“You’re a genius! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ve been so focused on the stones themselves that I neglected the design of their housing! Young lady, what’s your name!?”
He grabbed Raze’s hand, shaking it vigorously.
“Uh… Raze Granoli,”
she answered reluctantly. She hadn’t expected to use her alias outside of school, but there it was.
“Thank you! You’re my savior!”
Quartz exclaimed joyfully.
“To show my gratitude, pick any charm you like and take it home with you!”
he declared, unlocking one of the heavily secured display cases.
But just as the case opened—
A masked man barged into the store, completely out of place in the elegant surroundings.
“Who’s that?”
the store attendant murmured in surprise.
“Close the case!”
Raze shouted instinctively, sensing danger.
She lunged forward to shut the display case, but it was too late.
The masked man shoved Quartz aside, grabbed Raze by the arm, and flung her to the floor. Then he snatched up the charms from the open case and scattered them across the shop. A few rings clattered to the ground near Raze.
“Granoli!”
Addis called out, rushing toward her, while Claude assumed a combat stance.
“Don’t move!”
“Don’t use magic!”
The man’s warning, along with Quartz’s urgent cry from the floor, caused the Claude and Addiss to freeze in place.
(This is bad…)
Raze propped herself up from the ground and grimaced inwardly.
No matter the situation, magic was strictly forbidden in charm shops.
The reason was simple: the store was filled with unowned magic stones, and if someone used magic, the nearby stones could be triggered by the signal, causing them to malfunction.
Such malfunctions could lead to disastrous accidents. There were actual cases where unregulated magic stones caused massive explosions or distorted spells that resulted in fatalities.
The showcases were not just for display; they doubled as safety barriers. Without the stones being secured inside, it was impossible to safely cast magic in the vicinity.
“If you value your life, don’t take a single step!”
The man barked his warning, pointing his sword at the shop assistant—a brave woman who had been sternly scolding Quartz moments earlier.
A magic stone robbery. It seemed Raze and her companions had drawn the short straw of the event lottery.
Her specialty, teleportation magic, was off-limits. There was a real risk of distorting the spell, which could result in transferring someone to the middle of the ocean, into solid ground, or worse, tearing their body apart mid-transport.
(What a terrible situation to land in…)
Caught in this sudden crisis, Raze bit her lip.
The robbers numbered three in total.
One of them had taken the shop assistant hostage, a sword pressed against her neck, leaving no room for careless movements. The other two were locking the doors and securing the windows, ensuring that no one could see or escape from the inside. They were clearly experienced at this.
“Hand over the charms. If you try anything funny, this woman dies.”
“…M-Master…” the shop assistant, Tina, stammered in fear.
“I understand. Just don’t harm Tina,”
He removed the watch from his wrist and placed it on top of a nearby showcase, complying with their demand without hesitation.
“……You too……”
Responding to Quartz’s plea, Claude removes his anklet and Addis takes off his necklace.
“You too, hurry up. Those earrings, right?”
The largest man stands in front of Raze and reaches out his hand.
“Kyaa!”
–A shrill, frail voice rises from Raze, one they had never heard before.
For a moment, Addis and Claude, unsure whose voice it was, stop moving and their eyes widen.
“N-No, please don’t! I can’t take these off!”
Trembling terribly, the small frail girl looked up tearfully at the man grabbing her pierced earlobe.
“Excuses like that won’t work on us, little missy.”
“Hii……!”
Raze’s acting is in vain as the man pulls forcefully on the earring.
“Ugh……”
With a snap, the gemstone vanishes into the man’s hand.
Though not particularly painful, to maintain her frail girl act, Raze continues performing.
She cups her bleeding ear and lets fear seep into her face.
(I thought when separated from this gemstone, it would be the time I die……)
But with the black stone earring she had overcome so many ordeals with now gone, her eyes are completely cold.
“Tie up the men and this woman and leave them. Take the girl as insurance.”
