CH 95

“…Yes, so?”

“I think there’s a lot I need there, why don’t you help me?”

“……!”

Surprised, Zecko tried to step back.

However, his small body had already been captured and couldn’t escape the man’s grasp.

“Think it over. I heard there’s a pile of gold hidden there.”

“……”

Zecko was troubled as the man patted his cheek and informed him of the place and time, then left.

The man’s composure seemed as if he really had the information, so Zecko could only think it over and bite his lips.

He agonized on the spot to the point where his lips were bleeding and eventually headed back to the welfare foundation with a firm expression.

‘That’s right, I’m a spy anyway, so what’s the problem?’

The whereabouts of his parents seemed to be more important to him.

* * *

Later that night, Zecko, who had been lying down early and pretending to sleep, saw an opportunity.

The children at the foundation didn’t approach him after he yelled at those who were worried.

‘I’m not supposed to be close to them anyway.’

Today was strangely cold, so Zecko pulled the blanket further around his neck and curled up. It was definitely a high-quality blanket, but the feel of it against his skin stung today.

“…….”

After a while, the children in the same room with him tossed and turned, then finally fell asleep.

It happened to be a cloudy night, so it was very dark outside.

‘It’s time.’

Zecko rose carefully and crept from the room. The children’s accommodation looked like an inn. Fortunately, the floor didn’t creak because it was a new building.

When he crossed the yard, he hid himself behind a wall.

‘I should hide myself well.’

As he moved without making a sound, he felt like time was passing very slowly. Nervously counting the minutes, Zecko hurried to the mercenary guild’s building.

He could see the door to the outside was locked tightly, but there was nothing blocking him from coming inside.

‘I can’t believe they really forgot to lock it. Foolish.’

However, when he entered the mercenary guild’s building and climbed the stairs, he had a lot of thoughts.

Will he get caught?

What if he gets caught and kicked out?

Of course, he didn’t want to stay in this imperial family’s ‘proud’ foundation.

Still, wouldn’t it be a problem if he left?

‘No, it won’t be. If I find my parents with the money I take from here, I will have a place to go.’

Yes, that was all that mattered.

Zecko climbed the stairs one by one and stopped pondering.

During the day, the children went back and forth from the mercenary guild’s building for one reason or another. He was also in charge of activities such as cleaning and organizing. Of course, the job paid him, but that was far from enough to buy information.

Actually, he deliberately chose to clean this place during the day. Zecko was not in charge of cleaning the building today. But he could do it with a little bit of an excuse.

He could also enter inside because he left the door open on purpose while waiting for Marco to return.

Marco was relatively sloppy in locking the building’s door because intrusion from outside was protected by a magic alarm anyway.

‘I found it.’

Zecko also knew the location of the safe. He immediately headed there, and hurriedly opened the safe as he took out the money bag inside.

‘It’s heavy …Should I take more and give it to my parents?’

Having found what he wanted, Zecko walked away happily. He didn’t realize that it would be strange to open a safe that easily just because the door was opened.

* * *

“Cough, cough.”

He was sure he didn’t do anything suspicious, but he was strangely impatient. So his pace kept getting faster as he headed toward the place that the informant had said. It was not long before the steps quickly turned into a sprint. Strangely, the purse in his hand felt really heavy.

When he picked it up, he thought about many things, but now he just wanted to pass this heavy thing on to the informant.

‘Just in time. I’m not followed right?’

It was a perfect plan even for him. It was only then that he felt sorry for the adults of the foundation who he had stolen the money from.

Still, Zecko, who bit his lips, slowed down and trudged forward. He didn’t want to show the informant that he was in a hurry.

“You’re here.”

“Yes.”

In an imposing manner, Zecko faced the informant with arrogance. That way, he wouldn’t be taken lightly as a child who rushed without properly fixing his pajamas.

“Did you bring the money?”

“…Give me the information first.”

Still, Zecko didn’t hand over the money hastily because he knew not to trust a stranger easily. However, the problem was that he didn’t think of hiding the bag first.

“Hmm.”

