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Cat ears poked out from silver hair.
He looked a little younger than Liz. He was still short, and his voice was high. He wore a navy vest and light-brown trousers, with a cute tail growing from the seat of them.
Apparently he had been hiding behind something when Levia caught him and sent him flying over.
“Fuhahahaha! I caught him! Kitty acquired!”
“Ow! Let me go! I’ll punch you!”
The boy was tied up tightly from head to toe. He seemed to have a fairly strong-willed personality, because even in this incomprehensible situation he was glaring at Levia, his captor, and shouting at her.
Ney, meanwhile, was completely bewildered. Liz appeared to be the same, staring blankly.
…What was this situation?
What happened to all the seriousness from a moment ago?
“Hey, Levia. What is that?”
Liz recovered first. Perhaps having known Levia longer, she was somewhat accustomed to this sort of thing. Her eyes were still rather blank, though.
“A kitty. More precisely, I suppose he is a beastkin child.”
“I can see that. Why is he here, and why did you tie him up?”
An entirely reasonable question. Ney wanted to know the same thing.
Levia opened her mouth to answer.
“As for why he is here, I have a guess, but I do not know for certain. Tell me, kitty, why are you here?”
“None of your business! Just let me go!”
“What an insolent little brat. I’ll pinch you.”
Levia crouched down and pulled hard on both cheeks of the boy lying there trussed up.
“Thath hurths! Ow! Stop it!”
“Then answer me properly.”
“It’s got nothing to do with you! Let go, ugly!”
“Hah? I’ll fucking kill you, brat.”
“Eek.”
The boy suddenly found himself being glared down by what looked like a common thug. It was not a face a beautiful girl should ever make.
Whether the transformation itself frightened him or he simply shrank under her murderous intent, the boy immediately lost his momentum.
“W-wait, Levia. Stop. That’s enough.”
Ney was still confused, but decided that stopping her came first. It felt as though this was about to cross the line from punishment into child abuse, and she could hardly stand by while something happened in front of her that ought to get someone reported to the authorities.
Levia obeyed and released the boy’s cheeks. She clearly had not forgiven him, however, because she clicked her tongue and spoke in a low, threatening voice.
“Listen, brat. There are things you say to people and things you don’t. Looks like your mother never taught you, so I’ll do it for her. …Don’t mouth off like that again.”
“…”
The boy had gone completely pale. Perhaps, being beastkin, he was especially sensitive to danger.
In fact, if things had continued as they were, something genuinely traumatic might have happened. Insulting someone’s appearance was the greatest taboo of all when dealing with Levia, who possessed absolute confidence in her own beauty.
“So, what are you doing here? You’ve been watching us for quite some time, haven’t you?”
“Urk…”
“You were there when we fought the goblins too, weren’t you? I could see those ears of yours quite clearly.”
“Is that true? …You’re pretty suspicious.”
Liz narrowed her eyes at him. It was an entirely natural suspicion.
For one thing, it was strange that the Cerberus had not attacked him despite being so close. Cerberuses had an excellent sense of smell, just like dogs.
On top of that, he was beastkin. His people lived on another continent and supposedly had almost no contact with humans. You simply did not see them around here. The only ones you might encounter were slaves who had been brought in and sold.
The boy remained silent despite his fear. Apparently he had no intention of answering.
“…Well, never mind. Whatever you were doing has nothing to do with me.”
“Huh? I-is that okay?”
“Yes. Come along, then. Ney, you too.”
Apparently having lost interest, Levia simply started walking toward the exit, leaving both her companions and the Cerberus behind.
“W-wait. The Cerberus…”
Having finally recovered herself, Ney tried to stop her.
A Cerberus’s claws, fangs, hide, and other parts sold for considerable sums. Leaving them behind would be a waste, and they also needed to take part of the body back as proof of the kill. Ney could hardly imagine Levia, of all people, forgetting something worth that much money.
She took a few steps after her, then suddenly remembered something else.
The Cerberus could wait, but they could not simply leave the boy there. Tied up like that, he would make perfect food for a monster.
Thinking that was rather cruel, Ney turned back—
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
“…Levia. About this boy…”
“Hmm? Oh, right. How careless of me. This is hardly the proper way to handle merchandise.”
With a small grunt, Levia hoisted him onto her shoulder.
Ney no longer understood what Levia was doing.
Nor did she understand what she was saying.
