There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 24

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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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Episode 24.
“……What?”
“The insight to sense something hidden in the Darkness Under the Lantern, the sharp mind to weave fragmented information together, and above all else, the nerve to speak a full sentence properly in front of His Excellency.”
It sounds like praise, I suppose.
While I fumbled for a response, Dupon Clansher continued.
“You’ll need considerable polishing, but that much is enough to call you a rough diamond.”
“T-that’s far too generous, sir. But I truly am satisfied with my life in the Action Corps!”
“You needn’t worry on that account. You’ll continue to serve in the Action Corps.”
“But just now, you said I’ve officially become intelligence — the Raven, and——”
“Ah, so that part confused you.”
Dupon Clansher patted my shoulder a couple of times, then returned to his seat.
Still leaving me standing.
“All Ravens operate while maintaining a surface affiliation. It’s a form of False Identity, so to speak.”
“False Identity……?”
I know the term well enough.
I’d lived as Helena Morton, a Wickus executive, for the past thirteen years.
But my revenge is finished, and now they want me to do it again?
“I don’t fully understand, but it sounds incredibly dangerous and difficult! I think it would suit me better to just keep guarding the Outer Wall Watchtower from now on——”
“You’ve already learned of the Raven’s existence, haven’t you.”
“Yes, but——”
“Having learned of the Raven’s existence, you’re left with only two choices: become a Raven, or die.”
Dupon Clansher regarded me with infuriating calm, crossing his legs in a relaxed manner.
“The Duke appears to wish for you to grow into an excellent Raven.”
……I’m going to lose my mind.
***
Become a Raven or die.
After laying that choice before me, Dupon Clansher simply wrapped up his business.
He drew out his Pocket Watch to check the time, then remarked, “I can sleep two hours at least.”
His manner suggested he didn’t need to hear my answer — it was a foregone conclusion.
Infuriating, but accurate.
There was something else he said, though.
“For now, you’re dismissed. Someone will explain the details shortly.”
Thud!
I didn’t even have the strength to change clothes before collapsing onto my bunk the moment I reached the barracks.
“Haaaah.”
The sun won’t rise for hours yet.
How much has happened in just a few hours?
The first thing that comes to mind is Killian Knox’s handsome face.
And the crushing weight of his presence.
Even after the Lunar Eclipse ended, the monster remained a monster.
‘Maybe even stronger than Edward.’
The strongest person I’ve ever known was Edward Wickus.
That assessment came from considering several factors: the raw strength of his body, his ability to wield that monstrous power, and his instinctive combat sense.
How fortunate that I needed to take revenge on his father, Benedict Wickus, rather than on Edward himself.
But even Edward Wickus seemed outmatched against Killian Knox.
We spent our formative years together and crossed blades countless times.
Killian Knox, on the other hand——I’ve never properly fought him.
And yet I know.
Edward cannot defeat Killian Knox.
A human and a monster are not the same.
‘And that Killian Knox holds my life in his hands.’
At least I’m alive. Let me be grateful for that.
The harsher the path, the more reason to celebrate each small victory.
‘Well done, Helena Morton. Well done……’
I closed my eyes and tried to comfort myself, but eventually pulled the pillow over my face.
“Killian Knox, you XXX! XXXX! XX to XXX and XX!”
I hurled every curse I could think of into the thick cotton pillow and thrashed about with wild kicks.
I thrashed for a long time, but the anger wouldn’t subside.
At this rate, I’ll suffocate before my rage even cools.
“Phew!”
I threw the pillow away, and my blonde hair stood on end from the static.
“They want me to go through all that again?”
I thought I could finally live some semblance of a normal life?
Do intelligence work again?
Under Knox, no less?
“Damn it.”
Killian Knox, may you step in dog shit with those expensive shoes of yours.
May a sudden downpour soak you completely, rolling you through leaf-covered dirt.
No, that’s not enough.
May you choke on your own saliva at an important gathering, or get stung by a wasp while posturing in front of some woman you like.
I imagined all manner of catastrophes befalling Killian Knox, but the seething fury inside me didn’t ease one bit.
Even in all those hypothetical disasters, Killian Knox’s handsome features would somehow shine through, and the mad bastard would probably find the whole ordeal amusing rather than distressing.
And most of all, no matter how much I cursed Killian Knox for dragging me into this swamp, the reality that I’d become his Raven wouldn’t change.
“Argh!”
I yanked my hair messily and sat up in one violent motion.
“What can I do? I have to deal with it.”
I can’t run, and I don’t want to die.
So I have no choice but to accept this miserable reality.
To organize my scattered thoughts, I condensed my goals into three stages.
First: maintain my usefulness as a Raven adequately.
Second: seize an opportunity and extract the Dragon Blood Antidote from Killian Knox.
Third: escape.
This time to somewhere far, far away where there’s no Edward Wickus, no Killian Knox, no one!
I’ve done it before once, so why couldn’t I do it twice?
Making the situation simple somehow eased my mind a little——or so I tried to tell myself.
But I really hated this.
“Sigh.”
I scratched my head again and looked out the window.
The night sky is still pitch-black now, but in a few hours, that damned sun will rise again.
I should wash up and sleep before then……
“The night sky?”
I was certain I’d drawn the curtains carefully before I left.
In an instant, every nerve in my body tensed and my mind snapped alert.
‘Someone’s been in my room.’
I moved silently and quickly, pressing my back against the wall beside the window.
Slip.
I drew the Dagger I keep hidden in my shoe and used its tip to gently pry open the slightly parted curtain.
With my limited view, I carefully scanned the surroundings.
There was no one near the Action Corps Barracks.
The windowsill was clean.
There were no footprints.
Instead, something else caught my eye.
“Even locking the door is useless, is that it?”
The window latch hung wide open.
The intruder hadn’t bothered to hide their tracks.
When I turned my head, I saw something on the table across the room.
It was so blatantly placed that I’m embarrassed I didn’t notice it sooner——a heavy sack.
At that point, I felt no need to stay on high alert.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
They hadn’t hidden their tracks.
They were deliberately letting me know they’d been here.
Poke.
I stabbed the sack with my dagger and sliced it open, sending a cascade of glittering Gold Coins spilling out.
It was an enormous sum——more than I could earn in a lifetime on Action Corps wages.
There was only one reason such money would be in my quarters.
“Completion bonus.”
The reward promised to me for stopping the Green Trading Company’s leader.
“And they left it like this.”
They deliberately broke in and abandoned it, leaving it behind.
It was vintage Killian Knox cruelty.
He probably didn’t do it himself, but he had plenty of subordinates who’d jump at his word.
The meaning of this sack left deliberately on the table was crystal clear.
There is nowhere you can hide.
“Infuriating bastard.”
Clang.
I tossed the dagger beside the sack and leaned against the table.
As I irritably pushed back my falling hair, something odd caught my eye among the scattered Gold Coins.
“……A note?”
Inside the folded scrap of paper was a brief message scrawled hastily.
[Tomorrow, 9 AM,
Annex Courtyard, in front of the Zelkova Tree.]

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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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