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Chapter 50
I used the excuse that I wanted to play with the mice so that Gruel would leave me alone with Jidori and the vice-captain mouse, then sent Gruel outside.
{So, what on earth happened?}
Now that even the vice-captain mouse had been caught in just a few days, I couldn’t not ask.
The vice-captain mouse trembled with rage.
{That filthy human—filthier than any rat—dared to kidnap me, Captain!}
{I’m asking why you guys are even here.}
It’s a distance that would take two days of nonstop carriage travel.
At a mouse’s pace, it would take even longer.
{Of course we followed you, Captain!}
{Me?}
{The vice-captain said you were getting farther away all of a sudden. So we hurried and snuck onto the carriage. But then we got caught by some stinking guy!}
I turned to look at the vice-captain mouse.
{How did you know I was going far away?}
{Because you’re the Captain.}
{What?}
{Ah! I don’t know either! How am I supposed to explain that I just felt it?}
The vice-captain mouse shouted angrily.
But my question still wasn’t answered.
{If I leave, you could just be Captain again. Why did you have to follow me?}
{Ha, are you saying you’re abandoning us? Did you forget you beat me down to become Captain?}
No, that’s not what I meant…
The vice-captain mouse didn’t seem interested in hearing me out, barking on his own before turning away.
Jidori came over and whispered quietly.
{The vice-captain likes you, Captain, but can’t say it.}
{Can’t you keep it down?!}
Apparently his ears were still open despite his turned back, because the vice-captain mouse shouted.
{Ah, and thanks for helping me last time. It was a big boost to world domination!}
{Hmph. That’s our specialty, so if you need something again, tell me. Whether I help or not is up to me.}
{That means he will help.}
{Hey, Jidori!}
I’d noticed it before—the vice-captain mouse was a total tsundere.
But as he was stomping toward me, the vice-captain suddenly froze.
{…What is that?}
He was pointing a trembling paw at my neck.
More precisely—at Geumdong.
{A-a-a snake!}
{I thought you were just a bit slow, but you didn’t even notice you had a snake?!}
Jidori, who had been behind me, darted toward the vice-captain.
{I’ll bite it, Captain! You run!}
The vice-captain mouse approached me with grim resolve, teeth clacking like he’d bite down any second, so I frantically waved my hands.
{It’s fine! He’s my pet snake! I’m raising him!}
{…A rat… keeping a snake?}
{Captain, you’re incredible. The best…}
Geumdong stayed calm despite all the commotion.
Jidori and the vice-captain still looked uneasy, keeping a bit of distance.
{Anyway, you’re saying we’ll be staying here for a while?}
{Yeah.}
{Then we should take control of the place. From what I saw earlier, their power isn’t that great.}
{There are mice in this palace?}
I’d thought it was so clean there wouldn’t be any.
The vice-captain clicked his tongue at my question, like it was ridiculous.
{Tsk. Captain, if there are no mice, there’s no life at all. On the other hand, if something can live there, there’ll be mice.}
He stood up.
{Tell that stinky human to stop catching my crew.}
{Uh? Oh, okay.}
{It won’t take long to take over this place. I need to call in the rest of my guys outside, too. Oh, and you should give me a name.}
{Hmm.}
I studied the vice-captain mouse.
His face and body bore many scars, clear evidence of a hard life. Among them, the most striking was a small zigzag scar on his forehead shaped like a lightning bolt.
{…Harry! Your name is Harry now!}
Even after Jidori and the newly named Harry left, I kept marveling at my own naming sense.
Geumdong and Harry.
They suited their names perfectly.
I might actually have a talent for this.
Wishid returned late that evening.
In just half a day, he looked worn out, washing his face as he listened to my story.
“So you made friends with the rats Gruel had and let them go? And that’s why Gruel’s acting like that?”
“Looks like he needed new pets.”
Kaiman spoke elegantly, holding his nose.
Gruel, it seemed, hated water as much as he hated sunlight. That explained his awful stench, which he was unabashedly spreading—over there in the corner of the room.
“Kaiman, just throw him something. Anything.”
“Yes, understood.”
“‘Anything’? Those rats were really my friends…”
“That’s what you think. You just grabbed random animals again, didn’t you? And those animals all tried to run from you, didn’t they? Hm?”
“…”
Gruel admitted it with silence.
Wishid let out a deep sigh.
“Gruel. Animals have a sense of smell too. Go wash.”
“…No!”
Gruel suddenly yelled and bolted from the room.
Wishid and I exchanged looks.
He’s sulking, isn’t he?
He’s sulking.
Kaiman moved quickly to throw the window wide open. Thanks to Gruel’s dislike of the dawn air, we hadn’t even been able to open it.
“Now I can finally breathe.”
He took a deep breath of the crisp early morning air before exhaling.
Looking at the tired Wishid, I asked,
“Jji?”
—How did it go?
“How do you think? I fought like a dog.”
Normally, handling one matter could take anywhere from a few minutes to several days. Massaging his stiff neck, Wishid added,
“It’ll probably be shelved for now, since it might drag on for at least a week. They’ll handle other matters first.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. During that time, the Duke of Persia will keep pressing you.”
Kaiman had a point, but they couldn’t spend days in meetings over the same issue either.
Wishid gave a wry smile.
“He looked about ready to tear me apart before then.”
Overnight, news of the Duke of Persia’s wig incident had spread throughout the imperial palace.
Wishid even joked that probably even the birds flying past the palace knew about it.
“I thought he’d be too embarrassed to show up, but he still came. Guess that’s how much he wants the Holy Land.”
Wishid spoke indifferently.
At this point, I wasn’t even sure he actually wanted the right to conquer the Holy Land—he looked more annoyed than eager.
Why does he even want it?
He didn’t seem passionate about it at all. Even if someone ordered him to do it, they’d probably show more enthusiasm than this.
“Starting today, we’ll probably have nighttime visitors.”
Already?
That was faster than I expected.
It seemed yesterday’s wig incident had enraged the Duke of Persia quite a bit.
“Don’t stray too far from me. Listen to what I say. No acting on your own. Got it?”
“Jjii.”
—I know.
When I nodded, Wishid smiled faintly.
His gaze was oddly off from my eyes, so I instinctively followed it.
My neck?
More precisely—the necklace.
There was something strangely persistent about his look, and I found myself fiddling with the pendant buried against my skin.
“Ah. It’s nothing.”
Only then did Wishid realize I’d noticed his gaze, and he shrugged lightly.
“Let’s get some sleep.”
He pulled me into his arms and headed for the bedroom.
Geumdong was still sleeping. Looked like he’d keep sleeping until morning.
As soon as we lay down, Wishid hugged me like it was second nature. The headache that had been throbbing since the afternoon gradually faded.
He must have been under a lot of stress, judging by his worn-out appearance. I could smell his familiar scent.
I drifted into a deep sleep.
“Ghhk—!”
A muffled cry of pain escaped through sealed lips. Wishid stopped digging into the wound and brought his bloodstained hand to the man’s mouth.
“Shhh. Be quiet. If you wake Luna, you’ll take responsibility.”
