(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 6

“…Baron?”

When I recognized him, he tilted his chin slightly and met my eyes.

Jewel-like red eyes glinted in the darkness.

“You remember me.”

“Of course. I remember all the customers who come to the General Store. But what brings you here?”

“I came out for a walk. To look around the village as well.”

“I see.”

This is the first time I’ve seen someone go sightseeing at night.

Baron really is a strange person.

Who would have thought a simple comment about taking a walk could sound so suspicious.

I slowly backed away, putting distance between Baron and myself.

He stood there motionless, staring intently at my feet. As if gauging how far away I was moving.

What’s this, why is he acting like that.

How embarrassing.

I fidgeted with the tips of my worn shoes and quietly turned around.

If I go straight from here, I’d have to go back to our house, but I don’t have the courage to pass by Baron who’s blocking the narrow path.

“Well then, enjoy your walk. I’ll be going now.”

Tap tap tap, I quickly moved my feet to get away from the same path as Baron.

But strangely, another shadow quietly overlapped with my shadow cast by the moonlight. I heard languid, light footsteps from behind me.

Could it be… is Baron following me?

Maybe our walking directions just happened to overlap?

I was very concerned, but I couldn’t just ask him outright.

I quietly turned into an alley and headed toward the General Store. I was planning to run inside the General Store if necessary.

But from inside the alley where the General Store was located, I sensed suspicious signs of people.

Click, click click-!

“Hey, hurry up and open it. Why are you taking so long.”

“Damn it. I thought picking the lock of a shabby General Store would be a piece of cake, but why won’t it open.”

“Move over. Let me try.”

“Should we just break it down? That seems faster.”

It was the friends who had been with Axel.

Even if I forget these guys’ faces, I could never forget their distinctive rough voices.

‘Devil’s child, look how successful she’s become.’

‘Isn’t she the kid who used to steal rotten apples from the street?’

The words that had mocked me overlapped in my mind, and my eyes squeezed shut.

I thought the days of being hurt by meaningless words were over.

But some wounds don’t easily dull with time.

However, I had to set aside my wounded feelings for now.

This is an emergency. It seems those thugs are trying to pick the store lock and steal money.

‘But why?’

If they’re going to steal anyway, wouldn’t it make more sense to target somewhere other than our store, the poorest in the village?

Unless…

Are they doing this to prevent me from paying the taxes due tomorrow?

Does Axel want to torment me that badly?

Is this why he came to our village a day early?

My head was throbbing. I knew that guy had a strange obsession with me, but I didn’t know he’d stoop this low.

‘What should I do?’

If this happened under Axel’s direction, making a big deal out of it won’t solve anything.

I’m just a lowly commoner who can only be pushed around by whatever the noble lord’s son does.

While I was trying to figure out how to quietly resolve this incident before Felix found out, a huge shadow fell over me.

“Shall I help you?”

“…What? You, Baron?”

Baron nodded as if it were obvious.

Axel’s friends in front.

A suspicious outsider taking a village stroll in the moonlight behind.

Why is today like this?

Why do these impossible situations keep happening so often?

When I looked at Baron with eyes full of wariness, he opened his eyes prettily as if proving his goodness. They were eyes like a domesticated puppy’s, incapable of harboring any malice.

That made him even more suspicious, but strangely, I felt I could trust him. This is why handsome men are dangerous. They can create plausibility with their faces even in the strangest situations.

“There are petty thieves in the store right now, aren’t there?”

“Yes. But there’s nothing really worth stealing. I don’t usually keep money in the store.”

My money pouch is always in my skirt.

If I put it anywhere else, Felix would take it.

“What about the goods.”

“They’re things that won’t sell anyway, so it’s the same whether they’re stolen or not. I just hope they don’t smash the holy water bottles…”

“Ah.”

Baron didn’t say anything, but I, who had tried to sell him inventory, felt guilty for no reason.

Though I wasn’t planning to overcharge him.

I would have given him a discount if anything.

“Excuse me, Baron.”

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

“If I run into those petty thieves, things get troublesome. If you could chase those guys away quietly, I’ll give you that calculator.”

“Calculator?”

“The calculator you saw this morning.”

Despite making the proposal with determination.

Baron looked at me with wide eyes like someone who had heard something unbelievable, then immediately burst into a deflated laugh.

