Chapter 42

Brick joined the gathering late after finishing his evening shift. He pulled out the empty chair opposite Isaac and stared at him. Isaac sat at the innermost end of the table, hunched against a pillar, one hand propping up a chin that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

“What’s wrong with him? Why does he look like he’s dying, like some drugged chick? Hey, are you sick?”

“Uh… no. I’m just tired.”

Isaac mumbled in a weak, aching voice. The radiant light of the full moon poured through the window, making his already pale complexion look even more bloodless. Brick was lowering himself into the chair when he noticed Isaac’s stockinged feet.

“Where are your shoes?”

“He staggered on his way into the place and tripped over the step,” Olsen answered for him, clicking his tongue. “Tore the sole clean off in the fall, so he left them at the repair shop out front.”

Isaac said nothing, his eyes half-closed. Someone called him pathetic, but he did not even bother to look up. It was the full moon, the night when a witch’s power was suppressed. Once each month, even a half-blood like Isaac felt as though his entire body had been weighted with lead. It was unfortunate that the royal guards had arranged their drinking party on this particular day. Ordinarily, Isaac would have invented some reasonable excuse and stayed away, but he had business in the area and had decided to stop by while he was nearby.

“Tsk, tsk, no wonder you’re exhausted. Working under that guy must be hell. Here, drink up.”

Isaac obediently drank the beer Selvero poured for him. As he gulped it down, Lauder leaned close across the table.

“So? What’s it like working as a bodyguard at Blue Shadow Palace? Is it nice?”

“Does it look nice?” Isaac muttered.

“And the virginity of your ass? Still intact?”

“Damn right it is.”

Isaac drained his beer and slammed the empty mug down on the back of Lauder’s hand.

Lauder clutched his hand and grimaced, ”Ow, ow, ow!”, while the others burst into laughter.

When they had first gathered after Isaac’s transfer to Blue Shadow Palace, every one of his colleagues had examined him from head to toe with the eyes of hunting hawks.

Why did he look so healthy? Was his lower half still intact? Why was he perfectly fine after being taken away under the title of bodyguard, which in the minds of these bastards meant bedwarmer?

A few of them had even sounded disappointed.

In return, Isaac had wondered whether they had all gone insane, only to discover that they had placed bets on him. The options had been remarkably varied: completely unharmed, one week of recovery, one month of recovery, or immediate resignation.

After learning the truth, Isaac had beaten every one of them in retaliation. Despite that, they continued studying him closely whenever they gathered.

“What if he’s already been fucked and is just pretending nothing happened?”

“No way. Look at his neck. Not even a single bite mark.”

“That proves nothing! Does His Highness look like the kind of man who bothers with caressing or foreplay? He’d just shove it straight in.”

“No, I’m telling you, nothing happened. Look at him. He’s walking perfectly normally. There’s no way anyone could be split open by that thing and still walk around like this.”

“That’s true.”

Isaac finally sprang to his feet, grabbed the nearest man by the collar, and shook him violently. “I said nothing happened!”

His colleagues ignored his fury and continued laughing and talking over one another.

“See? I told you Isaac isn’t Lord Kaiyan’s type.”

“I still wondered, though. His Highness came personally that day, singled him out, and took him away. How did you catch his eye, anyway?”

Their genuinely curious stares drove Isaac back into his chair. He slumped forward until he was nearly sprawled across the table.

“How would I know? I must’ve caught his attention without even realizing it.”

“Maybe you just irritated him during the hunting tournament,” one of his companions countered with a shrug.

“How do you know he didn’t take a liking to you instead? Think positively, man. You’re still alive, so there’s a decent chance,” another chimed in, grinning broadly.

“…”

It sounded almost encouraging, yet to Isaac, it felt like anything but. He already felt wretched, his nerves frayed by the influence of the full moon. Now, he only felt worse.

I really shouldn’t have come here.

“Fine, fine. Let’s just say Blue Shadow Palace finally has its first bodyguard who actually serves as a proper bodyguard.”

“Besides, knowing His Highness, if he really wanted to fuck Isaac, he would have done it immediately.”

