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Chapter 12 – The Trackers
I bought everything I could think of for a doll, so next I went to a bookstore.
Books are apparently expensive in this world. I was told that I could use the money I made from selling the medicine however I wanted, but I didn’t know the going rate, and I didn’t have a specific purpose for going to the bookstore, so I saved it for last.
I was just looking around town with Rona when I found a quaint bookstore in a backstreet. And I browsed and bought some technical books there, and then Clare was walking around town wondering where to go next when she suddenly stopped.
“Hmm…”
I’m being followed. The detection magic I use in the Great Sea of Trees is meaningless in the city, so I’m changing the type I deploy. If someone is malicious or ill willed towards me, it will reach me on the magical energy that I unconsciously emit unless it is disguised or concealed. I can sense that magical energy. It’s originally a magic to detect and prevent curses, and it’s also a by-product of that.
If you have the skill to consciously control your magical energy, it’s weak enough that it doesn’t get through to the other person. However, Rona had taught her that if someone has no knowledge or understanding of magic, they can sense their malice.
Is it an easy target, or did they intentionally make it so? Just because you can’t sense their malice or harm doesn’t mean you’re safe. Rona had also warned her that it’s dangerous to act or make decisions with overconfidence. However–
(…Is it necessary to check who is chasing you, just to be safe? For future safety and guidance.)
Clare started walking again as if nothing were bothering her. At the same time, the presence that had been stopped a little behind her also started to move. There was no doubt about it.
There were four magical leads. That meant that at least four people had been caught by the detection. Clare also cast a detection spell to grasp the surrounding terrain and situation, and then casually moved in a direction with no people. At the same time, she also cast magic from here and observed the movement of the magic, calmly analyzing whether the men’s ignorance of magic was a disguise or not.
Then, when she entered the alleyway that was a dead end, she stopped. When Clare swung her arm, small sparkles ran in all directions from her fingertips, and the figure disappeared along with the thread.
“…Hey. He’s not there.”
“This is a dead end…? Where did that kid go? I’m sure he turned here, right?”
A voice came from behind her. Clare turned around after disappearing and checked the owner of the voice.
(…What? Are those the people from before?)
The men who were following her were the ones who had complained to the gatekeepers when they entered the capital earlier. There was one more than the last time I saw them. They must have been the friends who had entered the capital earlier. They must have seen her wandering around the main street and followed her.
That’s true, Clare thought. There should still be very few people in the city who would have a motive to look for her. It was reassuring to hear that they weren’t following her for some complicated reason.
But what about the incident at the gate? Did they follow her because they saw her wandering around?
Was their purpose to get revenge, or to make sure the gatekeepers weren’t lying?
In other words, they were probably going to check her age, and if she wasn’t a child, they were going to complain to the gatekeepers.
The gatekeepers had even declared in front of the men that no one would lie. If she was different, they could make a fuss and take care of her, and even if she wasn’t lying, they could make their demands and complaints directly to Clare, and they would feel better. The men were also underestimating her because she was small.
But Clare had no particular need for them. She understood that they didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives. So… she just thought it would be a hassle if they continued to hang around her for a long time.
Not realizing what was going on, she walked down the alley and watched them get closer, when someone else – someone – appeared in the alley.
It was a girl Clare didn’t know. Even though she was a girl, she was probably older than Clare. She was around 14 or 15 years old. Her long, wavy brunette hair was curled into loose vertical rolls halfway through.
The girl observed the situation in the alley, and pointed her finger at them, first confused, then angry.
“What are you guys doing?! What are you all trying to do to that child by gathering?”
“Ah…?”
The men turned around at the sound of the voice, furrowing their brows confused.
(–Huh?)
Clare was also puzzled. The girl could see Clare, who was supposed to have disappeared. Clare couldn’t help but check, even though she had clearly activated her magic.
“I thought I heard someone talking about catching a child and doing something to the old lady, so I came to check! What are you all trying to do by gathering around such a small child?”
