Chapter 39 :

Chapter 39

Thump.

That was the sound of Celos collapsing to the floor.

As soon as the something wearing clothes like scraps of rags stepped into the room, Celos fainted with a sound as if his breath had stopped.

If there was one fortunate point, it was that because the guy had already had his body pressed tightly against the bedhead, he fell onto the bed in quite a stable posture.

It seemed he had not gotten hurt with a concussion either, and there would be no need for him to make a fuss tomorrow about why I had made him sleep on the floor.

Moreover, even if Celos had seen Ego Crisa’s current appearance, it did not seem like it would have been any better for his mental health.

Thump, thump.

Scrape, scrape.

If he had seen Ego Crisa scraping the floor and striking it with his fists in that grotesque form, Celos would definitely have shown a reaction uglier than fainting.

Without giving even a glance to Celos, who had fainted and could not resist, he was rummaging through the whole room as if sweeping the floor with his body.

Now one thing was certain.

Ego Crisa’s target was not Celos.

No, it would be the target of the one controlling Ego Crisa.

Mentil Abiran was searching for something.

If there was a problem, it was that this too was a step earlier than in the original.

* * *

The relationship between Celos and Mentil in the original was quite dry.

Except for the fact that they had the same mother, the two lived lives that were far too different.

All the characters in the book moved for what they desired.

The two could not give each other what they wanted, nor could they understand what the other desired.

In other words, unlike the original, the fact that Mentil had come to Celos’ prince palace first was by no means welcome to me.

The target she was controlling was also not exactly good.

There would be nothing good about Ego Crisa being under Mentil right now.

Scrape, scrape.

Ego Crisa, who had no way of caring about my concerns, was rummaging through the room without hesitation despite not being able to distinguish what was in front of him, repeatedly bumping into furniture, falling over, and getting back up.

Mentil must have been quite rushed.

Or perhaps Ego Crisa’s ego was too strong for him to properly carry out the suggestion and command placed on him hastily and powerfully.

His grotesque behavior of crashing here and there in human form like a newly unboxed robot vacuum no longer seemed worth watching.

I climbed onto his back.

Clearly, last time, the moment his face was revealed, he stopped all movement and returned.

Perhaps a suggestion had been placed on him to flee if there was even the slightest chance that someone else might discover his identity.

It did not take much strength to pull back the cloth wrapped around the face of the man who was only creaking like a robot.

Once his face was revealed, he stopped all movement like a machine whose power button had been pressed, and soon turned his body.

Then he left the room and began running down the corridor.

As I clung to his back with my small body, I felt the air resistance, which had grown stronger because of his speed, all over my body.

Through my narrowed eyes, going against the wind so strong that it made them sting, I saw the blocked wall at the end of the corridor growing closer.

This time, I could not stop because I was afraid of the collision, so instead, I put more strength into the hand gripping Ego Crisa’s shoulder.

I will not lose him this time.

* * *

Ego Crisa disappeared with the small spy hanging from his shoulder.

Tonight too, Celos’ castle was greeting a quiet dawn as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Mentil Abiran walked through the underground filled with damp darkness.

It was a place full of sticky darkness that was hard to believe existed only a few feet away from the spaces of the imperial family, which were filled with all sorts of glittering things in the world.

“Hm, hm, hm.......”

Likewise, Mentil Abiran, who had let down her bright wheat-colored blonde hair that did not suit the place, walked while humming softly.

It was the night one week after she had sent Ego Crisa.

The eldest son of the Crisa family seemed to be a human far removed from the loyalty people spoke of, because even now, he still had not properly carried out the order she had given.

“There are far too many lies in this world.”

Muttering as if singing, she spun once around the wide underground.

“Do you think so too?”

Before anyone knew it, the number of people standing underground had become two.

Mentil Abiran smiled brightly and looked at Ego Crisa, who had his body wrapped in scraps of rags.

She waved her hand a few times in front of Ego Crisa’s vision as he stared blankly into the air with focusless eyes, and after confirming that he was in a state where he could not think, she met his eyes again.

“You came back a little early today, did you not? Was there someone who saw your face? You do not have to mind the Eighth Prince.”

Ego slowly shook his head.

At his reaction, Mentil’s face brightened.

“Then did you find it today?”

Ego Crisa, who had only dullness left, opened his mouth as if trying to answer something, but no language came from his mouth, which had lost its intelligence.

As if Mentil had not asked the question expecting an answer either, she chose to give another command instead of waiting for his slow words.

“Take out everything you have on you.”

Ego Crisa could not present anything.

“You still have not found it? You are slower than I expected.”

A slight crack appeared on Mentil’s beautiful face, and her voice became even colder.

“I will need something a little stronger.”

After muttering, she soon raised her white hand.

Then she quietly placed her fine, slender fingers on Ego Crisa’s forehead.

What else makes a human as desperate as the instinct to survive?

After muttering that, she gave her next command.

“One week... It is one week. If you cannot find the book within that time, the price will be your life.”

