I’ll Steal Everything and Escape - Chapter 13

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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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13.
Kwoooong!!
With a violent crash, Reotodeu’s massive body hit the ground. Louise landed neatly beside it, then immediately turned her head and gagged.
“Ugh. G-go away.”
“Cough, cough.”
“…….”
Tristan, who had burst the monster’s insides and come back, began to crawl out with a squelching sound. Good grief… he looked truly unfit to be seen. Elodie approached them with a troubled expression.
Are you all right?
“Haha, I don’t believe the crown prince would be felled by something like this!”
Tristan puffed out his chest with pride. Splat, a strange, slimy goo dripped from his cheek.
“Y-yes, of course. That’s impressive. Taking down such a huge toad.”
Elodie forced the corners of her mouth up and nodded.
“Hmph! Naturally. We can’t collapse before we’ve even met His Highness.”
The brown-haired knight folded his arms and swaggered, while Louise stamped her foot, trembling with fury.
“So in the end Robert wasn’t even here. Weren’t we heading the wrong way from the start?”
“Hmm. I suppose so.”
The fraud rattled off his lines without missing a beat.
“We did come this way, but it seems we never made it this far. You two are so good at fighting that we just kept pushing forward. Is it easy to run into someone like that?”
Handling Louise and Tristan was simple. Flattery and bait.
“Ahem. Who did you say Robert was with?”
“If it’s Stefan and Silvia, they’re nothing but whiny cowards. Of course they couldn’t have come this far.”
The two of them lifted their noses effortlessly. All that was left was to calmly soothe the two snorting companions… but for some reason, Louise made a sharp remark.
“Anyway, weaknesses and all that. Why did you tell us so late? Were you planning to get everyone killed?”
Oh no. Elodie blinked rapidly and
dredged up her memory.
“It’s because it wasn’t an ordinary Reotodeu. I was digging through information on other similar demonic beasts. Mud skin is Idielli, the poison gland is Gelisk……”
“Enough! Stop.”
Louise absolutely hates it when people talk for too long. Elodie rummaged through her bag and quietly offered her a sweet potato.
“Ha! So what now? How are we supposed to rejoin the others?”
It worked.
“I might have a thought on that.”
“Out with it! Say it now!”
“We definitely fought at the edge of the marsh, so if it wasn’t here, maybe they went back down the slope? Everyone wanted to keep checking the beach.”
This much was true. Even while being chased by demonic beasts, the group had lingered near the beach for nearly several months. Rescue. That sweet hope was hard to let go of.
“So, back south?”
“Yes. Actually, I spotted signs just now while you two were fighting.”
“What?”
The two of them, who had been looking utterly drained, jumped up at once.
“Why didn’t you say so right away!”
“I wasn’t sure. Look over there, you can see it a little too, right?”
A faint wisp of smoke, visible only once you reached the very top of the hill. It was too small and too steady to be the work of a demonic beast, so someone had definitely lit a fire to the south. Whether they were trying to advertise their location or something else entirely, who could say.
“So they lit a fire!”
“I think we just need to head straight that way.”
“Then let’s move out right now!”
“What are you talking about? I’m starving to death.”
Just then. Elodie shot her hand up between the two bristling companions.
“Um, excuse me.” She was ignored a couple of times, but she stubbornly kept her hand raised.
“What is it? You’ve been at it all this time.”
“I’d like to go separately.”
“……What?”
Tristan scoffed and looked down at her as though he couldn’t make sense of it.
“What are you babbling about now?”
“Why? Do you want to die?”
Louise pouted and planted one hip out.
“If you wanted to die, you had your chance earlier.”
“But I couldn’t find the necklace. The keepsake……”
“Ahem. How foolish! Over something like that……”
Tristan’s fighting spirit dropped by roughly half. But there was still one left. A sharp, crisp voice struck her ear at once.
“Bookworm. Does that even make sense?”
“Bookworm. Is that even true?”
“And I didn’t have the chance to tell you, since I’ve been so busy.”
Elodie’s violet eyes rolled.
“Before I met you two, I ran into Kamil.”
“…What?”
