Chapter 5

Lin Tianyin had basically just left the beginner’s village, yet all of their belongings including their lunch boxes were stolen by a monkey. Most importantly, that bag had also contained their Greater Recovery scroll… if they didn’t have that when they fought the demon lord, it would be same as suicide, right?

Faced with such a predicament, Gagaf proposed that they ask around for any news once they arrived at the town below the mountain. What else could they do? From the monkey’s technique, it was clearly a habitual offender, so the locals ought to know something.

As Lin Tianyin listened to Gagaf’s suggestion, she started to feel hungry again. Her current body seemed to get hungry faster and more intensely than others’. In the end, she could only roll her eyes and stare at the sky lifelessly while following Milona and Gagaf down the mountain. Everyone walked significantly faster than before, so they finally reached the town near the foot of the mountain before the sky was completely dark.

This town was much more lively than the nameless village where Lin Tianyin had been living. The streets were brightly lit at night, and the brick houses lining the road all had the same crimson roof tiles, which looked neat and beautiful. Stupidly famished, Lin Tianyin instinctively followed the aroma of food and staggered along the gravel road to the entrance of a tavern. She looked expectantly at Gagaf, who had been walking helplessly behind her: “Let’s go eat something?!”

“Did you forget, Shanoa? That monkey stole everything that we own.” Gagaf shook his head sadly.

Lin Tianyin’s eyes widened in surprise, unable to believe this. “You’re joking? You’re the son of the village chief, and you don’t have a single penny in your pockets?”

“Nope. Didn’t the villagers give you all of the money?” Gagaf asked.

“…”

But that money was only enough for a few meals in a restaurant?! They were going to fight the demon lord, so why were the people in their village so stingy?!

The corner of Lin Tianyin’s mouth twitched. She didn’t know what to say, but then she spotted Milona looking at her all cute and pitiful like a puppy, and she suddenly had an idea. She grabbed Milona and pointed at the tavern: “Milona, it’s time for you to be useful! Go beg for something for us to eat!”

“Eh? Why?” Milona’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m also very hungry, but…”

“All the men like you, and nobody will refuse to give a pretty maiden something nice to eat.” Lin Tianyin frowned and urged her on. “Quickly, hurry up and find a person to seduce.”

“But, it’s not very good to…” Milona looked like she was about to cry. She tearfully looked at Gagaf beside her for help. Gagaf coughed dryly, and then pointed at the bag of feathers he was carrying. He smiled stiffly and spoke: “There’s no need to embarrass Milona. We can sell these for money.”

“The market is probably closed at this time of day.” Lin Tianyin clutched her growling stomach, and spoke with a dull look in her eyes. “I’m going to hallucinate again…”

“Then… we’ll ask around about the black market somehow. If we’re lucky, we might find the person who stole our stuff…”

It seemed that Lin Tianyin’s words were more threatening than anything else, and Gagaf reassured Lin Tianyin in cold sweat.

However, at that moment, a little kid wearing a green beret hurried past the group, followed by a squeaking monkey.

“Hurry up, Pippi, or we won’t make the auction in time!”

“Cheechiee1!!”

The three travelers stared blankly at the boy and the monkey, before Lin Tianyin suddenly jumped up from the ground. She pointed at the monkey and screamed: “It’s that one!! There’s a red string tied to its neck!”

“It really is!”

“Grab it!!!”

The three companions broke into a run after the kid and his monkey. The boy wearing the beret suddenly realized that people were chasing him, and he grimaced in surprise: “Huh? What the—?!”

“Stop! Give us back our bag!” Lin Tianyin shouted as she followed close behind, her face full of fury.

As soon as he heard they wanted their bag back, the rascal with a beret ran even faster. He turned his head and made a face at Lin Tianyin: “Idiot! Why would I give it back?! Catch me if you can, fat old hag!”

“What did you say?! You called me a fat old hag?!”

The monkey following the youth copied its owner’s behavior and made a silly face at Lin Tianyin and the others. This made Lin Tianyin flush with anger, and she shouted at Gagaf in humiliation: “H-Hurry up and shoot that stupid brat in the ass! ”

“That’s no good.” Gagaf frowned deeply. “Even if he stole our stuff, you can’t do that sort of thing to a minor…”

“Damn it! Our family’s heirloom scroll is in there…” Lin Tianyin gritted her teeth. That kid was even faster than the monkey, and the three of them chased him through the winding streets for a long time, but they couldn’t catch him.

“Hehe, give it up, fat lady! You can’t catch me!” The kid held onto his beret as he ran, laughing triumphantly at the three adventurer’s who were chasing him out of breath. Lin Tianyin was about to explode. Seeing that the rascal was about to disappear into an alleyway, she suddenly had an idea, grabbed Gagaf who was running in front of her, and picked him up.

