The Crazy Killer Whale’s Favourite Penguin

Episode 49: It’s Best to Play (V)

Iprus couldn’t be around, but as I snuck a peek around and tried to withdraw my hand, strength surrounded my hand.

“No, Lia.”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Why are you holding my hand and making my heart flutter, but then letting it go so easily?”

“…I’m sorry for holding your hand without asking permission, but why won’t you let go!”

Suradel grinned as though he would comply.

“Since this happened, let’s pretend to be lovers for just one day. In fact, today is a very happy day for me.”

I blinked slowly.

Come to think of it, Suradel looked especially good today.

“Why is it a happy day?”

“Hmm~ It’s the day I kissed Lia?”

“…Urk!”

When I pretended to spit, he laughed even louder.

Ignoring his amusement, I held his hand and started to walk.

Although I pretended to spit in refusal… 

I had been given a precious magic wand and had gotten an agreement for a letter to be delivered to my father, so I decided to suit him today.

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When I looked around the night market in earnest, my eyes began to spin.

No matter where I turned my eyes, there were rows of stalls selling various goods.

Jewelry made of pearls or shells, and drinks and various foods made from fresh fruits caught the eye.

Looking at the greasy food that made my appetite turn, I considered it more seriously than anyone else.

“…Wouldn’t it be polite to start with chicken skewers?”

“Take your time, Lia, it’s okay to eat everything. We can come again tomorrow.”

I replied as if it was obvious.

“Of course I will eat whatever I want to eat. It’s the order that matters.”

It was then.

As I was looking down in deep contemplation, the scene of a crime was caught in my field of vision.

An incident in which a certain thief stole a brown-haired woman’s pouch was happening right in front of my eyes in real time.

Might it be because I have a magic wand in my hand right now?

When I witnessed the scene, I felt a sense of justice that was different from usual, and my body jumped out without realizing it.

“You!”

As I grabbed the thief by the shoulder, he looked back nonchalantly.

“What are you doing?”

Strangely enough, the moment I faced him, an unknown anger welled up in my heart.

For some reason, I was not angry simply because he was a thief.

But realizing that it wasn’t important right now, I shouted, pointing at the brown-haired woman whose pouch had been robbed.

“Didn’t you just steal from her? I don’t know what you stole, but give it back immediately.”

“What? Uh, what are you talking about? I’ve never coveted anyone’s things in my life!”

The thief asserted his innocence with his divine acting skills, but I didn’t budge.

Slowly, the hand that was holding his shoulder relaxed and gently touched the magic wand.

It seemed the time had come to use this.

“I didn’t expect I’ll use it this soon…”

‘Of course, since I don’t know how to handle mana yet, it’s for physical use.’

The wand was sharp, so it would likely hurt quite a bit if I hit him with it.

“If you cough up the pouch, you’ll get ten. Oh, this is punishment for lying, and the punishment for stealing is another thing.”

I nodded towards Suradel.

“You know who he is, right?”

The thief couldn’t have not known.

Since Suradel was the only heir to the Weil family.

“Oh my God!”

“Ah!”

Sure enough, as soon as the thief saw Suradel, he backed away as if he had seen a ghost.

…The issue was that the victim, the woman, was also frightened and took a backward step.

‘Why are you surprised?’

The thief groveled as he held out the stolen goods with a look of terror. 

“S-Sorry! Uh, here! I am a kleptomaniac, and she’s so defenseless that I didn’t realize…”

What the thief held out was an old notebook.

Certainly, it didn’t seem like a particularly valuable item to steal deliberately to sell.

I glared ferociously at the thief.

It was true that I pointed at Suradel because I wanted him to be scared, but seeing the overreaction made me feel bad for no reason.

Why did he act as if he had seen germs on Suradel?

I sniffed in displeasure and snatched the notebook he held out.

“Why are you stealing other people’s things?”

I crossed my arms and thought about what to do with him, and then asked, shaking a finger.

“What kind of demibeast are you?”

He asked with a stabbed expression.

“Well, why do you ask that?”

“Shut up… No, I’m just curious.”

“I, I am a seagull demibeast.”

Ah.

It was only then that the source of the excessive anger boiling from within was revealed.

