Chapter 35
He did not answer and went into his office.
I immediately prepared a silver basin in my room, filled it with water, and headed to Calyx’s room.
I knocked, but there was no answer. Since Calyx hadn’t said anything earlier either, I just opened the door and went in.
Anyway, the miscellaneous chores under Calyx were my job.
Calyx was sitting in front of the desk. Herkel was standing and talking to him. When I entered, Calyx stopped speaking and looked at me.
“You always wash your hands when you come in, Your Grace.”
I quickly held out the silver basin toward the desk. Herkel glanced at Calyx, then looked at me.
Calyx gestured to Herkel and then looked at me.
I heard the sound of the door closing, and now only Calyx and I were left.
“Mr. Lerit.”
“Yes?”
“Unlike before, you’re not forgetting anymore. You’re doing well.”
“I’ve gotten used to it now. By the way, what you were saying earlier—”
Calyx washed his hands in the silver basin. His large hands made small ripples in the clear water. As soon as his hands came out of the basin, I handed him a cloth.
Calyx looked at me briefly, took the cloth, and wiped his hands. Then he handed the cloth back and spoke.
“There’s nothing more you need to know now. I’ll handle the rest, so don’t worry about it anymore.”
His words felt like a wall.
Then what about everything I had done so far to find the scammer?
I had lost all my property to the scammer too. As this kept happening, a sense of injustice rose inside me.
Remembering what I had said to him before, I opened my mouth.
“Then what about what I promised before—about killing me if I couldn’t catch the scammer? Is that canceled too?”
Calyx looked at me with a crooked gaze. His stare was persistent and uncomfortable, but since my life was at stake, I spoke.
“You said you’d investigate on your own now. And I did make that promise back then…”
“I won’t kill you.”
“……”
“Even if I don’t, your life is already in danger.”
Something about his words felt strange. Then was he planning to kill me before? No—no matter what promise I made, how could someone talk so lightly about a life?
“Aren’t you leaving?”
Calyx spoke before my thoughts could go any further. I put aside what I was thinking and asked what I was curious about.
“Something happened at the scammer’s mansion, right?”
Calyx didn’t answer and just stared at me. His ash-gray eyes held my face challengingly.
Silence spread, and the atmosphere grew heavy and stifling. He was clearly doing this on purpose.
To make me back down on my own.
I didn’t know why he wouldn’t tell me anything about the scammer, but I wasn’t the type to stay still because of that.
I didn’t avoid Calyx’s eyes and stared at him more directly than ever. Before, I had just felt pressured and avoided his gaze, but now I had nothing to hide. I had lost the scammer right in front of me, and someone was trying to kill me.
Calyx frowned and said one thing.
“Do you think I’ll tell you just because you stare at me like that?”
“Then why won’t you tell me? I also tried hard to catch the scammer. And didn’t you say we’d cooperate?”
I even brought up what Calyx had said before. He gave a short laugh and spoke lightly.
“If I tell you about the scammer, will you stay quiet for a while?”
There was no reason I couldn’t. What mattered to me was information about the scammer.
“Yes.”
“You must not go looking for the scammer after hearing what I say.”
“Why not?”
“Didn’t I say before? I want to settle this matter as quietly as possible.”
“But still—”
“So are you planning to go on your own?”
I didn’t expect Calyx to think that far. Was he really thinking about my life? But remembering what he had said before, it was probably sarcasm.
Earlier, he had said he wanted to resolve this quietly, and it seemed like he wanted to handle it alone.
“Anyway, I’ll give you information about the scammer, so don’t act on your own. Understood?”
I folded my second finger and answered.
“Yes.”
I knew acting alone was dangerous. But I had already gone through many things, and Calyx probably didn’t value my life that much anyway. Even now, he was looking at me like I was pathetic.
Calyx let out a short breath and spoke calmly.
“The old butler at Prod Swindel’s mansion is dead.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. My heart started pounding, and my mind went blank.
The old butler was the one who had given Calyx the ledger and told him where the scammer fled. I had a bad feeling.
“Who killed him?”
“Probably someone on Prod Swindel’s side. Or it could have been ordered by the prince.”
“Then when the prince told you to watch your surroundings closely…”
“It meant that things would proceed like this, so keep your eyes open.”
