CH 19

Before I could even refute, the lord freely judged and waved his hands roughly.

“It’s fine. I’ll understand because I have a broad mind, let’s move on.”

“…”

He seemed to want to treat me as Heron’s lover somehow. But seriously? While thoughts were twirling in my mind, I kept my poker face very well on the outside. Then, the lord, who thought I was listening to him, lowered his voice.

“The truth is… I’m very interested in you.”

Oh, I see. More stalkers.

“What do you usually think about and what are you interested in? And, what are you going to do? I’m very curious.”

Oh, that’s some very deep feeling of love you have there. I wish you happiness.

“Other than that, I need some information. I think you can help me out…”

He blurted out the last sentence and tried to give a lewd smile. So he wanted to plant me as a spy for the warrior. Well, there’s no one else here that can do a better job at that than me.

“How is it? If you accept it, I’ll take care of you.”

He then stretched out his chubby fingers. The smile he then made got me curious. I wonder how much they can give me, 300 gold, or 3000 gold?

“30 gold.”

“Eck.”

A new sound unknowingly popped out. Isn’t he being too selfish? Here, a typical maid’s monthly salary was about 5-10 gold. What he offered was a three-month salary to a maid whose life could be threatened. The lord then cleared his throat and added with a cold expression.

“Well, I’m not asking for you to decide right now, so think about it. When you make up your mind… come and see me again.”

He smiled disgustingly sweetly as if he were sure I would come back here again. As if to respond to him, I nodded with a smile.

“… Yes, I will.”

Obviously, I’ll be coming back to this place once more.

***

“I’ll probably be away for a longer time today.”

Haron accepted the outfit I handed to him to wear while talking.

“I don’t think I’ll even come back today. I have to go to the territorial boundary.”

“I heard. It’s something important coming and you need to go to the border.”

I gently fixed his crooked outfit. He was still awkward around me even from a slight touch, but he never backs away.

“You can go home early today since I’m not here… and don’t go anywhere else, just in case.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I laughed brightly as I fixed the hem of his coat for the last time.

“Come back.”

As soon as I said those words, he stopped moving for a moment. As he was arranging his sword around his waist, he turned his head and stared at me. I also looked at him and tilted my head because I could feel the time ticking by.

“What’s wrong with you all of the sudden?”

“Just, you know… I feel overwhelmed.”

“Is the tie too tight? Do I need to make it looser?”

I started reaching for the hem of his collar, but he shook his head while grabbing my hand. He then slowly kissed my fingertips briefly.

“Say it one more time.”

“What?”

“Come back.”

He blushed when he asked for me to say it again. The room was filled with a slightly awkward atmosphere, and it made it hard for me to look directly at his face as I was swept up at the moment.

“… Come back.”

“Okay.”

“…”

“I’ll be back, Sia.” (T/n note: Lucia = Lu + Sia if you don’t remember.)

As soon as I heard him, I stood blankly as if I had forgotten how to move. Even after he left, his last words lingered in my ears.

***

Haron and the lord’s companions left for the border. I stood by one side of the wall as I watched a considerable number of soldiers leave the castle. Now that they’re gone, the castle was empty and without the lord nor the warrior. It was the best opportunity for me to move.

[You mean that room? It contains the Mahone Stones?]

“Yes, that’s right. There’s a lot of them too.”

[Dirty human beings…!]

Sagna stared at the door with a blazing look on his face. He was using his wings to press his beak in case he might burst out in anger.

“Be quiet, I don’t want to stir things up.”

[I hope, ugh!]

“Stop talking. Stay still.”

I hid Sanga in my arms because he was a noisy bird. The lord’s room was so full of numerous magic and Mahone Stone energy to the point that it was impossible to even know where exactly it’s hidden. A more skillful demon king would do better than me, for I have no clue right now.

However, Sanga, a monster, was different. He can smell the same kind of mana, even if it’s mixed, for the smell won’t go away for him.

“We’ll have to do something about that guard first.”

The lord might’ve felt uneasy, for he had set up quite some guards in front of the door. Sagna even confirmed that the soldiers who were on my side were not put to guard the room.

“What should we do?”

I started going towards the guards. The power of pain won’t be a good ability to use this time, for it’ll get too loud from them screaming, and that can cause a disturbance. At a time like this, the first power I was able to unseal came in handy.

“Twenty at most… that’s not difficult.”

I clasped my hand once with a handful of sparkling powder. After a brief moment of the guards’ movements, I carefully blew the powder into the air.

[What did you just do?]

Sagna stuck his head out from my arms.

“Fantasy powder.”

It was the first power I acquired, and it could hallucinate others. It was enough where I could manipulate my opponents’ memories or make them see and hear what I wanted. Now, the guards will think the hallway is empty and no one else is there.

I walked past them on the third floor and went towards the lord’s room. None of them caught me, stopped me, or warned me. This hallucination ability was indeed excellent, but I still had to enter the room quickly for it had a time limit. After I safely closed the door to the lord’s room, I took Sagna out from my arms.

“Whoa, now it’s your turn. Look for your kind.”

[…I got it.]

Sagna flapped his wings and circled the room a couple of times. He flew around until he quickly began to pound his beak towards one spot on the floor.

“Sagna…”

Thump.

“It’s alright.”

Thump.

I found it harder to talk as he hit his body against the floor.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Stop it now.”

I finally picked him up in my arms.

[It’s there! Right there, that’s where they are!]

“I understand. I understand, so stop now. You’ve been pounding so hard that I’m afraid all the humans would come.”

[Tell them to come! I’ll kill them all! I’m going to kill all the humans!]

Sagna was busy yelling like a madman, or a bird. He was certainly fine until he came in, but he probably smelled the death of his people, along with the energy of the Mahone Stones. I hugged him tightly, and before I knew it, his beak was all broken.

His trembling gesture and fits triggered the black scent, and he started to shed tears.

[Bad people. They knew what they wanted when they went after the younglings.]

I patted him and looked at the place where he had pricked his beak. Normally, the floor would’ve been pierced or at least scratched, but it was very clean.

“On that note, you must’ve made the right decision.”

I reached towards the floor, and it made a rustling sound as it automatically tried to push me away. The more it did that, the deeper I reached out.

“How, dare, you, push me away.”

As I spit out the words one by one, the glass soon broke and the handle was hidden inside a crystal along with a small box. There were hundreds of pretty jewels in there.

“…”

I had mixed feelings.

The Mahone Stones were a product that the lord often asked to collect during gathering quests in the game. The price was also expensive, so I remember hunting and trading them randomly. I had no idea then, and maybe the humans here didn’t even know. It is actually a very heartbreaking jewel. I could feel my chest tighten.

[Keuk keuk keuk…]

Sagna wept as he embraced all the jewels with his wings. All I could do was to pat and comfort him.

“It’s alright.”

Hundreds of transparent jewels reflected my red eyes. They were clamoring as if saying ‘don’t let us fall into the hands of greedy humans’.

“Don’t worry.”

I reached out and grabbed some of the jewels.

“They’re going back to where they came from.”