CH 95

Translated by Tam

Edited by Genie

Dell, who opened the opening to the magic bag and put away his magic stones, stopped while about to leave.

There was a mountain of paperwork on the desk, which caught his eye.

[Um— there are many things like that on Nuna’s desk]

For some reason, he was instinctively interested, at the same time, his hands moved on their own.

Sneaking through the drawers, he collected everything he could find and placed it all in the magic bag.

After that, he turned around without hesitation and left Count Maient’s house.

After moving like the wind on the roof, Dell arrived at the mansion and headed straight for Serdel’s office.

After confirming that she wasn’t there, Dell put the magic bag back in its original place.

[This is a perfect crime. No, I didn’t do anything wrong— that’s a perfect plan, uhm.]

All that is left now is to quietly escape and brag about the story to his cat subordinates.

Hiik! As he was wagging his tail, Serdel entered the room.

“Dell? Have you been playing in the garden? I haven’t seen you all morning. Have you eaten?”

Dell’s head moved stiffly.

The thief’s legs were numb. The corner of his mouth began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Are you hungry?”

Dell shook its front paws wildly, meaning to say no.

His eyes trembled violently as if an earthquake had occurred.

And for a moment.

[….!]

He remembered the documents he brought with him from Count Maient.

Dell stood up right away.

It was only then that he realized what he had done.

It was all for nothing if he had moved secretly but left with evidence that he had been there.

Surely Serdel will open the magic bag. It contains a variety of magic items like communication tools.

And she’ll see the documents.

It was only a matter of time before he was caught.

The perfect crime—no, plan, ended up with a poor finish by him unwittingly picking up something so obvious and delivering it right to his master.

He wanted to slap himself on the forehead, but he couldn’t reach it.

In the end, Dell raised both front feet as high as possible.

Because Serdel hated someone who lied.

The boy shed tears in order to find the light through surrender.

[Uwaaaa. I made a mistake, Nuna.]

“…Huh?”

Serdel tilted her head, staring blankly at Dell, who was crying out of the blue.

Sniffing.

[T, t, that—. I came here after beating the guy who hit Nuna. I’ve erased all his memories, so there shouldn’t be a problem. And!]

Dell slowly looked around, took out the magic bag that he had just put in a drawer, placed it on the desk, and then stepped back.

[I, I brought it from the weak punk’s desk]

“….”

Serdel’s mouth, which had been opened blankly, closed.

At first, she wanted to know what Dell was saying, but her expression hardened as soon as she understood what he meant.

Where should she start?

She forcefully stretched the stiff forehead with her fingers and checked the inside of the magic bag.

It was full of documents.

She took out one page at a time and carefully looked through it.

Most of the reports were related to Count Maient.

There was information that she knew, and there was a lot of information that she didn’t know.

There were also various references to the shady business of Count Deriens, which he had been working on.

Serdel’s concentrating eyes were very fierce.

“Dell. Take this back and put it in its original place.”

“Yes? Why? Once we pick it up, it’s all mine.]

“The knights of our family are threatening the place now, so who would you suspect first if you found out that such a thing is gone?”

Dell’s lips closed as he narrowed his eyes.

Serdel put the papers in a new, empty magic bag, attached a string to it, and hung it around Dell’s neck.

“Hurry up and put it back. And did you leave a scar on Count Maient’s body?”

[I think I left a handprint— from strangling him until he passed out. In the sense of not flirting with Nuna, I also left the new bride on his forehead.]

Bride—.

‘Did you leave a bug behind?’

Sighing, she packed a bottle of potion.

It’s a waste to use it for such a guy, but at best, she didn’t want to make anything that could get caught up in her head when things were going well.

Dell’s head drooped.

[I’m sorry. Dell got angry for nothing… Dell just brought things… But we have no idea what he would have done if Dell had not punished him.]

He glances at her.

When Count Maient called out Serdel’s name, his eyes were filled with poison.

