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Chapter 205: Traitors (6)
“Huff, huff! Whew... That was close.”
A boy with ssy brown hair and ragged clothes, a pickpocket, managed to escape through the bustling streets of Valhalla City and found refuge in a narrow alleyway.
He glanced down at the shopping bag he’d snatched and smirked.
“Let’s see what’s inside.”
He wanted to open it right away, but getting back ho safely was the priority.
Lingering too close to the busy streets might an soone tracking him down.
“…Let’s go.”
Clicking his tongue, the boy made his way ho.
Winding through the maze of alleys, he arrived at a place known as the “Ant Nest,” a slum hidden deep within Valhalla City.
The difference between this filthy, grimy neighborhood and the bustling city center he’d just left was like night and day.
“Ren, I’m back.”
Inside a makeshift tent, a young girl in shabby clothes looked up at him.
“Oh… Big brother, you’re back?”
The girl, called Ren, sat up groggily and flashed him a bright smile.
As she stared at him, her head tilted curiously.
“Who are the people behind you? Your friends?”
“What? Behind ? There’s no one—”
“Is this your ho?”
“...!”
The boy spun around in shock.
Thwack!
“Ahh!”
I flicked him lightly on the forehead, and he let out a scream, falling flat on his back.
The boy clutched his bruised forehead, tears forming in his eyes.
“Wh-Who are you guys?!”
“For a little brat, you’re pretty quick on your feet.”
“Grrr…!”
The boy scrambled to his feet and stood protectively in front of the girl in the tent.
“If… If you’re gonna hit soone, hit ! Ren didn’t do anything wrong!”
“We’re not here to hit anyone.”
Suppressing a grin, I shrugged nonchalantly.
The boy narrowed his eyes at .
“Then why were you following ?”
“I’ve got a few questions to ask.”
“Questions?”
“But first…”
Smiling mischievously, I stepped closer to the boy.
“Let’s fix that attitude of yours, shall we?”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Three sharp flicks to his forehead followed in quick succession.
“Arghhhhhh!!!”
The boy rolled on the ground, clutching his head.
Even though I had used minimal force, my naturally strong physique ant the impact was anything but light.
“Ugh… You… you bastard…!”
“Oh, not bad. You’ve got so guts. Or is it just because there’s a girl watching?”
Whoosh.
As I raised my hand again, the boy let out a yelp and quickly bowed his head.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“…Forget I said anything about guts.”
Suppressing a chuckle, I looked down at the boy.
“What’s your na?”
“L-Luca…”
“I’m Ren!!!”
The girl in the tent waved enthusiastically, her smile beaming.
“She’s your sister?”
“…Yeah.”
Luca bit his lip and nodded.
‘Luca and Ren… Those nas sound familiar for so reason….’
I wracked my brain, searching my past mories, but nothing imdiately ca to mind.
‘That’s not important right now.’
Shaking my head, I refocused on Luca.
“I’ve got a few things I want to ask you.”
“…Okay.”
“You’re usually out pickpocketing in the busy parts of Valhalla City, right?”
“Uh, no… This is my first ti—”
“This ti, it’s not your forehead. It’ll be your nose.”
“Eek! Y-Yes, I do it all the ti!”
“Good.”
Satisfied, I nodded with a smile.
“Have you noticed any strange people wearing masks recently?”
“…Huh?”
Luca’s eyes widened.
‘Bingo.’
As expected of a pickpocket, he seed to be highly observant of his surroundings.
“W-Why are you looking for them?”
Luca stamred, his voice trembling.
The boy was so frightened that his lips turned pale.
Seeing him like this, I frowned.
His reaction suggested he hadn’t just “seen” the masked individuals but had gotten much more involved.
“Tell everything you know about them.”
“…I-I can’t.”
“Why not? Are you scared they’ll retaliate if you talk?”
“……”
Luca hung his head in silence.
Hmm.
What to do?
“Yurina, co here for a second.”
“Why?”
I led Yurina aside for a mont.
“Did you bring that thing with you?”
“That thing…?”
When I explained what I was referring to, she nodded and pulled out her ID from her pocket.
From inside, she retrieved a golden badge etched with seven stars.
The Seven-Star Badge.
It was a symbol given only to the top student of each year at Hero Academy.
“And what are you going to do with this?”
“Just wait and see.”
Taking the badge from her, I approached Luca again.
“Here. Look at this.”
“This is… Oh! Isn’t this the Seven-Star Badge? Only the top student at Hero Academy gets one! Y-You’re a Hero Academy cadet?”
“That’s right.”
To the people of Valhalla City, Hero Academy cadets were figures of admiration.
And the holder of the prestigious Seven-Star Badge was revered even more than many high-ranking heroes.
