CH 47

“What is this rat-sized guy? Where did you pick him up?”

Dell’s snout trembled.

“This is the baby I’m raising.”

“So, this food is all for this rat-sized guy? He eats it all?”

“Isn’t that enough? You’ve finished eating, brother, so please put away the dishes.”

The maid, who sneaked up to the table quietly, smiled awkwardly and took the dishes away.

“Hey, then let’s have a cup of tea—”

“I’m not free, brother. Please go out.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m going, I’m going.”

Redan stood up grumbling and went out, looking at Serdel’s face one last time.

*****

Gororong, Gorong, Gororong. (I don’t know how to put this as sfx since they just put it as 고로로롱 xD)

Dell rolled around, basking in the sunlight coming through the window, perhaps feeling good because he was full.

Looking at it, her heart seemed to relax a little.

Strangely enough, Dell was providing her some mental relaxation.

As she drank tea, she unfolded the paper from earlier in the morning. She failed to give it to Redan and eventually became her own.

Once she became conscious of a problem she hadn’t thought deeply about before, she felt very displeased.

Especially when she thought that the culprit who killed the Countess would still be watching this place, she was even terrified.

‘After all, the enemy isn’t just Count Maient.’

It was like a mountain behind a mountain.

[Nuna, do you have any trouble?]

She wondered when Dell came in front of her as he tilted his head cutely.

[Tell Dell. Dell will listen.]

His eyes lit up, telling her to believe only in him.

It’s not particularly reliable but Serdel told him because she didn’t want to disappoint Dell’s cute intentions.

“I need information about some people, but I don’t have enough manpower to collect them.”

The guild could not be used, no matter how much they emphasized the confidentiality clause that was attached to the contract, she was too anxious to believe in them completely.

‘I can’t even leave it to Edwan.’

There was so much work that she didn’t know that it would cause problems with existing tasks.

[Hng. must it be a human?]

‘Huh?’

[You can call animals. Since Dell is a beast, most animals can be treated as subordinates!]

“—Whoa. Dell, are you a genius?”

[And because Dell is also a member of the forest, I’m close to nature. uh, um. It may not be perfect in places like this, but I can read some of the memories stored by plants!]

It was a way she hadn’t thought of. She saw his memories while assimilating with him, but why didn’t she remember this right away?

‘Ah, I’ve never seen him use this ability.’

In fact, it must have been difficult to use it because he was so young when he was in the forest.

And it was not something that could be used in slavery market.

“But can animals understand what people say?”

[Cats and dogs can understand. Bird too. Even the little bugs accept everything they hear often enough. However, they don’t understand because their brains are smaller than boogers. I went to the bathroom. I’m climbing a tree. They can only remember simple things like this]

‘Hoo.’

She thought bugs would be useful. Animals can only be used if they are nearby, but insects are often found around everywhere.

In addition, most of noble houses have gardens.

[Please wait.]

Fyuuuuu.

When Dell made a sound, some sparrows came in through the open window.

[Whose information do you need?]

Serdel quickly told them the location of the mansion and their target’s appearance in as much detail as possible.

Then Dell released his energy and ordered the birds in Beast language.

Chirp, chirp, chirp, the sparrow somehow answered and then went out.

[I put my energy on them. Now they will go there and give orders to other birds and bugs.]

There wasn’t even a need to further delegate?

Dell’s ability was truly amazing!

“Good job, Dell.”

She was touched.

Having one well-behaved beast was better than having even 100 people.

[Aren’t I cool? In the garden, the maid said that capable men are always cool. Don’t I have a cool ability?]

The cheeks of the boy who twisted his body in shyness were red.

[A man who works is always cool, and he makes his servants work.]

“Cool. You’re very cool.”

Serdel told him what he wanted to hear.

Hehe.

He smiled happily and laid down in the sunlight again.

The chubby belly was cute.

Growl—.

[Nuna, I want to eat candy!]

Candy was taken out of the bin placed in the desk drawer and put into his mouth.

