Chapter 07
Talking any more would only make us both tired.
At the same time, my desire to kill the bastard who scammed me—Prod Swindel—only grew stronger.
Since no one believed me, I wanted to catch that bastard myself and proudly prove that I was the one who had been scammed.
‘How dare he scam me.’
Prod had chosen the wrong person. I had survived ten years in Rollend—there was nothing I couldn’t do.
Just then, Calyx handed me a document. I examined it carefully. Since I had signed things carelessly before, I read it line by line this time.
There was nothing strange. Everything I had requested was included, and everything Calyx had said was written clearly.
I picked up the smooth pen and signed. The moment the pen left the paper, Calyx spoke.
“Keep that document.”
Then he continued.
“Berok hunting starts after 7 p.m. Don’t be late. As for the miscellaneous work, Nothril in the room at the end of the corridor will explain it.”
It was tighter than I expected. Of course, I had twenty billion to repay, so it made sense…
“When you leave, take this with you. It’s your job now.”
Calyx pointed at a silver basin. I felt some resistance, but I picked it up without a word and left.
The moment I stepped outside, screams echoed inside my head.
‘Aaaagh!’
The pride of Lerit Bin, mercenary of Rollend, was completely crushed. What is this? Acting as a duke’s servant—this is insane.
‘If it weren’t for that scammer bastard…’
It was a day that made me crave alcohol. As of today, I had one more job. Calyx’s miscellaneous work. Because of debt, I was really doing everything.
A deep sigh escaped me. With things like this, there was nothing I could do.
‘If they tell me to do it, I have to. The debt is twenty billion.’
My hand holding the silver basin trembled. Gritting my teeth, I poured out the water inside and left it in my room.
Then I walked toward the end of the corridor. That was where Nothril, who handled Calyx’s miscellaneous work, stayed.
Knock, knock. When I knocked, an old man came out. He was the same old man who had brought the Berok blood earlier.
“Hello, I’m here this time—”
“So you’re the one taking over. Come in.”
I carefully entered the room. Nothril’s room was neat and comfortable. He pulled out a chair and offered it to me.
“Thank you.”
As soon as I sat down, the old man asked,
“What is your name?”
“Lerit Bin.”
“Are you from the Kingdom of Lucru?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s not a common surname here.”
I nodded, and the old man suddenly said,
“You have a mole under your right eye.”
“Oh, that? It’s common. I’ve had it since I was young.”
He studied my face closely, then spoke.
“The princess we are desperately searching for also has a mole under her right eye, like you. She disappeared as a child, so the king always carries her in his heart.”
“Do you think that princess is still alive?”
“I don’t know. But since she carries royal blood, wouldn’t her abilities show themselves somewhere?”
“Abilities?”
“The royal family has the ability to neutralize energy. That’s why even if they are poisoned, they remain fine, don’t get sick, and stay very healthy.”
That was quite interesting. Not dying even after consuming poison.
“So their body cleanses itself?”
“Yes. And even just royal bodily fluids touching someone can instantly calm a person whose energy is out of control.”
“That’s incredible.”
“It is. Ordinary people could never have such an ability, no matter how much they wanted it.”
Just then, Nothril began coughing roughly. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief for a moment.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. But I may have taken too much of your time.”
“No, it was interesting. I learned things I didn’t know.”
Nothril smiled gently and continued.
“Have you ever worked as a servant before?”
“No.”
Nothril’s face stiffened, but he soon relaxed and spoke calmly.
“I will teach you everything. So you don’t need to worry too much.”
His considerate words caused small ripples in my heart. After another brief cough, he went on.
“The master is very strict. But he is not simply cruel. He recognizes effort just as much.”
Surprisingly, Nothril spoke well of Calyx. As I listened quietly, he continued.
“The master wakes at 4 a.m. You must bring cold water in a silver basin every day. You must wash and dry his clothes properly, clean his room, and handle various errands. You’ll be very busy.”
Nothril kept talking.
“Most importantly, the Duke likes cleanliness. If papers are scattered or documents are not neatly aligned, you must immediately straighten them.”
I almost sighed, but held it in and answered,
“Yes.”
