Episode 28
Translator : Missme Editor : Aru
âThatâs true. Because itâs a stolen thing. If we use it anywhere and the rumours go out, Iâll be taken to the court.â
The enchanted fabric should have been used quietly to avoid the otherâs eyes in the future.
Which means we need to create a chance for Ari to be alone with Ash.
Ariâs eyes shook uneasily when I brought it up.
âWill the villain be alone with meâ¦..?â
âIâll help.â
Since then, the discussion has started. How on earth will Ari and Ash create their own chance?
As the plausible plan came to an outline, she asked suddenly.
âAre we doing it tomorrow?â
âTomorrow?â
âLetâs do it tomorrow fast. Letâs strike the iron while itâs hot.â
There was a point in Ariâs remarks about the date of the planâs execution.
But I shook my head in agony.
âNo.â
âWhy?â
âTomorrowâ¦â¦letâs do something else first.â
This is something that just came to mind. But it was necessary to do anyway
âIâm going to find an escort for you. Tomorrow.â
âEscort?â
Ari put a question mark on his face.
I nodded slowly.
***
Ari needs a personal escort.
I have this idea on my mind from before. I couldnât leave Ariâs safety to Sir Davery for a long time in the future.
Sir Davery was a perfect escort who fit for such excellent work, but he was tasked to be my escort. There were many restrictions to protect Ari.
Take the hostage situation at the banquet hall as an example.
Sir Davery neglected Ari to protect me there, and the defenceless Ari was taken dangerously as a hostage.
Without Ash, she might have died once and I would consume the beads again.
There is no way that such a thing will never happen again. And I couldnât blame Sir Davery for that.
Because he only doing his duty.
And there is another constraint.
Because he is my escort and he will always be by my side, Ari had to be in the same place with me naturally to get help from him.
Such a problem happened in the early morning.
In order to avoid the crisisâs regular visit in the morning, Ari had to wake up early and come out to the living room where I was, it repeated not only in a day or two but every day, so I could feel Ariâs complaining of fatigue.
âShe seems to have a lot of morningâs sleep.â
If there was an escort by her side while she was sleeping in the morning, Ari would be able to sleep well until late.
For reference, it is simple to say that we have been aware of these problems but we just finally will solve them now.
Because there was no other way before.
Because thereâs no one to put as Ariâs escort who equivalent, or even a little less, to Sir Davery.
So, when I first recognized this problem, I stumbled on it with the idea of leaving it up to Ash in the future, but thatâs not the fundamental solution.
In order for Ari to be safe even after I run away from this mansion, she also needed a good escort.
Now, is there a solution that weâve âneverâ had before?
Of course.
âThe Enchanted Cloth!â
I trusted this and now loading myself into the carriage with Ari.
Itâs too early in the morning now. It wasnât time for Ari to be in danger.
âEonni, can I really get an escort?â In the middle of the sound of horse hooves, Ari asked me.
I made a boast.
âJust trust me.â
Ariâs escort I was aiming for was simple.
âThe Winner of the Sword Competition.â
At least two swordsmanship competitions were held a year in the capital.
Dry festival in spring and harvest festival in autumn.
In addition, if I included the events held on a national day, there were quite a few winners in a year.
I had spotted one of them as Ariâs personal escort.
âLet me see.â
I took out the paper I put in my arms again and unfolded it. The paper, which was of poor quality, rustled.
I sent someone to the guild early in the morning to buy some necessary information.
The personal details and materials of the winners of all official swordsmanship competitions over the last five years, those who do not yet belong to any family and remain as free articles.
Winning a swordsmanship competition usually proves that he has excellent skills.
In the family that needed talent, they naturally tried to recruit such winners.
But it meant one thing if he didnât enter any family.
âTheir standard really high.â
In other words. Itâs either asking for a huge payment or hold out to be recruited for a high-rank aristocrat. Such cases were common.
There are a total of four high-rank articles, and one of them was a female.
As I stared at the paper containing the portrait, Sir Davery, who was sitting opposite me wondering.
âIt wonât be easy.â
âAre you trying to ruin my mood ?â
âIâm just talking about the typical situation.â
The swordsmanship winner who remains as free articles is often desired.
Ari couldnât meet their demands, money or status.
To Sir Davery, who does not know about the Enchanted Cloth, of course, will only show such objective facts. I shrugged my shoulders.
âItâs all right, Iâll show you an unusual situation this time.â
All I have to do is having the knight to sign the contract.
It was impossible for a prim and proud knight to violate a contract he signed himself for any reason.
Dissolve it gently with the enchanted cloth to steal his rational judgment, and make him sign the contract, then making him as Ariâs escort.
âIâm a little bit of a villain, butâ¦..â
Itâs not that I donât realize that technically, Iâm close to doing something like that, but I still think itâs not bad for the other party.
Ari is a good person from a good aristocrat family, and a good aristocrat will naturally be a good employer.
