SBTSML

sixty-seven.

"Kyak!"

As soon as his hand touched me, I fell back. Then I stretched my shoulders like it was injured.

"W-What was that?"

"Hey! Why are you pushing so hard!"

"I didn't! I pushed her gently! You're a real troublemaker!"

The two men quarreled.

I lowered my head and squeezed my tears out like a tragic heroine.

"Ugh, it hurts. I think I broke my arm."

"W-Why are you pretending to be hurt!"

The man stirred and trembled. He seemed to be afraid that he broke the arm of a noble young lady and caused serious trouble.

Right, why are you messing with a good person?

I held back a smile and tried a full-fledged counterattack.

"It's okay. I'm a high-profile noble young lady, so I won't starve you to death because you broke my arm."

"Y-Yeah! That'll get better by tomorrow! Besides, you have a lot of money! Money is used at these times!"

The man looked very nervous.

He tried to pluck some money, but his expression wasn't looking very good when his plan went wrong.

"But what do I do? My father sees me as gold, so if he knew about this, you two would have your throat cut."

I added some colourful words and explained, and performed a visual representation by swiping my neck with my hand.

"Ack! Are you threatening us?!"

The man was greatly shaken by my words. It was a stronger-than-expected response.

What, I thought you were a blackmailer, but aren't you a real novice at this?

At this rate, it was very easy. I thought I'd let him go if I gave him a little scare and soothed him gently.

"By the way, is your shoulder okay? You'd rather have strong shoulders before you die, right?"

The man was flustered when I asked with a flexible attitude.

"Shoulder? No! Like the lady said, I'm feeling better. Look at this. It's totally fine, right? So you should just keep it a secret, too, okay?"

The man rolled his shoulders. The man next to him nodded in agreement several times.

"Yes. Then I'll keep it a secret..."

"Why are you letting it go?"

Huh?

Then someone intervened in our conversation. I turned my head in the direction of the voice with surprise.

Cassis stared at me, lying on the floor, with his face scrunched up.

Oh, this is, uh...

I couldn't say that I was pretending to be hurt, so I tried to get up.

Cassis came by my side and helped me up.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?"

"Huh? Uhh... I'm fine."

He brushed the snow off my clothes. Then he glared at the two men with fierce eyes.

"W-What is it? Why are you staring at us like that?"

The two men stammered at Cassis's sudden appearance. But that was only for a moment.