by Funa
This deed, in her husband’s name, would turn over all the assets of the shop to the head clerk.
Everyone thought there was no way this could work. However, the officials deemed the document valid, and the clerk took everything.
All the long-term employees who protested were let go, and various people to whom the clerk had taking a liking were hired on to fill in the gaps.
And then, the clerk said to Pauline’s mother: “Become my mistress, if you don’t want to see your children lost somewhere off the side of the road.”
And so, her mother agreed.
When Pauline berated her mother for accepting the clerk’s proposal, her mother had said only, “My duty as your father’s wife has ended. Now, as a mother, my duty is to raise his children. Once the two of you are all grown up, then…”
A harsh smile spread across her mother’s face.
“I’ll fulfill my final duty as your father’s wife…”
Pauline’s brother was only eight years old at the time. For a single mother without a cent to her name, scraping out a living for two young children, let alone raising them both right, would be quite an ordeal. Furthermore, if she refused the clerk’s proposition, there was a chance that some harm might befall her daughter and son.
And so, she chose the path of vengeance.
It was in the time after this that Pauline began to pour herself into practicing and studying.
She had no doubt that, when she became an adult, the clerk—no, the man who had now become the president of the Beckett Company—would likely sell her off as a bribe to some noble or wealthy merchant somewhere.
She would have to escape before then, and amass her own money and power to launch a counterattack. At the very least, if she could get herself married off to someone with as much influence as possible, she could sway her new husband into launching a takeover of the Beckett Company on her behalf.
In order to do that, she had to become the most valuable commodity possible.
Thankfully, she had some talent as a magic-user. She would cultivate that talent. She needed to know about commerce as well. And she needed a heart as cold as ice.
In this way, the meek and personable little girl who had lived a carefree, happy life, surrounded by her family’s love, vanished. On the outside, she appeared the same, but inside her, a beast was born. A “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” some might say…
Pauline was twelve years old at the time.
“………”
The other three were speechless.
In that silence, Ewan, who had also been listening, spoke. “The evil of men gives birth to demons of vengeance…”
Was he talking about Pauline’s mother? Or about Pauline herself…?
“It’s time to launch our counterattack,” said Reina.
Mile and Mavis nodded silently.
***
When the wagon and its escort arrived in the capital, they proceeded to the hunters’ guild. Upon arriving, they were received by the guild master, the rest of the guild staff, most of the other hunters, and the capital’s city guards. It seemed they had all heard the news and come running the moment the procession made it through the gates.
“You girls have done well. Is anyone hurt?”
After tending to the Crimson Vow, the guild master addressed their would-be attackers, who were brought down from the wagon. “I hear that you are active C-rank hunters. Is that true?”
After briefly confirming the circumstances of the incident, one of the riders had gone ahead as a messenger and informed the guild master of at least that much.
Once the men had confirmed this information, the guild master said to them coldly, “Though you may be hunters, your criminal acts were conducted outside the auspices of the guild. Therefore, you will not receive any support or backing from the guild in this instance. Furthermore, you launched an attack on hunters affiliated with the guild, and by extension, on the guild itself. Therefore, you will be permanently banned and turned over to the city guard on the charge of attempted murder. Any questions?”
“W-wait! It’s true that we took on an illicit request—there’s no doubting that! And of course, it’s only fair that you would expel us. But we weren’t going to kill them! We were just threatening them. C’mon, you all tell them it’s true!”
They were pleading desperately with the Crimson Vow, but the girls only shrugged.
“You can tell that to the guards. Once we hand you over, the guild has no hand in this matter. The long and short of it is that you laid hands upon young girls who are citizens of the royal capital, a region that is directly under the rule of His Majesty, the king. I’m sure there’s a strict interrogation and punishment awaiting you. Now then, we’re handing over these criminals. Please, take them away!”
The guardsmen nodded in acknowledgement and pulled the prostrate men to their feet.
They would, of course, be expecting a testimony from Mile and the others, but that would come after their preliminary investigation, as a means of verifying whether or not the men’s claims were true—likely the next day, or the day after.
“Now, would all of you please come to my office?”
And so, once again, the Crimson Vow received an invitation to the guild master’s chambers.
Upon entering the room, they were directed to sit down and served hot tea straight away.
“I’ve already heard the gist of the situation from this young lady. Now, you all aren’t thinking of doing anything strange, are you?”
“Strange? Why, no! We would never think anything like that!”
While the other three averted their gazes, Mile looked the guild master straight in the eye and added, “Just a little counterattacking, revenge, overthrowing, and annihilation! That’s it! Nothing strange at all!”
“……”
The guild master slumped back at this setback.
“The guild is ready to assist in the current matter. An area merchant has picked a fight with the capital branch of the hunters’ guild—we can’t possibly keep silent about that. We need to teach them what it means to mess with our people.”
