Chapter 13

### Chapter 13: How to Steal a Hero's Woman (12)

Blink, blink, blink.

A small light was blinking repeatedly from the ruby.

“...”

“...”

[...]

Squish. (XX: ...)

I, Viola, Armonia, and my identity all fell silent.

Except for one.

-At lunch, we had chicken soup...-

What a fucking vlog...

I've been watching this kid for a while now, and he's a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

He was a completely different person from the information I had gathered.

That bright smile would turn into a thousand slaps and turn me into a pork cutlet, then fry me in hellfire.

I calculated in my head and came up with one possible outcome.

'Armonia.'

[Yes.]

'Let's stick to the original plan. Have we received any response from the Zodiac side regarding our plan?'

[We sent a message, but we haven't received a definite response yet. There is a faster way to resolve this.]

'What is it?'

[We can go directly to the Zodiac side in the ship and explain the situation. However, even with a warp, it will take about two days. During that time, communication and the use of Enel will be impossible.]

Advice and Enel. Can I really overcome the handicap of not having these two things?

But there's no other way.

'Got it, let's go quickly!'

[Understood. To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, I'll make sure to display the temperament of all characters, even if it's a hassle. If there are any changes, I'll send a notification. ...Please be careful.]

With that, Armonia's communication was cut off.

As Armonia said, a status window appeared above Viola's head, and one also appeared above mine.

I confirmed that the communication was cut off and looked at Viola.

Viola's face was pale, and she seemed like a completely different person from the Viola I knew.

Viola hugged me and looked up, speaking urgently.

"We need to leave quickly! If my brother finds out... I don't care what happens to me..."

Viola hugged me tightly, not wanting to let go.

I wrapped my arms around Viola's head and said,

"Viola, let's go together."

"Huh?"

I finished the conversation I couldn't have earlier.

The original plan was to stay here with Viola (and also teach her) and confirm the success of the request from the Zodiac side, receive Enel, and then take Viola back to Kibotos.

Initially, I planned to gradually persuade her to come with me, but now wasn't the time for that.

This plan was based on the assumption that Viola would come with me.

If she didn't, it would be meaningless.

But I was confident she would come.

Her longing for the outside world, her desire to be free from her brother, and the indifference of the people around her.

I believed she would follow me, as I had solved all these problems for her.

"Yes! I'll go with you, Mr. Suho!"

"Thank you for trusting me."

"But... what about my brother...?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

I kissed Viola to calm her down.

***

When I tried to leave, Viola looked at me with fear, begging me not to go.

She seemed anxious because of the sudden series of events.

I understood Viola's feelings, but today's task was important.

I promised to come back tomorrow and managed to leave.

Viola made sure I could freely use the secret passage before I left and asked me to come back.

It was past midnight, and it was already dawn.

I returned to the village chief's house.

Instead of climbing through the window, I used the key I received yesterday to open the door.

Click.

"Even though it's his own house, he sure locks the door where others sleep well..."

I carefully entered the village chief's house.

According to the old woman, the village chief knew something.

He might have left some records for himself.

"Second floor, I know that much..."

On the second floor, there were three rooms.

But the village chief's room was obvious.

"Who would write 'Village Chief' on a sign for their own room...?"

Is being a village chief that good?

I tried the doorknob gently.

It opened.

He didn't even lock his own door.

He probably thought that locking my door would solve everything...

As soon as I entered the room, I heard snoring.

Snore!

"Ha..."

I already started missing Armonia.

Armonia wouldn't snore, right?... But if she did, it would be cute.

Snore!

I wanted to find something quickly to avoid hearing that.

I shook off my thoughts and activated the mana stone I received from the vigilante.

Whoosh.

The sudden light was almost as bright as the Sun Fist from Heavenly Punishment.

Shit! It's so bright! Will I get caught!?

Snore!

"..."

I took a piece of cloth, which I assumed was a rag, and placed it over the village chief's eyes.

Snore!

"..."

It was as annoying as the hero kid's vlog.

I started searching the room.

Thump, thud, creak, thump...

Snore!!

"Let's just focus on finding it."

Seeing the village chief made me realize how peaceful this village was.

Even I, who lived in a big city, would wake up if I heard a noise at night, thinking my sister was stealing my money.

While searching the room, I opened the wardrobe and saw a safe between the clothes.

The safe was made of rusted iron.

"Okay~ Armonia, the safe key... Shit."

Damn... Armonia isn't here.

Moreover, the safe wasn't something I could just carry away.

"Anyway, there should be a key."

I searched the room again.

But all I found was...

"What the hell? Why does the village chief have this?"

A lock pick appeared.

A lock pick is a tool used to pick locks.

Finding it in the village chief's house was strange.

The key didn't appear...

"Maybe..."

I checked the village chief's temperament and noticed two things.

-[Lockpicking], [Old-style Lockpicking (舊式 解錠術) LV 23]-

"Damn... Could he have opened the safe without a key using this?"

The lock pick was in good condition, indicating regular use.

A village chief with lockpicking skills...

There are all kinds of people in the world, but...

But...

I'm screwed. I came all this way for nothing.

The safe must contain important treasures or documents...

I inserted the lock pick into the safe's keyhole and fiddled with it.

"Damn... How do I do this...? Huh?"

I gained a new temperament.

-[Old-style Lockpicking LV 25]-

With this new skill, I could easily open the safe.

Even though I had never used a lock pick before, my hands naturally opened the safe.

"I'll have to discuss this with Armonia later. She probably doesn't know about it either..."

I don't know what's happening, but the important thing now is the contents of the safe.

I checked inside the safe.

Two fake crystal pearls greeted me from the front.

The rest were piles of precious metals.

"These are probably real... Ah! There it is."

Inside the safe, there were many documents.

Reading them, I understood what they were.

A diary.

"So, he lived here alone even though he had a family."

His daughter was married to a noble's son, and his son was a manager of the noble's land. His wife also seemed to be living well in the noble's territory.

Most of the diary entries showed that he wanted to leave this place quickly.

"Hmm... Doesn't seem like much. Oh?"

Older documents were more like records.

And in those documents...

"Damn... How many people did you kill?"

The names and details of people the hero killed were listed.

Not only that, but events in the territory were also recorded.

At a glance, it seemed to be dozens... no, over a hundred.

"Let's take it."

I took out one of the village chief's clothes, put the precious metals and diaries inside, tied it up, and left the room.

Except for the crystal pearls...

***

I put the stolen items in the secret passage in the forest and went to bed.

When I woke up and went to the living room, the village chief was waiting for me calmly.

"Make me some food."

Shit, the village chief says it as if it's obvious.

But I can't use Enel right now!

"I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling well today. I'll definitely make it for you tomorrow."

"Ah... You're useless, useless! I get it."

The village chief went upstairs and slammed the door.

"Damn, what a piece of trash..."

Fortunately, he hadn't checked the safe yet.

He probably doesn't check it every day...

I left the house, picked up the bundle of the village chief's clothes I had hidden, and went out of the village.

I found the old woman.

As soon as she saw me, she glared at me.

"What do you want today?"

"I have something to tell you."

..

..

"What the hell... Why should I...?"

"You'll definitely like it."

"Fine... I get it! Go on... "

I left the old woman and went back to the village.

-30 minutes later in the village-

I managed to meet the vigilante, who kept clinging to me, and led him to a corner secretly.

"Looks like we have time today. How about some drinks...?"

"Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh