༺ All Thieves Are Bad People! (4) ༻
The long meeting of the Lords finally ended.
On a side note, it was the only meeting in history that didn’t end with anyone dead.
“Judas, is that true?”
Salome asked as I was cleaning up.
Was what true?
“That if you don’t follow what’s written in this 「Thieves’ Codex」, that you’ll be heavily cursed? Well, I don’t really know but that’s what they say.”
A misfortune like Murphy’s Law specific to thieves will befall them.
To be honest, I don’t know if it’s true, however, the thieves of Pangaea all obeyed what was in this 「Codex」 like the actual law.
If everyone believed it was true—then wasn’t it real?
But Salome shook her head.
“Not that. The thing about hiding the Skeleton Key.”
“Ah.”
That was real.
Early on when I inherited the name of Judas, I learned the secret location where the former Judas, Herod, hid his treasures.
That bastard, being the sketchy guy he was, had a mountain of treasure somewhere else besides the Scum Throne.
Of course, it was unnecessary for me.
I become weaker the richer I get.
Becoming weaker when I gain money even if I love money.
This self-proclaimed passive skill was no more than a wretched curse.
Anyway.
That storage also contained the 「Skeleton Key」 of legends.
Yeah, the one that Sifnoi was after.
Nymph thief Sifnoi’s dream was to obtain the 「Skeleton Key」, probably.
“Anyway, that went well, thankfully. I honestly thought I would have to make an example out of one or two of them. They’re all pretty smart.”
The contract was smoothly drawn.
Now the eight thieves will move together with me on D-Day for the important task as promised.
But in reality, the promise itself was nothing special.
Just joining in at a few crucial moments and aiding me in a war.
That’s right.
A war.
An earth-shattering war will likely soon take place in Freesia.
“I can hear the approaching storm.”
Of course, I didn’t actually hear anything.
I just wanted to look cool.
It must’ve been effective because Salome gazed at me in silence.
The awkward silence stretched on, and then I spoke to Salome.
“I heard from Tywin that Hina’s birthday is also in August. Same as Naru.”
“…….”
“We don’t have much time left. It’s too late for hesitation and worry. It’s the time to act rather than think. And this is the right thing.”
I was certain of my path.
Soon, Salome asked softly.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Just, it’s my gut feeling.”
My gut feeling is rather accurate.
Step—
Just then, Salome was heading out first.
“Gut, you say. I’m out.”
“Where are you going?”
“Me? I have work tomorrow.”
I see.
A busy worker indeed.
* * *
“Okay, then as I mentioned, today is art class. Everyone can choose something in the classroom and draw it.”
Teacher Salome instructed.
So then all the students pulled out crayons and papers, sketchbooks, and such.
“Oh, holy shh…! Elizabeth’s crayons have 24 colors! That’s amazing! Is there a gold color, too?”
Naru was amazed by Elizabeth’s crayons.
24 colors.
Out of all the different colors, the one Naru’s eyes were on was the gold-colored crayon.
Elizabeth liked the gold crayon.
All children tended to like the gold crayon.
Though she had wanted to use it conservatively, Naru’s interest in it changed her mind.
“If it’s Naru, you can use it!”
“Thank you! Elizabeth is so nice! But I don’t need it! Naru is going to draw a strawberry. Strawberries are red!”
Swoosh—
Naru dug through her bag and pulled out crayons.
But the crayons that Brigitte packed for her were completely destroyed, and Naru soon found the perpetrator.
“…Uuu, Molumolu ate Naru’s crayons!”
━Meeoww.
“Uuu, what should I do? Red…. Like this, I’ll have to draw a strawberry with the only good color I have, white…. White strawberry…. It won’t look good because it’s not ripe…!
Naru was downtrodden.
At that moment, Cecily, who saw all this, spoke.
“Do you want to borrow mine? I also have 18 colors. Grandma and Grandpa bought them for me yesterday. Let’s see….”
━Meoowww.
“Hiiiik…! Molumolu must have eaten mine, too! …Fuck, spit it out! You bad furball…! Why did you eat the crayons…!”
━Grrrr…!
Molumolu jumped all around the classroom.
Cecily chased after Molumolu.
Soon, both were caught by Salome.
“Cecily, I told you no running in the classroom. And Naru, do not recklessly release Molumolu inside the class.”
“I’m sorry…. Molumolu, hurry up and get inside my shadow….”
Finally a quiet room.
