Chapter 55: Chapter 56: School Tuition is More Expensive Than I Thought! (7)

༺ School Tuition is More Expensive Than I Thought! (7) ༻

Elizabeth was trembling.

The idea of someone being shot and killed…

It was incredibly shocking to her.

Especially the announcement that two of the five children would be eliminated via a lottery.

That was so terrifying that she was nearly brought to tears.

Swoosh—

Soon, Elizabeth took out a round bead-like thing from her pocket.

It was dark brown in color and emanated a bitter smell.

“…Is it something to eat?”

Hina, the Priestess of Gluttony, quietly asked.

But Elizabeth slowly shook her trembling head from side to side.

“This is a medicine my dad made. It calms the mind. It’s very bitter and tasteless, but….”

Elizabeth chewed and swallowed the round pill.

It was very bitter, but the bitterness seemed to drive away some of the fear and shock in her heart.

But she quickly came to regret it.

‘I shouldn’t have eaten it alone. The others were shocked too!’

Elizabeth looked around.

She thought that the other kids would be just as stunned as her because of the recent events.

‘But it doesn’t look like they are?’

The other kids seemed to be in better shape than she had expected.

They showed no sign of surprise or fear

‘Not only are Naru and Tywin fine, but even Cecily looks rather composed. As expected of a graceful noble.’

And while Elizabeth was deep in thought, quietly admiring them.

Naru began to fuss around.

“Naru is bored!”

She looked incredibly bored.

Seeing that, Nymph Sifnoi, who had become the caretaker of the children, frowned.

“Such a brat…! Do you want to be disciplined by Sifnoi’s Nymph Skill – Knuckle Rub Attack? It’s late; children should sleep…!”

“Don’t want to!”

For some reason, Naru was provoking the caretaker Sifnoi by acting restlessly.

“But you won’t be able to become a cute Kore if you don’t sleep early…! For your instance, a Kore is a cute and beautiful young lady…!”

Sifnoi growled like a Chihuahua, but to Elizabeth’s eyes, the dagger attached to Sifnoi’s waist looked terrifying.

But Naru didn’t seem to care at all.

“Then, sing me a lullaby! You sing lullabies well, right, Sifnoi?”

“Ah? How did you know that this Sifnoi can sing lullabies…? Can’t help it…! This Sifnoi will sing you a lullaby…!”

The Nymph cleared her throat.

Soon she began to sing a strange song.

“Ditch, ditch, ditch water. Small, small, ditch water. Stream, stream, stream water. Clear, clear stream water. Squi-Squi Squirrel. Little, little forest frie…nd…”

But then.

Something surprising happened.

The Nymph, who had began to sing a lullaby, nodded off and finally fell asleep.

Seeing this, Naru spoke.

“As expected of Sifnoi! When she sings a lullaby, she falls asleep herself! Let’s take this opportunity to escape!”

The restless Naru from just a moment ago was nowhere to be found, and she now spoke calmly and coolly.

Tywin had no choice but to be surprised by this development.

“How did you know that she falls asleep whenever she sings a lullaby? Have you known of this Nymph before?”

“Ung, ung! But she might wake up soon, so we have to get out quickly! If we stay like this, all of us could get hurt!”

Naru was right.

The terrifying boss could return at any time and harm the children.

Swoosh—

Naru cleared the tiger skin that covered the floor of the reception room.

A square metal plate facing the floor was revealed.

“As expected! This is a door leading to the basement! I knew it because the sound was different when I stepped there!”

Naru had been running around the room haphazardly to find a way leading to the basement.

Tywin, realizing this, expressed small admiration.

“I’ve read about it in books. Thieves’ hideouts usually have an emergency exit that leads to the basement. This must be it. The emergency exit.”

A way out.

Elizabeth felt hope.

“Everyone! Let’s get out of here quickly!”

However, it was a shame that it was tightly locked.

“How can we open this? Naru, can you open this?”

“Uh… I don’t think I can with the lockpick I have. Judging by the diamond shape engraved on the iron door, it seems like we need a diamond key….”

Even to Naru’s eyes, the lock of this basement was formidable.

A special key seemed necessary, but no key was found even after rummaging through the sleeping nymph’s pocket.

Instead, they were able to obtain the key that locked the entrance to this reception room from the nymph’s pocket. And they also picked up a few coins.

Rattle—

When Naru carefully unlocked the door of the reception room with the key, a table appeared in the distance.