“What!? Let her go, I’ll take her place–“
As Addis starts to resist while being tied up and say something unnecessary, Raze silences him with just her gaze from the men’s blind spot.
If he was identified here as the prime minister’s kid, it would cause even more trouble.
After confirming Addis is silent, Raze feebly struggles and puts on an act of resistance.
“Don’t worry. If we get away cleanly, I’ll just ditch her somewhere. Not that I know where to ditch her, or what will happen to such a tiny kid without a gemstone, but oh well.”
Saying that, the man squats down and grabs Raze’s chin from below with one hand.
“You look so pitiful cowering in fear. Coming here today was the end of your luck. You’ve got a cute face though, if I take a good look. Maybe I’ll sell you off somewhere.”
Appraising her like merchandise, the man who threw Raze out of the showcase studies her face.
It could have been worse if it was Carne or Folia instead, just that thought makes her insides churn.
Once her hands and feet are securely bound, Raze is carried out the back door by the man.
“Granoli!”
She hears her name called, but this is just a temporary parting.
(Well, I’ve been beautifully caught up in a kidnapping incident…)
But this is fine. She had anticipated taking a hostage during the escape, so Raze maneuvered things to have herself taken.
The criminal group must have prepared a small transfer device, as she is enveloped in light.
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(This is–)
The first thing Raze senses is the smell of the ocean.
“That was pretty easy this time.”
As the light fades, she is unceremoniously dropped to the floor and rolls.
Looking around, she understands where they are.
“A ship–?”
An unexpected transfer destination.
Raze has been kidnapped onto a ship. On the sea. The brilliant summer sun shines down on her.
“What’s up with her?”
“Insurance. If anything happens, we can use her as a decoy to escape. Not that she’d know where this is.”
Raze twists her body to sit up and assess the situation.
“Don’t even think about trying to escape. You’ll just end up as fish food in the sea.”
“Oh, no. ……”
While maintaining her tone and expression, she glances around furtively.
By her quick count, including the three robbers, there are six men total. The ship is not huge but a decent-sized fishing boat.
“Guess we made a good haul this time, eh?”
“Yeah. If we sell those fish and the stolen gemstones to some loaded nobles, we’ll be set for a while.”
The men remove their masks and smile as they check inside their bags.
(Those fish…? So they’re fishermen?)
All the men are tanned by the sun. Their physiques are decent but some look rather haggard.
Talk of selling stolen goods to nobles is starting to sound fishy.
There’s still an hour until the meetup time with Carne and the others at the hotel.
Unfortunately, she won’t have much leisure to enjoy a boat ride.
The transfer device the men used is normally a set of two, allowing travel to the location of the other device. Based on the size, the range is about ten kilometers.
She wants to check how far they’ve gone but can’t see outside from her seated position behind the railing.
“More importantly, are you all done with the processing?”
“We’re working on it now. It was a huge catch, so the numbers aren’t going down at all!”
Hahaha, one of the henchmen laughs cheerfully.
“We’ll take a break then help out. Be sure to properly secure the gemstones.”
“Yes! We’re not using any magic, they’re safely stored in the security containers.”
Energetically answering the leader, the man glances at Raze.
“By the way, what are we doing with that girl?”
“Just toss her in the cargo hold for now.”
“Got it!”
Raze’s foot bindings are removed and she is made to walk.
Taking this chance to survey their surroundings, she sees land is still visible, so they can’t be too far out.
“Get in.”
She is led to a dilapidated wooden box-like cargo space inside the foul-smelling ship.
The men are single-mindedly gutting fish, separating them into buckets.
“Ah man. I’m used to it but they really are grotesquely shaped.”
“May look that way. But the taste ain’t half bad, you know?”
And then–.
Seeing those fish, the light fades from Raze’s eyes.
The glimmering gemstones reflecting light off their foreheads, attached to bizarrely shaped fish.
“–Monsters.”
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