Chapter 13
“Seraphina, where are you going today?”
It was on my way home after work, parting ways with my coworkers.
Seeing me turn in the opposite direction of my usual route, they asked.
I winked.
“To a bar.”
“What? You never drink! You always said a penniless person can’t afford to lose their health too.”
“Then why are you going alone? Let’s go together!”
“Nope.”
“Why not?!”
“Because I’m going to go wild today.”
I was going to spy, uphold justice, and transform if necessary.
“I told you—never show your wild side to your coworkers.”
“Right. Can’t be helped then.”
“Such a shame. I party wild really well.”
“Me too.”
“I mix drinks with my forehead.”
“I jump on tables and sing.”
“I roll on the floor.”
“Oh.”
…Isn’t that just being a nuisance?
“Anyway, Seraphina, see you tomorrow!”
“Good luck rolling around!”
I never said I was going to roll…
Whatever.
“Let’s go.”
I poked Tofu with the tip of my shoe. He was lying sideways on the street like a dropped rice cake, and lazily rolled only his eyes toward me.
He’d eaten five roasted sweet potatoes that my coworkers gave me because they found him cute, and now his stomach was so bloated he couldn’t move.
“Get up. Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m too full to stand, woof…”
“If you come, I’ll buy you whipped cream at the bar.”
With your money.
Tofu shot up instantly.
“Let’s go, woof!”
“…”
Pig.
We hailed a carriage and headed to The White-Bearded Whale & Bubbles Tavern.
“Near Pier 3, The White-Bearded Whale & Bubbles is a famous tavern.”
Not that I trusted that silver-haired man.
“To The White-Bearded Whale & Bubbles Tavern!”
Tofu shouted at the coachman before I could stop him.
Thanks to that, the coachman gaped—“Did the dog just talk?”—and I had to explain, “Ahaha, that was my ventriloquism!”
“Can’t you sit still?”
“No.”
“Then no whipped cream.”
“Grrr…”
Dragging Tofu, who had latched onto my skirt hem, I entered the tavern.
Just as the silver-haired man boasted, the place was packed.
The moment we entered, a particularly loud group of burly men turned toward us. Sunburned skin, salt-roughened hands, thick arms from hauling nets and pulling ropes, and voices trained to shout over the sea.
“Looks like it’s them?”
“This great being agrees, woof.”
“They smell like the sea,” Tofu said, taking a seat before me.
“May I take your order?”
“One orange juice and whipped cream for the dog, please.”
In less than a minute, the drinks came.
“Thank y—”
Before I could finish, Tofu lunged forward and bit the entire paper cup of whipped cream.
“Slurp slurp snarf chomp hff snff—”
“…”
Letting him bury his face in the cup, I gestured toward the loud men.
“Are those sailors?”
“Yes, they’re the crew of the Temeren, which docked today.”
“I see.”
Found them.
“Snff!”
I stroked Tofu’s head while watching the sailors.
“So then I punched the shark like—”
They seemed to be having an ordinary conversation.
But not a single one was actually paying attention.
They kept glancing at the entrance, one by one.
Just like when we arrived.
They’re definitely waiting for someone.
Pepper’s father changed after eating those cookies.
If those cookies contained something addictive, and these men ate the same ones…
If they were all addicted, then now—after a long voyage—they would be desperate for a fix.
Sure enough.
A hooded man approached their table.
He slid a cloth bundle beneath the table, and one of the sailors took it.
That was enough.
“Stealing that drug bundle now won’t solve anything, right?”
“Snarf chomp—huh? What’d you say, woof?”
“Never mind. Get up. We’re leaving.”
Leaving behind the trembling sailors unwrapping the bundle, I followed the hooded man out.
First, identify who he is. Then plan.
A shabby carriage stood outside—likely his.
He climbed onto the coach seat, pretending to be a normal night-shift coachman.
“Hyah!”
The moment the carriage started moving, I slipped inside the empty cabin.
“Seraphina? Where are we going, woof?”
“Shh. They’ll hear us.”
Watching through the small window, I expected him to head somewhere shady—outside the capital.
Instead, once he passed Pier 3, the carriage headed toward—
District 2?
Not as prestigious as District 1 with the palace and the Temple of the Sage, but still home to noble families and wealthy merchants.
The carriage finally slowed and rolled toward a grand mansion.
I jumped off while it paused at the gate.
The plaque didn’t show a family crest, but a merchant guild name:
“…The Ingrid Trading Company?”
A massive merchant group that trades with the Temeren.
Also infamous for hiring broke academy graduates cheaply for eleven months—right before severance pay requirements—and firing them without warning.
“…”
I could already guess what was happening.
Good lord.
They’ve lost their minds.
Meanwhile
On the second floor of the tavern overlooking the first-floor hall—
“Hey, there’s a girl there.”
“Where?”
A man returning from the restroom pointed. His friends looked up from their beers.
“Where? Where?”
“Next to the stairs.”
“Whoa, you’re right.”
“A girl? In this place?”
“She brought a dog?!”
“Cute dog.”
“Should we go talk to her?”
“And say what?”
“Ask if we can pet the dog.”
“Idiot!”
They snickered.
“But isn’t she pretty?”
“Go talk to her then.”
“Wait—she’s getting up!”
“Go, hurry up!”
One guy sprang to his feet—
Thud!
A silver-haired man at the neighboring table staggered up and bumped his shoulder.
A light nudge—but the silver-haired man was surprisingly heavy. The guy stumbled, hit his mug—
Thud! CRASH!
Beer splashed everywhere.
“Damn it! I’ll be right back!”
That girl is totally my type! I can’t miss this chance!
Despite his soaked shirt, he lunged forward—
“Ugh!”
The silver-haired man suddenly sagged and leaned his whole weight on him, knocking him flat.
Now his pants were soaked too.
He looked like he’d wet himself.
No one could flirt looking like that.
“Dude, seriously?!”
“My apologies.”
Despite how wobbly he’d looked, the silver-haired man’s voice was perfectly calm.
“A-ah, no problem…”
Overwhelmed by his imposing presence, the group hurriedly accepted the apology.
“Go clean your pants, man.”
“Yeah, gross.”
“You should’ve been careful.”
The silver-haired man left without another word, and no one stopped him.
By the time the chaos settled—
The girl and her dog were long gone.
