CH 5

At the same time that Yulia had been caught by Bavaslov in the inn’s hallway, Carus was standing in front of a shabby pawnshop in one of the alleys of the entertainment district.

"Who could this be?"

The owner of the pawnshop opened the door from the inside and popped out. He was a lanky man with disheveled hair that came up to his eyes and who wore old-fashioned glasses.

"Sir Carus!"

"Maxwell."

Carus called out the man’s name. Then, the man opened both of his arms while smiling brightly.

"Should we hug each other?"

"Shut up. Let’s go in."

"You’re still as cold-hearted."

Maxwell chuckled as he bent his waist to greet him. Then, they entered an office and sat down.

"I am here because there is something I want to know."

"Ask me anything! There is nothing that Maxwell doesn’t know. It’s been ten years since I came here so I know how many affairs and illegitimate children there are in the royal family."

"Yulia Arte."

"What… te?"

"Investigate her."

Maxwell scratched his blond hair that was close to a lemon color. Then, he mumbled Yulia’s name several times.

"Yulia, Yulia Arte, Arte Yulia, Arte Yulia…"

"It looks like you don’t know her."

"Ah, I just remembered!"

Maxwell jumped from his seat before sitting down again. Then, as if confused, he put his face closer to Carus and said.

"It’s because it’s an unexpected name. I didn’t think that the name of the most famous commoner woman in Ortega these days would come out of the commander’s mouth."

"Famous?"

"Very much so. The orphan, who lived under the sponsorship of the Marquis, seduced the precious young master and tried to elope with him. The rumors about her being an ungrateful and wicked woman are well known… But why are you asking about her?"

"I already know this much."

"The Marquis hired hyenas to kill her but both the woman and the hyenas have gone missing."

"I know that too."

Carus said with a frown on his face.

"Don’t you have any information that I don’t already know? Isn’t ‘the Shadow Informant’ your nickname?"

Maxwell grinned. Then, he sunk into his chair with his arms crossed. He stuck out his pale lips and spat out cunningly.

"Do you think I would give you a cold meal? You just have to give me some seasoning!"

Maxwell was a peculiar merchant. If one wanted to buy information from him, they had to give twice the amount of money or sell him information of the same value.

The weight of the information was always decided by Maxwell according to his will.

However, that rule didn’t really work with Carus.

"Do you want to return to the Order?"

Carus asked. It was a light and indifferent tone. But to Maxwell, it felt like a thunderbolt had descended from the blue sky.

"I don’t want to, why would I! You’re the one who told me not to wield a sword but to do something I was good at instead!"

"It’s insolent to try to do business with me like that. Just come back to the Order."

"I get it, I get it. I really can’t say anything!"

Maxwell, who was scratching his hair, finally started to reveal proper information.

"Yulia Arte comes from the orphanage in the southern harbor. She was one of the many orphans sponsored by the Marquis of Marjoram but as she was clever, she entered the best academy at sixteen. Then, from the following year, she was second place for four years straight."

"Second place?"

"Then, she started having an affair with the successor of the Marquis and suffered great retaliation after being found out."

"What kind of retaliation?"

"The Marquis stopped sponsoring the orphanage. Since a family of the standing of Marjoram did that, other noble families also cut ties with the orphanage. The director, who was poor, couldn’t hold on for long and ended up selling the kids to ships."

Maxwell said as he frivolously clicked his tongue.

"Then, what was it, he tried to force her to marry a worker? So she ran away."

It was an unfortunate story. To the point that, if Bavaslov had been here, he would have pitied Yulia and said he couldn’t let this go.

However, Carus wasn’t interested in that kind of thing. There was something else that he was really curious about.

"Has she ever worked as a fortune teller or as a swindler, or anything of that sort?"

"Sorry?"

"Or has she ever secretly handled information as an agent in Marjoram?"

"How could that be? If that were the case, she wouldn’t have had to run away helplessly."

What Maxwell said made sense. Carus, who didn’t obtain the information he was looking for, ordered Maxwell.

"Investigate her."

"That woman? Why?"

"If you don’t want to, you can still return to the Order."

"I will investigate until I get wrinkles on the sole of my feet."

Maxwell looked like he was about to run out of the room in order to investigate Yulia Arte.

Carus, who watched him pitifully as he was getting fidgety on his chair, spoke again.

