As soon as they entered the market, Ethan, who had already gotten a little sidetracked to buy a snack that looked like roasted potatoes with cheese and a seasonal watermelon juice to share, asked about the day's plans.

“Have you decided what to buy, Lily?”

“Well, I haven't made an extremely detailed plan. I have a rough idea, though,” Lilith replied.

“And how rough is that?”

“First, I’m thinking of securing ingredients that can be preserved for a long time. If fresh meat seems cheap, I’ll buy a lot and get Sally’s help to smoke it. If there’s no significant price difference, I’ll buy processed meats like sausages. For carbohydrates, I plan to get biscuits or dry bread and supplement moisture from other ingredients. You can sandwich juicy fruits like tomatoes between bread or soak them in stew until they soften. As for vegetables, I’m prioritizing tomatoes, but I haven’t decided yet. If there aren’t any good options, I might buy a few limes; they could serve as a dessert instead of a cooking ingredient.”

“…That sounds like you’ve thought it through quite a bit.”

“I haven’t settled on exactly what to buy yet. I’ll probably take some time comparing things. And it's not just ingredients—we also need to buy camping tools.”

They had basic items like tents and utensils loaded on the Blackwood carriage, but they needed to restock single-use items. Especially since they were heading to the Witch’s Forest, insect repellent was a must.

Lilith had to be careful with the ingredients, too. In this summer heat, meat or bread could spoil quickly and contaminate the other food in the cart. Although she could use cleansing magic to cut out the rotten parts, once something spoiled, she’d have to throw it away. And cooking with spoiled ingredients was off-putting anyway.

“If you’re making stew, how about fondue? Cheese is an aged food, so it shouldn’t spoil easily, right?” Ethan suggested.

“Oh, that’s a great idea! Parmesan or Gouda cheese doesn’t spoil easily! Plus, with a cheese dish, we can use less meat and still get enough protein…”

Thump.

“…….”

Just as Lilith was getting excited discussing their travel menu with Ethan, she felt someone bump into her side, diverting her attention.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

A rough-looking person, their hat pulled low, muttered an apology in a hoarse voice and disappeared into the crowd before Lilith could respond.

Feeling uneasy, Lilith reached for the cloth pouch in her right pocket and, as expected, found it gone. The thief hadn’t even checked the contents before swiping it.

“Lily, was that person just now…?”

“…Yes, it looks like they were a pickpocket.”

“Shouldn’t we chase them? With all these people, they could disappear quickly if we leave them be…”

“It’s fine. We’ll find out where they are soon enough.”

“…Huh?”

It would be foolish not to prepare for pickpockets when coming to a market in a medieval fantasy world.

The gold coins she had brought for shopping were, of course, stored in a place where no one could ever steal them.

…Instead, the pouch the pickpocket had taken contained something special.

“Aaaaaagh!!”

“They seem to have run into that alley,” Lilith noted calmly.

“…Yeah, seems like it.”

Lilith and Ethan quickly moved toward the direction of the scream they had just heard.

The pickpocket had certainly picked the wrong target.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

When they reached the source of the scream, they found the thief on the ground, clutching his face, which was covered in a red liquid that Lilith had prepared herself.

“Aaagh! My eyes! Aaaaaagh!!”

The pouch had been a special trap, designed so that when opened, a wind spell crafted by Sei would burst out. Of course, just the wind wouldn’t be enough to cause such a reaction, so Lilith had added a small touch—chili oil sprayed directly into the thief’s face.

The thief seemed moved by the trap, judging by the tears streaming down his face as he covered his eyes with both hands.

“Do you like the gift, Mr. Pickpocket?”

“Ahhh! Damn it! What did you put in here?!”

“It’s chili oil, made by extracting chili pepper essence in olive oil for about ten minutes. I was saving it for pasta, but thanks to you, I can’t use it anymore.”

“Gaaaaah!! Damn it!!”

“I’ll take the pouch back. It only had a few coins, but even that’s too good for you.”

Lilith retrieved the pouch that had triggered the trap and offered a parting word to the pickpocket, who was writhing on the ground.

“You damn…!”

