Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

175 – A Rather Noisy Day

Thump-thump─

My listless footsteps echoed,

and within the academy grounds,

faint traces of my steps remained, marking their place.

“Um…”

“….”

“Are you… angry?”

She wasn’t tired yet, it seemed,

trailing after me persistently.

The headache was mine,

yet she wore such a pitiable look,

like an abandoned puppy.

No, to be precise, a puppy on the verge of abandonment, wouldn’t you say?

If she were truly abandoned,

there’d be no need to watch my mood.

Though from the start, she

had no reason to be watching me.

Not with her position.

‘…So, naturally, she thought

she was doing it with me, and told

the professor she was doing it with me…’

‘Yes…’

‘…’

‘Um… I’m sorry, I misunderstood…’

‘…It’s alright, there’s no need to worry about it.’

‘No… uh, that is…’

Having suddenly thrust the task upon her,

it was undeniably rather bothersome,

of course it was,

but her constant attentiveness

to my mood was also quite a burden,

and if I looked at it closely, I

was the one who initially

intended to offload this task onto her, so

I had no choice but to just

quietly resign myself to it…

Ever since then,

she’s been dogging my heels,

constantly watching my every move,

which is, to say the least, a considerable burden.

No matter how many times I say

it’s alright, truly alright,

she simply won’t listen.

It seems the only way to get her to stop

is if she does something for me,

and the thought of her trailing me until then is rather troublesome.

What am I talking about?

Lest there be some who,

seeing her current state of slight guilt towards me,

forget her station, I must remind you,

she is a Duchess.

From one of the select few Ducal families

within this vast empire.

And even among those Ducal families,

the eldest daughter of the Rynuelle Duchy,

one that represents this entire empire.

No matter that lately my reputation

has improved somewhat,

and my renown, compared to my peers,

has grown considerably,

it’s but a minor flaw

compared to her fame.

Which is to say…

“Um…well…”

“Oh my, Lady Jennison…and Isabella, my lady?”

“Looks like something happened between them…?”

“Doesn’t it seem like…the Lady

is a bit apprehensive?”

“Come now…there’s no way

a Duchess would act like that…”

No matter where I turn

within this academy,

I can’t escape these whispers.

It meant there was no shaking it off.

Eyes and ears were strewn about everywhere, so

no matter where in the Academy

I wandered,

I’d be forced to endure

this constant stream of scandalous whispers.

“Excuse me, Baron Jennison, by chance,

I’m hosting a

small gathering soon…”

“My young master

wishes to have a word with

Baron Jennison, if I may…”

“Oh my, Lady Isabella, perhaps you have a moment…”

Was that all?

Not only me, suddenly

quite popular of late,

but she, already well-known

as the daughter of a Great House,

the rumors of us together

seemed to summon them – a ravenous pack,

leaving us no peace.

Surrounded by the ever-approaching

throng,

answering each and every

request,

my precious time

vanished in an instant,

and it was only the arrival of

one of the Academy’s professors

that allowed us to escape that crowd.

“Hah…why are there suddenly so many people…”

“…this is troubling.”

“Pardon? What did you just say…”

“Nothing…never mind.”

“Ah…okay…”

No sooner had I spoken than she was subtly watching me again,

at this point, I wanted

to ask her why

she was acting this way towards me.

If I set my mind to it, I could…

A princess of this Empire, who could have anything,

wouldn’t possibly want something from a mere baron like me.

Besides, even if I was her former fiancé,

the state of things between us

couldn’t be called pleasant, not even with a generous fib.

And from the start, the reason for

her approaching me like this was all too clear;

for someone with ulterior motives,

her approach was far too clumsy,

and it was so utterly opposed to

her icy demeanor of the past, that

I’d intentionally avoided conversation until now… partly.

But it seemed this time,

we had to talk it out properly.

Frankly, I was getting rather

uncomfortable with this dynamic between us,

and I wouldn’t indulge in another experience of being surrounded by crowds.

“Excuse me… Lady.”

“Yes? This time, I didn’t…”

“No, it’s not about that, but…”

“Then…?”

“…Would you mind telling me why,

since a little while ago,

you’ve been using honorifics with me?”

That had to come first.

How could I brazenly tell this country’s princess

to stop following me around because it was grating on my nerves?

Perhaps if I could lead the conversation carefully,

diverting the topic as it progressed,

but even if I’m now an independent nobleman,

that would certainly be considered discourteous.

“…”

“Lady?”