‘Penguins have a couple of nemeses, considering their meat is tasteless.’

Killer whales, seals, and so on.

But the really unforgivable nemesis were not those guys, but those who steal penguin eggs…

Thieves, like those seagulls (giant petrel)!

I spoke softly to him with half-focused eyes.

“Hey, if you don’t mind, could you please die?”

“…What?! It’s really rude to say that!”

Suradel laughed as if he was dying from excitement over the current situation, and added with a small smile.

“Lia, just because you’re kind doesn’t mean you must say pretty words.”

“Then what should I do to make them pretty?”

“Maybe saying it while handing over a bag of gold coins?”

“Aha.”

Then the thief seagull, who was listening to our conversation, shouted.

“Aha, what aha?! Even if you give me a bag of gold coins, telling me to die isn’t pretty…!”

“What? You dare to raise your voice?”

The guy shrank at once and vomited his resentment in a shrunken voice.

“Please, please stop hating this ignorant thief seagull demibeast.”

‘To not receive hate, you should not do wrong. Why are you making a fuss after doing something that deserves hatred?’

Glaring at him fiercely, I shouted,

“Shut up. I don’t follow orders from those weaker than me.”

Finding it funny, Suradel smiled and asked,

“Hmm. Then why don’t you listen to me, Lia?”

I placed both hands on my waist. With a majestic pose, I spoke as if it was natural.

“Of course, I don’t listen to the strong. Be it strong or weak, I treat everyone equally.”

“Huh. But isn’t Lia a bit weak towards my mother?”

“…It’s because I know how to respect my elders.”

“Wow. Cool.”

Pak, pak, pak.

Suradel praised me as he pretentiously clapped.

As I simply watched him do it, I suddenly realized that someone was missing.

“What, where did that brown-haired woman go?”

When I belatedly looked around to find the woman, Suradel told me what happened.

“The woman? When you asked the thief if he could die, she silently slipped away.”

“What? If you knew, why didn’t you tell me? I haven’t returned the notebook.”

“Since she ran away without it, I guess it’s not that important.”

“Why did she run away?”

“Well. Could it be because of me?”

My brow bones dug deep.

Didn’t this mean that she left her things and ran away because she was afraid of Suradel?

Looking at the direction the brown-haired woman supposedly fled to, Suradel commented,

“I guess she’s not from this territory.”

“How do you know that?”

“The demibeasts who live in the Weil territory don’t openly run away when they see me.”

I guess the people of the Weil territory were somewhat immune since they were exposed to Suradel.

“That demibeast had the reaction of someone who saw me for the first time. Well, it could also just be a timid demibeast.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t understand at all.

“Huh. What are they afraid of? They are all crazy.”

As I continued shaking my head, Suradel stared at me, the corners of his lips rising. 

“Lia.”

“What.”

“Don’t worry too much. I only need you.”

…That’s not okay with me.

But Suradel, who said that, seemed very happy.

Acting like it would be okay even if the whole world rejected him if he just had me.

I didn’t say out loud, even as a joke.

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In the end, the thief seagull was let off at Suradel’s decision to let him go once.

Strictly speaking, the right to punish belonged to him, the heir of the Weil family.

I examined the notebook that happened to be in my possession.

“Seeing that there are a lot of finger-oil stains on it, it must have been written with great effort, so isn’t it a waste?”

“Do you care that much? Shall I find the owner?”

“She left it behind and ran away. What for?”

What’s so good about the person who ran away, scared as if she had seen a monster?

Why should I?

When I looked at Suradel with a face expressing that, he made a small smile, like he found me silly. 

‘If you smile that often, won’t your facial muscles hurt?’

With that stupid thought, I said,

“But just in case, I shouldn’t throw it away. So, take this, Su.”

I shamelessly handed the notebook to Suradel, as if it was a matter of course, and he naturally put it in the subspace without complaining about why I was leaving it to him.

It seemed he had gotten used to my insistence.

After settling the notebook, I turned my gaze back to the night market.

It was as if I had wasted my time by keeping justice in an unsuitable way.

Then Suradel held out his hand to me, who was distracted by the food.

“Lia, I have to hold your hand.”