CH 8

“Really. Just trust Teacher Trixie once…!”

“Gourden. If you find the work too hard, I’ll consider raising your salary.”

“That’s not it. My salary is just fine! Adler, you’ll understand once you see it!”

The sound was embarrassing, but she mustered up the courage to take a step. Perhaps because of the crowd, the eyes of the two men fell in her direction.

“What are you doing in the main building? You should be resting in the annex.”

Adler’s bewildered voice came to her.

“When I lay down, I felt a little sore. I came here to do some cleaning.”

“With that body… Cleaning?”

His face crumpled slightly.

In the novel, Adler seemed to have expressed less emotion, but now he showed his emotions without any qualms. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his worries. There should be a difference between living as Leone’s knight and living as Leone’s protector in hiding.

“I can’t do anything hard, but I do clean every corner. I’ve done it before when I’ve been hurt.”

“Were you hurt like that before?”

“It wasn’t severe, but it was similar. Even then, it somehow worked.”

“Well, but this is not an unethical place where sick people are ordered to work.”

But she didn’t need any help, she needed a paycheck. The fatigue on Adler’s face made it difficult for her to talk about it but if she walked away because of embarrassment, what would she win? Only the shameless win anything anywhere. After all, her shameful past was over conventional. It didn’t matter if she were to be a little more embarrassed.

“I… Can you give me a salary for doing these chores?”

“Hmm…….”

“It’s a bit of a nuisance to do nothing.”

Eventually, though, embarrassment crept in, so she added a plausible reason. What’s wrong with making money? It’s bad that if you’re poor, you’re miserable.

“Aren’t you too scared? If you’re in the main building injured, it’s a bad thing.”

“You said you needed someone to wipe the dust.”

Her eyes lit up. Adler paused and looked her in the eye.

“You don’t need to pay any survivors’ compensation anyway. So I don’t gain anything if I die.”

She talked about the benefits of hiring her. An employee who doesn’t pay and can give less. How good was it?

“… I didn’t even think about that.”

“Anyway, just give me the value of what I worked for. Whether it’s half price or less that that, if you don’t want to do it, you can just give me one shilling.”

“Hah… Sim. As they say, we need someone to wipe the dust. Salaries will be paid according to the number of hours worked that day. Stay as safe as you can.”

“Yep! I’m going to work hard!”

“And Gourden. Let’s just move on from what we said today.”

“But, sir…!”

“I can’t control Leone. I don’t want to add anything more to it.”

At the sound of a struggling voice, Gourden withdrew with a sullen face. Adler jerked around and entered the main building.

‘Gourden. I know how you feel, but the timing was so bad… I’m hurt like this, who can trust me…’

Still, she was grateful for the heart that held her high, and she sent a look of gratitude to Gourden. He dropped his head and sighed.

‘Boom.’

But less than a minute after Adler entered, he heard a commotion inside.

“Damn it!”

“Krrr…”

Even Leone’s harsh sounds could be heard where she was, so Gourden ran inside in an instant, and she quickly followed.

When she entered, she saw Adler and Leone in a standoff. Gourden couldn’t see where he had gone.

‘Was I late…?

“Gourden, quickly!”

As soon as Adler shouted inward, Leone lunged at him. It was pretty obvious he was going to kill Adler. Tendons stood close to Leone’s hands and neck as they aimed at Adler’s neck. It was the first time she had seen Leone lunge from the sidelines.

The sight of them crushing down the bodies of one another and hunting wildly was overwhelming. Goosebumps welled up her spine. Even though Adler, who was called the best knight of all time, looked precarious. Leone’s high-leaping legs pressed against Adler’s chest, distracting him. Adler, who was reeling from the overpower, hugged Leone and fell to the ground together.

“Ugh, Leone…!”

“Die, die!”

Leone’s eyes turned bright red, and he repeated the same words over and over again like a broken doll. If Adler hadn’t worn armor that raised his neck high,his skin would have already been torn.

She couldn’t do anything, just stared blankly at the scene.

It didn’t seem like she would dare to interject since tere, every day was a war. Adler, as well as Leone, was having such a day. Maybe she was too arrogant but…

“Please, calm down…! Please.”

Adler and Leone were in a tense standoff. No, it’s taut.

