Ultimately, there wasn't enough time to begin working on the water heater that day. After finishing their lunch, Jin and Beena headed out to set up their street stall just as they had the day before.
"I think there are even more people here than yesterday."
A crowd even larger than the previous day's had already gathered. The two of them immediately set to work.
"Hey, we’ve been waiting for you!"
"Hurry up and start making it!"
"Yes, yes, please wait a moment!"
Beena got to work on the popcorn, while Jin lined up the magic tools. Reiko joined them shortly after. Seeing her, Jin asked,
"Oh, Reiko. Are you finished already?"
"Yes. I have completed the purchase of the barley, wheat, and pepper."
They spoke in low voices, so their words were lost to the noisy crowd of customers.
"Good. Then help us out here."
"Yes, Father."
With that, Reiko joined them behind the counter.
"Oh, what a cute girl. Is she your younger sister?" one of the customers asked. Since both Jin and Reiko had black hair, they did indeed look like siblings.
"No, I am his—"
Jin cut Reiko off just as she was about to say "daughter."
"That's right. She came to help us out today."
"Heh, what a good girl. Oh, give me one of those lighters. I bought one yesterday and took it home, but my mother-in-law said it was wonderful and snatched it for herself."
"Certainly. Thank you very much."
Jin handed over the lighter and accepted the coins. Reiko looked a bit dissatisfied, but Jin whispered to her,
"Reiko, just for today, pretend to be my sister. Let's not go looking for extra trouble."
"I understand... Older Brother."
And so, just like the day before, the popcorn and lighters were sold out well before sunset.
"We really raked it in again today!"
"Yeah, it went well."
As they walked toward Beena’s house while chatting, a group of men blocked their path.
"Hehehe. Looks like you've been making quite a profit lately."
"We were thinking you might want to share a little of that with us."
There were four rough-looking men, all with swords hanging from their waists.
"...Ugh. Talk about a cliché," Jin muttered, exasperated. Ignoring him, one of the men reached for the coin bag hanging at Beena’s waist.
"What are you doing?! This is today's earnings!" Beena snapped, brushing his hand away.
"That's why—we—said—give us a share, see?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Why would we give anything to the likes of you?!" Beena remained as defiant as ever. Jin stepped forward as well.
"That's what's known as 'theft.' Are you aware of that?"
"So what if it is!" one of them shouted, suddenly lunging at Jin with a punch.
However, in the next instant, the man was sailing through the air.
"Gah!"
He let out a strangled cry as he slammed into the ground and went silent.
"What do you think you are doing to Father?"
Naturally, it was Reiko's doing. The remaining three men couldn't believe that Reiko, who looked no more than ten years old, was responsible.
"What the hell did you just do?"
"Is she using magic?"
They began to clamor. Jin looked at them and gave a warning.
"It's for your own good to take your friend and go home."
But these were not the kind of men to listen to reason.
"Don't screw with us! I guess you won't learn until you've tasted some steel!"
One of the men drew his sword.
"I'm gonna make you hurt!"
He swung at Jin, but the blade never reached its target.
"Do not speak of things you cannot do," Reiko said dismissively, having snatched the sword away in the blink of an eye.
"Wh-What?!"
"A blunt sword like this is of no use."
As she spoke, Reiko gripped the blade and bent it into a limp curve right before the man's eyes.
"A-Are you a monster?!"
Overcome by terror at the sight, the remaining two drew their swords and began swinging them wildly.
"That is dangerous."
Reiko snatched those swords away just as quickly. This time, she actually crumpled the metal into a ball between her hands.
"U-Uwaaaaaah!"
The men tried to bolt, completely ignoring their unconscious comrade.
"How cowardly."
Before they could take more than a few steps, Reiko caught up to the three of them. She delivered a single strike to one man's solar plexus, a hand-chop to the neck of the second, and sent the third flying with a throw. All of them were knocked unconscious.
"Father, it is finished."
"Yeah, good work."
Listening to the two of them speak as if this were a perfectly natural occurrence, Beena let out a long sigh.
"Reiko is just way too amazing. No wonder my Paralysis Wand was useless."
"So, what should we do with these guys?" Jin asked. All four were out cold.
"Let's see... let's tie them up and turn them over to the guards."
"Got it."
Jin used Forming to turn the men's own swords into wire, then began binding them.
"That's a clever way to use that magic."
Since Forming was a type of Craft Magic, Beena could use it too. She mimicked him, turning a sword into wire and tying up the last man.
"Alright, let's drop our things off first, then we can turn these guys in."
"Right."
To be safe, they tied the unconscious men to a tree. The three then returned to Beena's house to set down their luggage.
"Okay, let's go hand them over."
"Yeah, though it's a hassle."
When they returned, the four men were still unconscious.
"How should we move them?"
"Father, I will drag them."
True to her word, Reiko dragged all four of them to the soldiers' station. They bumped into plenty of stones and their trousers were worn through by the time they arrived, but that was of no concern to Jin and his companions.
"Why can't you make it?! You useless fools!"
A scream of frustration echoed through the mansion.
"Young master, we are using the highest quality corn, the finest vegetable oil, and the most expensive salt, but..."
"What do I care about 'highest quality'?! It's scorched and hasn't puffed up at all! This isn't fit to eat!"
A plate filled with charred corn kernels was hurled across the room.
"Just why is this happening? The process looked so simple..."
No one was there to answer his grumbling.