The Plague Village, Luxen (2)
“Yes, that’s correct for the time being.”
“For the time being?”
“He’s so willful and eccentric that there’s no telling what he’ll do. He might slam the door in our faces.”
“What? Then what do we do? What now?”
What do you mean, what now?
All we can do is hope that Edwin wins the old man’s favor.
“W-will he like me?”
“Don’t worry. Even if he doesn’t, I intend to bring him anyway.”
I left the visibly nervous Edwin behind and examined the door.
The small entrance—barely tall enough for an adult man to pass through without stooping—had a large yellow X painted across it.
“Judging by the mark, it seems he hasn’t died yet.”
“What mark?”
“Your Highness must have seen many houses with X marks on their doors on the way here, yes?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“A yellow X means the person living in that house has died from the plague.”
“What? Then the person here has passed away too!”
“No. It’s the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
I simply nodded instead of answering.
“Yellow X if they’re still alive, red X if they’re dead. It’s a form of camouflage.”
The patrol guards who occasionally ventured into the village avoided houses marked with yellow Xs.
They found them ominous, apparently.
“A password? That’s so cool!”
Edwin’s eyes sparkled at the word “password.”
Unlike when we first arrived, he was finally showing behavior appropriate for his age.
He was terrified of entering the village earlier, yet now he’s like this. Are children always this fickle?
I shook my head and turned away.
The moment I raised my arm to knock, I hesitated.
Beyond this door lies the past. Kyla Angel’s past.
I would have to face Ian someday for the sake of my revenge, but I had no desire to reunite with any of the others.
Especially not with those who could become weaknesses for me.
Why?
Because I had a bad feeling.
The kind of premonition that once I stirred up old connections, I wouldn’t be able to stop.
The kind that warned the past ties severed by death might swallow this life whole as well.
“Rachel, what’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
But what good would regret do me now?
I had promised to save the prince’s teacher, and I had even dragged Edwin all the way here.
I couldn’t return empty-handed.
Bang. Bang. Bang—
“Hey. Heyy.”
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang—
“Heyy, Rachel. Stop it. Maybe he’s out? He hasn’t answered despite all that knocking.”
“No. He’s definitely inside.”
My confident tone made Edwin scratch his head.
“Is the person living here really that amazing? Do we have to go this far?”
“Yes. As far as I know, he’s the smartest human on the continent.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He’s so brilliant that he earned too many enemies and ended up hiding like this.”
Shouldn’t smart people be adored? Why would they be hated?
Edwin tilted his head, clearly unable to understand.
“He’s definitely pretending not to hear us. It’s one of his specialties.”
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang—!
“Rachel, still… continuously pounding on the door like that is rather rude…”
BOOOOM—!
“Never mind. Just do whatever you want.”
Edwin stepped back and watched from a distance as I hammered on the door hard enough to break it down.
Just what is that old man doing in there, anyway?
I was seriously considering smashing the door when it suddenly flew open.
“Goddammit!”
The owner of the house had appeared.
Startled by the sudden curse, Edwin hid behind me.
“What crazy bastard is banging on someone else’s door! You got a death wish? Who the hell are you!”
The person who burst out of the tiny house was a white-haired old man wearing a shabby robe.
Nearly seven feet tall with sharp, piercing eyes, he looked anything but ordinary.
He glared around furiously before finally spotting me and Edwin.
“What the—? It’s not one bastard, it’s a pair? What the hell are you two snot-nosed brats doing? Come to beg for scraps?”
Even though I still had my hood up, he instantly recognized that I was a woman.
Still has that sewer mouth, the ill-tempered old geezer.
The old man grew even angrier when I simply stared at him without answering.
“What! You had no problem knocking on my door, so why are you suddenly mute? If you’ve got no business here, get lost! If you don’t, I’ll dump a bucket of shit on—”
“Sage Lil, Viscount.”
The moment his real name left my lips, every trace of expression vanished from the old man’s—Sage’s—face.
“I’ve come to collect the debt for your life.”
The single phrase “life debt” brought instant silence.
“Who the hell are you… How…”
Sage’s eyes widened so far they looked ready to tear.
“How do you know that name—no, that phrase?”
“First, let us inside. I’ll explain afterward.”
“What? Are you joking? Do you think I just let any random mutt off the street into my house?”
What a suspicious old man.
Then again, with a personality like that, it was probably how he had survived this long.
