(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 60
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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 60
A red light flashed in the darkness.
Shortly after, a yellow light flashed from the darkness on the opposite side.
The men’s bodies froze in place. Their feet were bound by instinctive fear.
Their blood ran cold.
Their hearts pounded violently—thump, thump, thump.
They didn’t dare look back.
“Hey, behind, what’s behind us…?”
“Shit, damn it… how the hell would I know?”
“I think we should run…”
“L-let’s just run for now.”
They barely managed to move their trembling legs and went deeper into the mountains.
Their breath was short and their throats burned. But their steps wouldn’t quicken as much as their hearts desired.
An unidentifiable presence followed closely behind them.
Growling—the sound of a beast’s cry tickled their ears like a hallucination.
But the beast was in no hurry.
As if waiting for its prey to collapse from exhaustion.
Or as if enjoying the final struggles of its prey.
It toyed with them, following at a steady pace.
“Huff, gasp.”
“Haah, huff.”
The men’s faces were covered in tears, and foul-smelling liquid dripped from beneath their pants.
In the face of mortal terror, no one could remain composed.
“…!”
Gwen’s Cousin Nephew, who had been staggering forward looking only ahead, belatedly realized that his friend’s presence had disappeared.
His knees gave out. His breath caught as if someone had grabbed his throat.
“Gasp.”
The last thing he saw were the yellow eyes of a demon glowing in the pitch-black darkness.
Hearing the scream that shook the mountain, Baron lifted one corner of his mouth in a smirk.
It was a scream of just the right pitch—neither too high nor too low, perfectly pleasant to hear.
‘I did well to yield to my elder brother.’
A few hours earlier, Baron had confirmed that Gwen’s Cousin Nephew and his friend were leaving the village, then quietly followed them.
But there was one more person targeting them.
Hazel’s Felix.
As soon as Baron sensed Felix’s presence, he withdrew.
And like a hyena waiting for a lion to finish its hunt, he watched the situation unfold.
Hoping there might be some share left for him.
However, Felix’s revenge was clean and efficient, and Baron couldn’t help but admire it anew.
‘He’s not just a guard dog protecting his sister, but comparable to Cerberus guarding the underworld.’
Indeed, a descendant of the Ancient Seven Noble Families was different. His movements perfectly resembled his father’s prowess.
Such talent was too precious to waste in a small village like this.
But Baron was glad that Felix was by Hazel’s side.
Protecting Hazel Shire.
There was no more important role in the world.
In the deep dawn, the forest that had been briefly disturbed regained its natural tranquility, and the beasts returned to their nests.
Baron climbed to the top of a tall tree and quietly gazed at the scattered moonlight.
His shadows passed by him, traveling between Benois and Cromwell Castle.
He intercepted letters exchanged between the mayor of Benois and his master, holding them up to the moonlight to read.
‘According to plan.’
Their alliance was proceeding successfully.
Lucas Aden and Count Heidel.
They seemed to have no connection or common interests other than Kaiden Goldenhands, but they had one crucial thing in common.
They were both staunch members of the Anti-Black Magic Faction.
Many of the Empire’s nobles pretended to despise black magic on the surface while secretly using it.
Real mages had long since perished, the supply of mana chargers created with the Imperial Family’s secret techniques was controlled, and black magic boasted tremendous efficacy compared to its cost.
The side effect of ‘contamination’ could be handled by finding sacrifices to bear it instead.
Among all this, there were noble families that truly abhorred black magic.
‘Aden’ and ‘Heidel’ were among them.
So even with just a small point of contact, they naturally joined forces as if it were obvious. The owner of Benois had even come to Cromwell Castle personally to meet Count Heidel.
Baron’s eyes, lost in thought, grew coldly distant, then suddenly curved into circles.
As he covered his mouth and shook his shoulders with laughter, the shadow waiting to receive the letter back flinched.
He found his master scary when angry, but…
He was even scarier when laughing like this.
“Why are you laughing…?”
