"Haa... fine, I did it already, but..."
"..."
Looking around, I saw the hardware store, wrecked after both I and the shop owner had each gone down once, the Baban Si landlady panicking and flailing without knowing what to do, and that bastard lying on the floor after getting punched in the jaw.
"Th, th... f-first, the first-aid kit... no, there isn't one... u, uaaah..."
"W-what kind of order is that, you bastard?! T-th, that is a violation of the Queen's law! A-attempted assault, I'll hand you over to the Queen's knights for attempted assault!!!"
The shop owner, still rubbing his struck jaw with his hand, threatened me with a slurred, hard-to-understand voice, while the landlady frantically searched for first aid she didn't even have.
Hoo... all right, then first...
"Ma'am."
"Y-yes?! Ju-just a moment. I'll call for a fairy to help from outside..."
"No, no, that's fine. Could you bring me the first-aid box from inside? I saw it when I fell earlier."
"Ah, yes!"
The flustered Baban Si hurried inside to look for the first-aid supplies. Fortunately, it seemed that bastard wasn't going to pick a fight over that.
Or maybe he was so focused on me that he didn't have the energy to care.
"I'll sue you... I'll sue yoou... you bastard... I'll sue you...!!"
Half out of his mind, he lay face-down on the floor and muttered. His jaw was the part that got hit, though. Was he really saying he'd sue me? Honestly, I had plenty to say too.
So I approached him first. We had enough time before Baban Si came back with the first-aid box. Plenty of time for a few words.
I knelt down and looked at him.
"What... did you come here to beg for mercy... heh heh heh... you think I'll let you off...!!!"
He muttered that he wasn't going to let me off.
...Ha.
"Well... sorry, but I'm not here to beg for mercy. Shop owner. This, you can see it clearly, right?"
"Wha? Wha, what are you sayin'..."
I waved a sheet of paper in front of his face.
The moment he saw it, the grin on his face vanished and was replaced by panic and the look of someone who had just realized his mistake.
He'd figured out what I was about to say.
"Now then, Article 57, Clause 7-3 of the Queen's law. In short, the price of goods may be set by the seller depending on the situation, but it cannot exceed ten times the price set by Her Majesty."
"Ah, th, th..."
"If you're going to invoke the Queen's law, then you know the basics, don't you? And this paper is..."
This is the invoice you told Baban Si to pay earlier.
Ha, good thing I snatched it then. You even wrote the amount and kindly signed your name. It's proof without a shred of doubt.
It was your own fault for getting distracted by Baban Si and the money.
"So, shop owner. You said earlier you'd hand me over to the Queen's knights, didn't you? Go ahead. The moment you do, I'll submit this to them. Even if you get off scot-free, you'll be in for a world of trouble."
"G-give that back right now!!!!"
With a shriek, he jerked his body upright and tried to snatch the invoice from my hand. But if he did that, it would be way too obvious what he was after.
"Whoa there, dangerous, dangerous. That was close. You almost took it back. Hmm?"
"Y-you little bastard!!!"
So I sprang up too and quickly backed away. The shop owner glared at me, panting, but the aftereffects of getting hit in the jaw seemed to be making it hard for him to move, so all he could do was stand there and seethe.
"Now, now. Don't be like that, shop owner. Let's settle this amicably, all right? I've got a nice little proposal for you."
"...Damn it, what is it, what is it...!!"
"Nothing much. We both keep our mouths shut. Then neither you nor I get dragged off by the Queen's knights, right? And on top of that, I'll pay full price for the three iron plates and the hammer."
"...Th, thhhhh...!!"
Hearing my proposal, the shop owner ground his teeth so hard it looked like his jaw might not even close properly anymore.
Was he furious that he had to accept the proposal of the man who hit him, and that I would get to walk around freely after that? Ha. Ridiculous.
"So, what'll it be, shop owner? You don't want to get dragged off by the Queen's knights and have all your property confiscated, do you? Right? You don't want to be screwed too, do you? Hm? You have to make a living."
"Thhhhh... fine."
"Hm? What was that? I can't hear you very well because your voice is too small. Could you say it a little louder?"
"Take it and go!! Take it and go, you bastard!!"
"Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you~"
Grinding his teeth, the shop owner finally decided it was better to accept my offer than to be dragged off by the Queen's knights. He made it very clear he was unhappy about it, but he told me to take the iron plates and whatever else I wanted.
Ah, now I feel a little better. You miserly bastard. So you were scared for your own life after all?
"H-hey, over here please! I'll at least give you some first aid!!"
Just then, it seemed Baban Si had found the first-aid box inside the shop and come back. The shop owner still looked displeased, but he accepted treatment without saying a word. In the end, the timing was perfect.
Good. Good.
*
"Th, th, that gentleman...!!"
After Capris and Baban Si left, the shop owner remained in the wrecked hardware store, his jaw wrapped in bandages as he fumed.
He felt insulted. That sucker he'd been waiting for with his neck stretched out had escaped. Baban Si had gotten away too. And on top of that, he hadn't even received half the money he was supposed to get. The whole situation was so insulting, so infuriating, it felt like his insides were twisting in knots.
Anger. Disgust. Resentment. Rage. The humiliation of being put in his place by someone he had clearly thought was beneath him, and that woman's pitiful face as if she were some charity case bringing in money, sent paranoia and hatred surging up from the depths of his heart.
But telling on them to the Queen's knights was impossible.
That gentleman, who had been clutching the precious invoice all the way until he left this place, would definitely drag him down with him if he got caught by the Queen's knights.
Then what should he do?
Setting fire to the place or wrecking the house while they slept was difficult. It wouldn't just harm that one woman, and he'd be punished immediately.
"Damn it, if that woman's house were actually hers, I'd set it on fire right now...!!"
But that woman's house belonged entirely to those loan-shark bastards.
Hadn't she said it had been seized over debt, and that she could only barely survive by paying the interest on time and begging for mercy?
"...Wait. If that isn't her property, and she's just living there under the loan sharks..."
A good idea flashed through his mind.
Right. If he committed the act in a way that made it impossible to tell who did it, the blame would definitely fall on that woman, wouldn't it? And the fallout would reach that ridiculous gentleman too.
Then the loan sharks would step in! The ones making the most money in this district these days!! Those crazy bastards who didn't care what they did!!
If it was them, they'd definitely do it! An eye? A hand? A leg? Which would it be? How exciting!
Hm? Her kindness in treating him? Who cared about that! That was her role anyway, so there was no problem!!
"Heh heh heh, good. Let's do it, let's do it...! How dare they look down on me...!! That woman too, and that damn gentleman...! I'll crush them all...!!"
With a vacant grin on his face, the shop owner began touching the liquor bottles on the shelf.
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