(Yeah. I could see it after all…)
The girl denounced the men’s actions, and Clare tried to understand the situation. Meanwhile, the men frowned and clicked their tongues softly, as if they had some idea, but unlike the girl, they couldn’t see Clare, so they were still a little confused.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Where is that brat?”
“What are you talking about? There–”
“I’m here.”
Clare took a little distance from the men and released the concealment barrier to reveal herself. The moment she released the barrier, she flipped a switch in her mind. In other words, from her normal state to her combat state.
“What…?”
“W-where did she come from?”
“I could have just pretended I didn’t see anything and just walked away, but… I can’t just ignore the fact that someone who came to help me is about to get caught up in it.”
And with that, Clare faced the men.
“My master has taught me. I cannot show my face to you or bow my head to you. Can you please pretend nothing happened and go away?”
“You brat… Stop messing around”
“If you’re a brat, just shut up and do as you’re told!”
“It’s dangerous!”
One of them gets angry and tries to grab Clare, but the girl screams.
“Ahh!?”
A scream comes from the man’s mouth, though.
A small stone is attached to the magic thread that has already been deployed between the buildings, and it is thrown like a sling. The power of the magic thread is just enough to prevent serious injury, but the man who was shot into the back of his hand by the pebble from his blind spot writhes in pain that he never expected.
As the man stops and writhes, the extremely fine threads that are spread around Clare like a spider web penetrate the gaps in her clothes and wrap around her ankles. And then…
“Gi!?”
When the non-lethal electric shock is fired like a taser gun, the man loses his balance and falls, his body arching and screaming. Clare’s unique magic can be used as the starting point for other magic. It is efficient to use and has high strength, so when combined, the power increases.
“W-what have you done…!”
With a panicked look on their faces, the men grab the weapons hanging from their waists, but the girl jumps in.
“Stop it!”
“Whoaaaaa?”
The man’s wrist is grabbed, and his leg is caught, and he spins around, dropping from his shoulder onto the cobblestones of the alley. It’s some kind of self-defense technique – while he catches the scene at the edge of his vision, Clare’s thread catches the rest of the men.
What makes it different from a normal taser is that it can shock any part of the body by entangling the thread. It paralyzes the muscles of the limbs, which definitely inhibits the opponent’s actions.
“Ugh!?”
The men, who were continuously hit by the electric shock, writhed in agony on the stone pavement. Meanwhile, the weapons that the men had dropped were thrown away. Clare stood in front of the girl, who was watching the men being hit with the electric shock with a look of surprise on her face, and then she released the electric shock and said.
“Please be quiet.”
“Th-this…ugh!”
The man tried to swear, but was shocked again. She released the electric shock once, and every time he tried to move, she hit him with two or three electric shocks, sending him rolling to the ground. Each time she released the electric shock, she adjusted it so that it lasted longer and became stronger little by little. This was also Rona’s teaching. The Margravate was partly run by the logic of power, so if there was any justification, it had to be made to not be taken lightly.
In short, it was “crush false accusations.”
“Okay! I get it, so stop it!”
One of them yelled uncontrollably, and Clare snapped her fingers, and the electric shock suddenly vanished. The thin threads, adjusted to be invisible, remained tangled. As the men lay there breathing heavily, Clare ventriloquized.
“This will be your final warning. If you don’t listen to this, I’m going to injure you so that you can’t act and then hand you over to the soldiers, so think carefully about what you do. Is that okay?”
“Ah, yeah”
“I’m just being kind and asking you to pretend nothing happened. If you try to pick a fight again, I won’t let it end like this. It’s a lot of work to deal with each one without injuring you, so…”
“…I get it”
“Oh, sorry about that”
Clare nodded to the men’s words, and took the girl’s hand and left the alley. Then the magic threads and concealment barriers finally disappeared, and the hustle and bustle of the main street returned. Clare’s state of mind has shifted to normal, but at the same time she gently releases her hand.
The girl with the rolled up hair is surprised by the change, but she turns back to the alleyway, glances at the dazed men sitting on the ground, and then speaks.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt. I didn’t really need to help you.”
“…No, I was happy. Thank you, big sister.”
Clare bows with the doll, and the girl blinks, smiles a little shyly, and nods.
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