It had been ages since I’d seen Louise Charmant’s face go so slack. Then, in an instant, something vicious flickered across those lovely, elegant eyes.
“Kamil Beltier?”
Kamil Beltier. He had made quite a few enemies. Elodie nodded, wearing a smug little smile.
That tall brown head tilted to one side.
“Hmm. If it’s Kamil, then he was left behind with us.”
I knew it. The ones who had abandoned the party, complaining that it was too slow, were Louise and Tristan. I had heard it so many times before the regression that it was burned into my ears.
“Why would you bring back some runaway who went off on his own? What’s so special about him?”
The noble young lady’s brows twitched. Elodie answered in a clear voice.
“I owe Kamil my life. He seems to be wandering alone, so I want to persuade him and bring him back.”
“Have you completely lost your mind?”
Ha. Louise’s lips curled up ominously. Ever since her crushing defeat in the last practical exam, Louise Charmant had been grinding her teeth over Kamil.
‘Robert pretended to be composed, but Louise let out a shriek.’
Both of them would hate the thought of traveling with Kamil, but in a situation like this…
“That bastard is useful, at least.”
Louise wanted to travel with Kamil. After all, it was Louise who had first suggested looking for him.
“If someone strong enough to overpower me is around, they might be able to get past that sea.”
[I’ll tie a rope around that guy’s neck and make him swim! I’ll ride his back and climb across the sea!]
Of course, her real intentions were far more twisted.
“We can do that after we rejoin the prince.”
“Enough.”
Louise cut Tristan off mid-sentence.
“You know what Kamil Beltier is like. As if he’d ever listen to me or Robert. It’d be better to send Elodie Pontaine instead.”
Her pink eyes swept over Elodie from head to toe, as if she found her displeasing.
“Whether she’d even survive long enough to meet him is another question. Still, she’s managed to hide on her own this long, like a cockroach.”
“Hmm. If you say so. In any case, my priority is to meet the prince quickly. As for that one… Even if we took him along, he wouldn’t be any help.”
Elodie silently cheered inside.
“Yeah. I remember the direction Kamil went, so I’ll chase after him before he gets too far.”
“Honestly. Do whatever you want.”
Louise started to fold her arms, then… scrunched her face into a deep frown.
“Wait, then what about my food?”
“….”
Elodie pointed out a few edible berries to them. She even donated the sweet potatoes left in her bag.
‘They’ll be in deep trouble soon enough anyway.’
I’ll just add that the Clean Magic Louise cast on me at the end was genuinely moving.
The thief waved until the two of them had moved far enough away.
“…They’re gone, right?”
Just in case, she added a few more words.
“Robert, you idiot.”
Silence.
“Louise, you fool.”
Stillness.
Only then did Elodie take a deep breath. And then.
“Quick, quick!”
She ran so hard her eyebrows nearly flew off. Every time her brown boots stomped through the soggy mud, white frost spread across the ground. Wherever Elodie went, the Western Swamp hardened into ice.
“Kkeuruk!”
The small Reotodeu leaping up at her were frozen in an instant. The toads, turned into statues, plopped heavily to the ground. Panting, Elodie covered in a single day the same path the party had taken three days to walk. And at last.
“Haa, haaah.”
The thief returned to her cozy hideout. She lifted the Green Net she had carefully spread over it and stepped into the quiet, warm cave, and Elodie…
“Phew. Thank goodness.”
Hugged tightly the egg of Red, which was sitting obediently in one corner.
“You stayed right where you were. I was so worried about you.”
Of all the times to meet those two, it had to be when she’d gone out without Red. Because of that, she hadn’t been able to spare a single glance this way for four days.
It’ll stay fine here for several more months, but who knows what might happen next…
After a few minutes of feeling the round egg’s warmth, the tension slowly drained from her. A faint, wobbly smile crept onto her lips.
“Red, want to see something?”
As she rummaged in her pocket, something clinked into Elodie’s palm. Clink-clink.
A silver necklace hangs there.
I told you I’d definitely succeed, didn’t I?
Her violet eyes curved up, brimming with smug satisfaction.

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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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