Saupunkt was the town next to Organbaelz. It was in the countryside too, but since it was closer to main road, it was slightly more urban than its neighbors.
Sven and Jacob were standing on the corner fo the town's thoroughfare.
"Well, let's begin!"
Sven rolled up her sleeves with a determined sniff.
"Is this why you wanted my help? Well, I guess it wouldn't be possible for Lud, and Milly isn't ready to work outside the shop."
Jacob laughed happily as he said this.
The two were visiting Saupunkt on a Tockerbrot business trip for sales and recon-in-force. In other words, this was a trial sales run.
It didn't matter how good their product might be, If it didn't sell, it didn't sell.
The reasons might vary, from demographics to current trends to competition.
In order to obtain the data they needed. Sven decided to set up a simple and on the street corner in Saupunkt and sell their baked goods.
As Jacob had suggested, however, Lud's scary mien would frighten away customers, which was a totally different problems than whether their product would sell.
So Sven had asked jacob to help her with sales.
"Did you bring change?"
"Here, I exchanged bills at the blank."
"And these are the paper bags? Oh, we need to put brochures in them."
"Yeah. Our customers today might come visit us in Organbaelz."
They set about their preparations briskly.
"Jacob, you've really got business sense."
Sven spoke with sudden realization.
"Really? But this isn't such a big deal."
"Jacob, how old are you?"
"Um, I'll be 11 years old soon."
"You seem older than that."
The Tockerbrot workers were all quirky characters-Lud was a veteran and Sven was a Hunter Unit-so they didn't notice how unusual Jacob was. He was so dependable that the word mature didn't do him justice.
"Thanks for your help. Now let's get cracking!"
Sven inhaled sharply.
There was no biological reason for her to take a deep breath.
She didn't need to inhale oxygen.
Sven was a machine, but a machine with feelings.
She was psyching herself up.
"Hi, everyone! It's nice to meet you! I'm Sven from Tockerbrot, a bakery in Organbaelz!"
Her beautiful voice was clear and firm, but innocent.
Even though she hadn't shouted, everyone walking along the street stopped and looked over.
People say that professional stage actors can project their voices to sound as if they are speaking to each other member of the audience individually.
Sven had just accomplished this.
The pedestrian all turned toward her.
Nonetheless, she didn't continue speaking right away.
She took enough time for everyone to notice her: the girl with silver hair and red eyes who was a beautiful as a fairy.
When the tension reached its peak, she flashed her lovely smile.
"Today, we're here to greet the people of Saupunkt! We pride ourselves on our bread, so please come take a look and have a taste!"
Her voice washed over the people like waves over sandy beach.
Sven, a humanoid Hunter Unit, was made for espionage-against the will of her creator, Daian.
She had been designed to infiltrate enemy nations, especially hostile military forces, earn their trust, gather information, and-if necessary-assassinate targets in their sleep.
If Sven so desired, it was nothing for her to win over ten or twenty average citizens in an instant.
"I think I'll check it out."
The first person to approach them was a young man.
"Hmm... The bakery from the neighboring town? I've heard of it."
Next was a young woman.
"Huh? Huh? What've you got?"
After that came children.
In situations like this, housewives are surprisingly calm.
"Oh my! Those look scrumptious! What are they called?"
Once she attracted the housewives, Sven knew she had successfully completed her mission.
"Yes. This is pineapple bread, one of our original confections! There isn't any pineapple inside, but the pattern on it resembles the fruit! Tee-hee!"
She was bright, cheerful and charming with men and women of all ages.
"Sven is truly impressive!"
Jacob mumbled this to himself as he bagged and handed it to one customer after another.
The bread Lud sold at Tockerbrot was delicious. There was no mistake about it.
But good products don't necessarily sell.
The price of bread is only a coin or two, so instead of opening their wallets wide. Sven just needed to unlock them a little.
Doing that, however, was hard work.
Goods need to be well made in order to sell.
But effective sales technique is also necessary.