The informant came toward Zecko without hesitation. Zecko, intimidated by the pressure, stepped back cautiously. But the man who realized that Zecko really came here alone, laughed.

“Let’s see if you have enough money, huh?”

“N- no.”

From the beginning, it didn’t matter whether this child’s parents were dead or alive. The man just found out about him when he heard that there was a strange child who came back after they beat him up in the slums.

When he was rumored to be a child of the princess’ welfare foundation, he had an idea.

Wasn’t there a rumor that the mercenary guild’s leader there was very skillful, so they were accumulating money?

“Give it to me.”

The man didn’t expect much because this child was stupid. He was content with taking away anything he brought. He didn’t expect that Zecko would come with a bag full of gold.

The greedy swindler grabbed Zecko’s neck, with the intention of taking the money forcefully.

“No! Ahh!”

“Hey! You punk!”

Zecko, who thought something was wrong, reflexively bit the swindler’s arm. Due to the pain, the man swung his arms recklessly. The small child’s body swung and was thrown into the air.

“Ugh!”

“You rat!”

He tried to shout quietly even though he was angry. They were close to the slums, so he had to be cautious just in case there were people who noticed this bag of gold.

He strode up to the child with patience. Compared to his previous stupidity, the child was desperately hugging his money bag.

“Give it to me when I say it nicely!”

“If you tell me where my parents are, I’ll give it to you!”

He was just a swindler, so there was no information he could give him in the first place. Well, there were rumors, but he wasn’t sure.

The child was suspicious of him, so it was unlikely that he would give in easily even if he told him.

Therefore, it was best and more convenient to just take the money bag.

“No!”

Zecko burst into tears, but he was pressed down. He was afraid and hoped that someone would save him. Hence Zecko still desperately clutched his bag, relying on a slight hope.

“You’re annoying!”

Finally, the swindler, who couldn’t grab the bag, lifted his leg high. Zecko had a feeling that he would lose his consciousness if he was kicked, so he immediately closed his eyes. At that very moment, a bright light burst out from the dark alleyway.

“Don’t bother Zecko!”

It was magic.

“Ahh!”

When the swindler saw the burst of lights in front of him, he stepped back in surprise. It wasn’t until he stepped back that he realized it was just light magic, not fire or electricity.

“How… ugh!”

Light magic was the lowest form of magic. For this reason, the swindler, who was in the middle of evaluating the opponent’s skills, took a step back again.

“Hold it!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

However, there was a line of knights behind the child who had used light magic in front of him. The sound of iron from the collision of armor and sword made the swindler afraid.

In an instant, the guards caught him. The knight who commanded, “Drag him” was also familiar to Zecko.

He was a knight who always stuck to the Princess. But there was something more important than that. Zecko, who was crouching down, approached the Princess as if he was waiting on his knees. All the money bags he had been holding so preciously were thrown away.

“M- my parents.”

“Are you okay?”

Even though he had shaken off that hand just a while ago, the Princess asked him kindly. Thanks to this, Zecko could not hold back his tears. Emotions that had been forcibly suppressed burst out at once.

The anger, frustration, and fear of being abandoned by his parents were too difficult for a child to handle alone.

“My father, my parents, he said…”

“Oh, I know where they are.”

“Huh?”

He knew the imperial family was doing everything they could. He had been helped a lot by them. But he needed something to resent. Otherwise, he could only cry. He thought he couldn’t do anything if he kept crying.

“I- I’m sorry, please, please…”

Zecko cried like the child he was, letting go of all his emotions. Then, he showed his inner thoughts honestly and asked for help from the Princess who had been reaching out to him all the time.

“Please…”

This time, it was just his true self who had stolen the money who spoke.

No matter how kind the princess was, she would not care for him. Maybe he’ll be taken away with that swindler. As expected, the Princess did not bat an eye at the swindler despite such pleas.

Just as he was about to feel frustrated again, the Princess said something unexpected.

“I think I know where your parents are.”

“What?”

Siervian’s blue eyes shone beautifully, reflected in the eyes of the tearful Zecko.