Author: 冬瓜茶仙人 / Winter Melon Tea Immortal
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 23
Geoffrey knelt on the icy cobblestone street, coughing so hard that his little face was contorted. When he saw a pair of feet stop in front of him, he looked up pitifully.
“Sir,” he gasped, “did I disturb you…?”
“Are you alright?” The foreigner helped him up and even patted off the dirt on his body.
“I’m just very hungry,” Geoffrey said timidly.
“Are you hungry?” The foreigner’s brown eyes showed a hint of distress.
Geoffrey almost couldn’t control his urge to laugh out loud, but the next moment he heard the other man say, “But the money you took from my purse should be enough to buy several loaves of bread, right?”
Geoffrey’s face changed color, realizing that his arm was firmly grasped in the other’s hand.
“I checked just now, and the purse isn’t on you,” the foreigner said casually. “Did you tie it to a dog?”
Geoffrey didn’t dare to look up. “Sir, what are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it.” The man’s tone wasn’t harsh, but his words made Geoffrey tremble with fear. “Your little partner is so obedient. It must love you very much. If it doesn’t find you at the agreed-upon place, it will surely come looking for you, right? After all, a dog’s nose is very sensitive. You see, killing a person requires a bit of mental preparation, but killing a dog requires none at all. It’s still cold out. Have you heard how dog meat should be cooked to taste good? I might need to buy some mint…”
“No!” Being just a child under ten years old, Geoffrey quickly pleaded for mercy. “Please forgive me… I’ll return the things to you. Please forgive me!”
“I am not an unreasonable person,” the foreigner smiled. “You just shouldn’t have tried to rob me. When I was your age…”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Geoffrey, firmly grasped by him, had no choice but to lead the man forward. The old district was like a decaying spider web. Just two streets in, and there were no more streetlights. If Geoffrey could escape for just five seconds and darted into any alley, given the complexity of the roads and the darkness, no one would find him again. But the man’s grip was tight, and Geoffrey found no opportunity. As they got closer to his hideout, Geoffrey deliberately slowed his steps, about to say something, when suddenly the man behind him pulled him back.
A grown man and a child stopped in the pitch-dark alley. Geoffrey was about to speak when his mouth was suddenly covered. Forced against the cold, damp wall, he instinctively tried to struggle, but found himself tightly restrained, unable to compete with an adult man. He could only allow himself to be half-carried, half-dragged forward—this almost combat-ready action came very suddenly, but Geoffrey almost immediately realized it was not directed at him.
Before they could leave the alley, he smelled something odd.
A faint, damp smell of blood mixed with the alcohol scent from the foreigner’s palm, both carried together by the night wind into his nose.
On a moonless night, ordinary human eyes could hardly see much without light, but other senses became surprisingly sensitive.
Like sound and smell.
Geoffrey heard some broken voices, almost sure they came from about thirty steps away in Willow Lane, just around the corner from his private base.
But this was strange because Willow Lane was a dead end, just a corner formed by neighboring uneven houses. It had a name because the previous officer wanted to solve the problem of drunks relieving themselves and residents dumping trash there. It was an aborted plan that now only left a row of exceedingly narrow awnings, and even in daylight, it was almost the darkest corner.
Who was there?
Geoffrey’s heart pounded wildly. The blood smell in front of them was clearly stronger than here, and as he strained to decipher what those people were saying, the foreigner suddenly pushed him into his coat, completely cutting off the already faint voices.
“Why can’t I go down?” Columbus sat by the window, desolately peering through the glass at the newsboys below. “There must be big news… Ah, is that Eugene?”
At a street corner, a newsboy was surrounded by a crowd of mostly well-dressed gentlemen and several servants buying newspapers for their masters. A man in a wool shawl loudly said to those around him, “When that woman was found, her belly was slit open—it could be a wild beast…”
“How could there be wild beasts in the city?” The man beside him couldn’t help but argue. “These days are not peaceful. We shouldn’t let women go out after dark.”
Eugene, his face half-covered with a scarf to discreetly mask his darker skin compared to the locals, managed to buy a newspaper successfully. But then, a stone, seemingly from nowhere, hit his headscarf hard enough to startle him.
He looked up and saw the familiar bright colors of the tin soldier through a window across the street.
“Can painted eyes see especially far?” Eugene grumbled hoarsely as he entered the building, impatiently unwrapping his headscarf and heaving a deep breath. “I thought a bird had landed on my ear…”
“Eugene!” The tin soldier who opened the door for him was exuberant. “It was me who spotted you! But the stone was thrown by Shivers!
