The backdrop can also be propped up.

Chapter 45 Polaliad Revisited

Maria Elisa finished setting up her home on Itana with her luggage, and then happily went out to find a good restaurant.

Good news: There are no restaurants serving Grisi cuisine here, and Maria Elisa has found a restaurant that serves the food she wants. The owner is a very honest and optimistic old man, and the prices, portions, and taste of the food are much better than those in the capital city.

Bad news: We had barely taken a couple of bites of food when we were robbed.

Maria Elisa stared blankly at the dish in front of her that she had only taken two bites of before it was overturned. She lifted her eyelids and glanced at the rusty knife lying in front of her, then looked up and glanced sideways at the robber holding a gun that had been obsolete for many years, demanding money from the shop owner, and the terrified people crouching on the ground with their heads in their hands.

Maria Elisa felt she was quite special right now—because she was the calmest person there, even the robbers might not be as calm as her.

The knife-wielding robber's threat rang in her ears again. Maria Elisa put down her cutlery, skillfully pulled out the laser gun she had been using since military school—the one that turned Aralia into Alaria—and casually tore down a long, rectangular ornament from the wall and held it in her hand.

First, she shot down the man who was pointing a knife at her. Then, Maria Elisa knocked the gun out of the hand of another robber who was demanding money from the counter. Next, she used a long ornament she had grabbed to hit the heads of the two men who were still standing, rendering all three temporarily unable to fight back.

Now, the three robbers were kneeling on the ground, bound hand and foot.

Those robbers were pretty incompetent; it was probably a spur-of-the-moment decision, their first time committing a robbery. While Maria and Elisa were bandaging their wounds and waiting for the police to arrive, they picked out a rather thin robber, and when they lifted the paper bag off his head, they found he was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Maria Elisa raised an eyebrow and lifted the plastic and cloth bags off the heads of the remaining two people, who were also about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Within the space of consciousness, Lu Renkui saw the entire process of the three fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys' failed robbery through Maria Elisa's eyes. She frowned and said, "They should still be in school at this age."

"Actually, it's quite normal. This isn't the wealthy area of ​​the capital planet, nor is it a scenic spot, so the security is naturally like this. Of course, they don't take compulsory education that seriously." Maria Elisa replied to Lu Renkui in her consciousness space. "Those in charge of related matters would love for fewer people to go to school, so they can make more money and their positions will be more secure."

"Wow, is that so?" Lu Renkui was surprised, then muttered softly, "Then they can't be robbing people because they have no one to take care of them at home, right? That makes sense, if they had family to take care of them, they would have been in school long ago."

Upon hearing Lu Renkui's guess, Maria Elisa pressed her temples, squatted down, and looked at the thinnest boy—the same boy who had just pointed a knife at Maria Elisa—and asked, "Why did you rob me?"

Before the thinnest boy could speak, a boy with two scars on his face spat on the ground and glared at Maria Elisa with a fierce look.

Maria Elisa raised her laser gun, aiming it at the scarred boy.

The boy with two scars turned his face away fiercely, no longer looking at Maria and Elisa.

Maria Elisa put the laser gun back into her holster and calmly said to the thin boy, "Tell me, why did you rob me?"

The thin boy kept his mouth tightly shut, unwilling to utter a single word.

Seeing the skinny boy's stubborn refusal to divulge anything, Maria Elisa guessed most of what was going on. She ignored them, stood up, and said, "Fine, I'm going to eat." She then sat back down at the table, asked the owner to make two more dishes, and continued eating.

After eating for a while, Maria Elisa spotted a familiar face.

To be precise, I heard the person's voice first, and then I saw who the person was.

Pollalid rushed in from outside the store, shouting, "Dad! Are you alright...? Huh?"

On his way home, Pollalid received a call from his father saying that there had been robberies in the neighborhood recently.

Worried that his father couldn't handle the situation alone, Pollard immediately changed his ticket to an express train, intending to return home first to check on things. However, just as he was nearing home, he received a message from his father telling him not to come, as the shop had been robbed. Pollard was frantic with worry, but he returned anyway.

But to Pollalid's surprise, the first thing he saw upon entering was three teenage robbers, around fifteen or sixteen years old, bound hand and foot to the ground.

Hearing his son's voice, the shop owner helped Pallas Men happily come out of the kitchen, rush over and hug his son: "Oh, thank God you didn't come back when it was most dangerous!"

Then, Pallas Men led Pollalid to Maria Elisa's table and said, "Thank you to this brave lady for helping us resolve this crisis."

Maria Elisa wasn't shy about being praised. When she saw Pollalid, she smiled and greeted him, "It's nice to see you again, Pollalid. Oh, you used to live here."

“Yes.” Pollalid’s cheeks flushed. Luckily, he had run fast enough on his way here, otherwise others would have discovered that he actually liked Maria Elisa.

"Why did you come here?" Pollalid finally caught her breath and drank a glass of ice water to reduce the flush on her face. "I remember there's nothing fun here. It's usually just a transit point for travelers looking to save money."

“Well, it’s simple. I have some things to take care of, so I’m staying here temporarily.” Maria Elisa said, then ladled herself another spoonful of soup.

“Oh, is that so? How many days are you planning to stay here?” Pollalid asked. “Actually, we have some entertainment facilities here. If you’d like to go, I can take you there.”

Maria Elisa, who had actually planned to go shopping by herself, said, "No need, thank you. I'm still very busy. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

"what?"

"Oh, whatever. I just want to know more about you. That way, I can complete the task faster," Maria Elisa thought.

As a result, Pollalid's face turned bright red again.

"??? Are you in heat again?" Maria Elisa asked.

"No, no, it's just a little hot." Pollalid hurriedly looked for something.