“I thought you were reflecting.”
Erne's room. Erne growled as he took off his bathrobe and changed into pajamas.
“Reflect on something two or three times.”
Judith, who had been sitting staring at the wall while Erne changed his clothes, muttered to herself with her lips pursed. Of course, so that Erne, who was in the same room, could hear.
“What on earth were you thinking going in there?”
Erne came and sat down opposite Judith. Judith turned to Erne and stared straight into his eyes. These were definitely not the reflective eyes of someone who had done something wrong.
“What were you thinking? You didn’t expect them to come back, so you went in. But thanks to me, we figured out the ingredients for cosmetics. If I had succeeded on my own, Erne would have praised me.”
What are you saying when you almost failed? Erne's eyebrows quirked at Judith's words.
“Praise? Even if you succeed, you deserve to get scolded. Are you doing something so reckless by yourself?”
Erne sighed and muttered, “I knew you’d do this, I knew you would.” Judith’s lips parted in a muffled voice.
I know I did something wrong. I also admit that it was dangerous.
But does it happen that people develop a sense of rebellion because they keep getting scolded? If they had failed, they would have had nothing to say. However, Judith succeeded.
Shouldn't she be given some recognition for her efforts? Erne was dumbfounded when Judith looked at him with an expression that said, 'I'm not very satisfied.'
“You’re not a child, and you know it’s reckless and dangerous, so why are you going in there? Why are you running right into the fire?”
“I knew this would happen. Then don’t leave me alone.”
Judith snorted.
“Is it my fault now?”
“No, you expected this, so why did you leave me alone?”
“Ha, yeah, it’s my fault. I’ll never leave you alone again, I promise.”
The two people's voices, which had been getting louder and louder, suddenly stopped. Doesn't something seem a bit strange?
Why did you leave me alone? I won't leave you alone again. It's like...
'Wait a minute, it sounds like you're going to throw a tantrum and ask why I left you alone.'
Judith pursed her lips at the complaint that she would make to a lover. Why did he do that? Judith's cheeks flushed with regret.
'I think I promised you that I would never leave you alone.'
Didn't it sound like a promise or an oath? Erne hoped it was only his ears that heard it, but judging from the awkward silence that fell, it seemed otherwise.
Ern'es nape turned slightly red as he coughed for no reason.
“Ah, blood, I’m tired.”
Unable to bear this unnatural silence, Judith muttered to herself.
“Shall we sleep now?”
“...That would be good.”
Yes, that would be good. Erne and Judith felt the same way for the first time in a long time. They quickly lay down on the bed.
Strangely, they were too embarrassed to look at each other and just stared at the ceiling, but their hands found each other like magnets.
"Hand."
Judith's hand was placed on Erne's palm, which was naturally extended like flowing water, and Erne put his fingers into each of her slender fingers.
Just in case it comes off while he's sleeping.
“..."
And Judith felt the ticklish sensation of Erne's fingers touching the back of her hand. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily today because of another finger.
The security forces disguised as merchants observed the con men and also ambushed them near the contact point Erne had mentioned. However, no one came to the contact point.
When they dug into the ground, they found that the purse had already disappeared. It must have been taken by Erne and the security forces while they were changing shifts.
Unfortunately, Cain was not surprised because this was also expected. He decided to first catch the con artists and then investigate the mastermind.
He also considered secretly tracking them until the next contact, but that was because there could have been more victims in the meantime.
The work of capturing the con men went smoothly. The police raided the hideout and captured two men, and the two who escaped were caught by the back alley thugs that Smith had let loose.
The one in the apron and the one pulling the cart, caught by the police, were luckier than the other two who were caught by Smith.
Brother Luhmann took out his anger on the guys who sold him strange cosmetics.
“I was angry, so why is my skin glowing?”
“I kept applying the cosmetics they made. If they knew where the cure was, they would tell me easily. If they wanted to live, too, hehehe.”
“I see. That’s a good idea.”
At Erne's compliment, Smith laughed viciously and tied up the tall man and the big man, handing them over to Erne. Erne and Judith took the two men and headed to the police station.
