Hedel pretended to adjust his glasses while quickly wiping his eyes.

“Ahem, I wasn’t crying.”

“That’s none of my business.”

‘I want to hang that brat upside down!’

He wanted to hang him upside down until his tears and snot dried up.

As Hedel clenched his fists, unable to actually do it, Larisa quickly tugged on William’s sleeve.

“Let’s go quickly, okay?”

“Alright.”

As the two youngsters turned their backs on Hedel and started walking, he suddenly had a question.

They weren’t heading towards the main gate.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Why do you need to know?”

‘They’re running away.’

Hedel pressed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He couldn’t understand himself.

‘I decided to give up, so why am I following that kid!’

He could just ignore them and go his own way, or simply grab them by the scruff of their necks and teleport them back into the mansion. He couldn’t understand why his feet were automatically following the little ones.

‘I don’t have the energy to teleport.’

Hedel kept making excuses for his own actions.

‘And it would be embarrassing if the people in the mansion found out I cried. Damn. The great mage Hedel has his pride!’

He was an excellent servant of Guinevere.

“Look, this is the doghole.”

“Wow!”

Larisa exclaimed with innocent amazement. When the vines were cleared away, a small wooden door appeared that looked like it might be used by fairies or dwarves.

It was a mysterious and cute door that didn’t match the name “doghole” at all.

“There are a few more besides this one. I’ll show you later.”

“Okay, thanks William.”

Hedel was dumbfounded. William wasn’t usually such a kind boy.

More than that, a doghole in the mansion of the great witch Rodante? And not just one, but several??

Well, I suppose if they rely on the barrier and don’t even post guards, it’s impossible to get in from the outside, but there’s no problem getting out from the inside.

While Hedel was pondering this, the two children quickly opened the wooden door and went out. Hedel hesitated for a moment.

‘I don’t think I’ll fit…’

The doghole was made to fit William’s body perfectly, so he, a full-grown adult male, couldn’t pass through.

He hesitated for a moment before teleporting to a spot near the outside of the wall.

‘Oh, my head is spinning.’

Staying up for three or four nights in a row was a common occurrence, but the fact that his master Guinevere didn’t trust him, her only disciple, at all was quite shocking.

As mental strength is depleted, magical power is also consumed. Maintaining an invisibility spell while teleporting was too much even for him.

Hedel massaged his neck as he followed William.

“Is my wallet safe?”

“Probably. I hid it well.”

Hedel sighed in relief as he listened to the children’s conversation. William’s goal probably wasn’t to run away after all.

So nothing bad should happen. But life doesn’t always go as planned.

“It’s not here?”

“Oh no, what should we do? The boss must have taken it.”

“Boss?”

“The boss of the small pickpocket gang. I’m sorry, William…”

William sighed, holding the hand of the sniffling Larisa. Not only was his wallet gone, but there was nothing left in Larisa’s house.

Today, William had planned to retrieve his wallet, and Larisa wanted to collect her mother’s belongings.

“It’s okay. Don’t cry. It’s not your fault.”

“But… that was all of William’s money.”

Why was he carrying all his money around? Only Hedel, who didn’t know William had been running away that day, felt anxious.

After all, William had no talent but a personality just like Guinevere’s…

“We’ll go find it then.”

“What?”

‘I knew it would come to this…’

Hedel pressed his temples, hoping William would at least take some time to strategize. Then he could meditate and recover his depleted magical power.

But as always, William was impulsive. Larisa tugged on his hand and said,

“What if the boss didn’t take it?”

“Then we’ll beat him up and make him find it.”

‘There’s nothing this 7-year-old won’t say!’

Hedel bit his lip, suppressing the urge to burst out.

“But what if the boss didn’t do anything wrong?”

“He’s an adult, right? Adults who use children for pickpocketing and begging are bad guys. It’s okay to crush bad villains.”

Larisa pressed her lips together tightly. Just looking at her glistening eyes, it was clear what she was thinking.

‘Why does it bother me so much when this little one cries?’

William sighed and said,

“Of course, pickpocketing is wrong, but you had no choice. From now on, you can do lots of good things.”

“William. Mom said that even if something can’t be helped, people should feel guilty.”

“Who said that?”

“Mom did.”

William became curious about what kind of person Larisa’s deceased mother was. She must have been extraordinary to entrust her child to the great witch Rodante…

“She said if people don’t know shame, they become demons. Demons can hurt people without feeling anything, wearing human faces.”

