Chapter 52
Ding-ling.
“Welcome to… huh? What are these kids doing here?”
The shop owner stood up to greet his first customer in a while, but his face scrunched up when he saw the three children.
“Get out. This isn’t a place for little brats like you.”
He waved his hand, annoyed.
“We’re not little kids.”
“Fine, I’ll pretend you’re not. Just hurry up and leave.”
Lucian’s face turned sour at the rude treatment. A child used to being treated well, he found this kind of rejection humiliating.
“What, do you think we can’t buy anything?”
“I’ve got a lot of money, you know!”
Lucian stood proudly with his hands on his hips.
“Is that so?”
“Of course!” (Though it was all at home.)
“Hoh.”
The shopkeeper’s eyebrows twitched. Judging by the fancy clothes and the arrogant attitude, the kid probably wasn’t lying.
‘No guardian around either… I might be able to sell off some stuff that doesn’t usually sell.’
“Fine. I won’t kick you out. Take your time and look around.”
“Yay!”
Lucian happily ran inside.
“Lucian, don’t run,” Amelia called after him, though her eyes sparkled with excitement too.
“What’s this?”
“Wing of a golden bat.”
“And this?”
“Dried slime.”
Lucian poked the dried slime with his finger.
Poke poke.
“It’s squishy.”
“Don’t touch it.”
Poke poke poke.
“I said don’t touch!”
The shop owner tried to stop Lucian from leaving marks on the slime.
But when you’re told not to, you want to even more.
“What’s this?”
“That’s a crystal that comes only from high-ranking monsters. It’s full of magical energy—some call it a monster’s core.”
“Wow.”
“Sir, what’s this?”
The shopkeeper turned to answer Amelia’s question.
At that moment, Lucian secretly reached out to the core crystal.
Then—
Flash!
“Huh?”
A bright white light burst out—and the crystal vanished.
“I’m going crazy. Where did they go?”
I stood in the middle of the street, holding my head.
I’d sent the guards away because it seemed safe. That was a mistake.
There was no way I could manage those squirrel-like kids on my own.
“I’m sorry. If only I hadn’t lingered outside the shop…”
“No, it’s not your fault. I wasn’t paying attention to the kids either.”
This wasn’t Claude’s mistake. It was mine for letting down my guard. I’d even forgotten about the children while talking with Claude.
But there was no time to blame myself now.
“Did anyone find them?”
“Someone saw three kids holding hands heading down that alley. A girl and two boys—it must be them!”
At least they didn’t get separated.
A small relief in the middle of this mess.
“Let’s search the area right away.”
I ran in that direction with the knights.
“I’ll come too,” Claude said, keeping pace beside me despite his crutch.
“You should rest. Your leg…”
“I can’t just sit still when the children are missing.”
“But if your leg gets worse—”
Claude bit his lip, then opened his mouth to speak.
“To be honest, my leg—”
“Lady Lucella, we found them!”
A knight’s urgent voice interrupted him.
“Where?”
I ran off before Claude could finish.
“They’re in that shop over there.”
The knight pointed to a store with dim lighting and purple paint spelling out its name.
“‘Rekki’s Monster Parts Shop’?”
I had a bad feeling about this area from the start… the same creepy vibe I felt when Claude showed me the monster core.
Kids were in that kind of store?
“Yes. But… you should hurry.”
The knight didn’t look good. Uneasy, I rushed into the shop with Claude.
“I told you, I didn’t steal anything!”
The moment we stepped in, I heard a familiar voice.
“You little liar!”
“I don’t steal, okay!”
“Lucian!”
It was Lucian. The boy was being grabbed by a man, who was probably the shop owner.
“Auntie!”
Lucian broke free and ran into my arms, tears welling up in his eyes.
“What’s going on? Stealing?”
“It’s not true! I didn’t steal anything! But that man keeps saying I took something!”
Lucian pointed at the shopkeeper, his voice trembling.
“Explain what happened.”
I asked the man calmly.
“There’s a monster core—very expensive. I looked away for a second, and this kid snatched it!”
“A monster core…?”
That’s the same item Claude showed me before.
“Probably thought it looked shiny and nice. But stealing is still stealing.”
“I didn’t take it!”
Lucian yelled and turned his pockets inside out. His reaction showed how unfairly treated he felt.
“Lucian, don’t yell.”
I knelt down to his eye level.
“Lucian, are you sure you didn’t take it?”
“Of course! Auntie, do you not believe me too?”
“No. I believe you.”
Lucian could be a troublemaker, but he wasn’t the type to steal.
“Then where did the core go?”
“I don’t know. I was about to touch it ‘cause it looked cool, and then there was this big white light—and it vanished!”
He wants me to believe that?
I pressed my temples. My head already hurt from this creepy store.
“A perfectly fine item doesn’t just disappear. Do you really expect me to believe that? If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable!”
“…”
I didn’t know how to respond.
Lucian wasn’t a wizard or anything. How could I believe that touching it made it vanish?
I wanted to trust him, but maybe blind trust would just spoil him.
I was about to take out my wallet to pay for it when—
“Lucian, is that really what happened?”
Claude stepped forward and spoke to Lucian.
“Yes! I swear! When I touched it, a white light just went whoosh!”
Lucian yelled, thrilled to finally be believed.
“A white light, huh…”
Claude stared thoughtfully at Lucian, then turned to the shop owner.
“You said you only had one on display?”
“Yes, they’re rare. But I’ve got more in the back.”
“Bring out a couple more. I’ll pay.”
“Huh? Why now?”
“I want to see if the child is telling the truth.”
The shopkeeper quickly went to the back and returned with three wooden boxes. Inside were three monster cores of different sizes.
“Lucian, can you touch one of these again? Like before.”
“You believe me?”
“I just want to show everyone you didn’t steal. Don’t be scared.”
Lucian’s yellow eyes shook for a moment. Then, reassured by Claude, he nodded.
He reached for the core again.
“I didn’t do anything special. I just touched it like this…”
As his small hand touched the crystal—
Flash!
Just as Lucian had said, a bright white light burst from his fingers. It surrounded his hand, then the core.
And when the light faded…
“It’s gone!”
Only the empty wooden box remained.
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• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
If you want to support the translation and the translator, you can buy a coffee~
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