Chapter 13.1

The problem came after that, with Lara: no one was buying the gems that Lara had brought.

Though she had said that she had little expectations—as she’d followed to build up sales experience in the first place—it seemed that her proud temper was beginning to flare at how every shop ignored her the moment she said ‘gems.’

After wandering all around, the last place they stood in front of was a pawnshop.

The pawnshop was on the second floor, but going up there wasn’t easy. The wooden pieces they’d stacked up in some complicated manner as ‘stairs’ creaked just from the passing breeze.

Anna shook her head.

“This has the look of complete failure. I don’t think this is the right place.”

“We don’t need to sell it for a high price. As long as I can go back with an extra cent!”

Having been constantly ignored, Lara’s face was red with a fighting spirit.

“Dad always scolded me, saying these kinds of stuff don’t earn you any money, that I’ve fallen victim to superficiality…. I want to throw a present I bought from the city in front of him and give him a triumphant smile. It’s fine even if it’s a single candy.”

“You should ask me to lend you money instead.”

“It’s alright. I mean, we’re not that close.”

“You sure say everything on your mind, huh?”

“Because I’m hopping mad right now! Then, I’ll be back!”

Huffing, Lara climbed up the stairs. Anna stared at the back of her figure as she leaned on the wall.

As she’d be rejected and back in less than one minute, she felt like following her up there would only be a waste of time.

….but her expectations were betrayed.

She waited until a worm crawled all the way from one end of the shade to the other, but she could not hear the sound of returning footsteps.

Even when Lara was going up, the staircase was so creaky she thought it would fall apart any second.

Without waiting any longer, Anna placed one foot on the first step of the stairs.

“Mr. Bertram, you should wait here. If you come up here too, I think these stairs really will break.”

“However, I do not think going up there alone is a good choice.”

“But if the stairs broke, both of us will be trapped up there. If I’m not back in five minutes, please call the guards.”

After putting the situation in order, she climbed up the stairs.

The closer she gets to the second floor, the stronger the musty stink becomes. The smell of old, untouched dust, the smell of cigarettes, as well as….. a strange perfume, too.

Anna began feeling her anxiety swelled. She opened the pawnshop doors and entered.

Inside, the pawnshop manager with a grizzly beard whistled.

“What a cute customer. What are you here for? We don’t deal with candies.”

Fighting the irritation of being treated like a child, Anna looked around.

A space that was narrower than how it had looked outside. The walls were completely covered in curtains that she could not know what was on the other side. And, also, there were no signs of Lara anywhere.

A cold shiver ran up Anna’s back at the sense of foreboding.

Plus, the things that man was playing with were the gems that Lara had brought.

Anna forced herself to speak coolly, as if she had not noticed a thing.

“Old man, have you seen my younger sibling around?”

“Younger sibling? Not older? ……Oh.”

The man seemed to realize he’d misspoken right away. His facial expression became menacing before he tried to smile.

“So you’re looking for someone. Have a seat over here for a little while. This old man will go ask some people he knows and come back. How do they look?”

“Mm, black hair that comes down to right under the ears. Blue eyes.”

Lara had brown hair and green eyes, so her features were completely different. The man made a slightly relieved expression.

“Alright. And about how tall?”

“Pretty tall. Taller than me. Just enough for you to think, oh, this is a bear. Right around that tall.”

“If it’s you, the average man will probably look as tall as a bear. I’ll take a look, so don’t go around anywhere and stay here!”

After the man forced Anna to sit on a nearby chair, he went down the stairs. The sounds of creaks were especially loud. If Bertram had stepped on those stairs at all, it would’ve crumbled.

As soon as she was out of the man’s sight, Anna roughly pushed back the curtains. What she saw beyond the fluttering cloth were countless wooden doors. Each of them was bolted shut on this side.

It was a relief that they weren’t locks, but…

‘I can’t look for her by shouting; do I need to open every one of them?’

Of course, actions were faster than thinking.

When Anna tried opening a couple of doors in front of her, she realized the hints in front of her eyes.

One curtain was partially caught on one wooden door in particular.

Yes, just as if someone had been violently locked into it recently.

The first thing she saw when she opened that door was Lara, swathed in a mound of cloth and in tears. They had no need for any other words. Anna immediately wrapped her arms around Lara’s waist and went towards the exit.

While she was peering at the stairs to see if both of them could go down at the same time, Lara suddenly gave a shout.

“Anna, Anna!”

“Be quiet. That guy might come ba-….”

No, that was not it.

Ominous foreboding pricked at Anna’s back.

“Look who we have here, so there were two customers? Sisters trying to escape together?”

There was no time for her to look back.

The first thing to enter her periphery was a hand, reaching for her shoulder, smelling of cigarettes.

Anna tried to run away from that hand.

But the one the man was aiming for was not Anna.

After holding up a statuette that had been nearby, he threw it on top of the stairs Anna had come up from before. The staircase that was not even a staircase smashed to pieces immediately.

Lara yelped.

“Oh no, the stairs….!”

Was one man’s despair another man’s hope? The man grinned as he spoke.

“Give up. You don’t even have anyone to come looking for you, right? I’ve seen many kids like you before. Uncle will find some good workplaces for you, so—”