"Welcome to our bread stand! Please, have a look! We're proud of every item for sale!♪"
Sven's manner, which seemed almost like singing and dancing, attracted customers. She was an excellent salesperson.
Within one hour, most the bread was gone.
"I would say the results were most satisfactory!"
But her facial expression wasn't victorious.
"Huh? You're less pleased than I expected."
"I would have expected no less from Master's bread!"
Jacob was surprised.
"I wish that were all there was to this, but there's more."
It was to soon to fully judge the results.
"Those customers took bread home to eat, but there's no point if they don't want to buy more. People will gather once or twice just out of curiosity. What's important is winning repeat customers."
In order to make money from low-priced items, they had to snag regular patrons.
"We need to do this a few more times. So for our second visit, we'll-"
"Why? Are you coming here again?"
An overweight man pushed forward from behind.
"You set shop right in front of my store and it's flourishing!"
The man was the owner of a general store just behind their booth.
"Huh? Do you want me to pay you some kind of fee?"
Sven frowned as she asked, but she removed her wallet from a pocket.
"I can't offer much, but..."
She couldn't afford to stir up trouble when they were still testing the waters.
When it came to street sales, she expected the locals to make demands.
"No, no, no... That's not what I meant."
The man's reaction was not what Sven expected.
"Just gimme some bread. Here's money for it."
The man handed over a few copper coins as he picked one of the leftover breads and began scarfing it down.
"This really does taste good! You must've used fine flour and put effort into baking it. I bet the person who made this is a very serious baker. You shouldn't sell this so cheaply. What is this? Charity?"
After gobbling down the bread, the shop owner guffawed.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
The man didn't seem hostile, but Sven was suspicious.
"Well... If you're comin' back to sell more, why don't you do it in front of my shop again?"
"Huh?"
This was a surprisingly good deal for Tockerbrot.
"Can we? Won't we interfere with your business?"
"No, I should say not!"
The man smiled toothily as he answered Jacob's question.
"After people buy fine bread, they'll want tea, coffee and milk! And sausage, ham and bacon are good ideas, too! And butter and jam are essential!"
"Oh, I see..."
Sven finally understood the man's motive.
His general store also sold food.
The owner wanted Sven to lure the customers, which would generate profits for his store.
"If a pretty girl like you stands in front of my shop, I'll make money just from customers who will spill over from your crowd. In fact, a fair number of customers waltzed into my shop just now!"
"You're skilled businessman."
"In return, I won't ask you to pay nothin'."
"Hmm..."
Sven put her hand to her mouth and pondered the man's suggestion.
When an outsider opens a business, sooner or later conflicts arise with locals.
If, however, they had a local store on their side from the beginning, they might avoid that risk.
"If you want, I could sell your bread in my store. And that'd turn a decent profit!"
"Oh!"
Yet another good idea!
"That's an intriguing offer. Shall we discuss in detail?"
"Yeah, good idea. Come on in, I'll put on some tea for you!"
At last, Sven smiled back. In fine spirits, the man beckoned them into his store.
It appeared that this recon-in-force op would prove more fruitful for Tockerbrot than expected.
* * *
Meanwhile, back at Tockerbrot...
"T-Thank you!"
Milly, left behind at the bakery, was seeing off a customer.
After three months of grueling training by Sven, she was almost capable of respectable customer service, but today something else was making her nervous.
"Tee-hee! You sure do look the part!"
"Urgh... Don't tease me, Marlene!"
Milly looked embarrassed as she replied to Marlene, a nun from the church atop the hill where Milly lived.
"I'm not teasing, I helped here a few times, but you're doing much better than I did!"
Since Sven and Jacob were away, Milly was the only one left to handle customer service. But since Milly was only 14 years old, Marlene had come to lend support.
"You should be proud of yourself. You're working hard."
Marlene's sweet smile was less like that of a woman of God than it was of a proud big sister praising her younger sibling.
"Tee-hee!"
Milly was a little embarrassed.
Her customer service wasn't as polished as Sven's, but her attitude showed dedication, and so far that appealed to the customers.