"Also, go find out if it’s true that the southern fleet is colluding with the pirates."

"Yes? Is that true? That’s crazy! How do these bastards dare…? Unless they’re complete idiots!"

"It seems that the informant is slower than the swindler…"

‘I really don’t know what to do with you’ As Carus said that, he left the pawnshop.

*****

After waking up from a deep sleep, her mind was clear. Thanks to the warm shower, she also felt like she had gotten rid of the fatigue from the journey.

When Yulia looked at the sun high in the sky outside of the window, she realized that it was almost noon.

"Why did I sleep this much?"

"That’s what I want to say as well."

Bavaslov suddenly appeared and said. Standing at the door, he yawned with his mouth wide open.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I had a nightmare."

"A nightmare about ghosts?"

"You predicted that I would grow old and stay a bachelor until I died…"

Yulia told him that wouldn’t happen, complimented him by saying he looked ten years younger after shaving and offered to have breakfast together.

However, Bavaslov let out a heavy sigh.

"Not possible. Sir Carus is waiting for you. As for me, I will eat alone."

"Me?"

"An employee will bring you breakfast. Make sure that you eat slowly so that you don’t get indigestion. You might get an upset stomach if you eat face to face with the commander."

Yulia was confident that she wouldn’t get indigestion even if she ate with the Emperor, but she just nodded while smiling.

She went to Carus’s room and saw that he was waiting for her with his door open.

"You called for me?"

"Come in."

Yulia went inside and closed the door without having to knock.

The commander’s room was spacious and comfortable. The diligent employee had already brought all of the dishes and a generous meal for two was waiting for her on the table.

Yulia scanned the food once. As she had slept until late in the morning, her stomach was empty and growled loudly.

"Eat."

Carus pushed a tray of food towards Yulia.

Although she wanted to satisfy her hunger, Yulia sat on the chair and patiently waited for him to bring up what he had to say.

Carus, who was looking at Yulia as if searching, slowly opened his mouth.

"We owe you our lives."

"You don’t have to worry about that."

"It does bother me."

Carus interrupted Yulia. He seemed to think that he had to repay her.

Although Carus had already saved her eight times, she closed her mouth and listened to him.

"I can’t just let you go. There’s what happened in the mountains and we also have to confirm the relationship between the southern fleet and the pirates."

"Sir Carus."

"But that doesn’t mean that I can take you with me either. The Marquis of Marjoram will keep sending hyenas after you which will obviously interfere with our mission."

Carus and his knights had planned to conceal their identities for the time being. Therefore, it would be a huge problem if they were to be found out by Marjoram because of Yulia.

Carus looked at Yulia with piercing eyes.

"Tell me. What am I supposed to do."

"Sorry?"

"I have heard and seen what you’ve done so far, it doesn’t make sense if you didn’t expect things to turn out like this."

He didn’t believe everything Julia had said, but since most of it had actually happened, he judged that it was worth checking.

Yulia lightly smiled and said.

"If I tell you, will you do as I say?"

"We will see about that."

She understood his complicated situation. He might not think that way, but Yulia was confident that she understood his situation more than anyone else.

If she wanted to be promoted from "suspicious woman" to "trustworthy informant", she had better relieve some of his burdens.

"I just have a few small requests. If you grant them, not only will I voluntarily enter a place where you can keep an eye on me, but it will also be useful to you."

"Tell me."

"In three days, there will be a graduation exam at Brewe Academy. Help me take the exam safely so that I can return without getting caught by the hyenas."

"What’s the reason?"

"The one who gets first place on the graduation exam is awarded with the Brewe medal. I absolutely need that medal."

Carus frowned, then remembered something. After saying ‘ah’, he smiled briefly.

"I see."

Why is he like that? Yulia looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Don’t mind it. Go on."

"If a commoner receives that medal, they can enter the royal palace as a royal maid which is an honorary position. It’s a place that even nobles are coveting. Then, you just have to become my sponsor."

"What?"

Carus asked back in surprise as if he hadn’t expected her to say that. Carus, who had listened moderately until then, raised his arms, which were resting on the armrests of the chair, and crossed them.

Then, he looked at Yulia straight in the eyes and asked.

"What is the reason you wish to become a royal maid?"

Yulia was smiling.

"To cut off the head of Marjoram with the hands of the royal family."