Chapter 157

This was the first time I had tracked down the specific location of a client using the mark I gave to them. But who would have thought that my client would be located in the Crawford mansion.

However, I had done a rough estimate of this client’s mark location before and they were certainly not in the East. So from that, I could tell that the person with my mark must be a guest who had been staying at the Crawford mansion for some time.

In fact, I could have snuck into the Crawford mansion at night and secretly checked them out. But as I have mentioned before, the security in the Crawford mansion was so thorough that with the slightest mistake, I could end up stirring a hornet’s nest.

Most of all, imagine how annoying it would be if Kalian noticed me…

It has happened more than a few times, and I was tired of running into him like that.

“Welcome, welcome!”

Bastian welcomed us extravagantly. After all, he was worried enough to come to my house to see me himself.

“Hello, Grandpa. Here is a present for you.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to!”

I brought Bastian some snacks that he enjoyed at the coffeehouse.

I figured it would be a good idea to take a break from work at the coffeehouse, so I stopped by to talk to Gilbert then I bought these. Besides, with the chaos from the heretic hunt going on lately, it would be better to just quietly watch over the situation.

Mr. Gilbert was very reluctant. Still, since he had contracted me to work with a flexible schedule, he didn’t hold me back for too long. Nevertheless, I do have a conscience, so I decided to not take any payment for this month since I was absent from work even though it was unavoidable.

Bastian took my present and handed it to the butler. Then he ordered them to prepare a table of refreshments with my present, before turning back to me.

“But why has your face slimmed down? Are you unwell?”

Bastian said worriedly after taking a close look at my face.

But I was exactly the same; I hadn’t even lost 1kg. So if my face looked smaller to him, it was probably because Bastian was looking at me with eyes from his heart.

“I should be asking you, Grandpa. You look tired today. Maybe I shouldn’t have come; you should be getting some rest.”

“What are you talking about? Absolutely not! I can always rest!”

“But Grandpa, Ms. Yuri has a point, you do look tired today. Let’s sit down, instead of standing around like this.”

Like before, we sat facing each other at the table. Soon enough, the servants came in and set up the refreshments.

“Right, have you dealt with everything you needed to do in your hometown?”

“Yes, it was so sudden that I wasn’t able to tell you before leaving. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Not at all, it must have been quite urgent.”

Bastian said, looking at me to show that he understood.

For now, I didn’t want to make Bastian worry any further so I told Bastian that an urgent personal situation had come up so I had to make a short visit to my hometown.

Judging by the fact that Bastian’s face didn’t change after hearing what I said, it seemed Kalian also didn’t tell Bastian about meeting me when I was locked up.

Then again, he was originally dissatisfied about my relationship with Bastian so he probably didn’t want to bring that up and make Bastian pay more attention to me.

“Grandpa, are you really sleeping well? You’re not going to bed late again, are you?”

“What are you talking about? I’m getting enough sleep.”

“I say that because the bags under your eyes look like they are getting darker. You’re not still staying up late to talk with Tatiana-nim, right?”

Before I knew it, Anne-Marie was studying Bastian with her caretaker eyes.

Faced with the suspicion in Anne-Marie’s eyes, Bastian looked away slightly and coughed uncomfortably.

And when I heard that name, I realized it was the name of the guest currently staying in the Crawford house.

“More importantly, it is quite hectic outside lately so you two have to be extra careful and take care of yourselves.”

Bastian’s desire to change the topic was obvious. I could tell he wanted to avoid Anne-Marie’s barrage of pointed questions, but it was more effective than I expected.

Anne-Marie, who was about to say something stern to Bastian, shut her mouth.

“You must be talking about the heretic search.”

I lifted my teacup and calmly replied to what he said. I could feel Anne-Marie glance at me for a second.

“When I met Mr. Gilbert today, he was also worried about the turbulence outside and he said the atmosphere on the street is nothing like before. I don’t know how long this will last.”

“Indeed. I’m just a retired old man now so I don’t know much but from what I’ve heard, it seems the intensity will reduce after the praying ceremony. So don’t worry too much.”

Bastian casually answered my question. His words confirmed that my prediction was right.

I nodded my head and took another sip of my tea.

Right then, Anne-Marie spoke up after hesitating for a bit.

“Um, Grandpa. What will happen to the heretics that are caught? If they are found innocent, they will be released back, right?”

Bastian’s hand on his teacup paused. Soon, he turned to look at Anne-Marie.

I turned to look at Anne-Marie too.

