Ch. 159
The next day…
“Gyaaah!”
A scream echoed from an alley.
A man’s glasses flew off and shattered as his frail body, clearly not built for a fight, was cornered and slumped to the ground.
When the thugs feigned another kick, he flinched and screamed again.
“I told you, that’s really all I have!”
“If we find more on you, it’s one punch per copper!”
“Let’s talk this out!”
I stopped at the entrance of the alley right as the chaos peaked.
“Lox?”
The man being beaten—Lox—squinted, trying to figure out who I was with his now-blind eyes, thanks to the broken glasses. Looked like his eyesight was deep in the negatives.
“What are you doing?”
When I spoke again, he seemed to recognize me and quickly darted through the three thugs to hide behind me.
I was sucking on a lollipop as he shoved his taller frame behind mine, sniffling like he’d been through some real trauma.
“Miss Geenie! These guys, they just grabbed me out of nowhere and started—!”
“Hm.”
“What the hell is this?”
As the thugs approached, Lox crouched down behind me, even with his bad vision.
Judging by his limp, they hadn’t gone easy on him.
“And you guys are…?”
“We’re the guardians of this district—”
“Thugs, then.”
‘Pop’—I pulled the lollipop from my mouth with a loud click and pointed it at them.
The thugs were all impressively built—massive muscles, nasty faces, and bodies covered in scars. Way out of Lox’s league.
If it had been Chad, he would’ve fought back. But for Lox, surrender was probably the smart choice.
“Pfft, hiding behind a girl—what a disgrace—”
‘Smack.’
“Hey, sweetheart, forget him and come hang with—”
‘Smack.’
“What the hell—”
‘Smack.’
Turns out slapping a musclehead feels the same as slapping anyone else.
After smacking all three of them, I shook out my slightly hot palm, stuffed the lollipop between my molars, and crunched down.
“I’m talking, aren’t I?”
“Don’t wanna listen.”
As I crunched the candy into shards, I clicked two fingers together.
Undine slipped between me and the thugs, revealing her small form.
“Were you about to say ‘disgrace’?”
Their attitudes changed immediately when Undine transformed into over a dozen long spears.
It happened so naturally—no chant, no magical artifact raised. Just like a breeze.
They were visibly confused—how had this many spears suddenly appeared?
To make sure they didn’t think the water spears were weak, I flicked my fingers and drove one into the ground.
“I’ll ask again. That’s ‘not’ what you were going to say, right?”
The spear plunged right between the legs of the closest thug.
Daniz, being a wealthy city, had neatly paved stone roads. The spear shattered the stone, left a fist-sized hole, and spiraled back into the air.
The tips of the spears grew sharper and aimed straight at the thugs’ heads, humming ominously in the air.
“N-no, ma’am.”
“Of course not.”
“You’re the ones who harassed my guy, right?”
“We’re deeply sorry.”
“Since when do people apologize ‘from above’?”
My neck was starting to hurt.
At a tilt of my head, all three thugs immediately dropped to their knees before me.
Lox finally crept out from behind and scanned the scene with his long neck—kneeling thugs, hovering spears—and bowed to me like he’d just gotten hit in the head.
“Th-thank you, Miss Geenie… I’m not sure who the real thug is here…”
I don’t know either.
If I hadn’t enrolled in the academy early, I might’ve ruled these backstreets by now.
Normally, I wouldn’t stop at just this, but Lox hated violence—and I wasn’t the one who got hurt—so I let it go.
More importantly, I’d finished the candy and my mouth was bored.
I tossed the empty lollipop stick at the thugs and thought I should go buy more.
“Consider yourselves lucky. This kind of mercy comes once a decade.”
“Thank you!”
“Give back the money you stole from Lox. And pick up that trash.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And pay for his glasses.”
The alley sparkled beautifully as sunlight refracted off the spears and the glistening stone.
—
I helped Lox limp back to the inn—his ankle was twisted and he could barely walk.
We hadn’t found another place to stay, so we were still at the luxury inn.
“Ashhhh!”
The moment I stepped inside, I shouted for Ash.
He came rushing down the stairs in a panic, and I practically shoved Lox into his arms.
Heavy!
Why does a delicate girl like me have to carry a man?
If he hadn’t looked like a sad puppy with broken glasses, I would’ve left him in the street!
God, I’m too kind.
“What happened? Lox! Are you—”
“He was getting beat up in an alley.”
“Oh no…”
Lox’s face was a mess of swelling and bruises. His lip was split, and a nasty bump formed on his forehead.
“Ow, ow… I was out looking for a cheaper inn… and I thought I’d leave a note in the plaza for Enk and Gale since they should be arriving soon… I just got unlucky.”
“You hurt your leg too?”
“Just a sprain. Miss Geenie happened to pass by and saved me.”
“…Are they okay?”
Oh, you meant the thugs?
Ash, you’re acting like I’m some kind of explosive.
As I stood there with an annoyed eyebrow raised, Ash carried Lox upstairs effortlessly—way smoother than I had.
Lox was clearly shaken and collapsed onto the bed, while I lingered by the door and watched.
Ash couldn’t hide the concern on his face for his friend.
I’ve never been good at comforting people. And I wasn’t about to force myself to do something I suck at.
No reason to stay any longer.
I turned and headed down the hallway. I had stuff to do outside, so I quickened my pace—until Ash caught up to me.
He stood beside me, and his eyes… well—
“Miss Geenie, thank you for helping Lox.”
It felt like he was looking at me with affection.
I get that feeling often when I look at Ash. Like… this guy kinda likes me.
As a person, anyway.
“It was nothing.”
“If it hadn’t been for you, things could’ve gone badly.”
“We’ve known each other long enough. Can you stop with the ‘Miss’ already?”
I stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked up at him.
Ash had a pretty plain face, but a solidly built body. When we stood face-to-face, his chest was right at my eye level.
Ordinary at first glance, but his physique was sculpted and tight.
I’ve always been a little envious of well-built bodies. Makes me want to poke them just to see how they feel.
Resisting that urge? Kind of torture.
“…Geenie, thanks.”
“Drop the honorifics.”
“Ahem. Thanks.”
“Properly.”
“Thanks, Geenie.”
Men are cutest when they know how to yield.
I gave him a wide, teasing grin and patted his cheek in praise.
Ash looked flustered, but I didn’t pull my hand back. Instead, I slowly traced his jawline.
What made me linger was how his face ‘felt’ different than it looked.
Almost like my fingertips were sinking into his skin—only halfway in.
The necklace was working.
After all, the face I saw was nothing more than a magical illusion.
Ash realized it too and quickly grabbed my hand, pulling it away from his face.
An awkward pause followed.
“…Nice skin!”
“Geenie.”
He let go of my hand, eyes full of things he wanted to say—but lips clamped shut.
There wasn’t really anything ‘to’ say, and I knew that too.
I hated awkwardness, so I turned to leave—but he just wouldn’t let it go.
“Where are you going?”
“Out. It’s the festival, isn’t it?”
“…Let me come with you.”
Ack! No can do.
I recoiled immediately.
“No! Absolutely not!”
“It’s dangerous to go alone. You saw what happened to Lox.”
“That’s ‘Lox’. I’m Geenie.”
“But—”
“Ah! Fine, I won’t kill anyone. Happy?”
I waved my hands dramatically to cut off the conversation and ran off.
“Go take care of Lox!”
Truthfully, I could’ve healed Lox’s bruises right away.
But I had something I wanted to do—alone—so I planned to leave him like that for a few days.
I left Ash and his ‘I want to come too’ face behind and headed off to the plaza.