“Hey! Don’t cheat! How did you get a royal straight flush!”

“What, I’m just lucky! I’m taking all the money!”

The guards sitting at the table were deeply engrossed in their gambling.

Elizabeth, who had good eyes, was able to spot the jingling keys at their waists.

A diamond-shaped pendant was attached to them.

“Could it be that? The key to the basement entrance!”

At her words, the calm Tywin nodded.

“It seems likely. But I don’t know how we can get that. Naru, can you steal it? You’re good at stealing.”

“That’s right! But it’s harder than you think… Naru is good at stealing, but actually not good at moving secretly. See, there are dogs sleeping over there. Dogs have especially sensitive ears.”

Next to the guards, fierce-looking dogs were lying down asleep.

Naru was confident in her hand movements, but it was a difficult task for her to avoid the sensitive ears of the dogs and the eyes of the guards.

“…Uh, I could somehow do it if it was dark but it’s too bright.”

“What should we do!”

Elizabeth panicked.

Unable to escape even with the key right in front of them.

Just as her father’s face began flickering in her vision.

“I’ll do it. Noblesse oblige. In times of crisis, nobles must show exemplary behavior.”

Swoosh—

Someone stepped forward.

It was Cecily.

Tywin was surprised and frowned.

“Cecily, you? You’re going to do something that even Naru can’t do?”

“I’m a noble. I learned how to walk lightly and quietly from my father. Yes. I remember learning from my father. How to walk lightly and quietly like a noble…!”

A memory from a long time ago surfaced in Cecily’s mind.

How to behave elegantly.

Cecily remembered learning how to walk like a noble from her father a long time ago.

She remembered vividly learning how to walk like dancing, placing her foot on her father’s instep.

“…A pleasant memory. How come I just remembered such an important memory….”

Swoosh—

First, Cecily took off the shoes she was wearing.

After also removing her socks, she stepped on the floor barefoot.

She walked with her heels slightly raised.

Slowly, like a cat walking on a wall.

Just that alone was surprisingly soundless.

“Oh, holy shh… Cecily is amazing! Like a cat!”

Everyone, including Naru, was surprised.

However, Cecily with a serious expression silently advanced towards the guards while maintaining her tiptoe stance.

Thump— Thump—

“…Can Cecily really do it?”

Elizabeth’s heart felt like it would burst as she was watching.

Her breathing was becoming increasingly faster and her vision dizzier.

“The medicine, that was the last of it.”

When Elizabeth was scrambling to find the medicine to calm herself down, someone tightly held her hand.

It was Hina, the Priestess of Gluttony, who had been quiet until now.

“It’s okay. That’s… Cecily’s skill「Catwalk」.She absolutely… won’t be discovered.”

Her words were strangely comforting.

Indeed, Cecily was able to reach the thief’s waist without being discovered by the other thieves engrossed in gambling and the sleeping dogs.

“Good! UNO!”1

It previously referenced another card game (GO-Stop), changed it to something that would speak to more people.

“You’re insane! Why would Uno come out in poker!”

The thieves didn’t even notice that Cecily had come close; they were engrossed in their game.

Cecily slowly reached out her hand.

Jingle—n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

She soon stole the bunch of keys hanging around their waists and stealthily returned.

“Phew, this much is easy for Cecily.”

“Amazing! Nobles are amazing!”

Elizabeth hugged Cecily tightly as she returned.

However, Tywin, who had been watching all this, thought.

‘Rather than walking like a noble, wasn’t that totally a thief’s walk?’

Of course, she didn’t voice out such thoughts.

The important thing was to use the keys to escape to the basement.

Jingle— Jingle— Clank— Clank—!

Squeak—

Naru, who had been fumbling with the keys for a while, opened the door to the basement.

“Done! Let’s go quickly! Looking at how windy it is, it is definitely connected to the outside!”

Naru, who had picked up the lantern burning in the reception room, spoke quietly.

Then, taking the lead, she climbed down the ladder extending towards the darkness, soon followed by the children, one after another.

The problem was that the sleeping nymph woke up due to the commotion.

“Hiiik…! The kids are escaping through the secret passage in the basement…! If the kids escape, this Sifnoi will die at the hands of the terrifying Jack Crocker and become A Nymph Hand Bone Staff…!”

The nymph chased after the children.

And they desperately ran away.

