I said before that this was a decent city.
Certainly, that's not a lie.
A decent king, a decent lord, a decent guild, and decent townspeople.
…Yeah, generally speaking.
Of course, there was no country that was made up of only good people. Even if there was, it would be exploited by neighboring countries and would soon be destroyed.
And of course, there was no town with only good people. So, naturally, there were bad people, idiots, and the scum of humanity in this town too.
"Hey, you guys, even though you're orphans, it seems you're making quite a bit of money. Things can get pretty dangerous for just kids. We'll take care of you from now on. Lots of things, well, lots of things..." (Thug)
Ahhh, here they come, they're so obvious...
This day, I brought along Mine and Aral to deliver processed seafood to the bars and restaurants I had contracts with—dried fish, smoked fish, seaweed, etc. I hadn't tried fermented products or dried fish yet—From now on, I'd be leaving the deliveries to the two of them, so I was going to show them my face at the store. Reiko was with me.
The amount of money delivered each time is not that much, so it is unlikely that they will get involved, and even if they do steal the goods or the money, it is not a big deal. ...I will get it back many times over later anyway.
That's what I thought. So here they were. And in the middle of town like this... They probably thought I was a child and underestimated me.
Regardless of Mine and Aral, I also looked like I was only about 12 years old, and considering how I seemed to be in charge, it was not surprising that Reiko was the same age as me, just a little more developed. In other words, we were a bunch of naive children. Did they think that a little intimidation would make us do what they want?
Well, it's not just to take a one-time merchandise or sales fee, but to suck money out on a regular basis, in other words, they were trying to turn us into a cash cow for themselves.
We should make a big show of this sort of thing, without letting our idiosyncrasies be exposed.
If that happened a few times, no one would dare lay a hand on the two of them, even if it was just Mine and Aral.
Then, we needed to find out whether these three thugs came up with this on their own, or if they were someone's pawns...
"Just in time." (Kaoru)
"I'm not so low that I need those scumbags' help." (Reiko)
Yes, unlike me who used relatively gentle language towards everyone, Reiko wais harsh towards those she considered to be enemies.
...Really, nothing has changed... I wonder how she could have lived a life in Japan like this without causing any trouble...
Well, I didn't think there were many people in Japan who would have immediately labeled Reiko the enemy, so I guessed she was able to act normal on the surface.
Even if they were enemies, if they didn't show it openly, Reiko wouldn't blatantly use aggressive words. ...Even if they were secretly launching some pretty brutal attacks and counterattacks...
Anyway, there was only one thing I could say. "Don't make KUONREIKO your enemy," That's all.
"Wh-what are you doing, you little brat?! If you dare say something stupid, I'll beat you up and sell you off, you idiot!" (Thug)
Saying this, the thug grabbed Reiko's arm.
Okay, take it!
"Help me! There are robbers and kidnappers! They've threatened to assault me and kidnap me and sell me off, and they're dragging me here by force. Please call the guards!" (Kaoru)
"……Eh?" (Thug)
The thugs looked stunned by my loud scream.
No, why would you be surprised? If you were threatened with violence, kidnapping, and illegal sale into slavery in broad daylight, surely it would be normal to ask for help?
Of course, if you are a young child who doesn't understand things well, or an orphan with no relatives or backing, you may be ignored even if you ask for help. Most people don't want to get involved in something that they have nothing to gain from and that could potentially cause them harm.
Besides, orphans didn't ask ordinary citizens for help in the first place.
They didn't expect anything from the public.
…Yeah, it's unfortunate, but that's the way it was.
But we were just ordinary business owners and their employees, well-dressed, ordinary citizens, and three of the four of us were young women, and the remaining one was a small child. Our cries for help were not ignored, and they were clearly "Three thugs trying to kidnap a normal family's child," so not only did those who ran to call for security guards, but those who had experience in fighting and those who were weak but had a sense of chivalry surrounded us in an instant.
"Huh? Huh... Whaat?" (Thug)
The thugs were panicking, but it was too late.
"Hey, isn't that Kaoru from Little Silver? What's wrong?" (Manager)
"Oh, manager! No, all of a sudden these guys came and asked us to hand over the management rights to our company... And if we resisted, they'd beat us up and sell us off or something..." (Kaoru)
The manager of one of our business partners, a tavern, called over to me, so I briefly explained the situation again.
"Eh? Kaoru-chan’s place is a special business that has been approved by the lord, right? They’ve taken an interest in it because it’s a support business for orphans… If you mess with a place like that, won’t something terrible happen? Moreover, making a child into an illegal slave is an extremely serious crime..." (Manager)
Yes, thank you for the explanation!
"Yes, probably. I'll confirm whether they acted alone or received orders from someone, and then I'll leave the rest to the guards..." (Kaoru)
"Whaaaaaat?!" (Thugs, x3)
The thugs looked shocked.
Well, "I'll beat you up" aside, "I'll sell you off" was probably just a threat. "I'll beat you up" and "I'll sell you off to a human trafficker" were standard phrases used to threaten children.
But they said to an adult woman they would 'hit her' and 'sell her', and then grabbed her arm and tried to take her away; saying it was just a joke didn't cut it.
"Are you the robbers and kidnappers?" (Guard)
"Eh... N-no, we just..." (Thug)
"Ah, guards, it's them!" (Kaoru)
Since we were near the center of town, the guard post was close by. Someone ran to let them know, and the guards came right away.
A total of six people... Isn't that a bit too many?
"Isn't that Kaoru-chan? These guys laid a hand on Kaoru-chan!
...Hang them." (Commander)
"Whaaaaaat?!" (Thugs, x3)
The commander who had been spouting those lines right from the start was someone I knew.
Yeah, hanging was probably just a threat, but still, it was not going to get away with it.
After all, I was a young lady from somewhere who used her own money to buy a former orphanage building, and although it was actually a profit-making business, I was running what could be considered a charity. Moreover, I was well-liked by the lord of the manor.
And of course, I had given gifts to the guard headquarter and the guard stations, and asked them for various things. Like, please help out the children when they're in trouble, and so on. So, I was acquainted with some of the guards.
I also told them that although Reiko and I looked young, we were already 15 years old and adults.
So, this case turned out to be one in which 'Adult female charitable workers whom the lord has his eye on was attacked by a robber and kidnapper'...
Yes, it's a big deal. It's not like what the thugs thought, where they were just trying to get some money out of an orphan by messing around with us, and they were just going to get a little lecture or at worst they'd be thrown in jail for a few days.
"Please thoroughly investigate whether there is a mastermind behind these guys' actions." (Kaoru)
"Leave it to me!" (Commander)
Well, in a world like this, "thorough investigation" meant tough questioning, if you think about it logically...
"Please let me know the results of your investigation, okay?" (Kaoru)
"Yes, of course. We need to be aware of the enemy's presence. Well, there's no need for you to deal with them, we'll just have to deal with them ourselves." (Commander)
"Hehe, thank you very much." (Kaoru)
"Yeah!" (Commander)
Thus, the three stunned thugs were dragged away by the guards, and peace returned to the town.
And words would spread fast among the thugs and criminals on the streets, because an ill-informed criminal didn't last long.
Ok, now Mine and Aral are a lot safer.
Maybe if we get one or two more idiots we won't have to worry so much about simple violent crimes.
But there are a lot of bad people in the world...