CH 56

Hideout

As Sheila emerged dimly into consciousness, her hearing became clearer first, before her sight.

“――Why are you bringing extra trouble? With only one child in your arms, it would have been easy enough to run away.”

“Ehhh, because he’s funny. I wanted to take him back.”

“He’s not a dog or cat that you can just bring back…..”

The light-tongued voice sounded familiar. It was the black silver-haired boy she had confronted in the back alley.

There was a hint of childish madness in his cheerful laughter, and it was easy to see that his curiosity was fleeting.

It was fine as long as he was laughing at funny things, but as soon as he lost interest, he would change his attitude.

Her vision, which had been hazy, was gradually becoming clear. She had thought that the reason she couldn’t see clearly was because she had fainted, but it seemed that the room itself was dimly lit.

She felt the touch of wood on her cheek, probably the flooring. Sheila was lying on the floor somewhere indoors. Her arms and legs weren’t free, perhaps because she was restrained by a rope or something.

She opened her eyes thinly to observe the surroundings so that no one would notice that she was awake. It was a room with an interior that you often see in the royal capital. The room’s interior wasn’t specific enough for her to determine any details, but she was certain that it wasn’t far from the capital.

‘…. The words said by the low-voiced man earlier. The way he said it, it means that Abby was the original target.’

He treated Sheila as an obstacle, but said nothing about Abby. She thought it was possible that it was the selfish-looking boy’s own decision, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Why did the whole organization decide to capture Abby?

Since she had already testified about what had happened at that time, it was unnatural to try to silence her now. So, why would they go to such lengths for all of that?

It would be much more constructive to make preparations to go into hiding somewhere once they knew they had been deposed.

‘Is there anything else?’

What Abby told the Patrol Corps was quite useful. There were things that were bad for those in the organization.

Then, wasn’t it too late for them to keep her quiet? Maybe the reason they didn’t kill her on the spot was because they had to make sure she understood something about it?

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw golden hair. Could it be Dilliam? She didn’t know what happened to him after that, but it seemed that he too was captured. It couldn’t be helped if not only Abby but also Sheila was in the hands of the enemy.

When she was feeling frustrated about being a hindrance, someone’s shoe blocked her view.

“You’re already up, aren’t you? Since we’re here, let’s have a nice talk~”

When Sheila raised her gaze, the boy was looking down at her with the utmost enjoyment. Sheila glared at him silently and managed to raise herself up using the wall behind her. Behind the boy stood a large man whose face was hidden by a strange mask. Was that why she felt his voice was slightly muffled?

“Take this rope off me. Otherwise, I won’t be able to stand up, and I won’t be able to talk comfortably.”

“If you can talk like that, I’m sure we can have a decent conversation.”

“If my body becomes free, I might be able to demonstrate even more amazing things.”

“What’s with that unfounded confidence?”

The boy laughed again.

“I’m Crow. What’s your name?”

“I’ll tell you if you untie the rope.”

“Ahahaha, so that’s how it is. Well, then…”

While laughing innocently, the boy――Crow’s arm sharply released a dagger. One that pierced the tip of Dilliam’s nose. She felt her heart tighten.

“….”

“I won’t kill him, so…. tell me?”

Tilting her head upwards, Sheila said her name as if to spit it out.

“Huh~ Sheila, was it? What a girlish name.”

Crow squatted down, scratching his cheek. His golden-green eyes observed Sheila as if he were calmly analyzing her. The boy had a handsome face, though it was hard to tell when he was smiling. His slightly drooping eyes also looked friendly.

Sheila felt uncomfortable being exposed to those penetrating eyes, and she twisted herself to avoid his gaze.

“Hmm……”

Crow suddenly took out his dagger again. Sheila’s shoulders stiffened as she wondered what he was going to do.

His arms went around her back. He was rummaging through her jacket. This wasn’t good. But because her hands were tied behind her back, she couldn’t stop Crow.

She tried to jiggle around blindly, but her back was quickly exposed to the open air. She knew what he was trying to do.