* * *

“Boss! The secret passage in the reception room is open! They seemed to have escaped through this route! It looks like they’ve been gone for about 10 minutes!”

“10 minutes at kids’ pace… That means they couldn’t have gone far. We have to deal with this before Jack catches on.”

Conrad, who they were calling boss, drew throwing knives from his waist with his intact hand.

And then, he threw them with a swish.

From the thief reporting the situation nearby to the simple onlookers who had come to see the spectacle, all were pierced through the heart by the throwing knives.

“Why, why, boss….”

“If we’re to make it as if it didn’t happen, then no one must know about this. Except for me, that is. Don’t hold it against me. Such things are commonplace in the world of thieves.”

Conrad chuckled.

It was a vile laugh.

Drag—

He casually hid the bodies nearby and entered the reception room.

There was a trapdoor in the reception room’s floor, which was clearly connected to a tunnel that would allow for a safe escape in case of an emergency.

Conrad tried to enter it.

Of course, he couldn’t just do that.

“What to do about this? It seems impossible to prevent the boss from knowing that this happened.”

It was then that I came out from the shadows where I was hiding again.

Conrad scowled as he saw me appear in the reception room.

“Who the hell are you!”

Swish—

He, tensely, and very quickly, drew out his dagger.

“Who are you?! Even though I was off guard, the way you quickly narrowed the distance was quite impressive! You’re not an ordinary guy! Are you attacking me despite knowing that I’m ‘Hook-Arm Conrad’?”

“I know you well. Salome’s mentor. Right-hand man of Judas Herod, the 12th king of thieves. Or should I say left hand now, since I’ve already cut off one.”

Swoosh—

I rolled up my hood.

Then, Conrad’s eyes filled with confusion.

“…J-Judas. How did you get here….”

“The back of my head that you hit still throbs whenever it rains. I never forgot your face, I almost thought I fell in love with you, bastard.”

“…Did you come for revenge?”

“No, I actually couldn’t care less about you. But I do have business with the brats who ran underground. So, you have to die here.”

“Fuck off, idiot! Do you think this Conrad will be defeated by a brat like you!? One arm is still more than enough!”

Conrad screamed, filled with madness.

He seemed confident.

I activated my A-Class skill 「Scouter」.

By the way, 「Scouter」 is a unique detection skill honed by me through many battles.

It was similar to how convenience store workers would easily detect minors pretending to be adults after a while.

This is an enhanced version of that.

Anyway.

[Stats]

Name: Conrad

Level:. 39 → 34

Strength: 10 → 5

Agility: 12

Endurance: 17

Karma Orientation: Chaos/Evil

According to my Scouter, Conrad’s stats were roughly like this.

Level 39.

Considering that the average strength and agility of an adult male are 3, Conrad’s abilities were extraordinary.

A total of 39 for all his characteristics.

Hence, level 39.

Plus, his strength, agility, and durability all surpassed 10.

Of course, because one of his hands was cut off, his strength was reduced from ’10 to 5′ and his level also fell from ’39 to 34′.

Even then, considering that each stat over 10 is referred to as ‘the realm of superhumans’, Conrad’s level was extraordinary.

By the way, the maximum for each stat is 20.

A stat of 20 is said to go beyond the realm of superhumans and reach that of gods.

“Die, you savage bastard!!!!”

Conrad had veins popping out on his forehead.

His eyes were almost bursting with anger.

The dagger he held in his hand shone particularly sharp.

“Shadow Step.”

Step—

I activated my A-Class skill ‘Shadow Step’.

Although I described it grandly as an A-Class skill, it’s simply exploiting my speed resulting from my 20 Agility points.

Of course, even such simple movements usually provoke a grand reaction from my opponents.

“Wha-What!? He disappeared!? Where the hell did he go!”

“I didn’t disappear, you just missed me.”

“Whaa…!?”

I grabbed the back of Conrad’s head with my palm and pushed it down towards the ground.

Thud—!!!

Conrad lost his balance and face-planted onto the ground in an instant. He screamed in agony but I couldn’t care less.

“I-I can’t move…!”

“Well, I may not be as superhuman as Enkidus or that warrior, but for a thief, my strength is remarkable. Even if you had four arms, you wouldn’t be able to escape.”

“You monster! Aaargh! Ugh! Where the hell did you get that kind of strength…!!!”

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1

It previously referenced another card game (GO-Stop), changed it to something that would speak to more people.