Brushing the red hair back from her face, Rosalyn posed a question to Cale. “What did that message mean?”
Cale took his time chewing a piece of chicken, then swallowed and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “It was nonsense.”
“Nonsense, really?”
He reclined on the couch, having returned to his usual appearance. As Rosalyn regarded this man with hair even redder than her own, she found herself thinking that even his very hair seemed lazy somehow—if hair could express character traits.
“Yup. I wrote whatever sounded fancy.”
With a sigh, Rosalyn took a look around. They were inside a secret villa behind Flynn Merchant Fleets’ first and only storefront in Faern. It only made sense for Flynn Merchant Fleets, one of Rowoon’s three largest merchant guilds, to have at least one foothold in this kingdom. To reach Faern, one had to set sail and traverse other northern kingdoms, but merchants would brave much worse for a profit.
Reflecting that this red-haired man matched those merchants in meticulousness, Rosalyn asked, “You had us book lodgings at the inn even though this place was available. Was that because you anticipated running into the Guardian Knight?”
“I didn’t expect it at all. The lodgings just made it easier for us to vanish without a trace after causing a commotion.”
Rosalyn shook her head at Cale’s carefree response. In addition to the identification cards Prince Albert had given them—which were fakes, of course—Cale had casually handed her another card a moment ago that identified them as Flynn Merchant Fleets personnel.
He always acts like he does things on a whim, but he’s actually quite thorough.
She gave up trying to parse Cale’s thought process; it was better to focus on the tasks ahead of her than ponder the workings of such an audacious mind. “What’s our next move?”
Raon answered in Cale’s place, voice bubbling with excitement. “We’re looting the duke’s estate!”
Rosalyn winced, as did Faseton, who’d informed the group of the house’s location. Only Choi Han responded calmly.
“I see. So that’s where we’re headed this time.”
Cale nodded and stood. “Let’s scope out the place to start.”
As Choi Han and Raon joined him, Cale crooked his finger at the kittens rolling around in the corner. “Time to earn your keep.”
“Meow.”
“It’s been a while!”
Ohn and Hong approached him with swaying tails. Their stealth skills were only barely inferior to Ron’s by now; they would have no trouble escaping Clope’s notice.
Now assembled, Cale and company set out for the Seca home near Faern Castle.
✦ ✦ ✦
In a neighborhood inundated with noble estates, Cale sipped tea on the second floor of a local teahouse, eyes focused on a white house atop the hill: the Seca manor. The monstrous sculptures by its iron gate had captured Cale’s attention.
“How gruesome.”
‹What’s gruesome, human? Those statues?›
Cale answered Raon with a nod. Those sculptures, depicting the terrifying likenesses of wyverns, were large enough to be clearly seen from the bottom of the hill.
Confused, Raon said, ‹They’re cuter than the rabbit you gave me—the one that looks like the devil’s guard dog.›
That was undeniably true. Cale had forgotten about the rabbit sculpture, as well as the assassin who’d carved it. I should commission Frizia for some sculptures to stick in front of the Henituse estate next time. Wouldn’t most people avoid them out of fear, then? Had Deruth been privy to his son’s thoughts, they would’ve appalled him.
“Shall we?”
“Sure thing, Mr. Cale.”
Cale and Choi Han rose to their feet. The kittens were already flitting across rooftops on the way to the Seca manor, taking note of all of the side streets and alleyways in the area.
Swish.
Cale’s hair, dyed brown with magic, fluttered in the ever-strengthening wind. What a mess. It wasn’t the tousled state of his now shoulder-length hair that vexed Cale; it was the Sound of the Wind going berserk.
Stopping a ways away from the estate, Cale heard the invisible Raon’s voice again. ‹There’s a bunch of knights around here, but very few mages!›
Not only was Faern a kingdom of knights, but this was the Guardian Knight’s home—of course these people favored sword over sorcery.
Swish.
Cale opened his hand. The wind seemed ready to burst into the Seca estate at any moment.
“This is weird.”
“What is, sir?”
