Chapter 14

Above the market, atop a building’s roof.

Thud!

I irritably kicked off my shoes.

“Ugh.”

I had a bad feeling about this.

The heel of my shoe, unable to withstand the speed at which I was running, had snapped and was now dangling uselessly.

‘It shouldn’t have been this hard.’

From the top of the tower, I could see the entire market alley where the pickpocket was weaving through the crowd. I had already decided that chasing from above would be more efficient.

‘I almost had him.’

Up until that moment, I had been excited at the thought of catching the thief.

……That is, until I realized I was wearing an inconvenient corset dress and uncomfortable shoes.

And until the pickpocket—a local—skillfully slipped into shortcuts I didn’t know, while I struggled to keep up.

‘Just a little more…’

If I could just push myself a little harder, I could catch him.

But my shoes couldn’t handle the speed and ended up like this.

“Next time, I’m just wearing boots…”

“Did you seriously get lost?”

Just as I was grumbling to myself, a familiar voice spoke up. A large hand picked up the shoe I had thrown aside.

“…….”

No matter where he had been or what he had been doing while I was making a scene, Kal had returned, carrying a hefty basket under his arm.

“This is the first time I’ve had to find someone lost on a rooftop.”

He dangled my shoe from his fingertip and raised an eyebrow.

In his hand, my shoe looked as tiny as a doll’s.

Perfect timing.

“Hold onto that for me.”

I gladly handed my shoe over to him.

Since it was already uncomfortable, I figured I might as well run barefoot.

‘He’s still there, right?’

Looking down, I spotted the pickpocket wearing a hat. Our eyes met, and he trembled violently.

Even after using shortcuts and running at full speed, he had still been caught. He must have been shocked.

‘Even with all these disadvantages…’

My skills hadn’t gone anywhere.

I was still confident in my speed.

The pickpocket’s lips quivered as he spoke.

“H-Huff… W-What kind of noble lady…?”

“Why don’t you just give up already?”

The moment I spoke, the pale-faced pickpocket hastily ducked under a canopy set up below the roof.

‘If I let him escape now, it’s a matter of pride.’

Just as I moved to chase him—

Squelch.

‘Squelch?’

A strange sensation, different from the ground, touched the sole of my foot.

It was somewhat firm, but it didn’t feel like solid ground…

Looking down, I realized I wasn’t stepping on the roof but rather on a boot that had appeared beneath my foot.

Kal’s leather boot.

“…….”

In an instant, I found myself standing on Kal’s foot. I turned to look at him in disbelief.

Completely unfazed, he gripped my shoulder and asked,

“Were you planning to jump like this?”

“What, should I stroll down casually when I’m in a hurry?”

“You’ll hurt your feet.”

“I won’t get hurt like this.”

At my words, his gaze shifted to my foot, which was stepping on his boot.

He stared so intensely that I wondered if there was a hole in my stocking.

But no matter how I looked, it was just the faint outline of my heel and toes showing through the fabric.

Kal spoke in an oddly slow tone.

“Even if you chase him now, you won’t catch him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“That alley the pickpocket ran into has an unusually high crime rate.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s controlled by a professional criminal organization. Even the locals avoid it.”

A local’s information was definitely different.

If only he had told me earlier, I would’ve put in more effort to catch the thief.

“The inside is like a maze, and the chances of danger are high—”

“Then I should catch him before he gets in, right?”

I cut Kal off, twisted my shoulder, and pulled free.

Then, without hesitation, I leaped off the roof.

Whether he had let his guard down or had loosened his grip to avoid breaking my shoulder with his monstrous strength—

Breaking free from Kal’s hold was surprisingly easy.

My body cut through the air as I plummeted downward.

Whoosh!

Cold wind rushed past my cheeks.

It felt refreshing—probably because it had been a while since I had moved so freely.

I even felt a slight sense of liberation.

“……Elaine!”

The voice calling from behind was drowned out by the wind whistling past my ears.

I braced myself for landing—

‘Oh, no.’

