[This morning the collection for this week will be completed! In case of delay, 1.3 times will be added to next week’s amount, and severe punishment will be imposed, so keep that in mind! End of message!]

It was a literally ear-splitting blast from a loudspeaker.

Tie was so startled that she staggered as she got to her feet.

She immediately met eyes with Bale and Basto, who had also stood up.

“What was that just now?”

At Bale’s hoarse voice, Tie only shook her head, showing she did not understand either.

Basto, not fully awake yet, looked around with a bewildered expression.

And at that moment—

“Tie. Look over there.”

Lucarion, who had been standing by the window for some time, spoke.

Tie immediately ran over to him.

The moment she peeked outside, the child’s eyes flew wide open.

“Bale oppa, what is that?”

But standing beside her and looking down at the square with the same puzzled expression, Bale was no different.

The square that had been empty yesterday was now lined along its edges with dozens of huge crates arranged in a circle.

Despite the early hour, people were already bustling around them.

Bale frowned when he noticed among them those he had seen in the pub yesterday, as well as the innkeeper.

“Why are they there...?”

“Oppaa, huh? What’s that black thing?”

Tie tugged at Bale’s sleeve again and pointed somewhere.

Following her finger, he saw a huge man grunting as he loaded something onto a large cart.

He carefully transferred the delivered cargo into the crates.

Bale’s face darkened.

“...Coal.”

“C-coal?”

“Yeah. If you burn it, you can do a lot of things.”

Tie tilted her head.

It already looks like it’s burned. Burn it again?

And then—

“Catch him!”

A rough shout suddenly rang out from the opposite side of the square.

Turning their heads, they saw a child sprinting across the square from one end to the other.

Tie’s eyes widened again.

“It’s that one from yesterday!”

The same boy who had tried to snatch Bale’s necklace last night.

But the fleeing child tripped over a cobblestone and fell.

The knights who rushed over did not miss their chance and grabbed him by the clothes.

“How dare you touch the collection for the lord!”

“Le-let go! Let go!!”

The knights’ hands were brutally rough.

When they dragged the boy away somewhere, Basto covered Tie’s eyes with his palm.

Startled, Tie buried her face deeply into his hand.

Meanwhile, Bale continued watching the square with a stone face.

Even after one child was taken away, the people did not move.

They merely stared grimly toward the alley where he had been dragged, then returned to their tasks.

Then Bale’s gaze stopped.

He now noticed that each crate bore a burned brand — a black mark as if seared with a heated iron.

“Pluvius, Adren, Quilli...”

They were surnames.

After thinking for a moment, Bale muttered:

“...In this village. They take coal as collection.”

“Catch him! Catch him—!”

At that very moment another shout rang out from a corner of the square.

The noise came from where the knights had dragged the boy.

Looking over, they saw that somehow the escaped pickpocket was once again dashing across the square.

A deep wound gaped on one of his cheeks.

Bale swallowed involuntarily.

Tie and the other squad members watched the scene without blinking, their palms damp with sweat.

“What are you standing there for! Catch him quickly!”

The knights, swords drawn, began shouting threateningly at the people in the square.

But they only averted their eyes and remained where they were, while the boy deftly weaved between them and finally hid behind the crates.

And when the knights, running over, were distracted for a brief moment—

“...Ah, he went into the pub!”

The boy quietly disappeared inside the pub run by Adeline.

“Find that brat!”

“Yes!”

The knights began combing the square.

“Damn puppy! Come out at once!”

At that moment the only sound was the knights’ shouting outside the window.

“You saw that too?”

The door swung open and Nordix, Enzo, and Raul entered the room.

In Nordix’s hands were several twisted medicinal roots and bandages.

“I would like to pretend we noticed nothing, but that child appears to be bleeding heavily.”

With visible tension he continued:

“It’s unlikely a small village pub has a proper hemostatic.”

Tie went quiet, clinging to Basto’s back.

Raising her eyes, she saw Lucarion ahead, pointing the way.

“This way.”

Lucarion quickly made his way through the narrow alleys.

He knew the back entrance leading to Adeline’s pub.

Bale, breathing heavily, asked:

“Hey, Blackfang. When did you have time to look all this over?”

“Yesterday. While everyone was asleep.”

“You didn’t sleep?”

“Not much.”

Lucarion lightly brushed aside further explanation.

In truth, he had simply kept watch because the atmosphere in the village was uneasy.

While Tie gazed at ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Kkamani with burning admiration—

“Here. This door.”

At last the Agavert squad reached their destination.

Adeline’s pub, where they had gone yesterday.

But the entrance was through a back door accessible only through a narrow alley.

“We supposedly came to rest... what is even happening...”

Bale opened the door first, and a dark pub hall unfolded before them.

The glittering lights from last night were gone, and all the chairs were placed upside down on the tables.

At first glance it seemed empty, but Bale calmly said:

“Come out. I know you’re there.”

A quiet intake of breath came from behind the bar counter.

And then—

“...For what reason? Working hours are already over.”

Adeline appeared from behind the counter in comfortable home clothes.

Seeing her, Tie slid down from Basto’s back and ran over.

She held out Nordix’s herbs, bandages, and disinfectant, making an almost tearful face.

“Unni! Tie saw in the tavern.”

“What?”

“Friend whose face is bleeding ran into the pub!”

Adeline’s throat moved slowly.

With difficulty, she looked from the Agavert squad members to Tie.

The silence was broken by Bale:

“We’re not here to harm you. And we’re not going to hand that pickpocket over to those bastards outside.”

“...”

“So come out. I said I know you’re there.”

Basto frowned.

He looked at Bale as if he did not understand what he meant.

But at the moment Bale placed a hand on his shoulder—

With a long creak, the cabinet along the left wall began to rotate as a whole.

Behind it, a hidden space was revealed.

Inside, about fifteen villagers stood with wide eyes.

“Grandma Mikhail, have you lost your mind?! Why did you open the entrance to the shelter!”

“And what of it.”

“If they report to the lord! Then both Adeline and we are finished, don’t you understand?!”

Tie, shrinking back slightly, watched the people who were angrily spraying spittle as they argued with one another.

Enraged men.

Women clutching small children to their skirts and sighing heavily.

Even the innkeeper stood aside in silence.

“Will you answer already!”

“He said he knows we’re here.”

“W-what, what?”

“If he said he knows, I simply opened the door. So shut up.”

The man with bulging eyes frowned.

But then Adeline stepped forward.

“Uncle, calm down. Old Mikhail is right. They already knew. That there was a shelter behind the cabinet.”

Only then did the villagers carefully look at the Agavert squad members.

Bale, with an indifferent expression, adjusted Tie more comfortably in his arms.

“Yeah. Fine, let’s assume that.”

And he asked the question he had long wanted to ask:

“So what exactly are you doing here?”

While the villagers hesitated—

Tie quietly tugged at Bale’s clothes.

“What, oppa. They’re just playing hide and seek.”