"Good job, you two. Sorry to leave you alone."
Lud appeared from the back room.
He held a tray bearing a fresh-baked pastry.
"A pie? That smells to-die-for!"
Milly's eyes glistened at the sweet-and-sour smell of sugar and fruit.
"Yeah. I just baked a lemon pie. Want to taste it?"
"Y-Yes!"
Milly nodded her head vigorously at this unexpected treat.
"Well then, I'll make tea. Where are the tea leaves?"
As Marlene reached for the tea on the shelf behind Lud, she pressed herself against the wall, obviously trying not to get too close to Lud.
"M-Marlene? What's wrong?"
Lud was confused at the nun's unusual behavior.
"Well, um.... Sven said..."
Marlene had taken a liking to Lud, and although Lud hadn't noticed, Sven had.
Sven didn't want Marlene getting any closer to her beloved master than necessary, and had given her specific boundaries.
"Sven told me to keep a one-meter distance from you."
"What?!"
Lud didn't know how to respond and looked bewildered.
"W-Well... shall we have tea anyway?"
For a change of pace, they decided to sit at one of the tables in the food court as they enjoyed teatime.
"Y-Yummy! S-Simply yummy!"
Milly's eyes popped wide and she let out a delighted yelp after just one bite of the fresh lemon pie.
"This is really delicious!"
After she had taken a bite, Marlene marveled at the taste.
"Good. I'm glad you like it."
"Y-You..."
Milly let out a cry, her mouth trembling as she pointed at Lud, who appeared happy that they liked the pie he had baked.
"Are you a wizard?!"
"Huh?"
Lud's lemon pie was so delicious that Milly, who didn't have much of a vocabulary, blurted out the absurd question in her excitement.
"I'm surprised... Lud, you're even a master pie baker!"
"Well, there's more to it than skill."
Lud blushed as he answered Marlene.
Bread and pie use the same flour. What differentiate them is that bread uses yeast to make it rise.
But the process and ingredients of bread and pies are similar, so bakeries often sell both.
"Hey, Milly! Come here!"
Lud gestured to Milly, who was shoveling the pie in her mouth. He showed her a small wooden crate that was sitting in the back of the shop.
"What's this?"
"This is a refrigerator."
Lud explained to Milly as he opened the double doors.
There was a chunk of ice on the upper shelf and a puff pastry on the lower shelf.
"When you make a pie, you knead butter into the dough. When you bake it, the butter in the dough boils, creating layers of air. That's how it gets so crisp."
In order to do that, the butter in the dough must stay solid until you put it in the oven.
Therefore, it's crucial to keep it cold in a refrigerator.
"In addition to the temperature of the oven, the temperature during preparation also affects how food tastes. Remember that."
"O-Okay!"
Lud had baked the pie as a snack for the two of them because they were helping out in the bakery, but also as an occasion for teaching Milly.
"Anyway, it's so delicious that the town will be famous for it!"
Marlene said this from a dutiful distance of one meter.
"That's what I want, but there's a problem."
"What is it?"
"Like I said, in order to make a good pie, I need a refrigerator, but this one has limitations."
Lud had placed a chunk of ice on the upper shelf to chill the air in the box he called a refrigerator. It certainly wasn't ideal for the business use. He had just put it together so he could bake the pie to thank his friends.
"An electric refrigerator would be best, but they're too expensive for our shop."
During the Great War, the military had invented an electric refrigerator that circulated refrigerant under high pressure and ran on electricity.
The development of a refrigeration system had been an urgent need for preserving food and medicine, and to prevent explosive shells from igniting during increases in atmospheric temperature.
That technology had found commercial use before the end of the Great War. Factories, shops and some private individuals owned refrigerators, but they were still expensive.
"Oh... That's too bad. That pie blew away my taste buds!"
Milly's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"That's all right. I'm happy that you two liked it. I should bake another one for Sven and Jacob."
"Too bad..."
Milly mumbled this again.
She wanted more people to taste the delicious pie this kind man baked.
