Escape

"It's you!"

"It's you!"

Following Ithil, Parr met the Grimm Brothers in a shady corner of the large courtyard and was surprised to discover that they were the thief brothers from last night. What a coincidence.

"???"

Ithil looked at Parr, then at the brown-haired Grimm Brothers, somewhat puzzled. However, she did not ask any questions for the moment. Instead, she stepped forward to examine the brothers lying on two wooden planks, asking irritably as she checked them, "You two, tell me. How did you end up like this? Don't tell me you went stealing again?"

"We..."

The Grimm Brothers could no longer spare the attention to glare at Parr. Faced with Ithil's questioning, they averted their eyes and stammered.

"Looks like you did. Then, little brother, tell me how you know these two. Don't tell me they stole something from you?"

Ithil rose and looked at Parr. Her pretty face turned serious, making Parr feel the authority of an older sister. However, that was not enough to scare him.

"Mm, it went like this..."

Still, Parr recounted what had happened last night, even when the Grimm Brothers shot him pleading looks.

"They stole Uncle John's and my things last night, and I caught them, so this happened."

"Oh?"

As the big sister, how would Ithil handle the fact that her newly acknowledged little brother had broken the hands and feet of her own underlings? "Well done!"

Ithil reached out approvingly and ruffled Parr's little head. The more she rubbed, the more enthusiastic she became. She found that Parr's short black hair felt surprisingly nice to tousle.

"..."

Parr looked utterly dead inside. So what if you're tall?

Ithil quickly withdrew her hand, turned, and looked at the Grimm Brothers again. Her pink eyes narrowed as she began lecturing them in a somewhat cold voice. "Grimm Brothers, how many times has this been? Why can't you break this habit of stealing? If this keeps up, someone will beat you to death sooner or later..."

As she spoke, soft-hearted Ithil crouched down and extended her palm. A layer of white light first appeared over her body, then gathered in her hand.

"Ah!"

Amid several screams, Ithil's small hand, covered in dense white light, reset the broken bones in the Grimm Brothers' hands and feet. Then the white light in her hand seeped into their limbs. At once, their expressions relaxed. It seemed they were no longer in as much pain.

Phew...

After finishing the treatment, Ithil stood and wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking somewhat exhausted. Healing the Grimm Brothers had clearly taken a great deal out of her.

"That's incredible!"

Watching from the side, Parr clicked his tongue in amazement. If doctors in his previous life had Ithil's abilities, how many terminally ill patients could have been brought back from the brink of death? This truly was a magical other world. He was looking forward to this world even more now.

"Little brother, come here."

"What for?"

"Just come when I tell you to."

After catching her breath for a few moments, Ithil pulled Parr in front of the Grimm Brothers and pointed at him. "Apologize!"

Well, that was something. The one who did the beating did not have to apologize, while the ones who got beaten were being made to apologize. Although the Grimm Brothers had been in the wrong for stealing, Parr had already punished them. They felt they did not need to apologize, and both turned their heads away stubbornly.

"Apologize!"

Ithil raised her voice, and the aura of a big sister rose with it. The surrounding children backed away several steps in fright, casting sympathetic looks at the Grimm Brothers.

"..."

The Grimm Brothers still said nothing, while Parr looked indifferent. He had already taught them a lesson. Whether they apologized or not made no difference.

"According to the rules, we've already been punished for stealing, so we don't need to apologize..." The younger of the Grimm Brothers, Little Green, muttered softly under Ithil's glaring gaze.

Bang! Ithil heard him and, enraged, kicked Little Green in the backside. Then she snapped, "You think stealing is justified?"

"Actually, we weren't stealing for the sake of stealing, it was because..."

Little Green wanted to defend himself, but his brother immediately covered his mouth.

"It's nothing, it's nothing. We'll apologize, we'll apologize."

Signaling his younger brother with his eyes not to reveal the truth, the brown-haired young man, Big Green, apologized to Parr.

"Sorry. We shouldn't have stolen your things."

"..."

Parr merely nodded slightly without saying anything.

However, Little Green's unfinished words caught Ithil's attention. She slapped away Big Green's hand covering his brother's mouth and stared straight into Little Green's eyes.

"Little Green, tell me! If you weren't stealing for the sake of stealing, then what was it for?"

"We were stealing for..."

Big Green's attempt to argue was frightened back down when Ithil suddenly turned to glare at him. Though he was already in his twenties, he was still afraid of twelve-year-old Ithil. The reason was simple: aside from her healing abilities, she had become the big sister here with her own fists.

"Little Green, speak!"

Ithil turned back to glare at Little Green. She knew Big Green had a tight mouth and would not reveal anything, but Little Green was different.

"..."

Little Green swallowed. Under Ithil's piercing stare, his voice trembled as he said:

"Vice Captain Ma Xi of the Patrol Team told us to do it..."

Little Green did not say the rest, because Ithil's face instantly darkened. He had never seen Ithil like this before, but that did not stop him from feeling afraid—terrified to the extreme, so scared that he lost his voice.

"..."

Ithil lowered her head and remained silent for a long while. At last, she said in a low voice, each word deliberate, "Do you know Bolen is dead? He was killed by Ma Xi..."