The gang of con artists were each locked in separate rooms for questioning.
“If you tell everything you know, I’ll give you a reduced sentence. But only the first one to open his mouth.”
Cain said the same thing to them, and they opened their mouths almost simultaneously.
“They say the person who taught me the recipe was a child from the Shartin tribe.”
"Child?"
“He wasn’t a very young child. Judging from their testimonies, he was a boy who looked to be between sixteen and eighteen, and they said they only met him once.”
The fraudsters originally made and sold sausages, but of course, they were not the sanitary or legal kind.
It was a sausage made by mixing cornmeal and the toxic fruit of the macadamia tree with all the by-products discarded after slaughtering livestock.
It was a lot of money, but it wasn't a lot of money. They would say the pay wasn't that great compared to the amount of work they put in. Then one day.
A Shartin boy they had never seen before came to them and asked if they wanted to make a lot of money.
Cosmetics and arthritis medicine that work in two days. There were side effects, but the boy told them that they could run away before the side effects occurred.
“They say the price of livestock by-products and human corpses are similar.”
It wasn't hard to get one. If you bought a grave site, you could get a freshly dead body at any time. Several people die every day.
“It’s also easier to make than sausage.”
But when it came to selling, it could be sold at a very high price.
“They said they were going to sell cosmetics and arthritis medicine as they went up from the south to the north, and then stop once they had covered the empire.”
That would be enough money to live off of for the rest of their lives. The con artists couldn't refuse.
“They said that if you bury the money from selling cosmetics in a piece of paper and go back a few days later, there will be a piece of paper with the next piece of paper written on it. That’s how they exchanged money.”
“So, have you figured out where the next contact point is?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“But, Marquis.”
Judith raised her hand as if she had a question.
“Even though he's eighteen, he's still a kid compared to those guys. Why are they so good at keeping promises they made to kids?”
You must have received the recipe, so why don't you just keep your mouth shut?
“He said he would put a curse on them.”
"Yes?"
“The boy threatened to put a curse on them if they didn’t give him money.”
Erne let out a sneer.
“You gave money because you were scared by the threats the child made?”
“As he was saying that, a poisonous snake suddenly crawled under his feet.”
It would have been less surprising if the conversation between the boys and the man had taken place somewhere out of the way, but they were said to have been in a fairly large restaurant near a busy area.
Although it was a restaurant targeting commoners, it wasn't so shabby that snakes would appear there.
“It seemed like the snake understood what the boy said, or something. He must have been quite scared. People from back alleys tend to believe such things, you know.”
People who work in the underworld, whether they are grand moneylenders or pickpockets, are always close to death. Strange deaths and inexplicable accidents are always with them.
So naturally, they came to believe in mediums, witchcraft, and amulets.
“How wonderful it must have been for a boy from the Shartin tribe to know how to make cosmetics by extracting corpse fat and how to handle snakes.”
When the money was delayed, they often said that poisonous spiders or venomous civets would crawl into their hideout. The con artists firmly believed that it was all the boy's doing.
“I’ve already sent an undercover police force to the next contact point. I also told them to let me know if they see any Shartin boys in the area.”
“Can you tell me a little about the treatment?”
“No, he said he didn’t know. The boy said that he didn’t need the cure since they weren’t going to use it anyway and that it wasn’t life-threatening so it was fine.”
They don't know who the boy is, but they can tell that his character is corrupt from a young age.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m really anxious.”
They don't care if the side effects are itchy or burning. But Henry...
Erne let out a short sigh. As time passed, Henry's skin was becoming hard.
“I shared the cosmetic ingredients that my wife brought with other doctors.”
“I wish someone would come up with a cure soon.”
Dragon cactus. The most common and oldest cactus in the desert.
Beichi discovered that the sticky juice that comes out when you cut a dragon fruit cactus in half has powerful detoxifying and soothing properties.
There is already a medicine developed to take when drinking Nikar. So why not mix the medicine made from cactus juice with the Nikar antidote and take it?
The problem was that mixing these two drugs made them ineffective.
Erne's room. Erne growled as he took off his bathrobe and changed into pajamas.
