The little girl woke up again, saw Ryu, and quickly stepped back.
Ryu told her,
"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you. We just have a few questions… and we want to know where you took our money."
"Uhmm… your money… I-I don't have it."
The Master hurried toward her. "What do you mean you don't have it?! You stole it yourself!"
The girl burst into tears. "I-I took the money and the food home… sniff… sniff… but my mom didn't accept it. She told me to return everything. And when I was bringing them back, someone came and hit me and took the money… sniff… sniff…"
"You expect me to believe that?! Tell us where the money is right now!"
The girl cried even harder.*
Ryu blocked the Master and said,
"Master, let's at least check if she's telling the truth. We'll go to her house. If the food and money are there, we'll take them. If not… then we look for the thief."
"Fine, let's go."
They started walking toward the girl's house. Her head was lowered the whole time, and whenever she glanced at the Master's scary face, she quickly looked down again.
They were on their way when suddenly a monster attacked. The already-annoyed Master crushed it with one punch. A few minutes later, they finally reached the girl's home… and everything she said was true.
Her sick mother was lying in a corner, covered with a torn cloth, and her baby brother lay beside her.
Ryu and the Master had nothing to say—only silence.
The girl said,
"I stole everything to help my mom… but even in her condition, she refused and told me to bring it all back."
She sat beside her mother. Ryu and the Master approached her.*
"They're both sick… and because they haven't eaten anything, they get worse every day."
"What a mess…"
Feeling guilty, the Master stepped closer and used his power to heal the mother.
But her condition didn't change—she was sick, yes, but also severely weakened by hunger.
"Hey, little girl—do you know where that thief lives?" the Master asked as he stood up.
"Yeah… he's a well-known thief. He steals from everyone."
"Then take us to him."
They went near the thief's house.
"There's no one inside," the Master said. "Go back to your mother. We'll wait here until he returns."
The girl nodded and ran home.
٫ Half an hour later…
"Huff… huff… finally escaped those damn monsters…"
(After stealing the food and money from the girl, the monsters had chased him nonstop.)
Just as he tried to enter his house, a dagger touched his throat.
"Hand over everything you've got."
Terrified, the thief gave all the money and food to the Master.
"P-please… now let me go…"
"Alright. You can leave."
Relieved, he turned to go inside—
"Wait."
The thief froze.
"Put your hands on the gate and turn your back to me."
He was confused, terrified, and obeyed.
"Y-you're not gonna… d-do anything weird to me, right…? I'm not even that good-looking… please…"
"Shut up and stay still."
The thief nervously glanced back—
And saw the Master had stepped several paces away.
With a burst of power, the Master kicked him so hard that he flew through the gate and crashed into his own yard.
"Ughk—!"
"That's what you get for stealing people's money."
The Master disappeared and reappeared beside Ryu, handed him the food, and they started walking.
"Master… was that final move really necessary…?"
With a smirk, he said,
"I thought you were about to do something weird to him…"
"Anyone who steals my money gets the same treatment. Now let's go help that girl."
"Ohh, so even you're helping them?"
"Shut it. You think I'm that heartless?"
"Hehe, no, not at all."
They headed back to the girl and her mother.
The mother, after her daughter woke her, was now sitting up. When she saw two strangers enter her home, she flinched.
"Please relax, ma'am. We came to help."
"Mama, they're the ones I told you about."
"The… the ones you stole from?"
"I truly apologize. My daughter was only trying to help me. I don't want her stealing… Thank you for being kind to her."
"Haha, it's fine. Now—tell me where I can cook this so we can eat together."
The girl told Ryu,
"I'll help you. Come this way."
Ryu and the girl left to cook while the Master stayed behind.
"My husband was killed protecting us from monsters… before he died, he taught her stealth and self-defense. I'm truly sorry she stole from you…"
"It's fine. With your situation… even I might've considered stealing."
An hour later, Ryu finished cooking and returned.*
"Here you go—meat soup for everyone."
They all sat together and ate with a genuine smile.
Late at night, with the moon shining like a sun above the sky,
Ryu and the Master rested on the rooftop.
Yawning and about to fall asleep, Ryu said,
"That girl and her mom… they're innocent. Any moment, monsters could kill them. We need to get rid of these monster troubles once and for all. I can't just keep healing everyone forever…"
The Master stared at the moon in silence.
He turned to tell Ryu he would help—
But Ryu was already asleep.
The Master felt a bit annoyed that he'd been giving a whole speech to someone who wasn't even listening.
"Heh… sleep well. Tomorrow we start a new plan."
End of Chapter 19