“No, who would go out drinking without any money?”
“Sorry, sorry, I thought you put it in your pocket. While you’re at it, why don’t you take the new knife design and ask for it?”
“Anyway, that’s what I mean.”
Judith slowly moved one of her arms as she listened to the nervous voice. She was now crawling under the table where the body was lying, avoiding the two men.
It was a tent with no place to hide, but the men were sure of their destination and headed straight for the shelf without looking around the tent.
Thanks to this, Judith was able to hide in the darkness where the tent's lamp did not illuminate.
'Why did I come here alone? I should have just stayed still like Erne said.'
Although she was deeply regretful, it was already too late to turn back. Judith held her breath. Every time the damp earth touched her palm, a chill ran down her spine, but there was nothing she could do.
Knock, knock-.
To the sound of dripping blood, Judith slowly walked towards the tear in the tent.
It was a narrow gap that could not be passed without crawling, but now it was the only escape route.
That was when.
“Wait a minute, can’t you hear something?”
“What are you talking about?”
Did I get caught?
Judith bit her lip.
“I think it’s coming from the corpse over there.”
The men circled the bubbling cauldron in the center and approached Judith.
The torn gap was right in front of her nose, but she was caught there. The moment cold sweat began to run down the back of Judith's neck, a giant came into view.
A stained, old shack. When viewed from the side, it looked large enough to easily hide two people.
'I really hate this.'
Judith gritted her teeth and stepped into the sack. The moment the sack covered her back, the sound of footsteps stopped nearby.
“There’s nothing.”
“It was a rat.”
The sound of footsteps grew distant. Judith opened her eyes, which she had closed tightly without realizing it.
“...!”
Her heart was pounding so hard it almost jumped out of her mouth. Unable to even breathe properly, Judith carefully crawled out of the tent.
'Let's go out, quickly.'
It felt like all the blood was draining from her body. Judith crawled low to the ground, reached the torn gap, and began to crawl out of the tent.
It was the moment when Judith, lying flat on the floor, barely managed to get her upper body out.
'What happened?'
The leather shoe stopped right in front of her. Judith froze. She hoped that the owner of the shoe wouldn’t see her, but it was a vain hope. Judith gritted her teeth and lightly grabbed a nearby stone.
If there's a difference, I'll hit you once and run away.
At the moment when Judith made that decision, the man bent down, put his hand on Judith's side, and pulled her forward.
A familiar hand. As soon as the man's hand touched her, Judith knew who the owner of the hand was. The tension in Judith's body that had been tense all relaxed. Even the strength in her fist holding the stone disappeared.
“....”
The man glared at Judith silently. Even under the dim moonlight, his shining green eyes were colder than ever.
“What did I just hear?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What is that dragging sound?”
Men's voices were heard inside the tent. Erne stared at Judith for a moment, then put her on his shoulder and ran.
Judith was already feeling uneasy, but she held it back. If she threw up here, Erne would really not leave her alone.
The stone in Judith's hand fell limply to the floor, and her fluttering black hair disappeared into the darkness.
"what?"
“I guess I heard something strange.”
When the men came out, there was no one there.
“...”
Judith was a sinner now. Should she kneel down? In front of Erne, who was silent, Judith coughed in vain to attract attention.
“Hey, honey.”
“It doesn’t work.”
Erne, who used to feel shy and embarrassed when called honey, was gone. He was very angry now.
“You said you would wait quietly.”
“...”
“You said you weren’t a kid and you wouldn’t do anything dangerous.”
Judith had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths. If she had stolen the recipe, she would have had something to say, but since she couldn't, she just hung her head in silence.
“What would have happened if I hadn’t come on time, Miss Judith Harrington?”
Ah, the full name came out. Erne's low voice was cooler than usual.
“I was wrong.”
In times like this, rain is the best. Judith put her hands together as if praying and lowered the corners of her eyes. However, Erne’s cold, hard expression did not brighten.
Erne, who was waiting for the man to come to get the money at the rendezvous point, returned after waiting for less than 10 minutes. He was worried about Judith, who he had left behind in the forest.
He wasn't worried about being caught by them, but it was a dark, deserted forest. Even though Judith had a past where she lived alone and bravely in the cursed mansion, he thought it might be scary.
