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Chapter 8
“Dan Brown.”
“Y-Yes…! Yes!”
“Let go of that hand right now.”
Dan was startled by his superior’s growling voice and quickly released the hand he had been gripping. Finally free thanks to Hayden’s single command, Ivenne held her aching wrist and rotated it carefully.
“Are you alright?”
In a completely different tone from the fierce voice he had used on Dan, Hayden spoke gently to Ivenne.
“I’m fine.”
“Your wrist is swollen. It looks like it might bruise.”
Not knowing what to say, Ivenne kept her mouth shut and only continued rubbing her wrist. Hayden kept staring at her.
Dan looked at the scene with disbelief.
Captain! This is not the time to worry about that crazy lady!
Dan, whose head was bruised, bleeding, and full of scratches, screamed inwardly in frustration.
That crazy lady is only pretending to be innocent in front of you! And you’re actually falling for it?!
Captain, you fool! You don’t even know her! Earlier you only glared at me!
Dan felt so wronged he could jump in anger. Still, he admitted the misunderstanding made sense. From the outside, he looked like a strong knight while she looked like a delicate noble lady. The situation was completely against him.
Damn it. This is so unfair!
Sure, she looked delicate. But what was she actually like?
The way she cursed at him calling him a “crazy bastard,” and the way she beat him up, clearly showed experience. Dan wanted to yell that it was all a misunderstanding, that this woman was genuinely insane, but he barely held himself back. Instead, he stared intensely at his captain.
Please ask me. Please ask me. Please ask me.
“Dan Brown.”
“Yes!”
“Explain.”
That’s it! I knew it! Justice always wins!
Their captain simply didn’t know the truth yet. Soon, Dan’s completely objective report would expose this crazy stalker spy.
“Captain! This crazy— no! This woman is definitely either your stalker or a spy!”
Dan declared confidently while snorting angrily.
Hearing that, Ivenne looked up at the sky as if she had given up and muttered quietly,
“I told you already, I’m not.”
Hayden’s eyebrow twitched.
“What nonsense are you talking about, Dan Brown?”
“It’s not nonsense! I saw it with my own eyes!”
Saw what exactly?
Ivenne stared at Dan in disbelief. He said he “saw clearly,” yet even after she showed him the Magic Tower insignia and ring, he still refused to believe her. If that counted as seeing clearly, then the redhead urgently needed his eyes replaced.
“She lied calmly, saying she had an appointment with you at five! But you were away supervising knight training! And then she claimed she came from the Magic Tower! There aren’t even any female mages in the Tower right now! She even forged the Tower insignia! And she kept insisting that ordinary gemstone ring was a Magic Tower ring!”
“Hmph. Good thing I have such sharp eyes. Anyone else would’ve been fooled.”
Dan proudly added that last part with a smug little cough.
If he had even a little awareness, he would have noticed his superior’s expression gradually turning colder and colder. But Dan, whose brain had apparently abandoned all common sense under the slogan “Defeat the Crazy Noble Lady!”, noticed nothing.
“And the most suspicious thing was the document envelope she brought! When I said I should inspect it, she claimed it was classified documents that only the captain could see. As if that makes any sen—”
“Wait. A document envelope?”
“Yes! It was incredibly suspicious! The moment I touched it, it disappeared!”
“Very suspicious, right? Right, Captain?”
As Dan looked at him with sparkling eyes and snorted proudly, Hayden felt a headache coming on.
He had only been ten minutes late, yet somehow his subordinate had managed to commit this level of rudeness and chaos against a member of the Magic Tower.
She had identified herself properly and even shown clear proof like the Tower insignia and ring, yet this idiot still couldn’t tell whether they were real or fake.
So that’s why the two of them looked like that earlier… and why Dan was in such a terrible state.
Honestly, Dan should have been beaten even more.
And this idiot touched a package he was told not to touch.
He had even caused an accident involving classified documents.
Hayden glanced at Ivenne beside him. She was glaring at Dan with murderous eyes unlike anything she had shown during previous errands.
Meanwhile, oblivious as ever, Dan continued enthusiastically,
“My point exactly! Isn’t she suspicious?! We should interrogate her immediately!”
“Dan Brown.”
“Yes, Captain! Shall I drag her to the interrogation room?”
Dan’s eyes sparkled brightly.
Seeing that, Hayden ground his teeth and snarled,
“Shut your mouth.”
At the fierce response, Dan quickly sucked his lips inward and shut up. Hayden sighed quietly.
“Dan. That document envelope had security magic placed on it so the contents would disappear if touched by anyone other than myself or this Magic Tower member here. So yes, it is true that only I could view it.”
