Chapter 422
"I'll take this and that as well, please."
"That's fine, but are you throwing a party, little lady?""No, I'm thinking of making some boxed lunches.""Just how big of an eater are you feeding?"
Ingrid had parted ways with Claudia and arrived at the market accompanied by two Garden Guards as escorts.A beautiful woman in a maid uniform, with two armored guards—an unusual combination that caught the eyes of shopkeepers and shoppers alike.
Some housewives whispered that she might be a noble's daughter.But that speculation was denied by the sight of her picking up vegetables herself and critically examining them with a sharp eye.
Some shopkeepers guessed she was a maid serving some mansion.But would a maid be escorted by two fully armed samurai from the eastern continent?
"No, just preparing food for a number of people.""Is that so? Well, I'm happy to close up shop early thanks to you.""Here's the payment.""...Got it. Come again.""I might, if you procure quality goods again.""Bold one, aren't you? I'll make sure to stock good vegetables that meet your standards."
The vegetable vendor, intimidated by her expressionless yet beautiful face, had initially responded timidly. But watching Ingrid carefully select vegetables, he realized she had a human side and resumed business normally.
She was more polite than any noble's messenger, never haggled or made unreasonable complaints.That alone made her a good customer in the citizens' eyes.Plus, she bought in bulk.That alone made the sales more than satisfactory.
Ingrid then lifted the gathered vegetables with ease, drawing stunned gazes wondering where such strength came from her slender arms.One might think it was some kind of performance, but with her high stats, she could do it naturally.
"Shall I carry that for you?""No, I cannot impede the guards' arms. Please focus on watching our surroundings."
Unable to bear the sight of a woman carrying large amounts of food while the guards remained empty-handed, one Garden Guard offered help. But Ingrid did not wish to hinder their role as "guards."
The luggage itself was only awkward to carry, not heavy.Resigning herself to just endure until she could put it in her magic bag down a side alley, she was about to set off in search of more ingredients when—
A small shadow darted out from under a tree.It was wrapped in a shabby hood, its face hidden, but its movements were quick.A hand reached straight for Ingrid's bag.
A practiced crime, executed at the moment when onlookers' attention was focused on Ingrid.An ordinary person would have had their bag snatched and watched the thief disappear into the crowd.
"Guh!?""My apologies. That is something entrusted to me by someone important. I must ask you to refrain from touching it."
But the thief had picked the wrong target.Perhaps because they had seen her carrying large sums of money, the snatch-and-grab culprit had seized that one chance. But a lightning-fast leg sweep knocked them off balance, and a merciless foot on their back pinned them down.
With the added weight of the vegetables she was carrying, a pressure unimaginable from Ingrid's slender frame assailed the culprit.Regardless of reason, she showed no mercy to thieves.Moreover, attempting to steal the bag entrusted to her by her beloved Liberta was deserving of a thousand deaths.
She had noticed the movement and restrained the Garden Guards with a look, delivering judgment herself for that very reason.Another reason was to prevent the guards, who had reached for their swords, from cutting off the culprit's arm.Ingrid judged that shedding blood in broad daylight would be unwise.
"Ghaa!""It's in your best interest not to move. If I miscalculate my force, I could easily crush your shoulder."
But that didn't mean she would show mercy. She kept her foot firmly planted on the thief trying to escape.When she applied weight to the thief's shoulder struggling beneath her foot, a sharp pain seemed to shoot through them, and the small body writhed in agony.
To some circles, this might be a sight that elicited cries of "This is a reward!", but neither party felt even a trace of such sentiment.
"Restrain them.""Yes, ma'am!"
The Garden Guards, whose protective role had been usurped, followed Ingrid's instruction and quickly bound the thief with tourniquets from their tool pouches.
"Damn it!""Could you not see us guards? To target Ingrid-dono... a foolhardy thief indeed."
When the hood was pulled back, revealed was an androgynous face with dull blonde hair cut roughly.The face, glaring with clenched teeth, seemed to harbor deep resentment.
"A dwarf, is it...?"
The distinctive ears, pointed triangular yet not as long as an elf's—it was the mark of the dwarf race Ingrid had pointed out.
"I'll ask you just in case: have we met before?""......"
For Ingrid, this was a first encounter. Raised in the Gryure family with its creed of trust, her memory was above average.Even dredging through her memories, she had no recollection of meeting this person, be they boy or girl.
In response to Ingrid's question, the culprit merely glared and remained silent.
Judging this troublesome, Ingrid, who showed emotion to none outside her circle, made a decision with an expressionless face.
"Then we will turn you over to the knights' station just as you are. The penalty for theft is amputation of the hand you used to attempt the theft. Spend the rest of your life regretting it, bearing that scar."
It's easy to forget when with Liberta, but Ingrid, too, is a noble.If a criminal offers no defense, she has no hesitation in judging them flatly and bureaucratically.
