Chapter 9
The person who spoke was a woman.
She had pale, bluish hair, sharp eyes, and grey pupils. The woman, who had been wearing a haughty expression, caught my eye and abruptly spoke while knitting her brows.
“You’re a stunning beauty.”
…Was that really something to say while scowling like that?
However, she quickly regained a neutral expression and extended her hand to me for a handshake.
“I came to give you the keys. My name is Vanilla Eddie Ruskin. I’m the owner of the mansion.”
Her appearance was cold enough to freeze the world, but her name was incredibly soft. Actually, she was a character who only appeared a few times in the novel, so I didn’t know much about her either.
I stood up and took her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Ruskin. You received the sales contract, didn’t you? I suppose I’m the owner of the mansion starting today.”
As I shook hands with Vanilla and spoke, Eden suddenly asked me a question.
“The mansion on the hill? You’re purchasing that ruin? Why would the Sinclair heiress want a mansion like that?”
I turned back to Eden in surprise.
“Shh. Keep it down. Are you planning on advertising to everyone that I’m Cherry Sinclair?”
“Is that not allowed?”
It’s not that it’s not allowed, it’s just that it’ll be a pain if people find out!
While I was whispering with Eden, Vanilla let out a deep sigh and spoke to me.
“I know you’re Cherry Sinclair. It was written on the contract. And I don’t care who you are. The only thing I’m interested in is money.”
Vanilla spoke so firmly, as if telling me not to worry, that I felt a bit embarrassed.
‘Right. I had to write my name on the sales contract.’
Just then, Eden, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, pointed toward Vanilla’s waist. Something was hanging there.
“What is that?”
“Birds.”
…Did I hear that right? Birds?
Only then did I notice two birds hanging upside down from Vanilla’s waist.
Next to them was a holster with a shotgun tucked inside. How had I not noticed something so conspicuous until now?
“The Village Chief asked me to catch a few, so I did some hunting. The pay is quite decent.”
…I felt like I finally understood how Vanilla had been able to survive alone for six months in the novel.
It didn’t seem to be just because the mansion’s defenses were excellent.
For some reason, I felt a sudden urge to recruit her for the shelter I was about to build.
“Take the keys.”
She pressed the keys into my hand. She didn’t forget a final piece of advice, either.
“Brunel is the middle of nowhere, and as you’ve seen, the mansion is in a very isolated spot. The repair costs alone will be astronomical. It was in my name, but it’s a house I only inherited because of my father, so I told you beforehand that I really don’t recommend it. It was your choice to buy it anyway, Ms. Sinclair.”
Is this how Eden felt earlier? I nodded, momentarily dazed by the barrage of words. Vanilla continued with a cold face that showed no change in expression.
“I’ll be staying in this village for the time being, so call me if you need anything. However, I do charge a call-out fee.”
She adjusted her monocle and spoke to me with a solemn face. I nodded with a slightly bewildered expression. A call-out fee?
“No matter how pretty and cute you are, Ms. Sinclair, I can’t give you a discount.”
What on earth is she talking about?
Vanilla handed me an additional set of blueprints for the mansion. I took a quick look at the blueprints and caught Vanilla as she was turning to leave.
“Wait a moment, Ms. Ruskin.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
Despite her answer, Vanilla pulled out a pocket watch and even checked the time. She seemed to be someone who utterly loathed wasting time.
“Is there anything unusual about the mansion? I was wondering if there are any hidden facilities that would be suitable for living self-sufficiently.”
Vanilla looked at me as if I had asked the most absurd question in the world.
But in the novel, it clearly introduced the mansion by saying, ‘She said this mansion was special. She added that it was a mansion optimized for survival.’
“I don’t know. Maybe the fact that the garden is good for a vegetable patch or that there’s a well that’s easy to draw water from? Other than that, I don’t know the details. I have so many mansions under my management, you see.”
I scrutinized Vanilla’s expression, but she really seemed to know nothing. I felt a bit discouraged.
I guess the only advantages of that mansion were its good location and the ease of self-sufficiency.
