A Slave Of Rubelfast – R15 - Chapter 27

‘I wonder if it’s time for that old fool to leave. Stinky old fool.’

Vedell shook his head as he breathed in the fresh air.

In fact, he was the head of the <Golden Rake>, which controlled all information guilds in the capital.

To use him as an informant, the client must be at least a member of the Imperial family.

However, Vedell regretted accepting the Emperor’s request. Every time he met the Emperor, his arrogance was so repulsive that it made him cringe.

‘I’m sure he’ll live like that selfishly until the end. Even then, he will not receive any punishment for the sins he has committed. He was lucky to have been born as the Emperor’s eldest son.’

It was not like Paldinas would collapse easily due to that one human misconduct, but the poor people, who were in danger even in the age of peace, were hit severely three years after the current Emperor ascended the throne.

Vedell’s sister was beaten to death while rummaging through trash cans, and his mother was run over and killed by a nobleman’s carriage while begging in the streets.

His drunkard father hadn’t come home for some time, but Vedell didn’t even wonder where the human had disappeared.

He first blamed his parents, then the nobles, and later the emperor.

However, in the end, it didn’t matter what it was about or who was responsible for this reality.

No matter who he resented or what he tried, he knew that this country wouldn’t change.

So, the money that he could hold in his hands became more important.

In the world, the only thing to believe in was money, and money that came from anyone’s pocket was the same.

That was why he accepted the Emperor’s commission, despite him being like an enemy. Now, he was somewhat regretting it.

‘No, let’s not think nonsense. It’s fine as long as he gives me money. I can do this.’

There were too many unjust deaths in this world anyway, and no one considered them important.

Arguing with the duties of blue blood was something only the naive Ventiark family would do.

Vedell laughed at the Ventiark family for being honest despite the constant oppression and then quietly returned to where he should be.

To the place where the Ventiark family lived.

***

The hunt came to an end with the sound of a loud horn.

Participants who had entered the forest returned with disappointed faces, and the attendants waiting nearby entered the forest to collect the spoils of the hunt.

Ellier stretched out her neck and looked for Slarhan.

His platinum blonde was noticeable everywhere, and Ellier was able to find him right away.

‘Did he catch a lot? Did he catch a lot? Yes, I went through that hardship for a month and even made a bag of sedative powder, and of course, he caught a lot!’

She was a little scared that he might ignore or forget her warnings and go looking for his father’s belongings.

She was worried, but seeing that he came out with other participants at this time, it didn’t seem like that.

Then there was no way Slarhan would have fallen behind others.

“Good work, Your Highness.”

“Well… it seemed like there wasn’t much effort…”

Slarhan glanced at Ellier as he passed the bow and quiver to Tariq.

As expected, she seemed to anticipate the results, her eyes sparkling.

But instead of looking for Ellier right away, he took Tariq outside the tent and whispered.

“Take three knights, go deep north into the forest, and find a big oak tree. There is a small cave to the right of that oak tree, and they said they hid my father’s belongings under a rock in the cave.”

“…What? Who are they?”

“He said he was a member of the assassination squad that killed my father.”

Tariq opened his eyes wide.

“You kept that person alive?”

“What if I killed him? Do you think the Emperor would acknowledge the existence of an assassination squad? Perhaps he wanted me dead and planted someone around me to make it happen.”

“Then can you trust him?”

“I couldn’t believe him. That’s why I didn’t go straight to him. It’ll take time for the attendants to gather the spoils of the hunt. Look for it now. If anything seems off, just come back.”

“All right.”

Tariq quickly disappeared into the Tigris Forest, leaving only one knight to guard the tent.

Only when Slarhan entered the tent did Ellier raise her head and smile.

“Is something the matter?”

“…As you said, there was someone who came forward talking about my father.”

“So, what did you do?”

“I just sent Tariq, so we’ll find out sooner or later whether what he said was true.”

“Ah… did you send the knights? You didn’t have to…”

Ellier, who was about to say that there was no need for that, closed her mouth, but Slarhan roughly noticed what Ellier was trying to say.

‘Ellier thinks that there are no belongings of my father in the cave.’

Slarhan couldn’t shake the feeling that Ellier knew something.

But whether Ellier was aware of his suspicions or not, she grinned with an expression full of anticipation and asked.

“How was the hunt? Did you catch a lot? Did the items I gave you work well? You know, this job should be worth at least 200,000 Persos.”

The doubt that had been sitting between Slarhan’s forehead suddenly faded.

