Chapter 28 Why Him
“The children these days are truly bold. Don’t you know what place the Central Workshop is?”
Upon hearing the Duke’s words, the chattering children fell silent and looked at him with fearful eyes.
“W-we were told by the nuns that… it’s a place with many powerful weapons…”
“So you came here? Do you know what will happen if you get caught?”
“…W-will we be hanged?” The hesitant voice quivered.
“Exactly.”
The Duke glared sternly, causing the children to lose their voices in fright.
“In fact, we just wanted to take or borrow some weapons when you weren’t paying attention, and we would return them afterward… don’t kill us, wu—”
“Will you dare do it again next time?”
“N-no, we won’t.”
“But we didn’t want to do this. It’s just that the strange man is protected by guards. We can’t defeat him without weapons…”
…Do you think having weapons will make a difference?
Their bodies were generally thin, probably struggling even with the lightest of weapons.
Only their eyes were bright and clear.
“Afternoon, several people dressed up David beautifully. He might be sent out soon,” the little girl said while wiping her nose. Then she grabbed my skirt, “Sister, can you help us?”
Her eyes pleaded.
I looked at this brown-haired girl with freckles on her face, named Elie.
Her eyes reminded me of the brave and kind girl from a distant village.
Helping you is fine, no problem. But could you not rub your nose on my dress?
Look, I can’t push your hand away… Can I? I really want to slap it away.
Suppressing the discomfort, I turned to look at Duke Scargill, meeting his gaze, and raised an eyebrow at him.
Got my meaning?
The Duke nodded and then said to the two workshop hunters standing by, “Alright. You two follow them and see what’s going on. If the situation is as the children say… detain them first. In case of fierce resistance, prioritize the children’s safety. If necessary, you can kill them, and I’ll explain to the Church.”
“Yes!” The two hunters bowed.
“Yay!!”
“It’s great!”
The children were delighted, smiling joyfully, eager to follow the hunters.
Seeing them about to leave, I quickly wiped the spot where Elie touched with a handkerchief and straightened my skirt.
“I’m coming too!”
It was too stuffy here. I had thought about leaving earlier. Now I finally had a legitimate excuse. When else could I slip away?
“Hold on, Pape!”
Just taking two steps, I was stopped by the Duke. I turned my head to look at him, puzzled.
“It’s already dark. You shouldn’t go. Leave it to them. I’ll finish here soon, and we can go home together. Catherine must have prepared dinner.”
“Yeah, Pape. What are you doing following them?”
Dinner with the Duchess!
I hesitated, wanting to return to Santel Castle quickly but also unable to resist the desire to go to the orphanage. After a moment of struggle, I finally shook my head.
“I’ll go and see for myself before heading back.”
The Duke seemed somewhat helpless.
“Then be careful. These recent days in the Winter City…罢了，Pagos, take Pape to get a weapon for self-defense.”
“Okay.”
“No need,” I immediately waved them off, “I don’t need a weapon.”
Then, without waiting for them to say anything more, I started running with quick steps, “噔噔” sounds echoing. I stopped again, picked up the paper bag on the table, hugged it, and ran out once more.
“This child…”
…………
The sky pulled back the dusk.
Two crescent moons reflected the faint smoke on the horizon, casting a dazzling glow.
The entire Winter City was covered in silver, subtly shimmering with an aurora-like color amidst the fine snow and light mist.
Perhaps due to the weather, despite the city being lit up everywhere, few pedestrians could be seen on the streets.
I followed the two workshop hunters behind the children, the snow crunching under our feet.
Opening my mouth, I exhaled a white fog forward, feeling very happy.
“Giggling.”
I liked this dark city, and this icy, snowy weather.
“Miss Peyelo, I think you should return to the Duke’s side. If the situation is as the children say, there might be unpredictable dangers. In that case…”
The hunter didn’t finish his sentence, but I understood his implication. He saw me as a burden, fearing that if unexpected situations arose, he would have to protect me as well as fight.
The governor of Winter City, the owner of the Central Workshop—Duke Scargill.
