There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 32

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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 32.
Gisela Roth didn’t strike me as the kind of mentor who neglected her juniors.
Just now, watching how she dealt with Noah Benton, she actually came across as quite a capable senior.
Her manner was a bit rough around the edges, but she knew how to roll up her sleeves for a junior who couldn’t manage their own affairs, and she wasn’t shy about offering affectionate scolding either.
She had a sense of duty as a Raven, and her attachment ran just as deep.
You could see it in the subtly relaxed expression and tone she adopted after moving into the real Nest.
In many ways, hers was a rare temperament in this line of work.
Giving your heart meant exposing yourself to the dangers that could come with it.
‘Then there’s only one reason she’d keep me at arm’s length like this.’
I hadn’t yet stepped inside Gisela Roth’s fence.
It was a bigger problem than I’d thought.
If Gisela Roth was simply the type to keep her distance in personal relationships, that would be one thing.
Being a Raven alone might not be enough to make me someone special to her.
But what if the reason was that I wasn’t yet a ‘real’ Raven?
I sighed deeply and opened the History and Genealogy of Nox.
The door was locked and there were no windows—a sealed room—but that didn’t mean there was no way for her to watch me.
Especially not here in Nox, where all manner of extraordinary Mana Engineering techniques lay scattered about.
I stretched my neck and settled into my studies.
“It’s not over until it’s over.”
***
Click.
My eyes opened at a faint sound from outside the dormitory door.
“Man, I’m starving. What’s for lunch at the Cafeteria today…….”
“Supposedly not great, so let’s just eat out…….”
Listening to the voices fade as they chatted away, I realized it was just noise unrelated to me.
I’d wondered if I could go back to sleep after waking so abruptly, but the drowsiness had already vanished.
Right.
If people outside were talking about lunch menus, it was probably midday, and there was no way I was getting back to sleep.
I got up lightly and checked the windows and door.
There were no signs of intrusion; everything was just as it had been last night.
I picked up the Necklace I’d hung by the bed and stood before the mirror, where a woman with long black hair and crimson eyes stared back at me.
As I quietly fastened the Necklace, she transformed into a boy.
Runelk Ains—still too youthful to be called a mature man, with eyes a hazy blue and hair the color of dandelion fluff.
As my original form took over, my mind settled more at ease.
“Well, maybe I’ll take a walk.”
It was an impulse, but an excellent one.
The sunlight was dazzling and warm, and just walking leisurely in weather like this seemed to drain the tension from my entire body with a drowsy ease.
“Oh, Runelk, heading out for lunch?”
“The Cafeteria food’s no good today. Going somewhere else to eat.”
“Sure thing, see you around.”
Some of the other Action Unit members—though from a different squad—spotted me leaving the dormitory and tossed me a word or two as they passed.
“Rest Days are nice.”
That’s right.
Today was a Rest Day.
By Nox’s rules, there should be one every week, but with chronic understaffing, if you were lucky, one rolled around every two weeks or so.
When Gisela Roth heard about today’s Rest Day yesterday, she was flipping through some documents before casually saying:
“Got it? Then tomorrow, don’t show up at the Nest—get some real rest.”
That’s how a genuine Rest Day—free from both the Action Unit and the Ravens—had come about.
I should have been in better spirits about it, like I’d won some kind of bonus.
“But something feels off about it.”
It had been five days since Gisela Roth gave me five books.
Along with orders to memorize two of them, she’d left me to my own devices.
Whenever I went to the Nest, it was just the same cycle—staring at bookshelves full of content I already knew.
At first, I’d thought it wasn’t so bad; it was boring and leisurely, but not unpleasant.
Lately, though, I was starting to feel like abandoned furniture gathering dust in the Storage.
“And yesterday, she even looked surprised when she saw me.”
That was about Gisela Roth.
I’d been so bored I’d left the Storage and approached her to strike up a conversation, and she’d looked startled before, as if annoyed, handing me a Rest Day.
