I carried Alice all the way back toward the ship we were supposed to board. By the time we reached the dock, it was already too late. All we could do was watch as the vessel pulled away from the harbor.
Clicking my tongue in frustration, I kept carrying her and ducked into a narrow, empty alley.
The moment I set Alice down, I canceled my enhancement magic. My legs gave out instantly, and I dropped to the ground, muscles screaming in protest.
"Mr. Karen, what's wrong?!"
"Don't talk. Heal"
I cast healing magic on my aching legs. The soreness faded, and I let out a slow breath. Much better. I stood up and looked straight at Alice. If I didn't scold her, the anger boiling inside me wouldn't settle.
"Alice, why did you wander off on your own? If you want to leave, return my book first. After that, I don't care where you go."
"I didn't! I wasn't trying to leave. I just wanted to look at the ships over there."
"Then why didn't you tell us? Do you have any idea how worried we were? What would you have done if I hadn't found you?!"
"I—I'm sorry…"
Her shoulders slumped. She looked miserable, guilt written all over her face. At least she knew she'd messed up. But I never wanted to go through this again.
"At this rate, I really am going to tie a rope to you."
"I don't want that! That's slavery!"
She said it again. I didn't want to argue, but I was still angry, and my mouth moved before I could stop it. I pointed back toward the direction of the men.
"Do you know what those people were? They're traffickers. They were going to sell you as a slave."
Her face went pale. "What…?!"
"Do you know what slavery is? Slaves don't have rights. They barely get enough to eat. Some days they don't eat at all. They get beaten whenever someone feels like taking out their anger."
"..."
"And you think tying a rope around your waist to keep you from getting lost turns you into a slave? That's just a way to keep children from wandering off."
Did she seriously think I'd tie it around her neck? I'd tie it around her waist—and the other end around mine. From the outside it would just look like we were playing around, not abuse, not some twisted training.
"I'm sorry… I won't do it again…"
"I'll let it slide this time. But if you wander off again, next time I'm not saving you."
"I understand…"
I didn't actually mean it. It was just a warning. But she needed to feel how serious this was.
Once my head cooled down, I peeked out of the alley to check the situation.
"Search everywhere! They can't be far!"
"They're trying to board a ship! Check every vessel!"
"Black-haired guy, blonde girl!"
The enemies were swarming the docks, shoving past ticket inspectors and forcing their way onto ships to search.
One of them glanced in our direction. I snapped my head back into the alley. They were way more persistent than I expected. We couldn't leave now.
This was their turf. They'd already spread the word everywhere. Even if we tried to buy tickets, the sellers were probably connected to them.
What now? Hide for a few days? No, Jacob and the others were waiting. And we had no way to contact them. At times like this, I really hated that the dungeon didn't have phones.
Fight our way onto a ship? Also bad. That could get us wanted and cause an international mess.
So the only option was boarding without interacting with anyone.
…Stow away?
It might work, but…
(I know it's immoral, but I already paid for the tickets. I just missed the time. This doesn't count… probably…)
While my conscience argued with itself, I cast a magic.
"Optical Camouflage"
A transparent circular wall rose around us. It was tall enough to block the view from above. I wanted to seal the top too, but the barrier behaved like a plastic ruler—it could bend, but not fold.
"Karen, what did you say?"
"Optical camouflage."
"Magic?"
"Yeah. You'll understand once you read about it in the book."
"People outside can't see the people inside."
"Right. The magic's surrounding us now. Don't make any noise. Stay about a meter away from everyone. We're going to check the next ship heading to Kenli."
"Okay."
After briefing Alice, I leaned out slightly to scout ahead—
—and nearly jumped out of my skin.
Someone was standing right there. I grabbed Alice's wrist and pulled her back.
"No one here?"
From his voice, he was one of them. Actually, at this point, everyone here was an enemy. My "detection" showed hostility from almost every direction.
The man stepped into the alley. It was so narrow that at most two kids could walk side by side, so we kept retreating, checking behind us to make sure no one else was coming.
When we reached the midpoint of the alley, I acted.
My fist punched straight through the invisible wall and slammed into his stomach. He folded instantly and collapsed, unconscious.
No one new entered from behind us. As long as we left now, no one would find him until later.
"Ka—!"
Alice started to speak, and I clamped a hand over her mouth. She probably thought I'd killed him.
"Quiet. He's just unconscious. He's fine."
She nodded rapidly. "Mm-hmm."
We stepped over the man, returned to the alley entrance, checked the surroundings one more time, and slipped back into the crowd.
Later, that alley would earn the nickname Ghost Hand Alley. It even became a tourist attraction. According to rumor, an invisible hand appeared out of nowhere and knocked a man unconscious.
That part of the story came after someone eventually found him.