Arkan’s back, curled up and held by Erdene, trembled slightly.
It seemed like he was laughing. It also seemed like he was crying, but since he had nothing to cry about, it would be right to laugh. Erdene thought.
Arkan, who had been trembling silently for a moment, cleared his throat and raised his head.
“I was just telling the truth, so how can you call me an insult? Why are you twisting my words? Is there something that hurts?”
“Keep in mind that I’m close enough to stab you in the eye right now.”
When Erdene pretended to glare and spoke as if threatening, Arkan pursed his lips and wrapped his arms around the back of her neck, pulling her in to kiss her.
Erdene, who was unable to react because it was so sudden, just opened her eyes wide and felt a thrill as his teeth lightly bit her lower lip.
Arkan, who had been biting Erdene’s lips repeatedly as if lightly teasing, said with a reproachful look in his eyes,
“Keep in mind that if you’re close enough to stab me in the eye, that means you’re close enough for me to kiss you by surprise.”
Erdene burst out laughing at those words. It must have been loud enough that Glucker, who had been dozing off, flapped his wings and kicked his hooves a couple of times.
“He's awake.”
When Erdene got up, Arkan turned to look at her.
Glucker blinked his round eyes, snapped his beak, and lowered his head as if waiting for Erdene to come and pet him.
Arkan said,
“He recognizes you.”
Erdene looked at him as she stroked Glucker’s beak and under his chin.
“Of course he recognizes me. He's such a smart guy.”
“Let me see what the letter says.”
Erdene untied the string tightly wrapped around Glucker’s ankle and pulled out the letter.
But even before she could open it, she felt something different.
Erdene’s eyes widened as she fiddled with the paper.
No way, she thought. Arkan stood up, frowning as he watched Erdene hurriedly open the letter.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
Erdene didn’t have time to answer him and quickly scanned the letter.
It wasn’t Merton’s handwriting. It was even less so for Thelma or Ayman.
Arkan’s eyes narrowed as he looked over her shoulder at the letter.
“Your adjutant... has very good handwriting. None of the three of you looked like that.”
“This wasn’t my adjutant. Not Merton or Captain Ayman. This...”
Erdene took a deep breath, her lips quivering. In the end, Merton had succeeded.
If he were here, she would have praised him and slapped his back with all her might.
Instead, she slapped Arkan’s back hard and held onto his forearm.
“What are you doing!”
Arkan, who had been hit squarely in the spine, shouted, clutching his heart that was about to burst out of his mouth.
Glucker flapped his wings in surprise, but Erdene grinned as if she didn’t care about the commotion.
“Things are going well at this time. I hope this goes well.”
What are you talking about? Arkan grumbled and tried to reach out to his numb back.
Since she had slapped him in a spot where his arm couldn’t reach, a stinging pain continued to stab his skin.
While he was twisting his arms around and twisting his whole body, dinner was served.
The maids of the palace who brought the plates and Sophia had to bite her lips to keep from laughing at the sight of Arkan, who was jumping around and struggling in his place with an arrogant expression.
The air in the border area between Kensilom and Vetor was more tense than ever.
The three of them, who had created fake identities of James, Luke, and Bourne, walked through the bushes, guarding against arrows that might fly from Kensilom.
“Damn, where are we? Are we lost?”
“It’s around here on the map.”
“What if these damned guys ran away?”
Their voices were faintly anxious and excited as they whispered.
They were Belen Wiziard’s trusted juniors and were originally vice-captains of the knights who led the soldiers.
James—originally Ingrid—said,
“A new training is about to begin, and we can’t even join from the beginning.”
Then Luke—originally named Rusmov—who had been following behind immediately replied,
“I can’t help it, since His Majesty himself has ordered it. Training is one thing, but how can we just sit back and let Kensilom’s rat-like creatures scurry around in Vetor?”
“That’s right, Ru... Luke.”
Bourne—originally named Bowles—calmly agreed.
