Chapter 89

He hadn’t expected… that with that single shout just now, the restraints on his arm had really disappeared!

Flexing his palms and wrists, Hanks twisted his neck, producing a series of creaks, then gave the brown-robed person—whose frame was several sizes smaller than his—a vicious grin and assumed a fighting stance.

"Heh, you’re here to show off, taking advantage of me getting pinned down by some dirty trick, aren’t you? Too bad, looks like your luck isn’t too good."

"It isn’t too good."

"Ah?"

Those words—Timani hadn’t been speaking to Hanks at all.

Her gaze drifted silently toward the area of tables and chairs cut off from sight. The room was a wreck, yet that one corner remained perfectly undisturbed.

She hadn’t expected that little girl to have such a sense of justice…

When she said luck wasn’t too good, she was referring to always running into the Hero and that strange little girl.

Timani felt no fondness for humans. In her eyes, humans were nothing but insatiably greedy, utterly without principle.

But that girl… somehow didn’t seem entirely the same.

It didn’t matter.

This wouldn’t shake Timani’s view of humanity as a whole.

However…

More than she hated humans—

She hated something else even more.

"That’s true… Just as well. I’m used to settling problems with my fists. And I especially hate trash who bully the weak and fear the strong. Go ahead and make your move."

"Oh ho? A woman, is it? Even better! Today, I don’t care if you’re man or woman—I’m going to beat you down! Grit your teeth…! Wha—?!"

The onlookers were all dumbstruck…

Had the "Bloodthirsty Hanks" just let out a wail more pitiful than any woman’s?

No wonder he’d screamed like that.

Because Hanks—he was no longer standing where he’d been.

In just the blink of an eye, the brown-robed person’s fist, extending from beneath the robe and sheathed in flames, had struck toward Hanks’s face with an inconceivable speed, appearing almost weightless.

The fist hadn’t even touched Hanks’s face yet—only the moment the flames reached him first, the burly man, nearly two meters tall, was blown away like a sheet of flimsy paper caught in a hurricane!

The stone wall behind him burst open with a man-shaped hole, limbs splayed out in absurd contortion. And "Bloodthirsty Hanks" now lay smoldering and motionless inside another shop across the street.

The stone wall of that other shop had been smashed open in a similar but not identical man-shaped void, forming a kind of mirrored symmetry with the tavern—almost an artistic balance.

Not only Hanks—even the scar-faced man who had been lying unconscious just now was swept out by the blast of flame, landing sprawled across the street.

The brown-robed person clapped her slender, delicate hand—still smoking faintly after the flames extinguished—and muttered disdainfully to herself.

"Well… at this level, they probably won’t die. Probably…"

When Hanks and Scarface had been fighting, none of the onlookers had fled.

But after witnessing this scene so outrageous it defied belief, the instant one of them shrieked in terror, the crowd finally scattered in every direction!

"Mo… monster!!"

"Run! Quick—get out of here! I can’t stay in this tavern another second!"

"Ahhhhhh! He knocked Hanks flat with a single punch—am I dreaming? I must be dreaming!!"

She had always been rather fond of something Sheffy once said to Livra when they were catching a thief:

——"Just look at the things you’ve chosen to protect~"

Originally, the tavern had only suffered a few smashed tables and chairs—something that could still be repaired with a hammer and a bit of work. But now, great—she’d just added an extra side entrance to the building!

The cool breeze from outside blew into the empty, wrecked tavern. Passersby on the street were craning their necks to peer in but didn’t dare get any closer.

The tavern proprietress was cowering in the corner, staring in terror at the "ordinary employee unwilling to reveal her face" who had sent the rampaging adventurer flying. She had no idea what she should say now.

Timani stood looking at the gaping hole smashed through the wall for quite a while before slowly drawing her arm back into her robe.

Even though her face couldn’t be seen, one could almost sense her mood sinking into disappointment.

She turned her head toward the proprietress and let out a long sigh.

"Tini…?"

"Sorry, proprietress. The compensation for the damage… just deduct it from my wages these past few days. I’ve really had enough of this…"

"Ha… all…? What… eh?"

It seemed the proprietress was still basically too confused to process anything.

Timani didn’t know what to say either.

She always felt she and money were somehow fated to be enemies!

She’d just wanted to do some work and earn a little to fill her belly, but even when she held back as much as she could, she’d still managed to punch a hole clear through the wall.

When she tried going to the arena to make a bit of coin, she’d restrained herself again, only to be forcibly disqualified after her barrier failed to withstand her spell.

Ah… she really couldn’t understand how everyone else managed not to starve to death.

Timani turned, intending to slip away quietly.