It was clear that the knight of that huge body was only unscathed by Leone’s strength. Leone’s body, every muscle, swelled.

Adler was trying to somehow turn the tide of power.

“Oh, Mr. Adler!”

Gourden hurriedly popped out of the study at the bottom of the stairs. Before she knew it, she took a breath in surprise. It was because of the hideous shape of the club in Gourden’s hand. The club, which sprouted a bunch of thorns, gave her goosebumps just to look at.

“Gourden!”

Gourden slammed the club on the floor. The floor hollowed out, as if it were a matter of course. She realized that Leone wasn’t the only one who had turned that house into a mess.

The club detached, stretching like a whip and making a shrill sound. Every time Gourden swung his club, the whip twisted menacingly through the air. At the same time, Leone’s actions stopped.

“Got it. Gourden.”

Adler didn’t miss and grabbed Leone by the neck and knocked him down. Leone, who was so energetic, was caught by him without a single resistance and crushed to the ground.

“Huh, huh.”

“Please calm down. Please, Sir Leone!”

Adler cried out and pleaded, and Gourden hurriedly approached them.

“Leone, you’re nice. Joe, stay a little bit. He’ll be at ease soon.”

“Uh, uh…! Hmm…!”

Leone began to struggle weakly. He was shaking. His gaze was directed to the barbed club that Gurden was holding.

The horror in Leone’s eyes prevailed. As she witnessed the feeling, her body froze in shock. Now that kid was scared of that. No efforts were made to help him, so she felt helpless.

“Oh, ugh…! Whoops, ugh…!”

Leone tried to escape. He moved his body and squirmed as if he was about to run away. Adler, who was weighing Leone down with his whole body, winked, and Gourden pulled out a purple velvet pouch and teased his hand.

What he had in his hand was a syringe.

“Plug it in quickly!”

“Yes, yes!”

Perhaps because of his urgency, the syringe kept slipping out of Gourden’s hand.

‘… Did you use drugs?’

‘Medicine… Where did you find it?’

The words that Adler had said about suspecting her of being a spy flashed through her mind. She could understand it at once.

Gourden put down the club and fiddled with the syringe.

That was the gap she needed so she ran.

“Gourden, look at your back!”

It was a little quicker for Gourden to grab it again when she picked up the club. Gourden was looking at her with a puzzled face, and Adler was glaring at her like he was going to kill her, just not swearing.

In the meantime, Leone pushed his foot back, as if trying to get away somehow. As if believing that if he did that, he could escape. He couldn’t seem to see his surroundings.

Leone was only looking at one like that. Adler and Gourden weren’t looking at Leone. No one would have seen Leone for a very long time.

Leone would have been dumped outside of her line of sight, healing her mind alone, erecting walls, tearing them down again, and repeating the task. Something seemed to come up from within. Her throat hurt.

“This isn’t it. Not this one.”

“What do you know, now…!”

Leone was now breaking out in a cold sweat. His eyes were watery, and he showed his teeth intermittently, as if he was trying to rebel against it somehow, even though he was scared. But far from being threatening, he seemed powerless.

She shifted her gaze to Gourden.

“Gourden. Leave this to me.”

“Miss, this is…”

“I can take care of everything. So give it to me.”

“Oh, no. Without this.”

“You’ve already seen me doing it. I can do it. I’ll do it.”

She stared straight at Gurden.

“Gourden, come to your senses! It should not be given. She can’t control Leone!”

“Oh, Adler, but… In case you never know. She really did…”

“I’m begging you. If this goes wrong, I’ll punish you all. If I get hurt, Leone won’t get hurt. So please.”

She grabbed Gurden’s hand, not knowing what to do. She grabbed the club with his remaining hand.

The secure handle was held by Gourden, who grasped the thorny part. It seemed that if he applied force, it would bend as it was given. The whip of the club curved to fit her hand and wound it painfully. Her hands had suffered a lot since she possessed Trixie.

“Please stop, you will be hurt!”

“If you don’t want me to get hurt, give me this.”

“Miss!”

His voice was almost on the verge of crying.

“You handed it over because you didn’t want me to get hurt. This accident was all my doing.”

Gourden then slipped his grip.