Doing so would even put a smile on someone looked as scary as the devil himself.
"Ooh! A customer!"
Marlene reacted to the sound of a cling-clang from the bell affixed to the shop entrance.
"Oops! Then I'll duck into the back!"
Lud hurried back to the oven so he wouldn't frighten the customer.
"Oh, hello... aren't you Charlotte, Jacob's mother?"
"Hm?"
Lud stopped when he heard what Marlene had said to the customer.
* * *
Lud and Sven lived at Tockerbrot.
Along with the oven room, the bakery occupied most of the space which left little room for a living area.
Sven slept in the attic, and Lud's room was only big enough for a bed and small writing desk.
When they had added to the building, they had created an office where two people could sit and chat.
Lud showed Jacob's mother into that room.
"Sorry the room is so cramped."
"Not at all. I apologized for showing up unexpectedly."
Jacob's mother was undoubtedly pretty, but a mysterious shadow surrounded her.
"Please, have some."
Lud offered her a piece of the lemon pie and tea.
"Thank you. I enjoy the bread my son brings home. It's delicious."
"Th-Thank you!"
This was Lud's first time meeting Charlotte.
He had visited the repair shop owned by Jacob's family to have an old truck fixed, but he had never seen Charlotte there.
Her father, Jacob's grandfather, hated Wiltian soldiers, so he hid Charlotte in the back of the house.
"You look kinder than I heard."
"Huh?!"
Lud gave a cry of surprise at Charlotte for saying this after seeing his face.
"Is something the matter?"
"No... It's just no one has ever told me that."
Lud's frame was larger than average, even for Wiltians, who were known for being physically imposing. He had fierce eyes, and sported a big scar on his left cheek. Between his size and his stern, frightening face, he was overwhelming enough to make even an adult flee.
There were those who said being a baker was a poor disguise.
Sven was the only one who hadn't been frightened of him when they first met, but in many ways she was an exception.
"I saw lots of scary men in my old occupation. Besides, people with kind faces often hide something awful behind them."
Charlotte's words were heavy with experience.
"Did my son tell you my former profession?"
"Um..."
Lud hesitated.
"Yes, he did."
He admitted it since he was a bad liar and would never be able to keep up the pretense.
"I was a prostitute during the Great War."
She had worked as a licensed prostitute for Wiltia at a brothel managed by the government.
A nation providing a brothel for soldiers is a disturbing idea.
However, some believed it was necessary to prevent the spread of sexual diseases and assaults on civilians.
A hundred years ago, the Lion Emperor traveled with two thousand prostitutes to service his one million soldiers.
"Jacob was conceived by one of my customers."
The emotion in Charlotte's voice was impossible to read, but Lud felt it was wrong to pretend to understand what she went through.
Charlotte appeared older than Lud but too young to be Jacob's mother. She must have been only 16 or 17 when the Great War started.
What hardship had she experienced at that age? It was perhaps more difficult than the hell Lud had lived through after returning from the war.
"That was hard for my son. The color of his hair and eyes are different from my father's and mine. People looked at him with curiosity."
Charlotte had wavy black hair.
By contrast, Jacob had the typical Wiltian blond hair and blue eyes.
"He had trouble making friends... As his mother, that saddened me, But..."
Charlotte bowed deeply while sitting in the chair.
"It appears that everyone at this shop has treated him with kindness. Thank you."
"N-No... Stop! Jacob is an incredible help to me!"
Flustered, Lud urged her to raise her head.
He wasn't exaggerating.
The year before Sven came. Jacob had been a regular customer when others treated Lud, an outsider, with suspicion.
The age difference hadn't mattered.
Jacob had been Lud's first friend in town.
"But my father caused trouble for you... I couldn't stop that either..."
"Let's forget about that."
Jacob's grandfather had cooperated with terrorists, who were living secretly in Organbaelz a few months ago.
His motive was the grudge he held over the shunning of his daughter.
His hatred for Wiltia had driven the old man mad.
"How is he doing?"
After the incident, Lud had worked as hard as he could to conceal their treacherous actions, which could have earned them the charge of treason.
