Scene 1 — Armond's Lesson
After Julian was thrown out of the dimension, Yein looked at Armond.
"Hey, Mr. Where did you throw him?"
Armond calmly replied,
"Don't worry, kid. I sent him back to his world—the tree house where you lived before."
Armond looked at Yein again.
"However, you still haven't properly introduced yourself."
Yein lowered his head.
"Sorry, but I don't know manners. I don't know how to introduce myself."
"Ahh… You don't need to apologize to me."
Armond paused.
"You know that your father died because of that man."
"Yeah, I know. And I will kill—"
Yein couldn't finish his sentence.
Armond interrupted him.
"No."
Yein looked confused.
"It's not that man's fault."
Yein became angry.
"What do you mean?"
Armond calmly answered,
"If you were stronger, you could have protected your father."
Yein's eyes widened.
"Even your mother was kidnapped while trying to protect you. If you had been strong enough, you could have protected her as well."
"What are you saying?"
"Listen, kid."
Armond's voice became serious.
"A killer's job is killing people. That's their profession. You can't change that simply because you don't like it."
He continued,
"The real problem is that you weren't strong enough to protect your family."
Yein clenched his fists.
"You're also weaker than that man. If you go after him seeking revenge, he'll defeat you again and again."
Armond looked directly at him.
"Right now, you're simply a powerless child who keeps running toward danger without having the strength to protect anyone."
Yein's eyes filled with tears.
"No! You're wrong!"
He began crying.
"I'm not like that!"
His voice became louder.
"I'm not like that!"
Again and again, he repeated the same words.
"I'm not like that!"
"You're wrong!"
"Ahhhhh!"
Armond remained silent for a moment.
Then he asked,
"Don't you want to become strong?"
Yein slowly looked at him.
"Don't you want to become strong enough to take revenge for your father and save your mother?"
Armond continued,
"I'm certain your mother is still alive."
"Strong people rule the world. Weak people have nothing except pain and loss."
He extended his hand.
"You can change your entire life if you want."
Yein looked at him.
"How can I do that?"
His voice trembled.
"I'm weak."
"Don't worry."
Armond smiled.
"I'll train you."
"I'll make you strong enough to accomplish what you want."
Yein remained silent.
"Just stay here for twelve years."
Armond explained,
"You know this dimension is unique."
"It has a special ability that accelerates human growth."
"In this dimension, roughly ten to twelve years can pass while only about one year passes in the real world."
"If you stay here, you'll grow older while I train you."
"I'll teach you properly."
Armond's voice became serious.
"But if you refuse, your fate may simply return to what it was before."
Yein slowly lowered himself to his knees.
"Please teach me."
Tears rolled down his face.
"I don't want to remain a powerless child anymore."
"People treat me like I'm trash."
Scene 2 — Yein's Past
The scene shifted.
Several months earlier.
Yein was alone on the streets.
This was before the Little Robbers had come to help him.
Yein looked around.
Maybe someone will give me a few coins.
Then I can buy some bread.
He began begging beside the road.
After some time, several Adventurers wearing dark clothing approached him.
They suddenly began mistreating him.
Yein cried out,
"Why are you doing this?! What did I do?!"
One of them answered casually,
"Nothing."
"We simply wanted to hit someone, and we found you."
Another one laughed.
"You're an easy target."
Yein could do nothing.
The scene faded.
Scene 3 — A Decision
Back in the present, Yein wiped his tears.
"I want to become strong."
He looked at Armond.
"Please train me."
Armond laughed.
"Hahahaha!"
"That's a good answer."
Tears were still falling from Yein's eyes.
But this time, his expression was different.
He had made his decision.
Scene 4 — Julian's Return
The scene shifted to Julian.
Julian found himself back in the jungle where the dimensional entrance had appeared.
He looked around.
"Huhh…"
"I think I should go home now."
Julian checked the surroundings.
I thought I spent around two hours inside that dimension.
But only a few minutes seem to have passed here.
He looked toward the sky.
Then he began walking away.
Scene 5 — One Month Later
One month later.
