Chapter 28
Yet, due to a man's pride and resilience, he hurriedly wiped it away with his dirt-stained hand.
Such a man, whose self-esteem was so strong, had now cast aside his dignity to commit robbery in the street.
The reason behind this seemed worth hearing.
The man no longer continued to wallow in despair.
He stood up from within the wall of air, and when facing Princess Livra, a trace of respect unexpectedly appeared in his expression.
"Your Highness, thank you for saying this... I do not ask the Tribunal for forgiveness. A mistake is a mistake, but I hope you will hear me out...! Punish the true outlaws who are above the law!"
"My very purpose in coming here is precisely for this. Speak, to punish evil and promote good. If it is something I can help with, I will surely do so."
In the end, the man let down all his guard.
With a sorrowful look, he began to speak urgently about all he had experienced up to this point.
He had originally been a merchant in a border city of the Kingdom of Aurus.
Through more than twenty years of hard work, he had become wealthy in that region, with a virtuous wife and children, and a life that could certainly be called prosperous.
But ever since the flames of war had ignited, he had been forced to surrender all his wealth to the lord of the border city.
At first, the man had no complaints. During wartime, those who could contribute should contribute — that was only natural.
However, that lord’s collection of the so-called "emergency war funds" had no limits. The man had already paid more than his share, going from affluence to barely making ends meet, yet the lord still kept sending people to demand more, with outrageous sums.
Later, the man unintentionally discovered that the lord was using the war to exploit others for personal gain.
Under the pretext of collecting emergency funds, he was simply filling his own coffers. In reality, the army had remained resting and had never once left the city to fight the Demon Clan.
The man became furious. He took his whole family to the lord’s manor to protest, demanding that the lord either lead the troops into battle or return the emergency funds.
But he had greatly underestimated how tyrannical the lord truly was...
He was merely a merchant — how could he wield such influence?
A merchant, in the end, was still just a commoner. In the eyes of the nobility, he was nothing more than a worthless ant.
The lord personally came out with his sword and killed the man's wife, then falsely accused him of "disrupting military morale and refusing to pay the emergency war funds out of selfishness."
He even threatened him in private... If the man did not want his children and parents to suffer the same fate as his wife, then he had better continue earning money and not delay in making payments to the lord's manor.
From that point on, he could no longer stay in the border city.
The man took his children and elders and fled, enduring countless hardships on the way to reach the Royal Capital.
But in this unfamiliar place, his children fell ill from the change in environment. He had no way to earn money quickly. Let alone buying medicine — even their daily food and clothing were barely sufficient.
After all, their money... had long since been extorted away by the lord.
With no other option, the man had to cast aside his useless pride. For the sake of his family, he resorted to robbing in the streets to urgently get money for his children’s treatment.
At this point in his story, the strong-willed man’s tears soaked his clothing, leaving him at a loss for words.
"I didn’t want to rob either... but I had no choice... In times like these... how is one supposed to survive? Whether I live or die doesn’t matter, but my family shouldn’t have to die! Your Highness... if the Tribunal captures me, I beg you to save them! I know this request is unreasonable, but you don’t seem like one of those unreasonable royals, so I’m begging you!!"
Seeing the man about to bend his knees and kneel, Livra wanted to stop him, but with the wall of air in the way, she couldn’t do anything. Even if she told him not to kneel, the man wouldn’t listen.
However.
In the end, his knees never touched the ground.
To his astonishment, the man found he could only stand upright — he was unable to bend his knees even slightly.
Sheffy was still whistling, as though she had done nothing at all.
But from the look Hero Xiarette gave her Sheffy now, her gaze was full of gentle appreciation...
Sheffy, even if you’re pretending to be uninvolved, that brief surge of magic just now couldn’t be hidden, you know\...?
Livra noticed Lord Xiarette’s gaze as well, seemed to realize something, and gave Miss Shaya a small nod of gratitude.
Then, she turned to face the poor, bewildered man within the wall of air.
In the name of the Aurus royal family, she spoke this promise.
"Rest assured, I will arrange for your children and parents to be properly cared for. As for you... I must regretfully tell you that a crime is still a crime. The Tribunal will handle it according to the law. But I will verify your story, and if it proves true, I will explain the circumstances to them. Your punishment will be lessened, so you can reunite with your family sooner."
"Ah... thank you, Third Princess...! Thank you for your kindness!"
"No need. Also, regarding the border city lord you spoke of... could you tell me his name?"
Her emerald eyes also flashed sharply.
At these words, the sword and shield crest of the royal family on Livra’s shoulder seemed to gleam with sharp intent, as though the sword’s edge pointed straight from the Royal Capital toward the smoke of war at the border.
Just then.
From the crowd of gathered townspeople on the street, a somewhat plump figure squeezed through and began running toward them at a slow pace, panting heavily.
Sheffy glanced over absentmindedly...
Oh? Well now\...?
Wasn’t this the poor fellow who had been robbed? Only now had they managed to catch up?
See, that’s why losing weight is important — look how slow they run when they’re so fat!
This noblewoman was a local aristocrat of the Royal Capital and naturally recognized Princess Livra, though Livra did not know her.