“S-Shanoa?! What are you doing?”

Before Gagaf could figure out what was happening, Lin Tianyin suddenly hurled with all of her strength, sending Gagaf flying forwards.

Velocity times force equals incredible power2. Gagaf cried out in alarm, and then he crashed right on top of the monkey and the kid like a giant bomb.

“E-Eeep?!”

By the time the kid in the beret realized something was wrong, it was too late. Gagaf, who had been thrown like a cannonball, already smashed into them. They both screamed at the same time as he was squished by Gagaf, and he was promptly pinned down by Lin Tianyin who rushed up from behind.

At this point, the kid’s formerly triumphant face had turned fearful.

“W-What do you want?”

The kid in the green beret, who was tied together with the monkey, inched backwards in fear. With a hand on her hip, Lin Tianyin angrily pointed at the boy’s nose and spoke: “Isn’t it obvious? We want our bag back!”

“…” The child pouted as he looked at Lin Tianyin. He turned his head away with a humph, and answered with displeasure. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“What?! I’ll beat you up if you keep lying!” Lin Tianyin raised her fist threateningly, and flashed her biceps that were the product of two months of training. Milona hurriedly grabbed Lin Tianyin, and interrupted in her usual soft voice: “Don’t scare the child with threats, Shanoa.”

Lin Tianyin thought to herself that she wasn’t bluffing… because she really was going to punch that bastard. However, as a stereotypical Mary Sue heroine, Milona really projected her goddess aura, and gently patted the head of the child and monkey. She smiled and said: “Can you please return that bag? There’s something extremely important to us in there.”

“…”

The boy with the beret stared at Milona for a long time, then suddenly lowered his head and responded softly.

“…mhm.”

What?! He agreed that easily?!

Lin Tianyin’s mouth dropped. Don’t agree so simply! Isn’t Milona’s Mary Sue aura a bit too strong? How was it possible to reform a pickpocketing boy so easily?!

“Thank you.” Milona looked happy as she smiled at the boy like a goddess. Then she turned to Lin Tianyin and Gagaf. “Let’s untie this child.”

“Won’t he just run away?” Lin Tianyin was skeptical of Milona’s suggestion, and Gagaf hesitantly seemed to have similar doubts.

“No, I believe in this boy.” Mironia nodded firmly, as if she truly had the power to move people’s hearts.

This time, not only the boy, but also Lin Tianyin and Gagaf seemed to be infected by her. Gagaf untied the rope around the child and the monkey, and was about to let the boy take them to retrieve the bag. The kid with the beret suddenly leapt up from the ground, turned, and ran.

“Are you all idiots? Who’d believe that bullshit?! I’m not giving anything back!”

The kid shouted and bolted away. Confronted with this sudden reversal, Lin Tianyin was also dumbfounded. They stared blankly at the fleeing rascal. A short while later, they came to their senses and ran off in pursuit.

“No way… that child lied to me!” Milonia buried her face into her handkerchief as she ran, as if she was about to cry. Gagaf comforted her awkwardly from the side: “Don’t be sad… we won’t be tricked the next time we catch him…”

So that stinky kid was never moved by Milona at all? Lin Tianyin was speechless for a while, unsure whether she should be happy or upset. She remembered that in the original work, Milona’s love life also seemed to be filled with hiccups, and even the prince wasn’t an ordinary person… forget it, she was just reminded of how Shanoa’s character was stabbed to death. She coldly muttered: “I’ve been saying from the beginning that the kid won’t tell the truth unless he suffers for a bit.”

“Shanoa, you were right!” Milona wailed in grief, as if in total despair about the true nature of the universe. “I’m never going to trust anyone!”

Lin Tianyin’s face twitched. She didn’t have any reaction towards Milona. Seeing that the little bastard was running further away, she once again looked at Gagaf beside her.

“…”

Gagaf seemed to understand what Lin Tianyin was thinking, and his face contorted. He rapidly scanned their surroundings for anything that could replace him. However, after finding nothing, he sighed helplessly. “…I’m ready now. Let’s go.”

“Hahaha idiots! There’s no way the same trick will work on the amazing me twice!”

When the beret kid saw Lin Tianyin lifting Gagaf up, he laughed arrogantly. He swerved with the monkey into a narrow and small alleyway that was covered with a canopy shade. However, Lin Tianyin didn’t change her plans, and started spinning Gagaf above her head.

“W-Wait, what are you doing?!”

After a single “Guwaah!”, Milona watched in shock as Gagaf shot forward like a cruise missile. It was a direct hit on the child and monkey, who were very much stunned. On this peaceful evening, three shouts echoed through the town streets.