Thinking that Ellier would have enjoyed sitting in the corner doing the calculations, it was because he felt a little sorry.

He took the potion pouch from his pocket and placed it on the table, exactly as she had given it to him.

“Uh…? Didn’t you use it?”

“I didn’t need to use it. Princess Ellor’s knight was using the same thing. Thanks to following their lead during the hunt, what you gave me wasn’t necessary.”

“What? Ahahahaha! The Third Princess’ knight must have been quite surprised, huh? Completely useless!”

The cheerful laughter seemed to wash through Slarhan’s chest, refreshing him.

However, everything Ellier said today could not be buried as mere luck or coincidence.

“How did you know that method? Did you also know that Princess Ellor would use that method?”

Ellier was slightly nervous but swallowed once and recited the prepared excuse.

“I didn’t know that the Third Princess was aware of that method as well. How could I have known?”

Ellier asked back.

“It was also a coincidence that I came up with sedatives. How to make a sedative or stimulant for animals is in my head, but I can’t remember using it. I went into the forest to pick up herbs for my use, and when I saw a herb used as a sedative, it popped into my head.”

“That’s why the shape of the bag containing the sedative powder is the same, and the method of using it is the same.”

“Could it have been the hunting method from the village where I lived? Maybe someone on Princess’ side also knew about this too.”

Looking at Ellier, widening her eyes innocently, blinking and tilting her head, Slarhan sighed.

The sl*ve child wouldn’t easily teach him her secrets. She might reveal if she was beaten or tortured, but then it was clear that she would not share her wisdom after that.

He didn’t want to make the child, already covered in all kinds of wounds, even more injured.

‘She doesn’t look like a spy…’

Now, thanks to Ellier’s presence, she was known in the surroundings, but when he visited Rubelfast, his visit was highly secretive.

If someone knew his route, would that mean they knew which side of Rubelfast he would visit?

Moreover, Ellier was clearly dying. She would never have survived if he hadn’t fed her his blood.

So she wasn’t a spy sent by someone.

But to say this child ended up here by mere coincidence…

‘She seems to know too much of the information I need.’

To the point where he might actually start believing this child was a fortune-teller.

No, actually, he wondered if she might be the fairy of luck his father sent, who was afraid to leave his son alone.

After learning of his father’s death, when he visited Rubelfast to make sure no knights from the family who left with his father followed, that’s when Slarhan met Ellier.

Since his mother’s necklace reacted, maybe she was the fairy sent by his mother. How surprised he was when the necklace, which had been dormant for so long, suddenly flickered to life.

Slarhan, who recalled that time, shook his head.

‘No, even if the necklace didn’t react, I wouldn’t have been able to pass by Ellier without stopping.’

A slave, holding onto the end of a nobleman’s cloak and screaming at him to kill her…

The attitude of preferring death as a human rather than living as a slave felt like a desperate plea to Slarhan.

It felt like a request.

“Anyway, what I made turned out to be quite useless, huh? Ah, what a pity…”

Touching the pouch of sedative she had diligently crafted for a month, Ellier let out a small sigh that seemed genuinely regretful.

There, Slarhan also felt sorry.

Ellier, barely scraping by, had sacrificed a month of sleep to create something for her master. He felt like he had let down Ellier’s expectations.

“Eventually, it’ll come in handy. As you said, I’ll give you 200,000 Persos for today’s work.”

“Uh? Really? Ha, but… I don’t think I was very helpful…”

“You were helpful. If you hadn’t given me that tip earlier, I might have given up on the hunt just from listening to the words of a stranger. Plus, because you showed me how to use this sedative, I could figure out what Princess Ellor’s knights were up to.”

“Ahh? Listening to you, that makes sense?”

Ellier’s disappointed expression was quickly replaced by a mischievous smile. Her black hair and ashen eyes might have been achromatic, but the expressions she created were always a vibrant mix of emotions and life energy.

So every time Slarhan saw it, he felt good.

Especially when she smiled like that, her eyes would curve, her plump cheeks would rise, her mouth would stretch widely, and her well-arranged teeth would be neatly exposed…

‘By the way, has she gained some weight? She is starting to look a bit more like a young girl.’

Due to her intense swordsmanship training, Ellier hadn’t developed many curves on her body. But today, it felt like there was a thin layer of flesh over her protruding collarbone.

However, he didn’t quite like the idea of her collarbone being exposed.

‘What if you catch a cold?’