Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The townspeople cleared the way, albeit uneasily.

Siegren whispered something into my ear. “Doesn’t this make you angry?”

“My getting angry won’t solve anything.”

“How can you be okay with this...” he muttered. Despite his words, he stayed glued by my side, as if he was my very own knight.

He’s a protagonist through and through. I wanted to give him a pat on the head, but my attention quickly went somewhere else.

“W-wait!” someone cried out feebly, grabbing at my shoulders.

I hastily prevented Siegren from reacting in defense. “It’s okay,” I whispered.

The one who grabbed me was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. There was not a single speck of malice in her clear eyes, so I knew she held no bad intentions. Stooping down to meet me at eye level, she spoke with a soft voice. “My lady, I do not know how you got burdened with such a difficult task, but those that you’re after are not easy targets.”

Her words were full of genuine concern.

“But does it not bother you that these kinds of people run amok in town?” I asked.

The woman paused for a moment before responding. “Still, I cannot just sit and watch a child facing such dangerous circumstances...”

Well, I suppose I appeared to be a regular child on the outside. I appreciated such innocent concern.

“I’m all right,” I said with a smile. The woman likely wanted to warn me, thinking I was heading into this completely clueless about what I was up against.

“May I ask what your name is?”

“I-it’s Charlotte,” she replied.

“Thank you for your concern, Charlotte.”

Charlotte hesitated but backed down as I replied softly but firmly, knowing she had no right to stop the duke’s proxy. I gazed in the woman’s direction for a while, until I had slipped out of the crowd. Once I reached the middle of the square, I found five mercenaries restrained by soldiers. They were by no means meek.

“Let me go, damn it!” one shouted.

“Hah, were it not for us, you’d all be eaten by the demonic beasts!” yelled another.

Each mercenary was held down by at least two or three soldiers. They must be quite strong.

One of the mercenaries noticed me and spat on the ground. “And who’s that brat?!”

One even snickered at the sight of Siegren.

“Oh, I see that the vermin is with her! I didn’t know you were still alive,” he said.

Siegren merely glared back at them. I stroked the back of his hand comfortingly before walking forward. The mercenaries were large indeed, almost three times my size. So these giant goons harassed the townspeople and beat up young Siegren, huh?

It hadn’t been petty crimes either.

Ranging from theft to assault to sexual harassment, they had committed almost every crime possible except for murder. It would take ages to list their wrongdoings one by one. Standing in front of them, I announced with a clear voice, “I am here on Duke Abel Heylon’s orders. Please stop resisting as it is futile.”

Come on. The soldiers holding you down are having a hard time. Unfortunately, the mercenaries were not to be persuaded by my words. They began to resist even more violently, one of them even hitting one of the soldiers with his elbow.

“Ugh...” the soldier groaned.

I was beginning to see what Siegren had meant when he told me these men could not be persuaded with mere words. But still, it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t at least give them a chance.

“Would you please be quiet?” I asked.

“Who do you think you are to command us, brat?” yelled one of the men, veins popping out on his forehead.

“If you keep doing this, all the mercenaries will leave the town. Then you’re all done for, huh?!”

“Right!”

“Who do you think protected you when the demonic beasts attacked?!”

I see... Talking is for civilized people only. Giving up on having a conversation with them, I manipulated the mana in the air.

Crash!

Lightning fell next to one of the flailing mercenaries who slumped down to the ground in shock. Anyone would if lightning suddenly struck the ground next to them.

“Wh-what in the world...” he said in a daze.

I looked around at the crowd.

“All right. Let us sit down and— Well, no. That’s not how I meant to say it,” I said with a light clap of my hands.

Crash, crash, crash, crash!

Small but deadly bolts of lightning fell in rapid bursts around the other four mercenaries, sending pieces of gravel flying across the square.

Seeing the five mercenaries—and the soldiers too, though I hadn’t intended to frighten them—slumped on the ground, I smiled proudly.

“Kneel and be quiet,” I said.

I then looked around to see that all the townspeople had fallen silent as well. Oh...? I hadn’t asked them to be quiet too. What were they afraid of? Finding Siegren frozen on the ground, I offered him an awkward smile before turning back toward the mercenaries.

Anyway, this made things much easier.

Geez, I should have done this from the beginning.

* * *

Siegren watched Fiona quietly from afar. The girl who just summoned lightning out of thin air continued her task as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

I guess she can hold her own when fighting on the second rampart, he thought. Seeing her magic up close like this made it clear to him that she was different from the other mages.

While working for the mercenaries, Siegren had seen many mages who boasted of their magical powers. Even a tough mercenary would run in fear if a mage summoned a small fire in their hand. After all, for regular folks, the idea of creating something out of nothing was quite frightening.

Siegren had never seen a mage like Fiona, someone who could manipulate mana with such ease—especially not someone as young as her.

I see why Duke Heylon keeps her around, he thought as he looked up. Although she held the power and authority to treat these criminals however she wished, Fiona made a point to stick to formal procedures when addressing the criminals. She was now reading off the mercenaries’ identities and crimes from her papers.

Her voice rang clearly throughout the square. The townspeople who had mere seconds before been complaining and crying about how their lord had abandoned them now stood in silence. Their eyes focused on Fiona, who stood with her head held high and shoulders square in the middle of the proceedings.

It was a strange sight indeed, to see a group of burly men kneeling before such a small girl, no matter how confident she appeared. Whatever happened here, people would surely remember forever.

Could this be what Duke Heylon was after? wondered Siegren.

If the duke wanted to make sure people knew that Fiona was no ordinary girl, this was certainly an effective strategy. There must be a reason why the duke was doing this. After all, Fiona’s special treatment in Heylon didn’t make sense, even if she was an incredibly talented soldier.

What does Duke Abel Heylon want from Fiona? wondered Siegren. However, the answer to his question seemed far away, especially since he was now back at the fourth rampart. He didn’t see any realistic way that he could help Fiona as a simple orphan boy.

I wonder if I’ll ever see her face again, he thought rather bitterly.

Though she claimed she wanted to be friends with him, such a promise could be broken at any time. Even today, she could go back to the castle, return to her busy life, and forget him entirely.

There were numerous other orphans like him. Who would she pick up to play with next?

Siegren looked up.

“So I will give you two choices,” said Fiona brightly as she put up her fingers. The sun shined down on her and illuminated her soft silver hair.

“First, you may leave the castle unarmed,” she said. In other words, they would be cast out. Understanding what the girl meant, the mercenaries paled.

“Second,” said Fiona as she pointed to the mercenaries’ lower halves. “You will be snipped.”

A heavy silence fell.

The mercenaries were almost blue in their faces. Fiona cocked her head as if she wanted to ask “Did you expect any less?”

Even Siegren froze.

Indeed, this was the north. Their punishments were as straightforward as an arrow. If one stole, one would lose one’s hand. If one assaults women... Well, to be fair, those mercenaries did not deserve a shred of mercy.

“Of course, I’m willing to extend some mercy,” said Fiona with a clap of her hands, oblivious to the somber atmosphere that had settled in the square. “I will offer you the dignity of making your own choice.”