Chapter – 08.
Isanna Faelock
Isanna, who had stepped in front of Yesika, stared intently at the man who was giving Yesika a challenging look. She had felt it since earlier, his aura was extraordinary. Based on the information she had heard, he was a trainee knight, but the man’s imposing presence was not that of a trainee, so Isanna observed him with sunken eyes.
As someone who ran an information guild, it bothered her that there was something she didn’t know. If gaps like these popped up here and there, eventually that organization would crumble.
“That’s the rule of the general store. Even those with great power always entered alone when they came here.”
At her words, the people around turned to look at Yesika’s group. With Isanna deliberately raising her voice, it was natural for attention to focus on them.
‘She planned this.’
As expected, she was not an easy person. It was a scheme to suppress Yesika’s energy, who had come here for a transaction. It was quite a clever trick, but it didn’t work on Yesika.
Because she had already experienced this situation once before. The Isanna from the previous time had acted the same way, and had lost to Yesika.
“If you knew what I have, you wouldn’t be able to say that.”
Isanna’s eyes turned toward Yesika at her words, which flowed out like a sigh. Just as Isanna was about to retort to the sudden interjection of the noble young lady,
“I know where the white spinel is.”
“The gemstone is in the mines…”
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about, right?”
Yesika showed an attitude of being ready to leave if she continued to spout nonsense. She folded her fan without hesitation and turned her body away.
“Wait!”
At Isanna’s urgent call, Yesika’s slow steps halted. Isanna, with a hardened face, gritted her teeth and spoke to Yesika, who turned back with a smug smile.
“I’d like to hear more about that.”
“Here?”
“I’ll guide you.”
Isanna, who immediately lowered her posture, led the way. They entered a private room that even among those who visited the Monterto General Store, only the fairly wealthy could enter.
This was the frightening aspect of this general store. If you had money, they treated you well regardless of status. That was the creed of the Monterto General Store. A place where even nobles couldn’t be treated well without money—that was this Monterto General Store, and all of this was the plan of its head, Isanna.
‘If she weren’t a woman, she would have received better treatment.’
If Isanna weren’t a woman, she wouldn’t have been called the Witch of the General Store. If she weren’t a woman, she might have entered under another noble and schemed to do even more.
To that extent, Isanna was a capable and impressive woman. The only reason such a woman was called a witch was simply because she was a woman.
Isanna, who had been watching Yesika seated on a velvet couch for a moment, plopped down on the seat opposite her. Seeing her insolent manner, Alter looked at Isanna with a cold gaze, and she waved her hand at him.
“Ah, don’t stand there uncomfortably. Sit! Sit!”
Isanna, who had shed her earlier courteous attitude, spoke to Alter and Anna. Anna, who had been looking at her with a bewildered face, clapped her hands as if she had just realized something.
“Could it be…?”
“Yes, I’m that person. The owner of this general store.”
“No, what kind of owner comes out to…?”
“Because sometimes you need to be in the lowest place to see certain things.”
Yesika’s lips curled into a smile at her voice, from which the playfulness had disappeared. She was an amusing person, both then and now. What kind of owner would willingly work as a laborer to obtain information? Such people were rare.
‘There was none.’
Isanna was the first. Because she was like that, she was able to grow this ‘Monterto General Store’ to this extent and make it possible for this place to be the number one information dealer in the Ert Empire. A person who saw things differently from others. Isanna Faelock.
“So, where is the white spinel?”
Despite knowing Yesika was a noble, Isanna spoke to her bluntly. Since her original personality was fierce, Yesika understood her disrespectful attitude. She was also a noble. To be precise, a person who had ‘been’ a noble.
“Impertin…!”
As Alter opened his mouth to point out Isanna’s rudeness, Yesika slightly blocked his way with the hand holding her fan. Alter, sensing her intention, soon closed his mouth, and Yesika’s red lips parted.
“More than that, it seems I have something to obtain first.”
“I can’t say anything until you tell me about the white spinel.”
“Then I guess it’s the same for me. Since what I want to obtain isn’t only available here, I’ll go elsewhere.”
