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Chapter 26
Scarlet and Andrei returned to the clock shop. But when they arrived, several men were sitting in front of the store, dozing off.
“Huh? Aren’t you tram drivers?”
At Scarlet’s voice, the two children who had been sleeping nearby—Charlie and Susan—woke up immediately and ran over.
“Scarlet!”
“Some scary men tried to break the glass yesterday!”
“So Susan told her dad?”
“Yeah! So we all stayed here guarding the place!”
“…Oh my goodness.”
It seemed Evil Crimson had been planning to harm them.
Scarlet hugged the two children tightly, then looked at the tram drivers, who were slowly waking up and stretching.
“So you stayed here all night?”
“You risked your life to help us, miss. Staying up a few nights is nothing!”
“That’s right. I mean, what kind of guys try to mess with your shop? And—ah, don’t cry again, you’ll make us uncomfortable.”
Scarlet’s eyes welled up with tears from gratitude, and the drivers looked awkward.
So instead of crying, she smiled brightly.
“I’m not crying. I just yawned because it’s morning. Anyway, thank you so much.”
“We’ll take turns patrolling for a while, so don’t worry.”
The tram drivers left after saying that. Charlie and Susan clung to Scarlet, refusing to leave, but were eventually dragged away by their father, and the shop became quiet again.
Andrei opened the shop door and said,
“Could you stop causing trouble, boss?”
“What trouble did I even cause?”
At her words, Andrei looked at her seriously.
Scarlet flinched and replied awkwardly,
“Fine, fine.”
Then she went inside.
She grabbed a newspaper from downstairs and went up to the workshop. It was her routine to read the paper before starting work, and there was an article about Crimson Watches.
[Crimson Watch Main Branch Temporarily Closed]
[Tax Investigation of Evil Crimson Inevitable]
“What?”
Her eyes widened as she read further.
It stated that a tax investigation into Crimson Watches had begun.
As she read carefully, one sentence caught her eye:
[Customers are increasingly complaining that Crimson Watches have recently been breaking down more frequently.]
“See? I knew it. There’s something wrong with the watches.”
Muttering to herself, Scarlet closed the newspaper and went downstairs.
When she reached the first floor, Andrei—who had just opened the shop—asked,
“Why are you coming down already? Are you hungry?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Do you know how much backlog we have right now? We’re really in a rush.”
At his urging, Scarlet looked embarrassed.
“Um… I hate to say this after all that, but I think I need to go to the south.”
“What?”
Andrei frowned sharply, making Scarlet flinch, but she continued.
“I can’t help it. I need to check whether the Crimson parts are defective.”
“Hey, boss.”
“The number of broken watches is increasing. And these are watches that shouldn’t be breaking. Andrei, you also want Crimson Watches to last long and prosper, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“In the long term, this is necessary work.”
Andrei let out a long, tired sigh.
“Well… you’re not wrong. But if you go all the way south, it’ll take at least two weeks. What about the orders piling up in the meantime?”
“I’ll stay up all night every day before I go.”
“Do you really have to go that far?”
“Yes. It’s about product quality. If you run a watch shop, quality comes first.”
At her clear-eyed determination, Andrei sighed again and looked out at the blue sky through the window instead of the alcohol he suddenly felt like drinking.
“This isn’t how it was supposed to go.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing.”
Then he nodded.
“Yes. You’re right, boss. I admit it.”
“Really?”
“Honestly, at first I planned to run this business however I wanted.”
“…Andrei, you already are.”
At her words, Andrei coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem. Anyway. That was the plan, but compared to me, you’re much more serious about professional ethics. A long journey for quality improvement—I respect it.”
“It’s not really a long journey, but thanks. I’ll go.”
“Then first—”
Andrei clapped his hands.
“Go upstairs and work immediately.”
At that, Scarlet burst out laughing and nodded. Then she rushed upstairs to finish the orders quickly.
Shortly after, a customer entered the shop, and Andrei greeted him politely.
“Good morning, sir. Welcome.”
But the man tried to head straight upstairs without even responding.
Andrei blocked his way.
“Sorry, but customers can’t go to the second floor—oh, you’re not a customer.”
He caught the man’s fist mid-air with his hand. While the man was startled, Andrei covered his mouth with the other hand and slammed him against the wall in front of the fireplace.
Embers from the fireplace flew and hit the man’s face, making him struggle.
“You really get all kinds of strange people in the morning. I wonder if our boss knows how much trouble this is.”