A fox might appear, or something like an owl might fly by. Erne was worried that Judith, who was already nervous about hiding, might startle at the sound and crouch down.
'But without fear.'
Why are you going in there alone?
Are you scared? Are you afraid? Judith Harrington would not be. When Erne came to find Judith at the appointed place and found her crawling out through the tent floor, his heart dropped.
“Erne.”
Still, Judith looked up at Erne with a hazy look on her face, her words trailing off as if she knew she had done wrong. A pitiful face? It doesn't work.
Erne now knew that Judith often put on a puppy-like expression whenever she was at a disadvantage.
If it were just a little thing, he would let that expression slip, but not today. This is not it. Judith needs to reflect a little more.
“I was really wrong.”
Judith wiggled her hands. They were covered in dirt from crawling on the floor. And her clothes. Her face was also covered in dirt and was grimy.
Erne sighed as he looked at her pale face as if she was surprised herself.
It was a sigh of relief that came out when nothing happened, as well as a sigh of what to do about it.
“I also regretted crawling out of there. I admit it was a reckless thing to do. I’m sorry for worrying Erne, so I’ll buy you an expensive drink.”
When the pitiful expression didn't work, this time self-criticism and polite apologies followed. Erne was so shocked that he ended up bursting out in laughter.
“Erne, did you just laugh? You laughed, didn’t you? Are you happier now?”
"No."
“...You were just laughing.”
Judith's shoulders slumped as she became sullen. Erne took a handkerchief out of his pocket.
Originally, he didn't carry anything like a handkerchief, but Henry gave it to him because he thought a knight should always have at least one handkerchief in his arms to wipe away the lady's tears.
I have it, so I guess I can use it. Even though it's made to wipe away dirt and not the tears of a lady.
Why are you wiping your face with this pretty thing?
While thinking this, Erne was already holding a handkerchief.
It's okay to be angry, but you still have to wipe the dirt off her face, right? Erne gently wiped the dirt off Judith's cheek with a handkerchief.
“You’re not a child, you’re doing something good for the face.”
“Still, there were results.”
Judith could tell that Erne's mood had slightly eased. The cold air that had been blowing like a cold north wind had subsided.
“If you did something so dangerous, it should have some results.”
Erne wiped the dirt off Judith's cheeks and now had her spread her palms, which were even dirtier.
“Why did you pick up the stone earlier?”
“If you attack, I’ll hit you once and run away.”
“...”
It was better than just taking it, but should he praise her for doing a good job? Erne couldn't say anything.
“Anyway, I wrote down the ingredients separately.”
“Okay, let’s hear what goes into it. What makes a person’s face look like that?”
"That is."
Thinking about it again, she felt sick again. Judith swallowed back a gagging feeling and answered.
“Human fat. Dead man’s fat.”
“Huh? So you’re saying that they used corpses to make... cosmetics?”
Judith and Erne ran without stopping and arrived at the capital. As soon as they arrived, they handed Beichi the paper on which they had written the recipe.
“Arthritis medicine is made by extracting cartilage from corpses?”
Judith nodded. On the back of the recipe she had seen that day, there was also a recipe for arthritis medicine.
The ingredients were almost the same, the only difference being that it contained cartilage instead of fat.
“They bought a freshly dead body from the cemetery.”
"Oh my God."
Beichi just kept looking at the paper with a confused face.
“Can you make a cure?”
“Let me try making it. Henry's face looks like it’s been poisoned by the decay of this fat. No, is it because of the diluted Nikar water? Oh, what should I detoxify?”
While explaining to Erne, Beichi started mumbling to himself. He patted his head and mumbled something unintelligible.
The unexpected ingredients seemed to be complicated. Judith understood it well. That day, as she copied down the recipe there, Judith also shuddered with instinctive rejection.
“Beichi, why are you mumbling to yourself like that?”
Illuor, who had come to greet Judith and Erne upon hearing the news, approached Beichi who was loitering around.
“Brother, look at this. It’s a cosmetic ingredient that Sir Henry applied and has side effects. Do you know what goes into it? Well...”
Illuor couldn't close his gaping mouth at Beichi's subsequent words.
“This is really disgusting. Wait, what’s in it?”