‘That sounds like it’s about our mom.’

‘Why does that remind me of someone?’

The two males thought simultaneously.

“Anyway, let’s go. To find the wallet.”

William was secretly worried about what to do if this little one threw a tantrum out of fear, but he was a bit surprised when she bravely took the lead.

Hedel also sighed, following behind, thinking he might need to use magic soon.

They arrived at a shabby tavern in the slums, where the so-called boss was the tavern owner.

“Are you the boss of the small pickpocket gang?”

“What is it, Lara? You don’t look like a new recruit.”

“I asked you a question.”

William pushed Larisa behind him. But Larisa bravely jumped forward and quickly chirped,

“Boss! This is William Rodante, the only son of the great witch Rodante!”

“…What?”

The delayed reaction was due to hearing something so unexpected.

The boss rubbed his eyes and looked at the boy again. The somewhat bored and tedious expression and high-quality clothes gave off a noble air.

“What brings such an esteemed person here?”

“I came to find my wallet.”

“So why are you asking me…”

“Find it.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, find it.”

The boss looked at Larisa again with a dumb expression. Larisa nodded her head repeatedly with a terrified face.

Seeing her desperate gestures, the boss thought Larisa must have already been scolded by the boy and laughed.

“I’ll try to find it. If you could tell me what the wallet looks like…”

“One million linars.”

“…”

Silence fell over the tavern. The first to regain his senses was Hedel.

‘Why on earth are you carrying around one million linars?!’

“There’s probably only one wallet with a million linars in it. You’d better find it quickly. I don’t want to see blood.”

As William arrogantly made his demand, the tavern owner gulped.

It sounded like a declaration that he would cause bloodshed if the wallet wasn’t found.

But the boss truly had no idea where the million linars were.

‘If I knew, I would have left this city long ago. Oh no, then the thief must have already…’

“I, I’ll do my best to find it. Young master, but I really don’t know where the wallet is. I didn’t steal it, so I really…”

“Enough, just find it.”

“Yes, understood. Hey, you lot, all come down here!!”

The tavern owner called for the big guys resting upstairs – the ones who managed the small pickpockets now that they were grown.

He gathered all the little ones and told them to find the one who had disappeared. In less than half a day, one of the big guys brought in a young child dangling from his hand.

“Did you steal the wallet from Lara’s house?”

“I, I didn’t do it!”

“If even a speck of dust comes out when we search you, you’ll get hit once for each.”

The boy closed his eyes tightly, preparing to be beaten. Then Larisa cried out with tears in her eyes,

“Jeje!”

William was dumbfounded.

Why did the suspect have to be a child Larisa was close to? William really didn’t like seeing Larisa cry for some reason.

He stepped forward just as the boy called Jeje was thrown to the floor.

“Stop.”

At that, the boss and the big guys stepped back.

William took out a dagger from his pocket with an expressionless face. Larisa, terrified, mumbled,

“Wi, William…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything.”

Then, with a nonchalant expression, he cut his own hand. Larisa let out a small scream when she saw the blood flowing down his palm.

“This is why I didn’t want to see blood…”

‘So that’s what he meant by not wanting to see blood.’

Only Hedel, hiding, sighed inwardly. For William to use magic, he always needed blood as a material.

William’s blood seemed to flow to the ground, then crawled up Jeje’s leg like a snake.

“Aaah! What is this! Save me!”

It was an eerie sight, but William remained calm.

“As I thought, it was there. My wallet.”

William had placed a tracking spell on his wallet for emergencies. He had just used magic to find the wallet.

As William took the wallet out of the boy’s pocket, the blood also disappeared, glowing blue.

“Ma, magic?”

“Yes.”

“I see. As expected of Rodante’s son…”

William turned to look at the admiring Larisa and sighed. For some reason, he didn’t want to lie to this child.

“This is nothing special. It’s closer to alchemy than magic. I have absolutely no talent for magic.”

‘Because I can’t move magical power.’

However, Larisa persisted despite William’s lament.

“But if it wasn’t for William, Jeje would have been beaten to death. I couldn’t even imagine there was a way like this. Alchemy is amazing.”

“…”

“I’m glad Jeje wasn’t hurt. Thank you, William.”

William felt an unfamiliar feeling. It was… somewhat embarrassing. So he tried to sound gruff to hide it.

“Hey, if you have any conscience, spit out her necklace too, will you?”

Jeje, startled, fell over and said,

“Ye, yes!”