“I have a rough idea of why, though.”
I stopped in my leisurely pace.
I’d thought I was walking along the periphery where the Action Unit Dormitory was located, but somehow I’d drifted deep into the inner areas.
My Rest Day was today, but for everyone else, it was lunchtime, right in the middle of their work.
Standing at a busy junction, watching others move with purpose toward their destinations, I found myself thinking idly:
‘There’s no rule against showing up at the Nest on a Rest Day, right?’
With that idle thought, I pivoted toward the Annex corridor.
I’d charged out on an impulse for a walk, and then impulsively turned toward the Nest, overlooking one crucial fact.
To reach the Annex, you had to pass directly in front of the Main Building.
***
In front of the Main Building ran a wide avenue of polished gray stone.
At the main gates, where the avenue began, there was a small Plaza where people gathered in clusters to bask in the sunlight and chat—a sort of gathering place.
The Plaza was always crowded, so I paid it little attention.
My destination was the Annex, reached by slipping off the main path at a fork just before reaching the Plaza.
Walking along the avenue, I kept my ears open only to the conversations around me.
“The Winterdale Clan…….”
“We need to review the budget again…….”
All the passing conversations seemed to be work-related.
Besides, despite being called a Plaza, it was officially an adjunct to the Main Building, so no one raised their voices or laughed loudly.
The Main Building was both their workspace and that of Duke Killian Nox and his seven Executive Officers.
“Runelk!”
When I heard someone call out my name, I thought it was an auditory hallucination.
You’d have to be insane to shout that loudly in front of the Main Building.
“Runelk! Over here, over here!”
But when I didn’t stop walking, the voice only grew louder.
To make matters worse, everyone around who’d been talking turned to look at me.
‘Really? They’re really calling me?’
Stunned by this unbelievable reality, I lifted my head and saw it—the very center of the Plaza, the best-lit spot where the sun shone brightest.
There stood Deacon Gold, waving his hand at me enthusiastically.
Shouting someone’s name loudly in front of the Main Building wasn’t something a madman would do.
It was something only an Executive Officer could do—someone wielding absolute power and thus having no need to mind other people’s eyes.
“Runelk!”
And Deacon Gold wasn’t alone.
Through the haze of smoke from what looked like a tobacco stick he’d been smoking in the sunlight, I could also see Dupont Clansher standing beside him.
“Come over here!”
Damn.
Was he really going to keep this up?
At this rate, people working inside the building would start opening windows and looking out.
I broke into a run and dashed into the Plaza.
In the meantime, Deacon Gold extinguished the tobacco stick he’d been smoking by pressing it into an Ashtray that his Adjutant was holding, then waved his hands to disperse the thick smoke.
As his sleeves fluttered from the motion, Dupont Clansher, who had a tobacco stick in his mouth, frowned slightly and stepped back.
“D-Deacon, did you call for me?”
“Long time no see, Runelk. How have you been?”
Why did you call me? I wanted to shout.
And in front of everyone in the neighborhood, no less!
I wanted to scream that at the unbothered Deacon Gold, but on the surface I smiled and nodded.
At the same time, I didn’t forget to gauge the eye of Dupont Clansher, who was watching me from a few paces away.
The tobacco stick in his large hands looked pathetically fragile.
“Oh, I’m sorry for the late introduction. Brother, this is Runelk Ains. He’s the Action Unit member who subdued the Green Merchant Guild merchant.”
Deacon Gold spoke to Dupont Clansher.
In private, they seemed to address each other casually.
Well, they were practically cousins—born and raised within Nox’s walls, close from childhood.
“You even came to visit me in the hospital back then, didn’t you? Do you remember?”
To Deacon Gold’s question, Dupont Clansher drew deeply on his tobacco stick until his cheeks hollowed, then extinguished it in the Ashtray with a short nod.
“Seems like it.”
Right. They were going to pretend not to know each other.
A new Raven just does what the senior Raven orders.

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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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