The three were wandering around the border area to track down the smugglers from Kensilom who had made contact with them, in place of the real smugglers who had been captured at Maple Manor.
Belen told them to stop talking and get out if it seemed dangerous, but none of them had any intention of doing so.
“We have to catch these damned kids somehow.”
“If they had sensed it and fled, there would have been no choice.”
“Well. It must have been their biggest source of income, so would they have just backed down?”
After wandering through the forest for a while, they finally reached the contact point that the smuggler at Maple Manor had told them about.
A triangular rock and an old scarf wedged in the gap. It was clear.
Bourne said.
“Chief Wiziard said that according to the smuggler, they would have left a mark. Was it under the rock?”
Luke answered.
“Yes. There are three circles under the rock...”
Just as the three bent down to look under the rock, a sharp whistle was heard from the dense forest.
They looked up in surprise and saw a man half-leaning from the shade of a large tree, waving his hands. He had a faded blue band around his arm and a flat hat.
They could tell that several more men were hiding behind him.
“Those guys.”
“Yes. Hey, Luke. Don’t mess up the job by acting all sloppy.”
“Who’s talking?”
Bourne took the lead while Luke and James bickered.
As they approached, the man in the flat hat pulled out a short but sharp dagger and said,
“Wait a minute, who are you? I’ve never seen you before. The ones who were always here?”
The three men’s eyes quickly met. James, who noticed, took a step forward and swung his weight around in a haughty manner.
“The captain’s gone to find another job. For now, you can deal with us, so don’t worry.”
The smuggler of Kensilom stepped back, holding out his sword as if he still couldn’t believe it.
One by one, chilling shadows began to walk out from behind the trees.
There seemed to be about ten of them.
The smuggler said,
“Give me the evidence.”
Now it was Luke’s turn to step forward.
He handed over a bundle of zelkova, a lump of gold, and a note written by the leader of the Maple Manor smugglers.
The smuggler of Kensilom cautiously took the zelkova and touched it, crushed it to examine the powder, and sniffed it.
Watching this, Luke thought to himself,
“Dried zelkova shouldn’t smell much anyway. What can you know from that? You must be bluffing.”
He put down the zelkova and read the note with his dagger in his hand.
Just in case, he brought his own writing, but since the smugglers couldn’t have exchanged letters on friendly terms, the handwriting probably didn’t matter.
It was as expected. Kensilom’s smuggler judged the truth of the three people based on the gold and the saplings they had, rather than the contents of the notes.
The smugglers’ gold they brought had a small blemish that was barely noticeable at first glance, and only after seeing that did he make a gesture to believe them.
The smuggler spat on the floor and swore like a thug.
“Damn, if you were going to trade people like this, you should have told me in advance.”
Luke replied calmly.
“The captain is so busy with construction.”
“Oh, you’re using difficult words. You seem different from the idiots last time. Why haven’t you shown me your nose until now?”
This time, before Luke could open his mouth, James spoke.
“We don’t usually come out in front. You know that, right? It was our job to make sure things were going well next to the captain.”
The smuggler nodded, his mouth open.
“Ah, ah. Right. I get what you mean. So you’re not small-timers.”
“Are you going to keep talking nonsense here? Or are you going to make a deal? This is going to be a disaster.”
The smuggler’s expression hardened slightly at Luke’s words.
He seemed to be the leader of the Kensilom smugglers.
The kind of guy who’d break your nose or something if you got too cocky.
All three of them thought the same thing at the same time.
The smuggler said.
“We have to make a deal. That’s our job. But you see, we’ve got some problems on our side. If your captain had come sooner, we could’ve discussed it earlier, but as you know, he broke his promise first. Anyway, like I said last time, this deal was for two bundles of seaweed and seashells. The seaweed isn’t a problem, but there’s a problem with the seashells. The original deal was for two boxes, but the guy who was processing it stupidly cut off his finger with a knife. It’ll take some time to put it back together.”
