Episode 6
The knight’s gaze as he examined Derek remained sharp.
“……”
“L-look! His complexion looks much better, doesn’t it?”
Realizing his eyes were drawn to the green stains scattered here and there, I quickly covered Derek with the blanket, pretending to fuss over his well-being. While I was at it, I sneakily smoothed out any suspicious wrinkles and erased the signs of a struggle.
“I’ll change the sheets and blanket shortly!”
“Hmm……”
“See? His breathing is steady too! Doesn't it look like he’s sleeping peeeacefully?”
Sweating bullets, I kept chattering at the knight. Finally, I even gestured toward Derek with open hands, as if proudly presenting a prized treasure.
“Hmm!”
At last, the knight’s eyes lit up. In truth, Derek’s transformation was obvious enough for even the most obtuse person to notice at a glance. More than anything, his face looked completely at ease, as if he were simply asleep.
I swiftly retrieved the empty bottle that had fallen on the bed and scooped it up along with the items on the table. He drank the potion, so he should be fine for a while.
It would be best to get out of this room quickly before the knight could find anything to nitpick.
“Ah, right.”
Having finished preparing my escape, I spoke cautiously to the knight, acting as if I’d just remembered something. There was a matter just as important as getting out of here.
“Please keep it a secret that I helped him this time.”
“What? But… if his condition improves because of this, you could receive a massive reward.”
“You know how it is. People like us never meet a good end when we get tangled up with nobles.”
I put on the most regretful expression I could muster. The image I conjured up was simple: A luxurious strawberry shortcake, made by a top-tier chef using an abundance of the finest ingredients… and the feeling of having to send it away without getting to take a single bite. Right at the exact moment I was about to eat it, too.
I channeled that exact feeling. As the whipped cream of the imaginary cake slightly collapsed in my mind, a genuine sigh slipped out.
‘Ahhh! It’s such a waste! Can’t I have just one bite?!’
The thought was so vivid I even smacked my lips.
Seeing my reaction, the knight gave a firm, understanding nod. If I had acted humble, claiming I only did what was natural or that I didn’t need a reward, it probably would have made him suspicious instead.
“I suppose… that makes sense.”
As a knight of a noble family, he had likely seen many similar situations. Therefore, he knew that my words weren’t just nonsense.
“Right? I’m begging you.”
“Instead, I will put in a word so that the inn’s fees are paid generously.”
“R-really? That sounds great to me~ Thank you!”
I left the room humming a tune.
Jokes aside, it really is best for commoners like us to avoid nobles. Getting greedy could jeopardize not just my life, but the lives of my family, and even my relatives.
Besides, even though I acted out of goodwill, I was now regretting force-feeding him the potion and shouting harsh words at him.
‘…I really should have held back on telling him to choke it down.’
I couldn’t take back the words I’d already spat out. Wouldn’t he just assume it was a dream?
Thinking about it again helped me firmly make up my mind. This is reality, but I’m basically an NPC in this game. An extra, so to speak. If I step up and get involved in unnecessary things, my life will be in danger. All I want is to rake in as much money as possible and live comfortably.
With that, my lingering unease dissolved. It’s better to be careful not to get involved with him any further.
***
“Right this way!”
By the time I returned the leftover antidotes to the storage and came back to the counter, the knight commander was entering the inn with a healer in tow. I couldn't tell if my standoff with Derek had actually taken that long, or if the commander had simply acted that quickly.
‘Hmm?’
The healer was a calm-looking woman wearing a pristine white robe. Even to my unremarkable eyes, she gave off a peculiar, indescribable vibe.
She offered me a slight nod in greeting before slowly ascending the stairs.
“……”
I stared at her for a long time until she disappeared up the stairs. A strange emotion washed over me.
“Hmm, she’s certainly a beauty, but she’s out of a commoner’s league.”
“…Huh?”
“Anyway, cheer up, Cecil.”
My father patted my shoulder lightly and returned to the counter. It seemed he had completely misunderstood. The feeling I experienced wasn’t that kind of attraction. It was something far more subtle.
‘It felt almost like...’
It was hard to put a name to this subtle, awkward emotion.
‘Is this how the Little Mermaid felt?’
But if I had to compare it to something, it would be the Little Mermaid. The fairy tale I read in my past life, The Little Mermaid. Didn't she save a prince in peril, only to turn into sea foam and vanish without ever revealing the truth?
‘No, that’s not it.’
Recalling the story of The Little Mermaid, I hastily shook my head. I’m no Little Mermaid. I didn’t save him and run away; I just bought him a little time until a proper healer arrived.
There was no reason for me to get swept up in these strange, heart-fluttering emotions.
“Ugh… I don’t know!”
“Then why don’t you start by prepping the vegetables?”
“Got it.”
My father reacted dryly, likely still assuming I was brooding over the healer. But perhaps it was for the best. It wasn’t something I needed to concern myself with anymore. It was better to focus my attention elsewhere.
I cast one last glance up the stairs before heading straight for the kitchen.
***
“Cecil.”
“Yeah?”
“A few bottles of antidote are missing… Did you take them by any chance?”
