Volume 1 - CH 33

T/N: this chapter contains violence and profanity

The next day, and the day after that, Alme continued to shave ice.

As Jayla said, the second day was extremely hot, but as if in proportion to the temperature, sales of shaved ice–snow candy–increased significantly.

As the cool air magically flowed around the ice cream shop and the neighboring spit-roast shop, people on the street were lured by the cool air and naturally stopped in front of the stalls, even without calling out to them.

And on the third day, not only passersby, but even staff from surrounding stalls came to ask for snow candy.

The clerks at the stalls, where the fire was used, looked tired after the third day. The heat of the second day was especially hard on them.

Perhaps word had gotten around that an ice mage had opened a stall, and many people came to cool off.

Along the way, in addition to selling snow sweets, a side business of replenishing ice magic stones ended up earning her an unexpected side income.

–After three days of festivities, it was time to call it a night.

On the last day, she wanted to sell out of syrup and ice, so she stayed open after the sun went down.

The stalls around them kept going until late, so she guessed everyone was thinking the same thing.

When the stars began to shine, both the ice cream shop and the spit-roast meat shop sold out their goods without incident, and finally closed up shop.

Under the deepening night sky, Alme’s voice was soaked in a deep sigh as she prepared to return home.

“The three days of the festival should have been long, but it feels like it ended in an instant.”

“I think about it every time. Rather, I feel that the time spent preparing and cleaning up the day before or the day after is longer…Ah, I’m so tired! I’m so lazy! I’ll leave it all to myself tomorrow.”

Jayla tossed her tools into the crate and pushed them under the desk properly with her foot. She was going to gracefully let go of the cleanup and go home.

Alme didn’t particularly blame her – or rather, she followed her example and decided to leave empty-handed today.

She is so exhausted that she’s going to leave all the cleanup for tomorrow.

Since there is three days allotted to clean up starting tomorrow, there is no problem if they leave it and go home.

She slung the bag containing the sales and the change over her shoulder and started on her way home.

Her bag is full today as well. Since she had a supplementary income of replenishing ice magic, today’s income is likely to be the best.

Jayla also left the space with only her bag and her short sword in hand, and left the wooden spirit tag behind.

The two of them walked side by side down the street while talking about trivial things.

Jayla picked up the conversations of the people she passed by.

“It looks like there was a fire in the south.”

“Oh my…there are a lot of accidents like that on festival days.”

“Apparently, a fire magic stone brought in from a stall caught fire and went ‘ka-boom’, as they say.”

“Oh, wow…”

Alme shuddered to imagine it. If there were a string of shops that used a lot of fire magic stone, the damage would likely be great.

She walked through the street and into an alleyway, talking about how scary it is.

They walk down the back alley to a small plaza, where they slow their steps together. It is time to say goodbye.

She would love to stay and chat about the excitement of the past three days, but she can’t resist the fatigue that clings to her entire body.

In the end, they exchanged casual farewells, just they did yesterday and the day before.

“Well then, thank you for your hard work for the past three days.”

“Good job, let’s do our best to clean up tomorrow.”

Alme waved her hand and parted from Jayla. Crossing the small plaza, Jayla advanced into the back alley, and Alme advanced to the front door of her house.

(The Four Seasons Festival really flew by. A month before I decided to participate, I was nervous thinking about the day, but… I had some good encounters, so I’m glad it ended without a hitch. Next time, I want to participate in the festival too.)

While thinking about such a thing vaguely, she unlocked the front door.

Alme opened the door with a thud, went inside and was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when she was forcefully pushed inside from behind.

Pushed into the house, Alme crashed into the table and rolled vigorously on the floor.

Startled and shocked, she looked up, unable to speak, letting her reflexes take over. She looked up at the figure of the one who had physically attacked her.

He is a man with a black cloth covering his face. He is short but well built.

The man violently grabbed Alme’s hair as she was crawling on the floor, and at the same time he declared.

“If you make a fuss, I will kill you. If you keep quiet, I won’t touch you. Just give me the money.”

He was quick to say so, but Alme could not stop the scream that belatedly came pouring out of her.

“Gaaaaaaaahhhh —-! Somebody! Somebody—-!!!”

“Damn, this girl……!”

The man, perhaps frightened by her crazy bloodcurdling screams, hurriedly grabbed Alme’s bag. The shoulder strap of the bag caught on her body and she was dragged across the floor of the house as it was.

When she was dragged out of the entrance by force, Alme was also in a panic and clung to the bag that looked like it was about to be stolen.

Almost unconsciously, her panicked mind was moving her body. Mobilizing all the strength in her hands to pull the bag.

“Somebody help me!! Help me-!! A thief–!!”

“Get the fuck off me! I’ll fucking kill you, bitch!”

The man also raised his voice and used his whole body to forcefully wrest the bag he had grabbed. With the force of the pulling, Alme’s body slammed against the door and the ground as she hung on for dear life.

Impatiently, the man took one hand off the bag and was about to punch her.

— but before his fist could reach Alme’s face, the man suddenly staggered dramatically.

Some kind of metal object hit his face, and the man fell and rolled on the stone floor.

At the same time as the man fell down, a lump of metal also fell to the ground with a clang. This is Jayla’s sword.

“Alme-chan!? Are you okay—!?”

Jayla came running into the small square screaming. It seems she noticed Alme’s screams and came back.

Apparently she threw a dagger while running. It was quite a distance, but it was amazing that it cleanly sliced the middle of the man’s face.

Before Jayla could get to him, the man ran away.

“You’re running away, you son of a bitch! Hey, somebody! Robbery, robbery! Go after the man in black!”

Jayla squatted down and reached out to Alme’s shoulder while raising her loud voice.