“I am still a princess, after all…”

“….”

In a way, it was a rather

plausible response,

but I countered with a gesture of utter disbelief.

No matter how much I considered it, could

that reason alone possibly explain why

an imperial princess, a _gongnyeo_ of all things, would speak

respectfully to a mere baron?

No, well, the baron was

special in his own way, of course, but still,

there was no reason a _gongnyeo_ would use honorifics with a baron, was there?

Especially not one from the Four Great Houses.

“Ah, perhaps…if it feels like a burden…”

“…No, please, do as you feel comfortable.”

“Ah, then…”

“And.”

“…?”

“I really am

alright now, so you

don’t need to follow me anymore…”

“Jenison.”

I thought it was a rather perfect,

effort to change the topic, but,

a voice, from somewhere,

interrupted it.

A voice that was definitely etched into my memory.

“….”

“It has been a while, you.”

“….”

“Why so silent? Is my

presence here so unexpected?”

“….”

“…I wonder, why are you

looking at me with those eyes this time?”

Of the noble line of the forest.

The Elf, Silvia, stood right beside me.

…What about the village?

*

Within the darkness, two men

locked in a heated exchange.

“…So, are you saying you can’t do it, you wretch?”

“Ah…no, this is something

no one in the world could…*glug!*”

“…Tch, wasted my time.”

No, not a man anymore.

Only moments ago,

another man, alive and well, his neck

severed, fallen like a

crimson maple leaf before winter’s arrival.

Sticky blood streamed down the blade,

and the shadow, who’d been conversing

with the now-frigid corpse,

didn’t even bother to hide the body,

casually flicking his sword a few times

before stepping back into the light.

His features, fully

revealed now.

Yet, something about

his appearance was profoundly

unnatural.

One of the man’s sleeves

hung limply, without strength.

As if an arm were missing.

“…Now, only that

slum remains…”

He trudged on, listless and unrestrained.

It was impossible to believe

that the footsteps belonged to a man who had just taken a life;

there was no hesitation, no fear.

And so, the man left

the corpse he’d cut down in a single stroke behind,

once more disappearing from sight

towards the village of the poor and the sick,

a place where only such folks gathered in the empire,

commonly known as the slum.

The moment he entered that street,

the man immediately frowned,

because people deserving

of the slum’s name were

rampantly thrashing the street around.

The grime on the people’s clothes and skin was, of course, to be expected, and

the strangely off-kilter odors that wafted up from the street

provided more than enough reason

for the man to wrinkle his nose once more.

He himself was, even to himself,

reluctant, so very reluctant, to set foot in such a place,

but… considering the circumstances,

he was left with no other choice.

Yet, his trials weren’t limited to the slum’s entrance.

Each time flower-peddling children

clutched at his cloak,

he had to be careful not to grind his teeth to dust, and

he had to endure the painted women,

reeking of cloying perfume, seemingly

planning some grand score within this very slum,

casting their come-hither glances in his direction.

His heart yearned to draw his sword then and there,

but he was now a man who couldn’t

simply unsheathe his blade as he pleased.

He continued, steadfastly,

to bear it all and walk

through the slum’s streets,

until at last he found

the house of the man he sought.

Though, in the midst of it all, some

ruffian had seen fit to brandish a knife,

and he, seizing the opportunity to vent his pent-up frustrations,

promptly cleaved his head clean off with a single stroke.

The man cleared his throat

a few times, then

creaked open the door, already decrepit and worn.

As expected, the floor and walls

were already in disarray.

The only thing gleaming within

this chaos wasn’t the stark white light of any lamp, but…

It was mana’s cerulean glow that felt the purest of all.

“Emerge, I’ve come on business.”

“My, my, if it’s business, then I must!”

Rumble, crash─

The moment the man finished speaking,

another male came rushing out, nearly demolishing the study located deep within the building.

His auburn hair, completely unbound,

flying every which way.

Deep, dark circles,

entrenched beneath his eyes,

testified to days of sleepless research,

a sight that, paradoxically,

inspired confidence in the man.

“Hee hee, what brings the Duke here…?”

“Don’t be smirking,

I’ve come with something of utmost importance.”

“…What is it then, you’re scaring me…”

No sooner had he spoken,

than the man abruptly flourished one sleeve.

The very sleeve that, even moments ago,

had hung particularly limp.

“Make me an arm. Right now.”

Though his voice was

relatively impassive,

anyone who had known him for long would recognize it.

He was, at this moment,

quite thoroughly enraged.