No, she had a vague idea, and she hated herself for having that idea.
Still, as leader, she absolutely had to ask.
Having resolved herself, Ney opened her mouth.
“L-Levia. What are you planning to do with him?”
“What am I going to do? Why, naturally—”
“Sell him.”
…
“A beastkin child is quite a rare find. Looking more closely, his face is reasonably handsome too. I imagine he will fetch considerably more than a Cerberus.”
…
“HEEEEEELP!!”
The boy began thrashing wildly. He twisted desperately in an attempt to escape, shouting with a face that had lost all composure.
Levia, meanwhile, was practically humming to herself about having found a surprise bonus.
Human trafficking.
And the victim was a child on top of that. Two offenses for the price of one.
She was picking a fight with both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Neither existed in this world, admittedly.
“W-wait, wait! Hold on! You absolutely cannot do that!”
“She’s right! What makes you think that’s okay?!”
Ney and Liz hurriedly tried to stop her.
Incidentally, the slave trade in this country was illegal except in certain cases, such as convicted criminals and people who had fallen into slavery through debt. Other races such as beastkin were not covered by those laws, however, so technically speaking this might be legal.
Ordinarily, of course, a person’s conscience would stop them.
It was one of those things that was inappropriate without actually being illegal.
“Do not worry. I am merely finding somewhere to take in a poor child with no family. And he is so adorable. If I put him up at a black-market auction, I am certain we will find him a wonderful new home.”
“That is not reassuring at all! Listen to me, Levia! I could overlook all the bizarre things you’ve done until now, but this is too far! Selling a child is beneath any decent human being!”
“That’s right! Children are treasures! Except during a famine!”
The two desperately tried to stop her.
Liz’s view of the matter was unexpectedly harsh in its own way.
“HEEEEELP! I’m sorry! I won’t do anything again!!”
“You don’t have to do anything at all. You merely need to turn into money.”
“I SAID STOP! Enough already, Levia!”
Ney shouted at her furiously.
Levia gave her a cool glance.
“Then, Ney, why don’t you buy him?”
“What?!”
“You have been rather starved for male company. I am sure he would satisfy you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! He’s a child! And besides, you can’t get love from something like—”
“Reverse Genji.”
Ney twitched.
Her entire body reacted for just an instant.
“Wasn’t that the title? That book you own. Taking in a young boy with a promising future and raising him into a fine man… I found it rather interesting.”
“Th-th-th-that has nothing to do with anything! And for your information, a friend left that book behind without asking me—”
“I am not criticizing you. I merely thought…”
Levia glanced at the boy over her shoulder, then smiled at Ney.
“Wouldn’t you be interested in trying a real Reverse Genji? It might be quite enjoyable.”
Ney felt a shock run through her head.
Reverse Genji: Reverse Glimmer, Mr. Minamoto.
Its protagonist was a woman named Glimmer. Unable to forget the older boy who had been her first love and had since died, she reached adulthood without choosing any serious partner and spent her time playing around.
Then one day, Glimmer encountered a young boy who resembled her first love. Being the aggressive sort, she used every means available to make the boy hers and set about raising him into her ideal man.
Glimmer devoted herself to his upbringing while struggling against her own impatience. In the end she failed to restrain herself completely, but her plan nevertheless succeeded, and the boy grew into an exceptionally desirable young man.
Glimmer herself had already become a mature woman by then, but her considerable experience eventually won him over, and the two ended up together.
And they lived happily ever after.
In short, it was an older-woman-and-younger-boy romance from the woman’s point of view.
For adults only.
Ney stared closely at the boy.
His looks were good enough. His personality seemed unruly, but perhaps watching him gradually become obedient would itself be enjoyable. If she trained him, he might grow into a fine knight, so he had plenty of future potential.
And he came with cat ears.
—Gulp.
“Eek?!”
Sensing danger to himself, the boy began flopping around even more violently, like a fish thrown onto dry land.
Ney examined the lively specimen for a while, then shook her head hard and came back to herself.
“N-no. I can’t. Something like that is wrong.”
“What a shame. In that case, perhaps I shall sell him to some unmarried madam.”
“What?! Why a madam?!”
“Well, as someone so blessed myself, I have always thought it important to share with less fortunate women like you, Ney. But if you do not want him, then I suppose…”
“N-no…”
The ending would be the same whether Ney stepped aside or not.