Cale shook his head at Choi Han, his mind buzzing. Does the Guardian Knight know there’s a divine artifact in his house?
It would be strange if he did. Why would someone set on sparking a legend to life leave a divine item to gather dust in his home?
And is it really the God’s Tears?
Was that truly the item the thief inside Cale wanted to nab? Furthermore, why would it be here?
The entire situation was bizarre—but not as bizarre as Choi Han’s response.
“Mr. Cale.”
“What?”
“Is it okay if we get closer to the house?”
“I don’t see why not.”
As the two of them slinked toward the manor, Choi Han tilted his head. “Something feels familiar.”
Familiar how? Cale wondered what Choi Han considered “familiar.” The scent of blood?
That thought made him stumble. While Cale put an extra step of distance between them, Choi Han asked, “If it’s all right with you, may I go in ahead of time tonight?”
“Why’s that?”
“I know something in there. I’ll be careful to avoid attracting attention.”
This was the first time Choi Han had requested to act in advance.
“You don’t need my permission for things like this,” Cale answered without delay. “Just make sure you don’t get hurt.”
“Yes, sir.”
‹Should I go too, human?›
Ignoring Raon, Cale left Ohn and Hong with Choi Han and headed back to their lodgings. He then savored some wine and feasted on steak before falling asleep on his comfortable bed. It was a relaxing night.
✦ ✦ ✦
Bang, bang!
The window sounded on the verge of shattering.
“What the…?”
Cale opened his eyes—and found himself nose to nose with Choi Han. It was so startling that he gasped and shoved his hand into Choi Han’s face.
“Mr. Cale!” Choi Han blurted out. When Cale grimaced, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Why would you break in through the window instead of just using the door?”
Raon patted Cale’s shoulder with his stubby forepaw. “Were you scared, human?”
Cale disregarded the dragon who’d neglected to wake him up beforehand, looking instead at Choi Han, Ohn, and Hong. The kittens were bouncing up and down.
“We saw something amazing!”
“It was incredible!”
A chill raced down Cale’s spine, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “What was it?” he asked, voice still a tad husky from sleep.
“It’s Arm!” Choi Han cried, frantic.
Cale’s response was immediate. “Those bastards are here?”
“They were giving someone in the duke’s manor an item!” Hong chimed in. “It looked important!”
No way.
Cale faced Choi Han again. “That familiar feeling you mentioned—was it Arm? Did you sense them too?”
He shook his head. “That was, um… Let’s just say it was the scent of blood.”
I never thought he actually meant that. Although Cale was mystified by the bizarre things powerful people could feel and smell, he focused on what Choi Han had to say.
“Anyway, that’s why I went to check it out in advance. It’d be terrible if we got into a risky situation while we were looting the estate.”
He was right about that.
“Then we happened to catch Arm secretly handing over a small box. There seemed to be a precious object inside—”
Cale burst out laughing, prompting Choi Han to stop short. The count’s son looked as if he found this solemn account quite entertaining.
“Choi Han.”
“Yes, Mr. Cale?”
“Did you know my original plan? I was going to make a mess by wearing a priest’s outfit when I created the pillar of fire.” What a fiendish image that would have made: a white-haired priest cackling before a column of flame. “But I can’t do that anymore.”
He’d closed off that avenue the moment he used his priestly identity to bait Clope.
As Cale’s smile widened, a thought occurred to Choi Han, and he swallowed hard. Could it be?
Cale spread his arms wide. “I brought those fake Arm outfits with me,” he said enthusiastically, referring to their shoddy replicas of Arm’s uniforms. He opened one hand, splaying his fingers. “There are exactly five of them. Isn’t this perfect?” Between himself, Choi Han, Rosalyn, and the two whales, they made a group of five.
While Choi Han struggled to reply, the children shouted their approval.
“That’s a great idea, human!”
“Brilliant!”
“I wanna try one on too!”
Cale watched them with satisfaction written all over his face. “I’ll treat you to some delicious food during the festival.”
In the end, Choi Han never did find his voice. The night passed, and the first day of the festival arrived.