At hearing the penalty, the thief's eyes flew open with a jolt.
"...Don't know you, not one bit."
Perhaps disliking the prospect of losing an arm, they answered properly in a hoarse voice.Though reluctant, Ingrid judged there was no lie there.
"Is that so? Then why did you target me? As you can see, I have guards. If money was your goal, targeting me seems a poor choice."
They weren't lying, but she judged they were still hiding something.A demeanor she would never show Liberta—the behavior of a cold-blooded noble.A public interrogation, surrounded by onlookers gathered to see what was happening.
"......""It's a bit regrettable, but time is precious, so it cannot be helped.""Huh?"
Questioned normally, they naturally wouldn't answer immediately.Targeting Ingrid—someone had ordered it.There was a client; accepting that commission was obvious.
Unable to leave a seed of anxiety unattended, Ingrid set down the bag of vegetables at her feet and took out one apple.
"Ha! Trying to bribe me with one apple!? Don't mock me!""No, this apple is—"
She crouched down and gently held it out before the thief.A scene that practically said "eat."
The thief, thinking themselves mocked, lashed out in anger, but Ingrid, unfazed by the anger, calmly pinched the apple between her index and middle finger.
"Like this."
"Huh?"
The next instant, she demonstrated the astonishing feat of "cutting" the apple with her fingers.Not crushing it. High-level adventurers could probably destroy it with brute force.
But the abnormal sight of an apple being split clean in two, as if by a sharp blade, left onlookers stunned.
"I-It's some kind of skill!! Threats like that won't—""No, it's raw strength."
When confronted with the extraordinary, humans try to steer their thoughts in convenient directions.They replace it with comprehensible phenomena and try to accept it.The unknown directly connects to fear, and they instinctively avoid the inexplicable.
What did the thief see Ingrid as now?
"A-An apple, even I could—""Then I can also do this."
Before the thief, desperately trying to shake off fear with bravado, Ingrid quietly raised her index finger.The crowd, the thief—all were drawn to follow that finger.
A well-manicured, glossy finger dripping with apple juice.A finger so graceful one couldn't imagine it had just split an apple.What would that finger do next? Gazes filled with a mix of expectation and anxiety converged on that single point.
Then, the fingertip was brought down in a flowing motion.
"I-It pierced...""That's stone pavement, damn it."
Ingrid's index finger had pierced a hole in the stone pavement.With absurd ease. As if piercing wet paper.Her finger was embedded in the hard stone as if the hole had always been there.
"I-It just happened to be a hole there—""Shall I try it on your body next?"
The thief didn't want to accept reality. Something like this couldn't be possible.In their common sense, no woman capable of such a feat existed.
That's what they must have thought, yet—
"Eeek!?"
The maid looking down expressionlessly—the pressure radiating from Ingrid made the thief sweat from every pore.Whether it was pride as a thief, or their body simply froze from sheer terror, they managed not to lose control of their bladder.
"I will ask you questions exactly three times now. You may choose silence twice. If you choose silence a third time... you understand what will happen, don't you?""......"
For Ingrid, this cold noble persona was something she never wanted to show Liberta and the others.Her kind companions, the people who valued her.She was profoundly relieved they were not present here.
Toward those who direct hostility at them, Ingrid had no option for mercy.She wouldn't kill, but she fixed the thief with a gaze so icy it made them feel they would be killed.
"Ghk!?""That was your first silence. I'll ask the same question. Do you understand?"
Before the pinned thief's eyes. She thrust her finger again, piercing another new hole in the pavement.This time, she truly slammed reality home.There had been no hole there.Ingrid slowly withdrew her finger, as if to drive the point home.
"Gh...!"
At that act, the thief finally understood the meaning of the "question" and nodded frantically, throwing caution to the wind.
What would happen if an attack that could punch holes in stone pavement was driven into their forehead?Imagining it, the thief's face turned ashen.A quick death would be merciful. But to be marked with despair that wouldn't let them die...
Such imaginings filled their mind.
Of course, Ingrid had no intention of doing something so cruel in public.But her expressionlessness and abnormal ability led those around to envision the worst outcome.
"Now, I will ask my questions. What is your name?""...Gin.""Yes. Now, Gin-sama, why did you target me?"
The common sense that she "couldn't possibly" was overwritten by the premonition that she "just might."
"Please answer.""...A-an order. I was ordered to steal your bag!"
Bad premonitions stir anxiety, shatter reason, and tip the scales.Even information about the employer, which should never be spoken, was willingly spilled by a tongue grown slick, armed with the excuse of a life-threatening crisis.
"Is that so? Then—"
However, no matter how smoothly it was spoken, if it was a lie, it had no meaning.
"That would be the same as a second silence. Next time... I'll aim here."
Ingrid was a girl raised in a noble society coated in pretense and lies.Seeing through an improvisational thief's lies was, for her, easier than twisting a baby's arm.