It seemed like he was laughing. It also seemed like he was crying, but since he had nothing to cry about, it would be right to laugh. Erdene thought.
Arkan, who had been trembling silently for a moment, cleared his throat and raised his head.
“I was just telling the truth, so how can you call me an insult? Why are you twisting my words? Is there something that hurts?”
“Keep in mind that I’m close enough to stab you in the eye right now.”
When Erdene pretended to glare and spoke as if threatening, Arkan pursed his lips and wrapped his arms around the back of her neck, pulling her in to kiss her.
Erdene, who was unable to react because it was so sudden, just opened her eyes wide and felt a thrill as his teeth lightly bit her lower lip.
Arkan, who had been biting Erdene’s lips repeatedly as if lightly teasing, said with a reproachful look in his eyes,
“Keep in mind that if you’re close enough to stab me in the eye, that means you’re close enough for me to kiss you by surprise.”
Erdene burst out laughing at those words. It must have been loud enough that Glucker, who had been dozing off, flapped his wings and kicked his hooves a couple of times.
“He's awake.”
When Erdene got up, Arkan turned to look at her.
Glucker blinked his round eyes, snapped his beak, and lowered his head as if waiting for Erdene to come and pet him.
Arkan said,
“He recognizes you.”
Erdene looked at him as she stroked Glucker’s beak and under his chin.
“Of course he recognizes me. He's such a smart guy.”
“Let me see what the letter says.”
Erdene untied the string tightly wrapped around Glucker’s ankle and pulled out the letter.
But even before she could open it, she felt something different.
Erdene’s eyes widened as she fiddled with the paper.
No way, she thought. Arkan stood up, frowning as he watched Erdene hurriedly open the letter.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
Erdene didn’t have time to answer him and quickly scanned the letter.
It wasn’t Merton’s handwriting. It was even less so for Thelma or Ayman.
Arkan’s eyes narrowed as he looked over her shoulder at the letter.
“Your adjutant... has very good handwriting. None of the three of you looked like that.”
“This wasn’t my adjutant. Not Merton or Captain Ayman. This...”
Erdene took a deep breath, her lips quivering. In the end, Merton had succeeded.
If he were here, she would have praised him and slapped his back with all her might.
Instead, she slapped Arkan’s back hard and held onto his forearm.
“What are you doing!”
Arkan, who had been hit squarely in the spine, shouted, clutching his heart that was about to burst out of his mouth.
Glucker flapped his wings in surprise, but Erdene grinned as if she didn’t care about the commotion.
“Things are going well at this time. I hope this goes well.”
What are you talking about? Arkan grumbled and tried to reach out to his numb back.
Since she had slapped him in a spot where his arm couldn’t reach, a stinging pain continued to stab his skin.
While he was twisting his arms around and twisting his whole body, dinner was served.
The maids of the palace who brought the plates and Sophia had to bite her lips to keep from laughing at the sight of Arkan, who was jumping around and struggling in his place with an arrogant expression.
***
The air in the border area between Kensilom and Vetor was more tense than ever.
The three of them, who had created fake identities of James, Luke, and Bourne, walked through the bushes, guarding against arrows that might fly from Kensilom.
“Damn, where are we? Are we lost?”
“It’s around here on the map.”
“What if these damned guys ran away?”
Their voices were faintly anxious and excited as they whispered.
They were Belen Wiziard’s trusted juniors and were originally vice-captains of the knights who led the soldiers.
James—originally Ingrid—said,
“A new training is about to begin, and we can’t even join from the beginning.”
Then Luke—originally named Rusmov—who had been following behind immediately replied,
“I can’t help it, since His Majesty himself has ordered it. Training is one thing, but how can we just sit back and let Kensilom’s rat-like creatures scurry around in Vetor?”
“That’s right, Ru... Luke.”
Bourne—originally named Bowles—calmly agreed.
