"How did it come to this...?"

My gaze was fixed on the bandits, who were leisurely enjoying their meals while engaging in jovial banter. My expression darkened involuntarily.

At this moment, Alicia and I were confined together in an iron cage. She appeared to be grappling with her own regret over her impulsive actions earlier.

...Like her, I couldn't help but berate myself for letting her slip away like that.

I'm such a fool... Simply because the novel mentioned that Alicia's kidnapping scene would occur tomorrow, I hadn't bothered to formulate any backup plan.

I could sense my fists clenching as I buried my face in my knees.

From this day on, I learned the importance of having backup plans... In a hard way, that is.

While I was absorbed in self-criticism, the laughter of the bandits filled the air as they reveled in their misdeeds.

"Hahaha, boss, we've hit the jackpot!"

One of the bandits chimed in.

"Great work, lads!" Their leader applauded, bending down to peer at both of us inside the cage.

"Judging by their appearance, these two youngsters are probably from a noble family."

As the bald bandit leader began discussing the potential ransom for us, I desperately brainstormed a plan to secure our escape.... Now that I thought of it, what the fuck is he even doing here anyway?

"....."

Now, you might be wondering how this situation came about in the first place. Well, let's rewind a bit and shed some light on the events leading up to this.

***

Earlier, after Alicia and I had arrived in the city, we decided to explore the food stalls for a while.

...What should I do now?

I placed my hands on my chin, lost in thought, as I walked forward with Alicia at my side.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that when I eventually glanced at Alicia, I found her looking at me with an icy demeanor.

"Kuemm..."

Quickly, I turned around and scanned the area for a food stall where we could buy something to eat... That seemed like the right course of action.

Spotting a crepe stand in the distance, I asked, "Would you like that?"

She didn't immediately avert her gaze from me, which made me a bit nervous. However, she responded as though she didn't particularly care about the choice, giving me the impression that I could buy it if I wished.

...

..

.

This tastes quite similar to my past world...

I closed my eyes slowly, reminiscing about someone from my previous life who also enjoyed this kind of food.

But...

My reverie was abruptly interrupted when I felt someone tugging at my clothes.

"...Alicia?"

I found Alicia gazing at me with a furrowed brow, her icy stare unwavering. Feeling perplexed, I blinked and offered an awkward smile.

"It's nothing," she replied before resuming eating her food, leaving me even more puzzled... What could be bothering her today?

Just as I was about to speak up, I noticed some remaining crumbs on her cheeks.

"Alicia, there are still crumbs on your cheeks... Let me get that for you."

I reached into my pocket and retrieved a clean wipe.

Bending slightly, I gently wiped away the leftover crumbs from her face.

When I finished, I looked at her and flashed a warm smile.

"All clean!"

Alicia touched her cheeks, blinked, and then said, "Thank you, but... Do you often do things like that without asking for permission?"

"Urk!"

Why did that feel like a direct hit for some reason?

My expression turned sullen as I imagined myself figuratively falling to my knees. It was then that I noticed a black cat with gentle blue eyes staring up at me from below.

...A cat? I wondered what it wanted.

Kneeling down a bit and making eye contact with it, I smiled and reached down to pick it up, gently cradling it in my arms as I gave it a few gentle strokes on its back.

"Purr~"

I could feel the cat purring in contentment. I smiled unconsciously because of it.

In my past life, I had allergies to cats. So, even though I had the urge to pet one, I had to stop myself.

Unaware of my thoughts, Alicia hesitated for a moment and pursuing her lips, she lightly glanced at the black cat who was happily getting petted by me, and after mustering enough courage, she carefully said.

"Can I pet it?"

Taken aback by her question, turning my attention back towards Alicia, I tried make sure that I heard correctly.

"Can what?"

"Pet it... I mean the cat."

Staring at Alicia's unusual seriousness, it took me a second to realized what was going on and a faint smile appeared on my lips.

