-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: A Strange Request
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“……?”
Donald thought he must have misheard.
‘Corpses’? Surely he meant ‘capital’? Usury had long been tied to political funds, so it wouldn’t have been strange.
His clever mind spun, searching for the most plausible explanation.
“W-Well, if it’s capital you’re after, I know just the place. The interest is a bit steep, but the fellow has deep pockets. Just tell me how much you need….”
“I said I need human corpses.”
Edmond’s words were a death knell.
“W-Why on earth would you need something like that….”
“I have an urgent use for them.”
*For corpses?* Donald nearly asked aloud, but he bit his tongue and held back.
“And information on black magic. Books, oral histories, whatever. Gather everything you can find.”
“Pardon?”
Like a fool, Donald could only repeat the word. This proposal was far beyond the worst-case scenario he had imagined.
“Sir, is this, by any chance, one of those things? A test of loyalty? You make an absurd proposal, and only when I beg and plead will you reveal what you truly want?”
How else could he possibly ask for such things?
He didn’t even want to utter the horrific combination of ‘corpses’ and ‘black magic’ aloud. It felt like he would be cursed just by saying it.
Despite appearances, Donald was a devout follower of Helios and attended prayer meetings every week.
“I’ve had enough of such mind games. Just tell me what you want.”
“Did I not just say? Corpses, and information on black magic. Those are the only two things I want.”
“Does that make any sense, my lord?!”
Donald slammed his hands on the desk and shot to his feet.
“If I get caught with that, it’s an on-the-spot execution!”
“It is.”
“Are you telling me to go die, in a roundabout way?”
“Are you valuable enough for me to speak in a roundabout way?”
“Ugh….”
Donald barely managed to swallow the curses rising in his throat. In his mind, this was no different from being told to strap kindling to his back and leap into a fire.
“My lord. Please, have mercy. Huh? As you know, cremation has been the standard for funerals since the Holy War. There are no such old-fashioned relics as cemeteries left.”
“……”
“And black magic, of all things…. I’m afraid someone might hear you. Besides, only a warlock can use black magic in the first place. What do you intend to do with such information?”
“That is none of your concern. So, are you saying you cannot do it?”
“Not even if you put a knife to my throat!”
*Shing!*
At that very moment, a blade was pressed against Donald’s neck. It happened in an instant.
“I-I-I’ll do my very best!!”
Donald shouted, his change of heart just as instantaneous.
“A wise decision.”
“Oh, Father…!”
He collapsed to the floor, crying out for the man responsible for all this—his father. A benefactor, my foot.
This wasn’t a benefactor; it was a demon sent to bring ruin upon his house!
“Report to me when you have something. Use this to contact me. Ah, and if possible, I’d like the bodies sent by this weekend.”
Edmond set down a communication sphere and rose from his seat with a chilling declaration.
“If you’re late, I will truly cut your throat then.”
“Eek!”
Edmond turned his back on Donald and left the room.
Emily, who was about to follow him, paused for a moment. She offered a small word of comfort to the man sobbing on the floor.
“…He says things like that, but he won’t actually kill you.”
*Probably.*
Emily swallowed the last word.
***
Edmond strode through the marketplace with a familiar gait.
A red snake slithered from his wrist and, avoiding the eyes of others, returned to my embrace.
*I was worried his wrist might break….*
Thankfully, that didn’t happen.
Edmond walked the streets without a single guard, yet he seemed completely at ease.
“Have you been here often?”
Edmond glanced at me before slowing his pace to match mine.
“No. This is my first time alone.”
“You seemed so familiar with it.”
“I’ve come with Isaac a few times.”
I didn’t ask why. As the young Duke Walker, he likely had plenty of matters to handle away from prying eyes.
I knew that process couldn’t have been entirely clean.
“That place back there. Can we trust it? What if he leaves a trail? We could be….”
“He may seem untrustworthy, but his skills are genuine. Do not worry.”
If he was confident enough to say that, the man’s abilities must be quite good.
We walked in silence for a while. To hide our destination, we had to take a winding route and switch carriages several times.
I followed behind Edmond without any complaint.
Loud noises echoed from all around. The calls of vendors, the haggling of prices, the raised voices of drunken arguments….
It was a deafening cacophony.
The crowds were growing thicker. I struggled to keep up, trailing just behind the edge of Edmond’s robe. Even then, I was constantly jostled by the throng of people.
Just then, a pale hand shot out and gripped my wrist tightly. A chilling sensation crept up my arm, making me flinch.
“Emily.”
Through the din, Edmond’s voice rang out clearly. It was strange. The surrounding noise seemed to quiet and settle.
