“Uwaaaa…”

A child with black hair was squatting on the alleyway floor, bursting into tears. It was certainly a pitiful sight, and a kind-hearted person might approach and ask what was wrong, but there were no such kind-hearted people here.

“Shut up! What’s there to cry about!”

“Don’t wanna…”

“Ha.”

Karos held his head in frustration at the sight of Soccu sobbing. In truth, being pickpocketed was not a big deal. It could easily be found if they wanted to. It might be difficult for them, but there is a magic user here. However, Soccu’s common sense was a problem.

“…It seems I need to thoroughly instill some common sense in you.”

To think being pickpocketed was part of human law. Naivety has its limits. This could even lead to leaking information to the opponent. Karos clicked his tongue.

“Bathesia.”

“Yes. Humans these days are really bold. To lay hands on the Demon King’s belongings.”

Bathesia’s hands moved rapidly. Following her actions, a line was drawn in the air, and space split open. Bathesia clenched her fist.

“Open, the mouth of Artomon.”

The space expanded. Objects that had once passed through his hands unfolded beyond. The demon world, the terrestrial world, his Demon King’s castle. And the figure of a human running desperately.

“Found him. Didn’t go far.”

“Mark him.”

“Already did. Now he’s in the palm of my hand, no matter where he goes. Even if it’s across the continent.”

Bathesia waved her hand, erasing the space. Judging by the location, it was an alleyway within the village. Well, it’s unlikely a pickpocket would go outside the village.

“Let’s go after him.”

In fact, losing money was not a big issue. He was a Demon King. Even without spending money, he could plunder and loot as much as he wanted.

“To be pickpocketed by humans. If other demons or Demon Kings knew, you’d be laughed at for a hundred years.”

“I know, that’s why I’m dealing with it.”

But this was a matter of the Demon King’s dignity. A Demon King is a being who kills humans and loots their possessions. Such a being should not have anything taken by humans. The only thing that can be taken is their life.

“What a hassle.”

Karos scratched his head. He would not kill them nicely. He strode into the alleyway.

**** ****

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

A gaunt boy regulated his breathing within the alleyway. He fumbled with the loot he had. It was quite a haul, so it seemed he wouldn’t get beaten today. Delighted by the thought, the boy smiled.

The boy moved stealthily towards a place in the alleyway that even the lower classes avoided. The smell of garbage was strong. What could he eat today? Even hard, stale bread would be nice.

He pulled at a door that was nearly rotted through.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me, me…”

“What? Did that little brat come?”

The door opened, and a pungent smell wafted out. The boy’s face momentarily became dazed.

“What’s the catch today?”

“Ah. The third little one.”

A rough-looking man asked, and simultaneously, a scrawny man emerged from inside the building. His gauntlets were smeared with blood and flesh.

“What? Is he dead?”

“Still breathing. But seems like he’ll die soon.”

A faint moan could be heard from inside. Hearing it, the boy’s face turned as white as a sheet. The scrawny man hit the boy on the head with his gauntlet. Blood and flesh clung to his brown hair.

“If you can’t bring anything, you’ll end up like the second little one inside. Got it?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

The boy nodded, shaking, and hastily emptied his bag. Jewelry, fruit, bread, and various other items fell out. The rough man whistled at the quantity.

“See, the third little one is pretty good.”

“Good. You’ve earned another day of life. Go rest over there. You can eat too.”

“Ah, okay…”

The boy trembled as he entered. He saw something bloodstained twitching and closed his eyes. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see.

Mumbling to himself, he entered the kitchen. He shoved the stew spread on the table into his mouth. It tasted like it could make him vomit immediately, but it was edible.

“Hey, third little one.”

While the boy was shoving stew into his mouth, the scrawny man approached with a bag. The boy stuttered in surprise.

“Wh, wha, what…”

“Whose is this?”

The man opened the bag. Inside, there were dozens of banknotes. Greed flashed across the man’s face.

“Some rich guy? Why so much? With this amount, we can live luxuriously for a month, right?”

The boy couldn’t understand what was so enjoyable about it. It made him dazed, and he felt like he was being taken somewhere. The man tapped the bag.

“We could make a big score with this and leave this rural village. Anyway, who is it?”

“…”

The boy reminisced for a moment and then sighed. He remembered. Three people wearing robes.

“They looked like travelers… I couldn’t see their faces well because of the robes… seemed young… two women and one man…”

“Travelers, huh? That’s good.”

The man smirked. Easy targets. Travelers had no base and no one to come looking for them if they died. The guards wouldn’t intervene either. They were the perfect prey.

“But it was scary…”

The boy shivered. The momentary murderous intent from the girl felt like a premonition of death. Perhaps he would have really died if the man hadn’t stopped him.

“Scared my ass. They’re just amateur adventurers.”

But the scrawny man laughed. He grabbed the boy’s head and lifted him into the air.

“Ow, it hurts!”

“Hey, you. Go back to them.”

“What, what?”

The boy was startled. He didn’t want to approach them again. The man in front of him was scary, but the girl was scarier. It felt like she wasn’t human.

“I, I don’t want to.”

“Don’t want to? Hey. Seems like you’re mistaken about something.”

The man punched the boy in the stomach. The boy fell to the ground, gasping for air. He managed to suppress a scream through the intense pain.

“Guh…”

Hyung_Otaku

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!