“Well, she may not be as kind as you are, Ney. They say certain appetites only grow stronger as women age. Perhaps he would simply be devoured by her desires…”
Your family is getting bigger!
Hooray for you, Tak-kun!
A romance novel—no, a romance novel Ney used to own, for adults only—came to mind.
She had thrown the thing away almost immediately because it had made her feel sick. Even recalling the details was unpleasant.
Was this really all right?
Could she allow such an ending to happen in real life?
“No. Absolutely not. Fine. I’ll buy him.”
“Ney?!”
“Just as expected of you, Ney! Such overflowing compassion. In that case, I shall take ten million rilks.”
“Ten million?! I-isn’t that a little expensive? You could buy a luxury carriage for that!”
“My, you are purchasing an entire person’s life. Surely an appropriate price is only reasonable?”
“W-well, yes, but…”
“…Very well. I too would prefer to sell him to a good buyer. I shall make a personal sacrifice and reduce the price by twenty percent, to eight million.”
“E-eight million… I suppose if I took out a loan, I could somehow…”
“HEEEEEELP!! SOMEBODY HELP MEEEE!! BROTHERRRRR!!”
Ney had been completely taken in by Levia’s sales pitch. She was no longer thinking clearly, her eyes practically spinning.
Somewhere nearby, she could hear a girl shouting things like, “Stop it already!” “Enough!” and “You only sell children when there isn’t enough food to go around!”
None of it registered.
Levia set the boy down and began rattling off the important terms of the transaction. There were so many technical words that Ney barely understood any of it, but she nodded along anyway.
Finally, Levia produced a contract.
Ney took the pen.
All that remained was to sign.
Once she signed, this little boy would be hers—
“——!”
A warrior’s instincts jolted Ney out of her daze.
Killing intent.
She drew her sword and spun around. A swarm of iron throwing knives came raining toward them, and she blocked them with the flat of her blade.
There was no one at the other end of their trajectory.
Levia was standing beside her with her sword already drawn. While shielding Liz, she knocked the knives aside as though it were nothing.
“BROTHERRRR! THANK YOU! SERIOUSLY, THANK YOU!!”
“Shut up. You’ll bite your tongue.”
Her future husband—no, the beastkin boy—was gone.
He had been lying on the floor moments earlier, but had disappeared without a trace. Looking toward the voice, Ney saw a silver-haired man like the boy carrying him in his arms and fleeing toward the exit.
“THIEF! YOU HAVEN’T PAID!”
Furious that her merchandise had been stolen, Levia took off after him.
Despite carrying another person, the man ran lightly down the corridor. His movements were as swift as a leopard’s, but Levia was no slower, chasing him with the speed of a wolf.
Ney and Liz had completely lost track of what was happening.
Still, they started running after the three.
After several minutes, they reached the entrance hall of the ruins. There, they heard a high, whistling sound.
When they emerged outside, they found Levia standing there looking frustrated.
Following her gaze, they saw the two males riding on the back of a huge bird flying through the sky.
They had escaped.
“Idiot! I hope you die! You… ugl—ughh… idiot! Idiot!”
The boy shouted insults down at her from the sky.
His vocabulary was rather limited.
He had apparently started to say something else, but for some reason thought better of it halfway through.
The great bird flew away at high speed. Even Levia could hardly keep up with that.
At least, that was what Ney thought until she looked over and found Levia sitting on the ground, busily gathering something.
“What are you doing?! Get down here and help! You too, Liz!”
“H-help with what?”
“You idiot! Like this!”
Levia stood and hurled a stone with excellent form.
There’s no way something like that will hit…
Ney looked up despite herself.
It had actually come surprisingly close.
The stone flew with such tremendous speed that it seemed to trail fire, its aim taking it straight toward the giant bird. The bird gave a terrified cry and barely managed to dodge, while the figures riding on its back visibly panicked.
The ground-to-air battle continued for several more throws, but unfortunately none connected. The bird climbed higher until it was outside Levia’s range.
Apparently still unable to contain her anger, Levia unleashed a stream of insults too unpleasant to repeat while Liz tried to calm her down.
In the end, the boy had been saved.
Suspicious though he was, being sold off would have been rather cruel.
Now fully herself again, Ney let out a relieved breath.
Thank goodness I didn’t fall to the dark side.
She made a deliberate effort to ignore the small part of herself that thought it was a shame.