The next day, I trudged downstairs with hollow eyes from a lack of sleep. My father stopped me, tilting his head in confusion. An open ledger sat in front of him.
‘Oops.’
With expensive antidotes, even one missing bottle is noticeable. Since several were gone, of course he was surprised.
“Oh, that? A guest used them.”
“There’s nothing written in the ledger, though?”
I scratched my head. Whenever an item is used, it must be recorded in the ledger. To think I’d forgotten such a basic rule. Was I really that flustered?
“…I forgot.”
“Who on earth used them?”
My father picked up his pen with a stiff expression. He intended to update the ledger himself right now. Since they were high-grade antidotes, not regular ones, checking the inventory was essential. And he would need to charge for them, too.
“The VIP guest.”
“…What?”
“The VIP guest. The one staying in our best room right now.”
“…Ah.”
Father seemed to recall that the man had returned looking thoroughly battered. When injured guests arrive, it’s common for various potions and antidotes to be used. Some guests pay immediately, while others settle the bill later.
But what about the guest I had lavishly used the expensive antidotes on? He had already paid in gold. Even if I had dumped those pricey antidotes on him by the barrel, I ought to be praised for a job well done.
“Hmm… Then it can’t be helped.”
Father’s thoughts weren’t much different from mine. Yet, a bit of greed must have still lingered, as his lips twitched slightly before closing tight.
Scribble, scribble.
His pen smoothly updated the ledger.
“So, did you use four bottles in total?”
“Hmm.”
I searched my memory to help my father out. There was one I tried to feed him but failed. Another spilled during our struggle. I barely managed to get him to drink one, and I was keeping another tucked away just in case.
“Right. Four bottles.”
“Tsk.”
He was definitely bummed out. Though no sound came out, the shape of his lips muttered, ‘Four bottles, not just one…’
As if to express his regret, Father dramatically scribbled down the final entry and snapped the ledger shut.
“Oh, esteemed guest! Have you regained consciousness?”
Right on cue, the very person who had used up all those expensive potions descended the stairs.
“……”
Since his identity was already blown, there should have been no need to hide it, yet his face was obscured by his hood once again. However, it wasn’t perfectly hidden like before.
The face glimpsed beneath the hood was still slightly stained with the lingering traces of poison, but that wasn’t enough to tarnish his good looks. More than his sleeping or pain-stricken expressions, the notoriously fastidious look he wore as he came down was far more striking.
‘Did he really keep a face like that hidden behind a mask the whole time in the game?’
What a waste.
He shot me a brief glance before turning his head straight to the counter. I immediately shot a look to the two knights standing behind him.
‘You didn’t tell him, right?!’
In response, the knights kept nodding as if telling me not to worry.
“…?!”
The knights, who had been chuckling and nodding enthusiastically, suddenly turned blue in the face. They hurriedly averted their gazes. Their complexions went deathly pale, as if someone had dumped a block of freezing ice right over their heads.
‘Right before they looked away, they were staring at...’
I turned my gaze to where the two knights’ eyes had been fixed.
“…Gasp.”
There, Derek’s icy stare was waiting for me. Goosebumps rapidly prickled from my head down to my toes.
‘Did… did those knights feel this way too?’
I was undoubtedly making the exact same expression they were. I truly felt like a frog caught in front of a snake.
“…I am indebted to you.”
“!!”
With those words, he walked right past me and headed for the door. The knight commander darted out to follow him, and a knight who looked like an adjutant handed a small pouch to my father.
The healer and the other knights followed suit. In particular, the two knights who had been guarding the door earlier patted my shoulder as they passed by, as if to say they completely understood how I felt.
“……”
Even after everything had passed, I couldn’t move for a while.
“Ooh!”
An exclamation of awe barely snapped me back to reality. I turned my head stiffly, like a rusty machine. I saw my father’s eyes sparkling as he opened the pouch. It seemed they had left a very generous reward. Enough to hand over a full pouch rather than just tossing a few coins.
“……”
However, my gaze, which had shifted to the counter, quickly darted back to the door. I tilted my head to the side. My mind was swarming with incomprehensible questions.
“Did he… just speak formally?”
The guy who hadn’t uttered a single word his entire stay, whose very first words yesterday had been a low threat. And yet, today, he suddenly speaks formally?
It gave me the creeps in the weirdest way. I rubbed my arms, trying to brush off the sudden wave of goosebumps.
“What are you talking about?”
My father, who had been grinning from ear to ear while peering into the pouch, looked back at me without changing his expression.
“That man, no, that esteemed gentleman… has been speaking formally this whole time, hasn't he? To use polite language even to commoners like us! What a wonderful gentleman!”
“What? That guy's been speaking formally this whole time?”
“Hey! What do you mean ‘that guy’? ‘Esteemed gentleman’! You should call him an ‘esteemed gentleman’!”
“……”
As I just continued to blink in shock, my father scoffed and went back to staring into the pouch.
“Yeah. He’s been speaking politely the entire time, right from the start. Ever since he first hid his identity.”
Derek, using formal language…
That was a bit strange. I was absolutely certain that in the game, he was famous for being one of the most obnoxious characters around.
Comments Box