“Reflect on something two or three times.”
Judith, who had been sitting staring at the wall while Erne changed his clothes, muttered to herself with her lips pursed. Of course, so that Erne, who was in the same room, could hear.
“What on earth were you thinking going in there?”
Erne came and sat down opposite Judith. Judith turned to Erne and stared straight into his eyes. These were definitely not the reflective eyes of someone who had done something wrong.
“What were you thinking? You didn’t expect them to come back, so you went in. But thanks to me, we figured out the ingredients for cosmetics. If I had succeeded on my own, Erne would have praised me.”
What are you saying when you almost failed? Erne's eyebrows quirked at Judith's words.
“Praise? Even if you succeed, you deserve to get scolded. Are you doing something so reckless by yourself?”
Erne sighed and muttered, “I knew you’d do this, I knew you would.” Judith’s lips parted in a muffled voice.
I know I did something wrong. I also admit that it was dangerous.
But does it happen that people develop a sense of rebellion because they keep getting scolded? If they had failed, they would have had nothing to say. However, Judith succeeded.
Shouldn't she be given some recognition for her efforts? Erne was dumbfounded when Judith looked at him with an expression that said, 'I'm not very satisfied.'
“You’re not a child, and you know it’s reckless and dangerous, so why are you going in there? Why are you running right into the fire?”
“I knew this would happen. Then don’t leave me alone.”
Judith snorted.
“Is it my fault now?”
“No, you expected this, so why did you leave me alone?”
“Ha, yeah, it’s my fault. I’ll never leave you alone again, I promise.”
The two people's voices, which had been getting louder and louder, suddenly stopped. Doesn't something seem a bit strange?
Why did you leave me alone? I won't leave you alone again. It's like...
'Wait a minute, it sounds like you're going to throw a tantrum and ask why I left you alone.'
Judith pursed her lips at the complaint that she would make to a lover. Why did he do that? Judith's cheeks flushed with regret.
'I think I promised you that I would never leave you alone.'
Didn't it sound like a promise or an oath? Erne hoped it was only his ears that heard it, but judging from the awkward silence that fell, it seemed otherwise.
Ern'es nape turned slightly red as he coughed for no reason.
“Ah, blood, I’m tired.”
Unable to bear this unnatural silence, Judith muttered to herself.
“Shall we sleep now?”
“...That would be good.”
Yes, that would be good. Erne and Judith felt the same way for the first time in a long time. They quickly lay down on the bed.
Strangely, they were too embarrassed to look at each other and just stared at the ceiling, but their hands found each other like magnets.
"Hand."
Judith's hand was placed on Erne's palm, which was naturally extended like flowing water, and Erne put his fingers into each of her slender fingers.
Just in case it comes off while he's sleeping.
“..."
And Judith felt the ticklish sensation of Erne's fingers touching the back of her hand. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily today because of another finger.
***
The security forces disguised as merchants observed the con men and also ambushed them near the contact point Erne had mentioned. However, no one came to the contact point.
When they dug into the ground, they found that the purse had already disappeared. It must have been taken by Erne and the security forces while they were changing shifts.
Unfortunately, Cain was not surprised because this was also expected. He decided to first catch the con artists and then investigate the mastermind.
He also considered secretly tracking them until the next contact, but that was because there could have been more victims in the meantime.
The work of capturing the con men went smoothly. The police raided the hideout and captured two men, and the two who escaped were caught by the back alley thugs that Smith had let loose.
The one in the apron and the one pulling the cart, caught by the police, were luckier than the other two who were caught by Smith.
Brother Luhmann took out his anger on the guys who sold him strange cosmetics.
“I was angry, so why is my skin glowing?”
“I kept applying the cosmetics they made. If they knew where the cure was, they would tell me easily. If they wanted to live, too, hehehe.”
“I see. That’s a good idea.”
At Erne's compliment, Smith laughed viciously and tied up the tall man and the big man, handing them over to Erne. Erne and Judith took the two men and headed to the police station.
The gang of con artists were each locked in separate rooms for questioning.
“If you tell everything you know, I’ll give you a reduced sentence. But only the first one to open his mouth.”
