The Kidnapping Incident

Hilde usually kept her sword at her side.

Although the order in Ars City was worthy of praise, there were still dark corners that order struggled to reach. On top of that, there were some people at the dojo who didn't like her... so to be safe, Hilde always carried her sword.

After all, having a sword and not using it was one thing; not having one at all was another.

That said.

The dojo basically used wooden swords provided by the dojo itself, so while training, Hilde would leave her sword in a locker in the changing room.

And then it disappeared.

Then, there was an extra note.

The writing on the note looked very familiar. Rather, this wasn't even the first time she had received one. Its contents were simple too: it told her to go alone to a designated place to meet someone.

Hilde thought it over carefully. Since arriving here, she didn't seem to have offended anyone.

It was utterly baffling.

Expressionless, Hilde crumpled the note into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket.

An incomprehensible invitation like this really gave her no desire to go, let alone when it was at a location chosen by the other side. Who knew what schemes or traps might be waiting for her?

In the end, it was only an ordinary sword. It wasn't worth risking herself for...

Normally speaking, that was true.

However, that sword was the birthday gift Paul had given her.

On her fifth birthday, Paul had given her that sword as a present. Rudeus had an identical one too.

Hilde had always maintained that sword with great care.

Although it was made from very ordinary materials, it held extraordinary meaning for Hilde.

"..."

Her teacher had once said something.

Throw one punch hard enough, and you saved yourself from a hundred more.

Perhaps it was because she had behaved too honestly after coming here that others had mistakenly thought she was easy to bully.

If possible, Hilde wanted to live a peaceful life.

But this was the way all things operated.

If you sought peace through struggle, peace would endure; if you sought peace through compromise, peace would perish.

For now, she would make the trip.

If the situation turned out to be something she couldn't handle, she would ask the dojo for help then.

"Achoo—"

"What's with that girl? She's way too slow!"

"And what's the deal with this crappy sword?"

In a corner of the outer city wall, inside a hidden chamber.

Grot couldn't help complaining.

He had already lost count of how many times he had had someone secretly slip notes to Hilde, asking her to come meet him.

But that girl ignored them every single time!

Left with no choice, in order to make Hilde take it seriously, he had ordered his subordinates to steal something valuable from her locker.

In the end, the few of them had only stolen back a crappy sword.

"This sword probably wouldn't even sell for a single silver coin, would it?"

Grot looked at the utterly ordinary sword, genuinely at a loss for words.

"Young Master Grot, this was already the most valuable thing in that locker."

Several subordinates stood before Grot with helpless expressions.

It wasn't that they didn't want to steal something more valuable.

But aside from this sword, there had only been ordinary clothes in the locker.

If they had stolen clothes...

Wouldn't that just make them nothing but perverts?

"Hmph. She calls herself a Greyrat, but who knows which remote countryside she's some fallen noble from? If you don't teach people like that a lesson, they won't understand the proper order of rank."

Grot gave a cold snort.

Seeing this, the others hurriedly began flattering him.

Grot was the child of a count's family.

Though he was only the second son, at the very least, he would still be able to inherit a city in the future, so naturally, people wanted to curry favor with him.

Grot had wanted to get close to Isolte for more than just a day or two. After all, this was the task his father had given him. But lately, Isolte and Hilde had been getting too close, to the point that even sending an invitation had become difficult. She was already far too much of a nuisance.

Grot did not plan to do anything to Hilde. After all, his only target was Isolte.

If possible, he even intended to bring Hilde over to his side.

If she acted as his wingman, there would be no shortage of benefits for her.

After all, the more friends, the better.

The only problem was that, after so many secret invitations, the other party had continued to ignore them.

That was really irritating.

"If she still doesn't come today, I'll go talk to her directly tomorrow."

As Grot spoke, he was just about to stand.

Then he suddenly saw a figure approaching outside the hidden room's door.

"She's here?"

"She finally came, that bastard..."

"Hey, wait a second. Something seems off."

After a brief hesitation, someone quickly noticed something strange.

That gradually approaching figure, whether in height, build, or the sound of his footsteps, was completely unlike a little girl.

No, this was clearly an adult man.

What was going on?

"I see."

Grot's super-intelligence quickly figured out the sequence of events. "That Hilde called someone because she was worried and scared."

"She's a coward."

"Tch, so that's all she amounts to."

"So, Young Master Grot, how should we handle this situation?"

"It's fine. Leave it to me. In the end, she's just a down-and-out noble from some remote countryside. She probably doesn't have much of a network here in the royal capital."

Grot stood and walked straight toward the other party without dodging or retreating.

And when the other party entered the hidden room, his full appearance finally entered Grot's eyes. It was a figure draped from head to toe in a black robe. Most of his face was hidden by a face covering and a hood, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed as he looked down at Grot before him.

The black-robed man frowned slightly. He had not heard that there would be children here.

Was this the contact?

That lord did have some young children under him, but they should all be female...

"Who are you?"

the black-robed man asked.

"Count Engertro is my father."

Grot acted very calm, directly bringing out his powerful backer from the start.

The black-robed man tilted his head. "A count. And? Is your appearance here the will of that count?"

"Uh, what I mean is, no matter what benefits that little girl Hilde gave you, you'd better not get in the way, or else my father..."

"Who is Hilde?"

"Huh? Aren't you someone Hilde called over?"

"..."

What on earth was this guy talking about?

The black-robed man and Grot stared at each other. After a while, both of them realized.

It was a misunderstanding.

"This isn't a place for children to play."

The black-robed man's tone instantly turned cold and sinister. "Get lost."

"You... How dare you speak so rudely to this young master! State your name!"

"I'll say it one last time. Leave this place immediately. This is not somewhere for you to play."

"You don't even dare give your name?"

Grot quietly gave a look.

Several lackeys immediately understood and surrounded the black-robed man in the middle.

Against an adult, the odds of winning one-on-one were very low.

But a group attack was different.

Two fists were no match for four hands. That saying was no joke.

"Now don't say we're bullying you, okay? After all, you're the adult here," Grot's lackey said with a grin.

The black-robed man nodded. "That makes sense."

The moment he finished speaking, a group of figures in assorted clothes, their faces covered with scarves, burst in from outside the hidden room.

The cramped hidden room instantly became somewhat crowded.

"Huh?"

"Now don't say we're bullying you. After all, you're all nobles."

"No, wait—"

"Take them down."

As the black-robed man's words fell, those unidentified people in their assorted clothes immediately made their move.

Grot and the others hurriedly fought back, and some even drew weapons. However, although they had all studied swordsmanship, their skills were nothing more than mediocre, incomparable to people with real combat experience.

In just two or three minutes, every last one of them had been knocked to the floor.

"Should we kill them?" someone asked.

Pinned to the ground and trembling all over, Grot screamed, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! If you want money or anything else, I can give it to you! My father is a count! My family has plenty of money!"

"A count's child. Killing him would be a bit troublesome."

The black-robed man hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"In any case, they didn't see anything. Just knock them out."

"Got it."

After a few muffled thuds, Grot and the others were knocked unconscious and tossed into the corner.

"What's with these guys? Why were they here?"

The leader dusted off his hands and frowned.

"Just a few kids who happened to be playing around here."

The black-robed man's tone was flat. "More importantly, did you bring the items to be offered to that lord?"

"Of course. Push the box in."

The leader waved a hand, and several other people wearing face scarves immediately pushed in a handcart.

On the handcart sat a heavy box.

"I need to inspect the goods."

"Go ahead."

The black-robed man stepped forward, opened the box, and glanced inside.

Inside were two sleeping children.

A girl with long red hair.

And a boy with short brown hair.