Chapter 190: Child Who Loses Little by Little (2)

Chapter 190: Child Who Loses Little by Little (2)Hina spoke in a small voice.“I want to dine and dash,” she said.What did she mean by that?It was a strange request, but I wanted to let Hina do as she pleased for the next two days, so I had no choice but to nod.

“Alright.”

However, Salome looked at her daughter Hina with an expression of incomprehension. They finally had time to spend together as a family, yet she simply wanted to dine and dash in the city.She was having a hard time understanding what Hina was thinking.Anyway.We headed into Freesia still a bit confused.As soon as they entered the city, Hina and Horohoro ran off somewhere as if they had been waiting to do so.

Maybe they wanted to go to a toy store?I heard they started selling magic wands that were very trendy among girls these days.However, Hina and Horohoro stopped in a back alley located in a remote part of the city. The road paving was damaged and there was a lot of trash lying around, as if the civil servants’ hands hadn’t reached here.

“It’s the same as before...!”

Hina raised both her hands in excitement.Horohoro then added, “It’s a backward place like before...!” and rejoiced.

I wonder why these children came here?

Squeak—!Then a sharp cry was heard.When I turned my head, Salome was stepping on the tail of a mouse crawling on the ground with her pointed shoe.

“A back alley where mice come out. Hina, is it really okay to come to a place like this when we finally have time together? If you walk around here, your new clothes will get dirty.”“Clothes....”

Hina looked down at her clothes.The pink robe she had bought recently was stylish enough to suit an outing.However, Hina frowned as if she didn’t like it.

“I remember.... Clothes...!”

Hina looked around and found a store.It resembled a general store, but tucked away in this back alley, it had a distinctly shady vibe. I’d seen my fair share of shops, and this one definitely fell on the shadier side.Then again, that’s par for the course in these rundown, out-of-the-way alleys far from the main streets.

“Welcome.”

As we entered the store, a middle-aged man with a bald head greeted us casually without taking his eyes off the newspaper.Inside the store, various old-looking secondhand items were on display, and at a glance it was a place that could be called a general store or miscellaneous goods store.

No, to be more precise, this is the kind of store that buys and sells ‘stolen goods’. It must be related to the underground thieves’ guild.

“What a shabby store. It smells musty too. Places that pile up unsold medicinal ingredients for a long time usually smell like this.”

Salome clicked her tongue.Although she said that, Salome’s eyes were shining like an antique hunter rubbing her palms in anticipation of finding valuable items after acquiring an old warehouse.

Rustle— Rustle—Then Hina took off the pink robe she was wearing.And she stood on her tiptoes and pushed the robe in front of the counter where the store owner was sitting.

Rustle—

“...I want to sell this.”“...Hmm? This looks like a new item? The outer layer is woven with Kabsir thread and the inner layer is lined with marten fur. It’s a good item, but...”

The store owner finally looked at Hina’s face. And he took a breath as if slightly surprised.Soon he opened his narrow eyes, opened a drawer to take out a pair of glasses, and looked at Hina more closely.

5 seconds, 10 seconds.Some more time passed in this strange silence─.

“...Pink hair. That’s unusual in Freesia. You’re a child I can’t forget. You came like this to sell a robe a few months ago in winter too, right? That robe was even better.”“Ung, ung...for 50,000 rene....”

To sell something even better than the robe Hina is wearing now for just 50,000 rene. It must have cost over a million when purchased.The bald fence soon looked at me and Salome standing behind Hina.As someone living in the world of back alleys, he recognized us and frowned, perhaps not slow on the news.

“You’re Judas, and this lady must be Queen Salome. What do you want? Do you want revenge for buying clothes cheaply from this child?”

What do we want?I don’t know either.I wanted to ask Hina too.But Hina’s will was firm.

“40,000 rene!”

Hina seemed to want to sell the pink clothes she was wearing for 40,000 rene. Of course, Salome was dumbfounded by this fact.