A man who brought tea into the private room glanced at her and tried to set the tea down, but Yesika raised her fan again to stop his action. The man, who watched for a moment, left with the tea after Isanna gestured with her chin.
“It seems we’ll need time for a detailed conversation.”
She meant she needed time to verify whether the information Yesika possessed was true or not. Hearing that, Yesika couldn’t hold back her laughter. She wouldn’t be able to figure out where Yesika got the information, so it would just be a waste of time.
She couldn’t exactly say she had seen the future and come back. So, she also couldn’t explicitly say she knew exactly where the person Isanna was looking for was located.
“Alright. I’ll give you a week.”
“What? Even if you look down on us, there are limits. We don’t need that much.”
Yesika had given ample time knowing they would find nothing, but hearing her say they didn’t need it so abruptly, Yesika laughed loudly. The clear laughter resonated in the private room, and Isanna, who took that laughter as mockery, didn’t hide her displeased expression.
“Ah, my apologies. Quite the confidence.”
Yesika, who had opened her fan to cover her mouth, narrowed her eyes.
“I said a week because I thought you’d need a lot of time. So, about how long should I wait then?”
“We don’t need a lot! Two days is enough!”
Compared to when Yesika met Isanna in her previous life, she was younger now and a bit more emotional. Originally not someone to show emotions this much, seeing Yesika, who looked younger than her, so composed made Isanna more impatient. Yesika had unintentionally gained an advantage.
“Then alright.”
With a ‘tap’ sound, she closed her ornate fan and tapped on the armrest of the sofa.
“I’ll give you two days. Come to the Viterne Marchioness’s residence in two days. I’ll tell the butler in advance.”
“The Viterne Marchioness’s residence. You’re from quite the household.”
“Not quite at that level yet.”
Yesika, rising from her seat, bowed her head gracefully. Isanna’s eyes widened at her attitude, as if treating an equal.
It was the first time Isanna had seen a noble young lady bow to her. Although she had met various people running the information guild, this was the first time she had seen a person—no, a noble—show her courtesy.
“Take care.”
The honorific that escaped Isanna’s lips made Yesika’s eyes curve like moons. No one could see that face curved like a thin crescent moon. Because there was no one to guide her as she turned away.
Watching Yesika’s retreating back, who walked away without guidance as if she had been here many times despite it being her first visit, Isanna spoke once she was out of sight.
“What do you think?”
“It’s unbelievable. We searched so thoroughly yet couldn’t find a single trace of that person. For a young lady who hardly leaves the Marchioness’s residence to know of that person’s whereabouts… It’s nonsense.”
A man who stepped forward from behind Isanna spoke to her. The man who had entered the Ert Empire with her, founded the Monterto General Store, and ran the information guild—Naern. Naern voiced his concern to Isanna again.
“We can’t be fooled by the words of a young lady.”
“Of course I know that too, but it doesn’t seem like a lie, you see?”
“……”
“She definitely knows something. That young lady.”
She seemed to know much more than she let on. The Witch of the General Store, Isanna, decided to slightly revise her judgment of Yesika. From a clueless noble young lady to an unfathomable fox.
How could a young lady of that age have eyes more settled than hers, who had weathered the storms of the world? The eyes resembling sparkling sapphires were beautiful, but the venom contained within could not be called beautiful at all.
‘That’s a witch.’
Although not comparable to her, who was called a witch, the Yesika she saw was like that. A woman with the same eyes as Isanna. It was the first time she had seen a woman who looked at the empire with the same gaze, so it piqued Isanna’s interest.
“This is interesting.”
It had been quite a while since she had seen eyes that looked down on the world. Isanna recalled the eyes that person had shown. Eyes that arrogantly overlooked the world. That very same light as Yesika’s.
Although they were the same shining eyes, the passion they held differed. If Yesika’s were eyes holding venom, that person’s were eyes holding hope.
“Different, yet similar, you see.”
“Huh?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
The eyes of Isanna, called the Witch of the General Store, sparkled as if she had found something amusing….
