Chapter 26:

  The town guard arrived late.

  They always did.

  “What happened here!?”

  Boots scraped through flour and broken wood. A familiar voice followed, sharper with worry.

  “Tomas? Old Tomas—what happened?”

  Brannic, The Tanuki Beastmen and a townsguard took in the scene in one sweep.

  The wrecked doorway.

  Scattered bread.

  Three men gone.

  Only two figures remained.

  Tomas on his feet, shaken but alive.

  And a child holding a stick.

  Brannic’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  He had seen her earlier entering through the gate. Returning with food. A hunter’s posture. Not the look of someone desperate enough to rob a bakery.

  Still

  “…Did she harm you?”

  The question made Ivaline stiffen.

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  Tomas shook his head at once.

  “No, Brannic,” he said. “She saved my life.”

  “…Huh?”

  The murmurs started immediately.

  “She?”

  “That kid?”

  Tomas explained. The demands. The threats. The sack. The way the girl stepped in without shouting, without hesitation.

  “She drove them off,” he finished. “Alone.”

  Silence followed.

  Brannic studied Ivaline again—properly this time.

  The stick.

  The stance.

  The calm that hadn’t cracked even now.

  “…Good lad,” he said at last.

  He bowed his head slightly.

  “You did something right today.”

  Then he turned to the other guards.

  “Get someone to sketch the assailants. Tomas, we’ll need statements.”

  Tomas waved it off. “I don’t mind.”

  He hesitated, then added, “But we should reward the kid—”

  “That’s tr—”

  Brannic stopped.

  The girl was gone.

  But a while later duty returned, when other guards return with a professional.

  “Tomas, sorry your shop’s closed for today. We need your statements, and explanation about how they looks”

  “That’s fine,” Tomas said quickly. Then hesitated.

  “…But Brannic. I still want to reward her.”

  Brannic paused.

  “Reward?”

  “I don’t care if she didn’t ask,” Tomas replied. “She didn’t have to step in. That counts.”

  Brannic glanced toward the alley where the girl had disappeared.

  “…I’ve seen her,” he said. “In and out. Always the east gate. Morning and evening.”

  Tomas thought for a moment, then nodded.

  “…Then I’ll leave something with you.”

  He disappeared briefly into the back, returning with wrapped bread—fresh, not leftovers.

  “Give it to her when you see her again.”

  Brannic accepted it carefully.

  “I will.”

  Not far away, in an alley that hadn’t yet learned her name—

  “…Why did you run?” Chronicle asked quietly.

  “I…”

  Ivaline faltered. Then shook her head.

  “I didn’t save him hoping for anything.”

  “But it would have been just,” Chronicle replied. “You acted upright. You were owed.”

  She smiled faintly.

  “I repaid his bread,” she said. “We’re even now.”

  “…Yes.”

  Chronicle said no more.

  If Ivaline was satisfied—

  Then that was enough.