To do so, Lud used the influence of his heroic status as Silver Wolf, even though he hated to boast of his name.
And Lud helped not just because it was his friend's family.
It was because he believed that he and other Wiltians had caused the past suffering of Charlotte and Jacob's grandfather.
"Since that incident, my father has aged greatly. He barely works now. The factory is not just closed, it's practically bankrupt."
"Oh... It is?"
Perhaps Jacob's grandfather had shut his heart after receiving aid from someone he hated.
Lud was sad that he had unable to help in the end.
"We have to make a living, but it's hard for me to find job here. My father would prefer for me not to work and there is a rift between townsfolk and me."
Charlotte looked forlorn as she explained.
Her past was a public secret among the adults in town.
People sometimes treated her with contempt, and some men gave her evil looks.
Therefore, Charlotte mostly stayed in the house, which was why Lud was only meeting her now, even though he had lived in town for over a year.
Marlene had met Charlotte before, and since Marlene was a woman and a servant of God, Charlotte was less uncomfortable around her.
"But if I go to Saupunkt, the town near here, I could work hard to make a living for Jacob and my father."
"Do you mean you're moving out?"
"Yes, next month. So I have a favor to ask. I know Jacob won't like it, but can you convince him? Please?"
After saying that, she bowed once more.
* * *
After Jacob's mother left, Lud stayed in his office, thinking for a while.
"That means Jacob is going to move out."
Marlene had entered.
Charlotte hadn't touched the lemon pie or the tea on the office table.
Marlene picked up some cold tea and had a sip.
"Were you listening?"
"Yes, but don't worry, Milly is in the other room, It's too early to tell her anything."
The walls of the office were thin, Conversations inside the office were audible to anyone standing just outside the door.
Marlene knew that, so she had purposely moved Milly away to prevent her from hearing about Charlotte's private matters.
"This is... my fault."
Marlene was almost crying, and her voiced trembled.
She had persuaded Jacob's grandfather to cooperate with the terrorists.
"That's not true. Just forget about that."
Lud repeated what he had said earlier to Charlotte.
"The neighboring town, huh?"
With Lud's old truck, it would only take one hour to Saupunkt.
This wouldn't be good-bye forever. If they wanted to, they would be able to see each other anytime.
But, it would be sad not to have his friend stop by after school so Lud could enjoy his cheerful chatter.
* * *
Back in Saupunkt...
"This town is busier than Organbaelz..."
Jacob was wandering around town while Sven talked business with the owner of the general store.
Since the town was nearby, it wasn't his first visit. Usually he came with his grandfather to purchase maintenance tools, so he had never walked around alone.
He felt more grown up exploring a little by himself, and that felt good.
"I'll buy some souvenirs for Mom... And for Grandpa, too."
His grandfather had aged terribly and lost his energy, and his mother rarely left the house, under orders from his grandfather.
Jacob looked in the shop windows, in the hopes of finding something that would cheer them up.
Jacob's allowance wasn't much, but he had saved some money by helping at Tockerbrot, as he had today.
"I'll get Grandpa some liquor... No, maybe cigarettes. And for Mom..."
Among the items on the shelves, he spied a small hair accessory.
Attached to the ornament were deep blue grass balls fashioned to look like grapes.
It was cheap, but the decoration on it was well made as if it were expensive.
"This would look good on Mom."
Charlotte, Jacob's mother, was pretty, even to people outside the family.
She was still young. She might occasionally dress up, but she never wore makeup or fashionable clothes, in part out of obedience to her father, but also because she didn't want to stand out.
"It's ridiculous... That stuff happened before I was born..."
Jacob was ordinarily cheerful, but now he was squeezing his eyes shut and looked distraught.
"What's wrong?"
A woman spoke to him from behind.
"Hm?"
Jacob turned around and saw a girl who was older than Milly but younger than Marlene.
"Nothing... Ha ha ha... Did I look so dark that I made you worry?"
Jacob immediately put on his usual perky face, but the girl's manner didn't change.