Seeing the princess, the noblewoman no longer cared about her purse or money. She quickly rubbed her hands together with a flattering smile, her sycophantic intent written all over her face.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for stepping in to help... Imagine such a small matter troubling you personally... Ah! The Hero is here too?! Why, this... this must be fate! I’ll be sure to have my husband visit the palace another day to kneel and express our thanks!"
Before a completely bewildered Livra could respond, the noblewoman had already turned smoothly toward the man.
It was clear that she held a grudge over being robbed in public.
And with the princess and the Hero present — how could she not take this chance to assert her family’s presence?
"You filthy commoner! You dared to rob the House of Count Xilu? A mere commoner, daring to rob a noble?! You deserve to die, you—! Ouch!!!"
The noblewoman kicked hard toward the man—only to have her foot land squarely against the wall of air.
The pain must have felt much like when one’s toe suddenly smashes into the corner of a table — an excruciating, piercing pain!
Sheffy cheered inwardly with great satisfaction!
She had already found this woman quite annoying to look at!
Oh, right.
Sheffy’s gaze subtly shifted toward the purse that had fallen on the ground.
With a casual grasp, a flicker of storage magic flashed.
The purse was still lying there.
But the bulging purse that had once been stuffed full of gold coins was now limp and empty...
Sheffy continued whistling a clumsy little tune, so off-key that one couldn’t even recognize it.
But in fact, she was humming a popular song from the Royal Capital.
The song was called—Congratulations on Getting Rich!
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**28. Not as Good-Looking as You**
Taking other people’s money isn’t something a good child would do.
But if one doesn’t take the money of an arrogant noble, then they’re just a foolish child!
Choosing between being a bad child or a foolish child — that choice should be pretty simple, right?
The slightly plump noblewoman, all smiles, happily went to pick up her purse.
She thought her luck wasn’t bad today — after being robbed, she had lost nothing in the end and had even gained the fortune of speaking a few good words for her family in front of the princess\~
She disdainfully patted the dust off her purse, trying to wipe away the bad luck left behind by the little thief who had tried to rob her.
But as she kept patting...
The noblewoman’s face gradually turned pale.
Why did her purse feel... different now?
Opening it for a look.
The noblewoman was stunned!
"Ah?! Where’s the money inside? W-why is it all gone? There were a full one hundred gold coins...! You wretched thief! Speak! Did you hide all the money?!"
"What?! There were actually one hundred gold coins?!"
"......"
The one who spoke was none other than little Sheffy, who had been whistling and watching the show the entire time.
Her outcry immediately drew the attention of Livra and Xiarette.
Though they didn’t know why Miss Shaya suddenly exclaimed, judging by her look, she seemed extremely excited.
And why wouldn’t she be? When Sheffy had just used storage magic to stash the money, she hadn’t seen exactly how much had gone in.
One had to know: in the Kingdom of Aurus, one silver coin had the purchasing power of one hundred copper coins, and one gold coin was worth one hundred silver coins.
A single copper coin could buy a doughnut.
So one hundred gold coins...
Good heavens...
I can see a whole room full of doughnuts waving at me!!
Sensing all the attention focused around her, "compassionate" Miss Shaya began to pretend to wipe away tears with the back of her hand.
Probably no one except Xiarette noticed that in the instant Sheffy raised her hand to "wipe away tears," a very fine and precisely controlled blade of Wind Magic had flicked out from her small palm.
After finishing all this, Miss Shaya began speaking with little sobs and whimpers.
"Oooh... how pitiful, this chubby... how pitiful, madam. Look beneath your purse — surely the coins must have fallen out along the way."
Though the noblewoman had no idea who this little girl was, upon hearing this she hurriedly lifted her purse to check beneath it.
Well, well...
Beneath the purse, the stitching had split wide open into a neat, gaping hole!
Not only was all the money inside gone — even the purse itself, which had cost twenty gold coins, was now ruined!
Before the noblewoman could break down and start cursing, Miss Shaya compassionately pointed toward the crowd of onlookers in the distance.
"At a time like this, the money that fell on the ground has probably already been snatched up by the crowd. Such a poor madam."
"These filthy commoners... No, I must go find—!"
"Ooh, judging by your kind face, madam, surely you mean to say that this money should be treated as a charitable gift to the people, yes? Ah...! With such a generous heart, I’m sure Princess Livra, who retrieved your purse, would also be comforted — after all, Her Highness is a good princess who cares deeply for the people's welfare."
"......"
The words of anger were forcibly swallowed back.
The noblewoman’s brow twitched violently.
But when she turned and saw the princess’s simple, clueless expression — and the Hero beside her, who seemed to be holding back laughter for some unknown reason...
The noblewoman found herself unable to utter another word.
Most infuriating of all was that overly talkative little girl!!
What did any of this have to do with her anyway?! Why was she standing there whimpering?!
Clutching the now-ruined purse tightly, the noblewoman’s expression was caught somewhere between crying and laughing.
After struggling for quite some time, she finally forced out a sentence so bitter and twisted it almost seemed warped.
"Of course... of course... easing Her Highness’s concerns is only right..."
She thought to herself — this outing today was truly cursed...
All she had left in her pocket was a single silver coin.
She planned to take a carriage to the church later to pray and ward off evil.