Cain said the same thing to them, and they opened their mouths almost simultaneously.
“They say the person who taught me the recipe was a child from the Shartin tribe.”
"Child?"
“He wasn’t a very young child. Judging from their testimonies, he was a boy who looked to be between sixteen and eighteen, and they said they only met him once.”
The fraudsters originally made and sold sausages, but of course, they were not the sanitary or legal kind.
It was a sausage made by mixing cornmeal and the toxic fruit of the macadamia tree with all the by-products discarded after slaughtering livestock.
It was a lot of money, but it wasn't a lot of money. They would say the pay wasn't that great compared to the amount of work they put in. Then one day.
A Shartin boy they had never seen before came to them and asked if they wanted to make a lot of money.
Cosmetics and arthritis medicine that work in two days. There were side effects, but the boy told them that they could run away before the side effects occurred.
“They say the price of livestock by-products and human corpses are similar.”
It wasn't hard to get one. If you bought a grave site, you could get a freshly dead body at any time. Several people die every day.
“It’s also easier to make than sausage.”
But when it came to selling, it could be sold at a very high price.
“They said they were going to sell cosmetics and arthritis medicine as they went up from the south to the north, and then stop once they had covered the empire.”
That would be enough money to live off of for the rest of their lives. The con artists couldn't refuse.
“They said that if you bury the money from selling cosmetics in a piece of paper and go back a few days later, there will be a piece of paper with the next piece of paper written on it. That’s how they exchanged money.”
“So, have you figured out where the next contact point is?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“But, Marquis.”
Judith raised her hand as if she had a question.
“Even though he's eighteen, he's still a kid compared to those guys. Why are they so good at keeping promises they made to kids?”
You must have received the recipe, so why don't you just keep your mouth shut?
“He said he would put a curse on them.”
"Yes?"
“The boy threatened to put a curse on them if they didn’t give him money.”
Erne let out a sneer.
“You gave money because you were scared by the threats the child made?”
“As he was saying that, a poisonous snake suddenly crawled under his feet.”
It would have been less surprising if the conversation between the boys and the man had taken place somewhere out of the way, but they were said to have been in a fairly large restaurant near a busy area.
Although it was a restaurant targeting commoners, it wasn't so shabby that snakes would appear there.
“It seemed like the snake understood what the boy said, or something. He must have been quite scared. People from back alleys tend to believe such things, you know.”
People who work in the underworld, whether they are grand moneylenders or pickpockets, are always close to death. Strange deaths and inexplicable accidents are always with them.
So naturally, they came to believe in mediums, witchcraft, and amulets.
“How wonderful it must have been for a boy from the Shartin tribe to know how to make cosmetics by extracting corpse fat and how to handle snakes.”
When the money was delayed, they often said that poisonous spiders or venomous civets would crawl into their hideout. The con artists firmly believed that it was all the boy's doing.
“I’ve already sent an undercover police force to the next contact point. I also told them to let me know if they see any Shartin boys in the area.”
“Can you tell me a little about the treatment?”
“No, he said he didn’t know. The boy said that he didn’t need the cure since they weren’t going to use it anyway and that it wasn’t life-threatening so it was fine.”
They don't know who the boy is, but they can tell that his character is corrupt from a young age.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m really anxious.”
They don't care if the side effects are itchy or burning. But Henry...
Erne let out a short sigh. As time passed, Henry's skin was becoming hard.
“I shared the cosmetic ingredients that my wife brought with other doctors.”
“I wish someone would come up with a cure soon.”
***
Dragon cactus. The most common and oldest cactus in the desert.
Beichi discovered that the sticky juice that comes out when you cut a dragon fruit cactus in half has powerful detoxifying and soothing properties.
There is already a medicine developed to take when drinking Nikar. So why not mix the medicine made from cactus juice with the Nikar antidote and take it?
The problem was that mixing these two drugs made them ineffective.
Support Novellate!
Ahh, dang. Need more chapters 😭. The story is soooo good! Also, I've said it before but I'll say it again, Judith & Erne's slow budding romance is soooo adorable! Ty for the translation!
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