The boy’s eyes were sparkling.

[Please just give me one more.]

“You can’t because your teeth will be rotten.”

[Dell is a beast, so my teeth won’t rot.]

It was funny to see his eyes shining brightly, so she finally gave in and gave him one more after much consideration.

Knock, knock knock, knock.

She lifted her head at the unsteady sound of a knock.

“L, Lady—T, this is Laura—”

“Come in.”

The door timidly opened and Laura put her head in and looked around.

“What are you doing? You’re not coming in?”

Behind Laura, who didn’t know what to do when she saw her, the maid was watching her with a more anxious expression.

The maid, who had been agonizing for a while, even pushed her back.

“Come closer. Laura.”

When the quick-witted maid closed the door, Laura was even more flustered.

“I, it’s not good i, idea to i, interrupt your work—”

She stuttered more severely than when Serdel had first seen her, perhaps because she was very nervous.

Her face was pale, too.

“Are you scared of me?””

“N, no!”

“Then don’t be too scared and come here. Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

“Y, yes!”

Shaking her cute head, she wiggled her fingers.

Then she carefully held out her handkerchief.

“T, thank you for that day. I, I wash it cleanly.”

“Thank you.”

When Serdel smiled, Laura’s face, which had been staring blankly, began to turn red.

Her voice, which had been shaken somewhat anxiously, also calmed down.

“I, I should have come to greet you earlier. I, I’m sorry for the delay.”

“How about your body? Are you okay?”

“I, it’s thanks to you. B, because of Lady, m, my pain is all better.”

“That’s a relief. I worried a lot.”

At those words, Laura lifted her head.

“W, were you worried about me?”

“Yes.”

Laura’s cheeks turned red. Not only that, but she also had tears.

“T, thank you so much. T, thank you so much Lady. T, thank you for saving me. T, thank you for reaching out to my brother. T, thank you so much.”

Her back gradually bent down. As politely as possible.

However, it stopped exactly at a level where the opponent would not feel burdened.

It was unexpected.

To be honest, Serdle thought she was going to get down on her knees and shed tears first.

Serdel’s gaze turned downward.

Laura’s two legs were shaking.

Serdel could tell that Laura had been thinking about whether it would have been better to kneel down, she could tell by Laura’s slight hesitation and she realized how courageous this action was.

‘You judged that I wouldn’t like someone servile.’

Smiling, Serdel took out the documents she had prepared in advance from a drawer.

“Laura, please look at this.”

Her head was raised.

“It’s your slave document.”

Laura’s eyes lit up with deep fear. She’d been fine with potions, but for some reason she shivered and even stepped back.

Did it become a habit after bowing for too long?

“I, I’m sorry Lady. I, I’m sorry.”

Frightened, Laura clasped her hands and tried to bend her knees.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t apologize to me, and look straight at me. To get rid of these documents—”

“I, I’m sorry. L, Lady, I, I’m sorry. P, please forgive me. I, I did everything wrong.”

“Laura. Don’t be afraid. I’m not trying to do anything bad to you.”

Words didn’t seem to calm her down, so Serdel grabbed the fountain pen right away.

She found the blank line in the center of the document.

‘The contract is terminated. Serdel Robbesta.’ After writing and signing her name, she tore the slave scroll and set it on fire.

“Hiiik!”

Laura closed her eyes tightly.

A black stream of smoke rose as the various gold chains that had been engraved like shackles in the document were released.

“Laura, it’s okay. It’s okay, look at this.”

Laura quietly opened her eyes at the sound of Serdel’s warm voice.

Just in time to watch the black energy flow out of her body.

The flames continued to consume the scroll as the smoke spewing from it combined with the black energy coming from Laura, the two ominous energies became one and were drawn back into the paper eventually leaving nothing behind.

Laura’s eyes got bigger.

She seemed confused by the fact that it had disappeared without leaving a single trace of ash or even the smell of smoke.

“Now you’re not a slave. You can live the life you want.”