Chapter 2: Robbed

As Rena had expected, Hannah came here intending to persuade her to resume the Mana business.

“Grandma Hannah, I already explained this very clearly to you before. I have no intention of continuing anymore,” Rena gave a straightforward reply.

“You should also think about stopping. Once you’ve been caught once, you’ll already be on the Church’s radar. If you’re caught again, you might not be as lucky as you were this time.”

Now that she had decided to cooperate with Leon, she would definitely have to cut ties with Hannah.

Even without Leon’s involvement, Hannah was already someone registered by the Inquisition.

From now on, whenever Hannah entered the city, she would attract the attention of patrolling guards and Inquisitors.

The risk of being caught again was extremely high, and that would, in turn, threaten Rena as well.

She had already spoken to Hannah about this in advance.

At the time, Hannah had tried to persuade her to lie low for a while and think it over later, but Rena had firmly refused.

Rena’s advice for her to stop was both for her own self-preservation and for Hannah’s sake.

Yet after all this time, Hannah had still come looking for her.

“Oh my, don’t say it like that. You should really think it through carefully. Otherwise, how are you going to live in the future? Have you been eating properly lately?” Hannah put on a concerned expression.

“There’s no need for you to worry, Grandma. I’ll figure something out myself. Anyway… this doesn’t really make much money,” Rena said expressionlessly as she looked straight into Hannah’s eyes.

“Grandma Hannah, you should have saved up quite a bit over these past two years. That should already be enough, shouldn’t it? Don’t keep doing something this dangerous.”

At Hannah’s purchasing price, Rena’s annual income was actually not much different from that of a tavern waitress.

If Hannah had been selling those goods at normal market prices, she should already have accumulated a decent sum by now.

Hearing this, Hannah’s expression changed.

“Y-you, what are you saying? I didn’t make much money either. We’re all the same, aren’t we? Just trying to make a living…”

Faced with Hannah’s vague response, Rena interrupted her.

“Those Mana supplies—when you sold them, did you really only get that little money?”

“Of course…” Hannah answered instinctively, but when she saw Rena staring straight at her, she subconsciously avoided her gaze and asked with a hint of guilt, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly asking this?”

Observing Hannah’s reaction, Rena already had a pretty clear answer in her heart.

Before, she had considered the possibility that Hannah, like herself, might not have known the true value of Mana and had simply been cheated by others.

But seeing Hannah’s reaction now, she was convinced that what Leon had said was true—that Hannah had been taking advantage of her ignorance all along.

“That’s enough, Grandma Hannah. Since things have come to this, please stop. In the future, we should minimize contact. It’ll be good for both you and me,” Rena said as she walked past Hannah, opened the door, and went inside.

“It’s already very late. You should head back and rest early too.”

Rena closed the door, leaving Hannah standing there alone, stunned.

Could it be that she already knew about the deception? What should she do from now on… Hannah’s heart sank deeper and deeper.

Although she had indeed saved quite a bit of money through Rena over the years, in her view it was still not enough to secure her youngest son’s and grandson’s entire lives.

Back then, when she persuaded her daughter-in-law to remarry her youngest son, she had promised a large annual subsidy, as well as an inheritance.

Had this little girl really stopped so easily, just like her grandmother had back then?

No—maybe she was still secretly selling on her own? Come to think of it, she hadn’t been around lately when Hannah went to look for her.

When she asked the people at the village entrance, they said Rena often left the village, and even when she didn’t leave, she was sometimes not at home.

No one knew whether she had gone into the mountains or somewhere else.

Thinking of this, Hannah had already circled around to the backyard of the house.

She slowly reached into the pocket of her apron, feeling for the ring of keys she carried with her.

Her rough fingers rubbed back and forth over one particular key, her eyes fixed intently on the cellar door, before she chose to hide in the bushes.

Hannah waited patiently in the woods.

After quite a while, the light in the forest cottage finally went out.

She stayed hidden for some time longer before tiptoeing out and feeling her way toward the cellar door in the backyard.

She glanced around, then carefully took out her key.

In the past, when Rena went on long trips, she had lent her the key so she could replenish the Magical Beasts’ feed and water.

At the time, Hannah had been cautious enough to secretly make a copy of the key.

Today, it finally came in handy.

If this girl was still doing this business, there should be Mana stored in the cellar.

If she was still doing it, then Hannah could soften her up a bit and pressure her into continuing to sell the Mana to her.

If that didn’t work, she would just have to tear off the pretense and scare her a little… This girl might be a Witch, but she was actually easy to deal with.

With that thought, she inserted the key into the large padlock hanging on the cellar door—and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Hannah frowned and tried turning the key.

It wouldn’t turn.

She tried several more times, finally confirming that the key didn’t match.

That little girl—she actually changed the lock!?

Then that meant she really was still secretly doing this business on her own.

What should she do? With some tools, this door wouldn’t be impossible to pry open, but the noise would be too loud.

She would have to wait until Rena wasn’t around to do it.

Tomorrow.

She would come back during the day, when Rena wasn’t home.

After all, she seemed to be out quite often during the daytime lately…

Thinking this, Hannah could only quietly leave the backyard.

At the same time, inside the house.

In the pitch-black room, Rena stared at the crack in the window, covering her mouth and holding her breath.

She recalled what Leon had once warned her about:

“Even if you tell Hannah Weisland that you’ve stopped dealing in Mana, you still need to be careful of her. Avoid her as much as possible in the village. I’ll replace the locks on your house and cellar later. When you go out, be careful not to be followed.

“If she comes to you again to persuade you to cooperate with her, you need to be especially cautious. After dealing with her, inform me as soon as possible, and don’t do anything unnecessary in the meantime. You can’t imagine how many tricks a greedy old woman from a village like this can have.”

Considering the possibility that Grandma Hannah might have deceived her before, after Leon said this, Rena had at least kept her guard up.

Yet Hannah had actually tried to open the cellar and steal things.

Even though, in reality, there were no longer any Magical Beasts or Mana in the cellar.

Seeing Hannah sneak out of the backyard, Rena took a deep breath and tried hard to calm herself down.

She put her clothes back on and went to the door, gently opening it to observe outside.

She quietly stepped out, locked the door, and then headed up the mountain path.

From afar, she vaguely caught sight of Hannah’s back and carefully followed her.

Hannah went all the way back to the house where she lived alone in the village and went inside.

Even after confirming from a distance that Hannah had returned home, Rena, who was hiding behind a nearby pile of straw, still didn’t relax.

What should she do now?

Rena thought uneasily, and in the end realized that she simply couldn’t handle this matter on her own.

After thinking it over again and again, she finally made a decision and quickly headed toward the station at the village entrance, where the lights were still on.