The young mistress of the house, if anything were to go wrong, they wouldn’t be able to bear the responsibility.
But how can I make you understand that I’m a good child who doesn’t cause trouble?
I can’t very well perform an ice frost order for you all; that would be too foolish.
So I just smiled and shook my head at them.
“No worries, I’ll stand further back.”
The two hunters exchanged glances and gave a helpless smile, clearly treating me as a mischievous little girl.
I didn’t mind.
The orphanage was surprisingly close to the central workshop, which I think was one reason the children considered stealing from the workshop.
Their thinking was quite simple: since it was nearby and the weapons were good, they naturally came over without considering the consequences.
They’re such adorable kids.
“Sister, that’s the orphanage over there.”
Ahead, Aili suddenly turned around and pointed at a dark building not far away.
I looked closely.
The orphanage in the Winter City was smaller than I imagined, just a black, ancient Gothic-style building surrounded by iron railings, with faint laughter of children echoing inside.
“Let’s go this way!”
A little boy led us around the orphanage and deeper into the alleyways.
“I saw that strange person last time when I followed the headmaster here.”
The alley wasn’t mysterious, just ordinary residential lanes, lacking any atmosphere of secret transactions.
“Do we wait here?”
“Yeah, they should come soon.”
I scanned the surroundings but found no good hiding places. Fortunately, the terrain wasn’t flat; the houses in the alley were uneven. We followed a slope to the end of a row of houses, finding a spacious platform below where someone could stand.
The two hunters jumped down first, then looked up and shouted to the children, “Only one person needs to come down; the rest stay up there.”
The children hesitated for a moment, then all looked at Lucas.
“Lucas, you go down?”
“I… I’d rather not?”
“Why?”
“I… I’m afraid of heights.”
Lucas trembled at the meter-high steps.
“Tsk, a coward.”
I clicked my tongue and gave him a scornful look.
With such fear, how could he dare save anyone? Even if you gave him a weapon, he wouldn’t use it. He was barely a tough guy, but it turns out he’s just a braggart.
“What did you say? You, this flirtatious woman!”
Perhaps my glance hurt his pride, as he flushed and shouted at me.
I frowned, feeling angry.
“You dare insult me?”
“So what if I do? Don’t think I’ll be afraid of you just because you’re from a noble family!”
“I’ll go down. Lucas, don’t argue with your sister,” Aili said hurriedly, seeing us about to quarrel, and climbed down the steps.
“Are you brave enough to come down?”
“Yes! Just afraid you won’t be.”
“Then let’s jump together…”
A few other children, probably bored standing up, also jumped down.
“Hmph, cowards.”
Although I was angry, he was just a little boy in my eyes, so I didn’t want to argue with him. I crouched and prepared to jump.
“You, you ugly monster!”
I stopped jumping.
“What did you call me?”
“Ugly monster!”
“… Dare you repeat that?”
I walked up to him.
“I… so what if I did?”
“Say it.”
“I… you… you can’t scare me!” Lucas swallowed hard, still blushing and unable to face me, yet he raised his voice like he was gathering courage, “I, Lucas, will die! I’ll jump from here, and I won’t be scared—”
“Then go ahead.”
I kicked him on his butt.
This kid is really infuriating.
I am beautiful and clever, and you dare call me an ugly monster?
“Ahhh—”
Lucas screamed and stumbled forward, waving his arms to maintain balance on the edge of the steps before finally jumping down.
I felt much better after venting my frustration.
I had good control of my strength; he couldn’t get hurt from a meter-high drop. He was probably just off-balance and sat dazed on the ground.
I followed him down and landed beside him, ignoring him and moving closer to the hunters.
Not long after, movement appeared in the distance.
“It looks like someone’s coming…”
“Is that the headmaster and David?”
“It seems so.”
“Oh, it’s that strange person again, with his guards!”
I looked in the direction the children were pointing.
In the dimly lit alley, two groups of people met and seemed to be talking.
One of them looked familiar.
“Hmm?”
I rubbed my eyes, incredulous.
Yes, it’s Carlos.