“Even if the explosions really happened because of those people, I’m sure there are other kind and well-meaning heretics. So I hope the innocent ones aren’t hauled away as well.”

I knew why Anne-Marie was saying this.

‘She’s thinking of me and the two patients in the house.’

The fact that she thought of us as good heretics was certainly nice. But considering the atmosphere in the East right now, it was dangerous to say such things out loud. Moreover, even though Bastia might look like a harmless grandfather, he is the former head of the Crawford family which was leading the heretic hunt.

Clink.

Bastian put down his teacup. But unlike what I expected, Bastian spoke in a mild tone.

“You are right, Anne-Marie. There are surely good heretics as well.”

His words were a little surprising.

It seemed Anne-Marie also didn’t expect him to respond positively because her eyes went round.

After that, we didn’t talk about heretics anymore but thanks to his reply, the atmosphere which almost grew heavy, was once again relaxed.

After a while, I left the room, using the excuse of going to the bathroom. This was because I noticed that the person with my mark who had been in a room this whole time, had moved.

“The old man has a guest?”

“Yes, so it will be some time before…”

“It should be the caretaker at this time though. I’ve been allowed to accompany him when the caretaker is here, so it should be fine.”

“There is another guest alongside the caretaker.”

“Another guest?”

I could hear the butler talking with a woman at the corner of the hallway.

Clack.

A while later, I turned around the corner of the hallway and the two of them turned to look at me when they heard my footsteps.

The butler spoke first, in greeting to me.

“Yuri-nim, are you heading back already?”

“No, I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Oh, I see. Then let me get a maid to guide you.”

“It’s alright. I know the way.”

After rejecting the butler’s offer to call a maid, I turned my head towards the gaze that was almost piercing my head.

An old madam with her hair elegantly tied up in a bun was staring at me without blinking.

‘So this is my client.’

But something about her was familiar. I quickly realized why.

She was the old lady I had walked past at the exhibition ground. That said, she was staring at me way too much. So for a moment, I wondered ‘Did she know what I look like before commissioning me as Arachne?’ but sure enough, that wasn’t the case.

“Oh dear, you really look like Selena.”

The old lady said a moment later and broke out in a refreshing smile.

“No wonder. I thought he was growing foolish in his old age, but this makes sense.”

From what I could see, she didn’t seem to know I was Arachne in the underworld but…

I hid the fact that I was observing her and asked.

“Are you Tatiana-nim?”

“You know my name?”

The old lady’s eyes narrowed.

“Sorry if I offended you. I just remembered them talking about a guest staying at the mansion.”

I did not miss the interest gathering in her eyes, which were fixated on me.

“I see. You said you were going to the bathroom, right? I happen to have something to do in that direction, so come with me.”

The old lady said and turned around first, leaving the butler behind. I gladly followed after her.

It was a pretty good suggestion to me since I wanted to dig up something about the person in front of me.

* * *

“Krreung.”

Leo had been feeling suspicious of Siren’s movement lately, so he was observing her.

This time, their positions had flipped so Leo was the one staying quietly in the monastery while Siren was the one sneaking out in the middle of the night.

Leo already knew that Yuri was back.

The reason he was stopping himself from going out in the first place was because Yuri had asked him to. So Leo had not even seen Hestia for a while.

“Leo!”

“Kng?!”

However, a girl in a pink dress appeared at the entrance of the monastery.

“H-Hestia?”

“Hi, I came to play with you today.”

Leo sprang to his feet with a start. Then he ran over to Hestia.

“H-How did you know about this place?”

“Didn’t you bring me here last time?”

Hestia tilted her head, wondering why he was so surprised.

She seemed to be talking about the one time Leo had carried Hestia to the monastery on his back.

Hestia’s hair and clothes were littered with dry, yellow grass, probably because she passed through the tall grasses in front of the monastery.

“I was the only one at home, so I came out to play.”

Anne-Marie and Yuri went out together, and the dark-haired patient that was staying in their house was in the process of leaving. The yellow-haired patient had already been discharged(?) so he went back to Yuri’s house.

“Are you always stuck at home?”

Hestia dusted her skirt and looked at Leo.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Let’s go out. It’s stuffy here.”

“Krng!”

Leo’s tail wagged furiously.

“Ah, but we can’t go to places with people. There are scary people going around right now.”

“I, I know that too! We can go where nobody is!”

And so, the two of them held hands together and happily went out to play.

Hestia was kidnapped an hour later.

T/N: I do not know why but the way this chapter ended had me laughing so hard, I choked. Why’s it gotta end like that??????