Just thinking about it again makes his hair stand up.

Dell knew better than anyone how dangerous a person with such a look in their eye could be.

And how cruel those guys can be.

Besides, wasn’t he abandoned by his companion? He just wanted to stop him from approaching Serdel.

[He’s half crazy. He suddenly looks into the air and screams]

Serdel didn’t answer.

Thanks to Dell, she learned a lot of information she didn’t know.

Especially since he was constantly reporting every move of Count Deriens, whom she couldn’t take a close look at due to lack of manpower.

Even so, she couldn’t praise Dell’s actions.

“Hurry up and put it back.”

[…Yes, I’ll be back.]

The boy who was walking jumped off the terrace.

Seeing Dell moving away, Serdel recalled the contents in her head.

As soon as she got to her desk, she wrote down her future plans on paper.

Then she took out the communication tool and contacted Edwan.

[Lady!]

Edwan was able to pick it up after the short pause.

[Are you alright!]

As soon as he saw her, he suddenly asked how she was.

Behind him, Rudella was watching her with her waist bent.

Her eyes were very big.

[You don’t know how worried I was. They say something bad happened in the palace, and the newspapers only pour provocative articles every moment. But when I contacted her first, I thought she was very upset because she didn’t know what situation Lady was in!]

[I will cut that bastard Hershe’s legs—]

[Nunim.]

Edwan stopped before Rudella’s twisted lips could utter a bloody word.

[First, let me give you a report. I put up the sign 5 days ago, and yesterday, after finishing the interior work, the display cases and items arrived. We got all the staff members]

“Hmm.”

[10 sales staff, 5 clerical staff, and 5 retired mercenaries were hired as horsemen and delivery staff. If we get bigger, we’ll also get peddlers.]

As Serdel nodded, he continued.

What items were purchased, how they will be sold, and even introduced items that Rudella, who is good with her hands, commissioned to the workshop and completed in large quantities.

[Oh, and when do we start getting things from other countries? We need to know the schedule to promote it]

The only way to know for sure was for her to speak with Falden.

After completing the subjugation, will the items be brought directly to them, or will there be someone else who will send it to them?

“I’ll see. How’s the surveillance of Count Deriens going? Do you have any special information about him?”

[Surveillance is still ongoing, but what has been discovered is insignificant compared to the effort put in. There was no problem up to a certain level, but when I tried to dig deeper—.]

Well, it’s going to be difficult.

The fact that she did what Count Maient had been working on for years and only discovered after a few months was ridiculous.

[Lady. How about getting out of here? Isn’t it because of Count Maient that you began to be wary of Count Deriens?]

It was started as a business to bind the hands and feet of Count Maient in order to prevent him from wanting the mining business.

Moreover, it would be difficult for the current Count Maient to make a comeback, so it was right to take her hands off of it.

But…

“It seems Count Deriens is interested in this.”

She’s just holding back for a while because of the Lord of the Wizard Tower. Through the documents Dell brought, it was possible to find out that he had a deep interest in Count Robbesta and was conducting a separate investigation.

“Edwan, please find out about a person named Eslie Rovello.”

[…Yes. I understand.]

Seeing the tension on his face, Serdel received a report from Rudella if any nobles had approached them at the same time as she left the Count.

Fortunately, there were no particular people to be wary of.

After finishing the communication, Serdel buried her body into the chair.

Once she cleared her head, she straightened her posture again.

Then she made a call to Falden.

“….”

It was quiet.

No matter how many times she called, the front of the communication screen didn’t light up.

She tried to communicate with Maro, but it was the same.

‘Are they in the middle of fighting?’

Serdel, who was tapping the desk with her finger, then called Redan.

She doesn’t feel good.

As time passed, her heart pounded.

Swallowing up the anxiety of climbing, Serdel tried to contact others as well.

The communication tool was still black.

“….”

Addis, Damon, and Belters too.

She couldn’t reach anyone.