“Sorry, sorry, I thought you put it in your pocket. While you’re at it, why don’t you take the new knife design and ask for it?”
“Anyway, that’s what I mean.”
Judith slowly moved one of her arms as she listened to the nervous voice. She was now crawling under the table where the body was lying, avoiding the two men.
It was a tent with no place to hide, but the men were sure of their destination and headed straight for the shelf without looking around the tent.
Thanks to this, Judith was able to hide in the darkness where the tent's lamp did not illuminate.
'Why did I come here alone? I should have just stayed still like Erne said.'
Although she was deeply regretful, it was already too late to turn back. Judith held her breath. Every time the damp earth touched her palm, a chill ran down her spine, but there was nothing she could do.
Knock, knock-.
To the sound of dripping blood, Judith slowly walked towards the tear in the tent.
It was a narrow gap that could not be passed without crawling, but now it was the only escape route.
That was when.
“Wait a minute, can’t you hear something?”
“What are you talking about?”
Did I get caught?
Judith bit her lip.
“I think it’s coming from the corpse over there.”
The men circled the bubbling cauldron in the center and approached Judith.
The torn gap was right in front of her nose, but she was caught there. The moment cold sweat began to run down the back of Judith's neck, a giant came into view.
A stained, old shack. When viewed from the side, it looked large enough to easily hide two people.
'I really hate this.'
Judith gritted her teeth and stepped into the sack. The moment the sack covered her back, the sound of footsteps stopped nearby.
“There’s nothing.”
“It was a rat.”
The sound of footsteps grew distant. Judith opened her eyes, which she had closed tightly without realizing it.
“...!”
Her heart was pounding so hard it almost jumped out of her mouth. Unable to even breathe properly, Judith carefully crawled out of the tent.
'Let's go out, quickly.'
It felt like all the blood was draining from her body. Judith crawled low to the ground, reached the torn gap, and began to crawl out of the tent.
It was the moment when Judith, lying flat on the floor, barely managed to get her upper body out.
'What happened?'
The leather shoe stopped right in front of her. Judith froze. She hoped that the owner of the shoe wouldn’t see her, but it was a vain hope. Judith gritted her teeth and lightly grabbed a nearby stone.
If there's a difference, I'll hit you once and run away.
At the moment when Judith made that decision, the man bent down, put his hand on Judith's side, and pulled her forward.
A familiar hand. As soon as the man's hand touched her, Judith knew who the owner of the hand was. The tension in Judith's body that had been tense all relaxed. Even the strength in her fist holding the stone disappeared.
“....”
The man glared at Judith silently. Even under the dim moonlight, his shining green eyes were colder than ever.
“What did I just hear?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What is that dragging sound?”
Men's voices were heard inside the tent. Erne stared at Judith for a moment, then put her on his shoulder and ran.
Judith was already feeling uneasy, but she held it back. If she threw up here, Erne would really not leave her alone.
The stone in Judith's hand fell limply to the floor, and her fluttering black hair disappeared into the darkness.
"what?"
“I guess I heard something strange.”
When the men came out, there was no one there.
***
“...”
Judith was a sinner now. Should she kneel down? In front of Erne, who was silent, Judith coughed in vain to attract attention.
“Hey, honey.”
“It doesn’t work.”
Erne, who used to feel shy and embarrassed when called honey, was gone. He was very angry now.
“You said you would wait quietly.”
“...”
“You said you weren’t a kid and you wouldn’t do anything dangerous.”
Judith had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths. If she had stolen the recipe, she would have had something to say, but since she couldn't, she just hung her head in silence.
“What would have happened if I hadn’t come on time, Miss Judith Harrington?”
Ah, the full name came out. Erne's low voice was cooler than usual.
“I was wrong.”
In times like this, rain is the best. Judith put her hands together as if praying and lowered the corners of her eyes. However, Erne’s cold, hard expression did not brighten.
Erne, who was waiting for the man to come to get the money at the rendezvous point, returned after waiting for less than 10 minutes. He was worried about Judith, who he had left behind in the forest.
He wasn't worried about being caught by them, but it was a dark, deserted forest. Even though Judith had a past where she lived alone and bravely in the cursed mansion, he thought it might be scary.