Indeed, if anyone picked a fight with someone associated with the guild, it was as good as picking a fight with the guild itself. If the guild let itself be trifled with even once, there was no turning back. This incident was not something they could overlook.
Even the fact that the captured men had been handed over in front of the guild, rather than being taken straight to the guard’s holding cells, had been for the sake of putting on a show for the other hunters. The implication was, “If you take on illegal requests, this is what will happen.” There was no better way to reiterate the fact that it was much safer to only take on jobs through the guild.
If they went outside the guild, the guild wouldn’t be there to help them when they got in trouble.
“There’s no point in trying to stop you, is there?”
The girls shook their heads.
The guild master sighed, resigned.
“I guess it can’t be helped… Just promise me this: when you go, please take just one person from our ranks with you. They can serve as a witness afterward, and they can negotiate for the cooperation of the guild there. Plus, if the number of people in your party is different, it will be easier to deceive your opponents, which should give you an added advantage.”
While Mile worried over a reply, Reina spoke up in her stead.
“I suppose we have no choice…”
Thus, it was decided that the Crimson Vow would take a “plus-one” along with them on their trip to Talwess, the capital of the lands under the control of Viscount Boardman, and the home of Pauline’s family.
“We can take a scheduled carriage toward Talwess three days from now. Until then, we should prepare ourselves and lay out a battle plan,” Reina proposed on the way home from the guild.
Of course, it wasn’t smart to say much more than that while they were still on the road. The rest, they would
discuss back at the inn.
On their return, Mile headed to the reception desk to inform little Lenny of their upcoming absence.
“Oh, Lenny, in three days’ time we’re going away for a little while. Have you managed to find a mage who you could ask to run the baths?”
“Whaaaaat?! Not yet! I’ve gotta hurry up and look then! Mommmm!!!”
The news was received with panic.
***
And so, three days later…
The Crimson Vow stood waiting at the passenger carriage station, along with a girl who appeared to be around fifteen years old.
She wore a fluttering skirt and a loose jacket, with the buttons undone. Otherwise, the girl who greeted them looked just like any normal townsperson.
“My name is Theresa. I’m from the guild. I’ll be working with you on this operation. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Oh! Pleased to meet you, too. Since we’ll be party allies for the time being, would you mind telling us what your specialties are?” As the party leader, Mavis had to ask this necessary question.
“Ah, of course. I’m a C-rank, backline fighter—a knife wielder.”
“Huh?”
Three of the Crimson Vow tilted their heads in unison.
It was fine that she was a C-rank hunter. If she had started as an F-rank at ten years old, and she had the aptitude and worked hard, then reaching a C-rank by the age of fifteen wasn’t all that strange. The Crimson Vow were C-rank hunters of about the same age, after all. Perhaps Theresa had even graduated from the prep school, too.
What they found troubling was that she was both a backline fighter and a knife wielder.
How could she fight on the backline while using a weapon with such short reach?
Normally, a knife was a supplementary or backup weapon, something used for cutting up hunted prey and the like. Its reach was short, and if you threw it, you wouldn’t have a weapon anymore. Therefore, a hunter whose main weapon was a knife was more or less unheard of.
“A knife? Are you s—ow!”
Just as Mile started to ask an innocent question, a kick in the leg cut her off.
“Wh-what was that for, Reina?! That hur—eek!”
She turned to complain to Reina, who had struck Mile with the toe of her boot, but when she saw the terrifying look on the other girl’s face, she let out a small shriek.
“N-never mind…”
Mile, who had raised her voice more from surprise than hurt, quickly withdrew her question.
“My primary function will be to act as an observer from our guild, as well as a liaison with the higher-ups at the guild branch in Talwess. Though I’ll be pretending to be a member of your party, I won’t be participating in any battles, nor accepting responsibility for any actions that you take. In exchange, I will not make any move to stop you all from doing anything that you choose to. You are free to act however you like,” Theresa explained. At this, the other four nodded.
They were most grateful to hear that she was acting primarily as a witness and would not interfere with any of their plans.
After that, Theresa excused herself to find a restroom before their departure. When she was out of sight, Mile asked Reina, unhappily, “What was that about earlier?!”
In a hushed voice, Reina replied, “Quit asking about her profession. It’s pretty clear what her job is if her main weapon is a knife, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Just think about it. What kinds of circumstances would allow a girl to earn her keep as a knife wielder?”
Mile thought hard.
“Umm, you could sneak into places while pretending to be a normal girl, or secretly work as a guard, or assassinate someone… Or assassinate someone… Assassinate… Oh…”
Earlier, when Theresa had announced her specialty, Reina had been the only one not to tilt her head in confusion. This was because, of course, she had already pieced it together.
“Got it? So don’t go nosing around. Both because that’s the unspoken rule of being a hunter, and also because it might help prolong your life a bit.”
