I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 49
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Raven’s days had grown remarkably simple of late. Especially today.
Today was the day he’d promised to meet with the knights of the Luxe Knight Order. How long had he been waiting for this?
Raven hummed a short tune as he dried the plates with a linen cloth.
“You there, Raven. You’re in a good mood today, aren’t you?”
“Pardon? Yes, I suppose so. The weather is quite pleasant.”
“Pleasant? What pleasant? It’s gloomy as anything. Bring me three glasses of beer.”
The Pensative Night. The village’s only inn was always crowded with guests.
It was the same these days. A certain group had practically rented the place out for months, and so Raven continued his work at the inn with diligence.
He filled the glasses with beer in movements grown practiced by now. The golden liquid sloshed and filled the large mugs to the brim.
“Three glasses of beer, coming right up. Please enjoy.”
“Say, what about appetizers?”
“What would you prefer?”
“Anything. Just bring the best you’ve got!”
The Red Stone Mercenary Company. They’d arrived months ago and, as if taking root, had shown no sign of leaving. And truthfully, Raven found them rather grating.
But he couldn’t let it show. He still had work to do.
So Raven smiled as he cleaned the dishes. It was tedious and bothersome, yes, but when he thought of what lay ahead, this was nothing he couldn’t endure for a short while.
“Have you heard? They say outsiders have come to the village.”
“Outsiders? Who?”
“No idea. Some men, apparently. Word is knights even passed through here yesterday. Someone tried to follow them, but one of them sensed their presence like a ghost and they had to back off.”
“Knights? Pah! Rotten luck.”
Foolish men.
A collection of ruffians with no foundation, unable to properly use whatever opportunities fortune happened to grant them.
It was the same now. They’d stumbled into power beyond their station and swaggered about—
‘But that too will end soon enough.’
Raven’s lips curved into a smile behind the dish he was cleaning.
“Did the Captain say to gather?”
“So they say. Apparently there’s an important announcement today.”
“Sigh… How much longer do we have to keep doing this? Pah.”
Squeak, squeak.
The plate gleamed like new under his cloth. Raven longed for this tedious routine to end.
It was all so needlessly chaotic right now.
Getting Dorothy back to Leon, disposing of those people…
That was when Raven began to reflect on all that lay ahead of him.
Chime.
“Welcome, honored guests.”
Customers had arrived.
“Welcome! Please, come in!”
Raven smoothly rearranged his expression and greeted the guests he’d been waiting for.
A man in a loose linen shirt and a worn leather doublet, scuffed boots on his feet, and another in near-identical dress—
‘Disguised as a man.’
A ‘man’ who was likely a woman in disguise. The makeup made them look quite different from how Raven had seen them before, but they were unmistakably the ones. They had finally arrived at the inn.
A genuine smile bloomed on Raven’s face. He was truly glad to see them. His gaze swept across the knights.
One walked with a swagger, the other with a hesitant, shrinking gait. The two steps clashed yet flowed together in an oddly harmonious rhythm.
The mercenaries gathered and whispered among themselves. The ‘outsiders’ they’d been prattling about had finally appeared.
Raven rose naturally from his place.
‘Well then, let’s begin what needs to be done.’
He jotted a brief note on a small slip of paper about the conversation the mercenaries had been having, then slipped it to them along with the menu.
“Will you be dining?”
“Of course. And a glass of beer! I’ve heard this place serves excellent beer?”
“Aiden—I mean, Captain. You’re going to drink?”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s obvious. Why must you be so stubborn even at a time like this? Good grief.”
The one pretending to scan the menu caught sight of the note and gave a subtle nod—a signal.
Raven’s heart quickened with rapid beats. At last, what he’d been waiting for was beginning.
Raven tried to hide his excitement. He maintained a soft smile befitting an inn attendant, neatly gathered the menu, and crumpled the note into his palm.
As he returned to his post, no one paid him any attention whatsoever, which pleased Raven immensely. The man with the note tore it to shreds and swallowed it with a quiet smile.
* * *
Her heart felt ready to burst.
Olivia was acutely aware of where every organ in her body was and how it was moving.
One thing was certain: her heart was pounding as if it might explode.
“What? Having second thoughts now?”
“Not second thoughts exactly… I just didn’t expect we’d be doing an undercover operation like this.”
“This isn’t an undercover operation, it’s— well, it’s similar enough. In any case, it’s a form of investigative inquiry.”
“What if we’re discovered? I should mention—I’m not good at lying.”
“That really is a fatal weakness.”
Aiden’s expression was grave enough to intimidate her.
But when Olivia’s face crumpled into a look on the verge of tears, he couldn’t help himself any longer and burst into laughter, correcting himself.
“Never mind. What can you expect from a greenhorn?”
“I’m not a greenhorn.”
“You’re still wet behind the ears. A complete greenhorn.”
The moment he said that, they reached their destination. Aiden suddenly leaned close to Olivia, as if signaling that from here on, every word and action had to be measured.
The distance collapsed in an instant. Heat radiated from the sun-warmed fabric of his clothes, and a subtle fragrance drifted from the nape of his neck.
Suddenly she couldn’t breathe.
“Just play along with the atmosphere. Leave the rest to me.”
“…”
“You trust me, right?”
Olivia nodded frantically. It seemed her heart would burst otherwise.
Yet her pride was somehow wounded. His casual action had left Olivia hopelessly flustered while he remained completely composed, and that annoyed her to no end.
Olivia pressed both hands against her chest. The dull pressure seemed to somewhat settle the chaotic thoughts ricocheting through her mind.
[Three confirmed on-site. They have discussed the outsiders multiple times. Everyone is scheduled to meet here today.]
The note Raven had shown contained exactly that information.
All the guests sitting here were members of that mercenary company, and they had discussed the outsiders—Olivia and her companions—on multiple occasions.
And more importantly, they were scheduled to hold a meeting here today.
The moment Olivia’s head snapped up with renewed focus, Aiden tapped her foot under the table.
‘Relax.’
She let out a short breath.
Right. She was definitely mixing business and personal matters right now.
She needed to focus more on the task. Then she’d have something to say later.
Olivia turned her head slightly and reached for the water glass on the table.
That was when she felt someone approaching from behind. Olivia’s instincts immediately put her on high alert.
Anyone trained in combat would instinctively tense when someone approached from behind.
“Where’d you crawl in from?”
A raspy voice. He didn’t even introduce himself before launching into conversation with such rudeness.
“I don’t recognize your faces. Are you outsiders?”
“And who might you be, asking questions so abruptly? Rather crude, don’t you think?”
“Hey, look at this bastard.”
This was not a situation she’d anticipated.
Olivia’s eyes widened in alarm. Aiden tapped her foot beneath the table as if to reassure her.
But—
“Bastard, is it? And what sort of character must you be to let insults fly at the sight of someone’s face?”
If he wanted to reassure her, shouldn’t he avoid being so brazenly rude in return?
Aiden’s character shone through even here, unchanged.
How could he be so consistently infuriating? Olivia nearly reached up to grab her hair before barely remembering it was a wig, and she gripped the edge of the table instead.
“What sort of character? You arrogant dog!”
“A dog, you say? But I’m a person. They do say people see what they want to see, so I have to wonder—are you perhaps the dog here?”
…Was this really going to be okay?
Olivia found herself missing Yujin. She desperately needed someone to rein Aiden in.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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