I Level Up With In-app Purchases

EP.109 How to Take Down a Criminal Organization (1)

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

After running away, the little kid checked behind to make sure no one was following and let out ragged breaths.

Looking at their face, they were clearly terrified.

Thinking I'd have to warn them to be careful of the sky later too, I dropped straight down.

Thud!!

"Ahhh!"

When a shadow suddenly appeared overhead and someone jumped out in front, they couldn't help but be startled.

The surprised child fell to the ground.

I quickly caught the falling child and said with a sigh of relief.

"Finally caught you. It's okay, don't be scared. I'm here to protect you. I'm not a bad person, so calm down."

"Hic, hiccup...!"

The child's body was trembling, filled with fear.

With tears welling up in their eyes, they looked like a lost baby deer.

"Relax. Everything will be fine."

"Hic... waaah!"

Only after being reassured several times did they seem to realize they were safe.

The child burst into tears in my arms.

These weren't tears of fear or terror, but tears of relief.

I realized that using children for crimes made me angrier than I would have expected.

The kid in my arms was as small as Hash.

'Even smaller than I imagined.'

The fact that there are people who would kidnap such a weak and fragile child.

Honestly, until now I'd thought of it as someone else's problem.

But meeting a victim in person made it impossible to dismiss as someone else's problem.

'Those bastards. What were they planning to do after kidnapping such a tiny child.'

I felt like humanity was dead.

The fact that they would use children for crimes proved they were trash not even worth recycling.

Until now, I hadn't given much thought to the criminal organizations that occasionally appeared in the main scenario to interfere with users.

'They're just extras anyway.'

The main issue is corruption.

Compared to purifying that, the criminal organizations' trolling felt like side quests.

But now I felt it would be better to pull them out by the roots completely.

If left alone, they would keep popping up to interfere at crucial moments.

I was certain these guys living longer would do nothing good for this world.

'Come to think of it, surely that knight isn't losing to the kidnappers?'

Since I couldn't take the child directly to where the criminals were, I pulled out some candy from my pocket and offered it.

Hash had given it to me as a gift, but I'd forgotten about it in my pocket.

"Want to try this? It's strawberry flavored, do you like that?"

"Hic...sniff...sniff...yes."

The kid clutched tightly to the candy I gave them.

While sniffling pitifully, they kept saying sorry.

After patting their back and comforting them for a while until they stopped crying, I carefully asked.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

This child's successful escape was truly lucky.

The Academy should have maintained the no-going-out policy rather than the lockdown.

'What was the Academy thinking when they lifted the no-going-out rule?'

No matter how much the students protested, if there were dangers like this, they should have enforced the restrictions.

Weren't they putting students in danger by being overly conscious of their complaints?

"Well..."

After stopping their tears, they calmly explained the situation, as if trying not to seem like just some kid who ran from kidnappers.

"I ran out of allowance money, and because of that thing stopping us from going out, I couldn't get any more."

The Academy's lockdown order.

Since it was an order preventing people from going in or out, it was causing various side effects.

The most important issue for students was that they couldn't receive their 'allowance.'

"Well, kids do tend to spend money freely."

"I didn't even get much allowance to begin with!"

While people couldn't come and go, fortunately items could still be sent in and out.

They couldn't completely block supplies since the people inside still needed to live.

However, because everything had to be thoroughly inspected before being sent in or out, it took an extremely long time.

Because of that, the kid who had been waiting for allowance money from home...

"I went to pick it up directly. I literally didn't have a single penny."

After finally being able to receive what was sent from home by picking it up directly, the kid went shopping here and there before heading back to the Academy.

Just as they were happily finishing their shopping and about to return to the Academy.

"They used some strange power. I couldn't move my body. I wanted to call for help but couldn't speak either."

The kid testified about how terrifying it was.

"They dragged me to a place with no people and tried to stuff me in a big bag. But luckily, suddenly I could move again! As soon as I realized that, I used my power to run away."

The kid proudly declared that their power was teleportation.

I had wondered how they escaped so quickly - apparently they had used teleportation to get away.

"That's amazing, especially when you must have been so scared."

Most kids this age would just cry in fear without thinking to run away.

"You were very brave."

"I was?"

"Yes, do you know how incredible what you did was? Thanks to you, we might be able to save other kidnapped friends."

The child made a puzzled expression.

More precisely, what's important is that we could catch the kidnappers' trail because this child almost got kidnapped.

Perhaps the Academy lifting the no-going-out order was meant to draw out the kidnappers who had gone into hiding.