Salome proceeded to give the children some quiet, free drawing time.
Compared to the rowdy children, her daughter, Hina, was quiet and composed.
‘At first, she was only a bothersome kid, but now thinking of her as my daughter, she’s starting to look oddly cute.’
Watching her daughter calmly focus on drawing, Salome felt a little proud.
At the same time, her chest hurt a little.
‘She may disappear if the future changes….’
While she was making a grave face, the children went over to the transfer student, Hina.
“Hina, what are you drawing?”
“I know! It’s a flower!”
“No, isn’t it a T-Rex?”
“It’s really strange….”
The kids were all murmuring.
Hina’s sketchbook had an unidentifiable drawing.
Even Salome couldn’t tell what it was.
“…Is it a demon?”
Salome asked.
To that, Hina shook her head quickly and responded.
“…Mom….”
“…….”
“Wow, guys, look at this!”
Just then, someone shouted.
When they looked, Elizabeth was holding up a paper and shouting.
“Naru drew this and it looks exactly like the real thing! Naru, you’re so good at drawing!”
“Oh, holy shh…! Naru is good at drawing?”
Naru’s picture.
It was as if she copied Elizabeth exactly onto the paper.
How did she do it with crayons that were mostly eaten by Molumolu?
‘Amazing. It could be sold on the market.’
Salome had excellent artistic sense.
She dealt mostly with art-related products, after all.
Even to someone like her, Naru’s drawing skills were outstanding, hardly something that came from a 1st grader.
“… Uuuu….”
Just then, someone shook.
It was Hina.
Hina looked between Naru’s drawing and hers and scrunched her face.
“… Naru draws better than Hina…. It’s Hina’s loss….”
Seeing this, Salome pondered.
‘She’s more competitive than she looks.’
Competitiveness.
Salome too was strongly competitive, far more than the average person.
The one who could be called Salome’s rival was a female thief by the name of ‘Atlante’.
She came to Salome to pick fights at every turn and challenge her, which was simultaneously tiresome and aggravating.
‘Hina must also feel competition towards Naru. Hina is better at academics but is Naru better at drawing? Everyone has strengths and weaknesses but… as my daughter, she needs to win in everything!’
Salome didn’t want to see her lose to a mage or hunter’s daughter, especially.
To raise her daughter to be the best.
And to have her receive the most of Judas’ inheritance.
Such things were forming in Salome’s mind.
* * *
Dinner time.
We all came together and enjoyed a pleasant meal.
At today’s dinner, there was Enkidus as well as Tywin who was invited again.
Salome was also here today.
With Hina having moved into my Junk Mansion, Salome too got a room.
The problem was because of that, dinner was rather hectic.
“And so my daughter, Hina, won the speed eating contest at lunch. She ate like she had starved for days. Even Naru and Cecily couldn’t eat that quickly.”
Salome talked about the 「Lunch Speed Eating Contest」 that took place at lunchtime.
Hina won the contest by a landslide and Salome seemed immensely proud of that.
Of course, Brigitte frowned like she couldn’t understand.
“It’s impressive for sure, but is that really something to boast about? It’s not good to eat quickly. What if she gets sick?”
A good question.
But Salome clicked her tongue.
“A noble mage like you wouldn’t know. The world isn’t a kind place. You’re vulnerable while you eat. Reducing that time helps you greatly with survival.”
…Really?
Listening to it, it might be true.
To be able to leisurely enjoy your meal—that was proof of someone with power.
On that, to be able to eat quickly was beneficial to survival.
Frown—
Brigitte scrunched her face.
“Well, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Instead, Naru’s good at drawing, right? Naru, did you draw during art class today?”
“Yeah, yeah! But, Molumolu ate all the crayons!”
Brigitte didn’t seem to think her parenting method was wrong.
Was Brigitte’s lenient parenting style effective in developing the children’s creativity?
Salome responded as if that didn’t matter.
“Anyway, Hina will be studying after eating. She promised to work on 100 questions each from math, science, and history, Naru’s worst subjects. Hina said she enjoys solving problems.”
“…Yes, Hina…likes to study….”
How does she like studying?
Is she really my daughter—I thought for a moment, but then the clover-shaped mark on the shoulder revealed by the comfortable dress Hina was wearing was the symbol of being my child.
Brigitte also said something to that.
“Naru is also going to study with me after dinner. Under my teaching, it’s possible for Naru to have the best marks in the grade. Unlike somebody, I’m an actual ‘educator’.”
