In the darkness, a tall figure lightly tapped Klisha on the shoulder.
“!”
“Have you been to the tailor shop already?”
“Huh?”
The young man with his head covered with a black shawl, and half of his face obscured by a silver mask, stared at Klisha from the darkness before speaking.
“Why did you come here?”
“Wow.”
Klisha spoke up, her already large, round eyes widening even more.
“Detective, your eyes look completely different, like you’re a whole new person. Disguise, transformation, I guess these are basic skills for a detective, right? Well, if you’re going to infiltrate, it makes sense…”
Just as Klisha was about to continue her useless mutterings, Ian pulled her back and hid her behind his back, looking toward the stage and quietly speaking.
“I think it’s starting now. We should watch quietly.”
“That…”
Klisha swallowed her words. This feels like some sort of affair is indeed going on, but it doesn’t seem that kind of affair. Moreover, if he wants her to watch he would have to step aside.
Although the Detective had a well-toned, slim physique, his tall frame and the shawl draped over his head blocked half of Klisha’s view. No matter how much she tilted her head to get a better look, the unyielding figure of the Detective remained firmly in place.
Whether she spoke or not didn’t matter. Blocking Klisha completely from the view of the guild members on the stage, Ian crossed his arms and kept his eyes fixed on the host on the stage.
“Now, everyone. The long-awaited Tears of the Desert, the AA-grade slave boy! Born on a mysterious night in the desert at the edge of the continent, with eyes that shine like jewels! His hair is the color that seems like the sky has been directly painted, and skin as dark as the earth!”
As the host sparked the participants’ interest with a brief introduction, bids started coming in from all directions, and within moments, the price soared past 1 million ruels.
The corners of Ian’s lips, who was watching calmly, curved coldly.
‘How dare you. Slave trade in the capital? These bastards.’
At that moment, Klisha, who had been trying to peer around Ian’s broad back, unconsciously let out a loud exclamation.
“Oh, come on. Detective! I can’t see anything!”
The gaze of everyone, including the host, turned towards the wall where Ian and Klisha were standing.
“….”
Whether the attention was on them or not, Klisha, who had tentatively peeked out from beside Ian to scan the stage, suddenly had a spark of excitement in her eyes.
“What? A slave auction? Not only are they just fooling around here, but they’re buying and selling people too? You piece of trash!”
Before Ian could even stop her, Klisha had already released her mana and stormed onto the stage, landing next to the slave boy who looked to be about six or seven years old.
“Little boy! Don’t worry. Detective and I will save you.”
Ian slowly walked toward the stage, and couldn’t help but chuckle at Klisha’s last words and responded with a smirk.
“Well, I never agreed to it, did I?”
As the murmurs from the customers participating in the auction grew louder, the host quickly grabbed the microphone.
“Haha. It’s nothing serious. These kinds of things happen all the time because of those who don’t know their place. Customers, there’s no need to worry. What are you all doing! Hurry up and get them out of here!”
As the large security guards and Lucky Box staff climbed onto the stage, Klisha’s almond-shaped eyes darkened with intensity.
“Slave trading is against the law. You scums.”
Klisha kept a wary eye on the approaching figures from both sides, gently grabbing the slave boy ‘Tears of the Desert’ by the shoulder and pulling him behind her. As the boy turned to look at her, Klisha leaned down and whispered softly into his ear.
“Little boy. Come here. It’s dangerous.”
The boy’s cheeks tinged slightly with red as he met Klisha’s gaze from up close. He blinked a few times, his deep sapphire-colored eyes shimmering, before finally opening his mouth to speak.
“…Let go. Who dare you touch me. You lowly wretch.”
Just as Ian’s lips curled into a slight smile while observing the situation, Klisha moved with lightning speed, pressing her finger against the boy’s pressure point just below the back of his neck.
“!”
“?”
The boy immediately collapsed, losing consciousness. Klisha quickly caught him, lifting him onto her shoulder, and flashed a bright, carefree smile.
“You shouldn’t be using such bad words, kid. I guess you must be illiterate, right? Anyway, I’ll save you.”
“Ha. Haha. Ahaha.”
Ian burst into laughter.
