Attack me? Return it twofold!

Karina-chan here! It looks like I'm being targeted!

It's scary! Since it's so scary, I have no choice but to go on the offensive and blast them away!

 

 

I thought about starting things off after delivering the socks to the Goddess, but I want to bask in my memories with Sati-tan for a little while longer, so I'll do the delivery tomorrow.

In the meantime, I plan to hunt down some bad guys today to earn some donation money for the church. Yay, dun dun pafu pafu~.

So, to increase my value as bait, I did some woodcutting before noon.

With the help of Blade-senpai and the others, I ended up earning another 40 silver coins.

What? Didn't I say I was tired of woodcutting?

Well, this is all preparation for the main dish!

"What! You're a newbie and you have 40 silver coins?! What a guy! This is the last time I deal with you!"

"Heh, it's your fault for being fooled! I'm going to be a merchant now. Miss Receptionist, I'll withdraw 25 silver coins, no, let's go all out and withdraw all 40 coins! Time to splurge at Shun Lai Pavilion!"

"Damn it! I'll remember this!"

"Your mom's an onion!"

While woodcutting, we performed our rehearsed skit at the Adventurer's Guild. This should convey my wealth and plans to the targets.

Pretending to have a falling out with Blade-senpai, the seniors went ahead to Harumikazuchi-oneesama's place. They planned to serve me water instead of alcohol.

I confidently strolled through the town, did some shopping at the market, got refused for alcohol trade-in, and leisurely headed to Shun Lai Pavilion while pretending to chug down alcohol from water-filled bottles.

"Welcome. I've heard the story. You made another fortune today, huh?"

"Harumikazuchi-oneesama! Listen to this. I got forced to buy this alcohol by a senior merchant!"

"Well, can't be helped. If it's free, it won't count as a transaction, so you can leave it here."

"Hmm, then I'll gift about five bottles! I love you, Oneesama!"

Ah, here's the alcohol for the cooperation fee. Please accept it.

It turned out to be the same alcohol sold in this town, so nothing weird about it.

"Oh, you got tricked into buying some pretty good booze. I guess I have to serve you today. Go ahead, drink up."

"Yay!"

I drank the water served by Harumikazuchi-oneesama.

Yep, our plan is going smoothly. Even plain water becomes nectar when served by Oneesama. Hehehe.

After leisurely drinking water, it's time for a night stroll in the back alleys.

Apart from the backpack filled with alcohol bottles, I'm almost empty-handed.

This is where I got accosted the other day while tipsy and unaware. Let's see if I can lure them out…

As I ventured into the alley, a man appeared.

"This way is blocked."

"Oh my, oh my."

A cutpurse jumped out! I couldn't help but let out a smirk.

Hehe, I'm sober today, so there's no escape for you!

"What's with that smirk… Hey, block her way back. We can't let this catch escape."

"Leave it to me, bro."

I heard footsteps behind me.

Oh dear, I'm sandwiched between cutpurses. Which one should I pick first, I wonder…

"What's up, guys? Robbers? Am I being attacked?"

"Hehe, if you understand, then hand over everything quickly. All the clothes you're wearing too."

"Of course, after making you our toy, we'll sell you to a slave trader."

"Whaaat~, a slave trader? But is there really a slave trader who would buy a good, innocent citizen without crimes or debts?"

So that means he's definitely a cutpurse! No doubt about it!

I was so excited my line came out in a monotone. Hehehe.

"You guys won't get any money from me! Move!"

No, don't move, come attack me. Come on, hurry up, do your job.

As I mentally prepared for a fighting pose, the cutpurse in front of me drew his sword.

Clear hostile intent. This would be enough for self-defense, but I need a little more to avoid excessive self-defense.

"Hey, miss, you don't want to get hurt on that pretty face, do you? Just quietly do as you're told."

"You idiot, if you hurt her face or body, her value will drop. No blades, okay?"

"Huh? … Now that you mention it, that's right."

No, no, don't agree with him. Come on, attack me! I'm waiting here with my spatial magic, invincible and ready for action!

"Who are you calling an idiot!?"

"An opening!"

Yes, he's coming! Thud!

I got hit with the flat part of the sword. Even if wasn't sharp, a sword was still a chunk of metal, a blunt weapon.

But I was completely undamaged, not even moving an inch.

This totally justifies self-defense!

"Wha—"

"Here we go~"

Swoosh, I swept up Cutpurse A into my storage space.

Since time is stopped inside, there's no worry about him causing a ruckus.

"H-Hey, what was that! Where did you take bro?!"

"Well, where could he be? He's just vanished, scary right? Mweh heh heh~"

"Ah… uwaahhhhh!!"

Oh, Cutpurse B didn't run but attacked instead. Good, let's get hit another time… Yep, no pain at all, but it's a bit surprising to get punched in the face. Like getting face punched in VR sort of feeling? Not that I'm in VR though.

"So hard!? Wh-What are you!?"

"What? Just a good, ordinary adventurer. It's terrible for you to attack me one-sidedly like this."

Snap, I completely immobilized the lower body of Cutpurse B. Not letting you escape!

"Ah, my legs can't move! Ah, wha, whatttt—"

"You guys started by trying to kill me… Hehehe… Oh, don't let out such a pathetic scream. It'll draw people here, right?"

I stopped him from being able to speak.

His mouth moved desperately like a suffocating goldfish.

… Even the self-proclaimed Chaos God couldn't escape, so there's no way a mere cutpurse can, right?

Let's hear what you have to say! Starting with the whole slave trade business!