The tall Knight Commander smiled and motioned for Columbus to close the door. “What’s the matter? Wandering the streets in broad daylight?”
Eugene sneaked a glance at the tightly closed bedroom door, thinking but not daring to say aloud, “The highly sought-after beauty isn’t me.”
Who knows which noble’s mind was heated by rumors. Since the Duke of Brandenburg entered the city, the inn had been subjected to soldier inspections twice. These days, it was difficult even for Dwight to step out of his room without concealing his face, much less think of leaving the city by any route, which only added to the Duke’s irritation.
“Eugene! Where’s Charlie?” Columbus circled Eugene as if the shopkeeper was hidden in Eugene’s coat.
“We’ve rented two rooms at ‘Full Moon’ in Dog Tail’s Alley,” Eugene quickly explained. “The shopkeeper asked me to wander around the city tonight, trying to keep a low profile as we get closer to the witch’s domain.”
Since arriving in Doran, Charlie had indeed toned down his usually flamboyant demeanor and rarely left the carriage—Columbus was the same. It seemed that no matter what was said, he was quite wary of Elena and didn’t want to expose himself prematurely.
To Eugene, however, staying confined to a room, with food delivered only to the door, seemed overly cautious.
But Eugene didn’t voice this thought either—somehow, despite the shopkeeper’s friendly demeanor, which was a stark contrast to the ever-critical and temperamental Duke, Eugene felt an inexplicable respect for him. When Charlie arranged tasks with a kindly but firm tone, Eugene followed without questioning.
Shivers, however, agreed with the shopkeeper’s approach. In fact, while the Duke of Brandenburg was confined to the inn, he and Eugene played roles in gathering information, though due to different backgrounds, their methods and locales varied significantly, as did the restrictions they faced.
But some information didn’t require deep integration into the crowds.
“Although the plans have deviated slightly from the original track, this trip isn’t without merit,” said the tall Knight Commander. “In fact, it was fortunate we passed through the capital, as everyone here is discussing how, from Cross Street to the royal palace, the area is beginning to be militarized in preparation for the arrival of dignitaries.”
Columbus added, “Because of the king’s birthday! All the nobles will come to the capital, bringing wines, gems, precious silks, and the finest dwarven crafts—this is King Tifa’s third birthday since his coronation, and I’ve heard the previous two were very, very lively.”
The little tin soldier, with his painted features, looked forward with anticipation as if he could already see the streets filled with flowers, the grand processions moving from Cross Street to the palace, and beautiful young women in their finest clothes singing and dancing, filling the air with the scents of noblewomen’s powders and exotic spices.
Eugene poured himself tea and finally settled into a high-backed wooden chair. “I heard about this too. That’s why the shopkeeper wanted me to find you quickly. If things go smoothly, we could save a lot of time and effort. He was worried you might get stuck in some corner, avoiding the soldier’s inspections.”
“A city guard doesn’t have that much power, although the innkeeper did face some questioning. But when it comes to control over the capital, no one can exceed the king,” Shivers said calmly. “As long as we act discreetly, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Actually, Dwight himself didn’t take the absurd “wanted” situation seriously. If it had been an order from the king himself, it might have posed a real problem, but as a city guard, especially during King Tifa’s birthday, the motives were transparent to the Duke and the Knight Commander.
“So, we’ll decide to stay in the capital for now,” Shivers declared. “Until—”
He paused, noticing that Eugene stiffened slightly at the mention of staying.
“…What’s wrong?” Shivers asked.
In the past, in Lemena, someone of Shivers’ status and position would never have crossed paths with a lowly thief like Eugene, let alone observed him so closely.
But since Eugene joined their journeying party, even though Duke Dwight routinely mocked him, the young lord mocked everyone, so in a way, he treated Eugene no differently than others, not as a slave or an inferior servant. Though uneducated, greedy, and vulgar, Eugene wasn’t entirely without merit; he was stubborn, loyal, and often a bit foolish—but overall, not a bad person.
Thus, Shivers unconsciously began to see Eugene as one of their own, perhaps without even realizing how much he had changed along the way.
Eugene hesitated for a moment.
The tin soldier also sensed something and ran up to him. “Eugene, what happened?”
“About this matter, the shopkeeper wanted me to explain it personally to the Duke.” Eugene lowered his head, hiding his expression under his unkempt, shaggy beard.
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