Chapter 186

The medium short hair that had a brown color blended in with the night . The brown pupils were looking at Ardis with surprise and guard .

Although she was wearing a common outfit in the capital, her appearance looked too dirty, giving a wilting impression .

Her outfit looks like a normal town girl . But even if she looked like that, Ardis won’t easily let his guard down .

It’s easy to imagine questionable people disguising as normal townfolk, and in the first place, no normal town girl would be walking alone in the night here .

He can easily tell that the girl in front of him wasn’t any normal person .

「Who are you? 」

The blade of Skies of Myriad Colors was directed right at the girl’s throat as he interrogated .

「……」

But not even showing any fear, her eyes were looking at Ardis’s without wavering . That itself was the proof that the girl wasn’t any normal townfolk .

After all, rather than screaming for help when a blade was aiming at her neck, her gaze was instead sharp and looking for gaps to escape, it’s obvious that she’s trained in some way .

But on the other hand, the girl’s physique confused Ardis the most .

「What’s up Ardis? Haven’t done yet? 」

His golden partner glimmering in the moonlight had caught up from behind . Greeting Ardis as he approached, he looked at the person on the end of the sword and asked rudely .

「Who’s this stick figure? 」

Exactly, Ardis’s confusion was because the girl’s body was too skinny to the point that she looked like she had some disease .

Of course, there are individual differences in physique regardless of gender . There’re skinnier people from poorer family, and chubby people from blessed family .

But the girl in front of him was slim to the point that she looked like she would fall over at any time . The outlines of her elbow joints could be easily seen, and her ankle peeking out from the hem of the skirt was also excessively thin .

And she had been swaying from time to time already, it’s obvious that she hadn’t live well . And above all, with that thin physique, even if she wore like a town girl, she would still stand out .

Even if it was to blend in, that itself had made it worthless . It was because of that discrepancy that Ardis was terribly confused .

「No idea . 」

Ardis replied shortly with exactly how he felt to Rona . Neither Ardis nor Rona spoke for a while, and a period of silence flowed for a while .

As the silence continued, the girl swayed for two more times .

「You, are you with the guys that came at us just now? 」

Ardis asked again while his sword was still forward . The girl while silent shook her head a little .

「Where are you from? 」

「……」

「Who employed you? 」

「……」

But it seems like she doesn’t intend to answer any of that, the silent period continued .

「Aiming for us? 」

The girl again shook her head . Since she had no killing intent at all, Ardis could tell that it wasn’t a lie .

「Then surveillance huh? 」

「……」

Another silence .

But as Ardis tried to peer deeper, an out-of-place noise was heard .

It was the noise of a stomach rumbling .

And the source is the girl .

The sound reverberated needlessly loud in the silent alley of the night .

「……」

「……」

「……」

Everyone there became speechless .

On one hand, there’s Ardis and Rona looking at each other with a strange expression, and on another hand, there’s the girl with a composed face despite it was so loud .

The strained atmosphere lost its strain, and the meaning behind the silence changed slowly . Then as if losing his motivation, Ardis sighed and sheathed his sword, then Rona asked from the side .

「Is that fine? 」

「Well……, she doesn’t look hostile . 」

With various meaning imbued, Ardis answered Rona’s question .

「If Ardis says so . 」

Ardis gestured Rona who seemed like he didn’t care either way to come closer .

「Rona」

「Nn, what? 」

Approaching closer without a doubt, Ardis saw a moment and swiftly stuck his hand into the bag on Rona’s neck, and without any hesitation pulled out several of the baked confectionary and fruits .

「Ah――! Al, that’s my snack! 」

「You ate your fill already right . 」

Leaving aside Rona who was complaining, Ardis offered the bunch to the girl .

「Here, take it . 」

「……」

The girl who although still remained silent, her face was spelling out 「What the heck are you saying」 .

「You’re hungry right? Despite these, it can fill your hunger for a little . Just take it . 」

It was now the girl’s turn to be confused .

