Silence fell over the vacant lot veiled in rain.

The sword that suddenly appeared wasnt able to cut off Loyars hand; it got stuck after cutting into it halfway.

A sword had suddenly appeared in the little girls previously empty hand.

And Loyar had managed to block that sword with her bare hands.

Two very unbelievable things happened at the same time, leaving everyones mouths hanging wide open.

-Kick!

Kuhuk!

Loyar didnt grab the sword, even while it was still stuck in her right hand, and instead kicked Ellens stomach and stole the weapon.

-Scatter

However, the stolen sword immediately disappeared from Loyars handsit was as if it had never even existed; then it appeared in Ellens right hand again.

Loyar glared at that sight.

It clearly wasnt a sword made using summoning magic.

Soul bound?

A sword that was bound to the owners soul That was a possibility.

However, there were only a few swords capable of such a feat in the world.

Urg

Ellen staggered while trying to stand up. Her whole body was drenched in rain, but Ellen still stared at Loyar with a firm expression etched on her face. Loyar couldnt explain it, but she felt that Ellen wanted to kill her as much as she wanted to kill her at that moment.

The others didnt realize that Loyar was actually trying to kill Ellen.

However, Ellen had already accumulated a lot of damage. If Loyar charged at her as she had before, Ellen would surely die.

Why are you doing this to me?

Ellen couldnt understand the situation.

Loyar silently looked at Ellen.

She was a completely unknown girl carrying something like a soulbound sword.

It wasnt possible for her to recognize what that sword was, but it was clear that it held extraordinary powers.

Why did a girl like her carry something that shouldnt exist in the world anymore?

Her heart told her that she should go on and kill her, but Loyar was even more confused than before.

Did Reinhardt know this girls identity? Or did he not know? If he knew, why didnt he tell me about this monster yet?

Could it be that this girls existence was already part of Reinhardts grand plan?

She had no idea who the girl was, but it was clear that she was an even bigger existence than she initially thought.

And someone like that was running around in the rain looking for Reinhardt. She was destined to be their enemy no matter how she thought about it, but Loyar was inclined to think that Reinhardt wouldnt have become friends with someone like her without having a plan in mind.

Loyar wasnt able to strategize as well as Sarkegaar or Eleris.

Im glad I failed.

I shouldnt have done something without any orders.

Loyars mind was buzzing with so many thoughts that she almost caused a massive disturbance in Reinhardts grand plan.

She didnt know who Ellen was, but she was someone she shouldnt touch.

You should know the difference between us now.

Loyar looked down at Ellen, who was shriveled up in a sullen mood.

She didnt want to hurt her any further, but she still didnt plan on taking her on her search for Reinhardt either.

The girl was dangerous, but she wouldnt be of much help as she was.

Go back. Youll only get in the way.

How the fuck are you going to help me when youre so fucking weak.

That was what Loyar was trying to communicate with her eyes.

Ellen had no other choice but to hold her head low while clenching her teeth.

* * *

Is this really okay ?

Yes.

In the end, Loyar was able to subdue Ellen and told them that she would return Reinhardt to Temple safe and sound, so they should just take their mind off of the matter and go back to Temple. Ellen just silently walked through the rain, letting go of her umbrella, and Harriet followed her, carefully trying to cover the two of them with her umbrella.

Harriet couldnt tell what Ellens expression looked like as she was walking with her head down.

However, after suffering an overwhelming defeat for the first time in her life, Ellens expression completely hardened.

I even summoned Lament

She summoned Lament because she felt her life was in danger, but that sword was only able to slightly dig into that persons palm.

She wasnt an ordinary person. A normal person wouldnt have been able to block that divine sword with their bare hands. No, normal people wouldnt even be able to block normal swords like that.

However, her opponent managed to completely block the divine sword like that.

That gray-haired woman seriously tried to kill her, but when she saw her sword, she changed her mind and let her go.

Ellen didnt know why Loyar tried to kill her, and she understood even less why she had decided to keep her alive in the end.

W-well, there were a lot of people They probably know something Theyll definitely find Reinhardt. Yes.

Harriet made some exaggerated gestures, trying to paint the situation as positively as possible when she noticed that Ellen didnt say anything. Ellen was dying to know what that sword that Ellen summoned was, but Ellens condition didnt look so good at the moment.

What the hell.

Despite how quickly Ellen swung it at the head of that beggar organization, she still managed to block the divine sword?

Just what was that gray-haired woman and just what is Reinhardt?

She didnt think that Ellen was the strongest in the world, but she also didnt think that she would be so overwhelmingly beaten like that.

It was arrogant to think that she would be able to help them. After her overwhelming loss, Ellen couldnt continue to protest the womans order to get out because she would just get in the way.

After all that, she had no other choice but to realize the fact that she would really only get in the way of the gray-haired woman if she followed her.

She didnt know who that gray-haired woman was.

She had found out that there were even more things that she didnt know about Reinhardt.

I After all, I really know nothing about him.

She wanted to know the things she didnt know about him, so she ended up hurting Reinhardt. She wanted to make it up to him somehow, so she wanted to save him.

She wanted to do something.

But she wasnt even able to do that.

Helplessness.

Ellen trudged through the rain, forced to feel such utter helplessness for the second time in her life.

* * *

Dont tell anyone what you saw just now. You didnt see anything.

After Ellen and Harriet left, Loyar put a gag order on anyone about the fight that had happened.