I heard that there are many nasty aristocrats, who rolled their own escort articles into rough and choreful work as if they were servants.
How much angel is Ari compared to those guys? Besides, sheâs pretty and nice.
âIf you stay as Ariâs escort a little more, youâll soon like Ari.â
Wouldnât it be worthwhile to serve a person who is personally you are also interested in?
I thought so and rationalized my own plan.
âWell, shall we go to Sir Linda Eiffel right away?â
Soon I got out of the carriage. Arrived at one of the busy residential areas of the capital.
Linda Eiffel was the only female knight on the paper.
I thought it would be better to find a woman escort because I needed her to be with Ari at all times.
âLetâs go!â
Linda Eiffel, whatever you want, Iâll let you down with the enchanted cloth!
Andâ¦
âAs you can see.â
ââ¦..â
âIâm hurt.â
Linda Eiffel raised her left hand in an expressionless face.
âIâm left-handed. If youâre here to recruit me, youâd have figured that out, right?â
âUhâ¦â
âThe injury is pretty big. Itâs going to take a while to be able to swing the sword as before. If you really need me, come back after this year.â
Linda soon hid her splintered hand and kicked us out.
I stood on the street blankly.
It wasnât a very good start.
Not being able to speak to the unexpected situation, Sir Davery murmured beside me.
âItâs really unusual.â
It was backbiting for what I said in the carriage, âIâll show you an unusual situation.â When I glared, he said a word to comfort me.
âYou canât be full at first drink, my lady. And wouldnât it be better not to be able to say anything than to be rejected after said something?â
âShut your mouth.â
Ari, who stands next to me shouted, âEonni, fighting!â making me little encouraged.
âI canât help it. Then next is Sir Brant Billen!â
Letâs not have any regrets about the past. I got my strength up quickly.
Brant Billen was quite skilled who won the last two consecutive swordsmanship competitions.
He was only second in line because he was a man, but I would be very reassured and relieved to have him as Ariâs escort.
I bravely headed to the cafe where Sir Brant would stop by at this time.
Andâ¦
â100,000 gold.â
Brant Billen said briefly.
I overheard a cough behind me. That was Sir Davery.
100,000 gold is roughly 500 to 700 million won in Korean currency when I lived in the past.
No matter how noble a man was, 100,000 gold was not an easy amount to get. However, Sir Brant continued to speak.
âAnd the payment is done every year.â
âYes, I understand your opinion. Shall we move on and talk more?â
I didnât blink at all. It doesnât matter if you ask for 100,000 gold or a million gold.
The enchanted cloth will solve everything.
Iâll believe Mr Enchanted Cloth and tried to move to a quiet place where there were no people.
But it was then.
âNever less than that. Thatâs how much it costs to treat my brother.â
ââ¦yes?â
âIf I donât continue with the treatment with the money I earn, I wonât be able to save my brother with his incurable diseases.â
No, wait a minute.
Suddenly, thereâs a drama behind itâ¦?
âSir Brantâs brother, I hope he gets well.â
Eventually, I reversed my offer and walked out of the Turtle Cafe.
This situation wasnât good, from the start till the second time. It was an unusual flow.
Sir Davery give me real consolation this time.
âWe still have half the time left. Letâs trying to get a better person.â
It was a plausible consolation. Then I heard a rumble from the sky.
I looked up and saw dark clouds.
ââ¦â¦â
No, no. That black cloud would be just a black cloud. Itâs just a simple weather phenomenon that has nothing to do with todayâs day.
Somehow I tried to shake off the surging anxiety.
***
Damn it.
Sir Davery said nothing, whether he thought it was a time when comforting and teasing were unnecessary.
The dark cloud was a prophecy. I eventually crumpled up the useless paper and threw it on the floor.
âWhy!â
The situation was not much different for the remaining two who were busy visiting.
One is not supposed to emigrate to meet their separated family when they were young, and the other one just hurried down to the news that their fiance, who promised their future, is dying in their hometown.
âIs it going to end like this?â
Why are there so many stories? What should Iâve done then?
Thereâs even no situation that can be handled with the enchanted cloth to be taken out. I wasnât a psychopath without blood or tears or a shameless cold-blooded man.
It wasnât too much of inhumanity to ignore such circumstances and use the enchanted cloth to seal the contract.
âLetâs justâ¦..go eat.â
I turned my feet weakly.
I headed to the biggest, most colourful, and most crowded restaurant around me.
Not purely because I was really hungry, but because while I was looking for people on paper, it was already twelve oâclock.
Itâs time for Ari to be in danger. It was only natural to be safe in a big building rather than outside.
Clankâ
âWelcome.â
I refused the staff guide to show us to the scenic window and just went inside.
Considering that something might jump in after breaking the window, so itâs better to avoid the window seat.
Sure enough.
Shatterâ
âArgh!â