IBWMD 67

~Chapter 67~

‘Gasp.’

Zion hurriedly covered his mouth. Then, he stole another glance in that direction.

‘It really is the Chief Priest.’

Even with his face and robes hidden under a hooded cloak, that slender frame and the cleft in his chin made it unmistakable.

Thankfully, the Chief Priest hadn’t heard him mumbling. He was too busy glaring at the plump man across from him, his fists trembling in fury.

“You blasphemous wretch. If you keep that up…!”

“What, you gonna feed me that too, huh?”

“……”

“Go on then. Let’s see how that turns out.”

The Chief Priest fell silent for a moment.

The plump man shrugged mockingly and opened his mouth again.

“Anyway, quit whining. We’ve narrowed down the search area through steady tracking, and the mages are working hard too.”

Mages?

Now that he thought about it, they had mentioned mages earlier.

Why would they need to use mages’ mana instead of the temple’s holy power?

‘What on earth are they searching for?’

The chubby man chuckled and added:

“Apparently the target’s finally alone today. We’ve already sent someone.”

“……”

“By tomorrow, we’ll probably have her in custody.”

Something about his tone was off.

No matter how you sliced it, they sounded like members of a secret organization about to carry out an assassination.

Surely not the Chief Priest. No way he would be involved in something like that… right?

“We must succeed.”

“Of course. Today, no matter what—”

The two spoke those ominous words and walked away.

Zion remained frozen for a while even after they left, then awkwardly wriggled his massive frame out of the cramped stacks with a clunk.

“…What is all this about?”

He could tell instinctively that it wasn’t something trivial.

And it wasn’t something he should keep to himself, either.

But Zion’s brain rarely worked well unless it involved doctrine or scripture.

Now resembling a gorilla without his glasses, Zion tilted his head in confusion.

“Hmmm.”

It’s always best to keep thinking to a minimum.

And even better if someone else can do the thinking for you.

“Time to ask a smart person.”

All the smart people Zion knew were in the capital.

A familiar young man with brown hair came to mind—someone he missed dearly—but…

‘He probably quit being a Holy Knight.’

Maybe by now, he’d married a nice, respectable person.

Then who could he ask for advice on something like this…?

“Where is Lady Istar these days, anyway?”

* * *

Flash.

When I opened my eyes, the dark night sky peeked through the closed curtains.

Just then, Beth entered the room and widened her eyes in surprise when she saw me.

“You went to bed early today—how unusual.”

“I just closed my eyes for a bit.”

“You might as well have slept until morning. I heard you had a rough day.”

“Mm.”

“You didn’t even eat dinner. You must’ve been really exhausted.”

“Seems like it.”

I gave a short reply and glanced at the clock.

‘Slept about two hours.’

Good. Just as I’d calculated.

After returning to the inn, I had taken a proper wash and gone straight to bed.

There’s no such thing as an alarm clock in this world, so I’d been worried about oversleeping.

‘I guess standing night watch during knight training came in handy.’

I could still feel the dampness in my hair as I got up from bed.

Beth, who had gone over to pick up my outerwear near the bathroom, sighed deeply when she noticed my sweat-soaked clothes.

“You work so hard… That Duke better appreciate it.”

“Looks like you are working just as hard though.”

“Me?”

“You know, this is the kind of thing staff members could do instead.”

I added as I looked at Beth’s arms, which were carrying my outerwear.

She had been personally washing my dirty clothes every morning, no matter how filthy they got.

Why?

“Well, I just don’t trust the staff here.”

“Still?”

“Yep. Still.”

It was probably on the first day I’d been assigned this lodging.

Whether by accident or on purpose, my laundry had come back with strange stains on it.

Beth had been furious, insisting it was discrimination against outsiders. Ever since, she’d insisted on doing it herself.

‘Not that Beth is especially good at laundry…’

Sometimes the fabric came back wrinkled or not quite clean.

But I’d raised Beth gently as a maid, so it was only natural—and I wasn’t particularly dissatisfied.

If anything, I just thought she needed to marry a man good at housework.

That aside…

‘Washing and drying clothes like that must be exhausting.’

That was probably one of the main reasons Beth had such trouble getting up in the mornings.

“…Sorry.”

I apologized sincerely, and Beth blinked at me in surprise.

“What are you sorry for? This is all part of my job.”

Even as she said that, it pained me to see her holding that heavy basket with those thin arms.