“I don’t mind, but my companion is quite exhausted from the journey here.”
Sage snorted in disbelief, but then his eyes met Edwin’s.
Even I couldn’t resist those innocent, guileless eyes. The old man grimaced.
“…Goddammit. This is exactly why I say never open the door for beggars dragging kids around.”
Sage clicked his tongue, then finally jerked his head in invitation.
“Get in already! Before I change my mind!”
Without hesitation, I stepped into his house.
Edwin, who had been standing behind me, glanced nervously at Sage before following timidly.
Sage’s home was exactly as it appeared from outside—low ceiling, cramped interior.
Half of the narrow space was dominated by a massive table.
On it lay all sorts of herbs and dried animal organs.
The stench they produced was so overpowering that it masked even the rotten smell outside.
“Sit wherever! Use the bed if you want!”
I guided the bewildered Edwin to the bed and removed my hood.
When I turned to Sage, he was staring at me intently.
“All right. Now speak. Who the hell are you two?”
“I am…”
“No need to tell me! That damned woman sent you, didn’t she? Talking about a life debt and all.”
The damned old man still had the habit of answering his own questions.
“So what do you want as payment? Knowing that Kyla girl’s personality, she wouldn’t make a losing deal.”
Sage picked at his earwax with a bored expression.
“Hurry up and say it. If I can give it, I’ll hand it over quickly and send you on your way.”
“Su…”
“You’re not suspicious? Of course you are. No need to be, though. That woman is meticulous to a fault. There’s no way she’d reveal my location to a complete stranger.”
I’d thought he disliked me from the moment we first met.
At this point, maybe he was just pretending to hate me while actually liking me?
“Then I’ll get straight to the point.”
“Yes, hurry up and finish—”
The old sage nodded, clearly annoyed.
This time, I cut him off.
“Please become his teacher.”
“Yes, his teacher. Wait… his teacher?”
Sage frowned as if he thought he had misheard.
“What kind of fresh nonsense is this?”
“It’s not nonsense. Please become his teacher.”
“Out of nowhere, you want me to be a teacher?”
He let out a disbelieving sigh.
“Ha. Didn’t that damned woman tell you that the moment I leave this place, I could die?”
“I know. You earned the enmity of the empire’s merchant syndicates.”
Of course I knew. The leaders of those syndicates had placed assassination requests with our organization.
They had asked us to erase Sage without a trace.
Both his life and the legacy he had left behind.
“It’s not just them. The Holy Kingdom treats me like some god-slaying monster. And you make this offer knowing that?”
“Don’t worry about that. You will leave this place and go to the safest location in the empire.”
“The safest location? There’s no such thing! Talk some sense…”
“The imperial palace.”
The moment the words left my mouth, silence fell over the room.
“…The imperial palace? The imperial palace?”
Sage repeated the words over and over before glaring at me.
“You ask me to become a teacher, yet you mention the imperial palace? Don’t tell me the person I’d be teaching is the prince?”
“As expected, you’re quick-witted.”
“Cut the nonsense. You think I’d go to the imperial palace for a reason like that? Safe, my ass. Why would I walk into that den of monsters?”
“You will go.”
I answered without so much as a flicker of expression. Sage’s eyes narrowed.
He looked as though he were searching every inch of me.
“You strangely resemble Kyla. Those arrogant green eyes, that infuriating tone of voice—you’re practically her twin.”
He really was quick.
When I smiled instead of answering, Sage clicked his tongue again.
“Tsk. How did I ever end up making a deal with such a bewitching woman?”
Muttering to himself, Sage stood and approached Edwin.
The boy seemed startled by the sudden approach of the giant old man.
Even though Edwin was staring at him with a frightened face, Sage paid it no mind.
“Well, I was getting tired of life here anyway. Playing teacher in the imperial palace doesn’t sound so bad. At this point, no one should recognize me anymore.”
He continued muttering to himself as he studied Edwin for a long time.
“Sending a child to a plague village… I can’t decide if that’s thoughtful or thoughtless.”
He clicked his tongue at the black, scale-like lump attached to Edwin’s arm.
“What is this ridiculous disguise? Did Kyla tell you to do it? Your craftsmanship hasn’t improved at all. Then again, those gatekeepers have eyes like hawks. This is just pathetic.”
After mocking us for a while, Sage turned back in my direction.
“But is this kid really the prince? He looks too dim-witted for royalty.”