But the proprietress braced herself against the stone wall and suddenly stood up, calling out to her.

"Tini?"

"Do you still need something?"

"It’s just… about your wages…"

"Planning to pay me a little, after all?"

"No, it’s… your wages aren’t enough to cover the damage… you’ve only worked here two days…"

"……"

Ugh!

Not enough money! So then—what do you all want me to do?!

Why don’t you look around for somewhere that needs fire, and I’ll go breathe flames for you to earn it back—is that good enough?!

But then the proprietress suddenly gave a cautious, hesitant smile and said something that caught Timani completely off guard.

"No… no, it’s true the money isn’t enough, but I never planned to make you pay it anyway. You helped drive the troublemakers out of the tavern—I should be thanking you, I’m more grateful than anything…! Now that everyone knows our tavern has someone like you here, I doubt any of those thugs will dare come causing trouble again!"

"R… really?"

This… was an outcome Timani had never expected at all?

I smashed a hole in her wall, and she doesn’t want me to pay for it?

The proprietress, already past fifty, shook her head. There wasn’t the slightest trace of falsehood in her earnest tone.

"I don’t know why you always cover yourself with that hood, but you must have your reasons… Ah, I think a child like you, with such a sense of justice, surely isn’t a bad person. As for the damages… those troublemakers should be the ones to take responsibility. There’s no reason for you to bear it. They’ll have to pay not only to repair the building but also for the meals my fleeing customers left behind!"

"I see…"

"From the look of you, are you planning to leave…? But if you ever want to come work in Auntie’s shop again, you’re always welcome… What happened today… Auntie will keep it secret for you! I’ll just say those adventurers got into a fight among themselves—I won’t tell a soul!"

"……"

So that’s how it is…

Before departing Aurus—

Timani seemed to understand, if only a little, why this race could be so wretched and yet still endure to this day.

It was as if between Heaven and Hell, the entire world lay in between.

Human good and evil were like a mirror—nothing absolute about it.

She still couldn’t fully grasp all of this.

Honestly, she still didn’t really understand.

If she ever got the chance… perhaps she ought to humble herself and ask that little girl how she made sense of it all?

That one was rather strange—she might actually have some unique insights.

Uh… little girl?

As she thought this—

Timani’s eyes suddenly flew wide open in shock.

An unearthly shiver, the likes of which she’d never felt since birth, froze her in place, unable to move!

She sensed that all around her… some unfathomable magic, as deep as an abyss, was stirring.

And in the next instant—

A soft green halo, imbued with a power that healed and soothed the heart, surged through every corner of the tavern like a rising tide.

The broken planks and shattered stones seemed to take on life of their own, crawling back to their original places, reassembling themselves into whole chairs and tables.

Even the wall that had been punched clean through returned to perfect solidity, as if nothing had ever happened.

In the span of just a few blinks, the ruined tavern looked as though it had never suffered any damage at all, pristine and intact.

This utterly incomprehensible scene startled the proprietress so badly she was frightened all over again.

She could hardly believe her eyes!

"This… this…! Tini? Was this your doing too? Just who… who are you really?!"

"Not me… tch."

........................................

【High-Rank Restoration Magic】

Xiarette realized that Sheffy had quietly unleashed a magic that could only be called miraculous. Although she agreed with Sheffy’s habit of doing good deeds, this… this—

"Shaya… isn’t this a bit too much? Someone might actually notice this!"

"Mm…! But but! Remember that story from the last life… the Three Bowls and You Can’t Leave the Pass! So no more!"

"Shaya… what exactly have you been drinking?"

"Drinking… what? Butterflies… definitely drinking butterflies! So many little lucky butterflies… hehe, Xiarette, hug…"

"?!"

Seeing Sheffy’s cheeks suddenly flush with tipsy color as she reached out to ask for a hug, Xiarette, of course, felt her heart bloom with delight.

But this wasn’t the time for any of that…?!

Xiarette hurriedly grabbed the wooden keg Sheffy had just been drinking from and sniffed inside.

Then, she furrowed her brow.

This was no beverage…

This was clearly grape wine!

Timani… you must have brought out the wrong thing when you served it earlier.

At this moment, even the usually gentle and elegant Xiarette was tempted to curse that fire lizard out loud!

---

11. Secrets (5K)

Have you ever seen a foolish little loli throwing a drunken tantrum?

Ha…! Impossible—Shaya never caused any destruction when she got drunk.

Not only did she not make a mess, she was even helping the tavern repair the building!

"Pffwahahaha…! Xiarette, you… you blow this house up!"

"Blow it up?!"

"Yes… yes! If you don’t blow it up, how can I fix it… You blow it up… and then I can repair it again!"

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