The sword that suddenly appeared wasnât able to cut off Loyarâs hand; it got stuck after cutting into it halfway.
A sword had suddenly appeared in the little girlâs previously empty hand.
And Loyar had managed to block that sword with her bare hands.
Two very unbelievable things happened at the same time, leaving everyoneâs mouths hanging wide open.
-Kick!
âKuhuk!â
Loyar didnât grab the sword, even while it was still stuck in her right hand, and instead kicked Ellenâs stomach and stole the weapon.
-ScatterâŠ
However, the stolen sword immediately disappeared from Loyarâs handsâit was as if it had never even existed; then it appeared in Ellenâs right hand again.
Loyar glared at that sight.
It clearly wasnât a sword made using summoning magic.
âSoul bound?â
A sword that was bound to the ownerâs soul⊠That was a possibility.
However, there were only a few swords capable of such a feat in the world.
âUrgâŠâ
Ellen staggered while trying to stand up. Her whole body was drenched in rain, but Ellen still stared at Loyar with a firm expression etched on her face. Loyar couldnât explain it, but she felt that Ellen wanted to kill her as much as she wanted to kill her at that moment.
The others didnât realize that Loyar was actually trying to kill Ellen.
However, Ellen had already accumulated a lot of damage. If Loyar charged at her as she had before, Ellen would surely die.
âWhy are you⊠doing this to me?â
Ellen couldnât understand the situation.
Loyar silently looked at Ellen.
She was a completely unknown girl carrying something like a soulbound sword.
It wasnât possible for her to recognize what that sword was, but it was clear that it held extraordinary powers.
Why did a girl like her carry something that shouldnât exist in the world anymore?
Her heart told her that she should go on and kill her, but Loyar was even more confused than before.
Did Reinhardt know this girlâs identity? Or did he not know? If he knew, why didnât he tell me about this monster yet?
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Could it be that this girlâs existence was already part of Reinhardtâs grand plan?
She had no idea who the girl was, but it was clear that she was an even bigger existence than she initially thought.
And someone like that was running around in the rain looking for Reinhardt. She was destined to be their enemy no matter how she thought about it, but Loyar was inclined to think that Reinhardt wouldnât have become friends with someone like her without having a plan in mind.
Loyar wasnât able to strategize as well as Sarkegaar or Eleris.
âIâm glad I failed.â
I shouldnât have done something without any orders.
Loyarâs mind was buzzing with so many thoughts that she almost caused a massive disturbance in Reinhardtâs grand plan.
She didnât know who Ellen was, but she was someone she shouldnât touch.
âYou should know the difference between us now.â
Loyar looked down at Ellen, who was shriveled up in a sullen mood.
She didnât want to hurt her any further, but she still didnât plan on taking her on her search for Reinhardt either.
The girl was dangerous, but she wouldnât be of much help as she was.
âGo back. Youâll only get in the way.â
How the fuck are you going to help me when youâre so fucking weak.
That was what Loyar was trying to communicate with her eyes.
ââŠâ
Ellen had no other choice but to hold her head low while clenching her teeth.
*Â *Â *
âIs this really okay⊠?â
ââŠYes.â
In the end, Loyar was able to subdue Ellen and told them that she would return Reinhardt to Temple safe and sound, so they should just take their mind off of the matter and go back to Temple. Ellen just silently walked through the rain, letting go of her umbrella, and Harriet followed her, carefully trying to cover the two of them with her umbrella.
Harriet couldnât tell what Ellenâs expression looked like as she was walking with her head down.
However, after suffering an overwhelming defeat for the first time in her life, Ellenâs expression completely hardened.
âI even summoned LamentâŠâ
She summoned Lament because she felt her life was in danger, but that sword was only able to slightly dig into that personâs palm.
She wasnât an ordinary person. A normal person wouldnât have been able to block that divine sword with their bare hands. No, normal people wouldnât even be able to block normal swords like that.
However, her opponent managed to completely block the divine sword like that.
That gray-haired woman seriously tried to kill her, but when she saw her sword, she changed her mind and let her go.
Ellen didnât know why Loyar tried to kill her, and she understood even less why she had decided to keep her alive in the end.
âW-well, there were a lot of people⊠They probably know something⊠Theyâll definitely find Reinhardt. Yes.â
Harriet made some exaggerated gestures, trying to paint the situation as positively as possible when she noticed that Ellen didnât say anything. Ellen was dying to know what that sword that Ellen summoned was, but Ellenâs condition didnât look so good at the moment.
What the hell.
Despite how quickly Ellen swung it at the head of that beggar organization, she still managed to block the divine sword?
Just what was that gray-haired woman and just what is Reinhardt?
She didnât think that Ellen was the strongest in the world, but she also didnât think that she would be so overwhelmingly beaten like that.
It was arrogant to think that she would be able to help them. After her overwhelming loss, Ellen couldnât continue to protest the womanâs order to âget out because she would just get in the wayâ.
After all that, she had no other choice but to realize the fact that she would really only get in the way of the gray-haired woman if she followed her.
She didnât know who that gray-haired woman was.
She had found out that there were even more things that she didnât know about Reinhardt.
âI⊠After all, I really know nothing about him.â
She wanted to know the things she didnât know about him, so she ended up hurting Reinhardt. She wanted to make it up to him somehow, so she wanted to save him.
She wanted to do something.
But she wasnât even able to do that.
Helplessness.
Ellen trudged through the rain, forced to feel such utter helplessness for the second time in her life.
*Â *Â *
âDonât tell anyone what you saw just now. You didnât see anything.â
After Ellen and Harriet left, Loyar put a gag order on anyone about the fight that had happened.
A strange girl with a soulbound sword had appeared there.