The security guards from Lucky Box charged toward Ian, who was laughing while clutching his stomach.
“You little punks! How dare you make fun of our guild!”
At that moment.
A breath of warm air wafted from somewhere. In an instant, a red pillar of fire rose from behind the small body and pierced the wall of the building.
“Detective! I’ll be leaving!”
As Klisha disappeared outside with the boy slung over her shoulder, a brief silence fell over the auction house.
“What, what. What just happened?”
“Is he even a human? He did that without a weapon….”
“That boy just broke this thick wall, really?”
Those who had only heard about high-grade rune manipulators but had never actually seen one in action were left speechless. Without even thinking about running away, their mouths agaped.
“If you keep standing there, you’ll get buried. Make sure you survive on your own.”
Amused by the series of events, Ian left his final words behind and launched himself through the hole. Soon, screams began to overlap, rising from all directions.
Rumble, rumble.
Boom.
One side of the walls flew away, and the building, which could no longer support the weight, collapsed shortly after.
It was truly a maelstrom of chaos.
In the midst of all the chaos, several dark shadows swiftly followed in the direction where Klisha and Ian had disappeared.
‘This is crazy. Did they catch on to something?’
‘Let’s head that way first. Lord Theta’s Merra is pointing in that direction.’
‘Damn.’
The group of people, who were quietly waiting for their turn in the auction to take the ‘slave boy’ away as instructed, moved hurriedly in the darkness, trying hard to hide their bewilderment.
* * *
“Let go of me.”
Klisha, who had been looking down at the plaza from the rooftop of the temple’s spire, turned her head and looked at the young boy.
“Huh? You’re awake?”
“You people….”
The young boy, with chubby cheeks blushing to the point of looking like a ripened tomato, gritted his teeth and said.
“You dare to attack me? I will never forgive you. I remember your face. Then I’ll….”
“I wasn’t attacking you. I just saved you, little boy.”
“Don’t keep calling me a little boy….”
Klisha smiled brightly and lightly flicked the young boy’s round forehead with her index finger.
“And you should speak politely to adults you meet for the first time. My nanny said that it’s not shameful to be illiterate, but to act like one. You shouldn’t keep showing it. If you try from now on, you might.…”
“Illiterate? Ha! Who are you calling an illiterate here….”
As Klisha and the boy were having their trivial and completely unimportant conversation, Ian interrupted the flow with a quiet voice.
“Merra.”
“?”
“!”
The boy and Klisha looked at Ian with their own kind of surprised expressions, Ian chuckled and said.
“Well, roughly. I can guess, but there have been some guys struggling to follow us since a while ago. Go on.”
When the young boy closed his mouth, Klisha tilted her head and asked.
“What’s Merra?”
“A kind of a rune.”
“Wow. Detective knows everything.”
“Take him.”
At Ian’s gesture, the group of people appeared from the darkness.
“Thank you.”
When the boy couldn’t hold back and was about to shout, the man who seemed to be the leader of the group stared at the young man with his face covered by a shawl and mask for a moment with suspicion, then bowed politely.
“At the founding ceremony… I’ll surely meet you.”
As she watched the group quickly disappear, one of them covering the boy’s mouth, Klisha spoke up.
“Wow. Do they know you, Detective?”
“….”
“By the way. Detective. I haven’t used much strength in a while…..”
Klisha opened her mouth, rolling her almond-colored eyes.
“I think I caused some trouble for you, but still, I was pretty pissed earlier… Haha. But…”
“Good job.”
“Um. I knew you’d say that, Detective….”
“For the time being, keep a low profile. The people from the auction house will be stirring things up everywhere.”
“Yeah. Well, I won’t be staying here for long… Anyway, Detective….”
Ian stared at the collapsed building for a while before jumping down the spire.
“See you again soon, little boy.”
“Huh?”
Klisha exclaimed in admiration as she watched Ian disappearing in an instant.
“Wow. Detective, you’re really fast. You don’t even have mana, how are you so quick? You even seem faster than my father?
But….
Klisha muttered as she looked at the direction where Ian had disappeared.
“I’m hungry. What about food? What about meat?”
Klisha, who had just been cheated out of her part-time pay, suddenly snapped back to her senses.