……But then I spotted the pickpocket below me and adjusted my stance.

‘He’s just a kid.’

Amid the crowd and with his hat pulled low, I hadn’t noticed before, but up close, the pickpocket looked much younger than I expected.

‘Twelve? Thirteen?’

Around that age, maybe.

Only then did I realize how small the pickpocket was.

‘Tch.’

I quietly abandoned my plan to slam him into the ground upon landing.

If I did that, he’d end up looking like flattened jerky.

So instead…

Boom!

“Eeek!”

I suppressed just enough holy power to avoid leaving a mark, lightly wrapped my fist, and slammed it into the ground next to the pickpocket with all my strength.

It was to absorb the impact and intimidate him so he wouldn’t run.

Crack.

……The resulting crater was unavoidable.

I pretended not to notice.

‘But this…’

It felt like a classic superhero landing pose.

As if to confirm my thoughts, the reactions around me were… unusual.

“Gasp!”

“Oh my god…!”

But considering how the marketgoers recoiled in shock and the fact that I had just damaged public property…

‘……I might have looked more like a villain.’

Rather than a hero, it seemed more like a villain’s grand entrance.

‘Well, whatever.’

What’s done is done.

As I casually stood up, brushing myself off, I saw the pickpocket.

I flashed him a bright smile.

“Hi.”

Since he was just a kid, I smiled to show I meant no harm.

“G-Gulp…!”

……For some reason, the moment our eyes met, the pickpocket fainted on the spot.

“Hey. Wait.”

If he passed out, what was I supposed to do?

‘Now I look even more like a villain.’

I thought he had some guts since he was taunting me while running away.

The crowd around us erupted into screams.

“Someone just fell from the sky!”

“She knocked that kid out!”

‘……If I grab the pickpocket and run now, will I look even more like a criminal?’

At this rate, I might even be mistaken for a kidnapper.

As I frowned, lost in thought—

“Elaine!”

Startled, I looked up at the voice ringing in my ears.

Kal had closed the distance in an instant and was now standing behind me.

It was too fast for someone who had just run down.

He must have jumped right after me.

“Huh?!”

Before I could react, his expression hardened as he grabbed my waist and lifted me into the air.

I was about to ask what he was doing, but his serious expression stopped me.

There was genuine concern in his eyes—just like when he had examined my injured hand before.

‘And here I thought he was just teasing me.’

My fingertips tingled slightly.

Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? It was embarrassingly sweet.

The tingling stopped when I felt my waist snugly fit in Kal’s hands.

‘……How is it this easy to hold me?’

Even though I was lean, I had trained hard.

‘Is it because of the corset squeezing me?’

Or maybe his hands were just too big.

Either way, my pride took a slight hit.

It felt like I had lost muscle mass, even though nothing had changed.

“Hey, Kal.”

While I was inwardly cringing at my bruised ego, he was too busy inspecting me to notice.

My body, held like a sack, was flipped back and forth in his hands as if I weighed nothing.

“I’m not hurt. Seriously.”

“You fell from that height. There’s no way.”

“I told you I’m—Ow.”

“You are hurt.”

“…That was because you gripped my waist too hard just now.”

Without realizing it, I’d slipped into informal speech too, so I just went with it.

‘Wait, now that I think about it, shouldn’t I be the one using informal speech?’

I am the Grand Duchess, and he’s just a monster hunter.

‘But somehow, he’s the kind of guy who makes speaking formally feel natural.’

For a mere monster hunter, he had the kind of commanding presence you’d expect from someone of high status.

The type who’d be a bandit leader if he ever turned to crime.

‘Not that it really matters, though.’

Ever since realizing I’d been reincarnated, my modern mindset made me indifferent to formalities—I had no issue using honorifics with anyone.

Of course, I should drop them when necessary, but…

‘It’s not like I’m acting as the Grand Duchess right now.’

If anything, putting on airs while hiding my identity would just look even more suspicious.

“You need to see a physician right—”

Even as these thoughts ran through my head, my body remained firmly trapped in Kal’s grasp.