“Stop, damn it!”

“No way~ I just want to figure out what’s bothering me on the spot.”

“Screw you!”

“Hey~ Don’t move. You’ll hurt yourself.”

There was the sound of tearing cloth.

While Sheila was stunned by the action, the dagger advanced upwards.

The uniform wasn’t cut. Nor was the shirt she was wearing underneath it.

However, underneath that, what was directly touching Sheila’s skin――her chest binder was cut off.

She felt the useless cloth fall down on her stomach. Crow laughed in front of her.

His hands, which were wriggling in her uniform, moved from behind her back and grabbed Sheila’s modest chest with a firm grip.

“Ah, as expected, you’re a girl. I didn’t realize it at first, because you have more guts than a bad guy.”

As he said that, Crow’s hands squeezed Sheila’s bulge without any hint of sexuality. As if he was just trying to make sure.

She had lived her entire life without a colorful love life, and this was the first time she had ever been touched by someone of the opposite sex, even through her shirt. She had somehow envisioned that she would eventually have a boyfriend or husband, and that he would be the first, but this was an unimaginable situation.

Sheila’s brain stopped functioning by the unacceptable reality. Even though she was somewhat of a tomboy, she had a certain amount of shame as a woman.

“Hmm, what a pitiful poor chest. I feel sorry for you. Well, your growth period is just beginning, so you should live strongly and have hope.”

Sheila was stunned by what had happened, but she came to her senses when Crow looked at her with pity.

“Don’t call it pitiful! Or rather, don’t rub it!”

Sheila, in a fit of rage, swung her head as hard as she could. She then head-butted him in the face, which was close to hers.

“Ouch!”

“Ow!”

A head butt was a double-edged sword, so to speak, as it injured both the doer and the victim. Sparks flew in front of her eyes and her forehead swelled up, but Sheila didn’t regret it in the slightest.

‘I’d beat you to a pulp if I could free my body!’

“Oh, my, she’s so fierce!”

Crow, who had painfully raised himself up, threw the chest binder away. It was certainly no longer useful, but she couldn’t even put it away herself, so it was terribly humiliating, and she turned bright red and trembled.

From the top of her uniform, where the fabric was firm, there seemed to be no change, but without something to restrain her chest, she felt very uncomfortable. She kept glaring at Crow desperately, not wanting to be sensitive about this, and he smiled fearlessly at her.

“You’re so cute, Sheila-chan. You’re like an untamable beast.”

“Shut up! I swear, I’m going to beat you up later.”

“――How nice. It’s like a promise to meet again.”

The masked man stepped forward, perhaps thinking that Crow, who continued to tease Sheila, was getting nowhere.

As he approached, she was even more overwhelmed by how tall he was. She had never seen such a big man before.

“She is older than ordered, but she has a pretty good face. She could be worth a lot of money if sold.”

Feeling that the masked man’s gaze had shifted to Dilliam, Sheila desperately protected him.

“That man is an aristocrat. If you touch him, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Then, does it mean that there is no problem in selling Sheila?”

Crow chided her from behind, but Sheila didn’t deny it.

“It can’t be helped because it’s a fact. If you try to sell him, I’ll fight you.”

She didn’t know what he was thinking, but the masked man let out a sigh.

“For the time being, you’ll stay with the boy until the boss arrives. If he doesn’t like it, we can kill him then.”

“Eh~ it would be a waste to kill him. If the boss doesn’t want him, he can be my pet.”

The masked man, fed up with the noisy Crow, instructed him to carry Sheila.

Crow was so small that Sheila didn’t know where he had the strength to carry her up. When she glared at him because he was carrying her like a princess for some reason, he winked and said, “Because you’re a girl.”

The masked man walked away while carrying Dilliam, who hadn’t yet regained consciousness.

“….. Is he alright?”

“I just knocked him out. He’ll wake up soon.”

Sandwiched between a quiet masked man and a noisy crow, Sheila was carried off somewhere.