Olek opened his mouth in confusion.

"They did nothing wrong, so why should they leave......?"

He had expected anger and curses to start flying first.

But he had never imagined the King of the Dead would calmly ask for the reason.

When he turned around, the other blacksmiths looked exactly the same.

However, Olek quickly composed himself.

Even the blacksmiths themselves, including him, knew very well that Verugon’s decision was unfair.

But an apprentice could not argue.

"Who could even persuade the Elder now."

These days Verugon’s stubbornness had reached the point where it seemed he could argue even with the emperor.

Olek looked straight at the King of the Dead again.

"Even if you politely ask again, it will change nothing."

He deliberately twisted his face into a harsh expression.

"Does the reason even matter? In this place the word of the head of the factories, Lord Verugon, is the law and the truth. Since the order to expel you came from him, we have no choice but to carry it out."

The King of the Dead’s lips parted slightly.

"Eh? But......."

The voice sounded so shocked that Olek swallowed involuntarily.

He watched the King of the Dead closely as she fell into thought.

"Do not relax, Olek. The King of the Dead is a man three times the size of an ordinary person, covered entirely in fur. Who knows when he might suddenly snap."

His task was simple.

Minimize damage and drive the King of the Dead together with Agavert out of the Weapons District.

And to do that, the matter had to be finished as quickly as possible.

"And another thing. Everything you put into the cart must also be left here. By order of the head of the factories nothing will be sold to you."

The King of the Dead looked back at the cart behind her in shock.

Her face showed complete disbelief.

"Not only are we being expelled, you will not sell us anything either?"

After a short silence her lips began to open again.

"Squad leader. What is happening?"

The other members of Agavert, who had been in different halls, approached them.

Each was pushing a cart filled with weapons they had chosen.

The squad member standing beside the King of the Dead shrugged.

"I do not know. We were just choosing weapons and suddenly......."

"T the cart! Bring the cart here immediately!"

At that moment Olek lunged forward.

He quickly snatched the cart from Raul, who was standing closest, and pulled it behind his back.

This was a sort of tactic he had developed after driving out countless mercenary squads.

"If the situation drags on, it usually becomes more difficult."

Therefore the best moment to drive out stubborn and aggressive mercenaries was the very first moment.

When they were still confused by the sudden order to leave.

"All right! All right! Hurry up and get out! That way!"

"Yes yes! Look at the weapons later when the head of the factories calms down!"

The blacksmiths rushed forward in a group and seized the carts from the other squad members.

"And hand over that bag too."

At last Olek grabbed the small dagger bag Bale was holding and turned toward the King of the Dead.

"If you head toward the capital, there are plenty of good weapon shops there. So it would be better to look for weapons there......."

"This is unfair!"

But at that moment.

The King of the Dead, who until now had been silently watching everything, suddenly grabbed the edge of the bag Olek had taken.

"This is discrimination! Hatred toward children!"

Olek’s eyes flew wide open at those words.

Tie was breathing angrily as she glared at Olek, who was several times larger than her.

Several months earlier, before she had come to this world.

Something similar had already happened to her.

At the entrance of a gelato shop near the playground on the way home from kindergarten.

"Hey, I told you to leave. Did you not see the sign? It says children are not allowed here."

The gelato shop near Hanbit Kindergarten had opened only a month earlier.

For some time they had been running an opening promotion.

One day the parents of her classmate Hyeonu bought Tie the smallest cup of gelato.

The taste of gelato she tried for the first time in her life was so sweet that she kept remembering it.

From that day on Tie began saving five hundred won every day so she could buy gelato again.

It was money she earned by giving her father a ten minute massage before bed.

But when she finally saved four thousand won and came to the shop excitedly.

"Do you not hear when someone tells you to leave?"

The shop owner, who had been talking on the phone, snapped irritably at Tie the moment she saw her.

"Yes, oppa, I will call you later. No, those little kids from the kindergarten in the alley came again. I told you last time they smeared the entire display case with their dirty hands. Yes yes! And they drop everything on the floor when they eat! After the children leave, the tables and chairs are all sticky......."

Tie stood at the shop door, tightly holding eight five hundred won coins in her hands.

The woman sitting on the tall stool did not even look at her and continued talking.

"Exactly! Business is already bad, and they still come to annoy me! Oh, right, I hung up a no kids zone sign. But it does not seem to help since they came again today. Hey, have you not left yet?"

The woman irritably looked Tie up and down.

Tie shrank involuntarily.

"Business is finished for today. I am not selling anymore."

Tie looked uncertainly around.

If the shop was closed, why did the wall say "9:00 open, 8:00pm close".

"But the wall says something different......."

"What?"

"It says it closes at eight......."

"Why are you bothering me!"

The woman opened the door behind the counter and came out.

Tie stood frozen and watched her in fear.

Holding the phone in her hand, the woman flung the door open.

"Our shop is a no kids zone. I will not sell to you. Understand?"

"Why......?"

"Because I am the owner ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) and I do not want to sell to you. If you keep bothering me I will call your parents. Hey! What is your mother’s number?"

Tie’s heart pounded with fear.

Moreover, she did not have a mother whose number she could give.

Tie was already about to leave, but she involuntarily glanced at the display case.

Among the many gelatos, her gaze was once again drawn to a sweet brown color.

Chocolate gelato.

The very one she had tried before.

"There... Tie only needs a small chocolate one...... Tie has money!"

"Leave."

Before she could finish speaking, the owner pushed Tie out of the shop.

The five hundred won coins fell from her hands and rolled across the floor.

Tie stood in front of the gelato shop for a long time with an empty expression.

"I was not noisy. I did not touch anything. I did not run or shout......?"

No matter how much she thought about it, she could not understand why she had been thrown out.

That evening.

Tie told her father what had happened during the day.

After listening, her father said seriously.

"Our princess did nothing wrong."

"Tie is not at fault? Then why was Tie thrown out?"

"Sometimes adults can be bad. They get angry somewhere else and then take it out on those who are weaker."

"......That is very bad."

"Yes. That is why you must not accept such injustice as something normal."

"Not accept it as normal?"

"Yes. If you stay silent in the face of injustice, silence becomes the truth."

"......."

"You may resist injustice, Tie. Within reasonable limits."

Those were the words she remembered now.

"This is unfair!"

Tie pulled with all her strength on the edge of the dagger bag.

"This is discrimination against children!"

Since Agavert entered the Weapons District, they had done nothing wrong.

They had not behaved like troublesome customers who get thrown out of shops.

But they were being expelled anyway.

"This is hatred toward children!"

Then the Popullos Weapons District was exactly the thing Tie hated most of all.

A no kids zone.