... I totally forgot, she likes cute things.

Well, I guess that it's quite true that Alicia has the heart of normal little girl... normally, I mean, if it wasn't for her father's death, she would have lived in normal loving family like any other people.

Her father died in front of her, killed by his human friend. This traumatic event left Alicia with a scar that made her lose trust in other people, except for her family.

'I guess I should let her do what she wants. This could also benefit me by gaining her trust.'

Staring at the cat on my arm, I shrugged helplessly.

"Well, why not? Suit yourself."

Her face brightened when she heard my response, and she moved closer to the cat to pet it.

"Thanks..."

"Purr..."

The cat emitted a satisfied sound as Alicia continued to pet it.

After about a minute, the cat leaped out of my arms and darted back into the dark alley beside the street.

Unsettled by the cat's sudden departure, Alicia chased after it, heading into the dark alley.

"Wait!"

Taken aback by her swift action, I called out to her. Though, she deliberately ignored me and continued to follow the cat, and I naturally followed her into the alley.

After running for a while, I finally caught up with Alicia.

Glancing in the direction the cat had vanished, I noticed that it had disappeared completely... Just where did it go?

I immediately shaked this question off my mind before turning my attention back to Alicia. Frustrated, I pinched the bridge of my nose and began scolding her.

"Listen, you shouldn't run off like that just because the cat disappeared." I heard her click her tongue and deliberately tried to ignore me by turning her head away.

Seeing her attitude, I smiled bitterly, and my eye began to twitch... I really want to discipline her here, but there's no time for those... We were currently in an unrestricted area.

"Don't ignore me when I'm explai-??"

Thud!

Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a tap on the back of my neck. Darkness enveloped my mind, and I struggled to muster the last of my strength to speak.

"Alicia..."

The last thing I saw was Alicia falling right next to me.

...

..

.

Now, back to where we left off at the beginning.

Just why did the kidnapping happened this early...? Is it probably because I'm getting more involved in Alicia....? I don't know, no, it's more like I'm not sure.

Originally, I wasn't supposed to meet Alicia at this current time. Because in the novel, Alicia first has to make contact with the protagonist, before they met Athan. And also, the kidnapping happened after she turned four, which will happen tomorrow. So, this gave me the idea of her being kidnapped, which ended up becoming sooner than expected.

"I should have thought this through..."

I muttered inside my breath.

Thanks to this kidnapping incident, I finally realized one thing... Every action I take, I must think deeply about it's own consequences.

"...sorry."

I suddenly heard a voice on my right, prompting me to turn to the side.

"It's all my fault... If only I had listened-"

"It's fine..." I cut her words short, it's better this way since putting the blame on a little girl won't pretty much solve anything. After all, it's basically my fault for not considering this possibility.

...My head might have gotten bigger since after reincarnating into this world.

"I'm not angry or anything... It's just would you please listen to me next time." Without much thought, I decided to stroke her head gently.

Alicia didn't refute, nor tried to remove my hand. She, instead, held it with both hands and placed it on her head herself.... That's cute.

"...okay."

Now that both of us had finally recovered, I had to come up with a plan to get us out of this situation...

And I had already formulated one.

This plan also involved awakening Alicia. If anything went wrong, I'd probably end up battered and bruised.

Right now, it was a now-or-never situation. If this plan worked, the friendship issue that had been bothering me would vanish, and it would also benefit Alicia due to her awakening.

There were two methods of awakening. The first was the natural method, where a person would have to wait until they turned five years old. The second method was forced.

By putting someone in a desperate situation, sometimes their awakening would be triggered, forcing their crest to manifest even if it wasn't fully formed.

This method wasn't recommended because it carried the risk of damaging the crest, potentially causing it to weaken instead of growing stronger since it was being forced out prematurely. But I had no time to think it through.

"It's now or never..."

Taking a deep breath, I bit my lip, drawing a small amount of blood, and forced a grin.

"Hey, baldy!"