I Possessed the Heroine’s Teacher

Patrolling itself wasn’t bothersome. I just had to walk around and check for any suspicious signs. But the streets are full of suspicious things. In the back alleys, there are people selling shady items, people tampering with scales to cheat customers, con artists swindling people, and even children trying to pickpocket the wallets of adults.

“Let go! Let go! Help! There’s a kidnapper here!”

“Hand over my wallet, you little bastard!”

“This is mine!”

Even though this world is filled with orphans who haven’t learned a trade and survive by pickpocketing or begging, I never expected to see them in person. I don’t particularly like children, but I wasn’t at the level of hatred where I’d refuse to return their wallet.

“Haa… This is why I dislike kids…”

Sensing that I wasn’t in a good mood, Iris started to console the little kid.

“Little kid… Look, this person isn’t in a good mood, so just return it… This person is scary when angry…”

“It’s my wallet! Get lost! Damn it!”

The pickpocket kid put the wallet in his pocket and took out a knife.

“Let go or I’ll stab you? Do you know how many people I’ve killed?”

The kid was acting all high and mighty with his blade, and it reminded me of my childhood self holding a blade. It just made me feel irritated.

“Kid… If you had taken out a pigeon instead of a blade, I might have forgiven you… But you took out a blade. I don’t like that kind of magic.”

“Shut up! Are you really going to stab me? Have you ever been stabbed? Do you know how many people I’ve stabbed?”

I’ve been stabbed many times, but I’m not sure if this kid has stabbed many people. Holding the knife like that, he won’t be able to slash much.

“Kid…”

“What?!”

When he insisted on stabbing, I told him to go ahead and stab me. He was holding the knife with his thumb inside his fingers, which was the first time I’d seen someone do that. I wondered if it was some new knife fighting technique, so I told him to stab me to see its power.

“I’ll really stab you! Don’t regret it even if you die!”

“Kid, are you swinging your knife with your tongue?”

The kid, enraged, swung the knife at my stomach. Swinging like that, he’ll hurt his hand. I held the knife with my index and middle fingers and swung it.

“Ah…”

The pickpocket kid, having lost his prized possession, looked dazed. Was that his livelihood?

“Kid, a blade is something you swing like this.”

I took the knife and slammed it into the wall. The wall seemed to be made of bricks, but it was sturdy, so slamming a knife into it wouldn’t cause much trouble.

“Kid… I could have forgiven you for pickpocketing, but the moment you brandished a weapon at me, you aimed to take my life. If you aim to take a life, you shouldn’t complain if your life is taken.”

I raised my right hand and made a fist.

“Master… There are a lot of people watching…”

“I’ll handle it, Iris.”

The pickpocket kid, shocked, fell backward. Then, I stomped right next to his ear. In Chinese martial arts, this is called Zhen Jiao. It’s not a technique grand enough to be called a technique. It’s just stomping the ground to threaten the opponent, secure space, and prepare a stance. It’s not meant to be a striking technique.

As I said, this is a threatening technique.

“Don’t ever play with a blade like that again. If you get caught doing that again, the next time I stomp, it won’t be the floor but your head.”

The kid started to run away while crying.

“My wallet…”

In the midst of scolding him, I forgot the most important item.

“Should I run and catch him? I’m confident in my running ability.”

In the original work, Iris was acknowledged for her running ability, so catching this kid would be easy.

“No, just leave him.”

“Why not?”

I took out the knife from the wall, wrapped it with my hand, and put it in my pocket.

“Consider it a purchase.”

This knife was that kid’s livelihood, so I should take it as compensation.

“And I carry two wallets.”

Gold coins are usually valuable and are easy to attract thieves when taken out, so I didn’t carry them. Instead, I carried silver and copper coins, but since it was troublesome to distinguish them when taking them out, I carried separate wallets for silver and copper coins. The wallet the kid took was the copper coin wallet, and it only had 120 coppers in it.

It’s a shame that the copper coin wallet, which held small change, is gone.

“So, let’s go. It’s annoying to have all these eyes on us.”

“Yes, Master!”

As we walked down the street, it seemed to be market day, with stalls set up and people bustling around. Getting separated in this crowd was certain, and unlike modern Earth, there were no phones, so getting lost would cause a commotion.

“Iris.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Hold my hand.”

I extended my hand, and Iris’s face turned red. By the way, she’s blushing just from holding hands. What’s so important about holding hands…

“Is it really okay to hold hands?”

“What else could it be?”

I held her hand out of annoyance.

As expected, the market was bustling, and various items were on display, befitting the capital’s market. There were not only food and clothing but also weapons, accessories, monster materials, horses, toys, cosmetics, and even decorative items like pottery.

What caught my eye was a simple hair tie. I handed the shopkeeper a silver coin and bought several hair ties. My long hair had been bothering me lately.

“Oh, hair ties?”

“I didn’t realize when I was in Bekem, but my long hair has been a bit bothersome. Cutting it would be more bothersome, so I just wanted to tie it up.”

I put the hair tie in my mouth, gathered my hair, and tied it up. It felt a bit tight, but it was a bit more comfortable as my hair no longer pricked my neck.

“You seem quite skilled at tying your hair, Master.”

There was a hint of wariness in her voice. Why be wary of just tying hair?

“A friend taught me. Just a friend.”

“Oh, just a friend?”

“Yeah, just a friend.”

“Where is that friend now? It’s impressive that they taught you, a clumsy master, how to tie your hair.”

I chuckled at Iris’s joke. Personally, I like these kinds of jokes, where comedians on comedy shows insult each other’s appearances.

“They died.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. And you look like that person.”

That was one of the reasons I bought the game. The hair and eye colors didn’t match, but the atmosphere was similar. Or perhaps it was the appearance excluding the eye and hair colors that resembled.

I didn’t intend to buy the sequels, which I considered trash that tarnished the original’s reputation. But when I saw Iris’s face on the cover, smiling at me, I bought the game without realizing it.

And the adult Werner standing next to her seemed to resemble me. If the two of us had grown up, I thought we might have turned out like that, so I bought the game… The game itself was quite well-made. The problem was the sudden VR device malfunction. It was good that it provided a realistic sensory experience, allowing me to use the skills I learned here in that world.

However, it seemed the company didn’t test for explosions, and I ended up dying and coming here.

“Ah… Headache.”

Every time I tried to recall the moment of my death, my head started to hurt. Perhaps my brain was warning me with pain, remembering the intense pain I felt during my death.

“Ahh, my head…”

“Are you okay, Master? Maybe you’ve been in the sun too long.”

Iris led me to a bench and sat me down. With the persistent headache, I leaned my head on Iris’s shoulder next to me. Leaning on her shoulder made me feel a little more comfortable.

“Do you feel a bit better?”

“Yes, a little…”

It was only a little, but Iris’s shoulder felt like that person’s. It was stiff but somehow warm and comforting.

“You can rest here if you like.”

“No, since we’re on a date, we should look around some more…”

As I tried to get up, I saw the kid who had just stolen my wallet being dragged by some burly men in the alley across from the bench. To be precise, it was the kid who had stolen my wallet being dragged by some kidnappers.

“Iris.”

“Yes, Master?”

“I’m sorry, but I have to postpone our date. I’m truly sorry, I’ll take you to a nice restaurant next time.”

It seemed I had stepped on the kidnappers’ tails.