[IHTTMBW] Chapter 53

“I knew this would happen.”  

“Heh. If you knew, why didn’t you just leave the gold behind, kid?”  

“What’s wrong with taking what the winner deserves?”  

“The problem is that you took my money!”  

The prediction had been accurate.  

In the alley, three men, including a hustler, surrounded Mikhail. It was clearly a tense, explosive situation.  

The hustler took a step closer.  

“Come on, hand over the five gold coins and your single gold coin.”  

“I don’t care about the five coins, but my gold coin stays with me.”  

“Shut up! Hand it over too!”  

To anyone listening, the conversation seemed absurdly petty. Allenan and I were hiding at the back of the alley, holding our breath.  

Allenan whispered,  

“There are three of them, Myrthi. It’s dangerous.”  

“Yes, but that boy is going to get hurt.”  

“Should I call a knight?”  

“It’ll be too late by then.”  

Three boys against three grown men. The victor was clear to anyone. Calling for the knights would be the safest move, but there was no time. It was especially true because I had dismissed my escort knights to sneak out of the palace.  

‘What do I do?’  

At that moment, Mikhail sighed and stepped forward.  

“Come at me.”  

It was an unexpected statement.  

Come at him? But his expression was resolute, as if he had made up his mind.  

“What?”  

The hustler made a sound of disbelief, as if he couldn’t comprehend what he had just heard. Next to me, Allenan frowned and whispered lowly,  

“I can take down one. When I create a distraction, we run.”  

It seemed like the best plan we could come up with. I nodded and cautiously crept closer to the edge of the alley.  

But Mikhail moved faster. He lunged at the man on the far right, using the same technique he had used to subdue an opponent earlier.  

“Argh!”  

The man clutched his arm and collapsed to the ground, prompting the other two to rush forward.  

Mikhail grimaced. Even with his peculiar fighting skills, handling two grown men at once was too much.  

At that moment, Allenan sprang from my side. With the sword he carried, he struck the right thigh of the man standing to the hustler’s right.  

“Ugh!”  

“Who’s there?”  

The two men shouted simultaneously, one in pain and the other in alarm.  

Allenan wasted no time. He immediately slashed the man’s thigh again and used the hilt of his sword to strike his neck, knocking him out. His tall frame made the move effective.  

The hustler charged at Allenan from the eleven o’clock position. It was not a spot Allenan could defend with his sword, and the hustler wielded a long club.  

But the direction left the hustler’s back turned to me.  

Clutching the wooden stick I held, I moved as I’d been taught. Faster than usual, I slipped behind the hustler and struck him hard in the lower back.  

“Oof!”  

It created an opening.  

All defenses collapsed, giving Mikhail just enough time to act. He twisted the hustler’s arm with his martial arts technique.  

“Ahh!”  

The hustler fell to the ground, just like the burly man and the first attacker, gasping and unable to speak.  

“This way!”  

Allenan grabbed my hand and pulled me. I grabbed Mikhail’s sleeve, and we started running. We couldn’t be sure when the technique’s effect would wear off and they’d chase us. We ran for what felt like an eternity in the dark until we reached an open clearing where we stopped, panting for breath.  

“Hah, hah….”  

“Hah, who… who are you?”  

Mikhail, who had been dragged along without understanding, wiped the sweat from his arm and looked at us. Then he froze.  

“...Etiel?”  

He had stopped at the sight of me. He whispered the name of one of the fairies of the night. A breeze made my hair flutter, and Mikhail blinked at me, bathed in the moonlight in the empty clearing.  

“…I might look like a fairy, but I’m not one.”  

Allenan stepped between us with a slightly stern voice. His posture was wary, but he gave a typical smile.  

“But she does look like one, doesn’t she?”  

Mikhail nodded blankly, showing the only moment of vulnerability in what had been a day of cold stares.  

Perplexed by their exchange, I tilted my head before speaking to him.  

“You. Your name is Mikhail, isn’t it?”  

He frowned as if wondering how I knew, unlike when he had murmured “Etiel.” His thoughts or words didn’t matter. I knew that he had grown up in the slums and had only met Marquis Capille, who would become his patron, a year before reaching adulthood. It meant he would face these threats for a few more years.  

“Who are you?”  

He asked, his voice guarded. I looked at Allenan and hesitated before responding.  

“...Etiel.”  

The name of the fairy of the night.  

Mikhail glanced at Allenan, frowning as if he knew I was lying. The moon’s light illuminated his fine features, making his dark blue eyes and hair shimmer with a silvery hue.  

‘Beautiful.’  

A bit awestruck, I grabbed his hand suddenly and spoke.  

“You. You know where Marquis Capille is, don’t you?”  

The marquis, who would become his benefactor, was a swordsman and a rival of my grandfather Gelbart.  

“Steal his wallet.”  

I continued in a rush.  

“And use your martial arts.”  

Mikhail’s expression was one of clear confusion, as if he couldn’t understand a word I was saying.