen into his first love? Hehehe.”

“Hey! Don’t insult our Guild Leader! How dare you say such a thing about a man who treats women like they’re invisible!”

The moment he said that, the thieves burst into loud laughter.

The image of their stiff, emotionless Hedius falling in love and becoming completely flustered was simply too absurd to imagine.

“Rather than that, what if Ibi isn’t actually a madwoman?”

Someone shouted the words, and silence fell instantly.

“Hmm….”

In truth, there was a simple reason Ibi kept becoming the center of discussion.

She was beautiful, yes.

And Hedius had been acting strangely around her, too.

But more than anything, their suspicions about her had never completely disappeared.

“Now that you mention it, that actually makes some sense. It’s hard to believe a woman that beautiful is crazy, isn’t it? She looked incredibly refined. At first, I thought she was the daughter of some noble family.”

Hustler spoke first, and voices agreeing with him immediately followed.

“Oh, now that you mention it, you’re right. Even the dress she was wearing looked expensive, didn’t it? And her hair looked so soft, like someone had been taking care of it constantly.”

“When you think about it, there really are a lot of strange things about her.”

The conversation instantly turned serious.

“What if Ibi really isn’t a madwoman?”

“She could be pretending to be crazy because she’s actually targeting Leo.”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t we warn the Guild Leader again?”

Just then—

“Ah, aaargh!”

A thief who had gone to fetch some spilled alcohol came running back, gasping for breath as though he were about to collapse.

His face was as pale as a sheet of paper.

“What is it? What happened?”

“T-There…!”

He pointed into the darkness with eyes so wide they looked as though they might pop out of their sockets.

His hand trembled violently with fear.

“T-There’s a g-ghost!”

Everyone’s heads whipped around in the same direction.

The thieves rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.

“What is that?”

Something appeared to be floating in midair.

Even though it had feet, it moved as lightly as though it were drifting through the air.

A white figure fluttered in the wind as it moved toward some unknown destination.

Without a doubt, it looked like a ghost.

Everyone swallowed nervously and exchanged glances at the eerie, spine-chilling sight.

“What do we do?”

“…Sh-Should we follow it?”

“Yeah. We’re thieves, aren’t we? We can’t be afraid of some pathetic ghost!”

“Exactly!”

And so, five thieves got to their feet and followed the ‘ghost’ to discover what it really was.

The ghost passed through the residential area and along the lakeshore before finally stopping in a wide field in front of a ravine.

There, surrounded by swaying wildflowers and the rustling sound of the night wind—

The thieves quickly hid themselves in the grass.

Then they cautiously poked their heads out and stared at the ghost.

But then—

“Isn’t that just a dress that got blown up by the wind?”

“Huh… I-It does kind of look like that?”

“That’s it! Her dress got flipped up, making her look like a ghost!”

As the wind died down, the hem of the dress gently fell back into place, slowly revealing the true identity of the ghost.

“Then that ghost is—!”

The ghost, who had been staring into the pitch-black air and muttering incomprehensible words, suddenly turned her head slowly.

At the same time, the thieves’ eyes widened.

“It’s Ibi.”

“Yeah. That’s definitely her.”

Moonlight struck her skin, making it glow pale and ghostly.

Her blue eyes were empty, devoid of any sign of will.

Her pink hair was completely disheveled.

And then there was the faint sound of her voice and laughter drifting through the otherwise silent night.

She wandered around like a ghost, completely unconcerned even as her bare white feet became covered in wounds.

She slowly looked around, as though searching for something, occasionally stopping and staring at one particular spot.

Unlike her bright, cheerful appearance during the day, the madness radiating from her now was downright terrifying.

She looked so different that it was difficult to believe she was the same person.

A chill ran down the backs of the thieves’ necks, and they shuddered.