âBut that girl sure was no joke. Are all the people in Temple like that?â
Loyar frowned when she heard one of the gang members talk about it.
âShut up. Donât even talk about this among yourself. I donât know what that girl was, but she wasnât someone ordinary. If you talk about this, Temple or the Empire might do something against us.â
To be exact, it was because Reinhardt decided to keep quiet about the girl for some reason. Loyarâs words were absolute within the gang, so everyone just nodded.
The Rotary Gangâs Number Two, Daibun, came forward.
âBig sis, what about ReinhardtâŠ?â
Setting that fight aside, everyone was shocked by the information that Reinhardt had been kidnapped.
âIâll figure it out. You guys get ready to go back to work as soon as the rain stops. Though it doesnât look like itâll let up any time soon.â
According to her prediction, Reinhardt should still be safe, but there was no time to delay.
âAre you going to be okay by yourself?â Daibun asked as if she was worried about Loyar going alone. Of course, Loyar just snorted to that.
âI kicked out that girl that actually managed to cut my hand like this, so do you think youâd be any more useful?â
Ellen had taken it as an overwhelming defeat, but Loyar evaluated her as a never-before-seen monster.
Of course, the other gang members werenât a match for Ellen.
âIâm leaving.â
Loyar, covered in a robe, began to run into the rain.
*Â *Â *
As a result of their actions, although Ellen and Harriet were unable to find Reinhardt on their own, they played a decisive role in the search for Reinhardt.
It was already enough to inform Loyar, who had no idea that Reinhardt got kidnapped.
âHis Highness isâŠ?â
âYeah.â
Loyar usually didnât get into contact with the others, but due to the nature of the situation, she had gone straight to the shopping street in the Al Ligar District and met up with Eleris.
Ellen and Harriet were still lacking in ability. To be honest, Loyar wouldnât have minded taking the two of them with herâassuming Eleris wouldnât be involved.
If she went to rescue Reinhardt with the two of them, she would be unable to take Eleris with her. Of course, Eleris could do far more things at that point than Ellen and Harriet. It was hard to find something an Archmage wouldnât be able to accomplish.
Eleris trembled slightly when she heard that Reinhardt had been kidnapped.
âHow did that happen?â
âThe amount of money the gang is earning now has grown exponentially and the complaints about us have also grown quite a bit, so we are trying to officially establish a base somewhere. During this heavy rain, everything we built up had been washed away. I thought we might as well move to the area we wanted to build our base altogether.â
Loyar crossed her arms and shook one of her legs. She seemed anxious.
âIncidentally, it seemed like His Highness came to see us directly to see if we were okay. He was worried, I guess. He thought heâd find us in the Wenster Market Street, so he wandered around that place⊠I think he got harassed by some guys over there. They probably ended up kidnapping him. Damn, whatâs with this bad timing. Even if I had known in advance, thereâs no way for our side to contact TempleâŠâ
âSo, who did itâŠ?â
There was confusion and anger visible on Elerisâs face. It was only a guess that he got kidnapped, so she was already imagining the worst.
âI think itâs the Thievesâ Guild.â
âWhy the Thievesâ Guild?â
Loyar didnât share much about her organizationâs internal matters, so Eleris had no idea what was going on within the Rotary Gang or its connections.
âI think they want to smash the gang apart. Thatâs also why I tried to avoid Wenster Market. Thatâs their turf. Perhaps they were waiting for us there because they didnât manage to touch us directlyâthey were probably trying to figure out what they should do. But then His Highness, who they knew as our gangâs successor, basically ran into their arms. Of course, they had that much information.â
The connection was quite vague, but Loyarâs reasoning was pretty plausible.
Reinhardt entered the Market without knowing that he was actually stumbling into a tigerâs den.
If the gang and the Thievesâ Guild still had a friendly relationship, there wouldnât have been a problem, but Reinhardt was completely unaware of how the situation had progressed.
Eleris got up from her seat, seeming as if she didnât want to hear any more.
The flame of rage was flickering in her calm eyes.
âWhere is the Thievesâ Guildâs headquarters?â
Intense anger was boiling inside Elerisâ eyes at that point as if she was about to destroy everything in her way. Loyar lightly tapped her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.
âCalm down for a sec.â
ââŠHis Highness is in danger, so we have to move quickly.â
âI mean, isnât it kind of weird?â
âWeird? What is?â
Loyar felt like the whole situation was very suspicious.
âRight now, Wenster Market is teeming with Templeâs forces and Guards. That being said, they realized that His Highness had disappeared there. Then the Thievesâ Guild would, of course, be on the very top of their suspect list.â
Loyar knew that the Wenster district was the Thievesâ Guildâs turf, but if Templeâs forces and the Guards were also investigating that place, they should have the same information. Although Loyar didnât know it, the Prince and Princessâ forces were also trying to find Reinhardt.
âThey arenât complete fools either. They should know that the Thievesâ Guild is pretty much the prime suspect. So why havenât they found him yet?â
âYou mean to say that the Thievesâ Guild might not be the culprit?â
âHmm⊠I donât know. Maybe the search party is only focused on Wenster Market and isnât looking anywhere else.â
It was more than obvious that the Thievesâ Guild were the most likely to do something like this, so why hadnât they found Reinhardt yet? Did that mean they werenât the culprit?
That was what Loyar found suspicious.
âThatâs fine. Weâll find out if we pay them a visit. Like that, weâll find out if your guess is right or not.â
Eleris opened a map of the Imperial Capital on a table.
âPoint where the Thievesâ Guildâs headquarters are,â she said with a sullen look on her face.
It seemed like she was about to teleport to the place and destroy everything she found there.
Things were going more than smoothly thanks to the information Ellen and Harriet gave to Loyar.
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