🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 15
For many years, the color she had never seen outside the mirror.
At the unexpected discovery, Xia’s eyes widened.
The man and the child vanished into the back alley in an instant.
“A survivor in a place like this…?”
The thought made it impossible for her to stay still any longer.
Just as Xia was about to chase the two mysterious figures, Louis grabbed her arm.
“Xia? What’s wrong? Where are you going?”
Ah, right. She wasn’t alone right now.
Hiding the tremor in her voice as best she could, Xia quickly devised a plan to get this guy out of her way.
“Louis… isn’t Ellie waiting at the clock tower?”
Louis’s face turned bright red in an instant.
He never would have dreamed that the carefully hidden name of his lover would come up here.
“Y-You… how do you know that name?!”
How do I know? Because I’ve seen the future where, before you graduate, you screw up and become a father.
To think I’d end up using knowledge from a time traveler in a moment like this… Xia quietly suggested in a lowered voice.
“It’s a festival after all. Want to go see her for a bit?”
“What?! N-No, what if someone sees us…?”
“It’s fine. If any instructor shows up, I’ll tell them you’re in the bathroom. It’ll only take an hour or two.”
Louis looked worried, but he soon plunged into the crowd.
“Oh, youth. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Xia muttered words that made her sound like an old lady, then started running in another direction.
By the time Xia entered the back alley to follow them, the two had already disappeared.
But she didn’t give up and ran along the dark path.
Turning the third corner, she finally saw a white robe fluttering at the far end.
“Got you!”
The man and the child vanished again almost immediately, but Xia had already figured out roughly where they had turned.
Racing along the dark street to the same spot, Xia held her breath and hid behind a wall.
Nearby, she could see the man in the robe speaking discreetly with another man.
“I brought it safely, so give me 10%.”
“What are you talking about? The payment is supposed to be given after the auction ends. If you want it, wait inside until it’s over. And just so you know, transport costs are 8% of the total.”
“Still, these rich nobles are stingy. So much money, and yet…”
Grumbling, the man in the robe handed over the child.
Soon, they disappeared down stairs leading to the underground, out of sight.
A slave black market. Xia could hardly believe she was witnessing this with her own eyes.
Judging from the situation, a slave auction was happening beneath those stairs, and the child she had just seen was clearly brought by a broker to be sold.
Her heart thumped violently.
“The silver-haired child is down there… maybe even a survivor I didn’t know about.”
The thought made it impossible for her to stand still.
Xia quickly ran back the way she had come.
In no time, she burst out of the alley into the bustling plaza and came to a stop.
Panting heavily, she quickly scanned her surroundings.
Festive music, merchants selling food, couples laughing together.
Of course, there was no place here that had proper weapons.
A wooden sword won’t do. Weapons, weapons… even a dagger at least…
Xia clutched the wooden sword strapped to her waist, anxiously looking around.
Normally, she would report to her superiors and follow their orders. But there was no time.
By the time a report reached the higher-ups and orders were issued, that silver-haired child could already have been sold.
She even thought she might have to grab a metal skewer from a food stall if it came to that.
Just then, a clear, mid-low voice reached her through the noisy crowd.
“Ermodian, what are you doing here?”
Raising her head, Xia saw Gilliard in uniform right in front of her.
He looked at her face and asked, as if sensing something,
“Is something wrong?”
In a way, his appearance was perfect timing.
According to protocol, Xia should have found him and reported first.
“…I discovered a slave black market.”
At the sensitive words, Gilliard glanced around briefly. As expected, he immediately ordered Xia to give a precise report.
“Explain the situation, Ermodian—when and where you saw it. Then coordinate with the knights…”
“Coordinate with the knights? Get permission to deploy them, check the personnel, then only after all that you’re going to raid the place? How long do you expect me to wait? There’s no time… They’ll run the moment they smell the knights!”
Her urgency made her words short, but Gilliard had no time to worry about her tone.
“If I don’t act now, I’ll lose the chance to find my kin forever. I can’t allow that.”
He could feel the shock in her wide eyes.
Xia clenched and unclenched her fists, continuing to shout.
“So, I have to go now. Don’t you have any weapons? Lend me one!”
“You want to storm in right now? Who knows who’s in there? I can’t allow you to go alone.”
“Then what, just sit here and wait for orders? I can’t do that!”
She tightened her fists. Permissions and rules no longer mattered.
Xia was ready to throw a punch at any moment and return to the scene.
Maybe I’ll be the fire-fist instead of the charismatic scissor-hand… with a side of restraint.
She had barely thought that when Gilliard sighed deeply and shook his head.
“Ermodian, did you hear me correctly? I said I can’t allow you to go alone.”
“…What?”
“You can’t go alone. So I’ll go with you.”
Xia blinked in disbelief at what she heard.
Her clenched fists suddenly felt ridiculous.
“Y-You… are going with me, right now?”
“Yes. But first, there’s something we need to prepare. Follow me.”
Gilliard turned and walked off briskly.
Dumbfounded, Xia had no choice but to follow, keeping her hands raised, ready to fight at any moment.
Beyond the brightly lit, crowded plaza, Gilliard stopped in front of a shop.
Seeing the mannequins in the window, Xia realized it was a women’s boutique.
“No way…”
She couldn’t believe her eyes. Was he really going to tell her to go in and buy clothes now? Who had time for leisurely shopping?
“Instructor, I don’t think this is the time. We need to go to the site immediately…”
Gilliard shook his head calmly.
Unlike anxious Xia, he seemed relaxed.
“Slave auctions usually start at 9 PM. We still have time.”
“What? How do you—”
“The slave black market has been tracked even by the knights, so we have some intel. Most nobles attending bring a partner… like a hidden lover.”
So at that auction, they’d buy a slave to give to their lover? She understood without needing further explanation.
“Still… knowing that doesn’t mean we should buy clothes…”
“If you want to advertise your status as a knight candidate and deliberately get stabbed, I won’t stop you.”
With that, Gilliard opened the shop door.
Ding! The bell rang, and the shop owner cheerfully greeted the guests.
“Welcome! Oh my, what a perfect couple visiting us!”
A “perfect couple.”
Xia got goosebumps at the unfamiliar phrase.
For some reason, Gilliard didn’t respond positively or negatively to the owner’s words.
Watching him, Xia’s mind went into utter confusion.
“Has he finally lost it? Is this really the Gilliard I know?”
No matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, the man before her was the same Gilliard she knew.
The guardian who had always hurt her with harsh words and cold eyes.
Feeling as though she were seeing a ghost, Xia turned her gaze to the shop.
Perhaps taking advantage of the festival, the shop’s interior was full of lavishly designed clothes.
Ribbons, frills, lace, necklaces, brooches…
Clothes Xia would never find in her wardrobe of uniforms, pajamas, shirts, and pants, and certainly never thought to wear in the future. She even felt dizzy just looking at them.
No, she agreed she had to change clothes, but this wasn’t the right place.
She tried to suggest an alternative to her guardian, but before she could finish, Gilliard spoke to the shop owner.
“Madam, do you carry men’s clothing as well?”
The shop owner’s eyes sparkled, thinking he would be a good customer.
“Of course, Monsieur. We have clothes for you in the back.”
“In that case, the price doesn’t matter…”
Gilliard’s gaze shifted to Xia as he finished speaking.
Locking eyes, he concluded, in a clear voice:
“Make it obvious to anyone who sees us that we are a couple.”
