Chapter : 18
The moment Ellessier stepped into the bookstore, he was greeted with something resembling a welcome.
“We don’t sell books.”
“…….”
Judging by her face, she must have been sleeping well—one cheek, pressed while she slept, was flushed red. Wiz swallowed. Even her bleary, unfocused eyes were impressive. He stood silently in the doorway for a moment.
He knew he had been forgotten.
He hadn’t expected her to remember this time either, but for some reason, today felt different.
Letting out a light, slow breath, he stepped further inside. Still, it was fortunate—seeing Wiz like this seemed to completely dispel any discomfort.
“My name is Ellessier.”
“Oh, yes…… Mr. Eldorado.”
Today, he decided to see just how far she would go with his name. As usual, he offered another clue.
“Do you remember the Silver Fox Unit?”
“Hm. Have you been here before?”
“Yes.”
“Uh…….”
Wiz furrowed her brows deeply and thought hard.
And then gave up three seconds later.
“Anyway, we don’t sell books.”
“I know. But I didn’t come here for books today.”
Her utter lack of perseverance was astonishing, but he let it slide calmly.
When he spoke gently, Wiz tilted her head. Her round, innocent-looking eyes blinked. The reddened cheek from sleeping thoroughly reinforced her naïve impression. He stared at her face for a moment before continuing.
“I would like to hire you temporarily.”
“Me? For what?”
“There have been many deaths, likely related to magic. If it’s an unknown mage or an artifact, we need to identify or at least infer what it is. I’d like your help with that.”
As she listened, Wiz’s expression immediately turned awkward—an incredibly transparent reaction.
She lifted a hand and rubbed the back of her neck.
“I don’t really know much about things like that……”
As if.
According to Daniel’s report, what she researched was mages. And half a year ago, she had helped quite a lot. That level of assistance would be enough.
Ellessier gently coaxed her.
“Just help us as much as you have before. That will be enough.”
“Uh…… have I helped you before?”
“…….”
And there it was—the obstacle he had known would come.
Even though he had prepared himself, this was going to take a while. Clearing his throat, he gestured toward a chair. Wiz stared at his fingertip for a moment, then nodded. Before sitting, Ellessier placed the thin coat he’d removed over his legs and faced her.
Wiz stared at him as well—not just without avoiding his gaze, but as if she were studying him with interest.
Her eyes, which had been half-asleep moments ago, now shone sharply. As Ellessier calmly met her gaze, he found her look oddly cold and piercing.
He slowly examined her face again.
That was when her small mouth opened.
“By the way… who did you say you were again……?”
“…….”
Ellessier snapped back to his senses.
Since it wasn’t after work, once this was over he’d have to return to the palace. Even now, his subordinates were suffering all over the place. It would be best to persuade Wiz as quickly as possible.
He parted his lips with his tongue.
“I’d like you to work with the Silver Fox Unit for a while.”
“Oh, right. I really don’t think that kind of thing suits me.”
“You can do it. We’ll set the pay high. If you’d like, you can take your meals at the Silver Fox residence in the royal palace.”
“I don’t have trouble making a living.”
Her refusal was firm. He steadied his heart, glanced briefly at the ceiling, then looked back at her.
And tried again.
“I’ll give you a basket of snacks every day.”
“…….”
“……Would that still be no?”
When he asked with a pitiful smile, Wiz stared at his face for a moment—then smiled softly.
“No matter what, it feels like I shouldn’t this time… but in the end, welcome, customer.”
“…….”
The situation ended quickly.
Ellessier let out a breath, feeling utterly drained. Well, of course. If she could sell even a tower for candy, how could he not land the job?
Come to think of it, Daniel had said he’d first met Wiz when she was lured by snacks and nearly kidnapped in place of a child—and he’d saved her.
Ellessier opened his mouth as if to say something, then gave up.
Unexpectedly, Wiz added one more thing in a clear voice.
“But if I have to meet, like, really important people, I don’t want to. It’s scary.”
Was that really something to say for someone who had once relinquished the position of sub–tower master right in front of the king?
Ellessier’s expression turned strange. He’d thought she had pretended not to know who the king was back then—had she truly not known? But at the Central Palace, who else besides the king would be exchanging agreements with a tower master?
Besides, no matter what, Wiz was a scholar—a doctor—affiliated with the Central Tower. There was no way she hadn’t grasped the situation while waiting outside the audience chamber.
Watching her, utterly impossible to read, Ellessier gave a small nod.
In any case, this wasn’t something to settle now.
“I understand. I’ll make sure it doesn’t come to that.”
“If that happens, I might just run away.”
“Understood.”
At least she warned him. Replying with a faint laugh in his voice, he stood up. After putting on his coat and tidying himself lightly, he asked one last question.
“Can you start work tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Then a knight will come to escort you tomorrow morning. Around eight.”
At that, Wiz stared up at him again.
For more than ten seconds, they looked at each other across the counter. An atmosphere reminiscent of “that evening” seemed to settle between them. The moment Ellessier noticed it, he naturally looked away—and just before he did, a smile appeared on Wiz’s lips. It wasn’t a bright one.
When he looked back to confirm it, it was already gone.
Wiz grinned.
“Then see you tomorrow, Mr. A–A–Aerobics.”
“……See you tomorrow.”
