"I've got a great idea, Grin!"
"I don't think it's a good one."
"Damn it, I haven't even said it yet!"
"I've got a bad feeling already."
"You really are hopeless. I don't have time to argue with you right now."
With that, Felt shoved the insignia into Grin's hand.
"Now listen. Take the insignia back to the loot den. I'll lead those pursuers around for a few more laps. If this works, I'll even waive those five gold coins."
"What?!"
Grin blew up on the spot, his voice shooting straight up.
"What five coins?! You flat-chested, blonde, scrawny little mutt, why don't you go rob somebody instead! Do I look like I'm worth five gold coins to you? We both crawled out of the slums, so what gives you the right to ask me for five gold coins? Do I owe you something?"
"Stop, stop, stop! My ears are going to burst!"
Felt clapped both hands over her ears and hopped back like a startled rabbit.
"Fine. If the plan works, not only will I stop charging you, I'll even give you ten percent. Happy now?"
Ten percent… wait.
If he remembered right, Elsa had offered five holy gold coins.
There were four kinds of currency in Lugunica: holy gold coins, gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins.
Aside from the exchange rate between holy gold coins and regular gold coins being one to ten, everything else was one to a hundred.
That meant ten percent came out to five gold coins.
"That's… actually not a low price…"
Then his face stiffened.
No, that's not the point. We can't beat Elsa.
In the original story, Elsa was the employer who hired Felt to steal the insignia.
And afterward, that woman would kill to silence witnesses.
While Grin was still turning that over in his head, Felt was already preparing to move.
"Then it's settled!"
The next second, her Divine Protection of Wind kicked in, and she vanished in a blur.
"Holy crap, wait!"
Grin reached out, but he only caught empty air.
She was already long gone.
"It's over, it's over. Maybe I should just call the police."
"Right, right. Call the police. Leave it to the authorities."
Muttering to himself, Grin turned toward the alley exit, planning to find a Guard.
Best case, he would run into Reinhard and let the Sword Saint handle it. One swing, and Elsa would be done for.
But before he had taken even two steps, several figures appeared at the mouth of the alley.
They wore plain light armor, and on each chest was embroidered the dragon crest.
If those weren't Guards, then what were they?
Heaven really is helping me. Speak of the devil—hey, Guard—
Before the words "Sir Guard" could leave his mouth, the other side shouted first.
"It's him! The child agitator!"
"I can't believe he actually escaped from the Sun Princess!"
"Arrest him!"
Grin froze where he stood.
A wanted criminal had very nearly called the authorities on himself.
Run.
That was the only thought left in his mind.
The legs that had gone weak just moments earlier seemed to wake back up under the pressure of survival, dragging his exhausted body deeper through the alleys.
"Slow Movement! Slow down already!"
Since he had no chance of outrunning those armored brutes by pure physical strength, Grin could only use magic again.
A purple-black magic circle flared into being, then broke apart into rings of light that settled over the knights' calves.
Their speed dropped at once.
"Damn it, he's a mage!"
"You're the damned ones! Giving me a title that humiliating—just wait, I'll scare every kid in the Royal Capital before I'm done!"
Grin shouted back while disappearing from the Guards' sight.
Huff, huff…
Only after he had more or less shaken them off did he finally stop, bracing both hands on his knees and dragging in heavy breaths.
"Damn. Looks like I can't ask the Guards for help after all."
With that, Grin waved his right hand and summoned his fairy tale book.
If he could unlock another extraordinary ability, maybe he could scrape through this mess.
The pages flipped on their own and stopped once more at the Snow White section.
[Prince Charming, Unlock Condition: Kiss a woman who remains deeply loved even after death.]
[Snow King, Unlock Condition: Marry a witch.]
[Snow White (Core Illustration), Unlock Condition: Kill seven demons.]
Grin stared at the page.
What kind of nonsense is this?
Compared to those, Queen Snow White suddenly looked almost reasonable.
Unfortunately, the abilities granted by the Queen illustration were not enough to deal with Elsa the Bowel Hunter.
If it were the King, then maybe there would still be a chance. He clearly carried a higher-grade power, something close to an Authority.
But that condition was absurd.
Where was he supposed to find a witch?
And even if he did find one, he would still have to marry her. If he got turned into a frog for harassing a witch, that would be the end of him.
"Right. I still have the magic mirror."
That was the treasure granted by the Queen illustration.
With a thought, a gorgeous hand mirror of pure gold appeared in Grin's hand.
"Oh, my honored master, your humble servant awaits your command!"
A shrill voice rang out from inside the mirror.
Grin immediately ordered, "Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me where the Sword Saint Reinhard is."
"Yes, Master! Your humble servant will begin searching at once!"
Hum~ Hum~
Ripples spread outward like radar waves.
After a while, Grin's patience began to fray.
"Hey. Did you find him or not?"
"Master, this… this Sword Saint seems to possess some kind of Divine Protection of Shadowlessness. He cannot be tracked…"
"You worthless piece of junk, then what use are you?! Fine. Find Elsa the Bowel Hunter for me!"
Hum~ Hum~
"Stop humming and answer me. Did you find her?"
"Found… found her. Marking the location now."
A map of the Royal Capital appeared across the mirror's surface.
On it, a tiny red dot was slowly moving toward the slums.
Grin's eyes narrowed.
"Looks like I've got no choice but to use that move."
…
Elsewhere, Elsa Granhiert had already stepped into the heart of the slums.
She was like a kukri hidden in its sheath—slender, light, and curved in all the wrong places for anything safe.
Her footsteps were so soft her heels barely made a sound. Only the edge of her cloak sliced through the air with a low whistle.
Now and then, when passing someone, Elsa's gaze would drift to their stomach.
"What a flat belly… I wonder whether intestines grow thinner when someone goes hungry often~"
"How lovely~ In a place this remote, even if someone dies in the shadows, no one would notice~"
While Elsa wandered through those thoughts, the rattle of chains came from nearby.
Clang. Clang.
The first thing that entered her sight was a face that looked as though "theater" and "corpse" had been crudely stitched together.
Heavy white makeup. Heterochromatic eyes. Silver bells tangled in corpse-blue long hair. A clown's tailcoat draped over his body, as if the smell of rust would split open the moment he smiled.
The thin chains bound around his calves were likely the source of the noise.
"Oh my~ If it isn't Miss Elsa Granhiert. It seems fate has arranged a meeting between us~"
"Ah~ Margrave Roswaal Mathers? What a surprise~"
At that moment, two people incapable of speaking normally had come together.
Elsa only paused for less than a second before that treacherous gaze of hers began sliding over Roswaal like a blade.
"The ball hasn't even begun, and yet the organizer has already shown himself. Has something gone wrong with the other dancers?"
Roswaal was the one who had arranged everything behind the scenes.
Calling him the organizer was not far off.
Elsa kept staring at him, and her tongue slipped out to wet her lips in one quick, soft pass.
Compared to the dancers she spoke of, she seemed far more interested in the kingdom's strongest Court Mage standing before her.
What color would the intestines of a powerful mage be?
Roswaal quietly drew in a sharp breath.
He had noticed Elsa's eyes lingering over his stomach again and again.
"As expected of an assassin known as the Bowel Hunter, you are every bit as sharp as I imagined~ Since I have already recovered the insignia myself, the previous arrangement must be canceled. My sincerest apologies, Miss Elsa~"
As he spoke, Roswaal flipped his palm, and the insignia appeared there as neatly as a clown's stage trick.
He held it up in front of Elsa.
The suspicious Bowel Hunter did not answer her employer right away.
Instead, a trace of leisurely delight rose in her face—the kind that only appeared at the beginning of a hunt.