At that moment, the door burst open. Startled, I turned around and saw a large dog—no, a wolfdog—Vodka running in.
Without realizing it, I smiled brightly.
“Vodka!”
Vodka jumped toward me excitedly. I stepped back a little because I was scared, but I still reached out my hand. Vodka’s wet nose poked my hand.
It seemed even happier because it hadn’t seen me in a long time. I rummaged through my pocket and tossed it a protein biscuit.
Vodka caught it obediently, its eyes shining. Then it suddenly looked puzzled and turned around. Calyx was already back at his desk, looking through documents.
“Your Grace, can Vodka open the door by itself?”
“Sometimes it comes in like that.”
Unbelievable. It was smarter than I thought. Calyx seemed busy and didn’t even look this way. Feeling awkward, I picked up the silver basin and left the room.
Vodka followed closely beside me. After putting the basin away, even outside the room, Vodka stayed next to me with bright eyes.
It even leaned against my leg and looked up at me. Its affection was different from how it acted with its owner, and I smiled without realizing it.
With nothing left to do, I went outside the castle walls to play with Vodka. A cold wind blew, but Vodka ran toward me, ears flattened back as it jumped around.
I was laughing and throwing protein biscuits while Vodka ran around when—
“Sir Lerit!”
Someone called me urgently. I looked up and saw someone running toward me. An overly pale face. It was Rotas, the one Calyx had scolded especially harshly before.
When I stood at a distance, Rotas quickly approached.
“I was very worried because I didn’t see you for a while. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but did something happen?”
“Ah, I heard someone died around here.”
“How did you know that?”
I had only just heard the rumor myself, so it was surprising that Rotas already knew.
“I happened to pass by that area and heard it. There were a lot of people near the mansion.”
“What were you doing over there?”
“Um, an errand.”
An errand. That was strange. Usually, Herkel or Calyx didn’t seem to send errands to that place.
At least, I had never heard of it.
‘Is there something else going on?’
As I was thinking deeply, I felt a persistent gaze. When I looked, Rotas smiled with his eyes.
Thinking about what Rotas had said earlier, I asked,
“Do you know anything more about what happened at that mansion?”
“I don’t know the details, but it seems someone who worked at a very wealthy mansion died.”
I just nodded. It was what I already knew.
“Still, it’s an honor to see you again like this.”
“I’m honored to hear you say that.”
Rotas smiled and stepped closer. At that moment, Vodka, who had been clinging to my leg, bared its teeth.
“Grrr.”
It looked almost like how it had been before hunting Berok, which was a little scary.
“Vodka, what’s wrong?”
But Vodka approached Rotas without hiding its teeth. Rotas stepped back in surprise. He tilted his head at me, looking completely confused.
“Why is it acting like this?”
“I don’t know either. Did something happen?”
I lightly touched Vodka to calm it down, but Vodka kept growling and moving toward Rotas.
Rotas stepped back and gave a bitter smile.
“It’s always like this when I try to get close to you, Sir Lerit. Before, there were soldiers, and then the Duke put me through harsh training too.”
Since Calyx giving harsh training was nothing unusual, I spoke.
“His Grace always trains like that. Even while swearing.”
Rotas let out a deep sigh.
“Exactly. I really wanted to get my act together and live properly, so I applied to come here. But the training is much harder than I thought. I feel like I’m going to die.”
His eyes were wet, as if tears would fall at any moment. Then, overwhelmed by emotion, he started crying.
I looked at Rotas in confusion when Vodka suddenly lunged toward him. I quickly grabbed Vodka. Luckily, Vodka didn’t attack Rotas, but Rotas started crying loudly, as if deeply wronged.
“Sir Lerit, this is so hard.”
Thinking about Calyx’s training, his words sounded reasonable.
“Stay strong.”
That was all I could say. My own life hadn’t been smooth either. Complaining to me wouldn’t change anything.
On top of that, I couldn’t even get close because I was holding Vodka back. When I looked at him sympathetically, Rotas wiped his tears and spoke earnestly.
“But still, being comforted by you like this makes me feel much better. I want to become a great mercenary like you, Sir Lerit.”
A great mercenary.
But right now, I couldn’t even work properly and was only struggling to repay my debt.
