Ch#9
The girl collapsed to the ground from the single swing of the man's hand.
Her white cheek swelled up in an instant.
“You thief bitch! Where’d you hide my wallet! Hand it over right now!”
It was when the man bellowed as if about to kick her.
“Not baddd……!”
Tiye unwittingly shook off the grandma’s hand and darted between the two.
Grandma had said to stick right by her side, but her feet moved on their own.
Tiye looked up at the man with a frightened, fidgety face.
“You can’t hit people……?”
Over the girl’s figure overlapped 203-room Auntie, who sometimes bought her ice cream.
The day after loud noises from upstairs, 203-room Auntie always hurt.
And Tiye vaguely knew why Auntie hurt.
“Hitting is bad!”
At teary-eyed Tiye’s appearance, the man’s face turned vicious.
“What the hell is this damn brat?”
“St-stop it!”
“Yeah. Just go away! I didn’t steal it!”
Then the watching merchants stepped forward.
Passersby joined in one by one.
The man’s eyebrows twitched savagely.
“You bastards know who I—!”
At that moment, one person stepped in front of Tiye.
Tiye looked up in surprise at the back before her eyes.
It was the landlady grandma.
“Listen here, young man.”
The grandma stared fixedly at the man and warned lowly.
“Think it over carefully. The alley behind the gatehouse is where those with nothing left to lose gather, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“Whether you’re a noble or rich, it means nothing here.”
“…….”
“Dark roads, deserted alleys—not scared?”
At the somehow chilling voice, the man flinched.
Only then did he hesitantly glance around.
Merchants and passersby alike stared at him with cold expressions.
“Ahem!”
The man cleared his throat awkwardly and finally stepped back.
Then vanished into the crowd like he was fleeing.
The grandma slowly turned and spoke to the slumped girl.
“Top floor end room. Right?”
Tiye’s eyes widened round.
“Looked like you hadn’t come in days. What’re you even doing here?”
Unbeknownst to her, the girl was an inn guest like Tiye and Basto.
But the girl replied coldly.
“Mind your own business, old hag.”
“What manners. You know what your face looks like right now?”
The girl paused and rose from her spot.
She headed to a small shop a few steps away.
Then stared at her swollen red cheek in the mirror and spat curses.
“Ha, fuck. Damn it……”
Tiye gulped hard, then heard the grandma sigh beside her.
The grandma clicked her tongue while eyeing the girl and said.
“Follow me for now.”
* * *
Tick-tock—tick-tock—
Only the clock sounds filled the first-floor space.
Tiye sat on a chair, fiddling with her fingers.
She tried not to, but her attention kept drifting to the girl on the next chair over.
‘This big sis hates talking, I guess.’
The girl had kept silent the whole time since earlier.
She hadn’t even greeted when the owner grandpa left to shop instead of grandma.
Not only that.
‘She glared at Uncle Basto hard.’
The girl had even eyed Basto leaving the inn earlier with something like contempt.
Even muttered, ‘How can a person look so beastly?’
“End room! Put this on it.”
Then the grandma appeared from the kitchen.
In her hand was a bizarre item: some green stuff smeared thick on a clean cloth.
The girl’s face scrunched up.
“No thanks? Who wants crap like…….”
“Want me to shove it in your face?!”
But at the grandma’s bellow, even the girl shut her mouth.
Tiye sneaked a peek at the grumbling girl pressing the cloth to her cheek.
Then the grandma looked at Tiye.
“Kid, you eat first. Don’t know what Basto’ll say if you starve.”
Basto had gone back to the gatehouse to find a way to restore his identification number.
“Wait a bit, I’ll make killer carrot soup……”
“N-nooo!”
Tiye’s eyes widened at her own unwitting reply.
“You like carrot soup a lot? In the forest……”
The grandma’s eyes rounded, then she nodded like it was generous.
“Good. Then spinach soup it is.”
“Spinaaach……!”
Cried-out Tiye’s face soon turned utterly despairing.
Because the grandma had vanished to the kitchen like the wind without waiting for a reply.
“Pfft.”
Then a blatant snicker came from beside her.
Turning her head, the girl was looking at Tiye with one hand holding her pouch, head tilted atop it.
“Serves you right. Dumbass, don’t picky eat—just eat what’s given. Tiny pea already picky.”
A huge shock dawned on Tiye’s face.
She’d thought so earlier, but this girl was really, really…….
“B-bad.”
The girl’s brows twitched, but Tiye clenched her fist and added.
“If bad, tiger takes you!”
A hollow laugh burst from the girl’s swollen lips.
“What?”
“Sis gonna get taken by tiger tonight!”
“Who’s sis?!”
At that moment, the girl yanked off the hood she’d kept on.
Thick, dark brows appeared over red eyes—unusual for a girl.
Tiye blinked in bewilderment.
“I’m a boy. Boy! You pea-brain!”
The girl pretended to bonk Tiye’s head.
Tiye shrunk her neck like a turtle but stared piercingly at the opposite side.
Skin was white and lashes long, but he said boy, so he kinda looked boyish now.
“……T-Tiye’s first time.”
“What? First what.”
“Seeing a sis-like bro first time.”
A “Huh!” burst from the boy’s mouth again.
The boy set down the cloth and leaned toward Tiye.
“Hey, you. Know who I am?”
Tiye tilted her head.
“Girl-looking boy……?”
“This is it!”
The boy lowered his voice and lightly pushed Tiye’s forehead.
“I’m an assassin, punk. Know what an assassin is? Huh?”
Tiye’s expression turned serious.
Assassin?
This bro just said he’s an assassin, right?
Back home, there was an uncle who thought he was a mouse.
That uncle fled at the sight of cats on the street.
Once, worried for him, she tried to follow, but 107-room Grandmother blocked her way.
Said uncle needed alone time, was acting that way 'cause it hurt inside, so don’t follow.
Which means this bro too…….
“Scared, right? Feels shouldn’t mess around?”
“Uh-huh……”
The boy lifted his chin smugly.
“Now your eyes look good. Remember—I let that man hit me on purpose earlier.”
The boy pulled something from his bosom and shook it.
“'Cause no matter what, had to get this.”
What the boy held was the wallet.
The one the man had screamed was lost!
“O-Oppa really stole it?!”
“Yeah. I stole it. Or nah—reclaiming my own money, call it stealing?”
Tiye’s eyes widened round.
“Promised to scout two for a mercenary corps, took the pay and ghosted?”
“Mercenary corps……?”
“Yeah! To kill mana beasts and make money, gotta be a mercenary. Can’t get knighted as a commoner like me.”
Tiye’s mouth fell open.
Something flashed—spark!—in her head and vanished.
“Oppa, if become mercenary, get identification number?”
“Yeah, probably. Gotta pass the exam first though.”
“Then do it with Tiye!”
The boy froze.
“What?”
“With Tiye and Uncle Bastooo! Uncle has hammer, Tiye has……!”
Tiye wasn’t as strong as Uncle Basto.
But at least she had a trusty legendary Puppetmon.
Kkamangi.