“Hey! That’s a luxury item we bought for 2 million rene yesterday when we went to the luxury district on 3rd Street together! How can you sell it for just 40,000 rene?! Even as a used item, you could get 1.5 million for something worn for just one day! If we go to a slightly shadier place, we could even get over 2 million...”

Salome, who was about to add something else, closed her mouth.Salome probably knew places where a coat worn by a cute child-like Hina could be sold for even more than the original price of 2 million rene.

But she probably didn’t want to sell her daughter’s clothes to such suspicious people.There was no need to worry about that in the first place anyway.

“40,000 rene!”

Hina now moved even further and looked at something intently.It was a black cloth flag hanging on the wall of the store, indicating that this place was a member of the underground ‘Shadow Council’.

Crash—Soon Hina deliberately kicked over a nearby counter.The store owner, who was reading the newspaper, frowned and cursed “Damn brat!” before starting to pick up the fallen items.

Hina quickly put the black cloth into her purse while he was cleaning up the floor.This whole process was quite skillful and quick.As if repeating something she had done before.

“...Robe price!”

Soon Hina took out 20,000 rene coins from her purse.And she handed them to the store owner and quickly left the store.

“......”

Salome, who had been slightly irritated earlier, watched this process silently. The store owner, now finished tidying up the store, sat at the counter and slowly counted the coins he received from Hina.

“19,000 rene. It’s 1,000 rene short.”

The store owner clicked his tongue.I put my hand in my pocket and took out the gold coins I could grab.And I put them on the counter.

“I haven’t counted, but it should be about 10 million. This should be enough for the items and the flag the child just stole, right? Did you pretend not to notice even though you knew?”

The flag Hina stole was an expensive item.It was akin to a membership card for the ‘Shadow Council’.

Having that flag allows you to do various things and gives you various rights.Since it’s a black flag, the price would be about 10 million rene. Of course, it’s not something anyone can buy even if they have the money.The bald owner clicked his tongue.

“If it’s compensation, forget it. In the world of back alleys, the one who gets fooled is at fault. I was just fooled by the child’s cute appearance. That’s all.”

As he said that, the owner’s eyes were looking at a photo album on the counter.In the photo album, a faded picture could be seen of a young man who seemed to have had abundant hair and a girl being held by him were smiling.The man looked at the photo album with longing eyes and said.

“It’s enough just to confirm that the child didn’t collapse in the cold winter. When you see a child dying, it’s... unlucky... Don’t spread rumors anywhere. I hate kids.”

Well, if it becomes known that he’s generous to children, it would be difficult to do business with children flocking from everywhere.Of course, I was a person who liked to see others go wrong.I’m a villain who likes to see crying faces more than smiling faces.

“You say you hate children so there’s a suitable retribution for someone like you. The punishment of having to take care of a child for life would be good. Black Jack, I sentence you, who dared to deceive my daughter, to the punishment of being a ‘father’.”“What are you talking about? What punishment? How did you know my name?”

Thud—Instead of answering, I lightly tapped my foot.Then, a small shadow separated from my shadow and stood up.The shadow was about the size of Hina.The owner frowned as if he felt unpleasant because a shadow with its hair tied in two braids and a fluttering skirt started running around the store.

“What are you doing now....”

He soon closed his mouth.It was because the shadow manipulated a secret device by rummaging through the shelves.

Click— Creak—Inside the drawer that opened with an old sound were things that looked like a young girl’s belongings, such as dolls and letters.

“That secret shelf... only I and Peach knew about it... could you be...”

The man slowly got up from his seat.

“Could you be... you... could it be... Peach...?”

The man stretched out his calloused hand and slowly embraced the shadow.

Rustle— Rustle—Then, as if paint was peeling off, black things flew away from the black shadow and it started to take on human flesh color.The girl opened her mouth.

“Dad... Peach got lost... came home late... sorry...”“Peach...! H-How is this possible...?”

The bald shop owner started crying profusely.A grown man was crying like a child with snot running down his face, to the point that his hair fell out.

“I can’t stand to watch this.”

Because it was such an unsightly scene, Salome and I had no choice but to leave the store.

:"