I’ll Steal Everything and Escape - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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10.
“Found it. Still a bit unripe, though.”
The upside of this place is that there’s a herb field a short distance away.
“Blue Crystal Flower.”
For a name Robert came up with, it’s rather pretty. That’s because its origin lies in the Essence of Enlightenment, the Crystal Orb.
‘It’s a flower that helps when your mana gets tangled.’
I heard it also helps replenish mana, if only slightly. Of course, in my previous life I couldn’t use mana at all, so I never got to try it.
‘Figuring out what this flower is really for will take quite a while…’
Still, there’s no harm in claiming it early.
Elodie finally set about furnishing her new home in earnest. A cave, narrow in width but stretching on in length.
Thanks to the thick jungle, there’s no need to worry about avian demonic beasts, and it’s well suited for dragging the Leaf Cloak over to hide the entrance.
“Ice water, ice water.”
Neither the heat nor the lack of water was a problem anymore. Just pour in mana and she could conjure ice to her heart’s content!
“Then, at last.”
Elodie resolved to wash her clothes for the first time in ages. She’d bathed herself here and there in spring water, but her clothes had never once been…
‘They’d probably be horrifying if soaked in water.’
On this point, she envied Robert’s party just a little. Louise would be joining them there, after all.
“I envy you, Clean Magic.”
Elodie swallowed her tears and made soap just as the book described. Burning a tree down to black, gathering seaweed, straining, boiling. It took a full three days.
“There. Now for the washing.”
And only then did she realize it: for all her noble blood, she had never once washed a single piece of laundry with her own hands!
Splash, splash.
“Clothes really are precious, aren’t they…”
The only daughter of a baron’s house, raised with every care, learned a new lesson along with her shriveled, wrinkled hands.
* * *
Days Until Death, D-494
Two weeks passed, and Elodie was doing rather well for herself. Her remarkable memory had a tremendous effect on her survival.
For instance, the small vegetable patch she’d cultivated near the cave, or something resembling one.
“The land here is special, after all.”
Elodie had sneaked down to the southern lands, where Robert’s party was likely still wandering, and pulled up sweet potato vines.
That’s the real advantage of the Southeast Jungle. Damp, fertile soil! The sweet potatoes she planted in her patch should be ready to harvest within three months.
[Hey, it’s been getting really chilly lately, hasn’t it?]
[Even after moving East, the fruit has dwindled noticeably. That’s troublesome.]
[As long as there’s meat, I’m fine!]
It’s late spring now. Robert’s party only began searching the East Jungle after the days had already turned cold. By then, planting season would be far behind them. Once winter arrives, they’ll face hardships nothing like what they endure now.
‘…Well, it’s none of my concern.’
Today, too, the golden-haired thief was hauling extra sweet potatoes.
‘I’ll check on the patch a few more days before setting out.’
Elodie hummed to herself as she chewed through the sweet potatoes she’d roasted in advance. Since the Lava Basin was only a short climb away, roasting them was no trouble at all. There was no need to waste precious matches. All she had to do was keep walking.
Gulp. Elodie swallowed the sweet, starchy potato and recalled her next objective. So, next was.
Rustle.
A strange sound came from right beside her.
“Hk.”
Elodie’s pale golden hair dropped low. The seasoned survivor swiftly pulled the Leaf Cloak from her waist. Shing-shwak. Its leaves spread wide.
‘Good. Now, hold your breath.’
Once you camouflage yourself with leaves and crouch down, most demonic beasts will
“…Elodie Pontaine?”
…Huh. Her violet eyes rolled upward with a jerk. Elodie Pontaine had come face to face with someone she never expected.
“L-Louise.”
Louise and Tristan. Elodie’s face drained of color at once. The nightmare from not long ago flickered before her eyes.
“Hmm. Remarkable. So you’re alive. No, wait, that can’t be right. Then it’s as I thought!”
Tristan seized Elodie’s slender shoulder without ceremony.
“Your Highness, that means Lord Robert is alive too! Ha, hahahaha!”