The scene shifted to the Little Robbers.
The eight children were:
Nikolai Volkov
Aurelius Laurisber
Evander Sinclair
Theodor Vandenberg
Matthias Falkenberg
Leander von Falkenrath
Alaric von Eberhardt
Lucien de Montclair
They were now working inside Leyi Thornhart's household.
Nikolai and Lucien were cleaning the floor.
As Nikolai worked, he thought,
I should ask Master Leyi for a holiday.
I want to see our little brother.
Nikolai noticed Lucien nearby.
"Hey, Lucien. Listen."
Lucien looked at him.
"Yes?"
"Don't you think we should ask Lady Leyi for a holiday?"
Lucien thought about it.
"Yeah. I think we should ask."
He lowered his voice.
"But you saw what happened earlier. Lady Leyi rejected another servant's holiday request."
Nikolai sighed.
"Yeah. That's a problem."
"Let's ask the others."
Nikolai finished his cleaning and went to find his friends.
Lucien stayed behind because he hadn't finished his work.
Nikolai soon found Alaric and Theodor.
"Hey, Alaric. Theodor. What are you doing?"
Alaric answered,
"I'm cleaning the furniture."
Theodor said,
"I just finished cleaning the walls."
He sighed.
"Ahh… I'm tired."
Suddenly, Nikolai froze.
"Hey, friends…"
"Lady Leyi is coming."
Alaric and Theodor immediately became careful.
When Leyi approached, they bowed their heads.
"Good evening, Lady Leyi."
Leyi calmly replied,
"Good evening."
She continued walking.
After she left, Theodor approached the others.
"Hey, did you hear?"
"Lady Leyi's sister is coming today."
"That's why Lady Leyi seems tense."
Alaric looked confused.
"But why would she be tense just because her sister is coming?"
Theodor shrugged.
"I don't know."
Nikolai interrupted.
"However, listen."
"We haven't seen our little brother for a month."
"I think we should ask Lady Leyi for a one-week holiday."
"Then we'll go and meet our little Yein."
Theodor shook his head.
"Hey, that's impossible."
Alaric agreed.
"I agree with Theodor."
Nikolai looked at them.
"But why?"
Alaric explained,
"You can see that Lady Leyi is extremely busy today."
"We probably won't get a chance to meet her."
"More importantly, Lady Leyi doesn't usually listen to requests from cleaners like us."
"And she hasn't been accepting holiday applications from servants."
Nikolai became silent.
Scene 6 — The Other Three
The scene shifted to Aurelius, Evander, and Matthias.
They were cleaning the carriages.
They were casually talking about lunch.
Aurelius said,
"Hey, today's lunch was really delicious."
Evander nodded.
"Yeah. Lunch was good."
Matthias shook his head.
"However, I didn't like today's fish."
He sighed.
"It's normal for me, though. You guys know I hate eating fish."
The three continued talking freely.
Soon, Nikolai, Alaric, Theodor, and Lucien arrived.
Nikolai said,
"Hey, guys."
Aurelius looked at them.
"Ooh. Hey!"
"You guys already finished your work?"
Lucien nodded.
"Yes."
Nikolai looked at everyone.
"Hey, guys. Let's go to Lady Leyi and ask her about our one-week holiday."
Aurelius hesitated.
"I don't know whether she'll accept it."
Nikolai shrugged.
"Asking isn't a crime."
"So let's go."
The others agreed.
The eight children went together to speak with Leyi.
Scene 7 — Leyi's Business
Meanwhile, Leyi was busy managing one of Yilance's darker businesses.
She was arranging a shipment of people who were being exploited through Yilance's trafficking network and transferred to customers, including the Assassin Club.
Leyi checked her records.
"I've only managed to arrange twenty-two so far."
"I still need eleven more."
A group of soldiers approached her.
They bowed respectfully.
"Lady Leyi."
"We're sorry. We couldn't find any more suitable people in the northern and southern areas."
"But don't worry. Our soldiers are still searching."
Leyi calmly replied,
"It's alright. You don't need to apologize."
"I already know that the population in those slum areas has decreased."
