Tie ran headlong to the entrance and opened her mouth wide.

“Hhk, a real poison needle bomb......!”

At the entrance.

In front of the steps where the cart had been left, eight maids lay on the ground.

Needles stuck out of their arms and legs as if they were spiky chestnuts.

“You could tell right away — eyes like rats that haven’t eaten for weeks.”

Bale walked leisurely toward the cart.

Beneath the sacks of gold coins lay the two needle bombs he had left behind — already triggered and opened.

“Head maid!”

“Sister!”

Lea and Helga, who had run after Tie, collapsed to their knees.

Right in front of the head maid, who lay closest to the cart.

“Sister! What’s wrong with you, are you okay?! Huh?!”

But the head maid did not answer.

With a frozen face, she only breathed heavily and moved her eyes.

Bale said calmly:

“She can’t answer. It’s a paralytic poison.”

Lea and Helga’s faces turned pale.

“W-what did you say? Are you insane?! Do you want to kill everyone?!”

But Bale did not even blink.

“Yeah. So what?”

“What do you mean—!”

“You’re allowed to torment an innocent child. But I’m not allowed to torment you a little?”

“Th-that......!”

The maids fell silent, their lips moving without sound.

Bale looked at Tie.

“Kid. Go on, say it yourself. I’ll follow the squad leader’s decision.”

Tie frowned in confusion.

People unable to move, only rolling their eyes.

It looked a little scary, but— 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

‘If it becomes dangerous, don’t be afraid, you can use it, Tie. I’m putting this in your bag as a weapon you might need. It’s a paralytic poison, not life-threatening, and it can be quickly neutralized with an antidote.’

According to Basto, the needle bombs were not deadly.

If you got hit, it would hurt a little and your body would be paralyzed for a while.

“So hurry up, decide. What should we do with them?”

Tie pressed her cheeks with both hands and thought.

And at that moment, her gaze fell on the hands of the maids lying on the ground.

Each of them was clutching a handful of gold coins stolen from Tie’s cart.

Tie’s face slowly turned serious.

‘......really, very bad people!’

The maids of this house not only mistreated Selina, they had also tried to steal Tie’s money.

If it were just money, she could earn it again, she could forgive it,

‘but when several adults bully a child — that’s a crime!’

Tie’s eyes snapped open.

“Selina, do you know? A thief of needles becomes a thief of gold.”

“A thief of gold......? What does that mean?”

“Well, it means that all thieves who steal Tie’s gold first stole something small, like needles!”

Selina’s eyes widened.

Soon, her face darkened, and she opened her mouth.

“Yes. Actually.......”

But Selina couldn’t finish and shrank back.

‘W-why is it suddenly hard to breathe?’

The fear she had held back for so long suddenly surged up.

At first, she stayed silent because she didn’t want to worry her parents.

But then came a moment when, even if she wanted to tell the truth, she no longer could.

Whenever she faced the maids, her chest tightened and her breath caught.

Voices buzzed in her ears.

‘Nothing will change. It never will.’

Her body felt as if it were sinking into a deep swamp, and just as her legs were about to give out—

“Selina, look at Tie.”

Tie tightly held her hand.

And as if she had read her thoughts, she said:

“Listen, don’t be afraid. Tie will bring all her people and protect Selina! Really!”

Selina couldn’t answer.

Without realizing it, her eyes filled with tears.

‘......mercenaries, huh.’

Maybe that was why?

Tie was brave and kind.

Even more noble than other noble children from the Imperial Academy, and more mature than her, even though she was a year younger.

Selina suddenly remembered the day Tie moved into the house across from hers.

The evening of the celebration.

The night when all the maids abandoned Selina and went out.

That day, Selina looked out the window and saw Tie for the first time.

A brightly lit mansion.

People greeting the child walking through the garden, smiles surrounding her from all sides.

Everyone around Tie looked at her with affection.

They patted her head, lifted her into their arms — every movement filled with care.

The next day, that was why Selina climbed over the fence into their yard.

Because the warmth surrounding Tie seemed so desirable and warm.

Because she wanted, just once, just once, to touch it.

‘Our daughter is doing well, right? The head maid said you eat well and attend the academy properly! Mommy is so proud of you and thinks you’re such a good girl. As soon as I finish this contract, I’ll come right away, so wait just a little longer, okay?’

‘Selina! Our beautiful daughter! Daddy bought you lots of gifts. We always love you, Selina. Endure just a few more years — you and your children will be fully established in the capital. Even though it was hard for us.......’

Selina’s parents hated poverty terribly.

Because when Selina was first born, they lived in extreme poverty.

One day, her mother said:

When Selina was a baby, there wasn’t even milk, so she had to go into a forest filled with magical beasts.

And that was why her father had lost one arm.

Even after losing his arm, her father kept going into the forest.

Because he had to at least cook porridge from herbs so her mother and Selina could eat something.

But one day, little Selina ate that porridge and became seriously ill.

Her entire back was covered in sores, and she almost died.

From that moment on, her parents began to work desperately.

Her father, despite his injury, took on dangerous work he had never done before.

Her mother too.

When Selina «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» had just started walking, they moved every few weeks.

From outside the capital — to the outskirts, from the outskirts — to the central districts.

And finally — to Roseorbelga.

When her parents started a trading business and gained the favor of high-ranking church figures, Selina suddenly became a baron’s daughter.

‘Now it’s safe, my dear! At last, we can raise our daughter in a safe place......!’

‘Uu... Selina!’

That day, Selina saw her parents cry with joy.

She saw how her father’s empty sleeve swayed with every sob.

And she told herself over and over:

This is a good thing.

So I should be happy and grateful.

Because all of this is the result of Mom and Dad’s hard work.

But......

When her parents returned from their trips and almost immediately left again, she wanted to say:

I don’t need money.

I don’t need the status of a baron’s daughter.

I want...... just to be with Mom and Dad.

Tears streamed down her face.

Astie wiped them away.

“Se, Selina. Don’t cry.......”

She had cried alone for so long.

From the pain of the maids’ touch, from hunger, from loneliness.

“Tie’s tears are falling too.......”

But now it was different.

Selina, looking at Tie, awkwardly wiped her eyes.

She hadn’t known that someone’s presence could give so much courage.

‘Because Tie is my friend.......’

Tie was her friend.

The very friend she could never find no matter how hard she tried — and had finally found.

Selina parted her lips.

And in a quiet, almost inaudible sob, she said:

“Tie. Actually... the head maid... if there was something valuable among my things, she would say she’d clean it and take it.”

Her voice trembled, but she tried to speak clearly.

“And then... sniff... she never gave it back. It’s mine... my mom and dad gave it to me!”

The tears she had been holding back spilled out again.

Tie’s lips parted slightly.

Soon, she turned to Bale.

Anger spread across her face.

Tie spoke so everyone could hear:

“......listen, Bale oppa. If we don’t give the antidote, the ones hit by the needle bomb... will go to heaven, right?”

The maids flinched, and Bale’s expression turned strange.

Because they both knew perfectly well — no one dies from a needle bomb.

‘And yet she says it like that.......’

Bale smiled with interest.

“......well now, kid. You’re already almost the King of the Dead, aren’t you?”