Mentil folded her eyes beautifully and smiled as she continued speaking.

“After that, I cannot be sure which member of the Crisa family will take your place.”

As her clear voice echoed through the dark underground, Ego Crisa’s body, which had been standing blankly until then, flinched greatly.

And a certain small someone who had hidden himself between the folds of the rags had to unwillingly feel his breath stop for a moment.

* * *

“So, there were no children?”

As soon as morning came, Tollin summoned Jack again and asked him sharply.

“Yes. As you said, young children were not visible. Even when I asked the nearby merchants, they said they did not pay much attention to vagrants, so they did not know the number had decreased.”

Well, who would care about useless street insects?

Even for Tollin, they were lives he would never have cared about for the rest of his life if not for Duke Feedus, who was dead, or supposed to be.

“Even if construction was stopped, supplies should have been regularly distributed to the laborers.”

“Yes, that is the strange part. Clearly, the ledgers and documents have records that food and supplies were properly distributed.”

Pale, who was standing nearby, took out a bundle of papers.

“The nearby merchants said it was only that life had become hard, so many young children died, and that there was nothing strange about it.”

“Hmm.......”

At Jack’s added report, Tollin’s eyebrows crumpled.

If the supplies had simply been diverted along the way, it would have been a simple problem.

However, an ominous feeling brushed through Tollin’s mind that it might be related to the children disappearing.

The children the young duke had seen had also been on the verge of starving to death because they could not eat.

Those children had still not been found.

Since the children had no particular distinguishing features aside from wearing filthy clothes, the only clue that could be used to find them was the high-quality coat the young duke had handed over.

Unlike his expectation that they would immediately sell it to secure money first, the young duke’s clothes had not been found in any shop or market.

Either they were smarter than expected, or they had already suffered something like the other children.

Tollin forcibly pushed away the negative thoughts trying to rush in and focused.

“They cannot have all disappeared. The young duke said he had also vaguely heard during the conversation that there were other children remaining with them.”

“Yes, there was still a place suspected to have children living in it. Though some little rascal cut in midway, and I lost him.”

Jack frowned as he recalled the quick-footed child who kept calling him old geezer.

Tollin nodded.

“Yes, he said that child was there too. Jack, keep searching for the children remaining nearby as you were already investigating. Along with the children the young duke is looking for.”

Tollin, who did not know that the rascal Jack mentioned and the child the young duke was looking for were the same person, gave Jack two commands that were, in fact, one and the same.

“And Pale, quietly investigate the situation at the places where the supplies are delivered. If I visit too often, they will notice.”

“Yes.”

After Pale and Jack left, Tollin, who remained alone in the office, rummaged through the documents Pale had left behind.

The young duke had said they were children barely surviving by begging nobles passing by, risking their lives.

It seemed they begged from the lower nobles who came for education.

He had said it was near the building where construction had been stopped, and there was no way they would not know they could obtain bread or milk without risking their lives.

The fact that they had not taken relief goods even while reaching the verge of starvation meant that those kids had also noticed that something was happening.

Since they were children that clever, they probably had not died either.

Tollin hoped the children had not died.

It was not that an infinite love for humanity had bloomed in him.

It was simply that if he pretended not to know, it felt as though the life of Duke Feedus, who had left, would become far too worthless.

Moreover, this time, it was something the young duke had requested.

Since Duke Feedus passed away, it had been a long time since the young duke had actively requested something.

He did not want to see the child disappointed.

* * *

“This is a setback.”

Jack muttered emptily in front of the blue-roofed house in the shantytown that he had found again after two days.

The house, which had already been on the verge of collapse, now had its door completely broken off.

Still, consoling himself that this time he would not need to coax the children, Jack awkwardly stepped inside.

The inside was more rotten than the door or roof seen from outside.

Inside the house, which was narrower than the smallest storage room of the ducal house, there was the smell of mold, a faint medicinal scent, and the stench of terrible poverty.

Can children live in a place like this?

He could not be certain from presence alone, but the child who had been inside had been quite young.

A tiny lump-like child who looked to be about four years old at most.

Rattle.

Jack turned his head at the sound of small footsteps behind him.

“Gasp.”

It was a filthy child.

A small child with shaggy dark brown hair. One who looked exactly about four years old.

Perhaps because he was frightened and had curled up, he looked even smaller, but in any case, he definitely looked much younger than the young duke.

“Do not be afraid. I came to help you.”

Jack spoke carefully as he approached the child.

Again, Jack had far too intimidating a build to approach children.

The child began trembling, and this awkward standoff continued for a while.

“Jin! What are you doing here!”

A familiar voice struck Jack’s ears.

“Damn it, come here!”

A small doll that snatched up the child in an instant quickly moved away.

“Wait! You are that child from last time, right?! I came to help you!”

Jack, who came to his senses, hurriedly followed along the old threshold.

He saw the back of the child quickly moving away even while carrying the small child on his back.

“I said stop right there!”

Even at Jack’s shout, the child only raised his middle finger.