03

Sophia was about to slash at the five men immediately, but the sword that should have been at her waist was not there now.

Sophia’s right hand hovered uselessly near her hip, her eyes glaring as if she might kill the men with her stare alone.

“Sophia, don’t. You can’t go in alone without a sword.”

Ains arrived at that moment.

“Hah, so you’re with her? Wow… you look like dead weight.”

One of the men sized Ains up from his feet to his head, while Ains stood quietly, merely shrugging his shoulders.

“What do we do with this woman? She’s pretty decent, you know? …Wanna grab her?”

The man clutching the pendant cast a lewd gaze at Sophia.

“No, the pendant comes first. Let’s head back to the boss. We’ll let you go this time, for your sake—and for that useless helper of yours. Get lost while you still can!”

With those words, the man led his companions away, sneering at the slum dwellers who hid their presence with downcast eyes.

“Is that really okay, Ains-sama!?”

Ains did nothing, staring blankly in the direction the men had gone.

Sophia wanted to chase after them immediately, but Ains beside her showed no sign of moving. Unable to act, she simply glared at the men’s retreating backs.

“What is?”

Ains replied with a puzzled look.

“Those men. I can’t forgive behavior like that.”

“Yeah, they were pretty rough…”

Ains nodded along.

“…I-Is that all…?”

Sophia felt deflated as Ains did nothing beyond nodding.

“Is there something else?”

“Aren’t you going to help that girl?”

Where Sophia looked stood the girl who had just been beaten mercilessly. The corner of her mouth was split, her face covered in abrasions and smeared red with blood. Her clothes, poor to begin with, were not only filthy but torn in many places.

“She’s pitiful, but… Sophia, are you planning to help her?”

Ains looked at Sophia skeptically, as if doubting his own ears.

“Y-Yes. Or rather, I thought you would do the same, Ains-sama…”

Sophia’s voice trailed off weakly.

“No way! I wouldn’t. It’s pointless.”

“…Huh?”

Sophia let out an involuntary sound at Ains’s response.

“Sophia, why would you save that girl?”

The unexpected question caught Sophia off guard.

“What do you mean, why? I can’t ignore someone being treated so unjustly right in front of me!”

“That really sounds like you, Sophia. But then why only her? There are plenty of people around here in similar situations. They’re not suffering right in front of you this time, but they might be somewhere else—or might already have suffered. Why save her and not them?”

“T-That’s…”

Ains watched the speechless Sophia for several seconds, then let out a small sigh.

“…Still, leaving a battered girl behind doesn’t sit right with me.”

Ains opened the item box in his ring and took out a potion.

He opened the bottle, lifted the bloodstained girl’s face, and poured it into her mouth.

The girl coughed once as if choking, then swallowed it.

Moments later, all her injuries vanished completely, and she opened her eyes.

“I-I’m saved… thank you very much.”

Still seated, the girl bowed slightly toward Ains, who looked at her while holding the bottle.

“Well then, shall we go, Sophia?”

“…Y-Yes.”

Sophia felt as if a thorn were lodged in her heart, an unsettled and unresolved feeling.

“W-Wait, please!”

The girl called out to Ains as he turned away to leave.

“Hm? What is it?”

Ains turned back to face her, his emotions unreadable.

“P-Please, could you get that pendant back for me? O-Or ask the guards to help… I can’t do it myself. With my status, I can’t…”

The girl spoke with a dark, downcast expression.

Sophia looked at her sadly, then glanced briefly at Ains before asking the girl,

“…What is that pendant to you? Why were they trying to take it from you?”

Judging by her appearance, the pendant did not seem valuable enough to fetch a high price. Sophia asked her anyway.

“It’s the only memento my mother left me. Those scary men called it a ‘living artifact’* and took it from me…”

Sophia widened her eyes in surprise for a moment, then nodded softly.

“…I see.”

“See, Sophia. This is it.”

Leaving the two behind, Ains began speaking in an exasperated tone.

“Do you know why I didn’t help her at first?”

“…N-No.”

“She keeps asking others for help. Even after being helped, all she did was say thank you—and then she asked for even more help. She doesn’t try to do anything herself.”

“Eh?”

The girl looked shocked, never expecting such words.

“Why don’t you try to take it back yourself?”

“I-I can’t…”

A lack of confidence, born from having nothing, seeped out of the girl.

“Is it impossible? Then why do you push something you can’t do onto others? We might get hurt by them too, just like you did. And all because we listened to your request.”

“……”

The girl fell silent at Ains’s words.

She had not spoken with such irresponsible intent, nor consciously meant it that way. She had simply asked for help, hoping—without much thought—that someone would save her.

“…If it were us, I think taking your pendant back without a scratch would be easy.”

“T-Then—”

The girl’s mouth moved hurriedly.

At that point, Ains looked away from her and turned to Sophia.

“What do you think would happen to her after that?”

“…I think she would be grateful to you, Ains-sama.”

Ains shook his head at Sophia’s answer.

“That’s not what I mean. Do you think the girl who was saved would really be safe afterward? A girl who relies entirely on others and never takes a single step forward herself.”