The muscle-bound gorilla hoisted Elodie up, her toes dangling aimlessly in the air.
“…Excuse me, could you put me down?”
“Ah, so your physical strength was pitiful, after all.”
Only once the soles of her feet touched the ground could Elodie barely collect herself.
‘So they’ve already come toward the jungle.’
Tristan and Louise had landed in the southwest. I was told that after they first followed the beach, they saw Robert’s fire commotion and advanced inland…
‘The prince’s party went west, the other two went east, so they crossed paths without meeting.’
Not that we’ll be apart for long. We’ll meet again in two weeks.
“Pfft. Hey, what happened to you? You look a mess.”
“Ah.”
Elodie hurriedly gathered up the Leaf Cloak.
“I covered myself with this and the demonic beasts didn’t seem to notice me… Lucky, right?”
“It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
Even if she could ignore Tristan, Louise was not someone to get on the wrong side of. Louise Charmant was infamous across the Academy for her venomous tongue. The students called her a First-Grade student.
‘First-grade status, first-grade talent, first-grade temper.’
It wasn’t easy for a grand duchess to act this recklessly and get away with it.
“Hey.”
Elodie flinched, her shoulders jerking.
“So, the answer. Did you see the others?”
Her azalea-pink eyes swept over Elodie’s neat golden hair.
“For someone who was alone, you look awfully put-together.”
“Ahh.”
Elodie let her eyebrows droop.
“Actually, we were together at first. But then I nearly got killed by a demonic beast…”
For the sake of the two impatient ones, I summarized everything that had happened as briefly as I could. Of course, I embellished a little here and there.
“Oh, and I lost my necklace when the crow carried me off. I’m still looking for it.”
Elodie fluttered the leaves forlornly.
“A necklace? What’s so special about it?”
Her misty violet eyes lifted toward Louise, who was scoffing.
“It was my mother’s keepsake.”
“Ahem!”
It was, of course, a bald-faced lie. Her mother was perfectly alive and well. But it was a rather effective excuse for Tristan, a knight down to his bones.
‘We’ve been together long enough that I know them well.’
The two of them, so utterly different in appearance, shared one definite trait: a total absence of common sense.
Take, for example, the names of Elodie Pontaine’s parents, which had once been quite the topic of conversation. Or her mother’s hometown.
‘They couldn’t guess a single letter.’
Even now, just look at them.
“Ah, forget that. So, what did you eat to survive?”
“What about Prince Robert?”
The topic swung right back around. Elodie smiled sweetly and pulled a sweet potato from her pocket. Tristan swallowed hard.
“W-we should be rushing to Lord Robert right now…”
“Let’s eat together. I know a place where we can avoid the demonic beasts.”
Elodie Pontaine began to walk slowly. Drawn in by the scent of roasted sweet potatoes, the two of them pretended not to care and started following behind her.
“Alright, this is my hideout!”
The novice thief and novice swindler beamed and spread her arms wide. The place Elodie had brought them to was—
“It’s called the Tree of Rest.”
“Oh, your foot’s going into the roots.”
A fake hideout.
“It’s bigger inside than it looks.”
“Tristan, get out of the way.”
Louise shoved the brown-haired knight aside and claimed the spot in the back. Elodie’s eyes curved into round crescents.
“I’ll tell you where the sweet potatoes are tomorrow, too.”
There was only one reason she was playing at being Silvia and coaxing the two of them along so smoothly.
“If I remember correctly, the prince should be in the Western Marsh.”
The Western Marsh. Remember? It’s where those hideous toad demonic beasts have set up camp. The place I had meant to visit after acquiring Ice Freezing Magic…
‘Where Silvia’s Necklace is.’
“Let’s go together. We might find your lost necklace along the way.”
The corners of Elodie’s mouth crept up slyly. Tristan of steel and Louise of mana. A gleaming white shield and a jet-black spear.
‘Maybe I should get myself a piece of equipment, too.’
Perhaps I could blow my nose without ever lifting a finger.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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