~Chapter 28~
The pickpocket kids who had been watching us this whole time also cleared out one by one.
Munch.
Only Tan remained, still stuffing food into his mouth while staring up at us.
I shrugged and emptied the rest of my pocket.
“Thanks for helping me meet her.”
“……”
“Take all the snacks. Share them with the others if they want some.”
As I turned to leave, Karl naturally followed beside me. He spoke in his usual flat tone.
“Are you just giving up?”
“Seems like it.”
“I thought you were quite persistent.”
“I usually am.”
If it were an adult, I might’ve bound them and forced a deal. But these were kids.
‘And they seem to have their reasons.’
I couldn’t afford to harm them by forcing anything.
‘Even if it takes time, I’ll have to go around the long way…’
Karl looked like he had another snide comment ready. I raised a brow, ready to retort—
“Miss.”
A small tug at my sleeve.
I turned to see Tan looking up at me with tart crumbs still on his lips.
“If you’re really…”
“……”
“Really going to help… can you?”
Some time later…
“This place looks empty.”
I crouched down, peering into a cracked rock crevice and shrugged.
Karl walked up from the other side and offered his hand to help me up.
“We can’t keep searching like this forever.”
“We’ve got no other leads.”
“……”
“We’ve searched almost everywhere else. This mountain is our only clue left.”
It had been nearly ten days of combing through the forests and hills surrounding Saint Portou’s backstreets.
‘They call these hills, but they feel like the freaking Himalayas.’
I’d lost count of how many peaks we’d climbed.
‘Good thing I’m a trained knight. Anyone else would’ve collapsed by now.’
After failing on the first day, I’d switched into full gear: combat boots and pants hidden under my dress — just in case.
All this effort wasn’t for nothing.
“…Please find the adults.”
Tan had hesitated before finally saying it.
“I thought they were replaced?”
“They didn’t die… probably.”
“Probably?”
“One of them sent a note afterward…”
One of the adults who’d been taken had secretly delivered a note.
It said they were okay, and they were just being taken into the outskirts for “training” under the new backstreet boss.
“But it’s been months with no word.”
“Do you know which mountain?”
“I think Eliza knows… but…”
Eliza clearly wasn’t going to talk anytime soon. All Tan knew was that the adults were taken to somewhere nearby.
He’d hesitated before adding:
“At first, I didn’t get why you wanted to meet the boss.”
“…”
“I wondered if you were mad about being pickpocketed and came for revenge…”
“I told you I got the money back.”
“But if you really wanted a deal…”
Tan had pointed us to areas kids couldn’t search themselves.
So I began visiting those places, one by one. Thus began the real grind.
‘Sneaking out at dawn to purify skewered meat, calming Bess in the morning, sneaking around the duke’s estate, and mountain-hopping with Karl in the afternoon…’
A textbook case of “living life to the fullest.”
‘…Though I am getting a little tired.’
As I accepted Karl’s hand and stood up, he spoke again, his expression as calm as ever.
“There’s no need for all this suffering.”
“……”
“The search range is vague, and the method is inefficient.”
Same thing he’d been saying for days.
“I’m going to look for the adults. Want to come?”
“Do you have that much free time?”
“Why? You need me for something?”
“You should conserve your energy.”
Same old story. Just remembering our conversations made me a little irritated.
Of course, I hadn’t let him talk down to me either.
“I’ve got plenty of free time.”
“…”
“My husband hasn’t come home, so I’ve been stuck all alone — not even any official work as duchess to do.”
That had made Karl laugh again — just him, by himself.
‘Would be nice if he let me laugh too, instead of just enjoying himself.’
Not like I’m some cheerful schoolgirl who giggles at falling leaves.
Still, Karl always came with me in the end — even if he complained.
“That path is dangerous.”
“But it’s way faster.”
He even drew simple maps on my palm or guided me so I wouldn’t get lost.
Without that, I’d have wandered ten times as much. So yeah… I appreciated it.
‘So… I’ll let it slide this time too.’
To shift the mood, I spoke again.
“Those adults must’ve been good to the kids.”
“……”
“They’re pickpocket trainers, sure, but the kids seem to trust them.”
I’d thought it strange from the beginning.
My image of a criminal den was different: abandoned kids taken in, abused, and tossed out when they underperformed.
‘That’s why I thought it was child abuse.’
But if the adults were really that bad, the kids wouldn’t be waiting for them.
Karl answered coolly.
“Backstreet bonds in Saint Portou are uniquely strong.”
Right. Like how gangs are often intensely loyal.
I was thinking along those lines when Karl casually added:
“Early Saint Portou was like hell, swarming with monsters.”
“……”
“After the dragon vanished, people created strict rules to survive.”
A continuation of that legend again.
Funny how much he knew about these stories — especially the ones he claimed to dislike.
‘You sure you hate this story?’
Karl spoke like it was established history.
“Whether someone killed or stole a slice of bread out of hunger, or was just suspected of a crime…”
“…”
“They were all pushed to the outskirts, accused of having lost the dragon’s blessing.”
That brought Eliza’s words back to mind:
“We were cast out by the dragon!”
So the current backstreet residents were descended from those exiled early on.
And because they were never officially accepted as citizens, they became criminals again.
‘A cycle of tragedy.’
I clucked my tongue without thinking. Karl just shrugged.
“So even those who were wrongly cast out eventually turned to crime.”
“……”
“Which is why, Elaine, I’d like to confirm your goal.”
“My goal?”
The wind picked up. Karl lifted his arm slightly, letting his heavy cloak shield me like a curtain.
“You handled the embezzlement first thing after arriving. You’ve even been doing inspections.”
“I did.”
“I assumed you were helping citizens to earn favor with the duke.”
“……”
“Not trying to help dangerous criminals on the outskirts.”
Then he added, in a breezy tone:
“But now you’re clearly trying to help them.”
Sharp. We hadn’t even known each other long, yet he read me so well.
“Just a guess.”
He answered the thought I hadn’t voiced. I rolled my eyes.
“Did I say that out loud?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
Ridiculous. In the Holy Knights, the thing people said most about me was:
“Captain Elaine is scary — you never know what she’s thinking with that calm face.”
“How did a deadly force like her end up in the Third Order with that soft-looking face?”
Looking back… maybe I have changed a bit.
‘Well… I’ve matured.’
As I was thinking that, Karl smirked.
“You’re thinking I’m exaggerating.”
“…”
“And wondering if I’m being annoying again.”
At this rate, he was going to drag me into some nonsense again.
I redirected the conversation.
So, my goal…
“Well, even the criminals are citizens of Saint Portou. As duchess, if I can help them— Hey, stop looking at me like that.”
“Looking at you how?”
Like you’re reading my soul. It’s starting to really bother me.
I muttered under my breath.
“At this rate, you’ll know me better than my husband does.”
A throwaway line, since I hadn’t even seen the duke’s face.
Karl’s lips curved.
‘That smile… ominous.’
Then he opened his mouth slowly—
“Are you trying to seduce me again?”