“No! You said you’d buy me food!”
A pitiful howl, cursing the “worst scoundrel” for cheating her out of her meal money, echoed through the night of the capital.
* * *
“You almost got into big trouble, Lord Theta.”
“….”
“You shouldn’t have left the inn without Merra. If Sultan finds out you came here ahead of time, he’ll be furious.”
“Those people from earlier.”
“?”
“Those lowly people. Do you know them? Especially the one wearing the mask. They seemed to know about Mer. How did they know? Even though not everything can be controlled.”
“….”
The boy said, fidgeting with a pendant adorned with a large jewel, using his small hands.
“And that aura. It doesn’t seem unfamiliar either.”
“His Majesty, the Emperor of Perza.”
“What?”
“You have met him before.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Although he was wearing a mask, his gaze and voice couldn’t be hidden. Moreover, he already knew we were in pursuit and gave us signals along the way.”
“….”
The boy muttered as he looked down at the dark streets of Zekrit.
“Then who is that red-haired one? A guardian knight?”
The boy thought of the red-haired intruder. Didn’t the Emperor of Perza call her “Shashamon”? It sounded odd for a woman’s name, though…
The boy’s young face flushed slightly. For some reason, an inexplicable fluttering sensation made his chest feel tight. Almond-colored eyes that sparkled like the stars in the night sky. A face that smiled brightly… That clear voice, speaking of education and teachings…
‘She, she was worried about me? Why?’
The boy, who had been lost in his own thoughts for a while, soon opened the window of the inn while brushing his blue hair. A cool night breeze blew in, as if soothing the heat. A shadow that had grown much bigger than ‘six or seven years old’ lingered on the window sill illuminated by moonlight for a moment before quickly disappearing.
* * *
Ian called out to a passing knight as he made his way toward the Inner Palace, summoning his aides.
“Why again on this peaceful night.”
Just as Count Mirhi, dressed in a soft, silky nightwear made of 100% silk, was about to head straight into the land of blissful dreams, he suddenly needed to get up again and muttered as he made his way toward the Inner Palace.
“This damn job should have commuting hours. The work environment is really the worst.”
When he looked up, the sky was pitch black, without a single cloud in sight.
“The feeling of going to work at this hour is really… The pitch-black sky is just like my heart….”
Rumble.
Bang.
“Huh.”
A small lightning struck the wall of the Inner Palace.
Mirhi immediately flattened himself against the floor, before slowly lifting his head. He realized that it was not only himself but the rest of the aides were also present, all clinging to the pillars and bowing their heads in reverence.
“….”
“A slave auction in the capital? What on earth do you guys do all day?”
“That.”
“Enough of this nonsense. I told you to handle it yourselves for a few years, and now you all…”
“That’s not it….”
Minister of State, Yuton, opened his mouth with difficulty.
“Lord Lian said that in order to catch corrupted people, you need that sort of thing. After all, fish can’t live in water that’s too clear….”
“Aha.”
Ian’s smile deepened.
“So everyone just started taking orders from him now? Bring that guy. Where did he run off to?”
“….”
After a moment of silence, Mirhi raised his head slightly to check the atmosphere inside, and then his eyes met with His Majesty the Great Emperor’s.
‘Damn it.’
“I’ll take care of the rest in the morning. And.”
Ian stared at Mirhi, then brushed aside his strikingly golden blonde hair reminiscent of an autumn wheat field as he walked away.
“That medicine from earlier. Is there more? Bring it to my office.”
“….”
The aides, who had been watching Ian’s retreating figure, gathered one by one near Mirhi as the Emperor’s presence disappeared into the distance.
“Medicine? What kind of medicine? What kind of medicine would His Majesty, who is so wicked and healthy, would be taking ….”
“…It’s a certain kind of medicine.”
“Pardon?”
“Medicine to reduce hair loss… It’s made by a master of modern pharmacology….”
“….”
The faces of the aides, including Minister of State Yuton, blanked for a moment.
Oh, so that’s what happened.
Ah, he suffered in the battlefield when he was young, and now he’s having a day like this….
It’s all because of his rotten personality….
After that.
Only quiet sighs filled the office.
It seemed that a new misunderstanding was beginning to take root.