She looked at the soldiers.
"Finding healthy people for this business is becoming more difficult."
The business was difficult to maintain because Yilance controlled numerous slum settlements and had to constantly manage its network.
Leyi knew that this operation required enormous resources.
She gave another order.
"Send the soldiers back to the northern and southern settlements."
"Maintain control of those areas and increase the population naturally."
"Keep monitoring them."
The soldiers bowed.
"Yes, Lady Leyi."
"We'll handle it."
Leyi sighed.
"Huh…"
"I thought I would be able to rest for a month."
"But now even one day of rest seems rare."
At that moment, Leyi's assistant, Suwon Blitz, approached her and quietly whispered something into her ear.
Leyi's expression changed.
"Ohh…"
"That's a good idea."
"Thank you."
She looked toward the soldiers.
"My dear soldiers, we've managed to find the remaining eleven."
"We now have the full number required for the transportation."
"So don't worry about it."
Leyi paused.
"However, we still have other problems."
"But don't worry."
"I'll solve them."
Scene 8 — The Holiday
The scene shifted back.
One hour earlier.
The Little Robbers had tried to meet Leyi, but they couldn't reach her.
Instead, they encountered Suwon Blitz.
Nikolai approached him.
"Hey, Sir Suwon."
"Good morning."
Suwon replied,
"Good morning."
"What do you want?"
Nikolai answered,
"We just want to meet Lady Leyi."
Suwon shook his head.
"Sorry. That's impossible."
"She is busy right now."
"You can go."
Matthias stepped forward.
"Hey, please give us one chance to meet her."
Suwon sighed.
"Huhh… I already said it's not possible."
Lucien pleaded,
"Please, Sir Suwon."
Suwon looked at them.
"Then tell me why you want to meet her."
Alaric answered,
"We want a holiday to meet our little brother."
Suwon became thoughtful.
"Hmm…"
"But sorry."
"Lady Leyi doesn't usually accept requests like this."
"At least, as far as I know, she doesn't give holidays to servants."
Lucien continued pleading.
"Please, Sir Suwon."
"Please just let us meet with her."
Suwon looked carefully at the eight children.
An idea came to his mind.
These eight children could be useful.
He remembered that Leyi still needed additional people for the shipment.
Suwon smiled.
"Alright."
"I'll give you a huge holiday."
"You'll have plenty of time to relax."
The children's faces immediately brightened.
Nikolai said,
"Thank you so much, Sir Suwon!"
Suwon smiled.
"You're welcome."
Scene 9 — The Real Meaning of the Holiday
The scene shifted to Leyi.
Suwon stood beside her and whispered something into her ear.
Now the audience finally heard what he had said.
"Lady Leyi, I managed to arrange eight more people."
"They're the Little Robbers."
"And I found three more as well."
"They're already under our control."
Leyi nodded.
"Ohh… that's a good idea."
"Thank you."
After the transportation arrangements were completed, Leyi finally returned to her bedroom.
She lay down on her bed.
For the first time that day, she allowed herself to rest.
Leyi thought,
Ohh no…
I ended up using people from my own household for this shipment.
She sighed.
Those three servants had caused me trouble before.
But Suwon cleaned them up and prepared them properly.
So there shouldn't be a problem.
Scene 10 — The Carriage
The scene shifted again.
The eight Little Robbers were inside a carriage.
They were confused and frightened.
Nikolai slowly opened his eyes.
Why?
Why is this happening?
What did we do?
He remembered Suwon.
That man… Suwon.
He made us lose consciousness.
And now we're inside this carriage.
Nikolai looked around.
The carriage was taking them somewhere they didn't recognize.
He understood what was happening.
We're being taken to the slave market.
His hands trembled.
So this is what that holiday really was…
Nikolai looked at his unconscious friends.
I'm glad they're still unconscious.
If they wake up now, they'll understand what's happening.
They'll be frightened.
They might start crying.
Nikolai lowered his head.
And my eyes aren't ready to see that.
The carriage continued moving through the night.
None of the eight children knew what awaited them.
End of Chapter 7.