Chapter 194

Chapter 196: Maybe it’s the scent of laundry powder?

On the same night, almost at the same time.

Two figures quietly left the mansion of Twilight Manor, one after another.

Their destination was the southeastern area of Orario…

However, before dawn the next day, one of them silently crossed the high walls between the spires and returned to his room, then immediately went out again.

With a scheming smile, Izay stepped out of his room and headed towards the backyard of Twilight Manor while trying to sense the magical mark he had left on someone.

He! Was about to expose someone’s misdeeds and enforce justice!

‘When Raul returns from the Pleasure Quarter, I will “just happen” to appear in front of him and “just happen” to discover the fact that he has been out all night!’

Then we can fast forward to the satisfying part where he writes a self-criticism letter.

Almost laughing out loud with a “geigeigei,” Izay left the mansion and turned towards the backyard.

“Hm? Izay, are you already up?” Anqi, the black-haired catgirl, appeared at the corner between the backyard and the courtyard, holding a box of ingredients.

The catgirl looked at Izay with a slightly strange expression.

What’s going on here?

Why does Izay seem so happy?

Anqi lightly twitched her cat ears, feeling confused inside.

“Ah, it’s Anqi. Good morning. Are you preparing breakfast?” Noticing her, Izay naturally reined in his smile and greeted her.

“Yeah, today I’m leading the patrol team, so I came to get the ingredients.” Anqi lifted the box full of vegetables in her hand to indicate to Izay.

Loki Familia had a warehouse in the backyard for storing vegetables and meats, all specially supplied by Demeter Familia. Before each meal, the members on duty would come to collect them. Today’s member was Anqi.

“Izay, what about you? Did you wake up early to help?”

“Sure thing. Can I help later? Right now, I’m just going to take a walk around the garden and stretch a bit since I woke up a bit early.”

Facing Anqi’s teasing tone, Izay didn’t mind and agreed directly.

“Eh～～then I’ll look forward to it. You cook, I slack off～”

“That’s going too far, right? I’m helping you kindly?”

“Just kidding.”

Anqi narrowed her eyes and giggled as she chatted, unintentionally getting closer to Izay.

Suddenly, the delicate nostrils of the catgirl twitched slightly.

“Sniff sniff～～Hmm? Why do I smell a faint fragrance?” Anqi tilted her head in confusion, looking at Izay.

This fragrance seems to be coming from Izay? Why?

Hearing this, Izay unconsciously raised his arm and smelled his clothes, feigning confusion: “Hmm? Is there? I didn’t notice.”

‘I believe my sense of smell is accurate.’ Anqi wanted to say this.

After all, she’s a catgirl, a race with an extremely sensitive sense of smell.

But seeing the genuine look of confusion on Izay’s face, she wondered if she might have made a mistake.

Maybe it’s the scent of laundry powder?

At this moment, Izay imperceptibly paused, sensing the rapid approach of his magical mark.

Calculating the timing, Izay glanced along the high wall of the backyard, waiting for the protagonist to appear.

In front of him, Anqi also noticed his unusual behavior and became curious. “Izay, what are you looking at?”

Asking while following Izay’s gaze, Anqi spotted a certain hedgehog-headed figure who was skilled at stealthily climbing over walls.

“That… isn’t that Raul?” Trying hard not to laugh, Izay made his voice sound surprised.

Anqi didn’t answer him immediately but instead caught sight of the hedgehog-headed figure with sharp eyes.

“Raul!? What are you doing?”

Like a grim reaper rushing out of the depths of a dark valley, Anqi’s tone was extremely cold.

“—！！！”

The person who had just landed gracefully, even indulging in their own elegance, immediately shivered from head to toe, a bead of cold sweat trickling down their forehead.

Raul stiffly turned his head and stammered, “An-Anqi… why are you here?”

“I’m here to get ingredients for breakfast. What do you think?”

The cat tail behind Anqi swayed with her emotions, and the light in her eyes began to dim as she guessed the answer.

“So… why did you climb over the wall from outside? Hmm—?”

“This… this… I…”

Faced with Anqi’s questioning, Raul’s mouth twitched, and he stuttered, unable to speak.

It was as if he had a secret he didn’t want anyone to know, and he started sweating.

“You didn’t… go there again, did you?”

“Yes! I’m sorry!!!”

Anqi exposed the truth with her words, and in the next instant,

Raul turned around directly, his back facing Izay and Anqi, and fled.

His hairstyle flew wildly as he bolted like a frightened rabbit.

In fact, Anqi had guessed the answer the moment she saw him first but still harbored a shred of hope that Raul might have learned his lesson.

Now that last shred of hope was shattered!

Ah—! This Raul! He never learns!!!

Speaking of which,

Among the male members of Loki Familia who have visited the Pleasure Quarter, Raul is definitely not the only one, yet everyone rarely delves into this matter.

After all, existence is reasonable.

So why does everyone focus on Raul, demanding that he control himself in this aspect?

Tracing the root cause, wasn’t it because he had fallen victim to this before! Even the Familia’s funds were squandered, and he hasn’t paid off his debts yet!

It doesn’t matter to everyone whether or not you go; life is free, after all. It’s none of our business.

But at least pay off your debts first, right?

Including Anqi, many members share this thought.

If you haven’t paid off your debts and end up owing more, isn’t that double the “fun”?

Can we tolerate that!?

Absolutely not!

Even Izay can’t stand it! The cats can’t stand it either!

Decisively report him!

Puffing her furry ears in anger, Anqi held the ingredients and dragged Izay, another witness present, to find someone to report to.

After Raul’s little incident, Anqi couldn’t help but recall the faint fragrance on Izay earlier, and a thought flashed through her mind.

But it passed quickly, and the catgirl dismissed it.

For no other reason than that the fragrance was too faint, very natural.

It lacked the heavy scent of rouge and didn’t resemble the kind of smell those women would have.

Therefore, Anqi didn’t suspect too much.

“Ahhh… this…”

Izay was pulled along by Anqi and, unseen by her, wore a ridiculous expression.

“Plan succeeded～”

“Raul～ Hope you’re okay～～”

It was said that on that morning, under the personal supervision of Finn, the guild master, Raul was punished to write twice as many lines of self-criticism compared to last time, and cries of woe echoed throughout the Central Tower.

According to Raul’s friend and fellow witness Izay, for several days afterward, they didn’t see this friendly older brother, deeply regretting his absence.