“I know you’re hiding a lot of things.”
“!”
I snapped my head up to look at him, but he was still walking forward, his gaze fixed ahead.
“You were never one to talk about what’s on your mind. I also know that I, who knew nothing of what you were hiding until things got to this point, cannot pretend to understand everything.”
His voice was remarkably calm, as if stating a simple fact.
“It’s a foolish confession, but… as Duke Walker, I believed there was nothing in this mansion that I didn’t know.”
“……”
“But I was completely mistaken.”
I parted my dry, parched lips.
“…At the very least, family is supposed to be someone you can lean on when things are tough.”
I was at a loss for words.
“If you don’t say anything, no one can know. Just as I knew nothing.”
He was advising me in an exceptionally gentle tone. It was so unlike him. No, of course, Edmond had always been generous with his siblings, but….
“Now that we all know your secret, you don’t have to hide it like before. It means you can speak freely whenever you have something to say.”
He was a rather affectionate older brother to Yulia and me.
Blinking slowly, I closed my eyes and then opened them again as I thought.
Even when he had just become an adult and ascended to the dukedom, even when he stayed up for days on end memorizing his duties to avoid any misstep.
He always had breakfast with us. Even if it meant sacrificing his sleep, he would eat one meal a day with us at the dining table.
He never once said anything cheesy or embarrassing out loud, but everyone knew it was his own way of showing affection.
And now, that same Edmond was saying warm words he had never spoken before.
*We’re probably the only ones the Iron-Blooded Duke of Walker treats so softly.*
And so, I offered a gentle smile.
“Okay, I will.”
“You clearly haven’t understood a word.”
He stated it as a fact.
“No, I have. I, um, I’m sorry for hiding things from you all this time.”
“That’s not what I….”
Edmond sighed, about to speak again.
*Crash!*
A mule carrying goods nearby suddenly bucked, sending its cargo tumbling to the ground.
It happened right between me and Edmond.
“Whoa, you beast! Settle down, settle down!”
*Snort!*
The owner grabbed the mule’s reins and tried to calm it, but the animal just snorted and threw a fit. The packed street was brought to a standstill by the scattered luggage.
“Sorry, everyone, so sorry~.”
While the owner was reorganizing the cargo, I turned my head toward where Edmond had been.
“I almost got crushed by that….”
But Edmond was gone without a trace.
“……”
All that remained was the left hand gripping my wrist tightly.
*Again?*
Do these zombies have a disease where they die if they don’t leave their hands behind? This happens all the time.
It was a good thing I was wearing a robe. I could just slip the hand inside the sleeve.
*Where in the world did he go?*
Had he been swept away by the crowd in that brief moment? I couldn’t even see the hem of his robe.
As I wondered whether I was the lost one or if Edmond was, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Are you lost?”
It was a man in a robe.
I couldn't see his face clearly, but there was a hint of a smile in his voice.
*Suspicious.*
He was suspicious, no matter how you looked at it.
To approach me the very moment I was separated from my companion was too much of a coincidence. And he was completely covered, even wearing gloves.
*There are so many eyes around. What is he thinking?*
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell the robe I was wearing was high-quality, so it wouldn’t be strange for me to become a target for robbery.
But that was something for a dark alleyway, not the middle of a bustling market in broad daylight.
“I was just having trouble after losing my companion.”
For now, I responded kindly. It was easy enough to hide my true thoughts and offer a gentle smile.
“So it seemed.”
“But what can I do for you….”
“Ah, there’s just one thing I was curious about.”
The man took a large step forward.
I instinctively tried to step back, but there was nowhere to go. I was blocked by a wall of people and ended up back where I started. The man was now right in front of my nose.
He bent at the waist, meeting my gaze. It almost looked like the affectionate gesture of an older brother toward his sister.
From beneath the hood covering his forehead, a pair of dark blue eyes glinted.
“How did you do it? I’m sure I killed them all.”
“What….”
*What did you say?* The moment I started to ask, his eyes curved into a crescent smile. As if he was satisfied by my shocked reaction.
A shiver ran down my spine.
“Emily!”
Just then, someone grabbed me and pulled me back sharply.
I reflexively spun around to see Edmond. His face was creased into a deep frown as he chided me.
“Where did you go? I was looking for you.”
“You were the one who disappeared, not me…. No, wait a minute.”
When I turned my head back, the suspicious man had vanished as if he were never there.
As if everything I had just seen and heard was a lie. He was gone without a trace. Only the goosebumps on my arm proved that it hadn't been a hallucination.