But he was certain—he hadn’t imagined it.
After leaving the bookstore and putting some distance between them, he turned back to look at it once more. Then, recalling their conversation, he faced the road ahead again.
* * *
As always, Wiz woke up around five in the morning.
It was a habit that never disappeared—and one she deliberately maintained. She tried to live as regularly as possible, since her health couldn’t afford to worsen.
While the world was still dim, she went for her morning walk, then returned to greet a customer who was already waiting inside the bookstore.
Six in the morning. The padlock she had securely fastened was smashed to pieces. The customer bowed repeatedly, flustered, saying it had been an accident. It was fine. After a short meeting, she saw the customer out and then read the book they had brought.
Just before eight, the knight who came to pick her up was Mini.
Mini greeted Wiz politely—it had been a long time—and Wiz responded with an awkward smile.
“Have we met before……?”
“…….”
She didn’t disappoint expectations. Starting off this sadly—honestly. At least she hadn’t forgotten that today was her first day of work. That alone was a relief.
Mini smiled faintly and guided Wiz along. The walk wasn’t particularly cheerful. Another person had been murdered early that morning.
Instead of taking Wiz to the Silver Fox tower, Mini led her to the crime scene. Along the way, she explained briefly what Wiz would be doing from today onward. Wiz listened carefully and nodded enthusiastically.
Ellessier was already at the scene.
When the two arrived, he was examining the ground where the victim had fallen. Seeing them, he straightened from his crouch.
But Wiz lowered her head and stayed hidden behind Mini’s back.
A flustered Mini darted her eyes around, while Ellessier, seeing Wiz’s head peeking over the knight’s shoulder, spoke.
“I’m sorry to bring you to the scene on your first day.”
“…….”
“……That was thoughtless of me.”
Ellessier admitted it readily.
He’d overlooked how difficult it could be for a civilian to inspect a murder scene. He had only thought that seeing it firsthand might help Wiz infer something.
He looked away from Wiz, who stubbornly refused to show her face, and gave an order to Mini.
“Escort Wiz to the tower.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mini, too, clearly felt she had done something terrible to Wiz. She saluted and carefully turned around. Wiz, still using Mini as a shield, kept her head down. Her shoulders drooped, her whole body looking drained of strength.
Other knights collecting evidence glanced at her as they passed.
There wasn’t time to stand here like this. This was a site full of orders he needed to give. Carefully, Ellessier spoke to Wiz.
“Ms. Wiz. Knight Mini will guide you. Go rest and gather yourself.”
“…….”
“Ms. Wiz.”
But instead of answering, Wiz bent down and squatted on the spot, her head still facing the ground.
Ellessier and Mini followed her gaze downward.
Crouched there, Wiz brushed her fingertips across the dirt at her feet. Bare earth—mixed with pebbles smaller than her fingernail.
From there, she picked up one small stone.
Holding it between her thumb and forefinger, she raised it to the height of her head, as if examining it in the morning light—
—and suddenly, the stone launched itself straight at her forehead.
Crack.
“Ngah!”
There was the sound of something breaking.
“Mmnnnhhhh—” As Wiz clutched her forehead with both hands and whimpered, the stone bounced away like a flea, hopping rapidly as it fled.
When it jumped up to about calf height, Mini snatched it out of the air.
But she couldn’t open her hand carelessly, afraid it might leap away again. What was that just now? A flea? Was it a flea disguised as a stone? Or a stone disguised as a flea?
Such a novel artifact—none of them had ever seen anything like it. Mini was stunned, and so were the knights who had witnessed it by chance. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Mini’s clenched fist.
No one took care of Wiz.
So Wiz appealed her pain herself.
“My stone broke! Oww!”
“…….”
Finally, they looked at her. Every expression was complicated.
How were they supposed to react to someone casually referring to her own head as a stone?
Comforting her by asking if the stone was okay would be strange—it would mean acknowledging her head as a stone.
In the end, the knights quietly turned away and left. Back to work.
But Ellessier and Mini, standing right in front of Wiz, had no excuse to leave. Mini’s mouth opened slightly, closed, opened again—then closed once more. A pitiful effort.
Ellessier swallowed a short sigh and spoke.
“Are you all right?”
“Ghh……”
Wiz, still crouched on the ground, straightened her upper body. Her hands slowly lowered from her forehead.
What he saw then was a dark bruise.
Ellessier’s gaze changed instantly—what had been filled with confusion froze solid. He frowned and raised his hand. His gloved fingers touched the injured spot. Seeing her superior’s expression, Mini stepped closer and looked at Wiz’s forehead—and she, too, frowned.
This is bad……
“Poison?”
Wiz was dying from poisoning.
Her face turned deathly pale, her lips quickly turning blue, the bruise on her forehead darkening ominously. It must have been injected at the moment of impact.
The previous victim had collapsed with this same coloration.
They realized what Mini was holding—it was the cause of death. The murder weapon itself.
They hadn’t expected to find it so quickly, but they couldn’t let Mini keep holding it either. They didn’t even know what kind of poison it was—Mini couldn’t be put at risk.
“It appears so. Knight, put it down. Antidote!”
“Yes—yes, sir!”
Without hesitation, Ellessier issued the command—and then shouted loudly.
(To be continued in the next chapter)