“Right, security magic… Wait, what?!”
Dan’s mouth dropped open in shock.
Beside him, Ivenne clicked her tongue inwardly.
You wouldn’t believe me when I said it.
True, she hadn’t specifically mentioned the security magic. But she had clearly said it was confidential documents only Commander Roelrn could see, which basically meant don’t touch it.
He trusted every word from his captain without question, yet ignored everything she said despite all her proof.
Ivenne genuinely wondered how this red-haired idiot had become a member of the empire’s prestigious First Knight Order with eyesight and instincts that terrible.
And earlier he wouldn’t stop talking either.
Trash-level judgment. And a complete blabbermouth.
If he were ever captured as a prisoner, he would probably spill military secrets immediately. At this rate, if the empire ever fell, it would surely be because of him.
Ivenne internally continued her brutal evaluation of Dan.
For a moment, she seriously considered stuffing one of the rocks she had thrown earlier into his annoying open mouth to shut him up forever.
But since Commander Roelrn was present, she forced herself to endure it with the tiny amount of patience she had left.
It’s not like I did everything perfectly either.
Technically, protecting the confidential documents to the very end had been her duty too.
Honestly, she had grown careless because these errands had always been easy.
She also couldn’t completely escape blame herself.
And besides…
Ivenne glanced at the man in front of her.
His eyebrows were raised sharply, and his face was slightly red as he tried to suppress his anger.
Seeing that, she decided to stay especially quiet and polite.
“You really did have an appointment with me at five, and she truly is a member sent from the Magic Tower. Naturally, the Tower insignia was real. The Tower ring goes without saying.”
“Do you understand now just how rude your actions were?”
Hayden spoke through clenched teeth while trying to control his anger.
Dan’s face turned pale as sweat dripped down him.
Watching from beside him, Ivenne clicked her tongue inwardly again.
He’s definitely going to get destroyed after I leave.
Wait… am I going to get scolded too?
She had seen Commander Roelrn’s expressionless face in many forms before, but this was her first time seeing him genuinely angry.
She had planned to apologize and quietly fix things before the Tower Master found out. But now she worried that the furious commander might also scold her and even complain directly to the Tower Master.
And if that happened, she would get absolutely destroyed a second time by the enraged Tower Master.
“But…”
As Dan started speaking again, Hayden shot him a terrifying glare clearly meaning don’t say another useless word.
At the same time, Ivenne whipped her head around and glared at him just as fiercely, silently telling him not to anger his superior any further.
Hit by murderous stares from both front and side, Dan flinched unconsciously.
“But why were you hiding behind that huge tree…”
Fighting through the terrifying pressure, Dan muttered weakly in a tearful voice.
Hayden raised one eyebrow, confused.
Ivenne clenched her teeth.
Why did this idiot have to bring that up…
“Behind a huge tree?”
“Yes. She was hiding there.”
“Why would you do that…?”
As Hayden’s questioning gaze landed on her, Ivenne awkwardly laughed.
“Ah… haha. Well… there were unfamiliar noble ladies standing in front of the knight order headquarters, so without thinking, I just…”
“…hid.”
“I’m actually shy around strangers.”
Dan stared at her like he had just heard the most ridiculous statement of his life.
Hayden raised an eyebrow.
“Noble ladies?”
What is this about now?
Dan immediately regained his confidence and loudly explained,
“Captain, your stalkers came again! And this time they even brought—”
Dan was about to continue talking about the love potion cookies and how the checkpoint guards accepting bribes needed punishment, but he stopped after noticing Ivenne staring blankly at him.
Even he realized it wasn’t appropriate to discuss that in front of a third party.
“Ahem. I’ll report the details later.”
“Very well. Dan, apologize to Member Haiwen first. Whatever the reason, you were still in the wrong.”
At his superior’s order, Dan immediately straightened himself and bowed toward Ivenne.
Even if she had turned him into this miserable state, it was still true that his misunderstanding had caused her trouble.
At least she didn’t use magic.
So her earlier threat about “going easy on him” had apparently been true.
Mages were known for attacking first with magic before thinking about anything else. And judging by her horrible temper, she was probably among the worst of them.
Compared to that, only using her fists really did count as mercy.
“I deeply apologize for my disrespect toward you, Mage. I didn’t know there were female mages in the current Magic Tower. From now on—”
Hayden frowned.
“Dan. What are you talking about?”
“…What?”
“Member Haiwen is not a mage.”
“…Then what is she?”
“She’s an alchemist. So apologize properly again—”
“WAAAAH! T-The Magic Tower Princess?!”
Dan finally realized Ivenne’s true identity and nearly screamed in terror.