Then Andrei gestured to two young men who were peeking inside, sensing something was wrong.
When they entered, Andrei said,
“You were sent by Lord Dümfelt, weren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“You’re terrible at your job. If it were me, I’d fire you.”
Because they couldn’t let Scarlet find out, they had limits in how they operated as escorts. Still, the two young men looked embarrassed at his criticism.
Andrei lifted the man effortlessly by the face and threw him toward them.
“Then take care of it.”
“Um… who are you exactly?”
At that, Andrei frowned.
“Can’t you see? I’m an employee at a watch shop.”
“But…”
“Ah, just leave. Or should I call the boss?”
“N-no, sir!”
The young men quickly dragged the intruder out. The man seemed highly trained, as it took both of them a struggle to restrain him.
Andrei watched them with disdain, then calmly returned to his work.
* * *
Three days later, Scarlet finished preparing for her trip south.
She had stayed up all night for three days straight, and she was so sleep-deprived that she would collapse the moment someone touched her. If Andrei hadn’t taken her to the train station, she might have missed the train.
While Scarlet focused on work, Andrei had packed her luggage perfectly.
He said,
“I packed mostly things you can throw away. Just use them and discard them. You’ll probably bring back more on your return anyway.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“I feel like a nanny at this point, but I did it myself, so I have no choice.”
Scarlet smiled and nodded.
Andrei boarded the train with her and checked the first-class compartment he had personally reserved.
“Well, this should let you sleep comfortably the whole way.”
First class had attendants who handled luggage separately, so Andrei had already arranged everything. He placed cushions and a blanket to make the seat comfortable for sleeping.
Scarlet said,
“You really are like a nanny.”
“That’s the idea. Like oiling a high-end clock mechanism.”
At his joke, Scarlet lightly hit his arm. Andrei laughed, and so did she.
“I’m going. Take care of the shop.”
“Yes, boss.”
Andrei said goodbye and got off the train. Scarlet, feeling proud again that she had personally recruited him, fell asleep almost as soon as she sat down.
The train that departed at 10 p.m. traveled eleven hours to the south. At some point, someone woke her.
“Ma’am.”
Scarlet opened her eyes at the call, and the attendant looked relieved.
“I’m sorry. You were sleeping so long, I just wanted to check if you were alright.”
“S-sorry. I’m a heavy sleeper.”
“No, please enjoy your journey.”
The attendant bowed politely and left. Scarlet fanned her flushed face in embarrassment.
Outside, night had passed and morning had already arrived. The clock showed 8 a.m.
“I slept ten hours on the train…”
She murmured, then looked out the window and smiled without realizing it.
Endless plains stretched out—scenery she had never seen in the capital.
“Wow…”
Born and raised entirely in the capital, it was breathtaking to her. She was glad the attendant had woken her so she could see it even briefly.
Soon, the train arrived at the final station. From here, she had to take a carriage.
Scarlet hired one at considerable expense. Fortunately, there was a group heading in a similar direction, so she managed to reach Kohan, a mountain in the Salian range in the far south.
But the real problem began there.
After getting off the carriage, Scarlet looked up at the mountain while holding a large bag meant for collecting pebbles.
Even climbing the mountain seemed impossible. Finding Luse Waterfall, collecting stones, and coming back down all felt like an impossible mission.
“…I must be crazy.”
She sighed deeply.
But this was the perfect opportunity. With the double-propeller incident, she didn’t know when Victor might come to arrest her, so she had to solve this quickly. Her obsessive focus on watches made her feel both ridiculous and proud.
“It’s genetic. Definitely genetic.”
At least this part was undeniably inherited from her parents.
As she tried to climb, she realized there was barely even a path. Eventually, she asked a passing local in Kohan.
“From here, how do I get to Luse Waterfall?”
“Luse Waterfall? That’s the border.”
“Yes, I know. I need to find something there.”
“Soldiers will stop you halfway… but if you really want to go, people usually take this path. The soldiers use it too.”
Following the directions, Scarlet checked the route. There still didn’t seem to be a proper path, but fortunately it matched the old map her parents had once owned.
She thanked him and moved on.
The mountain was rough, and she had to stay alert for snakes or wild beasts. As she climbed, she noticed pebbles similar to those used in Crimson watches.
“This is harsh…”
Evil could easily have had someone collect these instead of doing it this way.
As she walked, she stepped on a downhill slope and slipped.
And someone suddenly grabbed her wrist.