"So this is where you were."

If that was their intention, then it had worked exactly as planned.

"Did you catch them all?"

The knight who had gone to confront the kidnappers appeared behind us.

But somehow the child's expression wasn't good when they saw the knight.

"Come to think of it, why didn't you come to us earlier and ran somewhere else instead? You should have gone to a knight in an emergency."

Surprisingly, it was the knight who answered my question.

"Among those trying to kidnap this child was someone pretending to be a knight. They probably got scared after seeing that."

"N-no, I wasn't scared. I ran because I thought you might be working with them."

My earlier words must have given the child a bit too much courage, as they made this cute statement.

"Right, you were brave. You did well. In situations like that, it's better to be suspicious than to trust too easily."

"Hehe."

The child's face brightened again.

"Did you catch the criminals?"

"Yes, we caught them all and knocked them unconscious. I'm sorry, but may I ask you a favor?"

"Of course."

"Please go to the guard station and call my colleagues. There are too many to transport alone."

It was understandable since there appeared to be more than 5 people at a glance.

"We needed to take this one to the guard station anyway, so that works."

"I'm going to the guard station?"

"Of course."

The kid, still unaware of what lay ahead, obediently followed us to the guard station.

They seemed purely excited about getting to see the guard station.

As soon as we arrived at the guard station, we explained what happened, and the knights there rushed to the scene.

The kid and I were served warm tea and cocoa, and shortly after, when their homeroom teacher arrived after being contacted, the kid's bottom was set on fire.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

"Mister~!!"

"Boss!!!"

"What are you all doing here?"

When I returned to my general store from the guard station, the kids hadn't gone back to the Academy but were waiting in front of my store.

"We were too worried to leave!"

"That's right, how could we just go back? We wouldn't have been able to sleep from worrying!"

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"You look better than we expected..."

As if I'd be hurt.

If anything, I received quite the royal treatment at the guard station.

They said I'd done something remarkable since they finally caught the culprits.

Plus, I received plenty of praise for my quick thinking - the knight handled the kidnappers while I took care of the child.

'Though I didn't want their praise at all.'

Anyway, I received their gratitude since my efforts helped catch all the criminals without letting any escape, and we secured the child's safety.

What was surprising was that they didn't even properly check my identity before letting me go.

'Seems they're not the type to be thorough with their work.'

Anyway, since everything was resolved without issue, I should first calm down these kids making such a fuss.

"It wasn't anything serious, and there weren't any major problems. You're all worrying too much. Stop making such a commotion and go back."

"You're not lying just to keep us from worrying, are you?"

"Do I look like a pushover? If there had been any problems because of you, I would have made you take responsibility."

Only after my honest words did smiles finally appear on the kids' faces.

"Well, if it's the boss, it's definitely possible."

I wasn't used to receiving concern from the kids, so I didn't know how to react and felt embarrassed.

"We were too focused on enhancement. We're reflecting on that."

"The atmosphere was already tense because of the kidnappings happening around here, we shouldn't have done something so strange, right?"

"Yeah yeah. Sorry, mister."

"But how did you resolve it? That knight looked really fierce when he took you away."

Well, that was true.

He looked ready to draw his sword if I showed even the slightest resistance.

But that knight was one of the people who thanked me as I was leaving the guard station.

"If you need any help, just let me know. If I ask my father, he'll definitely help resolve things."

In the kids' minds, I must look like someone who was taken to the guard station and underwent severe torture.

"I'm telling you, it's fine. Things worked out better than expected. I didn't even get questioned and instead received thanks."

I didn't want to explain the details because it was bothersome, but I guess I have to.

Today has certainly been a day full of experiences.

Just this morning, I never expected to be taken to the guard station while helping kids with enhancement, nor did I expect to encounter kidnappers on the way there.

"So I didn't even get questioned. Instead, I received their thanks."

When I shared what happened during that brief time I was taken to the guard station, the kids went wild.

"Wow! They finally caught those guys!"

"Since it's a criminal organization, it might be too much to say they've been completely wiped out. But still, you're amazing. So cool."

"You're incredible, boss!"

While the other kids praised me for being amazing, Frank, probably due to professional habit, kept asking about my physical condition.

"I'm glad, but you weren't hurt by the kidnappers, were you?"

Thanks to the knight who wasn't just any amateur and single-handedly dealt with the kidnappers, there hadn't been any dangerous situations.

Besides, I only dealt with the child, didn't I?

There hadn't even been time to get hurt.