「I don’t know who’s the one hiring you but, you should get away from someone who can’t even feed you . …… Though it might be my unnecessary meddling . 」

「……」

Stuffing the food into the girl’s hand forcefully, Ardis warned her as well .

「I will say this first, there won’t be any mercy if you’re coming at us like those guys just now . I don’t care if you’re just following around, but know that I won’t spare any sympathy if you’re hostile . Remember that . 」

Leaving aside the girl who stood there, Ardis turned around to the direction of the city walls . And Rona panickily followed after .

Looking back and forth towards Ardis beside him and the girl behind .

「She might be an enemy, is there a need to do that? 」

Rona asked as if not able to comprehend Ardis’s action .

「Why not might as well deal with her . 」

「She wasn’t hostile though . 」

「But isn’t it annoying . Even without hostility, she’s still an enemy right? 」

「Certainly, it will be annoying, but it’s not like we can just go and clean all of them up right? And her employer might not be an enemy . There’s a possibility she’s watching us under the Duke’s orders . 」

Ardis argued with a reasoning that he didn’t believe himself .

「Isn’t it impossible for the Duke to hire someone like that? She’s stumbling all around . She wouldn’t be able to do anything when it’s necessary like that . 」

「Even if it isn’t the Duke, there won’t be an end if we gone for all of them just because they’re monitoring . 」

「Well, certainly there’re a lot of eyes on us―― rather on Al whenever we come to the capital . And since they’re clashing into each other sometimes, their employer must not be the same person . Well, that much people with interest in Al just mean that Al is becoming popular . Yo, celebrity! 」

「Don’t tease me like that 」

Ardis and Rona who had arrived in a corner of the capital verified that there aren’t any presences nearby before leaping over the city walls .

Although it is a wall about ten meters in height, it’s not even an obstacle for Ardis and Rona . Ardis who had landed outside the capital walked towards a direction where the light from the gates wouldn’t reach .

「Regardless of who it is, we will just deal with them when they come attack . But I don’t have any intentions of picking a fight with someone I don’t even know is a friend or a foe . Also……」

Ardis’s words cut off .

The girl just now wasn’t that much different in age than the twins or Minerva . And such a girl was risking her life to earn .

Despite so, seeing her thin body that was a proof that she couldn’t even eat well, Ardis’s heart felt a little pain .

There’re probably many children that have to sully their own hands in order to live and eat . It might not be far-fetched to say that the children had no choice but to sully their own hands .

Ardis isn’t a saint, nor a king with indomitable political power, nor a god .

He’s unable to smash all misfortunes and absurdities, nor did he have the sense of justice to do that .

But he thought that he would protect those that are in reach, and save those that he can . He knew that it is hypocrisy .

The reach of his hand is limited . The people he can save is only a small portion .

And for the current Ardis, the twins, Fillia nad Riana are his most priority . Ardis recalled the time when he first met them .

The two at first was on guard against everything, and not even able to have a meal properly because of that . The twins that time and the girl just now . For some reason their images overlapped in Ardis’s eyes .

He understood that it’s a cheap sentiment . But he can’t help that he can see them overlapping .

Since Ardis judged that the girl wasn’t hostile, he reached his hand out on a whim . Although late, Ardis regretted .

He should’ve left there without saying anything . Even if she’s not hostile towards Ardis now, that girl was only someone being used, and a disposable one to boot .

She would probably come at Ardis if it’s an order from her employer without hesitation . It might even be tomorrow that he would cut that thin body in two .

Ardis regretted sympathizing against someone like that on a whim .

「Also? 」

「No, it’s nothing . 」

Replying vaguely towards Rona who asked, Ardis stopped talking . To not have the girl’s employer change his mind and aim for Ardis’s life, Ardis prayed inwardly .

「Really? 」

「……」

Leaving Rona who asked despite so in silence, Ardis walked towards the forest .

「Al had become quite soft now huh . ……Well, it might be a good thing, I think? 」

Hearing the soft muttering from behind, Ardis pretended to not hear it as he continued walking in silence .