“What is the matter?”
Cain asked, and the man looked at him. With a fiercely furrowed brow, he explained the situation.
“This thief stole my money. While I was talking to a customer, he cleanly snipped the pouch from my waist and tried to run off, can you believe it?”
“That’s not true! The pouch was on the ground! I just picked it up!”
“Don’t lie! Why would a pouch tied to my belt be on the floor!”
“It’s the truth!”
“You’ll only speak properly after a good thrashing!”
The man raised his hand as if to slap the thief. The thief squeezed his eyes shut and cowered. Cain interjected before the man could strike.
“If you leave it to me, I’ll take him to the Bureau of Order. How does that sound?”
“Well, who exactly are you?”
The man’s eyes scanned Cain from top to bottom. He was neatly dressed, but clearly very young. It was understandable that he seemed unreliable.
Cain spoke calmly, without a hint of embarrassment.
“I’m a magician. I’m on my way back from the government office.”
Knowing that words alone wouldn’t suffice, he created a small flame in his hand. Gasps of admiration erupted from the onlookers.
Magicians were few in number and mostly held high positions. Naturally, they also earned a lot of money. That was why people envied magicians. Status and wealth had nothing to do with character, yet they were usually met with respect.
Of course, Cain, who had made money through less-than-honorable means, knew the reality of magicians well, but ordinary people did not. They believed that a magician would never commit fraud.
Cain nodded towards the terrified thief.
“Return the stolen money.”
“I didn’t steal it…”
“Whether you stole it or picked it up, it’s not yours.”
Realizing it would be difficult to escape unscathed here, the thief pulled a pouch from his chest. The man who had been holding the thief by the scruff of his neck snatched the pouch away.
“Ugh…”
The man shoved him, and the thief stumbled forward again. He fell into a puddle, splashing muddy water all over himself, but he didn’t protest.
“Don’t even think about showing your face around here again!”
After sternly warning the thief, the man turned to Cain and spoke in a polite tone.
“Well then, I appreciate your help.”
“You must be busy, go about your business.”
Cain spoke with feigned kindness and helped the thief up.
“Follow me.”
The thief didn’t answer. His face, stained with mud, was full of unease and resentment. However, he didn’t try to run away and followed Cain. He probably judged that it would be difficult to escape a magician.
‘Not a complete idiot, then.’
The people cleared a path for Cain as he escorted the thief. Not wanting to linger too long and attract unnecessary suspicion, Cain quickened his pace.
It was only when they reached the main road that Cain asked what had been on his mind.
“What’s your name?”
“……Karen.”
“That’s a lie.”
Cain remembered the name Karen. She was always a timid girl. Cain had secretly thought of her as being like a mole.
The thief wasn’t Karen, but another girl who was always with Karen. She was lively like a colt and had a loud voice.
“I’m asking for your name.”
The thief didn’t answer. When Cain turned to look at her, she flinched in surprise. Perhaps she was flustered, not knowing how the government magician she had just met had seen through her lie.
Cain sighed.
“We’re not going to the Bureau of Order right now.”
“T-then where are we going…?”
The thief still didn’t seem to recognize Cain. Cain stared silently at the thief. The thief’s tense and fidgety expression slowly changed. It was as if she was finally getting a good look at Cain’s face.
“Do you know who I am?”
“……Cain?”
“That’s right.”
“The real Cain?”
“What’s your name?”
“M-my name is Heather. Heather!”
***
Heather was too filthy, so they first stopped by a nearby inn. After scrubbing herself clean, Heather was at least presentable enough to sit across from and have a conversation.
Looking at her gaunt frame, it seemed she wasn’t eating properly, so they went into a nearby restaurant.
“One of everything on the menu.”
When he ordered in the way Rita used to, Heather’s eyes widened.
“Do you get a lot of money from the government office?”
“Why would I get money from the government office?”
“But you said you were a government magician.”
“Did I?”
“No, earlier, you said you were coming from the……”
Heather realized Cain’s lie and opened her mouth slightly. Cain had said he was coming from the government office, not that he belonged to it.
“You impersonated a government magician?”
“It’s not impersonation. They just misunderstood.”
“A con artist……”
“Says the one caught stealing.”
Heather didn’t protest her innocence as vehemently as when she was caught. She just gave an awkward smile.
“If you were going to steal, you should have done it properly.”
“You looked so out of it, I thought you wouldn’t notice. Do you have eyes in the back of your head? How did you know?”
There was no hint of remorse. She was full of regret for not having succeeded in stealing. Cain didn’t bother to point this out and scold her. He hadn’t brought Heather here to reform her.
A while later, the food arrived. It was past lunchtime, so there weren’t many customers. Heather’s mouth hung open as she looked at the dishes being served one after another.
