亚洲欧美中文日韩Aⅴ

1. 1. The Mask of the Beast

I was short-sighted. I needed to think it over again.

Alright. Honestly, I thought there was nothing that could surprise me anymore. Like I never expected a prince on a white horse to come save me. More importantly, how can anything surprise me more than my death? But I was wrong.

The person I thought I knew was a criminal.

Who was Hernan? He was a man who resembled a forest filled with fresh leaves or a dazzling lake.

“Captain.”

I could not forget the man who revealed himself in such a dark and dilapidated shop with that disheveled appearance.

“Is that all we have?”

Was I not imaginative enough? With his buttons undone, Hernan appeared in a place that was filled with strange and decadent scents instead of somewhere like a greenhouse or a garden of flowers. Where was that flawless and excellent example of a well-mannered aristocrat?

It was the same yesterday but the place I was heading to today was also quite far. The area I would visit changes depending on the troop I would be with so if I waited just a little longer, I could go wherever I wanted.

I wanted to go to the ‘largest square’ in the Empire.

At that place, there was a very hidden path which led to a tower. After climbing the bumpy stairs, I would arrive at the top of the spire. The night view there was breathtaking. I had never been there myself but that was how Rebecca described the view to be. It was the perfect place for the first meeting in a romance novel.

As time went by, my admiration and awe of the being known as ‘Rusbella’ grew. What did that woman do to make the unscrupulous men of this Empire fall in love with her?

Her personality was almost the exact opposite of mine. In modern times, she would be the most popular girl in college.

A pure girl who never succumbed to hardship. She was a bold candy-like girl who would stand up to injustice even if she were to die in the process.

On top of that, it was as if she had taken a VIP course in speaking innocent and kind words in a specialised academy, so her lovely face was made even more effective. I had to visit the place Rusbella and Castor were going to meet for the first time.

I wondered what the romance between such a lovely lady and Castor would be like. Would it be something like a ‘You were the first woman to ever slap me in the face’ kind of romance?

“It might be cliche but classic romances work well too.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Of course, it was hard to do something cliche. That was only because the great tyrant was her partner. Frankly, I respected Rebecca. Despite the countless threats he posed to her life, she still pitied him.

Because even after the tyrant tormented Rusbella after she had rejected him, she still sympathised with how tough it must have been for the tyrant to live in this world.

“Are you listening, pipio?”

“Yes.”

“Hm, alright. Actually, there are not many places those kidnappers can hide people in.”

“Yes.”

“There’s this place the patrols have been keeping an eye on for a long time and yesterday, we found good clues thanks to pipio.”

A large square surrounded by pillars standing along its perimeter.

Merchants with their livestock. A market where both merchants and hagglers mingled, and I could even spot shacks with fences around it to protect the livestock.

“Wow, I could be missing out on some things. We need to find out where they’re keeping those missing people in advance, right?”

“Missing? Did I just hear you say missing?”

Just in case anyone forgot. Technically speaking, I was already an adult. Just that I had not held my coming-of-age ceremony yet.

“There’s a lot of people here. Please be careful not to lose me, my lady.”

“Why don’t you just take care of me well? I’m small so I can disappear easily.””

“Oh my, should this be something you say about yourself?”

“Well, it is the truth.”

Meta giggled.

I heard that this place was the largest livestock market in the Empire so the sights and sounds were overwhelming.

“You said you were looking for their base. Can I join you?”

“Don’t worry.”

Meta grinned.

“I’m here so do you really think I’ll let anything dangerous happen to you? We’re going to put your safety first. It’s only natural for you to ask for help.”

The shade we were under blocked the sun well enough and the roads in front of us were as intertwined as a complex ant farm.

After taking a few steps, Meta spoke.

“Excuse me, pipio.”

Meta smiled gently and asked for my understanding before holding my wrist and lifting it.

Now that I think about it, the men here were well-mannered. They never touched me without my consent. It was quite surprising for someone modern like me who had already gotten used to how men would drag women by their wrist and witnessing other slight violences in romance dramas.

“My god takes care of liars, shepherds and rearers. A guardian of thieves and crooks. My abilities helped me never lose sight of something I had set a goal towards. Then, what do you think my abilities are if it’s often combined with Sorick’s ability to search for things?”

I immediately said what came to mind with a slight frown.

“Tracking?”

“Bingo.”

A small ray of light flashed through his brown eyes before blooming brilliantly into gold.

“If I put it simply, basically I can find pipio right away even amongst all these people.”

Then, I could feel the intangible energy released from his fingertips wrap around my wrist. How interesting. I raised my other hand to try to touch it but I could not feel anything.

“Unlike Soricks, my abilities are not restricted by distance.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

The weight around my wrist felt like a red thread with the other end attached to Meta’s chest.