Furious, Ithil cut herself off and turned to leave.

"Big Sister!"

Watching Ithil's retreating back, the Grimm Brothers snapped out of their shock at the news of Bolen Knight's death and shouted. Then Little Green cried out:

"Big Sister, we really didn't know! If we had known, we never would have done that! We only wanted to save money to buy you a gift for your birthday, to thank you for taking care of us! We were wrong! Big Sister, don't go!"

The Grimm Brothers were not fools. Although Ithil had not finished speaking, they had guessed the truth.

Phew...

Ithil stopped at the courtyard gate and took a deep breath. She knew the Grimm Brothers had meant well. They had risked getting their hands and feet broken to save money for a gift, without any other malicious intentions. Yet the anger in her heart still surged uncontrollably, impossible to suppress. It was not the time to say anything. They could talk after she calmed down.

Ithil left, and Parr left the large courtyard with her. As they walked down the road, she seemed distracted and absent-minded.

Parr could not stand the gloomy atmosphere and wanted to break it. He scratched his head and thought for a moment before offering a very blunt consolation. "Ithil, don't be sad. I'll go chop Ma Xi to death at noon today."

"Hahaha."

Ithil was immediately amused. She buried her grief once more, covering her face with one hand. When she lowered it, she had returned to her usual self. Stopping, she turned to Parr, put her hands on her hips, and said:

"Don't go around talking about chopping people to death. Ma Xi is a Peak Knight Apprentice. How could you possibly be his match?"

"Uh..."

Parr froze. He truly had not considered that question. Several experiences of turning the tables on enemies had made him a little overconfident, but on reflection, when had he ever faced an enemy head-on? Hadn't he always pretended to be weak and launched surprise attacks?

"That's true..."

Parr lowered his head and looked at the Status Panel. Even if he leveled up, he would only be an Intermediate Knight Apprentice, a full two levels below Peak. Did he have to find another way to ambush him? "All right, stop thinking nonsense. You can't do it."

Ithil shook her head and turned toward the way they had come.

"How can you say I can't do it?"

Parr could not tolerate that. Now, whether he could or not, he had to do it! He hurried forward two steps to catch up with Ithil and said, "Ithil, how about we make a bet?"

"What?"

Ithil stopped, her curiosity piqued by Parr's words.

"Let's bet on whether I can kill Ma Xi. If I win, you have to agree to one small request from me. And if I lose, it's the same."

Parr spoke with complete confidence. Don't ask why—ask, and it was simply the inexplicable confidence of a transmigrator. Honestly, he had to push himself this time.

"Sure!"

Ithil turned around, clasped her hands behind her back, and smiled at Parr as she accepted the bet. She did not believe Parr could take down Ma Xi. There was nothing to lose! ...

Snore... snore...

Nothing had happened recently, and searching for things for Old Azure Stone Viscount did not require Ma Xi, the vice captain of the Patrol Team, to personally go out. Thus, for the past few days, he had slept during the day and gone out at night. This also suited the habits of Death Cult followers. Those tainted by Death Aura did not much like daylight.

So, as usual, Ma Xi was sleeping soundly in his room that day. Especially near noon, he slept most deeply. But suddenly, a Bright Sparrow—the most common bird in the city—chirped as it squeezed in through a gap in the window.

Chirp, chirp!

The Bright Sparrow, no bigger than an adult's palm, fluttered toward Ma Xi, whose snores shook the room. Yet before it could land on him, it abruptly stopped breathing. Its bright little eyes turned cloudy, and it hit the floor with a bang.

Ma Xi, who had been snoring moments ago, instantly sat up in bed. Only after carefully sensing the movement around him did he bend down, scoop up the dead Bright Sparrow, and inspect it in his large hand. Then he used two fingers to pull a small slip of paper from the bird's leg.

Phew...

The small note burst into flames without fire the instant it left the Bright Sparrow, turning into a puff of white smoke. As it drifted through the air, it formed a line of elegant Wind Wolf Script.

"You have been exposed. The Church will act at noon."

Ma Xi's brown pupils abruptly contracted, and his thick brows furrowed more deeply. After waving away the smoke, he pondered for a moment.

"That's a mage's method. Who is warning me?"

"Now isn't the time to think about that. Should I trust it?"

"Never mind. I'll go outside and take a look first."

Creak~

Fully dressed and with his two-handed greatsword strapped to his back, Ma Xi pushed open the door and went outside. Familiar with the Azure Stone City Patrol Team, he immediately noticed something unusual—something he normally would not have noticed. There were fewer people. Far fewer Patrol Team members.

"Not good!"

As if he had sensed something, Ma Xi turned and ran back into the room. Less than ten seconds after closing the door, there was a boom. John, clad in black light armor, smashed through the door. His dark red eyes swept the room and found a hole beneath the bed, which had been moved aside. Ma Xi was nowhere to be seen.

"He ran pretty fast!"

Just as John was about to enter the hole and pursue him, a rumble sounded, and flames burst from within the tunnel, collapsing the entire house along with it.

"Damn it! He got away!"