“Pfft.”

“…Never mind if you don’t want to. I’ll handle it myself, so go on your way.”

“I can’t do that when there’s a lady in distress. Please wait here for a moment.”

I’m not a lady though.

The gentle way of speaking typical of city people felt awkwardly embarrassing.

“Thank you. I’ll be in your debt.”

Baron’s eyebrow twitched confidently.

It was ominous. That’s exactly the expression Felix makes right before causing trouble.

Baron picked up two pebbles from the ground and threw them into the darkness without hesitation.

Swoosh-. The pebbles flew vigorously in a parabolic arc.

Soon, thwack! A dull impact sound followed by a single scream. Crash! The sound of breaking glass was a bonus.

“Ugh.”

“Urgh.”

Finally, I heard the sound of the men hit by stones collapsing with a thud. Judging by how it ended in one shot, it must have hit their heads.

Baron’s stone-throwing skills were on par with the hunter uncles. If those men found out about this skill, he’d be kidnapped immediately.

Anyway, he really did resolve it quietly(?).

I had a bad feeling about this. Now what do I do?

Unlike me, whose head went blank with bewilderment, Baron looked like he wanted praise.

He walked ahead and spoke as if to reassure me.

“Don’t worry. They probably didn’t die.”

As Baron had assured, the petty thieves weren’t dead.

Though Ssukssuk nearly died.

“Ssukssuk!”

The pebble that bounced off after hitting the thief’s head had gone through the glass window and was embedded in Ssukssuk’s leaf.

If the trajectory had been just slightly off, it would have pierced through the stem instead of the leaf.

Baron paused while collecting the fallen thieves with bumps on their foreheads and added apologetically.

“Oh my, I didn’t know Ssukssuk was there…”

“It can’t be helped. The leaves will grow back, so it’s fine.”

I plucked off the punctured leaf and buried it in the soil after cutting it into small pieces. At least it would serve as nutrients.

I heard a chuckling sound from behind, a laugh coming from the throat. Baron had been like this since earlier, finding something so amusing.

Of course, not liking his attitude was separate from being grateful.

I picked up the calculator from the counter and slipped it into Baron’s pocket.

“Thank you for helping.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Could you perhaps dump these thieves somewhere on the outskirts of the town? Make it look like they collapsed from drinking?”

“No problem.”

He stacked the thieves neatly on the floor, then lifted them more easily than carrying a sack of potatoes.

It seemed his strength matched his build.

“I’ll head out first. Please get home safely, Miss Hazel.”

“Yes, thank you again, Baron.”

“Don’t mention it. Not turning away from those in distress. I heard that’s the proper mindset for people of Ruden Village to have.”

“That’s right. It is… true.”

Though it felt a bit awkward hearing those words from Baron.

It was like a lion declaring it would only eat grass from now on. Somehow it didn’t quite fit.

“Well then, farewell.”

Baron nodded lightly and cleanly exited through the door.

He really had just helped and left.

“Sorry for misunderstanding you…”

Baron might be a better person than I thought.

***

Thud-!

Heavy bodies tumbled to the ground. Black boots trampled over their bodies.

Baron looked down at the men he had thrown down as if looking at filth.

“Disgusting things.”

A black shadow dropped behind him.

“Have you finished confirming?”

Baron put his hand in his pocket and carefully fingered the ring with the yellow amber.

“Yes, I finally found her.”

A bitter smile formed on his lips.

The silver hair more brilliant than moonlight, the golden eyes that shone brighter than jewels were still the same, but she didn’t recognize him.

Nevertheless…

“Too cute.”

Shadow was startled by the words he carelessly uttered. They weren’t words that should come from the mouth of a man more monstrous than demons.

Shadow suppressed his bewildered feelings and asked his master, who seemed even more abnormal than usual today.

“What do you plan to do?”

The master’s red eyes curved wickedly. He suddenly smeared dirt on his hands and rubbed it on his face.

“How’s this, do I look like a dirt potato?”

“What do you suddenly mean by that?”

It was a face whose beauty couldn’t be hidden even when covered in blood. The dirt smeared on his cheeks wasn’t even visible.

Baron wiped off the dirt and instructed Shadow.

“I’ll stay in the village until I find that item. Make sure to relay that.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

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