The Candy That Rolled Out of the Bushes

Flaunting his own strength before the two underlings.

That had worked well.

But Megzam thought to himself.

He wanted one more push.

He had given them the whip. Now, it was time for the candy.

A sweet, sweet reward that crude lowlifes would crave......

That, in other words, was violence.

He had to give the two underlings an opportunity to exercise violence themselves.

Only by giving the whip would the underlings obey him.

Only by giving the candy would the underlings follow him.

Based on his own tastes and preferences, Megzam had always thought this way.

He had done so until now, and at least as far as this thieves band was concerned, that line of thinking had not been wrong.

Megzam, Ander, and Tappa.

All of them, equally, were lowlifes ruled by violence.

The piece of candy that, by a stroke of luck, rolled out of the bushes in front of a man like that was a filthy-looking vagrant child.

......Vagrant or not, why was a small child out in the forest at all? Why had she caught so many Myogomyogoshugo? Looking back on it later, it was an encounter full of questions.

But such questions were irrelevant to Megzam at the time, and didn't even cross his mind.

This girl is a piece of candy.

A reward to give to the underlings.

A sacrifice to serve as an outlet for their violence.

Something that convenient had rolled out of the bushes at exactly the moment he needed it.

He almost felt like offering a prayer of thanks to the Thief God Yabo.

With a smirk, Megzam gave the two underlings their candy.

In other words, he gave this order:

“Kill her however you like”...... he said.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Kill her however you like,” said the shaggy-bearded man who smelled like trash.

“Huh?”

“A-are you sure!?”

The square-faced man and the long-faced man, who smelled like trash too, asked in bewilderment, not even trying to hide the glee seeping through.

“Yeah. Have I ever lied to you bastards?”

““NO! NEVER!!””

They're having such a happy conversation.

Getting told you can kill someone makes you happy? Is that normal?

Ah, maybe they're thieves because they aren't normal?

“So, that's how it is, see. Just stay put...... don't make this too much of a chore, alright? Brat.”

The square-faced man approaches me with a smirk.

“......Ah!? Hey, Tappa! Isn't this one a girl!?”

The long-faced man finally notices my gender and lets out a cry of joy.

Ew, gross.

Sure, I'll admit I'm a beautiful girl, but I'm a 5-year-old, you know?

So as long as it's a girl, anyone will do?

What a pervert.

These guys are trash.

From now on, I'll call them Trash A and Trash B.

Trash A and Trash B slowly close in on me.

“Hey now...... don't just stand there blankly. Cry a little or scream or something. This is boring.”

“She really is an expressionless brat. Maybe she's so terrified her brain just broke? Hehe.”

They're snickering.

The head of the trash in the back...... Trash Head is standing by with his arms crossed, watching the scene.

......Come to think of it, this is the first time I've faced clear murderous intent directed at me by a sentient being.

I like to think I went through some pretty awful stuff in my previous life too, but that was, after all, a society run on reason.

No matter how much they hated me, there was no one who thought, “I'll kill her,” and actually tried to do it.

Exposed to such murderous intent.

I freeze, stunned.

My body trembles all on its own.

......Not a chance.

I, Emi-chan the vagrant, age 5, have not been living a life so cushy that something like this would scare me.

Living means trading lives day in, day out: to live, you kill, and if you let your guard down, you die.

That's the kind of life I've been living, every single day.

......These pieces of trash are letting their guard down.

I shall make you rue your arrogance.

I shall show you my will to live!

You seek to reap my life.

............Then, prepare yourselves!!