A fox might appear, or something like an owl might fly by. Erne was worried that Judith, who was already nervous about hiding, might startle at the sound and crouch down.
'But without fear.'
Why are you going in there alone?
Are you scared? Are you afraid? Judith Harrington would not be. When Erne came to find Judith at the appointed place and found her crawling out through the tent floor, his heart dropped.
“Erne.”
Still, Judith looked up at Erne with a hazy look on her face, her words trailing off as if she knew she had done wrong. A pitiful face? It doesn't work.
Erne now knew that Judith often put on a puppy-like expression whenever she was at a disadvantage.
If it were just a little thing, he would let that expression slip, but not today. This is not it. Judith needs to reflect a little more.
“I was really wrong.”
Judith wiggled her hands. They were covered in dirt from crawling on the floor. And her clothes. Her face was also covered in dirt and was grimy.
Erne sighed as he looked at her pale face as if she was surprised herself.
It was a sigh of relief that came out when nothing happened, as well as a sigh of what to do about it.
“I also regretted crawling out of there. I admit it was a reckless thing to do. I’m sorry for worrying Erne, so I’ll buy you an expensive drink.”
When the pitiful expression didn't work, this time self-criticism and polite apologies followed. Erne was so shocked that he ended up bursting out in laughter.
“Erne, did you just laugh? You laughed, didn’t you? Are you happier now?”
"No."
“...You were just laughing.”
Judith's shoulders slumped as she became sullen. Erne took a handkerchief out of his pocket.
Originally, he didn't carry anything like a handkerchief, but Henry gave it to him because he thought a knight should always have at least one handkerchief in his arms to wipe away the lady's tears.
I have it, so I guess I can use it. Even though it's made to wipe away dirt and not the tears of a lady.
Why are you wiping your face with this pretty thing?
While thinking this, Erne was already holding a handkerchief.
It's okay to be angry, but you still have to wipe the dirt off her face, right? Erne gently wiped the dirt off Judith's cheek with a handkerchief.
“You’re not a child, you’re doing something good for the face.”
“Still, there were results.”
Judith could tell that Erne's mood had slightly eased. The cold air that had been blowing like a cold north wind had subsided.
“If you did something so dangerous, it should have some results.”
Erne wiped the dirt off Judith's cheeks and now had her spread her palms, which were even dirtier.
“Why did you pick up the stone earlier?”
“If you attack, I’ll hit you once and run away.”
“...”
It was better than just taking it, but should he praise her for doing a good job? Erne couldn't say anything.
“Anyway, I wrote down the ingredients separately.”
“Okay, let’s hear what goes into it. What makes a person’s face look like that?”
"That is."
Thinking about it again, she felt sick again. Judith swallowed back a gagging feeling and answered.
“Human fat. Dead man’s fat.”
***
“Huh? So you’re saying that they used corpses to make... cosmetics?”
Judith and Erne ran without stopping and arrived at the capital. As soon as they arrived, they handed Beichi the paper on which they had written the recipe.
“Arthritis medicine is made by extracting cartilage from corpses?”
Judith nodded. On the back of the recipe she had seen that day, there was also a recipe for arthritis medicine.
The ingredients were almost the same, the only difference being that it contained cartilage instead of fat.
“They bought a freshly dead body from the cemetery.”
"Oh my God."
Beichi just kept looking at the paper with a confused face.
“Can you make a cure?”
“Let me try making it. Henry's face looks like it’s been poisoned by the decay of this fat. No, is it because of the diluted Nikar water? Oh, what should I detoxify?”
While explaining to Erne, Beichi started mumbling to himself. He patted his head and mumbled something unintelligible.
The unexpected ingredients seemed to be complicated. Judith understood it well. That day, as she copied down the recipe there, Judith also shuddered with instinctive rejection.
“Beichi, why are you mumbling to yourself like that?”
Illuor, who had come to greet Judith and Erne upon hearing the news, approached Beichi who was loitering around.
“Brother, look at this. It’s a cosmetic ingredient that Sir Henry applied and has side effects. Do you know what goes into it? Well...”
Illuor couldn't close his gaping mouth at Beichi's subsequent words.
“This is really disgusting. Wait, what’s in it?”
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