“But there are some unfortunate parts. I have some limitations to my abilities.”

He might be good at tracking but the conditions needed to use them were quite strict.

“If there are strengths, there must also be limitations. But rest assured. Nothing like yesterday will happen.”

He smiled. I was also sure nothing like yesterday would happen again. I wanted to look for Rusbella so I would not get involved in anything dangerous.

“So, what are you looking for here?”

“For now, we’re looking for a store named ‘Valhalla’.”

“Are you sure it’s around here?”

“It probably is. We found a ledger in the place that my lady discovered which described their distribution network.”

Should I ask for a break? Just when I slowly raised my hand and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

“Urgh!”

The pain that felt like a big needle pierced through my temple suddenly appeared again. I could not stand the pain and squatted down. The cries of loud livestock brushed past me and everything seemed to be moving away from me.

“Urgh…!”

“Pipio!”

“I’m… alright. Just, dizzy…”

“Let’s go take a short break. There!”

His large hands supported my waist firmly. But his voice asking if I was alright felt like it was coming from a great distance away. I crouched over like a woman in her eighties. He was supporting me.

At the corners of the marketplace, rough pieces of marble were placed everywhere as if they were meant to be seats.

“Wait here! I’ll go get something cool!”

Meta disappeared into the crowds saying he was going get me a drink. For some reason, I recalled how I chose to believe in Soricks when he said he could come find me in 5 minutes yesterday.

“Urgh…”

I leaned backwards and closed my eyes. Damn. My head hurts. Again. I tried to soothe my temple but it did not feel like it would die down.

‘Was it stress?’

This could not have been due to stress. If this had been due to stress, I would have already been suffering from the pain during my 40 deaths.

Let’s think about it.

I was sure I was used to pain but that did not mean I was immune to it.

Was there a special reason?

I would not be able to reach an answer just by thinking about it. But the important thing was that I was no longer the girl who would just sit there and wait for Castor to come find me.

I had to make moves on my own as well. That was very important. I clasped my hands together before opening my eyes.

With hope, I had become a different person.

“Pain doesn’t matter.”

Since we were planning on walking around the livestock market today, it would be too early to head to the place where Rusbella appeared now.

So, I should stay with Meta as much as I can. He did say there were some clues here so he should be able to find something if we were lucky, right?

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes. I guess I was just feeling dizzy.”

He patted my shoulders.

“Just hang in there. I found the store. It’s that way.”

The roads were congested. I tripped a couple of times but there were so many people around that I could not even fall down because there was no room to fall. Just when I was filled with relief, someone shoved past my shoulder.

Urgh, seriously! I stumbled forward before staring at the person who passed by.

“Gosh. This is crazy, watch where you’re going!”

Then, I froze. The sticky fragrance that clung onto the tip of my nose. It was a man who was neither big nor small sized.

I stopped in my tracks at the powerful shock that shook me without any warning. I quickly grabbed onto Meta.

“Meta! That man!”

The man who had a beard and looked like a rat. He was definitely one of the men I saw at that place. I half shouted and whispered.

“He was the man who haggled for my price!”

Even though he only passed me by for a while, his scent was thick and dizzying as if someone sprayed perfume directly onto my nose. I could never forget that scent.

“The man who just crashed onto me! It’s the guy from yesterday!”

“… Are you sure?”

“Yes, I think so. I trust my gut.”

Meta grunted as he watched the man gradually moving away.

“Seriously. Pipio, sorry, but is it alright if you stick with me?”

He was in a hurry and could not hide how troubled he was.

“I would love to take you to Soricks now, me lady, but if I did-”

“You would lose him.”

They obviously addressed Hernan as their captain. I wondered why? Why did they call him that? Hernan had always been a mystery to me. So I wanted to know. If I followed the man, I could find the lead to the mystery I had yet to solve.

What Hernan was hiding. His identity that I had been searching for so anxiously. I felt like I could get a clue if I could catch that man.

“Let’s go!”

We did not have a lot of time to decide so we secretly chased after the man. I did not want to catch him when there were so many people around but we were dangerously close to losing the man several times. However, whenever that happened, Meta would find the man again skillfully.

“Listen well, pipio. To use my ‘tracking’ ability of that man, I would have to look in the face and talk to him at least once.’

“That’s the condition. Do you want me to go and grab him?”

“No, you can’t. It’ll be dangerous if he sees your face.”

As we followed behind him, we entered a quiet side-road. It might have been small but there were some people and it was also brightly-lit. In the middle of the wide road, the man changed the direction he was going in at the crossroad.

“Where’s he going?”

“Over there!”

However, the place the man disappeared into was a dark and desolate alley just like yesterday. Meta looked flustered.