“Uuu, Naru doesn’t like studying…!”
“Excuse me?”
“Naru-style, run away…!”
Naru swiftly ran off.
Brigitte was bewildered by this.
“Hey, Naru! Where are you going!”
Salome soon cackled.
“It’s not easy to teach a child.”
In a lot of ways, it was a noisy dinner.
The ones who weren’t involved in the conversation were Enkidus, Cariote, Cecily, and Tywin.
At least it wasn’t boring.
Of course, this peace won’t last forever.
From tomorrow, I will be in contact with Elle Cladeco to cooperate with her on some things.
As such, today might be the last family dinner we have for a while.
After dinner ended.
When Naru and Cecily were playing in the garden.
“Wow, holy shh…! I won rock-paper-scissors again…!”
“Hiiiik…! Why is Sifnoi always the tagger…? This rock-paper-scissors is certainly rigged…!”
“Naru, run away before we’re caught!”
I went upstairs to where the kids’ rooms were.
Scritch— Scritch—
As I opened the door to a room, the sound of pencil writing on paper stopped, Hina appeared to be studying at her desk.
“Is studying fun?”
I asked.
Hina nodded lightly in response.
“… Mmhm.”
“Don’t lie. There’s no way that’s fun. You can go outside and play, too.”
“…….”
Hina looked between the window and my face.
Then she looked down at the questions written in the notebook and spoke softly.
“But Mom said….”
“I’ll talk to Salome so don’t worry about it.”
Hina, with a heavily considering look, kept eyeing between the window, me, and the notebook. Then at last she got up from her chair, ran to me, and hugged my leg tight.
“…Thank you…!”
She was different from Cecily who would growl when I patted her head.
Was she affectionate like Naru?
Drrrr— Hop—
Hina opened the 2nd-floor window and jumped down to the main level garden.
“Use the main floor entrance, not the window.”
I said as I went out into the hallway.
Tywin was there brushing her teeth, and she bowed her head when she saw me.
“Dinner was delicious. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“I heard you and my mom will be working together.”
Tywin asked with narrowed eyes.
It was work being done in secret, so how did she find out?”
Did Elle Cladeco tell her personally?
No, she wouldn’t have.
“Epar is content that her shaman is being treated well.”
Epar was the name of a deity.
I remembered that Tywin was able to communicate with Epar who was called goddess.
“It wasn’t exactly because you’re a shaman of Epar.”
“But that is what Epar believes. And so Epar will spare time for you. It’s a rare opportuni—tyyyyyyy——”
Tywin was saying something but the movement of her lips slowed down.
Her words dragged out into silence like time had stopped around us.
When even the sound of children playing outside quieted, Tywin’s eyes which had closed opened again.
The kid’s eyes were shining like a galaxy.
Tywin’s ash-colored hair also glowed like the stars of the Milky Way were sprinkled on it.
At this incredible change, I asked out of genuine shock.
“Are you Epar?”
『That I am. Stolen One. I thank you for your generosity towards this poor child. The child’s wariness of you decreased greatly and so I was able to make this time available. You have many questions, I’m sure.』
“…….”
『You would have realized by now, the clever man that you are. The children that I have sent to the past don’t have much time left. The string of time is collapsing.』
“…Is there a way to fix it? Is there a way to kill a Demiurge like you or Nocturne?”
Sparkle— Sparkle—
The goddess Epar within Tywin’s body brightened her eyes which were like the night sky at my question.
Was it too rude of a question?
But Epar answered calmly.
『We, can only meet our end through the memories we had as a mortal. The memory is the only thing that retains our mortality and humanity….』
Memory? What does that mean?
How do you extinguish using a memory?
As I was trying hard to understand, Epar continued.
『The only thing that can defeat Nocturne is a piece of memory of his time as a mortal. For example, like an object, he may have carried while he was human.』
“Object. How can I obtain whatever that piece of Nocturne might be? Can you tell me where it is? Where should I go?”
I was starting to see a sliver of light in the darkness.
I knew it, I was lucky this time, too.
My gut feeling is always right.
『…Nocturne. The piece of memory he carried. Unfortunately, I am in possession of that. Dear child, take this. This is the shard of memory he had.』
Epar spoke of bad fortune as she handed something to me.
It was a butterfly.
To be exact, it was a blade named as one.
Butterfly knife.
When I held the especially familiar item, Epar spoke.
『May he have even the slightest degree of humanity left.』
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