Chapter 581 Guess She Has To "Die"
Chapter 581 Guess She Has To “Die”
The thief was staring at Emilia with wide eyes, as though not believing her own ears.
“I…Erm… You… You want me to die?”
“Yes, I’m sorry but I can’t let them know that I’ve found out about their plan so that I can buy time for myself to prepare.”
The thief raised her hands, “Wait, wait! You can just let me go right? Just say that I managed to escape and then we’ll go our own separate ways! We don’t even need to fight or–“
Emilia disappeared from where she was standing and reappeared in front of the thief, her blade already drawn and pressing against the thief’s neck.
She held it there for a moment to make sure the thief knew what was happening before stepping back.
“You couldn’t even react to that. That wasn’t even my fastest speed, you know? My crew knows what I’m capable of, do you think I would really be unable to catch you if you were to try to run? They won’t believe that.”
The thief turned to me, “Then… Say that they helped me escape! That would work right?”
Emilia facepalmed, “You don’t even know who they are… I’ll just tell you that they won’t help you because they are my… My friends. So they’d sooner help me capture you than help you escape.”
“No… No way… I… I don’t wanna die…”
I raised my hand, “Erm… If I may?”
Everyone turned to me.
I went ahead to use [Shadow Summon] to call up a new Shadow Guard beside me, the new summon immediately bowing in greeting.
“Master.”
Without any verbal commands from me, she immediately used her Somatomancy to transform herself into the thief’s likeness.
“There, we can use this to fool the others into thinking we killed her instead.”
Emilia pointed a finger at my summon, “Is that… A Shadow Summon? Did it just transform itself into her?”
I scratched my cheek, “Err… Long story but yes… Could we focus more on her instead?”
Lisa tugged on my sleeve, “Don’t Shadow Summons disappear if they die? This plan won’t work with them, right?”
“Mmm… That is true, but we can just give her a grievous enough wound that she looks dead enough right? Then we’ll just show us throwing her overboard to dispose of the body and they’ll think she’s dead.” Emilia made a face, “Even considering that this plan works, the fact that she’s still running around somewhere means that there’s a chance that they will know she’s still alive. I can’t have that.”
“I’m good at hiding, you don’t need to worry,” The thief tried to assure us.
“Again, not very convincing when you literally got caught by me and I’m not the best tracker in our family. If my parents want to make sure that you are really dead, they will find you sooner or later. And if they find you before I can finish my plans, I will go down with you.”
“What are you planning to do?” I asked.
Her brows furrowed, “My family thinks they can just reap what I’ve earned for them and cut me off? After all the money I’ve earned and the benefits I’ve brought, they think they can just get rid of me so easily? No, no, no. I’ll be the one doing the cutting off. I’ll show them… I’ll pull out all my support and see how they like it when I leave them with nothing!”
Wow… She’s really pissed I see.
I mean… I guess I would be too if Mother ended up betraying me… But I could safely say that the likelihood of Mother doing that is so astronomically low that I have a better chance of meeting all the gods than that happening.
Odeta huffed, “I don’t geddit. If that’s the case, then just bring her into Sis… Ahem… Our family! That way no one will know about her, right?”
Err… I suppose that’s a possible solution but would Mother be fine with doing that? Katsuki already expressed her dissatisfaction in taking her in as one of my personal maids and I’ve already made Mother take in Eldoria te last time…
Besides… The only reason I’m even considering helping her is because she’s a fellow Off-Worlder and I feel there’s a little camaraderie between us because of that. If she wasn’t an Off-Worlder, I would have just let Emilia kill her off without a second thought.
Actually… Do I even need to help her? It’s not like I know her personally after all…
I guess I just pity her for getting herself involved in this.
The others were looking at me, obviously waiting for my decision while the thief was just standing there, still confused as to what was happening.
I motioned towards her, “Could I talk to her privately for a while?”
Emilia nodded and intentionally stepped away, though I realised my companions still remained where they were.
I gave them a look and they realised that I included them when I asked to speak to her privately.
Katsuki frowned, “Mistress, I must insist that one of us remain with you in case she tries anything with you.”
I then gestured to the new Shadow Guard I made who was still standing beside me.
That seemed to soothe her worries though she still left my side reluctantly, joining the others at a distance where they could still rush to my side if something happened but just out of earshot.
The thief came towards me nervously, the bravado from earlier when she was challenging Emilia nowhere to be seen.
“So… Off-Worlder?” I asked, even though I already know the answer.
Her eyes widened slightly but quickly controlled her expression, “Yes… Are you as well?”
“I can only say that I am one of the people that are aware of the existence of Off-Worlders. I see that you’ve involved yourself in a rather unfavourable position so I would like to help you get out of it at least, mainly because you had no idea what trouble you might get into for taking a job like this.”
She pursed her lips, “Forgive me for sounding ungrateful… But why would you be willing to go so far for me?”
“If you want me to be honest, it’s because I believe you can still get much stronger than you are, right? What you have now is just a small portion of your full capabilities and I would very much like to use your skills when the need arises.”
She seemed to have gone for a full thief build in her skills so maybe she can help me steal some things in the future. I can’t expect that everything I want will be accessible through legal channels after all.
Yes, I could probably just ask Mother or something but I also want to gather my own group of people that I can depend on myself too! Besides… It doesn’t hurt to have more options.
“Ah… I suppose I have yet to introduce myself, have I? I’m Crystal, though I suspect you already knew that?” She asked.
I tactfully refrained from answering that and nodded at her, “Hello Crystal, you’ll have to understand that I can’t give my name now in case there are others watching but what do you think of my proposal?”
“From what the others have been saying… It seems like you have the capability to keep me and also my family safe. If that’s the case, I don’t exactly have a choice since the other option is to die, isn’t it?”
Ah, she has a family she wants to protect too I see… But I think that should still be fine.
“Well, it sounds bad if you put it that way but I suppose that is true.”
“Fine… What do I need to do?”
I gestured to Katsuki and she immediately rushed over, using her superhuman dexterity to move to my side almost instantly.
“What do you require of me, Mistress?”
“Umm… I would like to bring her and her family under the protection of our family. Could you send a message to Mother to ask if that is ok?”
“Of course, please wait a moment.”
My Inugami maid disappeared from view and Crystal was left gaping at the spot where she was standing just a moment ago.
“That… Wait… She’s even faster than me… I couldn’t even see her movements!”
“I have capable retainers,” I explained easily.
“Ah… I understand now. You’re like those people who gather talented and capable followers around you, right?”
Err… It’s not like I’m going out of my way to do that… But I guess I wouldn’t say no if these people show up and I could bring them to my side. Like I said, I kind of want to have people I can depend on too.
Thus, I simply nodded my head and said nothing more.
Before Crystal could say anything else, a portal appeared and Mary stepped through alongside Katsuki and Mother.
Mother took a look at the girl in front of me and giggled, “Ara, ara? Is this the girl you’re interested in, my little one? I suppose she’s rather cute so I’ll allow it. Send her to the Shadow Corps, Mary.”
“Of course, Madam.”
Wait, what the heck is the Shadow Corps? Is that the name of another division in our family or something? It is, isn’t it?
Crystal raised her hands, “Wait! What about my family?!”
Mother giggled, “I’ll have someone pick them up as well, no need to worry your little head over it, Crystal~ You’re one of us now so we’ll make sure to train you properly~”
… Did I tell Mother her name? I didn’t, right? Also, what’s with that comment at the end?
I felt another tug on my arm and saw Katsuki offering a pudding.
Oh~ More sweets! Me want!! Om nom nom nom~
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