“And Lord Kaiyan always picks flashy, sharp-looking beauties. Isaac doesn’t fit that preference at all. He’s just too plain.”

“Will you bastards shut your mouths already?”

Isaac snapped, but the men were pleasantly drunk and far too entertained by their own banter to stop. They continued to tease him, their voices thick with wine and malice.

「So that’s how it is, right? Our Muddlehead likes that man—the greatest beauty in the whole country—but the man won’t even look his way. 」

「How terribly sad.」

「It’s alright. They say every straw sandal has its mate. A good straw sandal will appear for our Muddlehead too. 」

「But whenever our Muddlehead reaches for straw, he always grabs the rotten kind. What if he ends up with a rotten straw sandal for the rest of his life?」

THUD

Why is this tavern so damned noisy?

It was no longer just the humans. The supernatural little nuisances were circling around his feet, babbling absolute nonsense.

“Excuse me!” Isaac called to a passing employee. “Why are there animals wandering around inside the tavern? Could you please throw them out?”

The employee, clearly overwhelmed by the boisterous crowd, hurried over regardless. “Where are they, sir?”

Isaac turned around, but the creatures had already vanished into thin air. Those little bastards ought to be hiding quietly at home on a bright full-moon night. Why are they out here, roaming around in public?

Isaac swallowed a groan and pressed his fingers against his throbbing temples. I should’ve just gone home early to rest. He had only come out to meet his broker; the drinking party just happened to be taking place nearby, so he had stopped by afterward. Still, he could not claim he hadn’t anticipated this atmosphere. Every once in a while, this sort of rowdy gathering was enjoyable. It just would have been far better on any night other than the full moon.

The broker had reacted exactly as Isaac expected.

When Isaac asked him to track down where the Roverni faction intended to meet, the man had looked deeply uncomfortable. He studied Isaac with palpable concern, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately, he just nodded in silence.

In the past, the broker had accepted requests for highly dangerous information without batting an eye. If even he thought the situation had turned perilous, the atmosphere surrounding Roverni must have grown exceptionally grim. Isaac, however, had no other choice.

“…Ah. That man.”

The broker had suddenly looked over Isaac’s shoulder, gesturing with his eyes. Isaac followed his gaze and saw a man walking down the opposite alley. He was an utterly ordinary-looking, middle-aged man with hair that had receded halfway across his scalp.

“That fellow was asking questions about you not long ago,” the broker muttered.

“Who is he?”

“He does the same kind of work I do, but he’s the most expensive man in the entire business. His fees are probably twenty times mine. It’s nearly impossible to catch him in person, so I wonder what brought him to this area. Perhaps he has an appointment.”

Information brokers were paid strictly according to their ability. Isaac’s broker already charged several times more than the industry standard, so someone who demanded twenty times that price had to be extraordinary.

“You need to drown that man in money before he’ll even consider taking a job. Someone who can afford to use him was digging into your past.” The broker examined Isaac cautiously. “Have you been doing something dangerous lately?”

Isaac stared into space for a moment, then sighed. He knew one person who would not blink at spending such a vast sum. That same person had recently informed Isaac, quite openly, that he had conducted a thorough investigation into his life. If Kaiyan employed an information broker of that caliber, it made perfect sense that he had been able to monitor Roverni’s movements with such precision.

Isaac considered this before asking, “Do you know anything about the Roverni’s witch?”

The broker immediately frowned. After staring at Isaac for a long moment, he clicked his tongue.

“Nothing beyond the completely unverified rumors you’ve probably already heard.”

“What rumors?”

The broker’s mouth twisted with discomfort, and he gave a small shrug. “They say Roverni worships a witch and conducts rituals with the fresh blood of young girls every new-moon night. They say the witch who granted Roverni his power is exceptionally strong, even among witches. They also say a magician of extremely high rank acts as the link between Roverni and that witch.” He quickly hunched his shoulders and added, as if someone might be eavesdropping, “They’re only rumors. Just nonsense people spread around. None of it has ever been confirmed.” Still visibly unsettled, he concluded, “You should stay away from anything too dangerous. I’ll look into what you asked, so wait until I contact you.”

Then he left, almost as if he were fleeing the scene.