It seems your complexion has improved quite a bit. You should wake up soon.
The next morning, we gathered again around the still unconscious Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star.
Last night, she was brought in in a near-death state, and while I had a general impression of her as a girl of her age, seeing her peaceful sleeping face in the morning sun, I could tell she was undoubtedly a beautiful girl.
“Hal, wouldn’t it be better to bind her with Slave Contract Magic beforehand so she won’t go wild when she wakes up?”
Elise showed a dark smile from early in the morning.
Last night, I had performed a Body Check at Elise’s urging, but judging by her current behavior, I didn’t think it was necessary.
“Elise, wasn’t the Body Check last night enough?! She didn’t have any hidden weapons or anything…”
When I explained that further measures weren’t necessary given the results of the Body Check, Elise clicked her tongue in disappointment.
“When she wakes up, will you hand her over to the Espana Imperial Army? I’ve grown a little fond of her, though…”
Alicia asked about what would happen next with a perplexed expression.
“Let’s deal with those things after she wakes up. We’ve taken her weapons, so I don’t think she’s that dangerous, is she?”
“I performed an Evil Spirit Exorcism last night, so there’s no danger,” Holy Spirit Serena, perched on my shoulder, also gave her assurance.
“——…Ugh…?! K-Kyaaaaah, a-a man!”
After a while, Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star finally woke up, but as soon as she recognized me, she screamed.
“C-Calm down a bit!”
“…Ugh… Ugg… Ugu gu…”
In a hurry, I covered Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’s mouth with my right hand to stop her scream.
This was not a secluded house, but the bedroom of an inn called ‘Madonna Lily’. It would be troublesome if other guests noticed.
Still, she tried to get up from the bed and escape, so I held her from behind.
Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star had been changed into a thin silk negligee, and from where I touched her, I felt the soft warmth and pleasant scent of a beautiful girl.
Furthermore, my left arm, which was holding her from behind, brushed against the fullness of her breasts through the thin silk negligee, which felt very pleasant.
Startled by the soft sensation, I took another look at the nightgown Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star was wearing.
The nightgown she was wearing was a pale pink babydoll.
As for underwear, she was only wearing pink panties, and her chest was covered only by the thin fabric of the sheer babydoll.
This provocatively alluring nightgown was probably Elise’s taste.
Looking at her chest over my shoulder, her breasts were naturally visible through the fabric.
Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’s breasts were cone-shaped, as seen only in maidens in their secondary sexual characteristics. I could clearly observe the size of her areola and even her nipples starting to harden.
This was not the same as a man’s morning erection, but likely caused by me touching her.
She struggled by flailing her arms and legs, but in this position, it was difficult to escape.
Her head, nape, and the back of her neck came into contact with my face.
If I had intended to caress her, I would be licking it by now… but for now, I endured.
“I won’t do anything, so calm down. If you understand, nod your head! And don’t scream so loudly!!”
“…Ugh… Ugu gu… Phew! Who are you people?! To barge into the bedroom of me, Count’s daughter Safiya Brilia Von Collanda… W-Where is this?! This isn’t my bedroom??”
With my hand covering her mouth and me holding her from behind, Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star thrashed wildly in my arms, trying to escape.
However, after a while, perhaps tired, her movements slowed.
When I told her I would release her if she stopped screaming loudly, she nodded in agreement, and I kept my promise.
She seemed quite confused, but she started referring to herself as a Count’s daughter.
What in the world was going on…
From Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’s attitude, it seemed like the memory of being critically wounded and falling yesterday was missing.
“Would you like to wear a cardigan?”
“Thank you for your kindness. Now I don’t have to worry about being seen by men.”
After I released Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star, Elise, with a dark smile, handed her a cardigan and made sure it covered her breasts.
In fact, she seemed to have been planning to do Safiya a favor from the start.
“So, who exactly are you?”
Since Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star had calmed down, I asked her name again.
“M-My name is Safiya Brilia Von Collanda. I am, even so, a Count’s daughter of the noble Espana Imperial Kingdom. How could I possibly be the Phantom Thief who is causing a stir in the world? That’s outrageous!”
Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star then stated her name with an air of dignity, declaring that she was Count’s daughter Safiya Brilia Von Collanda and not Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star, and became angry.
“Does anyone know her?”
Meanwhile, I was bewildered.
“Collanda, you say… is she related to Count Alamiya Choji Von Collanda, who is tentatively governing the former Yangus Kingdom Territory?”
Alicia answered immediately.