“I can see you’re angry, but don’t you think it’s time to stay calm? Shouldn’t you be worrying about other things right now? If you don’t get to a church within the next thirty minutes, those eyes of yours might be useless for the next thirty years of your life.”

“D-damn it…! You cursed woman! I’ll remember your face…!”

“And what do you plan to do by remembering it? If you don’t get to the church soon, you won’t be able to see that face ever again. What good will it do to remember it?”

“W-what…?”

“Oh, maybe I should’ve asked if you even have the money for treatment in the first place. If you don’t plan to go to the church anyway, maybe you should start remembering my voice instead. At least your ears still work, so you can remember that properly. Then, when you think of me later, you can stop someone and ask, ‘Excuse me, but your voice sounds a lot like the woman who blinded me. Are you that cursed woman?’ And if I’m in a good mood, I might nod. Though, of course, you wouldn’t see it even if I did.”

“…….”

The thief was so taken aback by Lilith’s bold words that he lowered his hands from his face, staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

He had probably assumed that the noble-looking girl was just some sheltered flower out on a market trip. He could never have imagined that the pouch he stole was trapped or that she would come back to mock him so openly.

But what could he do now? He was practically helpless with his eyes blinded. Lilith could tell just by the way he was fumbling through his inner pockets that he was still intent on causing trouble.

“You really should head to the church now. I’m not sure you’ll even make it there with those eyes.”

“You…you damn woman…”

“If you keep hesitating, it’ll be too late. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life blind? Or should I say… hmm…”

Lilith pondered if there was a famous blind character from Western fairy tales or history. Helen Keller came to mind, but she was too modern.

The Happy Prince? The goddess of justice? Nothing seemed quite right.

As she was lost in thought, the thief, unable to bear it any longer, pulled out a knife and charged at her.

“You damn woman! Die, you cursed—aaagh!!”

As expected, the thief revealed his true nature and lunged at Lilith with a knife. His predictable actions only reaffirmed to Lilith that she hadn’t been wrong to treat him as she had.

If he had admitted his wrongdoing and begged for forgiveness when she first caught him, she might have used cleansing magic to wash his face and even healed him with her saintly powers. Blinding someone permanently for a simple theft would have been too harsh.

But now, after his continued defiance and violence, she couldn’t bring herself to show mercy.

Perhaps getting rid of someone like him was the real cleansing magic.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

“You damn woman! Where are you?!”

For someone like Lilith, who had sparred enough with Ethan to block at least half of his strikes, dodging the blind thief’s wild stabs was no challenge at all.

If anything, his reckless attack made her think she might have underestimated him.

Deciding she would never see this person again, Lilith deftly dodged his attacks and tripped him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Thud!

“Aaaagh!!”

The thief, unable to resist, hit the ground hard, flailing his knife aimlessly in desperation.

As Lilith watched, Ethan stepped in to deliver the final blow.

“…How dare you swing a blade at someone like that.”

Slash!

“Aaaaaagh!”

The thief’s knife flew into the air, along with the hand that had been gripping it.

Leaving the now handless and blinded thief in the alley, Lilith and Ethan walked back out, just in time to meet the imperial guards arriving at the entrance.

“Halt! We heard a scream from this alley, and—oh, my…”

The guard grimaced at the sight of the thief lying on the ground, clutching the stump where his hand had been.

“If you don’t properly explain what happened…”

“I am Ethan Richard Blackwood of the Blackwood Duchy. I’m currently staying at the palace for certain reasons.”

“B-Blackwood Duchy, you say?”

“And this is my fiancée, Lady Lilith Blackwood Rosewood. You’ve probably heard of her.”

“Lady Lilith? The one close to the Third Princess…?”

“Her beauty and figure are as rumored…”

“That man just stole from Lilith and, not satisfied with that, ran at her with a knife when she tried to get it back. The knife in his severed hand should be enough evidence, but do you need anything else?”

“N-no, sir! Sorry to have detained you!”

“Alright then, carry on.”

Even though the same words were spoken, they carried a lot more weight when coming from a duke’s son. The guards clearly didn’t want to cross the Blackwood family and didn’t dare ask anything further.

Lilith and Ethan walked through the now parted guards and returned to the market to begin their actual shopping for the camping trip.

“…….”

Neither of them noticed the gaze following them as they left the alley.