Her face looked expressionless at first, like a doll's, but there was a faint darkness about her.
Jacob realized that it was her worry for him.
He pointed to the hairpiece.
"Um... I was thinking about getting this as a present for my mother. But she never wears things like this, so there's probably no point."
Jacob wondered why he was telling this to someone he didn't know.
But he found himself talking openly to her.
"That's true. In general, women dislike receiving something they don't care about."
"Really?"
"Yes. Things like opera tickets, coupons for expensive restaurants, costly jewelry, flower bouquets and stuffed animals are examples. I'm aware of that make woman wear a look of disapproval rather than a smile."
"M-Maybe that's just a problem they have with the men?"
Jacob was amazed to hear the girl recite her list of examples in such a matter-of-fact way.
"You may be right, but..."
"But?"
"Those examples only apply when the gift is from someone she isn't interested in. If she likes that man, she would be happy to receive even a rock."
Jacob caught a glimpse of something in the girl's stony demeanor.
"Women are happy merely to know that a man cares enough to give her anything."
The girl spoke as if she were talking about herself.
"Do you really think so? You sure are convincing. Do you work here? Huh...?"
Jacob turned around, but the girl was gone.
While he was looking down and thinking, she had disappeared.
"Aw, man..."
She had vanished so suddenly, without Jacob even noticing, that he was confused and felt as if she had been an illusion.
"Oh well..."
Even if it came from an illusion, her advice made sense.
He looked in the shop window again and decided to buy the accessory.
"Agh! The price has one more zero than I thought!"
Reality was cruel.
* * *
A few minutes later, Jacob bought a modestly priced handkerchief.
Even so, it took almost all his pocket money.
"Urgh... If only I had more money..."
Jacob sighed at how little he could do.
He wished he could grow up faster.
Then he would be capable more.
How would be able to relieve the burdens from the people he care about.
The frustration almost made this bright boy dark again.
"No, no, no..."
He shook his head a few times as if dispelling gloomy thoughts and, thinking that Sven must have finished her business, headed back toward the general store.
He tripped on something as he was taking a shortcut down a small path between buildings.
"Wh-What's this?"
It was a leather bag such as money collectors often carried.
"Hmm... This is a nice bag. Instead of throwing it away, the owner could have sold it and-"
He realized something, shut his mouth, and thought, "Uh-oh!"
What if it was lost, not thrown away?
Or what if it wasn't just lost, but stolen?
And what if someone had stolen it, taken the money, and thrown it here?
I could get in trouble if I keep this!
He rushed to put it back where he found it, but it was too late.
"Hey, you! What're you doin'?!"
A tough-looking man in a cheap black suit, black hat and black sunglasses was shouting as he approached.
"Yo, Bro! I found it! This brat filched it!"
"Huh?! Don't let him get away!"
The first thug called out to a higher-ranking thug who was also wearing a black suit and hat, as if it were some kind of uniform.
"It's a misunderstanding! I just found it on the ground!"
"Shut up and give that back!"
Jacob protested, but the men wouldn't listen and grabbed the bag.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! The money's gone! You stole it! Where you hidin' it?!"
"No, that's not true!"
Jacob cried out, but they seized him by the shoulders and wouldn't let go.
He hurriedly looked around for help, but the nearby pedestrians was afraid to get involved, pretended not to see, and scampered away.
"Ahem!"
Another voice joined in.
It had come from the back seat of a car parked on the street.
It wasn't loud voice, But it was much deeper than the shouts of two thugs.
"Sorry. We found it, but the money's already been stolen."
The hoodlums looked comically scared as they turned toward the source of the voice.
That car... It must be belong to a Wiltian...
Jacob's family didn't run a repair shop for nothing.
He could immediately tell that the car was an expensive Wiltian brand.
Jacob recognized that car as one of the world's top-class luxury automobiles. Few other cars could compare, especially when it came to durability. If a cheap car were to crash into it, only this well-built car would remain undamaged.
The body was sturdy and the windows were made of bulletproof glass.