“…You were just thinking my arms look like toothpicks, weren’t you?”

Beth shot me a glare while flexing her forearms.

To me, though, she just looked like a grandkid who didn’t get to eat during a holiday feast.

On a normal day, I probably would’ve carried that laundry basket to the laundry room myself…

“Sorry, Beth.”

I sighed, ignoring the pricking of my conscience.

“I don’t think I can carry the laundry tonight.”

“That’s fine. You should keep resting, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Don’t feel bad. You think I can’t carry something like this? Back when I was picking pockets in the capital, I ran through alleys with way more weight on me…”

“You took ten steps and I caught you.”

“That’s just because you’re amazing.”

“I was only ten back then—”

“Doesn’t matter. You’ve always been amazing.”

Beth swiftly switched gears as if I had some kind of teleportation magic, hoisting the basket with surprising energy.

“Anyway! Rest well!”

“Yeah. See you soon.”

I watched her leave with a lingering sense of guilt…

Thud.

…and the moment she was gone, I sprang up and locked the door behind her.

Click. The lock engaged with a satisfying sound, and only then did I feel at ease.

“Alright.”

Laundry would take a while. I had even made sure to get some clothes extra dirty on purpose.

“Let’s begin.”

I arranged the cushions on the bed to make it look like someone was sleeping under the blanket.

On the nightstand beside the bed, I saw the snow globe Cal had given me. The musket he’d gifted me was there too.

“Hm.”

Didn’t want to risk damaging them.

I rubbed the snow globe, tucked it into my chest, and picked up the musket.

“Hoo…”

Then I blew out the candle, picked up a water bottle and a handkerchief, and stepped into the wardrobe.

Leaving the door just slightly ajar.

‘Feels like I’m filming some kind of spy movie.’

There was a reason I was going through all this.

I thought back to earlier, when Eliza and Tan had come to see me on my way back to the inn…

* * *

“An assassin guild from the back alleys is targeting me?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

Eliza, face pale, looked around cautiously and whispered.

“As you asked, I’ve been trying to get close to the higher-ups. So lately, I’ve been visiting not just the pickpocket guild but some of the others too.”

“I told you not to do anything dangerous.”

“That’s not the point! I ended up stopping by the assassin guild for a bit and…”

She said she saw a portrait of me on one of their request boards.

A portrait with a knife stabbed right through the face.

That was how the assassin guild marked its targets.

“I wanted to find out more, but their guards were too tight. I couldn’t.”

“You don’t know why they marked me?”

“Not a clue. But…”

“Since you’re not from Saint Portou, the assassins might show you even less mercy!”

Tan chimed in next.

Apparently overwhelmed with worry, both of them began scolding me non-stop.

“That guy who’s always with you—where is he? Bring him here, at least!”

“Yeah! Call that big guy!”

“You saw me land from the rooftop and crack the ground open, and you’re still saying that? I’m fine on my own.”

At that, Tan flailed his arms in frustration.

“No, I meant use him as a shield when fighting the assassins!”

“…”

“His body looks like it can’t even be cut by a sword! If you have to fight, might as well do it comfortably!”

“He’s right. When I punched him once, it felt like hitting a boulder. He’d be useful.”

So… that’s what they meant by calling him.

…I did feel a little guilty. I had used Cal as a human shield a few times myself.

Now though, I’d probably feel a little bad if he got hurt.

‘Even just watching him get a headache had me feeling miserable.’

Still, it’s true—he was solid enough to be called a walking shield.

But then, some parts of him were softer than expected, and he ran warm too. And his chest was…

‘Stop.’

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts starting to spiral out of control.

This is not the time. There was a much more pressing matter.

‘Why would an assassin guild go out of its way to target me?’

What had made me their mark?

‘If they’re putting people on the job to catch me…’

Then either someone bore a grudge or had some specific motive.

‘Let’s consider grudges first.’

Who would benefit if I disappeared…?

I started ticking off the names of those noble brats and knight scumbags back in the capital who got a knee to the groin from me.

‘Don’t think any of them were actually turned impotent…’

Aside from them, there were plenty of people I’d clashed with before I came to my senses.

But surely none of them would go so far as to send a hit job all the way out to Saint Portou.

‘…Although there is one person who might benefit from my disappearance, if things had gone the way they were supposed to.’

My husband.

Duke Caylen Silence.