After that, Nothril explained in detail where to do laundry, where to fetch water, and more. He even took me outside to show me the well, how to break ice, and where to rest briefly.
By the time I parted ways with Nothril, it was almost lunchtime. Chewing on the protein biscuits I always carried, I organized my thoughts.
In my current situation, I had to find the scammer, do Calyx’s miscellaneous work, and hunt Beroks in the afternoon. Especially with Calyx’s errands added, mornings would be extremely tight.
So I would have to search for the scammer whenever I had time. Thankfully, today Nothril had already handled everything, so I had nothing to do in the morning.
Before hunting Beroks, now was the best time.
Time to find the scammer.
I immediately rummaged through my pocket and pulled out the documents about the scammer that I had stolen from the investigation office.
The description was only three lines long. It even said he had made an extreme choice for some absurd reason. Anyone could tell the investigation had been sloppy.
The investigation office had also said that since the scammer was dead, the case would soon be closed.
“He’s definitely alive. After scamming that much money, how could he die? He wouldn’t waste that money.”
I scanned the scammer’s personal information. He had moved around a lot, judging by the many addresses. One address stood out as familiar. Since it was listed first, it seemed to be his hometown.
[Kingdom of Servantree, Setos…]
No matter how many times I looked, it was the same.
“Setos… that’s close.”
Things felt like they were finally starting to move.
Whoosh—whoosh. The wind was so strong it was frightening. Setos, known as an especially cold area of the Kingdom of Servantree, was particularly harsh today.
A man with messy hair and ragged clothes stretched out both hands toward a passerby. The approaching man frowned and spat out harshly,
“Get lost, you filthy beggar. How dare you linger around here? Do you want to die by the royal knights?”
As the man raised his hand, the beggar quickly ran away. The man glared after him, then passed through a luxurious gate. As soon as he entered the estate, he called for the butler.
“How are you managing this place lately? A filthy beggar was hanging around.”
“We will tighten security.”
“Put up more guards. If trash like that wanders around, property values will drop.”
“Yes, sir. By the way, you have a guest.”
“I told you not to accept guests or strangers unless necessary!”
The man shouted nervously. The butler bowed his head.
“But they seem to carry the royal crest…”
The man muttered curses under his breath.
“Where are they?”
“They are in the reception room.”
With a deeply furrowed brow, the man turned around.
“Idiots. Always making trouble like this.”
Grumbling, he entered the reception room and immediately fell silent.
A blond man was sitting there. A royal crest of crossed swords was on his chest, and his battle uniform was decorated with elaborate patterns. A red cloak symbolizing the royal family hung from his back, giving him overwhelming authority.
Pelleb Asret. Captain of the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Servantree.
Since the captain himself had never visited before, the man hurried forward.
“C-Captain. What brings you here?”
The captain looked at him slowly. His green eyes were filled with emptiness and boredom. He gestured to the person beside him. A man dressed entirely in black placed something heavy on the table.
The sound of metal echoed through the room.
“You handled the job cleanly.”
The man bowed his head, unable to meet his eyes.
“Thank you.”
“He was quite satisfied as well.”
“We even bribed the investigation office. There won’t be any aftermath.”
The captain gestured again. Another, even heavier sack was dropped onto the table. The man looked up in shock.
“Don’t you need more money to renovate the estate?”
“Yes, that’s true, but—”
The captain tossed a photograph onto the table. It showed a person smiling brightly while holding a sword.
“Name: Lerit Bin. He’s now involved in a scam case with Calyx. He has some reputation, so if he gets more entangled with Calyx, it’ll be troublesome.”
Pelleb looked at the smiling Lerit. His expression did not change.
“If we let someone like this live, he’ll dig deeper into the case and make things annoying.”
“Then…”
“Kill him. He has agreed as well.”
The man nodded and stared at Lerit’s photo. A young, handsome face.
“To think someone like this got involved in our scam.”
The blond man’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Our?”
The man’s face stiffened immediately.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
Pelleb looked him over. The man trembled like a frightened rat.
In an emotionless voice, he said,
“From now on, make sure you know your place before acting.”