“Eat.”
Without even a polite greeting, Heather greedily stuffed food into her mouth. Cain ate just enough to satisfy his hunger. He wasn’t very hungry as he had eaten a simple lunch while working.
It was a wonder where she found the space in her small frame, but Heather devoured almost all the food they had ordered. Her eyes lingered on the remaining dishes with a look of regret that she was too full to eat more.
“So, shall we talk now?”
“Huh?”
“How have you been lately?”
Heather immediately understood that he wasn’t asking out of concern. She licked the sauce off her fingers and mumbled a vague answer.
“Just, you know, living. I don’t have any special talents or anything.”
“Stealing and pickpocketing?”
Heather frowned and avoided his gaze.
“What about the others? Weren’t you close to Karen?”
“……Karen left Cloverland. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Why didn’t you go together?”
“Karen was hanging out with some strange people. I told her not to, because it seemed dangerous. They were definitely doing bad things……”
“Worse than stealing and pickpocketing?”
Heather nodded with a shadowed expression. It seemed that Heather at least lived within some minimal moral boundaries.
“Have you ever thought about earning money by working?”
As if she thought he was criticizing her, Heather retorted sullenly.
“It’s not like I want to live like this. You know that. Who would hire someone like us, like me?”
She had a point. Rogers was lucky. Heather probably wasn’t the only child surviving by petty theft.
Cain didn’t particularly intend to criticize Heather. He didn’t really care how Heather lived. He was merely acting on someone else’s will.
“If a job came up, would you do it?”
“What kind of job?”
“Any kind of job. At least you wouldn’t end up in a mess like today.”
Cain shrugged, and Heather hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Yeah.”
“Then get up.”
As Cain stood, Heather stared at him with wide eyes.
“I’ll introduce you to a job.”
“R-really?”
Heather’s face brightened, but she quickly narrowed her eyes, looking at Cain with suspicion as if he might be trying to scam her. Cain understood. How else would she have survived this long without that much suspicion?
Besides, Heather hadn’t been particularly close to Cain back when they were in school. It was understandable that she might be hesitant to readily accept Cain’s goodwill.
Though he found it bothersome, Cain persuaded Heather.
“I’m not a government magician, but I am a magician. You saw it earlier.”
“Uh-huh, I did.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to earn money doing something else than trying to scam someone like you?”
“……I suppose so.”
“Anyway, if you don’t want to, forget it. I’ll look for someone else.”
“Someone else?”
Heather stood up awkwardly and tilted her head. Cain chuckled softly.
“It’s not like it has to be you.”
***
Cain returned home with wet hair. It had been raining for a while, and it seemed he had been caught in all of it. His shoulders were soaked.
Satin frowned involuntarily.
“Why didn’t you buy an umbrella?”
It was a question he asked even though he knew Cain couldn’t just buy an umbrella anywhere. The evenings had become quite chilly lately. He was worried that Cain might catch a cold from being out in the rain like this.
As Satin brought over a towel and offered it, Cain lowered his head instead of taking it.
“What is it?”
“Wipe it for me.”
“You’re not a child.”
Even as he chided, Satin chuckled softly.
The wet blond hair, when rubbed dry, stood up in tufts like a kitten’s fur. It wasn’t a very fitting comparison for a man as large as a door, but that’s how it looked.
After drying his hair just enough, Satin gave Cain a light push on the back.
“Go wash up. Let’s have dinner.”
“Okay.”
Cain quickly stripped off his damp outerwear and headed to the bathroom. Satin pretended not to see his smooth back and went into the kitchen.
While Cain was washing up, Satin finished preparing dinner. Cain, who came into the dining room drying his wet hair, saw the omelet on his plate and asked.
“What’s this?”
It wasn’t likely that Cain didn’t know what an omelet was. He was saying it because it was much larger than he was used to. Satin just grinned without answering.
Finding fried rice inside the large omelet, Cain chuckled softly and muttered.
“He really does like unusual things.”
While eating the omelet rice topped with tomato sauce instead of ketchup, they talked about their day. Then, as if something had just occurred to him, Cain spoke.
“Oh, right, I met Heather today.”
“Heather?”
Satin’s eyes widened in surprise. Cain spoke casually, as if it were nothing significant.
“You remember that old man? The one we met when we were looking for our house.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember.”
“She’s working under him. Apparently, it hasn’t been long.”
“Really? What a strange coincidence.”
Satin mentally counted the days since they had gone to the real estate agency to find a house. It had already been several months. Before the appearance of the Demon.
It seemed Heather had started working there in the meantime. If he had happened to pass by that way, he might have run into her.
“It seems everyone is doing better than I thought.”
Feeling a sense of relief, Satin smiled, and Cain smiled along with him.
“You’re right.”