Mile, Mavis, and Pauline nodded, all looking slightly queasy.
After a short while, Theresa returned, and they all boarded the carriage together. Just behind them, a man boarded as well.
“Third Brother…”
No one at all was surprised.
Of course he would follow them. Everyone had expected this.
So that they did not stand out as a party of all girls, followed by a single man, they reluctantly elected to pass themselves off as “a party of six, with five women and one man.” It was a one-time party for a temporary gig. Unlike Theresa, Ewan would probably be participating in battle along with them, so they needed to let him in on their plans.
When Ewan wasn’t busy pouting, he was, in fact, a full-fledged knight. It was likely he was genuinely talented, and observing a real knight’s strategy and fighting style from a close proximity would be a useful tool in their own growth. When they thought of it that way, perhaps Ewan’s presence wasn’t such a raw deal after all.
As the carriage traveled on, the Crimson Vow chatted inside with Theresa. Naturally, Ewan elected only to listen, wary of cutting into a conversation between the girls. Of course, because other passengers were present, they could not have a particularly in-depth discussion—they were limited to “girl talk” and other general topics.
“So Miss Theresa, did you attend the Hunters’ Prep School as well?”
“No, when I graduated to a C-rank, the prep school still had yet to be established.”
“Wha…?” asked a perplexed voice.
“I was promoted in the normal progression, starting from F-rank.”
“Huh?” joined another.
How odd.
Even if one were to join the guild proper as an F-rank hunter right at ten years old, it would still take at least four years to make it to a C-rank, no matter how much of a prodigy you were. Yet somehow, when she achieved that rank, the prep school hadn’t existed? The same prep school that had been established a full six years ago?
It didn’t add up.
“When my children were born, I retired as a hunter and started working as a member of the guild staff.”
“Whaaaat?” three voices chimed in.
“And then my husband became the principal of the school, which had just been established.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” came the full chorus.
It couldn’t be. She was Elbert’s wife?!
“W-w-w-wait a minute! If that’s true, Miss Theresa, just how old—”
“Asking about a hunter’s private life is against the rules!”
“Bu-b-b-b-but…”
As Mile wailed in confusion, behind her, Ewan, his face pale, crossed himself for safety.
***
It was the first night of their carriage journey.
Mile and the others had already more or less established their plans, but now that Theresa and Ewan were in the mix, they would need to go over everything once more.
As always, this took place inside the tent that Mile carried with her. Just in case, Mile put a sound-dampening magic around them as well.
“…In any case, we first need to establish what the charges are. We need to confirm whether or not what those men said was the truth. Even if they weren’t lying, they might still have taken the job from someone pretending to be associated with the company, so we’ll need to collect evidence regarding that as well…”
As Mile went through her re-explanation, Reina grumbled that it shouldn’t matter, since they already knew they were bad guys. But in her heart, she understood this as well. She had raised the same complaint during their initial discussion, but eventually consented to Mile’s way of approaching things.
Furthermore, it shouldn’t take a particularly substantial effort to confirm the details of the job request. The incident of long ago involving those thieves was one matter, but with a little questioning i
t should be fairly easy to confirm whether or not someone had hired those C-rank hunters. Instigating the abduction and murder of citizens from the capital was enough of a criminal act in and of itself, so if they could establish at least that much, there should be no difficulty convicting the parties involved.
Naturally, they would ask the authorities to give them the third degree, in the hopes of getting them to confess to crimes from the distant past while they were at it.
Theresa had no intention of interfering with the girls’ plans, and so she positioned herself to listen only as a precaution. For his part, Ewan agreed that it was necessary to undertake a thorough preliminary investigation, so there were no objections from either of the pair.
And so, on the fourth evening of their journey, the carriage finally arrived in Talwess, the capital of the lands of Viscount Boardman and the town of Pauline’s birth.
Though Talwess was the capital, this was merely owing to the fact that it happened to be the largest in the territory, and one that the main highway passed through. In truth, it was only of moderate size, and one would be hard-pressed to really call it a city.
“Well then, we had better find ourselves somewhere to stay,” said Reina, taking the initiative as always.
After a brief rest, they headed toward an inn.
Pauline had recommended the place on the basis of it being “the sort of inn where the clientele isn’t so great, so even if you’re sort of suspicious-looking, you won’t stand out.” There, they would rent one four-person room and two singles.
“Do you have a four-person room and two singles available?” Reina asked the man at the reception counter.
The man’s eyes opened wide in shock. This inn was not the sort of place that young girls stopped by very often. However, the rooms were cheap, and it was a place where slightly suspicious-looking people would be able to stay without hassle, so now and again they did receive female guests. Yet what the man was most shocked by was not the fact that these new guests were a party of young girls, but rather, by the appearance of the young girl behind Reina.