Actually, it’s all well and good to say ‘self-sufficient,’ but I’m worried about whether I actually have the survival skills.
After seeing Vanilla off, I left the restaurant. I headed toward the hill on the outskirts of the village where the mansion was located.
Eden continued to follow me like a shadow. I stopped midway up the hill and turned around.
The man, looking sharp in his police uniform, was leisurely walking up the hill with his hands in his pockets.
“Why do you keep following me?”
When I asked accusingly, Eden, who had been glancing around the surroundings, came to a halt. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he stroked his chin and looked past my shoulder at the mansion.
“The mansion is in a very secluded location. It looks like a perfect place to secretly bring in and hide firearms. It also looks like a good place to hide after embezzling something like business funds. Ah, that was just a monologue.”
He replied nonchalantly and flashed a thin smile.
Firearms all of a sudden? And what was that about embezzlement? Is he doing this because of the loan I took out?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You seem very interested in the mansion, so if you’re that curious, why don’t you take a look around and—”
I spoke irritably, but my voice trailed off as I shut my mouth.
‘Wait, he said firearms? And illegal ones at that.’
With Eden’s personality, he would never say something unnecessary for no reason.
“…Understood for now. What specific types of weapons do you want? I’ll also provide an instructor to teach you how to use them.”
“Swords, crossbows, axes, things like that. Every kind! But Harrison, I don’t need an instruct—”
“My Lady. I cannot compromise on this.”
Every kind.
Thinking back, I realized that Harrison was the type of person who, if told to send weapons of every kind, would truly send every type of firearm imaginable. Damn it.
“It seems my looking around the mansion is an issue.”
Eden spoke as he watched me hesitate, my words trailing off. He crossed his arms and stood at a slant, observing my expression.
There were reasons why Eden shouldn’t look around the mansion, but there were also countless reasons why I shouldn’t get involved with him.
On top of that, the Sinclair family wasn’t exactly clean, so there were many things to be suspicious of. I couldn’t exactly go to prison before the world ended.
“Of—of course! It makes no sense for a strange man to enter a house where a woman lives alone!”
“I’m not a strange man, I’m a police—”
“Aren’t police officers strange men too? A man is a man.”
“That may be true, but how did the conversation jump to that…”
“Without a warrant, you’re all just strange men and beasts!”
“B-beasts… what?”
Eden looked at me with a face that said he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. I triumphantly put my hands on my hips and shouted.
“Therefore, if you follow me, you’re a beast.”
“That logic is bizarre.”
“Uh-oh? If you come any closer, you’ll be in big trouble.”
At my childish logic, the look on Eden’s face was quite a sight. To see him with such a dazed expression!
While he stood there blankly, I quickly ran up the hill.
I opened the mansion’s front gate with the key, went inside, bolted it firmly, and let out a sigh.
I really need to give Harrison a call in the capital.
No matter how much I searched the vast mansion, no firearms appeared.
It was only natural. How long had it been since I bought the mansion? There was no way Harrison could have sent firearms already.
Still, just in case, I wanted to give Harrison a call, but unfortunately, in this small village, the only telephone was at the police station.
‘I won’t run into Eden again, will I?’
I stood in front of the police station and agonized for a long while. It was because going all the way to Kintne just to find another phone was too much of a hassle.
‘Fine. Let’s just go in.’
Hoping that Eden had gone out on field duty, I cautiously opened the door to the police station, only to be met with a bizarre sight.
A man in a mess was sprawled face down on the floor.
The man’s clothes were torn to rags, and Eden was sitting on his back. What’s more, he was leisurely sipping Scotch whisky.
Eden looked up at me with a questioning face.
His police uniform jacket was nowhere to be seen, and the top three or four buttons of his white shirt were undone. To be precise, they looked like they had been ripped off.
Urgh. The man pinned under Eden groaned.
Eden downed the Scotch whisky in his hand in one gulp and placed the empty glass on top of the fallen man’s head.
“Hey, if you drop this and break it, you’re dead.”
After speaking murderously to the man, Eden turned back to me.
“After shaking me off so heartlessly, what brings you here?”
