The Seven Deadly Sins by Shuka Matsuda & Nakaba Suzuki

Author:Shuka Matsuda & Nakaba Suzuki
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kodansha USA
Published: 2018-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

6

Weinheidt descended the stairs with his bow on his shoulder. “You’ve got some guts. You’re the runt here, but you didn’t fall to Captain Slader’s Overpower and even tried to run.”

The child stood on the landing, Simon blocking his path ahead. Behind Simon, the armored knight Hugo was coming up from below.

Slader, who had followed Weinheidt down, leaned over the child. “What’s that you’re holding?”

He was a startlingly ugly child.

His left eyelid twitched—it must have been injured when he was very young—and his eyes looked mismatched in size. His nose was so flat it was only two holes in his face, and he had a huge mouth.

His clothes were so stained with dirt and filth that the original color was impossible to identify. He was so scrawny that his age was impossible to guess.

“Show me.”

Slader reached towards the child’s chest. But the child only shook his head and made no move to open his hand.

“I can feel a slight wave of magic.”

“Captain, that is the Rainbow Crystal.”

Jillian glided down the stairs.

“One of the children upstairs was muttering deliriously about a crystal. I think they were using its healing power to manipulate people. Multiple bands of thieves trafficking people and objects, and also killing…I feel like throwing up.”

“His Majesty would lament this.”

Slader shrugged his shoulders.

Then the child in front of him shouted, “Kill me! If you want this, kill me!”

“What are you saying?” asked Slader. “We’re not going to kill you. You were probably kidnapped and forced to do dirty work, right? C’mon now, hand over the Rainbow Crystal. Once you do that, you’ll be free.”

“I don’t want to! I’m not handing this over!” Shrinking, the child hugged the crystal even more tightly. “If you’re going to take it, you’ll have to take it from my dead body!”

“Captain Slader. This is becoming a nuisance. Why don’t we just dispose of him?” Simon recommended, the guard of his longsword rattling.

Slader narrowed his eyes and stared down at the child before letting out a gasp. “Are you a girl?”

“What?!” everyone gathered cried in spite of themselves.

The child was so very dirty and withered, not a single shred of girlishness was apparent.

“No, you’re wrong…I’m not a girl…” Even as the child said this her manner was that of a flustered child, and the truth was evident.

After a moment, still clutching the crystal, she started sobbing quietly.

“Good grief…What should we do?” Hugo asked in an embarrassed tone. Simon, seemingly giving up on the whole affair, said he would gather the horses and went down the stairs.

But Slader continued to stare at the girl.

Light from the small window fell onto the landing at a slant. The glow made her dirty cheeks gleam.

A kidnapped child, forced to do dirty work.

Slader had been the same.

When you’re living every day not knowing when you might be killed, you can’t live without lying to yourself. I know that myself all too well.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

The girl rasped, “I’ve already forgotten my real name…Here, I was called Tethel.”

“Tethel, eh? That’s a strange name.

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