This was the kind of vehicle favored by high-ranking military officers and mafia bosses who feared for their lives.
"Bring that brat here."
The owner of the voice had opened the back window and shouted.
The men dragged Jacob over to him.
"Where are the stock certificates and paperwork?"
"He doesn't have them."
"Indeed. I imagine a kid wouldn't know how to exchange those for cash."
The man continued talking one-sidedly.
He was in his fifties... perhaps even his sixties, but he was a mature man in his prime.
Despite many gray hairs, his eyes possessed a keen light, and he looked neither old nor weak.
"Hey, boy. I'll forget about the money you already spent, but give me the rest. Then I won't turn you in to the police."
His tone was authoritative and even haughty.
Jacob sensed that, whoever he was, he must occupy a high position.
He was forceful in a manner of those who excel at ruling others.
"Like I said, I didn't steal it!"
Jacob insisted on his innocence.
The man looked angry now.
"I see. Then there's no choice. I'll take you to the police. But that won't be the end of it. I'll also go to your house and take the amount you stole as compensation from your parents."
He said this coldly.
"What?!"
Jacob cried out in shock.
His typically calm and cheerful manner disappeared. He was still only 10 years old and the adult's gruff tone silenced him.
"Your dress well enough, so I doubt you need to steal money for food. Just return the money now and-Hm?"
The man stopped.
His intimidating expression was gone.
"Tell me, boy... Why do you have those?"
The man's voice was shaking.
He seemed upset and frightened, as if he had seen a ghost or a monster.
"Mr. Shylock, is somethin' wrong?"
Even the thugs who worked for him thought his tone sounded strange and out of character.
The man called Shylock was staring at the goggles Jacob wore around his neck.
"Are those... yours?"
"Yes... And I didn't steal them!"
Jacob shouted, refusing to budge on this point.
"No... That can't be... Then you're..."
The man stepped out of the car to stand in front of Jacob. With a trembling hand, he reached for Jacob and the goggles hanging from his neck.
The man was so spooky that Jacob was afraid he was going to strangle him to death.
"Ungh..."
Jacob wanted to escape but he couldn't shake free of the tough man who was holding his shoulders.
"Oh my! Pardon me, if you'd be so kind!!!"
Suddenly, Sven appeared.
She jumped in with mighty force, knocking away the man holding Jacob with one kick.
"What have you done to my partner?! Jacob, are you alright?"
"S-Sven!"
At the sight of his savior, tears of relief sprang to Jacob's eyes.
"Wench! Who are you?!"
The older thug produced a folding knife from his pocket.
"Stop!"
Shylock raised his voice. At the same moment, Sven twisted the ruffian's arm and threw him to the ground.
"Agh!"
She had moved so smoothly that he didn't know what hit him.
"If you pull out a knife, you've agreed not to complain if someone stabs or kills you!"
Sven was shouting as she waved the knife in front of the thug's face, where she had pressed it on the ground.
"Aagh!"
The man screamed, which confirmed that he was no longer in the mood for a fight, so she stood up quickly with Jacob in one arm.
"Let's get out of here."
"Huh? Y-Yeah!"
A moment later, they had run off.
Sven didn't know what kind of trouble Jacob was in.
But he was Lud's friend.
Jacob's life needed protection and he took priority second only to Lud.
The exact circumstances didn't matter.
Sven had to get him as far from danger as quickly and as effectively as possible.
Furthermore, she knew Jacob.
He was mature and intelligent beyond his years and always tried to smile, even in hard times. But he now had tears in his eyes.
And that's why she felt the need to rescue him regardless of right or wrong.
"Who was she?!"
The thugs mumbled in shock, staring in the direction where Sven and Jacob had gone.
"How can this be... How can this be?!"
For Shylock, the mysterious woman with superhuman strength was of no interest-only the boy with goggles.
Without so much as a glance at his minions on the ground, he pondered the brochure that had dropped from Sven's pocket.
"A bakery, eh? Tockerbrot... In Organbaelz..."