“I’m currently on a special mission from the Headmaster, investigating those masked people.”
“The Headmaster of Hero Academy… You an the Thunder God, Lionel Ryu?!”
“Exactly.”
“W-Wow…!”
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Luca’s jaw dropped as he gasped in awe.
‘Top student a mission from the Thunder God’—to a boy who idolized heroes, this combination was the ultimate trust booster.
“Well? Can you tell about those masked people now?”
“Whew. Alright.”
Swallowing hard, Luca finally began to speak.
“Those weird people wearing animal masks… They’ve been using the holess and drifters in Valhalla City to run ‘errands’ for them.”
“Errands?”
"Yeah. They gave a list with pictures of people’s faces and told to report to them imdiately if I saw any of those people in Valhalla City."
"……."
I see.
So that's why their intelligence network was unnaturally strong.
"...Are you running one of those 'errands' too?"
"……."
Luca flinched, his shoulders trembling.
"I-I had no choice! They said if I disobeyed, I'd be dragged off sowhere and killed!"
"……."
Fair enough.
I don’t know all the details about those masked freaks either, but they’re certainly not the kind of people a re pickpocket boy could stand up to.
"So?"
"...Yes, I’ve done errands for them too."
"Have you actually reported anyone?"
"...Yes."
Luca nodded heavily.
"That ti... I saw a candidate with purple hair and reported her."
A candidate with purple hair…
Could it be?
"…Was it this woman?"
I opened the photo album on my Hero Watch, scrolling through thousands of pictures of Lanez (she sends dozens every day) and showed one to Luca.
"Uh… Y-yes, that’s her."
"……."
"Wh-what? Is she soone you know?"
Luca looked at my stiff expression with unease.
I couldn’t help but feel sothing for the person who caused Lanez to be attacked by those masked freaks.
"Sigh... Never mind."
Getting mad at Luca now wouldn’t solve anything.
"I-I’m sorry, okay? If I didn’t report her, and they found out…."
"I know. You and your little sister would’ve been in danger."
"Y-yeah, exactly!"
"Still, that doesn’t justify what you did. You saved yourself by selling soone else out."
"Ugh…."
Luca bit his lip, swallowing hard.
"By the way, what happened to her?"
"She’s alive."
"Oh…."
Luca let out a small sigh of relief.
Then he collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face.
"Th-thank goodness."
"……."
"...I’m sorry."
"Don’t bother. Apologizing won’t change what you’ve done."
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue and narrowed my eyes.
"Instead, if there’s a way for you to make ands, what would you do?"
"I-I’d do it! Whatever it is!"
"Good."
I smirked.
If Luca cooperated, I might be able to get close to those masked freaks.
"So... what’s the plan?"
"Report them again. Tell them you found Lanez in the streets of Valhalla City."
"...What?"
Luca’s eyes trembled violently.
"You an… file a false report to lure them in?"
"Exactly."
"That’s…."
Luca's face stiffened.
He was probably worried that if his false report led to my death, he’d also be killed by those people afterward.
"What? Is it scary to risk your own life, even though you had no problem risking soone else’s?"
"……."
Had I hit a nerve?
Luca lowered his head with a heavy expression.
A tense silence hung in the air.
Then Luca spoke, still looking down.
"I’ll do it."
Clenching his fists, his voice trembled as he continued.
"I’m… just a pickpocket with no parents, stealing from others just to get by."
But still.
Even so.
"If I have a chance to take responsibility for what I’ve done… I want to take it."
"……."
When Luca lifted his head, his eyes shone with firm determination.
I grinned and nodded.
"Good."
"B-but! If I end up dying, can you at least protect Ren?"
"Neither of you is going to die, so don’t worry."
I ruffled Luca’s hair lightly and added.
"If this works out, I’ll introduce you to an orphanage."
"...An orphanage?"
"Yeah. One run by the Holy Kingdom."
"But isn’t that only for citizens of the Holy Kingdom?"
"Well, if I vouch for you, they’ll probably let you and your sister in."
"R-really…?!"
A spark of hope lit up in Luca’s eyes.
"I’ll do my best to deceive them! I’m good at acting, you know!"
"Great. I’m counting on you."
I held out my hand with a grin.
Luca grabbed it tightly, exhaling a determined breath.
At that mont—
"Uh… Um… I hate to interrupt this touching mont, but…."
Yurina approached Luca hesitantly.
"So… where’s my shopping bag?"
"Huh? Oh, I left it in the tent…."
As we turned toward the tent, we saw—
"Wow!"
Ren rummaging through the shopping bag.
"Hey, hey! Look! There’s so really skimpy underwear in here—"
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"
Yurina’s scream echoed throughout the cave like a thunderclap.
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