There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 18

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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 18.
***
Had I overestimated Killian Knox?
The moment I saw the name “Dupont Clanscher” in the ledger, I couldn’t help but doubt.
Knox’s darkest secret.
When I heard those words, several things immediately came to mind.
Things I’d learned over years of grappling with Knox’s Intelligence Division.
But truthfully, they all seemed trivial.
The scale was simply too small for Killian Knox to be hiding it behind a word like “darkest.”
So I’d pushed it aside long ago and searched for new information instead…….
‘Illegal operations do cost a fortune, though.’
The amount Dupont Clanscher had spent over a full eight years was staggering.
Divided into eight chunks, it matched a respectable noble house’s annual budget, but consolidated into one mass, it was enough to purchase a modest fiefdom on the Empire’s outskirts.
“Wait a moment.”
Was that really it?
He’d supposedly folded all illegal operations and distributed them to trustworthy families—but what if he’d actually funneled everything into some distant estate instead?
What if I needed to look outside Knox Castle rather than within?
But I was bound to the Action Division and couldn’t freely leave the fortress.
Killian Knox would never overlook that.
“Could it be deliberately?”
If I couldn’t leave, I’d inevitably fail whatever mission he assigned me?
A bastard like Killian Knox was perfectly capable of such a thing.
Crack.
My jaw—still sore from where he’d grabbed it—was throbbing, and I gritted my teeth harder to prove my resolve.
“What?”
A finger jabbed at my shoulder blade, jolting me from my spiraling thoughts.
I turned to find Hartman’s hulking face behind me.
Right. Of course.
I was on night watch.
“Sir?”
“You just said something.”
“Did I, sir?”
“I distinctly heard you muttering away.”
He was frowning, and it was clear Hartman wasn’t in a good mood.
Normally, the man would just clip a drunk junior on the back of the head if they showed up for a shift inebriated—nothing more.
‘Lost a fortune at the card table, probably.’
For all his easy-going laughter, Hartman’s sole weakness was his terrible gambling luck—which was why the junior ranks had a name for him.
Sucker.
If there’s no sucker at the table, then I’m the sucker—oblivious every time he lost.
Went on losing and never caught on.
I quickly straightened, snapped to attention, and bowed my head.
“I was thinking to myself and it slipped out, sir. My apologies.”
“Strange fellow. You don’t think of other things while on watch, do you? Useless, that is.”
As Hartman began working up to a real scolding, Jake sensed the danger and hurried over from a distance.
“Oh, this young Rookie got sick yesterday and took a sick day, sir. He still seems a bit worn down, so I hope you’ll find it in your heart to be understanding, sir.”
“Sick? Where?”
His eyes swept over me with the clear thought: ‘He looks fine now?’
“It was food poisoning, actually……”
“Oh, don’t even mention it! He was throwing up all night long, both ways, sir!”
Jake cut in with his trademark exaggerated tone.
“The castle’s been hit with a real outbreak lately! You should watch yourself too, sir!”
“Food poisoning? A widespread one? Why didn’t you say something sooner, you fool!”
Hartman snapped irritably, rubbing his hand against his arm as if it suddenly felt contaminated.
“Hey, bring me water and soap!”
He barked the order at one of the men loitering nearby, then turned to me with a growl.
“Don’t you dare set foot in the outpost this whole week, understood?”
“Yes, sir. My apologies, sir.”
As Hartman stalked off—whether to wash his hands or just out of irritation—I mentally unleashed a flurry of jabs at his retreating form.
Just yesterday he was calling me a young hero.
So much for that reputation lasting more than four days.
“Did you hear? Hartman lost all his monthly wages yesterday at Sucker Lift. You know his temper gets foul when he loses money, so why’d you mess with him?”
“I was on sick leave yesterday.”
“Right, right, forgot. Anyway, keep your head down around Hartman for the next week or so. Got it?”
“Yes, yes.”
If I’m still alive by then, at least.
With a death sentence already handed down, a gambling fool like Hartman hardly seemed frightening.
I turned to Jake and the others—Yeon-cho and Bono, gathered by the campfire as always.
“I’m banned from the outpost, so I’ll stay out here. Why don’t you all head inside and warm up?”
But the seniors shook their heads.
“No. Out here’s more comfortable, really……”
“Better to steer clear of Sucker after his losses.”
They had a point, so I nodded vaguely and planted myself on the log beside the campfire.
“Hey, Rookie. When are you treating us?”
“Treating you to what?”
“You got your Daily Allowance, didn’t you?”
“Oh.”
I’d nearly forgotten it in all the running around.
My Daily Allowance.
“Haven’t heard anything about it yet.”
“That’s odd. Knox is meticulous about payroll, even if he’s careless about everything else. Why would it be late?”
“Probably because your allowance is absolutely enormous.”
Hubert, a chain smoker, lit a cigarette off Yeon-cho’s flame and answered in Jake’s stead.
“If it’s delayed this long, something’s unusual. Can you handle a proper meal once it comes through, kid?”
“Yes. I’ll take you all out to Yanik’s place.”
“This kid? Peter’s is way better, I’m telling you!”
“Looks like Rookie’s got refined tastes like mine!”
Bono chimed in with a tease, and the argument instantly shifted to “Where’s the best restaurant in Knox Castle?”
Here we go again. Again.
“I’ll just take you all to Helen’s place, so let’s drop it……”
Crackle.
Something brushed through the leaves.
It was a small sound, but the area in front of the outpost fell silent instantly.
“Did you hear that……”
“Hush.”
Hubert quieted Bono, who’d been about to speak, and fixed his gaze ahead.
Toward the thick forest of tall trees.
Crackle.
The same sound tickled our ears once more.
‘In the trees.’
The source was on a branch above the campfire.
But it was clearly no ordinary rustling of leaves in the wind.
Something—hidden beyond the foliage—was definitely moving.
‘I didn’t notice it getting this close?’
My body temperature spiked with tension.
Following ingrained habit, my body shifted into combat readiness, heart rate climbing.
That’s when I felt a finger poke my back.
I glanced back to find Jake nodding silently toward the tree where the sound had come from.
‘He wants me to check it out?’
I looked to Hubert, the most senior here, expecting him to step forward, but he only returned a look that said: ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘Traitors.’
Wasn’t it supposed to be the seniors who went first in a situation like this?!
Bristling at their duplicity, I quietly moved toward the trees.
‘Actually, maybe it’s better this way.’
This was someone skilled enough that even I hadn’t sensed their approach.
If the senior guys—who’d long since abandoned any real combat training—waded in, they’d just throw away their lives needlessly.
I was the right choice.
Crunch, crunch.
I didn’t try to silence my footsteps as I walked toward the trees.
The enemy already held the high ground and would have a clear view of my approach anyway.
After a few steps, I reached an appropriate distance and curled my fingers around the hilt of the sword at my waist.
Though I wore it like an ornament, it was a blade I’d never drawn once since joining the Action Division.
Whoosh.
I exhaled slowly, gathering strength in my legs to leap into the branches—
Flap-flap-flap-flap!
Something far too small to be called an enemy burst through the leaves and flew upward.
“A… a raven?”
I steadied myself in shock and looked again, but what was already soaring away in the distance was unmistakably a black crow.
“Bwahahaha!”
“Oh, my belly!”
“Did you see that?! The way Rookie grabbed his sword?!”
The three seniors were rolling on the ground in hysterical laughter.
These bastards!

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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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