Chapter 122
Winter — or rather, Serzan — suddenly picked me up and began chasing after a passing cargo wagon.
With feather-light steps, he managed to secretly jump onto it.
“Bitter candy,” huh… Why did he have to choose a name like that?
While I was still thinking about his mysterious answer, we had already hopped off the wagon again.
“If anyone found out we set up a teleportation array in another country, it could cause a huge diplomatic problem.
That’s why I hid it in a rather unpleasant place, so bear with me a little,” Serzan explained.
Following his lead, I soon found myself walking through a damp, unpleasant street.
People with dangerous, shady looks started appearing here and there.
One of them purposely bumped Serzan’s shoulder hard as we passed.
“Hey! You two there!”
When I turned around, the man wasn’t alone — he had a group with him.
Four men with nasty grins were chuckling together.
“If you bump into someone, you should apologize, right?”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, wanting to avoid trouble and leave this place fast. I bowed slightly and turned away.
“That’s your apology? And I think it wasn’t you, but the slick guy next to you, who bumped me.”
Clearly, they had no intention of letting us go.
“Do you want my apology?” Serzan asked calmly.
“Of course. If I’m not satisfied, you won’t be leaving this street in one piece.”
“You must be important then.”
“Everyone here knows my face. I run this place.”
Seeing more of his gang gathering, I gripped Serzan’s cloak nervously.
We really didn’t need this kind of attention right now… talk about bad luck.
“What do you want?” Serzan asked.
“The girl next to you. Is she your sister?” one man, with a sharp, big chin, gestured toward me.
“How old is she?”
“And what do you want with that information?”
“Never mind. Her age doesn’t matter. Just send her over here.”
At that moment, I realized we hadn’t just run into him by chance — we had been targeted.
So there are still rats from the human trafficking gang in the capital…
I looked around. There were no other kids my size here. I was definitely the one they were after.
“We couldn’t fill our quota because of the Emperor’s surveillance… you’re not the perfect age, but you’ll do,” the man sneered.
To my shock, Serzan looked thoughtful… then nodded.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
“Huh?!” I blurted out in disbelief.
Of course, there was no way he’d actually hand me over — but the real problem was whether we had time for this.
Sensing my worry, Serzan leaned in and whispered shamelessly,
“Tia, it’s rude to refuse a fight someone’s started. Let’s deal with this honorably and fairly.”
…He actually seemed more excited than usual.
“Good, good. I like that attitude. Follow me,” the man ordered, his gang pushing us forward.
They took us to an old warehouse that screamed Do Not Enter.
Inside, under a single dim bulb, the man dropped himself onto a crate.
“Thanks for walking right into my trap. You thought I’d let you go after bumping into me? Big mistake.”
“I never thought that,” Serzan replied flatly.
“Selling out your sister to save yourself? Hey girl, if you want to hate him, now’s the time— What the—?”
Ignoring him, Serzan placed both hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.
“Tia, let’s test the skills you’ve been practicing. Right here.”
“My skills… Wait, you don’t mean—?”
He nodded toward the ten or so men around us.
“A real fight. I won’t let it get dangerous, but opportunities like this don’t come often.”
I touched my hip nervously.
“Do you really think I can take them all down with just my thrusts and downward strikes? I wasn’t expecting such high expectations… I’m scared, but I’ll try my best. You’ve made me feel oddly brave — I think I can kill them all!”
I spoke rapidly as I reached for my weapon — a wooden practice sword from training with Sir Rad.
Why did I bring it? Because in a fantasy world, going on an adventure without a sword would just be wrong.
Swords are romantic, after all.
I didn’t expect to get a chance to actually use it this soon…
“Thrusts and downward strikes? What are you talking about?” Serzan frowned, eyeing my sword.
“Isn’t this what you meant?” I asked.
“A sword? No. I meant magic. I know you’ve been practicing with Raglia.”
Understanding dawned. I fiddled with my sword sheepishly.
“But I’ve practiced swordsmanship much more…”
When his eyes sharpened, I reluctantly put the sword away.
“If you knew what kind of magic I’ve learned, you might not say that,” I muttered.
I had dabbled in magic under Teacher Raglia’s guidance, though I wasn’t passionate about it like I was with the sword.
Still, I had picked up a few spells… but none that seemed useful in this situation.
“What magic?” Serzan asked.
“…The kind that makes taking care of Shuran easier.”
“Any magic can be powerful if used right. Remember what a single teaspoon did to a grown man. Magic is all about creativity.”
While we chatted, the gang pulled out knives.
“These idiots are ignoring me! Kill the man, bring the girl!” the leader barked.
Serzan turned to me with mock urgency.
“Tia, save me. They’re trying to kill me.”
“Don’t regret saying that. Seriously.”
As the knife-wielding men advanced, my body tensed.
I focused on how I could adapt my childcare magic to this fight.
Once I’d figured it out, I asked,
“Serzan, how much do you like strawberry jam?”
“Not that much. Why?”
“Then keep your mouth closed.”
I crouched down, pressed my hand to the floor, and muttered,
“[Masrio Strawberry Jam]”
Immediately, a sickly sweet smell filled the air.
Strawberry jam started flooding the warehouse floor — enough to fill the whole place.
[Ugh! What is this?! Don’t get it on me, you stupid master!]
My bracelet spirit, still sulking since learning about the looted rare of Lower Rastina, woke up — and lifted me into the air.
[What on earth is going on?! Are you insane?!]
As I floated, I looked down at the gang now neck-deep in jam.
“If I’d used my sword, it would’ve been more elegant and clean,” I commented.
The jam kept pouring out from all directions.
Serzan was nowhere to be seen — apparently buried under the jam along with the traffickers.
The last glimpse I had of him was his most shocked expression ever.
The fact that I had managed to surprise him gave me a strange satisfaction.
The jam had risen fast — in under 5 seconds, it covered the men completely.
Boom!
From beneath the jam, something exploded.
The level quickly dropped as the warehouse door — and part of the wall — was blown open.
I hung from Raglia, watching. Since the jam had blocked the door, I was trapped inside with it too.
The explosion had broken the door open, and the jam stopped spreading.
Soon, the traffickers came back into view.
“Ughhh! Bleghhh!”
“Bleghhh! Gag… urgh…”
From jam rising to clearing, the whole thing took about a minute.
No one died, but many looked like they wished they had — vomiting nonstop.
It was… satisfying.