Alicia, who was serious and diligent in her studies, seemed to have the names of nobles governing the regions they would visit on their Second Expedition Trip memorized.
However, even the dependable Alicia hadn’t researched their family names.
“Yes, Alamiya Choji Von Collanda is my father.”
Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star claimed to be the daughter of Governor Count Collanda.
Could this girl truly be a Count’s daughter and not Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star?
However, the fact that she was almost dead under the bridge yesterday was undeniable.
Perhaps she was lying to hide her true identity!?
As pitiful as it was, was there no other option but to use ‘Mental Magic’ to force it out of her!?
“Safiya, do you recognize this outfit, hat, red wig, and rapier?”
Liliana showed her the outfit and weapons recovered from Safiya’s body last night.
“Unfortunately, they are not mine. I don’t care about such things!! M-More importantly… you are a stunning beautiful girl! What is your name?”
Safiya seemed uninterested in the Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star costume she herself had worn, but she noticed Liliana’s beauty, who was showing her bare face.
Well, I guessed she wouldn’t realize that Liliana’s true identity was the former First Princess of the Yangas Kingdom, so it was a failure.
“…My name is Lili, an adventurer trainee.”
Liliana glanced at me for a moment before giving a safe answer.
“I-Is that so…”
Meanwhile, Safiya had a somewhat dejected expression.
“Safiya, are you sure you have no recollection of these?”
This time, Lyushenne asked, instead of Liliana.
Unlike the careless Liliana, Lyushenne wore her hooded robe deeply, concealing her face.
“They have nothing to do with me!”
Safiya stood up, her voice laced with anger.
“If you truly say they have nothing to do with you, could you try wearing them on once?”
“I-I will!”
Safiya, responding to the challenge, put on the Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star costume and wig she had worn last night, then with the rapier at her waist, she was guided in front of a full-length mirror.
In the meantime, Tirna brought a wanted poster of Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star that was posted in the lobby and handed it to Safiya.
“I… I am ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’!?”
Safiya’s voice trembled as she saw herself reflected in the mirror, and she unconsciously rubbed her right flank, which had been critically wounded last night.
“I… I… It hurts, it hurts, my head… it feels like it’s splitting—”
Then, suddenly, Safiya clutched her head and collapsed.
“Whoa, that was close,” Swan Hilda was the one who instinctively supported Safiya as she collapsed.
Safiya, on the other hand, had completely lost consciousness.
The unconscious Safiya was laid back on the bed, but Tirna immediately had her smell an smelling salts.
“—…Ugh… Ugh… I-I… I really seem to have been ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’. But… why!?”
Safiya seemed to have regained her memories of when she was ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’.
Safiya herself seemed unable to believe that she had been ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’ and was confused.
She explained that for some time now, when she woke up in the morning, she would find herself with muscle pain, her futon covered in mud, and sometimes even injured.
“So, at those times, I must have become ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’. And I also remember being cut by a merchant’s bodyguard in the right flank yesterday. I, I… am a criminal… Ugh… Uuugh… Waaah!”
The moment Safiya recognized that she had been ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’, she buried her face in the bed.
Safiya, perhaps due to her extreme confusion, did not seem to notice that the fatal wound on her right flank had healed.
“Please… turn me in. My father is strict… I will face the judgment of the law.”
Safiya, dejectedly looking down, had lost the pride of a noblewoman she had possessed moments before.
What was before us was the demeanor of a captured criminal awaiting execution.
“Safiya, you weren’t becoming ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’ of your own will, were you?”
“…Of course not.”
Safiya replied in a faint voice, on the verge of tears.
“By the way, does anyone know when ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’ started appearing?”
“It seems to be about 3 months ago.”
Kirika answered my question.
“Then, Safiya, was there anything unusual around 3 months ago?”
“3 months ago… Was there anything? …Ah! I think I had my fortune told by a renowned fortune teller around that time. The fortune teller’s name was… I believe… Astarotte.”
“I see… One of our companions saw you last night and said something evil was possessing you and performed an exorcism.”
“R-Really!?”
“It’s true. So… turning yourself in as ‘Phantom Thief Le Vina☆Star’ and atoning for your sins is one option, but don’t you think you need to know the truth? We can help you, if you’d like. Of course, we’ll be compensated.”
Thank you for reading.
episode35-5 Safiya Collapses in the Midst of a Torrent of Self-Introductions
is scheduled for pre-publication at 0:00 on August 2nd.