The three were wandering around the border area to track down the smugglers from Kensilom who had made contact with them, in place of the real smugglers who had been captured at Maple Manor.
Belen told them to stop talking and get out if it seemed dangerous, but none of them had any intention of doing so.
“We have to catch these damned kids somehow.”
“If they had sensed it and fled, there would have been no choice.”
“Well. It must have been their biggest source of income, so would they have just backed down?”
After wandering through the forest for a while, they finally reached the contact point that the smuggler at Maple Manor had told them about.
A triangular rock and an old scarf wedged in the gap. It was clear.
Bourne said.
“Chief Wiziard said that according to the smuggler, they would have left a mark. Was it under the rock?”
Luke answered.
“Yes. There are three circles under the rock...”
Just as the three bent down to look under the rock, a sharp whistle was heard from the dense forest.
They looked up in surprise and saw a man half-leaning from the shade of a large tree, waving his hands. He had a faded blue band around his arm and a flat hat.
They could tell that several more men were hiding behind him.
“Those guys.”
“Yes. Hey, Luke. Don’t mess up the job by acting all sloppy.”
“Who’s talking?”
Bourne took the lead while Luke and James bickered.
As they approached, the man in the flat hat pulled out a short but sharp dagger and said,
“Wait a minute, who are you? I’ve never seen you before. The ones who were always here?”
The three men’s eyes quickly met. James, who noticed, took a step forward and swung his weight around in a haughty manner.
“The captain’s gone to find another job. For now, you can deal with us, so don’t worry.”
The smuggler of Kensilom stepped back, holding out his sword as if he still couldn’t believe it.
One by one, chilling shadows began to walk out from behind the trees.
There seemed to be about ten of them.
The smuggler said,
“Give me the evidence.”
Now it was Luke’s turn to step forward.
He handed over a bundle of zelkova, a lump of gold, and a note written by the leader of the Maple Manor smugglers.
The smuggler of Kensilom cautiously took the zelkova and touched it, crushed it to examine the powder, and sniffed it.
Watching this, Luke thought to himself,
“Dried zelkova shouldn’t smell much anyway. What can you know from that? You must be bluffing.”
He put down the zelkova and read the note with his dagger in his hand.
Just in case, he brought his own writing, but since the smugglers couldn’t have exchanged letters on friendly terms, the handwriting probably didn’t matter.
It was as expected. Kensilom’s smuggler judged the truth of the three people based on the gold and the saplings they had, rather than the contents of the notes.
The smugglers’ gold they brought had a small blemish that was barely noticeable at first glance, and only after seeing that did he make a gesture to believe them.
The smuggler spat on the floor and swore like a thug.
“Damn, if you were going to trade people like this, you should have told me in advance.”
Luke replied calmly.
“The captain is so busy with construction.”
“Oh, you’re using difficult words. You seem different from the idiots last time. Why haven’t you shown me your nose until now?”
This time, before Luke could open his mouth, James spoke.
“We don’t usually come out in front. You know that, right? It was our job to make sure things were going well next to the captain.”
The smuggler nodded, his mouth open.
“Ah, ah. Right. I get what you mean. So you’re not small-timers.”
“Are you going to keep talking nonsense here? Or are you going to make a deal? This is going to be a disaster.”
The smuggler’s expression hardened slightly at Luke’s words.
He seemed to be the leader of the Kensilom smugglers.
The kind of guy who’d break your nose or something if you got too cocky.
All three of them thought the same thing at the same time.
The smuggler said.
“We have to make a deal. That’s our job. But you see, we’ve got some problems on our side. If your captain had come sooner, we could’ve discussed it earlier, but as you know, he broke his promise first. Anyway, like I said last time, this deal was for two bundles of seaweed and seashells. The seaweed isn’t a problem, but there’s a problem with the seashells. The original deal was for two boxes, but the guy who was processing it stupidly cut off his finger with a knife. It’ll take some time to put it back together.”
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