“Are you okay? Wow, you’re bleeding! A handkerchief, a handkerchief! Ah, damn it, I don’t have a handkerchief!”

“Thank you …… for your help ……”

“You’re not helping me at all, are you?”

“… um… well, sure…”

When she heard Jayla’s voice, her panicked feelings calmed down a little.

Her heart is still beating loudly, but she had enough time to confirm the situation for the time being.

Alme is now sitting down on the stone floor in front of the entrance. She is holding her bag tight.

Apparently, the bag containing the sales was protected to the death. At the cost of that, her whole body is in tatters…

She couldn’t even tell where she was hurting anymore because of all the bumps and bruises. Her elbows and knees were badly scraped and bleeding, and some of her fingernails were broken and discolored, as if she had applied red nail polish.

Perhaps because she hit her elbows, her fingers are numb and tingly. It’s a wonder she was able to hold on to her bag.

Both the skirt and the blouse are torn and tattered. Even though it was her favorite outfit that Ena had picked out for her…

Her hair is a mess, but her hair ornament seems to be safe. She’s glad it didn’t get scratched or stained.

Before long, people who had heard the commotion were gathering around.

A woman in her fifties with gray hair applied a handkerchief to the bleeding wound.

“Are you okay? My husband is calling the police right now. –Um, can someone lend me a handkerchief? Mine isn’t enough.”

When the lady called out, people around her offered her a handkerchief. The kindness of the people made Alme’s eyes moisten slowly.

But she held back her tears, and with the help of Jayla and the lady, they were able to hold back the flowing blood.

Soon after, three police officers came running into the small square. The fourth person, gasping for breath at the back, appeared to be the woman’s husband.

One of the officers crouched down and called out to Alme in a calm tone of voice. She is a female inspector appearing to be in her thirties.

“Are you okay? Do you feel any pain or feel unwell?”

“No, I’m fine…”

“Before I ask you what’s going on, let’s go to the temple. You should get treatment.”

“Ah, no…it’s mostly bruises and scrapes, so I’ll be fine later.”

She talked to the inspector while refusing the immediate medical attention.

Treatment at the temple would be expensive, so if possible, she’d like to see a town doctor… so she asked her to wait.

The police officer gave her a worried look, but after looking over to her colleagues, she took out a notebook from her pocket. It looks like she’s going to start questioning Alme.

“Then, I’ll ask you a few questions first. I will be brief for now, so please go to the temple as soon as we’re finished.”

“Yes…well, just now a man broke into my house and told me to give him my money.”

“Did you recognize him? Do you remember any of his characteristics?”

“He was someone I didn’t know. He was shorter than most men, and his face was covered with a black cloth…I think his clothes were dark brown on top and bottom. His voice sounded like an older man…”

“Did something get stolen? Or–“

After saying that much, the female police officer cleared her throat loudly.

Her fellow police officers called out to the onlookers who had surrounded the scene and asked them to clear out.

Only Jayla, the lady who was treating her, and the husband of the lady who had called the police officers remained there. After the crowd had dispersed, the inspector continued.

“Did he touch your body or do something unpleasant to you?”

“Ah… erm, it’s not like that… I had the store’s sales money in my bag, so I was about to be robbed of it.”

When she showed the bag containing the money to the police officer, she nodded.

“Did the culprit touch this bag? Did he touch anything else?”

“My hair, I guess…”

“Ah, I didn’t touch him, but my sword hit his face.”

Jayla said, pointing to the sword that was left lying on the ground.

The police officer turned her eyes to the bag and the sword, and made a quick suggestion in a crisp voice.

‘”I would like to use this bag and sword to track down the culprit, can I borrow them right after this? I will have the spirits pursue the culprit while he still has some energy left.”

“Yes, yes! Go ahead.”

“Please take my sword, too. Oh, should I not touch it?”

Handing over the bag, Jayla gestured at the sword.

The police officer received the two and chanted some kind of incantation in a whisper. At that moment, particles of light dance in the air. The light glints off in the direction the criminal fled.

It seems that the city police have made a contract with a special spirit. Alme didn’t know the details, but she wondered if the magic of the spirit the officer just used is similar to the spirit of the wooden tag of the festival.

The officer turned to her, still carrying her bag and the sword.

“I have just sent out the spirit. I would be grateful if I could borrow your bag and sword for three days if possible, since the tracking may not go well. Of course, I swear to God and to the spirits that I will not steal the contents of your bag, so you can rest assured.”

“I don’t mind, please.”

“Go ahead. Go ahead and bring the culprit to justice!”

“Thank you for your cooperation. I will take it from you.”

The police officer put her hand on her chest and saluted them, then handed over her bag and the sword to two of her colleagues. The two walk in the direction the light particles flew.

The female inspector’s expression softened as she turned to face Alme again. She said in a voice that sounded more like a mother admonishing her child than a police officer.

“You are hurt pretty badly, so please make sure you head to the temple. Don’t think that you can just go to the town doctor, okay? Even if you think it’s not a big deal right after you get hurt, you may not be able to move later.”

“Yes…I will.”

It seemed that Alme’s thoughts were seen through, and she cringed.

Jayla said while looking at the condition of the wound.

“The blood has stopped for the moment, but can you move? I’m going to the temple with you.”

“Yes, thank you so much…”

Listening to the conversation, the police officer made a face like she remembered something.

“I hear the temples in the East District are pretty crowded right now. There was a big fire in the south area in the evening. I heard that the south and east temples are flooded with patients, so I think the central temple would be the best place to head.”

There are also carriages for hire, so even a fully wounded person like her can easily roll right in to the temple.

“–Then we’ll go to the central temple. Thank you very much, everyone.”

Alme thanked Jayla, the couple, and the police officer profusely, and stood up to go to the temple.

As soon as she moved, the pain hit her hard and she almost cried again.