“Because I’m disappointed.”
“…?”
“My abs are the prettiest, you know.”
The aide’s eyelids squeezed shut at his lord’s answer that completely missed the mark.
***
Clatter clatter clack, click.
Clatter clatter clack, screech.
“Ugh.”
It jammed again.
I sighed and pulled out the crumpled paper from the label printer. This was already the eleventh defective product today.
It didn’t do this yesterday. It seems like frequent minor breakdowns are occurring because the machine is overworked instead of me.
Felix, who was applying glue to the back of labels beside me, spoke consolingly.
“Good thing you ordered a new label printer. My sister really is wise.”
“I am pretty smart. You’re supposed to fix the barn before you lose the cow, after all.”
“Wow, what wise words, truly wise.”
“Could you put some soul into your compliments?”
“Can’t, I have to let the glue dry.”
We exchanged our usual silly banter as we finished up the afternoon work.
Today we attached labels to 100 glass bottles, sold 10 bottles of Purification Water, and even received orders for 2 city goods displayed in the shop.
‘Oh my. Isn’t this the perfume and hair oil that was featured in Evelyn’s Choice? Can I try it?’
‘Of course.’
‘My goodness. What’s this scent? It’s incredibly luxurious.’
‘See how silky your hair became?’
‘Your birthday is coming up soon. Ask your husband to buy it as a gift. Is purchasing service also possible?’
‘I’ll ask the trading caravan we deal with. It’ll take time for shipping and there’ll be a commission fee—would that be okay?’
‘Of course. If we can get items featured in Evelyn’s Choice, even people from Cromwell Castle would come looking for them, right?’
The village natives didn’t even know what Evelyn’s Choice was, but people from the city immediately recognized the ‘hot’ products and their eyes sparkled.
It seemed like business would be better if I cleared out all the old city goods and filled the display with hot products.
An hour before closing, I racked my brains and completely rearranged all the items on the display.
The display had three rows in total.
The top row displayed Ruden Village’s signature products that the trading caravan would covet: Sleep Well, Deep Sleep, and Uncle Paul’s insoles.
The second row featured city goods that would fascinate our village people.
The third row showcased Golden Sundries Shop’s steady and best-selling product: diluted purification water.
By the way, we now also sell 50% diluted solutions and pure concentrate. This was because more customers wanted stronger purification water.
“Wow….”
It’s beautiful. I love it.
I gazed at the renewed display stand and gently placed my hand on my chest.
My heart was pounding, and the corners of my mouth kept twitching upward.
I had a good feeling. It felt like something exciting was about to happen.
“Felix.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you see it?”
“See what?”
“Gold pouring down like rain on Golden Sundries Shop.”
Felix gazed intently into the air and reached his hand toward the sky.
“I can see it perfectly. I can even hear the jingling sound.”
“Hehe.”
Felix really is the best at playing along with me.
I was imagining gold coins falling from the sky like rain and getting ready to close up shop when—
Swoosh.
A black object flew straight toward us from beyond the window.
“Oh? It’s the hawk messenger.”
My brother, recognizing the hawk, threw the window wide open.
I understood he was being considerate so the poor hawk wouldn’t crash into the window, but.
“Felix! You need to catch the hawk!”
The problem was our shop’s display stand.
If the hawk and the display stand collided…
I squeezed my eyes shut at the end of that terrifying thought.
Felix reassured me with a calm voice.
“Don’t worry. He’s smart.”
Whoosh, the hawk cut through the air and entered the shop. I braced myself and hunched over, prepared for the shop to be destroyed with a crash.
However—
“See? Smart, right?”
The shop was quiet, and the hawk was perched gracefully on Felix’s wrist.
As if proving its intelligence, the hawk cut the string around its ankle by itself and picked up the attached letter with its beak, handing it to me.
It was a letter from Bashar Merchant Guild, stamped with the golden hand seal.
“Wow, you really are smart, aren’t you?”
“Screech!”
The black hawk lifted its head proudly in triumph.
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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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