A strange girl with a soulbound sword had appeared there.

But that girl sure was no joke. Are all the people in Temple like that?

Loyar frowned when she heard one of the gang members talk about it.

Shut up. Dont even talk about this among yourself. I dont know what that girl was, but she wasnt someone ordinary. If you talk about this, Temple or the Empire might do something against us.

To be exact, it was because Reinhardt decided to keep quiet about the girl for some reason. Loyars words were absolute within the gang, so everyone just nodded.

The Rotary Gangs Number Two, Daibun, came forward.

Big sis, what about Reinhardt?

Setting that fight aside, everyone was shocked by the information that Reinhardt had been kidnapped.

Ill figure it out. You guys get ready to go back to work as soon as the rain stops. Though it doesnt look like itll let up any time soon.

According to her prediction, Reinhardt should still be safe, but there was no time to delay.

Are you going to be okay by yourself? Daibun asked as if she was worried about Loyar going alone. Of course, Loyar just snorted to that.

I kicked out that girl that actually managed to cut my hand like this, so do you think youd be any more useful?

Ellen had taken it as an overwhelming defeat, but Loyar evaluated her as a never-before-seen monster.

Of course, the other gang members werent a match for Ellen.

Im leaving.

Loyar, covered in a robe, began to run into the rain.

* * *

As a result of their actions, although Ellen and Harriet were unable to find Reinhardt on their own, they played a decisive role in the search for Reinhardt.

It was already enough to inform Loyar, who had no idea that Reinhardt got kidnapped.

His Highness is?

Yeah.

Loyar usually didnt get into contact with the others, but due to the nature of the situation, she had gone straight to the shopping street in the Al Ligar District and met up with Eleris.

Ellen and Harriet were still lacking in ability. To be honest, Loyar wouldnt have minded taking the two of them with herassuming Eleris wouldnt be involved.

If she went to rescue Reinhardt with the two of them, she would be unable to take Eleris with her. Of course, Eleris could do far more things at that point than Ellen and Harriet. It was hard to find something an Archmage wouldnt be able to accomplish.

Eleris trembled slightly when she heard that Reinhardt had been kidnapped.

How did that happen?

The amount of money the gang is earning now has grown exponentially and the complaints about us have also grown quite a bit, so we are trying to officially establish a base somewhere. During this heavy rain, everything we built up had been washed away. I thought we might as well move to the area we wanted to build our base altogether.

Loyar crossed her arms and shook one of her legs. She seemed anxious.

Incidentally, it seemed like His Highness came to see us directly to see if we were okay. He was worried, I guess. He thought hed find us in the Wenster Market Street, so he wandered around that place I think he got harassed by some guys over there. They probably ended up kidnapping him. Damn, whats with this bad timing. Even if I had known in advance, theres no way for our side to contact Temple

So, who did it?

There was confusion and anger visible on Eleriss face. It was only a guess that he got kidnapped, so she was already imagining the worst.

I think its the Thieves Guild.

Why the Thieves Guild?

Loyar didnt share much about her organizations internal matters, so Eleris had no idea what was going on within the Rotary Gang or its connections.

I think they want to smash the gang apart. Thats also why I tried to avoid Wenster Market. Thats their turf. Perhaps they were waiting for us there because they didnt manage to touch us directlythey were probably trying to figure out what they should do. But then His Highness, who they knew as our gangs successor, basically ran into their arms. Of course, they had that much information.

The connection was quite vague, but Loyars reasoning was pretty plausible.

Reinhardt entered the Market without knowing that he was actually stumbling into a tigers den.

If the gang and the Thieves Guild still had a friendly relationship, there wouldnt have been a problem, but Reinhardt was completely unaware of how the situation had progressed.

Eleris got up from her seat, seeming as if she didnt want to hear any more.

The flame of rage was flickering in her calm eyes.

Where is the Thieves Guilds headquarters?

Intense anger was boiling inside Eleris eyes at that point as if she was about to destroy everything in her way. Loyar lightly tapped her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

Calm down for a sec.

His Highness is in danger, so we have to move quickly.

I mean, isnt it kind of weird?

Weird? What is?

Loyar felt like the whole situation was very suspicious.

Right now, Wenster Market is teeming with Temples forces and Guards. That being said, they realized that His Highness had disappeared there. Then the Thieves Guild would, of course, be on the very top of their suspect list.

Loyar knew that the Wenster district was the Thieves Guilds turf, but if Temples forces and the Guards were also investigating that place, they should have the same information. Although Loyar didnt know it, the Prince and Princess forces were also trying to find Reinhardt.

They arent complete fools either. They should know that the Thieves Guild is pretty much the prime suspect. So why havent they found him yet?

You mean to say that the Thieves Guild might not be the culprit?

Hmm I dont know. Maybe the search party is only focused on Wenster Market and isnt looking anywhere else.

It was more than obvious that the Thieves Guild were the most likely to do something like this, so why hadnt they found Reinhardt yet? Did that mean they werent the culprit?

That was what Loyar found suspicious.

Thats fine. Well find out if we pay them a visit. Like that, well find out if your guess is right or not.

Eleris opened a map of the Imperial Capital on a table.

Point where the Thieves Guilds headquarters are, she said with a sullen look on her face.

It seemed like she was about to teleport to the place and destroy everything she found there.

Things were going more than smoothly thanks to the information Ellen and Harriet gave to Loyar.